Pagan Temples and You

We hear a lot about the Bible and its relevance to people today. This is understandable given the huge contrast inherent in the relation between the first and twenty-first centuries. Historical context is sometimes hard to relate to. However, sometimes we are presented with opportunities to see a Biblical historical context in a present-day context, in order to better understand Biblical concepts. In Arizona we have such and opportunity.

In 1 Corinthians 8 we read about something quite odd that we would never expect to see in  twenty-first century America. All of chapter 8 is written "with regard to food sacrificed to idols" (v. 1). Unless you are an American (this applies to those in almost all Westernized countries) who has traveled to India you have likely never seen a food that has been sacrificed to... anything. In this chapter Paul goes on to give instructions about "eating food sacrificed to idols" (v. 4). Further, if you read the entire chapter you will see that Paul is also making a point about how our interaction with food sacrificed to idols could be a 'stumbling block; to the 'weak' and we might cause them to be 'destroyed'.

So, what is going on here? The best way  to understand these kinds of imperatives that Paul gives to the local churches and to see if and how they apply to us today is to put ourselves into their shoes. Sometimes this is an easy task. However, when we are dealing with commands about antiquated--seemingly barbaric practices-- such as eating the meat of animals that have been ceremonially slaughtered to a God of... let's say harvest, while seated in a temple of that God, we will quickly find ourselves clueless as to how we could possibly relate to these first century believers. If only we had a pagan temple with food sacrificed to idols.

Where have all the pagans gone? Well, you may not have to look too far if you live in Arizona. While we may not have any pagans as the word is used in the Bible; and while we may not have any temples where we might eat food sacrificed to idols, on Sunday, March 2nd you will have the 'opportunity' (you will be able to decide after reading this if it really is an opportunity) to experience something very close. On that day the general public who are not members of the LDS organization will be allowed to enter something that looks very much like a 'pagan temple'. The LDS org. has built something that is visually impressive and in my opinion is an abomination (spiritually and architecturally!): the Gilbert Arizona LDS Temple.

You may be wondering how on earth this is relevant to 1 Corinthians 8. Well, I will now tell you.

Dedication
The Gilbert Arizona Temple will be dedicated in three sessions at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, and 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 2, 2014. Sessions will be broadcast to all stakes and districts in Arizona, and Sunday block meetings will be cancelled for those units. Members ages 8 and older who have been issued a recommend may view the broadcast. Specific instructions for attendance will be made available through local priesthood leaders.

Angel Moroni Raising
On May 15, 2012, hundreds of spectators gathered to the Gilbert Arizona Temple to witness the raising of the gold-leafed angel Moroni statue atop the single central spire. Numerous students, who attend a grade school across the street from the temple, gathered in the school parking lot that day with their families. As Moroni began his flight, a large group of middle school students created a spiritually poignant moment as they broke into song, singing the Primary favorite I Love to See the Temple.

The Gila Valley LDS Temple quote:

"There is a difference in just attending the temple and having a rich spiritual experience. The real blessings of the temple come as we enhance our temple experience. To do so, we must feel a spirit of reverence for the temple and a spirit of worship."
—L. Lionel Kendrick

Acts 19:21-41 Zeal for the Temple of Artemis


About sixteen stories tall.
 About 915,000 sq ft. property

About one hundred feet tall.
About 68,000 sq ft. building.

2 23 ὃς ἐν νόμῳ καυχᾶσαι, διὰ τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦ νόμου τὸν θεὸν ἀτιμάζεις; 24 τὸ γὰρ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ δι’ ὑμᾶς βλασφημεῖται ἐν τοῖς ἔθνεσιν, καθὼς γέγραπται.
25 Περιτομὴ μὲν γὰρ ὠφελεῖ ἐὰν νόμον πράσσῃς· ἐὰν δὲ παραβάτης νόμου ᾖς, ἡ περιτομή σου ἀκροβυστία γέγονεν.26 ἐὰν οὖν ἡ ἀκροβυστία τὰ δικαιώματα τοῦ νόμου φυλάσσῃ,οὐχ ἡ ἀκροβυστία αὐτοῦ εἰς περιτομὴν λογισθήσεται; 27 καὶ κρινεῖ ἡ ἐκ φύσεως ἀκροβυστία τὸν νόμον τελοῦσα σὲ τὸν διὰ γράμματος καὶ περιτομῆς παραβάτην νόμου. 28 οὐ γὰρ ὁ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ Ἰουδαῖός ἐστιν, οὐδὲ ἡ ἐν τῷ φανερῷ ἐν σαρκὶ περιτομή· 29 ἀλλ’ ὁ ἐν τῷ κρυπτῷ Ἰουδαῖος, καὶ περιτομὴ καρδίας ἐν πνεύματι οὐ γράμματι, οὗ ὁ ἔπαινος οὐκ ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀλλ’ ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ.

