Digging Deep

August 23, 2010

Filed under: Angels & Demons, Craig Smith, Faith & Culture, New Age — Tags: , , — Craig Smith @ 9:32 AM

One of the interesting things about being a pastor and Christian speaker, especially one involved with an organization like Shepherd Project, is that I get asked all kinds of fascinating questions.  Here’s an answer I sent off this morning to a woman asking for information about “The Shining Ones” that a friend has recently gotten interested in:

As I understand it, the “shining ones” are beings/persons thought to appear in many ancient cultures, often associated with mystical knowledge or key historical developments in culture.  As the story goes – mostly in New Age books and websites –  these beings have been guiding human development for millenia…and maybe even are the ancestors of the first human beings.

One of the first questions we need to ask is:  are these “shining ones” really common in the materials we have from ancient cultures.  Answer:  no, not really.  At least not unless you follow the rather weak logic of “discovery” followed by those who advance these bizarre ideas.

The first stage of “shining ones” discovery depends on the fact that some ancient religious texts – mostly Near Eastern Ones to the best of my knowledge – speak of “shining ones”.  The most popular references are in the Egyptian Book of the Dead where you apparently get lines like:  “behold oh ye shining ones, ye men and ye gods.”  I’m no expert in ancient Egyptian theology, but based on the context my guess is that these are references to Egyptian nobility who were thought to be both human and divine.  Other direct references of which I am aware involve statements like “Follow then the shining ones, the wise, the awakened, the loving, for they know how to work and forbear” attributed to Buddha. Here the reference to “shining ones” is clearly a euphemism for human beings who have attained “enlightenment” (no pun intended…but it’s pretty funny anway!).

Most other references are not direct but involve depictions of persons or beings who “shine” or “glow”.  This is the second stage of “shining ones” discovery.  Using the reasoning that any depiction or description of light associated with someone is actually a reference to the “shining ones”, they are “found” in religious texts and ancient art which depict rays of light surrounding or emanating from a figure.  Since this is a nearly universal means of depicting power, purity and divine blessing, such pictures are common in religious texts and visual art from most cultures throughout history.  Thus the “shining ones” are now “found” in nearly every human culture in history.

 The third stage of “shining ones” discovery involves reading this kind of thing back into other texts even where the depictions are less “obvious.”  For instance, some people try to make the term Elohim from the Hebrew Scriptures into references to these “shining ones” rather than to God.  Similarly, angels are re-interpreted as references to “shining ones.”

 The human connection to the “shining ones” is not really clear to me.  It seems that some people think they are aliens who guided human development.  Others think they are the ancestors of humans, either pointing to our alien origins or, in the case of those who believe the “shining ones” are supernatural creatures, to our inherent divinity.  In the end, the whole thing depends on two things 1)  Man’s need to be connected to something greater than ourselves and 2) Our fondness for conspiracy theories…in this case, the conspiracy is that all the religions of the world have tricked us into misunderstanding our true origins:  either we are descended from divine beings or we are descended from extraterrestrials.

July 26, 2010

Be Filled With The Spirit

Filed under: Biblical Studies, Christian Living, Craig Smith, Holy Spirit, Theology — Tags: , , , , , , — Craig Smith @ 6:15 AM

(this one’s a little tiny bit technical for a just bit…but the practical payoff is totally worth it!  :)   )

I spent most of July in Guatemala, lecturing on the book of Ephesians to pastors and ministers from all over Central and South America.  Preparing and delivering those lectures was a very enriching time for me and I will probably just go ahead, bite the bullet and write a full-length commentary.  In the meantime, though, I wanted to jot down one or two thoughts that have been particularly impactful.  Today, I want to focus on Eph. 5:18:  …and do not get drunk on wine, in which is dissapation, but instead be filled with the Spirit.

