Dare to Be a Daniel

Emotional Pain is an ugly monster, and a very tough one. Imagine a predator or anything scary ..We need to know how to defeat it, kill the fear and tell ourselves we are stronger than it. We need a strong functional tactic to conquer it. Determination and a strong will, is one key to make it vanish, life experiences is another  but it is through scripture and my love of Christ is my ultimate fear remedy.

Mr. Baker taught mathematics at my High School for many years. Before giving us a test, he would put things in perspective for us by admonishing us with these words:

"Today I am giving two examinations: one in trigonometry, and the other in honesty. I hope you will pass them both. But, if you must fail one, fail trigonometry. There are many good people in the world that cannot pass trigonometry, but there are no good people in the world that cannot pass the examination of honesty."

It doesn’t take long to realize that the really important tests in life come long after school is out. Many times the tests are painful. And sometimes they are like pop exams—they take us by surprise!

That’s why the apostle Peter wrote: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).

Referring to trials, the apostle Peter also said, “These [trials] have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:7).I realized early the unusual potential of teaching spiritual truths through appropriate songs. My favorite was

 “Dare to Be a Daniel” it goes like this:

Dare to be a Daniel;
dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known.

 In my study of Daniel I was surprised to find that he now finds himself facing what is probably the greatest test of his life. In Daniel 6:1-16a , he was now serving under a new king named Darius. Like the many kings before him, king Darius soon came to recognize Daniel’s great wisdom and personal integrity. Daniel, who was now approaching 90 years of age, became king Darius’ trusted friend. So Darius chose Daniel to be one of only three administrators who governed his kingdom.

Daniel so excelled at his position that the king decided to put him solely in charge of the whole government. That didn’t go over too well with the other cabinet members and high officials. In their jealousy, they tried to discredit Daniel by conducting an exhaustive background search in order to dig up some dirt from his past. That plan failed. Daniel was too much of a man of integrity.

They then decided that the only way they could trap Daniel was somehow to use his religious convictions against him. So they contrived a devious, yet ingenious, plan. The officials appealed to the king’s pride by challenging him to issue a royal decree, one that could not be altered, that would result in the execution of anyone in the kingdom who would pray to any god but to him.

The king’s pride trapped him. So he issued an unchangeable decree that said the lions’ den was for anyone who would not worship him alone. Little did the king know that, in issuing such an unchangeable decree, he was endangering the very life of his trusted friend Daniel?

As expected, it took Daniel’s peers no time at all to find him guilty of praying to his God. Daniel was then convicted of violating the king’s decree and ordered to be thrown into the lions’ den—all apart from the king’s desire. But they had Daniel—and Darius!—on a legal technicality.

So Daniel was now facing his greatest test yet! In this test I want you to see two very important truths that are meant by God to help you through the tests that you will inevitably face in life.
First, God’s tests are often designed to confront you with the reality of your own human limitations.
Humanly speaking, Daniel’s situation was without hope. Verse 16 tells us that he had just been thrown into the lions’ den.

There were three limiting factors that made for a humanly impossible situation here. The first limiting factor was the law of that day (referred to in verse 15 as the law of the Medes and Persians.) This law dictated that a king’s decree could never be revoked—not even by the king himself.
The second limiting factor was the stone referred to in verse 17. This large stone was placed over the mouth of the den to ensure that there was no physical way for Daniel to escape. The third limiting factor facing Daniel was the placement of the royal seals on the secured den. Verse 17 tells us that “the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the rings of his nobles, so that Daniel’s situation might not be changed.” The king and his nobles took moist clay and sealed it over the stone, pressing their signet rings into the clay so that if someone did try to save Daniel, they would first have to break the seals, which would have brought upon them the decree of their own execution.

Now you don’t have to be in a literal lions’ den or have a friend tossed in one to be confronted with the reality of your own limitations apart from God’s help.

