Expedition 44

Interview with Keith Giles on the Church, the Kingdom of God, and Politics. Keith Giles is a former pastor who left the pulpit over a decade ago to follow Jesus. He’s the author of several books, including “Jesus Untangled: Crucifying Our Politics To Pledge Allegiance To The Lamb” in the "Jesus Un" series. Keith is the host of the podcast 2nd Cup with Keith. www.keithgiles.com  Content Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the media or comments on this channel are those of the speakers or authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views held by this channel's broadcasters.  

Faithful Witnessing is actually the big idea in revelation  Revelation 1:4-6   Revelation 2:1-7  It is interesting that much of our New Testament was written to the church in Ephesus: Ephesians, 1 and 2 Timothy, 1-3 John, and Revelation. Also, the Gospel of John was likely written by John when he was in Ephesus. We know that Paul and Timothy also ministered in this church.    Ephesus was the home to many major temples.  The patron God of Ephesus was Artemis who was the goddess of food and fertility/childbirth    Ephesus was also the hub of the imperial cult in Asia minor with a temple to the Caesars and worship of the empire. Ephesus was a center of patriotism.    Ephesus was also the center of commerce of the entire world.    Jesus is described in 2 ways… Power and Presence  ·      Jesus is described as the one who holds the 7 stars. “Holding” was a symbol of power in the Roman world.  ·      Jesus is depicted as the one that walks among the lampstands. It says he knows what they do… He is present!    o   The churches are described as lampstands here. This is temple imagery. In the Temple the lampstand was a menorah with 7 candles, representing these 7 churches.   o   the role of the lampstand in the temple was to shine light on the table of showbread. Jesus is the bread of life!   o    Our purpose as the church is to shine our light on Jesus, who is our life!    Praise for Ephesus   Jesus knows their hard work Ephesus had discernment and good doctrine  They endured hardships for Jesus’ name  They hated the practices of the Nicolatians    Forsaken Love  In verse 4 Jesus has something against them… They had forsaken the love they had at first.   • There are 2 ways this can be translated- “Left your first love” (Jesus) or “left the love you had at first” (love for others) • The second view, but it connects to the first view too (1 John 4).   • Ephesus obviously loved Jesus they obeyed his commands to be in the truth and worked hard for his name but were likely hardened in their love for each other because they had spent so much energy on standing up to the culture and for pure doctrine. These are good things, but Ephesus neglected the greatest thing.     Remember, Repent, Do  The book of Ephesians if the earliest letter we have written to this church in the Bible and it’s interesting that it’s Paul’s only letter to a church that isn’t in crisis. The only command in the first 4 chapters of the book of Ephesians is to “remember” (Eph 2:11) . The letter to Ephesians is all about what Christ has done in love for the church and how that should motivate them in love for each other.    “Conquering”  Jesus redefines Roman conquering in Revelation 5 as he conquers as a slaughtered lamb. Winning in God’s kingdom often looks like losing in the eyes of the world.    Conclusions:  ·      This is a church that was reactive and defensive towards the outside, rather than living the love of Jesus inside the church  ·      Without love for the body, we won’t be counted as a faithful witness. Jesus tell his disciples that the world would know they are disciples by their love for EACH OTHER, not by pure doctrine or good works done in his name.

Article: https://expedition44.com/2022/07/11/the-church-series-pt1-introduction/ Matt's Sermon on the Church of Ephesus in Revelation 2: https://subspla.sh/r8zp4j5  We have spent our lives trying to be good Christians that “go to church”. However, you would be hard pressed to find anything that looks like modern day American church anywhere in the pages of the Bible. It might even surprise you to know that the word “church” isn’t in the Bible. We have created the traditional concept of what we call church. In this series we’ll be looking at whether the text of scripture affirms the western form of church and what might a better way be? We are happy to support anything that seeks after God but what we do here on x44 is look at what is biblical and Jesus’ ideals and then try to align our lives with that. Ekklesia The reason the word ekklēsía is (rightly) used is because it meant “the called-out ones.”  It is an invitation, particularly focused on God’s provision of salvation (which in Hebrew is better described as an exodus or rescue).  To be part of the body that was summoned and invited by the sovereign God for the purpose of rescue from immediate danger. Revelation The reason we want to start our series with revelation is that it’s about 7 churches living in the midst of empire (Roman) and the religious (Jewish) world as called out ones. It gives some practical things to watch out for in the churches and also things we need to strive for to be a healthy church body. Revelation is a prophecy, apocalypse, and a “pastoral” letter to 7 actual churches in Asia Minor How did we get here? Like most things the church became institutionalized by merging with the world. In the 5th century Christianity became the national religion of the Roman empire under Constantine. This led to a lot of problems. professional clergy Clergy/Laity hierarchy Buildings Handcuffing of gifts in the body Institutional mindset Back to the Start The 2 major metaphors for the church in the Bible are the body and the family. This explains why the word adelphoi, translated “brethren,” appears 346 times in the New Testament. It appears 134 times in Paul’s epistles all the Christians in a local assembly. In most places, this word is Paul’s shorthand way of referring to all the believers in the church—both women and men. By contrast, the word “elders” appears only five times in Paul’s letters. “Overseers” appears only four times. And “pastors” appears only once. (346 to 10) The stress of the New Testament, then, is upon corporate responsibility. It’s the believing community that is called to carry out pastoral functions. The big idea is that the church is not an institution … it’s an organism (it’s organic)! Throughout this series we’re going to be looking at what could be a better picture of the church. Invested in relationships rather than rituals, being a living organism rather than an institution, having all the giftings of Christ on display rather than a few gifts by a few people, making disciples rather than converts.

