Journey to The Journey

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The resources below are books that have read or I am currently reading in preparation for our upcoming series over the 5 Solas of the Reformation. In a nutshell, the 5 Solas were the mantra of the Reformation, which was an effort to return to biblical Christianity.

When I was a kid, I used to walk a path through the woods behind my house that led through to a strip mall nearby. There was a bookstore there and at least once a month, my friends and I would walk there to check out that month's latest comic books. That path was familiar to me and not at all scary. That is, until I watched the original TV miniseries based on Stephen King's book, "It" (although I hear the remake is much scarier).

It's not usually a good idea to assume things, but I'm pretty confident that I am safe in assuming that everyone who reads this has experienced, first hand, the sting of betrayal. Maybe you've been "stabbed in the back" by someone you trusted. Or maybe someone you counted on let you down in some way. Regardless of how the situation may have played out, the result is always the same...hurt and disappointment. It's the destination at the end of every road that begins with a betrayal.

As Cody pointed out in this week's sermon, perhaps the most often used "type" in all of scripture is that of Jesus as the sacrificial lamb. Much of the deep theological truth that is conveyed in the typology of Jesus and the lamb is lost on readers today. To first century Jews though, the message was abundantly clear. Since the days of Moses and the tabernacle, the fully developed sacrificial system had been in place for the Jews. Moreover, sacrificial offerings to make atonement for sin had been established by God's own hand himself after the very first sin of Adam and Eve in the garden and had long been a part of human history.

When we neglect various aspects of who Jesus is then, like a diamond being viewed from only one angle, we miss the beauty that can only be seen and appreciated by looking carefully at the many faceted whole as it exists. To say that Jesus, as both fully man and fully God, is a complex individual is a vast understatement. We may struggle to simply understand all of who Jesus is, let alone love, appreciate, and ultimately worship him for it. However to struggle with the things of God is a natural part of being human. We don't have the capability or capacity of mind to even begin to grasp the depths of his nature.

In 2002, California pastor Rick Warren released a book entitled "The Purpose Driven Life." In the book, Warren proposed to answer life's greatest question by presenting God's five key purposes for human life (worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and mission). The book became an international phenomena, was translated into over 80 different languages, and sold over 30 million copies worldwide by 2007 to become the best-selling non-fiction hardback book in history, according to Publisher's Weekly. To put that number into perspective, that equates to over 16,000 copies sold per day over a 5 year period.

The Bible makes two things abundantly clear...Jesus is coming back to judge the world and make all things new again, and no one knows (or will know) when he is coming. In our final lesson this week from Matthew 24 (verses 29-51), Jesus himself drove that point home to his followers. So, what does this mystery surrounding Christ's second coming mean for us as believers today?

The "Abomination of Desolation" as discussed in the book of Daniel and referenced by Jesus in the section of his Olivet discourse that we studied this week from Matthew chapter 24 is an often debated topic among scholars and theologians. Whether Jesus is referring to the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70AD, a future event during the end times, or perhaps even some combination of both is difficult to say with certainty.

In this week's sermon from our sub-series through Philippians, we discussed some foundational points of Christian doctrine aimed at understanding Jesus' divinity so that we could better understand and appreciate his humility. This was the Apostle Paul's purpose in this portion of his letter to the Philippians. In directing their gaze upon the person and work of Christ, he was pointing them to something greater than themselves.

In a nutshell the Scribes & Pharisees were dangerously shallow in their teaching. They managed to interpret, manipulate and alter the meaning of God’s word in horrible ways. Observing how they toyed with Scripture can help us avoid the same pitfalls in biblical interpretation. At The Journey we’ve spent the last several weeks studying Matthew 5 and the shallow teaching that Jesus was correcting in his sermon on the mount. Below are 5 examples (based on Matthew 5:21-48) of how bad teaching can corrupt and destroy a pursuit of holiness.