Everything.

Wait a minute.  The only way that one could learn everything that the Bible says about prayer is to read the entire Bible, specifically looking at the topic of prayer and the individual prayers of every person in scripture.

Well, someone has both been there and done that.

Dr. James Rosscup has literally gone through every single prayer and every single passage discussing prayer in the entire bible and has complied his expositions into a 2, 816 page 4-volume work.  It was only previously available in digital format (due to the sheer colossal nature of the work), but I learned that An Exposition on Prayer is now available ina  hard, beautifully bound and packaged work for only $99 at CBD.  I guarantee that if you want to buy your pastor something for Christmas that will bless both him and your church, this is one book that he doesn’t have but should.  Just a little idea there.

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “Rosscup has published more than I have blogged” Unger

P.S. – This is what I do with my 19 free minutes this week.  No complaining Cam.

Either way, I’ve tried to make it both comprehensive and accessible (and as always, I tend to lean far too much towards the comprehensive side).  I hope it’s both informative and a blessing to you.

Biblical Eldership

The Biblical terminology:

• (Hebrew) – The noun zaqenoccurs 178 times in the Old Testament and is usually translated something along the lines of “elder”.
  • The term often can refer to the idea of “aged” as opposed to “young”. (Gen. 18:11; 25:8, 35:29; Ex. 10:9).
  • The term also can refer to an office. An “elder” was a mature individual, skilled at living that was involved in some aspect of spiritual or communal leadership. (Gen. 50:7, Ex. 3:16-18, 24:1-11; Num. 11:16; Deut. 1:9-18).
    • The elders were men of exemplary moral character (Ex. 18:20-21).
    • The elders were spiritually empowered for their work (Num. 11:17).
    • The elders often mediated communication from Moses/God to the people (Ex. 19:7, Deut. 31:9; Jer. 29:1).
    • The elders participated in leading aspects of worship (Ex. 12:21-27), sometimes as representatives of the people (Ez. 8:7-12).
    • The elders were involved in decision making and civic rule (Judges 8:13-16; Ruth 4:1-12).

• (Aramaic) – In the book of Ezra, the Aramaic word siyboccurs 5 times and consistently refers to the office of “elder” (Ezra 5:5, 9, 6:7, 8, 14).
  • The Aramaic word is a derivative of the Hebrew word siyb, which means “gray-headed” and only appears in 1 Sam. 12:2 and Job 15:10.

• Greek) – The noun presbuteros appears 67 times in the New Testament and is very similar to zaqen.  Acts 2:17 directly translates zaqen (from Joel 2:38) as presbuteros.
  • It can refer to the idea of “aged” (Luke 15:25; Acts 2:17; 1 Tim. 5:1).
  • It can refer to the Jewish social office of “elder” (Matt. 15:2, 21:23, 26:57-59; Mark 8:31; Luke 20:1; Acts 4:5-8, 23:14).
  • It can also refer to the authoritative church office of “elder” (Acts 14:23, 20:17)
    1. This was an office of leadership (1 Tim. 5:17).
    2. This office was a leadership office parallel with the office of “Apostle” (Acts 15:2-6, 22-23).
    3. This office was appointed (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5).
    4. This office was one that also participated in certain aspects of worship as representatives of the people (James 5:14; Rev. 4:4, 10, 5:5-14, 7:11-13).
  • There is an infrequently occurring related noun (presbuterion).
    1. This term only appears 3 times in the New Testament and consistently refers to a governing council of elders (Luke 22:66; Acts 22:5; 1 Tim. 4:14).

