The Chocolate Gate Scandal: Part IV

September 15th, 2006

THE CHOCOLATE GATE SCANDAL: PART IV

You know, I have to be honest, I can’t say that I am all that strong spiritually right now. It would be a real stretch. Sometimes, I really just want to take a baseball bat and beat people around me, just to let them know how I am feeling, to give them a small taste. It isn’t healthy, it isn’t loving, but seriously, that’s what I’m these days. I keep telling myself, there are people out there worse off than me, but when the pain takes over, it really is hard to keep that perspective. And I have this really nasty pain in my arm, with whelps and stuff that pain killers don’t do much for and the worst of it all, I feel like a whiner. I whine and whine and whine… won’t this guy just shut up?

Luke 16:19-31
“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.”

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’”

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’”

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’”

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’

“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’”

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:20 gate:
pulōn (noun)

• a large gate: of a palace


• the front part of a house, into which one enters through the gate, porch


• a gateway, door way or a building or city; by implication a portal or vestibule: - gate, porch.

Essentially, Lazarus was sitting on this rich man’s porch begging for the crumbs that he had, and he wouldn’t even give him those. And the man’s dogs would come up and lick on the guys wounds, and I am assuming the dogs and the rich mans, it makes sense in my mind, anyway. The poor guy was bad off. I mean bad off in ways that are hard to understand. And yet his name means “whom God helps”. Would you say that he felt helped as he sat there on the porch of a rich man, being licked by dogs, sores all over his body, and starving for food? Yeah, I wouldn’t think so. How about this: would you say that he was feeling loved by God? And how about those around him who were supposed to be helping him in his time of need, where were they? I mean, the dude could have been getting all sorts of bitter in all sorts of areas, yet he continually sat at the same place and did the same thing. I’ve heard it once said, that if you do the same thing over and over again, expecting different results, that is the definition of insanity. I don’t know about Lazarus, but all the same, he still didn’t deserve to go through what he went through. The poor guy, that must have been something else. Again, in his time, no doctors to tell him that there’s nothing wrong him, no other doctors to tell him that they can’t help him, and still no other doctors to tell him that they have no clue as to what in the world is wrong with him.

Luke 16:20 Lazarus:
Lazaros (noun)

• Lazarus = “whom God helps” (a form of Eleazar)


• an inhabitant of Bethany, beloved by Christ and raised from the dead by him


• a very poor and wretched person to whom Jesus referred to in Luke 16:20-25

But, let’s flip this around a little. The gate is not just a porch, per se, but by Greek definition, it is also a portal. And for the rich man, he could pass through the portal and do his part in helping Lazarus, doing what that Samaritan did, feeding him and taking care of his wounds, wouldn’t that portal end him in a different direction? I can’t help but think so… but then again, it is written that is easier for a rich man to go through the eye of a needle than to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Johnny Out.

The Long Fly Out

September 13th, 2006

THE LONG FLY OUT

I like baseball. Most people these days go to a game to see the big flashy homerun, the big numbers on the scoreboard and the fireworks when the home team puts up some huge show. And being a baseball fan myself, I can’t say that I’m not much different. But I do like a great pitching game. I can stand to see a game where the final score is 2-1, or heaven forbid 1-0. And in 12 innings at that! But if it weren’t for my parents, I most likely wouldn’t like baseball. And if it weren’t for the Rangers being here in Arlington, my parents wouldn’t take me to games, thus I wouldn’t like baseball. But right now, if I had to liken myself to a baseball metaphor, I would choose a fly ball out.

1st John 3:11-24
This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

1st John 3:20 condemn:
kataginōskō (verb)

• To find fault with, blame


• To accuse, condemn


• To note against, that is, find fault with: - blame, condemn.

Condemn (verb):

• To express an unfavorable or adverse judgment on; indicate strong disapproval of; censure.


• To pronounce to be guilty; sentence to punishment.


• To give grounds or reason for convicting or censuring.