Roe v. Wade Supreme Court Leak   • Molech is the act of sacrificing babies   • or the god himself History is filled with barbaric cultures - ancient Canaanites The Bible mentions Molech about ten times. Here are a couple of them.  — Leviticus 20:2 Jeremiah 32:35 THE PROBLEM OF EVIL:   “why does God allow all this evil to happen in the world?” and “Why does he not put a stop to it?” Canaanites: God was patient for 400 years and then decides it’s judgment day. It is one of the times in history that God actually does choose to NOT allow the evil that pervades in the world and utterly decimate it. ARCHETYPE OF EVIL The Canaanites were particularly Evil.  Genesis 19  Sodom and Gomorrah would be rebuilt In (Deuteronomy 9:4–5) God did not decide to command the Israelites to destroy all the inhabitants of Canaan simply because  He promised Abraham that his descendants would inherit that land  He commanded them to do it because the Canaanites were utterly wicked and evil people. If you’re connecting the dots… the ugliest most horrific thing in Genesis is the nation of Canaan. Why are they horrific? Because they sacrifice babies. Because of this, God sought to wipe them out. Israel was meant to purify and bring peace to the nations yet failed, we as Christians of the New Covenant are now called to the same commission. Have American Christians utterly failed?  A God of Genocide? Total annihilation? The Bible uses a lot of figurative language and so do we.  God is Grace love and mercy and even though we don’t have all the answers of an event that took place 4-5000 years ago we can trust the nature of God to be complete and holy and acting for the good of humanity, His treasured possessions.  In Exodus 21:22-25 If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely, but there is no serious injury, court for a monetary fine  But if there is a serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.  Luke 1:41-44 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb.  baby (Greek, brephos).  children outside the womb (Lk. 18:15).  Where do we go from here? Well first, everyone I know is a sinner, but some worse than others! (That’s another post on the problems of thew Calvinistic doctrine of total depravity though).  We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s grace.  We need the continued transformation to be more like Jesus each and every day.  Luckily, the Lord’s arms are always open and outstretched to return to Him for healing.  So, if you have made poor decisions, then you should seek to reconcile them before the Lord. Your already forgiven for them but sometimes there is some continued work to be done that comes with real healing.  • Unfortunately, many Christians forget what the Love of Jesus looks like.   • They represent hate, hostility, and animosity more than they represent the love of Jesus.   • Jesus makes it clear that judgment and life in the kingdom are antithetical to one another.   • Jesus came to free us from judgment and to restore our capacity to love the way God loves.