• There are 3 other Greek words related to the New Testament concept of eldership:
  • The verb proistemi occurs 8 times in the New Testament and is mainly related to the actions of the presbuteros.
    1. This word carries the idea of “ruling” or “managing” (Rom. 12:8; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:4-5, 12, 5:17).
  • The noun poimenoccurs 18 times in the New Testament and means “shepherd”
    1. It can refer to “one who tends sheep” (Mark 6:34; Luke 2:8, 15, 18, 20).
    2. It also can refer metaphorically to a spiritual leader; one who tends people.
       • Christ is spoken of as the “shepherd” of believers (John 10:1-18; Heb. 13:20; 1 Pet. 5:4).
       • Christ has also given “shepherds” to the church (Eph. 4:11).
    3. The verbal form of poimen (poimaino) appears 11 times in the New Testament.
       • It can refer to tending sheep/livestock (Luke 17:7; 1 Cor. 9:7).
       • It can refer metaphorically to civil governing (Matt. 2:6; Rev. 2:27, 12:5, 19:15).
    • It can refer metaphorically to caring for people (John 21:16; Acts 20:28; 1 Pet. 5:2; Jude 12; Rev. 7:17).
  • The noun episkoposoccurs 7 times in the New Testament and means “overseer”.
    1. If can refer to the office that Christ has as overseer (episkopos) of believers (1 Pet. 2:25).
    2. It can refer to the office that qualified men have (1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:7) in the local churches (Acts 20:27; 2 Tim. 4:22; Titus 3:15).
    3. There is a related noun (episkope) that carries the idea of “investigation” or “inspection”.
       • The noun appears twice to represent an office of “inspector” (Acts 1:20, 1 Tim. 3:1).
       • The noun appears twice, speaking of the act of a visitation or inspection (Luke 19:44; 1 Pet. 2:12).
       • In contemporary language, the idea might be somewhat akin to a building inspector; someone with authority who gives a critical evaluation.
    4. There is another related verb (episkopeo) that carries the idea of “carefully observing” (Heb. 12:15; 1 Pet. 5:2).

• How are these terms related?
  • Presbuteros, poimen and episkoposare all loosely synonymous:
    1. Christ is referred to as both the shepherd (poimen) and overseer/bishop (episkopos) of the souls of believers (1 Pet. 2:25).
    2. The list of qualifications in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 is for an overseer/bishop (episkopos) and the list of qualifications in Titus 1:6-9 is for an elder (presbuteros), yet they’re highly similar lists.
       • In fact, Titus talks about the appointment of elders (presbuteros), in 1:5 and then gives the list of qualifications for an overseer/bishop (episkopos) in 1:7.
    3. 1 Peter 5:1-2 reads “So I exhort the elders (presbuteros) among you, as a fellow elder (presbuteros) and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed:  shepherd (poimen) the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight (episkopos)…”
    4. In Acts 20:7, Paul gathers all the elders (presbuteros) and in Acts 20:28 he says to them ” pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers (episkopos), to care for (poimen) the church of God…”
  • There are slight differences of nuance:
    1. The idea is that presbuteros carries the idea of the office, but the other two terms refer to the actions of that office; poimen roughly refers to the care aspect of eldership and episkopos refers to the governingaspect of eldership.
       • i.e. An elder both cares for and governs the local church.

The Qualifications of an Elder:

• A list of 23 qualifications for church elders can be compiled from 1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-13; 1 Pet. 5:1-5.

• 1 Tim 3:1-7 – (1) Above reproach, (2) husband of one wife, (3) temperate, (4) prudent, (5) respectable, (6) hospitable, (7) able to teach, (8) not addicted to wine, (9) not pugnacious, (10) gentle, (11) peaceable, (12) free from the love of money, (13) ruling his household well, (14) having children under control, (15) not a new convert, (16) of good reputation outside the church.
• Additions from Titus 1:6-9 – (17) Not self-willed, (18) not quick tempered, (19) loving what is good, (20) just, (21) devout.
• Additions from 1 Peter 5:1-5 – (22) not overseeing under compulsion, (23) not domineering those who are overseen.

The Activities of an Elder:

• Care for the church (1 Tim 3:5; 1 Pet. 5:2).
• Be examples to the church (Heb. 13:7; 1 Pet. 5:3).
• Govern/oversee the church (Acts 15:22; Rom. 12:8; 1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:4-5, 5:17).
• Preach and teach, though not all do (1 Tim. 5:17).
• Call Christians to sound doctrine away from false doctrine (Titus 1:9).
• Call Christians to fidelity to Christ and away from false teachers (Acts 20:29-30).
• Praying for the sick (James 5:14).
• Appoint other elders to gospel ministry (1 Tim. 4:14).
• Appoint deacons/lay people to roles of service (Acts 6:3-4).
• Adjudicate grievances/disagreements within the church (Acts 15:1-21; 1 Cor. 6:1-8).