I know that some of us at times feel like we are facing some personal impossibility, and are on the verge of giving up. Some are under-employed concerns today about your children. For some of you it’s an ongoing financial problem. For others it’s relational. You’ve almost given up on your marriage. In spite of all you have done, things just are not improving. They seem to be getting worse.  For some it’s a health problem or a recurring sin or addiction that you wonder if you will ever be able to conquer. No matter what you do, there just seems to be no way out. No hope for change.

The truth is that it is the most spiritually productive place you could ever be! You see, God brings you into the lions’ den because he loves you. He does so because he knows that it is only when you come to the end of yourself that you will ever be able to taste the joys of truly knowing his presence and power in your life. It is only in dying to yourself that you can come alive to God. The Lord takes great pleasure in taking the most difficult situations in life—those that seem humanly impossible to us—and using those impossibilities as a way of increasing our faith in his unlimited capability. Throughout the Scriptures we learn that temptations and trials of life are to be responded to, not by running from them, or trying to avoid them, or trying to meet them in the power of our own abilities, but by drawing near to God in faith.

The life of Daniel is really a model and an example of how God’s people can live in difficult conditions and come through victoriously. Even as the Jewish people were living in Babylonian captivity, so Christians today are pilgrims and sojourners in a foreign culture. We, like Daniel, must exercise our faith in God’s purposes and leading for our lives. We too must resolve in advance that we will not be defiled by the world. And whether our God delivers us or not from the lions’ den, we will remain faithful to him.

God Bless You And this Ministry!

Worship And Sacramental Life

In many respects the Holy Spirit’s call to worship was a call to be faithful amidst persecution in a hostile world. There is simply no Christianity worthy of the name without it. . Bible passages such as Acts 2:42-47 indicate the indispensable centrality of worship in the lives of Christians. Corporate worship is clearly essential, and the Bible warns us against minimizing it(Hebrews 10:19-25). We are called by God to Worship. I will attempt to trace a few significant developments in the Church’s worship and sacramental life.


A two-fold thrust has characterized most Christian worship throughout history. On the one hand, Christians took from synagogue services such important features as hymns, scripture readings, prayers, sermons, etc. Secondly, the unique feature of Christian worship, the one added by Jesus himself, the only “order of service” specifically commanded by Jesus, is Communion. In some places in early Christian centuries, these two components were kept clearly separated. The first part of the Sunday service (the one with components from synagogues) included both baptized and unbaptized people. Some of these people were just learning to be Christians (the initiation and instruction period prior to baptism sometimes took as long as three years!) These Christians-in the-making were known collectively as the Catechumenate(from the Greek work “katecheo,” “to instruct”). Unbaptized persons were dismissed after the first part of the service. The second part was for baptized Christians only; it centered around the Lord’s supper. By around the sixth century, when much of society was already “Christianized,” these two parts of the worship service were combined.

From the very beginning, worship was seen not as entertainment led by some people (clergy, etc.) but as participation. Our word “liturgy” (referring to the order of service) is from a Greek word meaning “work of the people.” However, in the later middle Ages a distorted view saw clergy as the chief actors, and the congregation as spectators and recipients. The Reformation (with its emphasis on corporate hymn singing, etc.) sought to restore the participatory nature of worship. However, in many Christian circles today, the notion of worship as a “show” with people in the pews as spectators and judges is still alive and well. No, let’s put it this way: prevalent, but unhealthy…and unbiblical!

Baptism has been regarded almost universally as the sacrament of admission to the Church and to the Lord’s supper. It conveys forgiveness of sin and new life in Christ with Christ’s people. Since the New Testament primarily deals with missionary situations involving adult converts, it stresses the baptism of adults. However, passages such as Act 16:33 imply that children were baptized too. By the second century, writings refer to the baptism of infants without challenge, and nothing in the first century contradicts the notion the notion that infant baptism was practiced. In contrast, nowhere in extant writings is a dedication rite for infants (in place of baptism) mentioned. A theologian named Tertullian (who was associated at one point with the distorted teachings of Montanism; in the third century expressed his doubts about the wisdom of baptizing infants. But his very words assure us that infant baptism was the common practice. According to a noted scholar, Dr.Joachim Jeremias, in his book, Infant Baptism in the First Four Centuries, it was not until c.AD.330 that we have clear evidence of a case of Christian parents letting their children grow up unbaptized. While it seems that infants of unchurched parents were not baptized (at least there is no current evidence of such a thing), clearly it was the prevailing practice to baptize children of believers as well as adults.

