Hi-ho, hi-ho

You know how Hebrews 4:12 says the Bible is living and active? While the verse continues to move on with how it specifically affects us, the first phrase is what stands out to me today.

I don’t know how many times I have read the first three chapters of Genesis. From the creation account, to the Fall, to being banished from the garden, it is probably the most read and referred-to passage in the Old Testament. Yet, I still find myself being taught new things from little bits that I hadn’t noticed before

Recently, I was having a conversation with my Father-In-Law, much like we normally do about Biblical topics. He brought up the question of what kind of things we would do in Heaven or on the new earth in regards to work.

Now, my initial thought was, No way will we be working in Heaven. Work came as a result of the Fall. I was thinking of 3:17-19, “…In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you ; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground…” So, naturally, I disagreed with his thinking.

But then he pointed out there is another verse, before this one, that references work. So, I looked it up. Genesis 2:15, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

How had I missed that before? How was I under the impression that work was a curse, as a result of the Fall? I mean, I had even built entire chapel sessions at camp around these three chapters and had never noticed this detail.

That is when Hebrews 4:12 came into my mind. Yet another well-known verse, many people in the church have it memorized. But how much do we truly believe “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”?

You see, we get into this awful habit of “knowing too much” about the Bible. Those passages of Scripture that we have grown up on, we tend to skim over because we have heard them so many times before. But, how powerful and life-changing can John 3:16 be for us after 5 years with Christ? 15? 50?

“The word of God is living and active…” The Holy Spirit is constantly working and continually pushing us towards Christ IF we let Him. As challenging as it can be to digest and meditate on every part of Scripture, incredible things will happen in our lives. The promise is given in the rest of the verse. “…sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Christ is interested in who we are – right here, right now. He doesn’t want us to “get cleaned up” before we come to Him. He doesn’t want us to feel “good enough” to come to Him, because, honestly, we never will be. He wants us to come to Him now, so that He can do the work and discern our thoughts and intentions – which is something that we can’t do on our own.

So as I share what I am learning and continually being challenged by in life, I encourage anyone who happens to stumble upon my space to take this to heart – this simple concept I have been shown through Scripture. Whether we are just starting fresh with Christ or are a seasoned veteran, there are endless possibilities of what we can learn through God’s word.

If You’re Appy And You Know It

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love that there are Bible apps. They give us great connectivity to God’s Word 24/7, allowing us to carry the Bible with us everywhere we go. The problem I have is that these apps are becoming the go-to source for many people in the church.

I strongly believe that the Word of God has great power and authority in whatever form we choose to read it (2 Timothy 3:16-17). The issue I see is that believers seldom carry a Bible with them anywhere, let alone to church. Next time you’re in a Sunday service, take a look around and count how many Bibles you see around you. Is one of them yours?

This whole thing may seem like a completely foolish argument to some, but we need to separate technology from some important things in life. Our phone is used for most things in our life and holds its fair share of distraction. Living such a busy life, we rely on our phone to keep track of things for us. We receive notifications to remind us of tasks. Our alarm clock is built in. It has become our note taker, our calendar, our television. Our busy life and our devices go hand in hand and I don’t think it’s justifiable to add our personal time with God into the mix.

When we spend time with God, we are to get away from those distractions so our focus can be solely on Him. Numerous times, Jesus went away by Himself to pray and spend time in God’s presence (Matthew 14:23, 26:36, Luke 5:16, 6:12, Mark 1:35). He removed Himself from situations that were distracting so He could connect with His Father in an intimate setting.

I have always preferred reading a book by holding the physical copy instead of a screen – it gives me a much more intimate and personal feel, a way to get away from my every day life. One of our favorite things to do, my wife and I, is to go to Chapters for a couple hours. We rarely buy anything, but the atmosphere is something special and our kids love it. We could sit and watch a movie, but it’s no different from any other time we spend time on our phone. We could play a board game on the tablet, but it’s so much better to sit at the table and physically handle the pieces.

One key element in Christianity is the relationship with Christ. Too many times I have been out at a restaurant and seen families or friends sitting at a table, separated by holding their phone in front of their face. The art of face to face communication has been lost because of technology. Relationships need to be grown through intentional, personal communication, even if uncomfortable.

If Christianity is indeed a relationship, then we need to be spending regular time growing that relationship. There is certainly a time and a place to have a texting conversation with our friends, which I think gives us a great picture of what our prayer life is to look like. Apart from that, we certainly need to spend intentional blocks of time with them to really get to know them on a deeper, personal level.

So, with those two things established, being a relationship and believing that the Word of God is God-breathed, I strongly believe that we should be starting there, at the intimacy of the Bible.

YouVersion Bible App

First and foremost, I don’t have anything against YouVersion or the work they are doing. They are doing amazing things to get the Word of God into the hands of as many people as possible and making it as easy as possible as well.

Our phones feed our A.D.D. lifestyle, which is the direction that our society has been leading us. I receive multiple notifications per day from the YouVersion Bible app. I get a notification to remind me of my reading plan, a notification for the verse of the day, and notifications to continue my daily streak of time spent in the app.

It’s okay to have healthy snacks throughout the day, but we still need meals of substance. When we get down to the root of it, we can’t survive on bits and pieces of anything. Instead of fitting Him in whenever convenient, we need to remove ourselves from our busy life to allow Christ into it.

Often times, the most comfortable sweater in our closet is the oldest, most broken-in sweater, often filled with holes and rips. It has shaped itself to our body and the bond that was created between us makes it difficult to throw in the garbage. There is something special about marking up a Bible, taking notes, causing wear through years of use, making it your own. Though I have never achieved this myself, the greatest gift I have ever received is from my father: a hardcover Bible that he had read through in one year making notes specifically geared towards me. That gift is irreplaceable. When using my phone, the intimate feeling just isn’t there.

Getting to know the Bible is an important concept that is slowly getting lost. When I was a kid, we did sword drills as a regular practice at kid’s club (shout-out to Club DJ and the ministry they have there). I learned to navigate the Bible, which a lot of people aren’t learning as well because we rely on technology so much more. A hard copy Bible can stand the test of time; it will never change once it’s printed. We don’t hold the same security with technology. As society continued in a downward spiral, parts of the church are going to follow, accepting more controversial ideologies in.

The Bible app makes reading the Bible convenient, but I’m scared that Christianity has become something of convenience. I’m guilty of it myself, skipping past the things that I truly need to take to heart. When I was younger and trying to root myself in the Word, I was told that I will “never find time, I have to make time”. That’s why I’m here, right now, writing this. I have grown to have a heart to address the issues I see in myself and others, because I need to start with the plank in my own eye (Matthew 7:3-5).

When I look at someone with earbuds in and their phone in front of their face, I assume they are scrolling through some sort of social media or playing a game, so I can only assume that I am not the only person thinking this. If you were to take the two instances and put them side by side, they would look very different from the outside: holding a cell phone looks like every other person holding a cell phone, holding a Bible is such a rare occurrence that people would take a double look.

So, before I beat this dead horse, I’ll end with this: Both formats have their strengths and weaknesses and I’m going to continue to use my phone to read the Bible, but I think we need to reevaluate our motives for when we are using our devices.