9  3 ηὐχόμην γὰρ ἀνάθεμα εἶναι αὐτὸς ἐγὼ ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν συγγενῶν μου κατὰ σάρκα, 4 οἵτινές εἰσιν Ἰσραηλῖται, ὧν ἡ υἱοθεσία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ αἱ διαθῆκαι καὶ ἡ νομοθεσία καὶ ἡ λατρεία καὶ αἱ ἐπαγγελίαι, 5 ὧν οἱ πατέρες, καὶ ἐξ ὧν ὁ χριστὸς τὸ κατὰ σάρκα, ὁ ὢν ἐπὶ πάντων, θεὸς εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας· ἀμήν.

6 Οὐχ οἷον δὲ ὅτι ἐκπέπτωκεν ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐ γὰρ πάντες οἱ ἐξ Ἰσραήλ, οὗτοι Ἰσραήλ· 7 οὐδ’ ὅτι εἰσὶν σπέρμα Ἀβραάμ, πάντες τέκνα, ἀλλ’· Ἐν Ἰσαὰκ κληθήσεταί σοι σπέρμα. 8 τοῦτ’ ἔστιν, οὐ τὰ τέκνα τῆς σαρκὸς ταῦτα τέκνα τοῦ θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τὰ τέκνα τῆς ἐπαγγελίας λογίζεται εἰς σπέρμα· 9 ἐπαγγελίας γὰρ ὁ λόγος οὗτος· Κατὰ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον ἐλεύσομαι καὶ ἔσται τῇ Σάρρᾳ υἱός. 10 οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ῥεβέκκα ἐξ ἑνὸς κοίτην ἔχουσα, Ἰσαὰκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν· 11 μήπω γὰρ γεννηθέντων μηδὲ πραξάντων τι ἀγαθὸν ἢ φαῦλον, ἵνα ἡ κατ’ ἐκλογὴν πρόθεσις τοῦ θεοῦ μένῃ, 12 οὐκ ἐξ ἔργων ἀλλ’ ἐκ τοῦ καλοῦντος, ἐρρέθη αὐτῇ ὅτι Ὁ μείζων δουλεύσει τῷ ἐλάσσονι· 13 καθὼς γέγραπται· Τὸν Ἰακὼβ ἠγάπησα, τὸν δὲ Ἠσαῦ ἐμίσησα.

Things You Must Know About Your Bible

Greek :
Certain preposition meanings.
Causal statements and words. Since, because, through, by.
Words you must learn.

Manuscripts:
When are variants important.

Bible Versions:
When to look at another translation.
Which versions are not for learning about God.
When should anyone ever read the KJV.

Hermeneutics:
Immediate Context may go beyond the artificial paragraph or chapter break.
Artificial punctuation.
Not all commands are commands.

Ten Tips: How to Make Christmas Other-Person Centered

Christmas is by far the biggest of all American Christian celebrations. Throughout the year's holidays we spend the most time and effort on this holiday. If we are truly Christians and we are involved in the largest of all Christian holidays we should be most focused on portraying our Christian distinctives. We ought to be paying extra-special attention to how we think about God and how we treat one another. Here is a list, of no specific order, containing some guidelines for being other-person centered.
(Be sure to read the Bible passages.)