For many Christians, this is a familiar command, yet one which is not easily put into practice.  It’s hard not to read this verse and wonder, “How exactly can I do that?”  The not-getting-drunk part is easy to apply, but the be-filled-with-the-Spirit part is a little less concrete, isn’t it?  I remember when I was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ back in Kent, Ohio in the early 90’s, the staff used to talk about something called “spiritual breathing” in which we were to breathe out sin (i.e. confess our sin to God) and breathe in the power of the Holy Spirit (i.e. appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit for Christian living).  This was an attempt to make Paul’s command in Eph. 5:18 practical on a daily basis, an attempt which I fully endorse.  However, as well-intentioned as the attempt was, it fell a bit short in terms of actual practicality.  “Breathe in/appropriate the power of the Holy Spirit” is really no less abstract than Paul’s original command.

However, in my recent work on Ephesians I realized that Paul’s command is not abstract at all.  In fact, Paul gave us very explicit, practical instruction on how to go about being filled with the Spirit.  This instruction immediately follows the command in question:

…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and being subject to one another in the fear of Christ. (Eph. 5:19-21)

Here, Paul uses five verbs, each of which gives us practical instruction on how to be filled by the Spirit.   Actually, to be technically accurate, it might be better to say that Paul instructs us how to position ourselves to be filled by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is God, of course, and therefore is not subject to our will.  We cannot “make” the Holy Spirit do anything, but we can do things which make us ready to take advantage of the Holy Spirit’s preferred mode of operation.  When Paul says “be filled with the Holy Spirit”, the form of the verb “be filled” reflects this reality.  In the Greek, this verb is a present, passive imperative which is slightly odd.  See, the passive form suggests something that is done to us, rather than something that is done be us…hence “be filled” rather than “fill yourselves”.  Yet the fact that this is an imperative means that there is something which we must actively do in order for this to happen.  So while we cannot “fill ourselves” with the Spirit, we can put ourselves in a position to “be filled” by the Spirit and the five verbs in vv.19-21 outline what it is that we are to do.

Now I should probably point out that not all commentators agree with me on this.  In fact, it appears to me that most commentators take the five verbs in vv.19-21 as the results of being filled by the Spirit rather than the means to being filled by the Spirit.  Thus, most commentators think that being filled by the Spirit will result in speaking to one another in songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing, making music, giving thanks and being subject to one another.  This interpretation is quite possible, because the five verbs in question here are actually participles which are usually translated in English with an “ing” ending:  speaking, singing, thanking, etc.  And participles may sometimes denote the results of an earlier verb, so I understand how commentators can come to this conclusion. 

However, I disagree with taking these participles as the result of being filled with the Spirit for basically four reasons.  First, if these verbs denote the result of being filled with the Spirit, then we have no practical instruction on how to go about doing what we are commanded to do.  Second, while participles can denote result of an earlier verb, they do not usually do so and probably shouldn’t be understood this way unless there is a clear indication of this in the text, such as the presence of a purpose-word (“so that…”, “in order that…”, etc.).  No such clear indication is present in Eph. 5.  Third, if these five actions are the result of being filled with the Spirit, then no further instruction regarding them would be required.  What I mean is that if being filled with the Spirit results in singing, then this singing is essentially out of our control.  No further instruction on how to sing would be necessary.  And yet these five participles have accompanying instruction, some of which are even in the form of imperatives (direct commands).  We are told what kinds of songs to sing, when to be thankful and given extensive instruction on how to “be subject to one another.”  This instruction goes on well into chapter 6.  But all of this instruction makes little sense if the verbs in question are themselves results.  That would be like saying “jump out of the window with the result that you are falling and I command you to hit the ground at a speed of 60 m.p.h.!”