It was much later…in the 1500’s that the first significant attack on infant baptism arose. Perhaps it is no accident that at this late challenge arose in the heyday of a philosophy sometimes known as Renaissance Humanism. This kind of humanism stressed the great importance of individual understandings, feelings and decisions. This humanistic philosophy was probably a much more important factor in the re-baptism movement of the 1500’s than the Scriptures were, because the scriptures tell of some amazing things that God can do with infants, and even the unborn. In any event, it is safe to say that at least 90% of all the Christians who ever lived were baptized as infants and/or believed infant baptism to be Biblically and theologically valid.

Holy Communion was, from the very beginning, an integral part of worship. In the West at least, it was celebrated every Sunday by virtually all churches from the days of the Apostles through and including the Lutheran Reformation of the 1500’s. Acts 2:46 tells us that the early Christians gathered daily in the Temple. That’s how important worship was to them! In the Temple they no doubt prayed, sang psalms, heard the scriptures (Old Testament, of course), etc. But in their homes they broke bread, which very likely means celebrating the Eucharist (Communion). That was what was unique about Christian worship. That was what Christ commanded that could not be shared with everyone in the Temple. Often Christians risked their lives to gather on the Lord’s Day (Sunday)…not simply for individual prayer and meditation, but to share corporately in obedience to Christ’s command regarding Communion: “Do this in remembrance of me.”

The theology of Communion is highly complex in its development. Not all Christians believe the same things about it, other than that Christ commanded it. By the 9th century it was being suggested by some that bread and wine become the Body of Christ, i.e., are no longer bread and wine at all, except in outward appearance. To affect this miracle, a priest is essential. Here’s the way it was put in its official formulation, at the Fourth Lateran council in 1215: “The Body and Blood of Christ are truly contained…under the appearance of bread and wine, after the bread has been changed into the body, and the wine into the Blood, through the power of God. Only the rightly ordained priest can perform this sacrament. “But regardless of one’s views of the sacrament, Christ commanded it…and its blessings are immense.

Augustine (354-430) was a leading formulator of the doctrine of the sacraments in the western church. He stressed their centrality in the life of the church, emphasized their conveyance of grace, and held that they are necessary for salvation. Lastly specific patterns of worship can vary widely, but certain common components go back to the Jewish synagogue and to the Upper Room, where Jesus commanded Communion for his Church It is important to maintain these components in proper balance.

God's Blessings and this Ministry!

The Organized Church

If God is opposed to highly developed organization, he nonetheless certainly let a lot of it happen in his Church! History teaches us that, for a movement to survive beyond the first or second generation, increased complexity of organization seems a necessity. What Say You?

After its early years with a relatively loose structure, the Church of Jesus Christ became more and more complex in its organization. Is this an unfortunate result of the human tendency to over-organize and to produce hierarchical structures, or is it the Holy Spirit's guidance for a church with a world-wide mission?  I believe it was the latter. In any event, a major activity of early Christianity was the matter of getting organized.

Among the factors leading toward increased organization were the challenge of false teachings and the need to establish doctrinal authority and to clarify who the Church's Lord is. Also, large numbers of pagans were converting to Christianity, and many of these people had low levels of education and were inexperienced in the kind of leadership that the church required. The need for unity in worship and in Christian living was becoming increasingly recognized. Meanwhile, the Church's struggles with Montanism had left many Christians skeptical of ultra-spontaneous, "charismatic" leadership. In short, the Holy Spirit was seen as working for order and stability in an increasingly chaotic world. The more the structure of the once-great Roman Empire eroded, the more pressing was the need for order within the Church of Jesus Christ.

