Philippians 2:5-11

This morning I had the privilege of preaching on Philippians 2:5-11. I never get tired of that passage and what it teaches about Christ! The message will be available HERE.

1 Corinthians 4:20, “Not in talk but in power”

I’ve often wondered about Paul’s words in this verse, and I’ve never quite understood them. Why does Paul seem to discount the role of words? After all, aren’t words important since through them the gospel is proclaimed? And why does Paul seem to exalt power? Should I understand Paul to mean that when I minister I should do so in the power of miraculous healings and signs, etc?

I think Paul may have a very different understanding of power in this verse. In fact, he has even discounted such dramatic and powerful displays earlier in Corinthians.  Paul writes, “Jews look for signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. . . . Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom; God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, God’s weakness is stronger than human strength” (1 Cor 1:22-25).

Thus, Paul has defined power earlier in his letter to the Corinthians: power is none other than Christ crucified! So, in 1 Cor 4:20, Paul likely has this power in mind when he writes “the kingdom of God is not in talk but in power.” In other words, the power of the kingdom is Christ crucified and risen (cf. 1 Cor 15). Paul will proclaim the kingdom in this kind of power: always carrying around in his body the dying of the Lord so that life may be displayed. This power is despicable in the world’s eyes. So there is a great irony here. Proclaiming the kingdom in power means one will appear weak. Paul puts it like this, “I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling” (1 Cor 2:3).

Setbacks

I’ve been regularly posting things about Germany and my family’s plans to move to Munich to begin doctoral studies. And as I’ve already mentioned, the University is planning on me matriculating in September and beginning my research in October. The only thing I was waiting on was a decision from the DAAD, a scholarship that I hoped would cover my family’s living expenses. Sadly, I received word from the DAAD this week that I did not receive the scholarship. And today I found out that my professor’s plans of offering me a paid research position have fallen through. So, for some reason several doors are closing related to Germany. This does not mean that we will not be going, only that we are looking into other funding possibilities and that our plans will likely be delayed. Everything is in God’s hands; if He wants our family to move there, then it will happen; if He is closing the doors permanently, then so be it. I ask for your prayers and that God will make his will clear for my family.

Google’s privacy changes

There’s been a lot of hype recently about how Google is going to start tracking the websites visited by their users. I thought I’d spare them the trouble and provide my own list (in order of my most visited):

1. Yahoo (for email and news)
2. Facebook
3. My blog at wordpress, and other blogs
4. NFL.com – I rooted for the Giants all season
5. Deutsch Perfekt and spiegel.de — for various articles and audio clips
6. Fox news

So, there you have it Google. If you choose to track me, these are the websites you will find.

N.T. Wright on How to Read the Bible

Check out this video (click HERE) over at secundum Scritpuras in which N. T. Wright offers his advice on how to read the Bible. He compares it to listening to a symphony and being swept away in the flow; what a great description!