The fourth reason I differ from many/most commentators in my interpretation of this passage is simply that understanding these verbs as means rather than results fits perfectly with other clear biblical teaching.  Why should singing praise and songs of adoration lead to being filled by the Spirit?  Because as Psalm 22:3 states, “[God] you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel”.[1]  This theme is echoed in other places as well, including Mat. 18:20.  Why should thankfulness lead to being filled by the Spirit?  Because in gratitude we focus on what God has done and thus align ourselves with His purposes rather than being fixated on our circumstances.  Why should ”being subject to one another” lead to being filled with the Spirit?  Because being subject to one another leads to unity and unity within the body of Christ grants us access to the Holy Spirit’s power.  This is a significant theme in Ephesians and is emphasized in many other parts of the New Testament as well. 

On the whole, then, I think it’s pretty clear that Paul is giving us solid, practical instruction on how to go about fulfilling the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit:  we are to worship God in song, we are to be thankful to him in all things and we are to be subject to one another, fostering unity within the body.

One final issue which some of you more observant readers may have already  noted:  understood this way, the command to “be filled with the Holy Spirit” is a command to the church rather than to individuals.  In other words, Paul is giving instruction here on how the church is to operate so that the church will be filled with the Holy Spirit.  This is not a command or instructions for individual believers.  Again, this goes against the grain of most popular teaching on the subject, but two things should be noted.  First, in the original Greek, the command is clearly plural, stressing the communal nature of the instruction.  The lack of a second person plural in English makes this difficult to bring out in translation but it is clear in the original.  Second, saying that the command to “be filled with the Spirit” is intended for the church as a whole does not mean that it does not also apply to individuals.  In fact, this command will only be fulfilled in the church as a whole to the extent that it is fulfilled in the lives of the individuals who make up that church.

So…if we want to experience the power of God in our churches, the answer’s probably not the newest church-growth technique or the latest preaching fad.  If we want to see God move in power among us, maybe we should be concentrating on what God has already told us to do in order to get ready for precisely that!

[1] There is some question about the translation of this line.  In addition to the normal translation given above it could also be rendered as “yet you are enthroned as the Holy one, You are the praise of Israel.”  However, this translation, while possible, seems awkward given the original Hebrew word-order.  Moreover, the LXX Greek translation of this line favors the more common translation given above.

May 20, 2010

The Bible in an Age of Skepticism

Filed under: Apologetics, Biblical Studies, Craig Smith, Theology — Tags: , , , , , , — Craig Smith @ 7:54 AM

Christian speaker and author Craig Smith speaks about the Bible in an age of skepticism on Daystar TV.


Buy the book here.

May 3, 2010

The Word: Understanding & Trusting the Bible in an Age of Skepticism

Filed under: Apologetics, Biblical Studies, Christian Living, Christian speakers, Craig Smith, Faith & Culture — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 12:45 PM

Video interview with Dr. Craig Smith, Christian speaker and author of the new book, The Word:  Understanding & Trusting the Bible in an Age of Skepticism.


You can buy a copy of the book at any of the following locations:

Shepherd Project Resource Store

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

April 12, 2010

Filed under: Christian Living, Craig Smith, Encouragement — Tags: , , — Craig Smith @ 3:17 PM

The following is an excerpt from a recent message.  Listen to the full audio version here.

Because we all get the spiritual wind knocked out of our sails from time to time, God commands us to encourage one another.  But what does Biblical encouragement look like?  It’s not just saying “you can do it!”  Biblical encouragement isn’t a pep-talk.  It’s a pit-crew.  It’s not someone standing on the sidelines saying “go get ‘em!” but someone waiting on deck to change your tires, fuel you up and get you back out on the track. 

Let me offer three characteristics of Biblical encouragement:

 1.   Biblical encouragement is steeped in God’s Word

 Biblical encouragement is steeped in God’s Word.   See, encouragement begins with the end in mind.  It seeks to give someone what they need to move from where they are to where they need to be.  But if we’re trying to move them to where we want them to be, then our “encouragement” is really nothing more than selfishness.  When a husband “encourages” his wife to go out and have some girl-time with her friends so that he can watch the game without being interrupted, that’s not biblical encouragement. Biblical encouragement seeks to move someone from where they are to where God says they need to be, and to do that we need to understand from His word where they need to be.