How are elders appointed:

• 1 Tim 4:14 says that elders are appointed by the laying on of hands.
  • This is an action that shows solidarity and identification with the person; the elders lay their hands upon a prospective elder in order to recognize his calling to the ministry.
  • This solidarity also translates into shared guilt when a foolish appointment is made (1 Tim. 5:22).

When are elders appointed:

• They are evaluated over a period of time (1 Tim. 3:6; 5:22).
• There is a unanimous decision made by the elders performing the appointment (Acts 14:23).
  • The word “appointed” in Acts 14:23 means “to stretch out the hand”, i.e. “to vote”.  This refers to a vote among the elders, not the entire church.

How are elders removed?

• Elders must be removed, in public (to emphasize the seriousness of the office), for unrepentant sin that is proven by a minimum of two witnesses (1 Tim. 5:19-20).
• Elders are to be given fair judgment with no partiality (1 Tim. 5:21).

Are there multiple elders in a church?

• Yes.  The term presbuteros is plural every time it occurs in the New Testament with the exception of its occurrences in 2 & 3 John and 1 Pet. 5:1.
• This plural terminology doesn’t suggest 1 elder per church with only a plurality of churches.
  • In Acts 14:23, elders (plural) were appointed in every church (singular).
  • Early in the life of the church, there was a council of elders (plural) in Jerusalem in Acts 15.
  • James tells the one who is sick to call for the elders (plural) of the church (singular) to pray over him (James 5:14).  It is most reasonable that the sick person calls the multiple elders from their local church to pray for them instead of elders from difference churches in different cities.

Are all elders identical?

• No.
  • It’s clear that though Paul recognized that he was a servant of Christ equal to other elders, (1 Cor. 3:5-9), Paul also recognized that there were some elders who excelled above others (2 Tim. 4:11).  It’s worth noting that on Pentecost, with the 11 other disciples present, it was Peter alone who did the preaching (Acts 2:14-40).
  • Paul recognizes that not all will preach and teach (1 Tim. 5:17) and Peter (Acts 15:7) and James (Acts 15:13) apparently had recognized positions of leadership even among the elders in Jerusalem.

Are all elders volunteers?

• They do have the right to be paid for their service (1 Cor. 9:1-9; 1 Tim. 5:17-18).
• Those who preach and teach should be paid generously for their labors (1 Tim. 5:17).

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “Does thinking lexicography is fun make me a Bible geek?” Unger

I was doing a bit of research tonight, and I stumbled upon 3 obituaries that were all in the March ’96 edition of the Westminster Theological Seminary Journal.  Check this out.

Greg Bahnsen, Charles Lee Feinberg and D. Edmond Heibert all passed away in 1995, before I had heard of any of them.

Bahnsen has posthumously been the most significant instructor I’ve had in the area of apologetics,  Feinberg has been a colossal influence in theology/exegesis and Heibert has been a massive influence on my understanding of hermeneutics and exegesis.  I would have loved to have met any of them and sat at their feet for a few hours.  All men I recommend highly and for my Mennonite readers, I highly recommend Hiebert as a Mennonite Bible scholar who is an example of how we should handle the scripture.  Check out his commentaries here.

For those that know of those epic men of God, may you be encouraged and reminded of those on whose shoulders you stand.

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “I wonder what D. Edmond would say to M. Baker?” Unger

So, I’m not Team Pyro.  The Pyro blog gets like 17,000 page views a day.  Still, I’m doing better than I ever did before by a factor of around 10, and that’s with the last few months being almost dead for content due to the new arrival to our family.  Speaking of which, here’s a picture of Tobias David Unger for the few people who may be interested:

He definitely has his mom’s cuteness!

Now, back to business.  I don’t post the traffic numbers for the site out of some sort of personal pride (my long-time followers will remember that I have never done this before), but I do so for two reasons that are quite interesting.  The interesting thing is how people find this blog and what they read.