1st John 3:18 words:
logos (noun)

• Of speech, a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea, what someone has said, a word, the sayings of God, decree, mandate or order, of the moral precepts given by God, Old Testament prophecy given by the prophets, what is declared, a thought, declaration, aphorism, a weighty saying, a dictum, a maxim; discourse, the act of speaking, speech, the faculty of speech, skill and practice in speaking, a kind or style of speaking, a continuous speaking discourse – instruction, doctrine, teaching, anything reported in speech; a narration, narrative, matter under discussion, thing spoken of, affair, a matter in dispute, case, suit at law, the thing spoken of or talked about; event, deed


• its use as respect to the MIND alone, reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, calculating


• account, i.e. regard, consideration


• account, i.e. reckoning, score


• account, i.e. answer or explanation in reference to judgment


• relation, i.e. with whom as judge we stand in relation, reason would, reason, cause, ground


• In John, denotes the essential Word of God, Jesus Christ, the personal wisdom and power in union with God, his minister in creation and government of the universe, the cause of all the world’s life both physical and ethical, which for the procurement of man’s salvation put on human nature in the person of Jesus the Messiah, the second person in the Godhead, and shone forth conspicuously from His words and deeds.


• something said (including the thought); by implication a topic (subject of discourse), also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension a computation; specifically (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (that is, Christ): - account, cause, communication, X concerning, doctrine, fame, X have to do, intent, matter, mouth, preaching, question, reason, + reckon, remove, say (-ing), shew, X speaker, speech, talk, thing, + none of these things move me, tidings, treatise, utterance, word, work.

1st John 3:18 tongue:
glōssa (noun)

• The tongue, a member of the body, an organ of speech


• A tongue, the language or dialect used by a particular people distinct from that of other nations


• Of uncertain affinity; the tongue; by implication a language (specifically one naturally un-acquired): - tongue.

1st John 3:18 actions:
ergon (noun)

• Business, employment, that which any one is occupied, that which one undertakes to do, enterprise, undertaking


• Any product whatever, any thing accomplished by hand, art, industry, or mind


• An act, deed, thing done: the idea of working is emphasized in opp. to that which is less than work


• To work; toil (as an effort or occupation); by implication an act: - deed, doing, labor, work.

1st John 3:18 truth:
alētheia (noun)

• Objectively, what is true in any matter under consideration, truly, in truth, according to truth, of a truth, in reality, in fact, certainly


• what is true in things appertaining to God and the duties of man, moral and religious truth, in the greatest latitude, the true notions of God which are open to human reason without his supernatural intervention


• the truth as taught in the Christian religion, respecting God and the execution of his purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposing alike to the superstitions of the Gentiles and the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt opinions and precepts of false teachers even among Christians


• subjectively, truth as a personal excellence, that candor of mind which is free from affection, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit


• Truth: - true, X truly, truth, verity.

I don’t want to give a big speech about how much I love God or my parents or my friends. That would be all great and wonderful, but how much better would it be to do something for them. How much better would it be to put my love into action. Would I like to be a homerun? Would I like to “going, going, gone”? Or would I like to stay in the game and hang short for a fly ball out? Tough call. For me, I just don’t want to be gone. I’d rather be short than gone. Johnny Out.

The Chocolate Gate Scandal: Part III

September 11th, 2006

THE CHOCOLATE GATE SCANDAL: PART III

Now, I have had a few people ask why the chocolate in the title and why the scandal, so here’s the explanation. I like chocolate. I’m making fun of the Watergate Scandal… so there you go. The Chocolate Gate Scandal. This study is of course about gates in the Bible… so there you go. Nothing more than that, so sorry to disappoint anyone.

Luke 7:12 gate:
pulē (noun)

• A gate (of the larger sort) in the wall of either a city; a palace; a town; the temple; a prison


• The gates of hell (likened to a vast prison)


• Metaphorically the access or entrance into any state


• A gate, that is, the leaf or wing of a folding entrance (literally or figuratively): - gate.

Gate (noun):

• A movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.


• An opening permitting passage through an enclosure.


• A tower, architectural setting, etc., for defending or adorning such an opening or for providing a monumental entrance to a street, park, etc.


• A mountain pass.


• Any movable barrier, as at a tollbooth or a road or railroad crossing.


• A gateway or passageway in a passenger terminal or pier that leads to a place for boarding a train, plane, or ship.