 Biblical encouragement has to be steeped in God’s Word because biblical encouragement depends on truth, not platitudes.  Biblical encouragement doesn’t sing “the sun will come out, tomorrow!” No, it says, “God has not given up on you.  God will never give up on you and He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion.”

 2.  Biblical encouragement is discerning. 

 Biblical encouragement is discerning.  It recognizes that different people are encouraged by different things and that different circumstances call for different kinds of encouragement.  By the way, I think there are basically four kinds of encouragement:  affirmation, consolation, exhortation and edification.

 a.  Affirmation – helps people see their value and potential, especially when they’ve lost sight of it.  Affirmation can take the form of words or of actions.  You know that game “strength bombardment”?  It’s where someone sits in the center of a circle and everyone else talks about their good qualities.  Some people are really encouraged by that kind of affirmation.  Personally, I hate that game.  I’d rather pull out my own fingernails than sit through that.  But trust me with a significant task because you believe I can do it well, and I’m affirmed. 

 b.  Consolation – recognizes the pain that people feel and acknowledges the legitimacy of their wounds while at the same time helping them see past the horizon of their suffering.

 c.  Exhortation – calls people to live in light of what they know rather than what they may feel at a given moment.  This can be a tricky line to walk.  On the one hand, if we tell someone to get it together and move on without allowing them time to heal from genuine wounds, we may just be creating an army of walking wounded.  On the other hand, sometimes sorrow and self-pity can cloud people’s vision and sap their strength, creating a well of despair that it can be very hard to climb up out of.  Illustration:  Crying Children.

 d.  Edification – gives people practical steps to enable them to move from where they are to where they need to be.  Sometimes this means helping them see something about themselves or their situation that they haven’t understood.  In that sense, this kind of encouragement could be called education, but remember that biblical encouragement is about pouring strength into someone so that they can live out God’s will for their lives.  Sometimes we can show people what they need to know, but sometimes it means coming alongside them, putting their arm over your shoulder and loaning them your strength as you take the next few steps together.

Biblical encouragement is discerning in that it offers the kind of encouragement that is most fitting for the situation or for the person who needs to be encouraged.

 3.  Biblical encouragement is personal.

 The only way to know how a person will be most encouraged or what kind of encouragement is required in a particular situation is to know the person you’re trying to encourage.  That’s why the greatest encouragement almost always comes from those who know us best.  Now, this means two things.  First, if you want to be an encouragement to someone, you need to take the time to get to know them, or at the very least, to know the situation they’re facing. This usually means learning how to listen.  Second, if you want someone to encourage you, then you have to be willing to let yourself be known.

April 7, 2010

Irony (and not the Alanis Morissette kind)

Filed under: Christian Living, Craig Smith, Faith & Culture, Philosophy, Postmodernism — Tags: , , , , — Craig Smith @ 4:52 PM

D.A. Carson said something in a book that I read recently that continues to echo in my head.  Describing the post-modern emphasis on tolerance, Carson made the point that tolerance presupposes disagreement.  In other words, you can’t “tolerate” something unless you happen to think it’s wrong.  We don’t “tolerate” those things that we agree with.  We “tolerate” those things that we disagree with by conceeding that, though we disagree with them, they have the right to exist.  Summarizing the beliefs of the French philosopher Voltaire, his biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall penned the famous quote:  “I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”  This is “tolerance”, an ideal on which much of the American notion of freedom is based.  Unfortunately, it becomes nonsense in the modern understanding of tolerance.

In contemporary parlance, “tolerance” means something like:  all ideas are equal and no idea is inherently more right or wrong, accurate or inaccurate, than any other.  While it is true that this notion might reduce conflict (why fight about an idea that is no more or less meaningfull than any other?), it is not, by any stretch of the imagination, “tolerant.”  This might be “accepting” or even “inclusive”, but it is not “tolerant.”

