What if God didn't create the world in 7 days?
Wait a minute - Hear me out.
At the risk of my reputation, your trust, potentially even my job (or future employers who do extensive internet searches and stumble upon this blog), I want to ask you what would you do if you suddenly learned that God didn’t create the world in seven 24 hour days? Would you leave the church? Would you give up on Christianity altogether? Would comets suddenly plummet to the earth and wipe out all creation?
Maybe I should back up and ask something smaller. How would you feel if I told you that Isaiah might have actually been written by three different people over decades? Most of you probably don’t care because, honestly, who’s taken the time to really read all 66 chapters of Isaiah carefully enough to tell the subtle differences that experts fight over. It’s just a fun fact that there’s an actual debate on whether it was written by one person or three, but it has very little impact on most of our faiths. But there might be some of you who can’t believe that it’s possible, that if God used three different people then we’d have three different books and God wouldn’t have allowed us to believe a lie for centuries. I had a pastor once say from the pulpit that if you believed that Isaiah wasn’t written by one person you might as well not believe the rest of the Bible either. The awkward part was this happened a week or two after I had talked to the youth about this subject.
So back to creation. What if God didn’t create everything in seven days? Some of you probably jumped to the conclusion that I meant that God didn’t create anything, that I’m just talking about random chance or evolution without a God. There are actually at least 5 theories for a God centered creation. The one where God created everything in seven 24 hour days is called young earth. This says that the earth is between 6,000-10,000 years old and they came up with this age by going through all the genealogies in the Bible. We also have the Old Earth theory where most of what science (the what and when) says is true, but the acting force (the who and the why) behind everything was, and is, God. They say vastly different things about creation and how we should interact with science.
In his best-selling book, Velvet Elvis, Rob Bell made the comparison of this situation to a brick tower and a trampoline. Trampoline springs can be taken off, looked at, flexed, and put back without causing the whole system to fall apart. But if you have a bricks stacked on top of bricks and pull one out, the whole thing can come crashing down. Me believing God created the entire universe in 168 hours or over the course of 4 billion years doesn’t change who God is. The fact that the Sun wasn’t really the thing that stopped moving in Joshua 10:13 doesn’t mean that the whole Bible is wrong. It means that the way that the author who wrote Joshua used terms and ideas that he understood to talk about what he saw God do. It doesn’t change who God is or what he did, only our understanding of what He did and who He is. If God didn’t create the world in seven days, he would still be God, he would still be the maker of heaven and earth, he would still be the hope and savior of the world.
Be blessed.
-Nathan
Nathan Persell serves as our Youth Director. When he's not leading devotions and playing basketball with teenagers, he enjoys disc golf and bike riding. Learn more about Nathan here.
Rescue: Redeemed
Say therefore to the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians.
Exodus 6:6–7
I will find you...
We love stories of redemption. Whether a Disney animated film or an action adventure like Taken, we love to see people make real changes or helpless people rescued. Redemption makes movies and books intriguing. It also fills us with the hope that we could be redeemed as well.
That is what the gospel is all about - redemption. And it all started with the Exodus, Some 400 years before that event God told Abraham,
Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know this for certain, that your offspring shall be aliens in a land that is not theirs, and shall be slaves there, and they shall be oppressed for four hundred years; but I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions (Genesis 15:13–14).
In the book of Exodus, we read how God kept the promise he made to Abraham and brought the people out of slavery and made them his very own people. But the redemption did not end there.
The people God brought out had not existed as a nation for 400 years; they did not even know the God who redeemed them, except by way of stories they had heard about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For their redemption to be complete, they would have to know this God for themselves, see God’s power, know God’s care, and hear God’s voice.
God brought the people to Mt. Sinai to meet and experience God’s presence. They saw God in the thick darkness and lighting. The felt God in the earthquake. They heard God in the thunder and the words Moses gave them.
God had delivered them as an act of sheer grace – a promise kept. Now, they would demonstrate their gratefulness and love to God through worship and obedience. In those ways, they would become God’s people and Yahweh would be their God.
That is what redemption is all about. It is not only about being set free from something; it is about being set free for something, namely God. God redeemed us because of his great love for us. And, God redeemed us so we could cooperate with God in the redemption and rescue of the world.
Blessings!
-Alan
Alan Cassady serves as Senior Pastor at Navarre UMC, and has been at the church since 2011. When he's not preaching and teaching, he enjoys sci-fi movies and FSU Football. Read more about Alan here.
Being Holy Spirit People
““If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
Aren't we Holy Spirit People?
I'm not sure when it happened, but I think the Methodists have drifted from being Holy Spirit people. Before you stop reading, give me 5 minutes to make my case. Years ago, the Methodists were driven in every decision by the Holy Spirit. They were known in worship as being charismatic. We identified ourselves as equally honoring all three persons of the Trinity.
But somewhere along the way, our culture shifted. We started focusing on praying only in the name of Jesus and stopped talking to our children about the Holy Spirit. We have even dumbed-down the process of salvation to the phrase "Ask Jesus into your Heart." We have told people that their sinful life is ok because we are all sinners.
No, don't get me wrong. God loves us where we are in this moment. That's the incredible thing about Grace. But what's even more incredible is that he doesn't leave us where we are. He doesn't want us to be sinners, saved, that still act like sinners. He wants change.
