A small diversion...

I've escaped the wilds of northern Lancashire for the weekend, and have headed to the lovely east coast to spend some time with my Grandparents. Similarly, In this post I'm making a little diversion away from Colossians, taking up one of the apostle Paul's desires for the colossian church and have studied some of the old testament (the first half of the Bible, written before Jesus' ministry).

Colossians 3:16 "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.")

So here's a quick overview of what I learned from the book of Haggai!*

*Disclaimer: My context and study was done without the wisdom of others. I've tried to back up all I've said from the book of Haggai or other books of the Bible, however I realise that in my inexperience/young knowledge I may have gone awry! Please let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Context
This book is in the old testament, and so it pre-Jesus' ministry. Haggai was around during the reign of Darius, a Babylonian/Chaldean king (Hag 1:1, 1:15, 2:10). Darius was relatively leniant towards the Israelites (Dan 6:2-6). The people of Israel were mostly exiled to Babylon and the temple in Jerusalem destroyed. A remnant of the people however remained in Judah (Hag 1:12). The Judeans were beginning to repent and return to God (Dan 9:1-20)

NB I was quite excited when I discovered that Daniel (exile) was written at the same time as Haggai (remnant)!

Breakdown

1:1-11 - God (Yahweh) has judged & witheld his blessing, because his people have not worshipped him

1:12-15 - The people of Judah realise, turn back to God, and rebuild the temple as much as they can

2:1-9 - God's temple will one day be rebuilt to give him full glory, true peace then

2:10-17 - The people of Judah will always be unclean, and so not fully deserving of God's blessing

2:18-19 - They are to remember God blessed/es them, though they don't deserve it. The relationship is undeservedly restored.

2:20-23 - God will restore his kingdom

Summary

Judah, the surviving part of the promised land in (southern Israel), had been captured by the Babylonians, and the holy temple in Jerusalem [the sign of God's presence] looted and destroyed (2 Chron 26:18-20, Dan 1:1-7). The majority of Judeans had either been slaughtered (2 Chron 36:17, Hab 2:17) or exiled, as in the case of Daniel (Dan 1:3-4), with only a small, poor remnant remaining (2 Kings 25:12). All this was forewarned judgement for the Judeans repeated, and long term rejection of rebellion of God (Hab 1, Micah 1).

Haggai was a prophet to the remnant left in Judah. Inspite of the judegement the people hadn't learnt from God's punishment to them - they still cared only for themselves. God, ever patient, speaks to the remnant through Haggai, after they have experienced several years without his blessing. Without him, they could not even meet their most basic needs! Haggai addresses all the remnant (Governor, High Priest, and people), reminding them that they have been and are being judged, because they didn't treat or want to treat God (creator, sustainer, provider) with the respect and glory that was truely due to him.

This realisation amongst the remnant leads to them to return to God, and start to rebuild the destroyed temple in Jerusalem - the traditional place when they met with God. Their work was nothing like as splendid as the original temple was, or indeed as much as God deserved/s. God reminds them of his promises to his people, and despite their inability to worship him as he deserves, he will bless them once again, promising that he will more than restore his kingdom.

Paediatric themed illustration (lol, my current med school rotation)
Turning back to God might be like... a 3 year old trying really hard to draw a picture for their father because they want to please him. It's not a masterpiece, however when they give it to him, he shows his joy and love to the child, welcoming and encouraging him. God wanted Israel (and all people today) to stop living to serve themselves, and to turn back him.

Points for thought

- We see how truely reliant man is on God
- No one's attempts to be in control will ever be truely enough

- We need to live for God and not for ourselves

- God's rule and kingdom is and will be fully restored (through his new king - Jesus!)
- There will be a judgement, and justice will be revealed

- God is a gracious and forgiving father, accepting us back if we truely desire his forgiveness i.e. turn (repent) back to him

Quick personal reflections
I take far too much for granted, and despite my too often feeble efforts in trying to live for him, I've still got a long way to go! I need to trust God a lot more in the situations around me - he's the one in control. I guess in some ways, it's blasphemous to thing that I can handle everything!!! I should also rejoice more in the blessing of his kingdom now, and rejoice in the certain hope of the kingdom to come!

Colossians 1:15-23 - JESUS

In this part of the letter, Paul emphasises to the colossians exactly who Jesus is, and what it means for him to be the image of the invisible God. Creator, sustainer, redeemer, ruler, trendsetter and head of the church! The colossians can only be saved through their continued trust in him!

This passage continues to challenge me, every time I read it. I all to easily become complacent in my thinking of who Jesus is, or what he has done for me. How can I justify giving him 30 minutes of my day, and then spending 2 hours browsing the internet looking at junk?!?! I need to lift my eyes and focus on him a heck of a lot more than at present - to my detriment is my laziness and complacency. My thinking if so often muddled with my own wordly life goals and perspectives - I need a shake up several times a day - my life needs to be one of praise to the supreme and saviour king!

p.s. thank goodness my place in heaven is purely down to what he has done; works ain't gonna get me a comfy seat up there - they're my appreciation, thanks and praise to a wonderful saviour and lord!

Letter to the Colossians - Getting a feel for the letter

For a bit of background, Colossae was a small town in located in western Turkey. Paul, one of the early Christian disciples, wrote a letter to a young church that had been planted in this town. The church was under considerable pressure from various factors, and overall the letter seems to be an encouragement to them to keep on trusting in who Jesus was, and what he had done.