Ironically, it seems to me that genuine “tolerance” – i.e. the willingness to listen to and even support the right to speak of those with whom you disagree – is more respectful than the contemporary perversion of it.  Which is more respectful of someone, to say “talk all you want because nothing you say can actually mean anything to anyone but you” or “let me hear what you think so that I can evaluate whether or not you’re on to something”?  The latter presupposes that someone might have something to say which is meaningful and significant while the former presupposes that letting this person speak won’t make any difference anyway.

I was just coming back from speaking at an event and I sat next to a college philosophy major who believed that there was no truth and that no ideas actually described things the way they actually are.  This is a nonsense position, of course, since if someone says “No idea can actually be true [i.e. describe things the way they actually are]” then they are proposing an idea that they believe actually describes things the way they are, but that’s another issue entirely.  This student and I talked for several hours, but as we were landing I looked her in the eye and I said, “You know, I think you’re wrong.  But here’s the thing:  I’ve been listening to you because I think your ideas matter.  I think you’re very bright and because I think it’s at least possible that your ideas are actually right, I think you’re worth listening to.  Having heard you out, I happen to disagree with you, but ironically, my disagreement is actually a kind of respect.  By thinking that your ideas matter, I think you matter.  But if your ideas don’t actually mean anything, if they can’t possibly match up with the ways things actually are…then your ideas are meaningless and, by extension, so are you.  But I don’t think that.  I think your ideas matter and, by extension, I think you matter.  I think you’re wrong, but I only bother saying that because I think you – and your ideas – count.”

Of course, I’m sure I sound more eloquent here  than it came out live, but that’s essentially what I said.  How did she respond?  She teared up and raced off the plane so fast that I saw her go back later to get her bags that she’d left in the overhead bin.  I pray God continues to work on her obviously broken heart.

But do you see what I mean?  Tolerance, at least in the modern sense, isn’t respectful.  It’s disrespectful.  Ironically, genuine tolerance…the kind that presupposes disagreement…is far more respectful of persons than the modern version could ever hope to be.

March 3, 2010

Demons?

Filed under: Christian Living, Craig Smith, Spiritual Warfare — Tags: , , , , , , , — Craig Smith @ 10:54 AM

Here’s a question I just received.  I’m blogging about it today because its a question I get on a pretty regular basis.

Hi Craig,  I wanted to ask a couple of questions.  I have been told that when Paul refers to the thorn in the flesh he is referring to a person or a demonic spirit.  What do you believe about this?  Also, in regards to spiritual warfare, what material (if any) would you recommend.  We went to a Bible study called Freedom Encounter by Keys of the Kingdom International.  It seems to focus on how bound up people are and that everyone needs constant intervention in the spiritual world or even deliverance.  I agree to a point but I feel like they are looking for almost “magical” ways of being set free from the sinful self, besides obedience in Christ.  Generational curses, demonic influence…. ugh.  I was involved in the occult so I KNOW who the enemy is however, I thought I was set free in Christ.  I am sure there is not short answer to this, so if you want to refer me to study material I would be thankful!

My answer:

Hi XXXXX,

I suspect Paul is referring to a physical ailment that had a demonic origin, rather than to a person or to a demonic spirit precisely.  In other words, my best guess (though really nothing more than a guess) is that he had a disease but understood that the disease had a demonic component.  It’s interesting that the New Testament sometimes attributes particular symptoms to demons and sometimes attributes those exact same symptoms to just “being sick.”  This indicates that they did not have a simplistic or superstitious understanding of illness but a nuanced and discerning one…perhaps more so than ours!

