Blog » The Christ Hymn 

Monday, June 24, 2013 Nick Cirino

 http://www.flickr.com/photos/29811338@N05/

Some scholars guess that Philippians 2:6-11 was an early church hymn that Paul was quoting. We can’t be sure if it was or not—but if it was a song, what a beautiful song! I would love to hear these lyrics set to music someday.

Moisés Silva in his commentary on Philippians makes a translation where he tries to preserve the poem-like rhythm of the passage. I wanted to share it with you: 

Who in the form of God existing

Not an advantage considered

His being equal with God 

But nothing he made himself

The form of a servant adopting

In likeness of men becoming 

And in appearance being found as man

He humbled himself

Becoming obedient to death—

And death of a cross 

Therefore also exalted him God

And granted him the name

That’s above ev’ry name 

So that in the name of Jesus

Ev’ry knee may bow of those in heav’n

And on earth and under the earth 

And every tongue may confess

That Jesus Christ is Lord

To God the Father’s glory 


From: Philippians,2nd edition, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Baker: Grand Rapids, 2005), 93-94.     For More:  Follow on Twitter  @jefflampl

Blog » Asking the Hard Questions, Part 4

Friday, June 21, 2013 Nick Cirino

  The past couple days we have been talking about ideas for studying the Bible. Today we’ll finish the series.

(Review)

FIRST, write out the scripture in one column on a piece of paper.


SECOND, start reading through the text and writing down questions.


Here’s what to do today:


THIRD, start looking for answers to your questions. First look at the rest of the book. Then think about other Scriptures that could help you answer your questions.


Still stumped? Talk to someone about it. Sit down with a spouse or a friend and see if you can find some answers together. This is huge! If at all possible, do this!

You can even use internet resources. Beware though, there is much more bad than good on the internet; examine everything critically. I like Got Questions and Ask Pastor John.


You won’t have answers to all your questions. Some will still stump you. But don’t give up. Keep it in your back pocket. Sometimes I’ve gotten the answers to hard questions years after I asked them. But if I hadn’t asked them, I don’t think I would have found the answers.


FOURTH, look through everything you’ve studied and ask yourself, “Out of all of this what is the one or two things that I need to apply most to my life right now?” Let the Scripture not only inform you, but transform you.

Blog » Asking the Hard Questions, Part 3

Thursday, June 20, 2013 Nick Cirino

Did you have time to write out Philippians 2 yesterday and ask some questions? If not, would you have time to today?

Use the “comment” link below to post one the questions you wrote down, whether it’s simple or profound. Both are great!


Here’s my question:


Verse 2. What does it mean to be “of the same mind?”

Blog » Asking the Hard Questions, Part 2

NOTE: For the next few weeks our student intern from Westminster Theological Seminary, Nick Cirino, will be writing the blogs. Nick’s heart for God tremendous and I value his insights into scripture. Keeping digging into Philippians!!!  Pastor Jeff 

 

Wednesday, June 19, 2013 Nick Cirino

So let’s talk about asking questions. 

Yesterday, we talked about how everyone has different methods of studying the Bible. Today I’m going to share one I use, based roughly on the method that uses Observation, Interpretation, and Application. 

My challenge to you this week is to try this method. You may not like it at first or even after finishing it. But then again, you might. And it could be a tool that you use from time to time. It’s not complicated, but we’ll cover it in small steps.

Second, start reading through the text and writing down questions. Ask any question you think is relevant. Ask obvious questions. Ask the hard questions. Make observations. Mark up the page! 

• “How is verse 1 and 2 related?”
• “How can the Philippians make Paul’s joy complete?”

“How do I do NOTHING from selfish ambition or conceit?”

“When he says I should not look out for my own interests, does he mean I shouldn’t take
 care of my stuff? What does he mean?”

“Paul says we should have the same attitude that was in Christ...what does this look  
 like?

”Here’s some (rather rough) examples from my study of Philippians 1 and 2:

 

 

 

 

Blog » Asking the Hard Questions, Part 1
NOTE: For the next few weeks our student intern from Westminster Theological

Seminary, Nick Cirino, will be writing the blogs. Nick’s heart for God is tremendous

and I value his insights into scripture. Keeping digging into Philippians!!! 
Pastor Jeff
Tuesday, June 18, 2013 Nick Cirino

Everyone has different methods of studying the Bible. Observation, Interpretation, Application. Inductive Bible Studies. Discourse Analysis. Rhetorical Analysis. And the list goes on. 

Most of them are very good. I don’t have a consistent method that I use. Sometimes I enjoy studying in a way that I normally wouldn’t. I usually tend to read a chapter or a couple chapters at a time. For a while I changed things up and read through 1 Peter very slowly, trying to soak in everything I could about every sentence.  