1. Creation teaches mutuality  • Men and Women each created in the image of God  • “rib” vs. side/half  • Ezer- helper= Savior  • If you get creation wrong, you get it all wrong- Paul and etc.     2. Men ruling over women is a result of the fall and desecration of the world  • If Jesus’ death and resurrection reverses the effects of the “fall” it disproves complementarian roles    3. The idea of gender “roles” is not biblical. “Giftings” is a more biblical approach.   • The Spirit always gives gifts indiscriminately   • God doesn’t show partiality.     4. Authority (rulership) and hierarchy are antithetical to the Kingdom of God.   • Throughout the Bible we see many instances of God’s ideal that that no person have rulership over another, but rather that we rule mutually   • We obey God alone, we submit to each other out of reverence for Christ, our King  • When Paul used head in Col 3 and Eph 5 it’s talking about the thing on top of your shoulders and not authority. Preeminence.   • Considering marriage in 1 Cor 7 everything is applied mutually     5. 1 Tim 2 and 1 Cor 14 were dealing with specific issues, in a specific church, at a specific time. These passages do not prohibit women from speaking, teaching, or leading today.   • These passages are descriptive and not prescriptive.   • The command in 1 Tim 2 is for the woman to learn (This is exciting for the women!)  • Women being commanded to be silent in 1 Cor 14 must be reconciled with all the other instances of women praying and prophesying in 1 Cor 11, 12, and 14 in the same letter.   6. The Bible teaches a priesthood of all believers (not just men)   • Adam and Eve were the original priesthood  • 1 Tim 3 and Titus 2 use neuter (masc/fem) pronouns when referring to the giftings and character of the elders and deacons. (11 he/his pronouns in the NIV and ESV that aren’t in the text)  • There’s lots of evidence of women leading and exercising their mutual priesthood in the Bible… Here’s a few:  o Mariam (led Israel with Moses)  o Deborah (Led as a judge)  o Huldah (Prophet who explained the law)  o Mary Magdalene (first to preach the resurrection)  o Percilla (discipler/teacher)  o Phoebe (deacon, house church leader, Roman’s letter carrier/reader) o Junia (apostle/church planter)  • Unity and mutuality … All are one in Christ!    7. Biblical Theology and the entire lens of scripture point to God’s ideal of mutuality  • We need to view the bible not as a flat text but as a narrative  • The Bible begins and ends with a picture that looks like Eden  • We see the early church in the Bible living out this ethic of the age to come in the present because it has broken in with the resurrection of Jesus

1. Were Adam and Eve the first Human Beings  2. Were Adam and Eve real people or just a typological example  3. What about Science  4. How should we best interpret the story of Adam and Eve?   MY BASIC PREMISE:  1. I believe God created Adam and Eve by His direct hand and in His image and that they were actual people but also serve as a typology, they were the first priests in the line of the Messiah but likely not the first people on earth.  2. God inaugurated creation in 7 days as a cosmic temple  3. The focus of Genesis 1-3 is God’s relationship with humankind and not necessary the details of building the creation. The Bible therefore becomes the love story of God reclaiming the treasured possession of humanity that was lost. (house vs home story)  4. Genesis 1-3 (specifically) should be read in light of its intended audience (Ancient Near East Mesopotamian) Israelite culture.   We mostly struggle with the concept of Adam and Eve and ancient things because we think in terms of western cosmology and Platonic logic.  We don’t think like the ANE authors of Genesis did.  We want to read the Bible like a history or science book and that simply isn’t what the Bible is or how it was intended to be read.  The Bible describes the earth as sitting above deep waters with spheres connecting the heavens.  Does this make the stories mythology?  In most cases God meets people and even allows them to be part of the story.  Sometimes that means borrowed words, and ideas become part of the story and we find that God in his mercy goes along with a lot of man’s ways.  The nature of God and his mission to reclaim what was lost reads a whole lot more like a love story that isn’t overly concerned with painting any other pictures.  To get the whole story we have to find our place in the culture. Our goal should be to understand the story as it was given to the intended audience and figure out how we are impacted and fit in.  What does God desire of you based on the story we are given?  As you explore the possibilities, I pray that you will find you are also falling in love with the Word and the Word is Jesus.  This is the pre-emanate calling of the New Testament, to grow deeper in intimacy with Jesus and lead others to also embark on that beautiful journey.  May the Lord Bless you and Keep you. -Dr. Will Ryan

We are going to be uploading some of our sermons and messages periodically during the downtime between our YouTube/Podcast series'. This was a message by Matt at Mt. Zion Christian Church on 3/20/2022. ______________ Matthew 5:21-26 We bear God’s name by living out the heart of the Law.  Exodus 20:7 Anger pushes us in the same direction as murder in that we make ourselves judge over others.  The heart of someone living in the kingdom is empty of contempt towards others made in God’s image.  Anger, bitterness, and contempt quench the Spirit’s work within our hearts. Ephesians 4:26-32 Break the vicious cycle of anger by doing all you can to make peace quickly. Matthew 18:20, Romans 12:18 Matthew 5:27-30 When we lust, we objectify others and fail to recognize them as God’s imagers. Song of Songs 8:6-7 Anger and lust in our hearts causes us to dehumanize others and ourselves. Jesus is calling us to a new way of being human by letting Him change our hearts.