In any event, as a Christian, evil spirits have no authority over you.  On the contrary, you can command them “in the name of Jesus” (which really just means “as a representative of Jesus possessing his delegated authority”), and they have to obey you as they would Jesus.  In that sense we are free.  However, these spirits are still present in the world and will sometimes take a particular interest in individuals.  You can kick them out of a geographical area (exorcism) but they may hang out on the periphery and look for opportunities to plague a person even though they have no real “grasp” on that individual.  Think of it this way:  a Christian has become slippery with Christ’s righteousness and demons can no longer grasp us…but they can still try to poke us with sticks, so we need to be aware of the possibility that they are operating nearby and take advantage of our authority to tell them to go away. 

 I don’t think anyone really knows all the rules of this stuff:  i.e., how far do they have to go away when we cast them out of a place, how much can they poke us, etc.  What I know is this:  as a believer you have absolute authority over evil spirits.  Because of this they will be less direct in their efforts.  This, of course, assumes that there are still demons interested in you, personally, which there may not be.  Any spirits that were interested in you while you were involved in the occult may well have moved on to an easier target.  There are a limited number of these spirits (though I have no idea how many) and they are neither omniscient nor omnipotent.  They have to be in nearby in order to do their thing.  The same applies to Satan himself.  I’m always amused at how many people who say things like “Satan has really been giving me a hard time” as though he was either omni-present or was personally following them around.  I’m almost positive that Satan himself has no idea who I am! J

 We live in fallen world and much of the pain and difficulty we face is a result of that, rather than spiritual attack.  However, our sin does give evil spirits a “foothold” in our lives (Eph. 4:26-27), so it’s important that we stay holy so that we can stay free.  In other words, it’s a balance:  there are spirits who will try to hurt us, so we need to be aware of them and take up the authority we have over them.  But evil spirits are not the cause for every problem we have, either.  As C.S. Lewis said, we need to be aware of them without being in awe of them.    

Is this at all helpful?

Craig

February 17, 2010

Awake

Filed under: Christian Living, Craig Smith — Tags: , , — Craig Smith @ 9:46 AM

I’m at my home church this weekend, something I really value since the whole Christian speaker gig keeps me on the road and away from home too many Sundays.  This weekend I’ll be serving as lead worshipper.  As I’ve been preparing, I’ve been thinking about a new song we’re going to do:  Christ Is Risen by Matt Maher.  If you haven’t heard it yet, you should definately check it out.

Somewhat ironically, though the song is a bit edgy, the text of the song is borrowed in large measure from the words of John Chrysostom who preached during the late 4th and into the early 5th century.  A liturgical reading from Chrysostom, still used today in Greek Orthodox churches, has the people say:  “Christ is risen from the dead, conquering death by death, and to those in the tombs, bestowing life.”

Matt Maher has turned this into an invitation.  His chorus reads:  Christ has risen from the death, conguering over death by death, come awake, come awake, come and rise up from the grave!

I love that line!  I don’t know if Chrysostom or Maher had it in mind, but this line reminds me of

Isaiah 60:1-5: 
This passage is most directly a promise to the nation of Israel as a nation, but it contains hints of glory that are applicable to all of God’s people whether Jewish or not.  I am particularly struck by the call to “Arise, shine, for your light has come” and the promise that kings will come to “the brightness of your rising”.
Am I fully awake?  Can the world discern the brightness of my rising?
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 “For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. 3 “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 “Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried in the arms. 5 “Then you will see and be radiant…

“Arise, shine; for your light has come, And the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. 2 “For behold, darkness will cover the earth And deep darkness the peoples; But the LORD will rise upon you And His glory will appear upon you. 3 “Nations will come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising. 4 “Lift up your eyes round about and see; They all gather together, they come to you. Your sons will come from afar, And your daughters will be carried in the arms. 5 “Then you will see and be radiant…
This passage is most directly a promise to the nation of Israel as a nation, but it contains hints of glory that are applicable to all of God’s people whether Jewish or not.  I am particularly struck by the call to “Arise, shine, for your light has come” and the promise that kings will come to “the brightness of your rising”.
Am I fully awake?  Can the world discern the brightness of my rising?
 

 

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