The top five search engine terms that lead people to this blog in 2011 were:

1. mennoknight (758)

2. brad jersak (400)

3. brad jersak false prophet (200)

4. listening prayer (137)

5. lyndon unger (81)

The top five articles on the blog from this year were:

1.  Evaluating Listening Prayer and Brad Jersak (1,307 reads)

2. Some New Context to Brad Jersak and Listening Prayer… (724 reads)

3. About Me (672 reads)

4. Evaluating Applied Kinesiology… (465 reads)

5. The MB Herald vs. the book of Genesis – round 4 (386 reads)

Apparently some people are out there looking for answers to specific questions.  Those stats also kind of make me look like a one-trick pony…but 2012 will have more of what my readers have come to enjoy.  I’m reading a bit now (as I always have been), and I’m thinking of posting up some stuff on eschatology, cessationism, and pastoral candidating/searching.  Those are all things on my mind but as always, who really knows what will happen?

“The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps” – Prov. 16:9.

As always, I’ll be doing my best to unpack the scriptures and bring some truth to life.  As always, that will likely breed some feisty reactions that will, if anything, make for some interesting reading.

Happy New Year to all my readers.

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “Is it just me, or does TobyMac have like serious old-man wrinkles?” Unger

I usually try to not re-post or borrow content from anywhere, but this is good enough that I’ll bend my own personal rules a tad.  I’ve stolen it from here and I hope you’ll find this both informative and clarifying:

The Answer: What is the Gospel?

SOMEHOW, I missed this one in October.  There were a few other things on my plate then, but we should all make a note of this in case anyone missed it.

Harold Camping mislead tens of thousands of people for 19 years.

Harold Camping stole tens of millions of dollars from well intentioned supporters.

Harold Camping was, and continues to be a false teacher with as little to do with Biblical Christianity as Kwanzaa.

Harold Camping, after 19 years, has somewhat admitted that he’s a stone faced liar and complete and utter fraud.

I remember having a conversation at the US/Canadian border in May with a man who had a sign and was “spreading the word” before the second coming.  He had quit his job and was spending the “last days” at the border, talking to anyone who would listen.  We talked for a little while and he was quite happy to ignore any attempts at interaction of even vague reason.  I wonder where he’s gone now that Harold has run off with his money after misleading him twice.

I hate to say it, but there’s a strong chance that he’s gone after some other crack pot.

Scripture clearly indicates that the church era will have no shortage of crack pots:

“And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures. ” – 2 Peter 3:15-16

“Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.  Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears.” – Acts 20:26-31

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.  For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,  heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,  treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,  having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.  For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,  always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.  Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.  But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.” – 2 Tim. 3:1-9

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “Beware the Wolves” Unger

With the last post, I commented on the whole overarching narrative of the birth of Christ and pointed out that, in response to the revelations made about Christ, everyone in the story either worshiped God or waged war against him.  As I was thinking and reading those narratives again, I started reflecting on how much was revealed about Christ and how little of that revelation is part of our “Christmas talk”.  I’ve compiled a short list of all the facts about Christ that are revealed by the Lord/Angles/prophecy in the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke:

1.  Joseph was a descendant of King David (Matt. 1:20)

2.  Jesus would be given the throne of David by God himself (Luke 1:32)

3.  Jesus would rule over Israel (Luke 1:33)

4.  Jesus would have an everlasting reign (Luke 1:32)

5.  Jesus would be conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:35)

6.  Jesus would be the Son of God (Luke 1:32, 35)

7.  Jesus’ birth could be ensured by the sign of the birth of John the Baptist through Elizabeth, who was barren (Luke 1:36)