• A sliding barrier for regulating the passage of water, steam, or the like, as in a dam or pipe; valve.

Matthew 7:13 narrow:
Stenos (adj.)

• narrow, strait


• narrow (from obstacles standing close about): - strait.

Narrow (adj.):

• Of little breadth or width; not broad or wide; not as wide as usual or expected.


• Limited in extent or space; affording little room.


• Limited in range or scope.


• Lacking breadth of view or sympathy, as persons, the mind, or ideas.


• With little margin to spare; barely adequate or successful; close.


• Careful, thorough, or minute, as a scrutiny, search, or inquiry.


• Limited in amount; small; meager.


• Straitened; impoverished.

Strait (adj.):

• Strict and severe.

Strait (noun):

• A narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water.


• A bad or difficult situation or state of affairs.

Something shared from my wife, Jenny:
That is enlightening about the “strait and narrow”. How about the scripture that was shared at the teacher's communion?
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

definition of bolded part:
yâshar
yaw-shar'
A primitive root; to be straight or even; figuratively to be (causatively to make) right, pleasant, prosperous: - direct, fit, seem good (meet), + please (well), be (esteem, go) right (on), bring (look, make, take the) straight (way), be upright (-ly).

God’s way may not be “pleasant” or “prosperous” from a worldly definition, but his way is certainly more pleasant and prosperous for us than the world’s way!

Those are some good thoughts from her. And you what, today, actually five years ago today, the World Trade Center Towers came down. I don’t even remember it. I remember seeing video days later and weeks later of the tragedy. I think the bigger tragedy is how people turned to God when it happened and then a few months later things seem to go back to normal. I mean, does that not show the real heart of the person?

Matthew 26:69-75
Now Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, and a servant girl came to him. “You also were with Jesus of Galilee,” she said.

But he denied it before them all. “I don't know what you're talking about,” he said.

Then he went out to the gateway, where another girl saw him and said to the people there, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.”

He denied it again, with an oath: “I don’t know the man!”

After a little while, those standing there went up to Peter and said, “Surely you are one of them, for your accent gives you away.”

Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don't know the man!”

Immediately a rooster crowed. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.

Matthew 26:71 gateway:
pulōn (noun)

• a large gate: of a palace


• the front part of a house, into which one enters through the gate, porch


• a gateway, door way or a building or city; by implication a portal or vestibule: - gate, porch.

I found it interesting that Peter denied that he knew Christ at a Gateway. And I also took note that the first two denials where back to back, but the third was “after a little while”, so he even had time to think about it… This is a big puzzle, but I am seeing it come together beautifully. Anyway, I have a few more scriptures, a few more days, I guess… Johnny Out.

The Chocolate Gate Scandal: Part II

September 10th, 2006

THE CHOCOLATE GATE SCANDAL: PART II

Luke 7:11-17
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out - the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

There’s a lot to be said about a gate, especially in the Bible, and that is what I am going to be studying on the next few days. I don’t know why, I just want to.

Luke 7:12 gate:
pulē (noun)

• A gate (of the larger sort) in the wall of either a city; a palace; a town; the temple; a prison


• The gates of hell (likened to a vast prison)


• Metaphorically the access or entrance into any state


• A gate, that is, the leaf or wing of a folding entrance (literally or figuratively): - gate.

Gate (noun):

• A movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.


• An opening permitting passage through an enclosure.


• A tower, architectural setting, etc., for defending or adorning such an opening or for providing a monumental entrance to a street, park, etc.


• A mountain pass.


• Any movable barrier, as at a tollbooth or a road or railroad crossing.


• A gateway or passageway in a passenger terminal or pier that leads to a place for boarding a train, plane, or ship.


• A sliding barrier for regulating the passage of water, steam, or the like, as in a dam or pipe; valve.

Now, in the OT and even in the time of Christ, the cities had huge walls built around them. The only way into the cities was through the gates, which generally were long and winding to help prevent armies from entering into the cities, a big defensive mechanism for the city. That may not shed too much light on this scripture… but when you look at other scriptures it does.

Matthew 7:13-14
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Matthew 7:13 narrow:
Stenos (adj.)

• narrow, strait


• narrow (from obstacles standing close about): - strait.