More recently I have been reading the Bible less often but trying to read bigger chunks at a time. I read the book of Judges in one sitting (it took about an hour—with some stretch breaks!) and I noticed things I don’t think I would have if I had read the book over the course of a week or two. There was something refreshing about seeing Judges as a whole. The big picture was that Israel was on a downward spiral of unfaithfulness to God and they needed a king to lead them back in obedience to God (that king came, his name is Jesus).

What works for you in studying the Bible? Are you a routine person? Make a routine. You don’t tend to stick to routines (I’m in this camp), then don’t make a routine; get creative and find what works for you. 

The way you study the Bible doesn’t have to look a specific way. Sometimes I think we approach Bible study as if God has said, “Thou shalt read a chapter every morning before breakfast” (he hasn’t!)  

The goal is much bigger than that. The goal is that God’s word would permeate your life and mind. Do you feel the weight of that call? What can you do to move your life in the direction of that goal?             “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another
          in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in     
          your hearts to God.”       (Col 3:16 ESV)

Blog » Welcome to Holland

                                                   Monday, June 17, 2013 Jeff Lampl

NOTE: Yesterday in worship Marty Sarkissisn shared his story of being diverted by God from the life he had planned. As you read Marty’s story maybe you, too, will be able to see the sweetness and beauty of Holland, not under your circumstances, nor beneath them, but in the midst of them.

“I want to share a story of hopeful brokenness today.  It’s a story of a journey that my wife and I experience in the wilderness of parenting a child with special needs and developmental challenges. This is a story of imperfection and mistakes, and one I trust the Lord will use to speak to each of us today in our own trials, and above all to advance the Gospel. 
There's a tale in the world of parenting kids with disabilities called "Welcome to Holland."  It asks you to imagine that you have spent a lifetime planning for a wonderful trip to Italy.  It asks you to imagine your excitement as you plan to see many of the beautiful aspects of Italy - its art, its history, its coliseums, its coastlines, and so on.  It's all you've ever wanted and hoped for.  Midway through the story the writer asks you to imagine the Captain of the plane coming in the intercom to inform you that there has been a change in the flight plan that you cannot influence - and advises you that you will be rerouted to Holland; and says you will never to get to Italy. So the reader is encouraged to answer some tough questions... 
How would you feel?  How would you react?  Most would say, "I'd be angry", or "I'd cry", or "I'd do whatever I had to get to Italy" - and you'd be normal to feel all those emotions.  But in the end, you can't get to Italy.  And In time, the author says, you will learn to appreciate the beauty of Holland: its flowers, people, countryside, windmills, and everything else it has to offer. 

I trust you get the picture.  The itinerary I created about what my child, my son, would be, the things we would do together, how life would go, said something different than where we have landed. And I can tell you that learning to love "Holland" for what it is, is easier said than done. 

- The truth, is that I've been angry at the Captain for years about our situation.
 - The truth, is that my wife and I cry together often about having to live in Holland instead of
    Italy.

- The truth, is that I have been consumed for years by trying to figure out a way to make our   
   situation look and feel more like "Italy".

- The truth, is that Italy isn't coming.

- The truth, is that until the past year or so, I've missed so much of the beauty that Holland has
   to offer because I've never accepted that Holland is the destination.

-  And the truth, is that because I have been so controlled with what IS NOT, on occasion
   I've overlooked the beauty of what IS.

To be clear today, these revelations come not through my own efforts, but by The Lord revealing more of Himself to me through some who sit in this room this morning; through His prompting that what's expected of me is a faithful perseverance in the midst of life's storms; and through His Insight that reminds me that best way to love one with Special needs is to first recognize that I have my own - and that I need to deal with them first and foremost in order to begin to appreciating "Holland" more. 

The men's retreat this year was fertile ground for some real awareness around my own challenges preventing me from more fully accepting who my son is.The Lord spoke to me through Ken Strawhecker around the reality that the Jews took what should have been a short trip, and made it a real long one because of their unfaithfulness and turning away from Him time and time again.  The lesson for me was that my Unfaithfulness - my Golden cow, was NOT that I pursue how to better help my son, but that the pursuit itself comes at the expense of time with God - of seeking more of His wisdom on how to "Father" well through adversity.  And so I've wandered much longer than I've needed to because of ME, not my son or my God.  I remember the moment the insight hit me.  As Ken was speaking, I remember thinking, "boy the Jews were stupid - how could they forget all of God’s blessings that brought them out of Egypt, all the daily provisions, the parting of the Sea,..." (Hey ....wait...that's me!). 

Through Jimmy Herman, the Lord revealed to me that my views of "protection" are an illusion - that I need to put more faith in the belief that the Lord has my son's future in His hand much better than a trust fund ever will.  Not that the latter isn't important, but rather that it shouldn't eclipse the priority of trusting in Gods protection and provision first. 

Through Andy Moran and Skip Cheek - The Lord revealed that being consumed by worry and fear for his future, leads to a stronger urge to control, and that control is, in Andy's words, a "chokehold" that is getting in the way of how The Lord wants to use my son to heal this broken world. 