The only way we can change our life is through the power of the Holy Sprit. The Holy Spirit which dwells within us gives us the power to commune with God. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to overcome Satan's temptations. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to love others with a holy love.
What about Jesus?
You might be wondering right now where Jesus comes into this? The reason I think we've left the Holy Spirit out so much is because we don't want to think about the complicated nature of the Trinity. Jesus made it possible for God's Spirit (the Holy Spirit) to dwell within us. In the Old Testament, the Sprit is seen as a cloud. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, the Spirit now lives within us allowing us to commune directly with God. Jesus sits in heaven with the Father petitioning on our behalf.
There are some passages that make it sound that the Holy Spirit is Christ's Spirit, but according to our Trinitarian Theology, each person of the Trinity is unique and also God. That means, The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father. Yet, all three are God. They act independently of each other and play their own roles.
How do we talk about it?
The first step to understanding the Holy Spirit is to not be afraid to talk about him (or her, whatever you prefer). You can ask the Holy Spirit to give you strength when you feel you are being temped. We should also talk about this with our children. Just because we adults have a hard time understanding the Trinity doesn't mean we should keep it from our kids. The sooner they start to hear about it, the sooner they will grasp it.
The Holy Spirit is the way God gives us power over sin in our life. We can use that power to live a holy life according to God's will. That's something children can understand.
Blessings,
Faith
Faith Parry serves as our Associate Pastor, and has been at the church since 2015. When she's not preaching and teaching, she enjoys documentaries and TV. Read more about Faith here.
Rescue: Born Again
[Nicodemus] came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”
John 3:2–3 (NRSV)
It was a common occurrence in church circles to hear an exchange like this:
“Do you know Jesus?”
“I go to church; I’m a Christian.”
“But, are you born again?”
In the 60’s there was not only the Sexual Revolution but a resurgence of interest in Jesus. One favorite song from that time stated, “I’m not religious, I just love the Lord.”
Many people grew tired of the formal dead religion in many mainline churches of the 50’s and 60’s and were looking for more. They saw many Christian who were Christians in name only (nominal Christians), with little evidence of godly character. They wanted more from their relationship with Jesus.
If fact, that is what they sought, a relationship with Jesus, a real conversion, not just mental agreement with a few doctrines. They began to experience authentic conversion and invite others to do the same they became Jesus People.
Some in the movement wanted to be distinguished from the nominal Christians they knew and so latched on the term “born again.”
There have been other movements that sought to do the same thing. People identified themselves as Spirit-filled, Full-Gospel, and nowadays, Followers of Jesus. The one thing these monikers have in common is a desire to have a genuine experience of conversion – being born again.
The passage above translates the term accurately, "born from above." You can readily see Nicodemus’ confusion. He took the phrase quite literally and wondered how it was even possible.
Jesus was speaking in spiritual terms, as he often did. What does it mean to be born from above? Being born from above means that we have had an authentic experience of conversion with a sincere desire for our values, motivations, and ethics to be shaped from the perspective of the kingdom of God.
In this way, God rescues us from the self-centeredness of our lives and frees us for life as God meant it to be.
Join me Sunday are we talk more about this part of God’s Rescue plan for us.
Blessings!
- Alan
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Alan Cassady serves as Senior Pastor at Navarre UMC, and has been at the church since 2011. When he's not preaching and teaching, he enjoys sci-fi movies and FSU Football. Read more about Alan here.
Rescue: Reconciled
But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Romans 5:8–11 (NRSV)
Estranged. That word just sounds bad, doesn’t it? Webster’s Dictionary defines the word this way: to remove from customary environment or associations; to arouse especially mutual enmity or indifference in where there had formerly been love, affection, or friendliness. Webster’s goes on to mention synonyms like alienate and disaffect.
One of the main messages of Scripture is that something has broken our relationship with God and God has been working throughout history to rescue us and restore the relationship. In most church circles, this idea is summed up in the words “saved” or “salvation.” But those words have a flat meaning – we are saved from hell and get to go the heaven.
What God accomplished in the rescue is infinitely more beautiful and comprehensive that that! For the weeks leading up to Easter, we are going to look at several of the ways the New Testament envisions God’s rescue plan for us.
We will look at images like Reconciliation, New Birth, Redemption, Citizenship, and Forgiveness. It is my hope that looking at these portrayals of God’s rescue work will help us grow in our appreciation for God’s work and the relationship God offers us.
This week we will look at the image of reconciliation. Reconciliation implies that there was a relationship that had been strained or broken; the emphasis is on the relationship. It is not just that we have broken some rules or laws and need to be forgiven, but that we have broken a relationship of trust with our heavenly Father. God has taken the first step to repairing that relationship and offering reconciliation to us. But, just like reconciling with a friend or a misbehaving spouse, reconciliation is on God’s terms and not ours. We just can’t tell God, “Yeah, I messed up, I’m sorry, so you need to just get over it.” God expects a good faith response called repentance and a willingness to submit to the relationship.
God has already done everything that can be done from his standpoint to provide for reconciliation (if he had not, reconciliation would not even be possible). Now, it is up to us to respond to that offer and come back to God.
I hope you will join us for this entire series as we explore the many-sided picture of God’s rescue.
Blessings!
- Alan
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Alan Cassady serves as Senior Pastor at Navarre UMC, and has been at the church since 2011. When he's not preaching and teaching, he enjoys sci-fi movies and FSU Football. Read more about Alan here.