Task 1: Getting an overview of the letter
Following the much appreciated notes downloaded from the website of st-helens, bishopsgate, my first task was to get a general feel for the letter. Although divided up into chapters and verses, originally the letter would have been read outloud in the church in one go. After reading the whole letter, a lot of things previously looked at in Bible studies at random points during my time as a Christian suddenly started to click together. The mantra, "text without a context is a con", is starting to hit home - exciting stuff! I'm starting to realise how everything (i.e. all topics adressed in the letter) was/is to be based on their trust on who Jesus is.

Task 2: Thinking through it's structure
The next task was to divide the letter up according to different topics adressed. After advice from the notes, I scribbled over the paragraph headings (lol, Paul didn't write those), and examined for different themes myself. These were then summarised into headings, giving me the following:

1:1-2 --- Author & recipients
1:3-8 --- Paul's thanks for their living in light of the gospel [faith in Christ, hope in heaven, love in light of this]
1:9-14 --- Paul prays that they will contiune to grow, to mature, and to endure
1:12-20 --- Jesus is supreme over all [creator, sustainer, head of the church, first to rise from the dead, holy, sacrifice, reconciler]
1:21-23 --- The Colossians are saved because of Jesus
1:24-29 --- Paul's example and mission in light of Jesus
2:1-7 --- Paul desires for them to get greater spiritual riches in their relationship with Jesus
2:8-15 --- Jesus has proven himself victorious, don't be trapped by the world's ideas
2:16-23 --- Salvation and growth is through Jesus, we're free from rituals and regulations
3:1-4 --- Having citizenship of heaven (with Jesus), live like it!
3:5-11 --- Therefore put your old sinful natute to death
3:12-17 --- Live your life as a child of God [love and the bible are key in this]
3:18-4:1 --- Don't seek personal pride, but submit yourself in relationships, in the name of Christ
4:2-6 --- Pray always, especially for opportunities to live for and speak of what Jesus has done
4:7-18 --- We should encourage, support and challenge each other in out walks with Christ

Task 3: Next was to pick out recurring themes and anything I didn't understand
Recurring themes: Jesus, foundations, growing to maturity, supremacy
Questions: The how to's of greater spiritual riches in JC, word of God dwell in you richly (OT?)

Summary
So, off the top of my head, Colossians in a nutshell would be...

Paul, one of Jesus' disciples, is thankful to God for the how the good news of what Jesus has done, is transforming their lives. However Paul is eagre that this spiritual growth contiunes. He reminds the Colossians that Jesus is supreme over everything; creator, sustainer, holy, a perfect sacrifice and first to rise from the dead. Although saved, Paul is eagre that they keep on growing and get the very most from their salvation. This can only come through a greater understanding and rooting in Jesus. Jesus has more than proven himself, and is the only life that will provide true fulfillment. In light of this, the Colossians should realise that all previous/current religious activity and ritual were there to point to Jesus. So now that the Colossians have a place in heaven because of Jesus, they need to start living like citizens of heaven. This means putting to death their old self serving ways, desires, and speech, and living as God wants them to be living, love for each other being a key aspect. Humble submission in all relationships (marriage, parent-child, worker-boss) is another key aspect of this. Paul concludes by telling them to be praying, for opportunities and wisdom for himself and themselves to be telling others about the good news of Jesus. The end of the letter has a few notices for the church, showing that we should be encouraging, supporting and challenging each other in our walk with Christ.

Since Germany...

Well... I flew from Germany to Edinburgh, where I spent two great weeks helping to run a Christian cafe for international visitors to the city. I also went to a nice wedding during that time! Upon arriving back home, I was overcome by tiredness and as a result frittered away the best part of two weeks... Motivation for anything (except cooking rather strangely), was hard to find. Bible study and prayer, aka the listening and speaking parts of the relationship, were scanty at best. However purely by God's grace, I managed get a seminar and Bible study together for a Christian holiday for teenagers, the next stop on my hectic life course! One week with a great bunch of people up in the lake district, hearing the basics of Christianity preached clearly and faithfully from God's word, was what I needed... I'd sold myself to Colossians 2:8. Despite perhaps having the head knowledge, during that week my heart was struck afresh as to the complete sovereignty and enormity of God, and the reality and impact of what it meant for Jesus to be God and man here on Earth. I'm now back home again, this time enjoying a relaxing and productive week. I've realised the importance of rest, am praying once more, and really really enjoying getting stuck into the Bible. Had a nice star-gazing session last night (can't do that in Manch), seeing just how huge the universe really is; and by implication, how much greater it's creator must be :-) . Next stop, Blackburn.

I 'll try and put up some of my reflections on the letter to the Colossians as I work through it (it's awesome!).

Choice Dresden Photos

Much has been happening over the past three weeks, beneath is a small selection of some of the things seen and done!

Trip to the Opera (was awesome!)

International group at the Christian union and my new church home group (both very nice people!)


The hospital and me in my new uniform


Weekend trip to Leipzig with Jeremias and his friends (Slack line walking)


Bundesrepublik Neustadt festival - whole town quarter taken over by a street party!

Dresden!

Well, after a great deal of anticipation I'm finally about to start doing some medicine in Germany - Kras oder? Below are a few pics of the weekend ala Deutschland so far, promise to post more info and pictures soon!

View from the balcony

and

the church service

Exciting German breakfast

and

making plaster of paris masks!





Words of the day include...
- Ringelblume: marigold
- Knöchel: ankle
- Hirt: shepherd

Something new!

Thought I might try something a little different this time - might need to krank the volume up on your computer for it tho! Klikka!