My Big Fat Greek Wording

I'm speaking at a youth music camp at Silver Lake at the end of the month. So I've been thinking about what to speak on. The passage that came to me is John 4:23-24:

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

I've been meditating on, and investigating the phrase "In Spirit and in truth". And the question that jumped to my mind is "Why choose these two characteristics in particular?" Why not "his worshipers must worship in purity and love" or "holiness and excellence" or "sincerity and passion"? Why "in Spirit and in truth"?

So I've been using resources such as Strong's Concordance, different translations of the Bible and NEXT Bible and looking into the greek words used.

Here's what I discover:
The Greek word for Spirit is pneuma, and according to Strong's, it can mean any of the following: a current of air, i.e. breath (blast) or a breeze; a spirit, i.e. (human) the rational soul, (by implication) vital principle, mental disposition, etc., or (superhuman) an angel, demon, or (divine) God, Christ's spirit, the Holy Spirit:--ghost, life, spirit(-ual, -ually), mind. In short, it can either refer to our Spirit or the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word for truth is aletheia which comes from the word alethes.
Are you still with me? Hold on in there for just a while longer!!! Now, the word alethes comes from two words a (meaning "not") and lanthano meaning to suppress / be ignorant of / be hid.
In short, the word truth refers to "not suppressing / hiding" - i.e. authenticity.

So God is looking for worshipers who are living authentic lives in the power of His Spirit (Spirit and in truth).

Intriguingly, John 16:13 also connects the twin concepts of Spirit and truth as he quotes Christ as saying:
"When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide You into all truth..."

Finally, in my devotions, this morning, the set reading was Galatians 5:16-24.
Here are some excerpts:

"I say then: walk in the Spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (v16)
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit" (v25).

What shows that we are walking in the Spirit? The fruit of the Spirit.
"...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (v22-23)
What shows we are not walking in the Spirit? The fruits of the self-life.
"...sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these" (v19-21)

I'm still trying to figure out this John 4:23-24 verse, but at this point, it seems to me that God is actively looking for / seeking / desiring people who will worship Him by being opposed with every ounce of their being to living hidden, secret lives and instead are committed to living authentic, open lives in the power of the Spirit, resulting in a visibly transformed life of which the evidence is clear to all. This seems to me what worshiping in Spirit and in truth means.

• Does your life demonstrate your are walking in the Spirit or in your own power (follow the trail of evidence)?
• Are you living a life of vulnerable, open authenticity? If not, what skeletons are in your closet?
• Do you believe that God is seeking to free you from this?
• Are you willing to ask Him to lead you to freedom, understanding that this half-life of suppressed guilt and slavery to sin is not bringing you joy?
• Feel free to reply to this blog, or to email me at its.dan.wallis@gmail.com
• I've lived under this cloud of guilt, sin and shame for too many years, and there are still times when I go back there for a visit. But I know that God is calling me to a life of liberating authenticity where people know my worst self and love me still, where God knows my worst self and loves me still, and where I begin to see myself as God sees me. I'm not talking about telling everyone your deepest darkest, but finding a fellow believer (or group of Christ-following friends) who are a few steps down the road in their Christian walk from you and with whom you can take the risk to be honest.
  

The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. (2 Chronicles 16:9a)

He's looking for you.

Cheers
Dan

Slo-pitch success

So tonight, I played for my slo-pitch Baseball team (Shipman Surveying) in the North Gower league. I caught the last ball against the other team and we won! I'm still trying to get used to catching the ball in my left hand (which wears the catching glove). The right hand is for throwing. It's pretty counter-intuitive, but one bruised thumb and a number of missed catches later, I'm finally getting used to it. Slo-pitch is also a lot less physical than rugby (which I tried last year...the first time since I was a whippet-fast winger aged 16...which I discovered I am no longer). Our slo-pitch team is pretty cool - I like the hanging out as much as the playing the game. We even have an English cricket boy, Phil, who's pretty darned good with his catches. Howzat!

Stuttering on Sunday

Sunday wasn't a good 'speaking' day for me. As a recovering stutterer, I get those every once in a while. Make that a combination of nerves, technical difficulties (my fault), wanting to perform well and tiredness. As Joe Ocran (our visiting speaker from Ghana) was speaking I wrote the following in my journal (I was listening...I just had to write this down to clear my heart...):

"Today is a day of weakness, Lord. Of stuttering, of pauses, of awkwardness while leading worship. It started off bad and kept on bad...unless this is Your will in which case I glorify You for using me in this way: in which case it started off good and kept on good. I exist for Your glory and for the sake of the kingdom: of this is taking up my cross and following You; if this is laying down my life, I praise You for the honour of this opportunity to be used of You".

As I finished writing this, Joe said, from the pulpit "God takes me feeble words and my trembling voice and in His power can touch someone's heart". I strongly believe that that throwaway sentence from Joe was meant for me (perhaps it was for you, too...maybe we can share it!). Stuttering is like an iceberg. You see me looking and sounding odd. But there's this WHOLE other realm of confusion and mess and fear and loathing and issues under the surface (only I and God see this).

• Do I still deeply wish I didn't stutter? Yes.
• Am I aware of how my facial contortions can be a distraction? Yes.
• Do I sometimes think "Someone else, more able, should be doing this"? Yes

However, I believe that God can and does use a sometimes-weird-looking-as-he-

tries-to-get-his-words-out guy who often uses the same old phrases in worship, because he what words are safe and what words might be risky. I do believe in the Biblical principle that God has allowed me and you to remain weak in certain areas, so that we can experience His grace and His power even more fully. I believe in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10.

⁷To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)

• What is your weakness?
• Have you pleaded with God to take it away?
• If God has healed you / removed it, great!
  
• If He hasn't, perhaps He has a purpose for this unwelcome guest residing in your digs
  
• Ask God to lead you to delight in Your weakness, to boast about it, to lean on His grace, to know His power made perfect in this very weakness, this very source of shame...

Cheers
Dan