8.  Jesus would be holy (Luke 1:35)

9.  Jesus was a savior (Matt. 1:21; Luke 2:11)

10.  Jesus was going to save his people (Matt. 1:21; Luke 1:68-69; 2:14) (not everyone who ever lived).

11.  Jesus was going to save his people from their sins (Matt. 1:21; Luke 1:74-75, 77, 79).

12.  Jesus was going to save his people from all their enemies (Luke 1:71)

13.  Jesus was Lord (Luke 1:43, 76; 2:11)

14.  The conception of Jesus occurred the way it did to fulfill the word of God (Luke 1:45)

15.  Jesus would be a blessing to all nations (Luke 1:48)

16.  Jesus’ birth was in fulfillment of promises made to Abraham and his offspring (Luke 1:54-55, 70, 72-73)

17.  Jesus birth was an evidence of the immeasurable mercy of God (Luke 1:54, 78)

18.  Jesus came from the dwelling place of God (Luke 1:78)

19.  Jesus would lead people away from death (Luke 1:79)

20.  Jesus would lead people into peace with God (Luke 1:79; 2:14)

21.  The news of Christ is for all people (Luke 2:10)

I would suggest that the 21 points on that list are the reasons why Christmas, unlike all other holidays, is merry.  Christmas is a time for celebrating the mercy-outpouring, promise-keeping, kingdom-inaugurating, saving work of God in the incarnation of Jesus.  Christmas is merry because Christmas is the first component of the gospel.

May all my readers truly have a Merry Christmas.

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “The Rocking Chair Theologian” Unger

How many times have you heard the Christmas story?  Probably many, if you’ve been in church for any length of time.  Everyone seems to hear it year after year and everyone is fairly familiar with it, so each year there’s some sort of secret contest in many churches to try to tell it in some new and interesting way.

Some people tell it from a bizarre perspective.  I once heard a monologue from the perspective of Mary’s donkey.  *facepalm*

Some people try to mine out some gory or fascinating details.  I’ve heard probably a dozen different versions of how many wise men their actually were and where they really came from…most of which were simply guesses based on in correct facts.  (Roman philosophers?  Indian Mystics?  Chinese Astrologers?  Are you kidding?)

Some people try to integrate video, or music, or tell the story via a funny animation involving Facebook.

Very few actually unpack the narratives of Matthew or Luke and actually explain the stories.

I’m not going to do that here, but I will give some simple thoughts.

When you look at Matthew and Luke, you have to remember that the narrative is driven by the direct discourse (stories are driven along by what people say and the reactions to what is said).

In the narratives, there is divine revelation:

Angels explain the immediately coming Christ, and they explain various details about Jesus to Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, the Shepherds, the Wise men, and (indirectly) to Herod.

Then, there are only 2 reactions by every group:

1.  Worship (everyone but Herod)

2.  Warfare (Herod)

The Christmas story sets up the initial coming of Christ and the 2 reactions to that coming.  Either people come to worship him, or people come to wage warfare against him.

The next Christmas that I’m in front of a pulpit, I’m going to preach the Christmas story.

At Christmas time, it’s the time to proclaim to all those who wage war to turn from their rebellion and wage worship.

I am so utterly sad that so many churches think Christmas time is the time to do anything but call warriors to be worshipers.

Just a few minutes of rambling thoughts from a man who hasn’t slept much in 2 days due to a gassy baby.

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “Praise God that I Praise God” Unger

P.S. – This Christmas, if you are a worshiper, stop and give thanks for that.  That’s a divine regenerating work that God did in your rebellious heart.

I highly recommend the article here.

A good response to everyone who likes to show off their theological chops and name-drop unknown (and unorthodox) theologians in polite conversation.

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “N.T. Wright?  I’ve never heard of him.  Has he written anything good?” Unger

- (I have heard of NT Wright and I’ve read a fair amount of his stuff.  I simply disagree with him regarding things like the number of “historical facts” about Jesus that we can learn from the 4 gospels...or that we even have 4 gospels…or what “the gospel” is…)

The first is a review of Heaven is for Real, and can be found here.

The second is a review of 90 minutes in Heaven, and can be found here.

There has been a rash of “I took a trip to Heaven” books as of recent, and they’re sadly selling millions of copies.  It’s almost strange how silly these books are.  If you read the scriptures just a little and ask a few questions, you realize that these types of books cannot possibly be true.  I mean, as a simple test, just look if the people who claim to go to Heaven say that Heaven has streets of gold.  The current Heaven does not have streets of gold.  There’s a few other easy tests (there’s only 4 angels that have wings, Heaven is all about seeing Christ instead of deceased loved ones, etc.).  If you want to read something good on Heaven, consider reading the book Heaven by Randy Alcorn or The Glory of Heaven by John MacArthur.

Both books are far more accurate and informative than the wave of “first hand account” books you can buy at Costco.

Until Next Time,

Lyndon “I haven’t gone to Heaven but I know the owner” Unger