1. Write a Christmas list.
While you may not want much (or even anything) in the way of gifts this year, people will still be buying you gifts. Believers want to, by nature, love you. Make it easy for them to do so.
(Philip. 2:1-5; Philem. 1:7; Heb. 10:24-25)

2. Make Christmas Christ centered.
Yes, Jesus is the reason for the season; but Jesus is the reason for everything we do--every season of life. When we are told in the NT what we ought to do it is always (almost) in light of what He has done for us.
(Eph. 5:2, 25; Titus 3:4-8; 1 Jn. 3:16)

3. Un-isolate the family/ies
Though the general sentiment around the holidays is one of joining the families together, there seems to be a temptation to keep as much time alone (as a domestic family unit or an individual) as is conceivable. It is quite hard to love people, as I'm sure all would agree, when you are not near them. Try to keep yourselves from being isolated from your larger physical family and especially your spiritual family. If your plan is to love "one another" then isolation is a bad idea.
(Heb. 10:24-25)

4. Don't buy anything for yourself during this time.
It is hard for people to think of something you would actually like--especially if you are an adult making a decent living. I don't know how many times I've bought something (or was planning to) that I thought a person I love would really like where they ended up buying it for themselves. This is an easy way to stay focused on other people. Make the givers the ones who are more important than you.
(Acts 20:35; Philip. 2:3)

5. Unload your schedule to equip yourself.
Our desire ought to be that we would be used as an instrument in the Lord's hands. Another practical tip for the Christmas season is to be able to spend more physical and mental energy and resources on others you must regulate and balance your time and responsibilities. Free yourselves up to be used by Him to love others.
(2 Cor. 6:4; Rom. 6:13, 7:5, 12:1; 1 Pet. 4:2)

6. Christmas is not a birthday party.
My daughter, who is five, seems to equate Christmas with a celebration of Jesus' birthday. There is very good reason for her to hold this view: most Evangelicals act like they believe this. When we neglect to focus on why Jesus came but rather focus on that he came we will neglect to focus on our Christian duties.
(1 Jn. 3:5; 1 Tim 1:15)

7. The greatest gift you can receive is grace.
Spending too much attention on the material gifts will draw attention away from the superior gift; that we have received forgiveness of sins. If we have been forgiven much we should forgive and love much. Remembering the real reason Christ came and the gift we have received will help us to show grace to those around us this time of year.
(Luke 7:47; John 15:12-13, 17:23-26)

8. Christmas isn't just for family.
Let us remember to extend our time and money, as love, to not only our immediate family; not only to our extended family; not only to our friends; but to those who are strangers to us and enemies of us. Keep an eye out for opportunities to care for people that you would not normally care for.
(Matt. 5:44, 22:39; Luke 6:27, 6:35; Jam. 2:8; Rom. 13:10; Gal. 5:14)

9. Be a minimalist.
Take a practical approach. Keep it simple. Be flexible. Don't buy a lot of gifts. Let the important things stand out. Love one another.

10. Be content in all things.
(Philip. 4:11)

Thomas Watson's Art of Divine Contentment

I will be modernizing Chapter 14 of

Art of Divine Contentment: An Exposition of Philippians 4:11

Rule 1. Advance faith. All our disquiets issue immediately from unbelief. It is this that raises the storm of discontent in the heart. O set faith to work! It is the jurisdiction of faith to silence our doubting, to scatter our fears, to still the heart when the passions are roused. Faith moves the heart to a sweet, serene composure; it is not having food and raiment, but having faith, which will make us content. Faith censures passion—when reason begins to sink, let faith swim. How does faith work contentment? 1. Faith shows the soul that whatever its trials are, still it is from the hand of a father. It is indeed a bitter cup, but “shall I not drink the cup which my father hath given me to drink?” It is in love toward my soul: God corrects me with the same love with which he crowns me. God is now training me up for heaven; he carves me, to make me a polished shaft. These sufferings bring forth patience, humility, even the peaceful fruits of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:11) And if God can bring such sweet fruit out of our stock, let him graft me in wherever he pleases. In this way, faith brings the heart to holy contentment. 2. Faith sucks the honey of contentment out of the hive of the promise. Christ is the vine, the promises are the clusters of grapes that grow upon this vine, and faith presses the sweet wine of contentment out of these spiritual clusters of the promises. I will show you merely one cluster, “the Lord will give grace and glory;” (Ps. 84. 11) this is enough for faith to live upon. The promise is the flower out of which faith distills the spirits and “pure essence” of divine contentment. In a word, faith carries the soul up and makes it strive after more generous and noble delights than the earth can afford and to live in the world above the world. Do you desire to live contented lives? Live up to the height of your faith.