Narrow (adj.):

• Of little breadth or width; not broad or wide; not as wide as usual or expected.


• Limited in extent or space; affording little room.


• Limited in range or scope.


• Lacking breadth of view or sympathy, as persons, the mind, or ideas.


• With little margin to spare; barely adequate or successful; close.


• Careful, thorough, or minute, as a scrutiny, search, or inquiry.


• Limited in amount; small; meager.


• Straitened; impoverished.

Strait (adj.):

• Strict and severe.

Strait (noun):

• A narrow channel of the sea joining two larger bodies of water.


• A bad or difficult situation or state of affairs.

You know… people often talk about the “straight and narrow”. They don’t understand. They miss it entirely. It’s the STRAIT and narrow. That changes things completely. Straight is a line that doesn’t curve. Strait is being strict and severe. It doesn’t mean that having a “strait” attitude means being harsh, by any means, but it does mean being a little radical. I have to be strait to get to the gate. Johnny Out.

The Chocolate Gate Scandal

September 9th, 2006

THE CHOCOLATE GATE SCANDAL

I thought this was interesting, so I figured I would share it…
A Baptist View on the Church of Christ (from my textbook “Baptists: History-Distinctives-Relationships”):
Alexander Campbell became a Baptist in 1813. He had been Presbyterian, but concluded that baptism should be applied to believers by immersion. Campbell and several others received immersion from a Baptist preacher in 1813 and formed an independent church. Baptists in that area assumed that, since the Campbell’s had received immersion, therefore they were Baptists. They invited, even pressured, the Campbell’s and their independent church to affiliate with the local Baptist association. Time revealed that the similarities between Campbell and the Baptists were shallow, and the differences deep. They disagreed on the nature of the Bible (Campbell rejected the authority of the Old Testament); the nature of saving faith (Campbell believed that a rational “head belief” was adequate); the Lord’s Supper (Campbell believed it should be observed every Sunday); church music (Campbell believed there should be no instrumental music in church); and the role of baptism (Campbell taught that baptism brings salvation). After several years of controversy, Campbell and his followers withdrew from Baptist life in 1830 and formed the Disciples of Christ (sometimes called Church of Christ). Many Baptists followed Campbell; historians estimate that in Tennessee and Kentucky about half the Baptists became Disciples.

So, I could respond to all that, but I won’t. Not now, anyway. Just as the Churches of Christ have this reputation amongst the Baptists, the Baptists have a reputation with everyone else as a “pray Jesus into your heart and that’s all you need” mentality. Rob a bank? Well, pray Jesus into your heart and you’ll be OK. I’m not trying to mock them, I’m just pointing out the reputation.

Did you know that Luke mentions the word “widow” ten times? The most of the first four books of the NT. Second would be Mark with five. Matthew uses it once… and John, well ZERO. Anyway, my scripture:

Luke 7:11-17
Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out - the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”

Then he went up and touched the coffin, and those carrying it stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.

They were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us," they said. “God has come to help his people.” This news about Jesus spread throughout Judea and the surrounding country.

There’s a lot to be said about a gate, especially in the Bible, and that is what I am going to be studying on the next few days. I don’t know why, I just want to.

Luke 7:12 gate:
pulē (noun)

• A gate (of the larger sort) in the wall of either a city; a palace; a town; the temple; a prison




• The gates of hell (likened to a vast prison)




• Metaphorically the access or entrance into any state




• A gate, that is, the leaf or wing of a folding entrance (literally or figuratively): - gate.

Gate (noun):

• A movable barrier, usually on hinges, closing an opening in a fence, wall, or other enclosure.




• An opening permitting passage through an enclosure.




• A tower, architectural setting, etc., for defending or adorning such an opening or for providing a monumental entrance to a street, park, etc.




• A mountain pass.




• Any movable barrier, as at a tollbooth or a road or railroad crossing.




• A gateway or passageway in a passenger terminal or pier that leads to a place for boarding a train, plane, or ship.




• A sliding barrier for regulating the passage of water, steam, or the like, as in a dam or pipe; valve.

I think I will just leave it at this and get some sleep for now… and add some more later. Johnny Out.