In my opinion it is a misreading of scripture to think that the New Testament had little use for structure. St. Paul, in line with traditional Jewish views of synagogue organization, instructed Titus to appoint elders "in every town" (Titus 1:5). When Paul talks about "gifts" in Ephesians 4:11-16, he lists not individual endowments, but offices in the church.The Pastoral Epistles (I & II Timothy & Titus) evidence much concern for leadership in the Church, and Paul and Barnabas themselves appointed leaders in the churches of Asia Minor (Acts 14:23). The word for "bishop," which in Greek literally means "overseer," appears over and over again. But did this refer to a formal office, or merely a function that someone assumed. Perhaps at first what we might today call the "pastor" of a church is what the New Testament calls "overseer." There is no easily-recognized and constantly-followed pattern of organization in the New Testament. However, it appears that, at least by the end of the first century, there were three offices: bishops, elders, and deacons.

Early in Church history, and with increasing force, the position of bishop became what we know it to be today the overseer of several congregations. Quite early came an incredibly strong view of the office. In a letter from Ignatius himself a bishop of Antioch in Syria, and who was soon to be martyred, the view of this man toward bishops around A.D. 110 is clearly spelled out. He writes: "Shun divisions as the beginning of evils. Do your all to follow your bishop, as Jesus Christ followed the Father, and the presbytery (elders) as the apostles, and to the deacons pay respect." Also, a man named Clement of Rome, writing in the last decade of the first century, speaks of the necessity of "apostolic succession." This is a very important concept, meaning that ordained leaders had been ordained by other leaders (bishops), who in turn could ultimately trace their own ordainers back to the apostles. Also, clergy in general became increasingly distinguished from lay members of the Church. By the beginning of the third century the distinction had become quite obvious.

Another very significant development was the elevation of the Bishop of Rome. Although, in much theorizing, bishops were equal to each other, bishops of large cities tended to gain in prominence over other bishops. The bishop of Rome eventually developed much of the aura of his city's once-proud leadership of the Roman Empire and became known as the "pope" (from the local word for "father"). Rome was the only city west of Greece to which the Apostle Paul sent a letter, and Paul and Peter were reported to have been martyred there. Just a few of the countless other factors in the rise of the Roman bishop's authority were: the leadership of Roman Christians in early developments of canon and creed; much landed wealth given by well-to-do donors; a man named Irenaus, who, in what is now southern France, wrote c.185 about the primacy of the Roman leader and the need to obey him; and the claims of Pope Leo I. This pope, who served A.D. 440-461, asserted that Peter's leadership among the apostles had been passed to his successors, the bishops of Rome. Leo persuaded the Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Valentinian III, to give him control over the Western Church (Italy, Spain, North Africa and Southern Gaul) by decree in A.D. 445. Valentinian decreed that papal decisions would have the force of law.

With these and many other developments, something was forming which became known as the catholic church. It was beginning to call itself that by the end of the second century. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch c. A.D. 110, first used the word, in the sense of "universal." He said, "wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic church." But the word has a history, and it came increasingly to be used of those who kept the historic Christian faith after encountering Gnosticism,, Marcionism, and Montanism in the mid-second century. Congregations were now much more closely tied together with one another and (in opposition to false teaching) bishops, canon and creed were firmly established. Whereas many Gnostics had claimed continuity with a secret teaching handed down orally from Jesus Catholic Christians took their stand on apostolic succession. This implied the passing along of true faith from Jesus through the apostles and bishops-the very faith embodied in canon and creeds. After the sifting process in the encounter with heretics, "catholic" became almost a synonym of "orthodox."  Finally one of the spin offs of greater unity and centralized authority is the increased ability to defend against false teachings and to maintain the faith
 under much stress. My continuing questions : Many people today frown on "organized religion" and the organized Church." What defense would you make against such attacks?  as well as how do you think the Holy Spirit wants the Church to be organized today?

God Bless You and This Ministry!