We are going to be uploading some of our sermons and messages periodically during the downtime between our YouTube/Podcast series'. This was a message by Dr. Ryan at Mt. Zion Christian Church on 3/7/2021. _________ GEN 2:15 So the LORD God took the man [He had made] and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it. “Cultivate” is the Hebrew word “abad” meaning to work or serve. “Keep” is the Hebrew word “shamar” meaning to watch or guard. The duties of the Levitical priests are found in Numbers 3:6-8; 3:31, 36; 4:28; 8:25-26; & 18:1-7. John 3:14-15  The Israelites were told: “I am the only God you will worship” (Exodus 20:3), and “don’t worship any images whatsoever” (20:4-6). Psalm 8:4-6 EXODUS 3:11-12 Exodus 19:1-6 “For the LORD has chosen Jacob for himself, Israel as his own portion or possession (segullah).” (Psalms 135:4 ESV) “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain” I Peter 2:9  HEBREWS 2:5-9 2 TIMOTHY 2:12 1 Corinthians 6:2-3 Many of us are entangled in the world.  (2Ti 2:4) I Samuel 17:45-47   May we represent God in such a way that "the whole earth may know”

In this episode we had a conversation with Nick Quient about some biblical texts on marriage from and Egalitarian position. Nick Quient is a PhD candidate in New Testament at Ridley College in Melbourne, AU. He also earned an MA in New Testament from Fuller Theological Seminary and a BA from Biola University. He has published in the Canadian-American Theological Review, Priscilla Papers, and the Evangelical Review of Theology and is the author of “The Perfection of Our Faithful Wills” (Wipf & Stock, 2019). He is an ordained Baptist pastor and resides in Southern California. NIck’s YouTube and Podcast: The New Testament Theologist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQsupQJMc69c_TmiUlP05PA The Split Frame of Reference Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-split-frame-of-reference-podcast/id1176375687

1 Peter 2 and Romans 13 have some parallelisms. Yet in 1 Peter there’s no mention of 1) Taxes, 2) Wrath, 3) governing officials being God’s servants, and 4) the discussion of “fear” is in relation to God and not authorities in 1 Peter vs Romans. The American/Western interpretation of Romans 13 (4 myths) From Luther’s justification of the prince killing peasants in a revolt to Hitler and the holocaust to the apartheid in Africa, Romans 13 has been used to justify the “divine right of kings” and the goodness of the government. Recently Jeff Sessions used Rom 13 to justify splitting immigrant families up at the border because the government has the right to because it was ordained by God. #1- Everyone should “obey” the government #2- God chooses government leaders #3- God approves of the government’s use of violence (bearing the sword) #4- Christians can/should work in government An Alternative Examination of Romans 13 The Context of Romans A Deuteronomy 32 Worldview Submit to Governing Authorities Ordained by God Bear the sword and avengers of wrath Authorities are God’s servants and Ministers of God Taxes 3 Options of interpretation Western view Paul is telling everyone to “obey” government God chooses even the leaders God approves of Government’s use of the sword (war and capital punishment) Since this is all approved and God ordained, it is a good thing for even Christians to work in government and military Anti-Imperial view Romans 12 is about the Christian, Romans 13 is about the hardest enemy to love- the state, because it is anti-Kingdom of God (the Greek voice changes between these chapters) God allows the system government to keep peace and justice until Jesus returns, but it is ultimately a rejection of God Christians should not revolt or take revenge but leave that to God, zealotry and patriotism go against the Romans 12/Sermon on the Mount way of life. This leads to the fact that Christians should not work in Government. “The sword” is about local civil justice (policing) Evil nations were used for God’s purposes in the OT and this explains the “servants” and “ministers” of God verses. It doesn’t mean that God approved of them. God uses Assyria to punish Israel but then God condemned them for the excessive violence. Need to keep “Wrath” in its context in Romans (God handing people over to the consequences of that they chose). Taxes are given but not owed- Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and God what is God’s. The only debt owed is love (Rom 13:8). Neighborhood view Based on historical findings and the literary context of the weak and the strong, it seems like Paul is talking about interpersonal relationships in the local neighborhood. Rome was divided up into neighborhoods with an “authority” appointed (like an HOA manager). The authorities were in charge of keeping order. These people were not necessarily “government officials” but they did manage the neighborhood for Caesar and the state. Christians may have been tempted to not pay the “dues” (not a tax) due to how the money might be used (upkeep of altars, pagan festivals, etc). Paul’s concern is that they should still pay them but what is “owed” is love alone. This fits with the context of Romans 12 which is all about how to live and love as a living sacrifice. Similar to 1 Peter 2 this behavior may lead to the winning over of their pagan neighbors.