God's feedback hurts sometimes. 

As I returned from the retreat, we decided to sign our son up for AG little league for the first time. The truth, while it hurts, is that we've avoided leagues until this year for fear of how kids would treat or accept him. But with the Lords prompting, and the words "release your chokehold" in my ears, we forged ahead. 

And lo and behold, God blessed us with a coach who has a boy with similar needs, teammates who encouraged and included our son game after game, and the other players' families who cheered him on game after game. At the end of the season party, The Lord spoke again through a Father of another player. As we talked together, he said "I can’t say enough how much Jake has blessed us all this season". 

I want to share with you some of the sweet fragrance of Holland - some I've noticed since the retreat; some that I missed before but reflected on after. 

1. A Latin American missionary named Reuben came to our home group one night and my son Jake was running around the house, kind of wild, Reuben pulled Jake aside and held Jake’s face in his hands without saying a word. I’ve never seen Jake so still! Reuben didn’t say a word, but then said to me – “I see Christ in his eyes”.
2. At another time I had become sick with the flu and ended up in bed for four days. When Jake was younger I had read scripture to him before bedtime, but as he became older I had gotten away from that. But then I began again to read Proverbs to him, but when I became sick I couldn’t do it. But one night I heard Jake making some noise. He was pulling a chair into my bedroom. He said down and said, “Dad tonight I’m going to read Proverbs to you. ” My friend Fran said it well, “that’s better than a home run”. 

Please hear me - Holland ain't perfect. It has its arguments, stress, disagreements, and failures- many of which are mine. 

But our choice, with certainty, is to stay in Him, to stay together, and to share our story so that His good news can be advanced. 

I stand here today with hope for our situation through God’s wisdom, given through this church family. 

Our stories of trust in God, and perseverance in life matter to each other. There are other people in Holland too I've found; some with similar issues - but some with ones surrounding cancer survival, broken relationships, addictions, unmet expectations, and so on. 

If you look around you - it's likely that the person next to you is not where they expected to be in life, with their jobs, their families, their relationship with The Lord. 

So ladies and gentlemen- this is your Captain speaking through me. It's going to be a long flight. Love God, Serve Each Other, and Share the Gospel. It will make a difference now, and an eternal difference toward the final destination.

Blog » Worthy

Friday, June 14, 2013 Jeff Lampl 

NOTE: Be sure to read Philippians One before going to see “Man of Steel”

“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ . . . . . . For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake”     Philippians 1:27-39 (ESV) 

Tonight’s the night!  I’m going to see Man of Steel!   Actually no.  My plans changed.  I have to wait until Wednesday.  Bummer.   But my daughter and I are going to the Franklin Instituted to watch it in 3D!    I’m even going to wear the Superman T-shirt my daughter bought me!   Not sure that’s a “manner of life worthy of the Gospel” but I’m wearing mine and she's wearing hers.  Humiliation isn't my favorite thing but that's what dads do for daughters! From the Promo;

          “A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this earth.
           As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was
           sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from
           annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind” 

I wrote down the following quotes from the two trailers I’ve watched (http://manofsteelresources.com).  Note how they are allusions to, pointers toward, hints at, signposts for something much bigger and more real, in fact ultimate.    In the Superman myth we can catch glimpses of God and Christ.    Superman is one of dozens of myths from ancient Greece and Scandinavia to today’s superhero stories.  What is cool to finally realize is that Christianity in some way shape or form is myth having become fact in Jesus Christ.   Here are the quotes . . . .

“He’ll be an outcast”
“They’ll kill him”
“They won’t be able to” (the resurrection)
“He’ll be a god to them”
“What if a child dreams of becoming something other than what society has intended”
“What if a child aspires to something greater”
“You’re the answer son, you’re the answer to who we are alone in the universe”
“I have to believe you were sent here for a reason and even if it takes you the rest of your life”
“For some he is a guardian angel. For others a ghost who never quite fit in”
“You will give the people of earth an ideal to strive towards”
“They will stumble they will fall but in time they will join you in the sun”
“In time you will help them accomplish wonders” (John 14:12)
“Just have to decide what kind of man you want to be Clark”
“Whoever that man is, is going to change the world”“My father was convinced if the world really knew me they would reject me. What do you think?
[Lois Lane = Mary Magdala? Okay . . a little stretching here] 

“Lord it is my prayer, that the Superman story evokes a deep hunger in everyone who views the movie. May it move multitudes to the “aha!” that says, “whoah, could it be? Could it actually be? . . . that one day there actually was a man from the heavens who came to earth . . . . .but this man took all his powers and put them on a cross and in that way saved the world. To amazing to believe? To amazing for human beings to make up? To amazing not to be true! Thank you Lord. Amen”

NOTE:   Just now Googled reviews of Man of Steel.   Incredible how many spoke of the comparisons to Jesus and even Moses, even in the secular reviews.   Check out a few of them before you see the movie!