The Big Move

Wow, it's been a long time since I wrote last. Moving to Thailand proved to be incredibly challenging for myself and my family. April 10th Michelle and I stayed up all night trying to move the last remaining things out of a condominium and into a van to move to Virginia. The process was exhausting and once we arrived in Virginia, we only had a few hours before we needed to drive to Charlotte, NC to fly to Thailand. We barely made the airplane on time because of delays in checking baggage and security.

We had about 7 large suitcases and 8 small suitcases. Michelle and I both hurt our backs lifting all of the bags and getting them to our home in Thailand. Once we arrived, our neighbors warmly welcomed us back to the neighborhood.

After a few days, I purchased a used motorcycle from another missionary, Joel Lillie, in Chiang Mai. Then, I began the long road of shopping for used vehicles. Finally, I purchased a 2003 Ford Ranger 4 wheel drive for rural ministry in the mountains and a 1976 Datsun for running around in the city.

We immediately visited several ministries in the central part of Thailand and began looking for ways to parter with other ministries sharing the Gospel among Thai, Lisu, Lahu, Burmese, and other ethnic groups.

This leads to May 29th. Michelle and I are deeply praying for God to reveal His will for our family regarding what ministries to be a part of and where to live whether in Chiang Mai or in another province. Please seek the Lord with us and ask for His will to be revealed. It's exciting to think about what God is going to do on this term. I think it's going to be BIG! One verse that I have found very encouraging is:

Zep 3:17 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Trust in the Lord.

Phil

Remembering Bob Martin

Click to View Obituary

Yesterday, I had the privilege of attending the funeral of Bob Martin.  Yes, I said, “privilege.”  Normally you wouldn’t think of attending a funeral as a privilege but in this case it was truly a privilege and an honor, an amazing experience to attend the funeral of such a righteous and humble man, Bob Martin.

When I was a student at Johnson Bible College I had Bob as a professor in several of my classes. In one class the life of Christ Bob really communicated how amazing it was to learn about and study the life of Jesus Christ. As Bob would teach the class I can just see the excitement and enthusiasm on his face as we went verse by verse through the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I frantically wrote pages of notes on my paper trying to capture Bob’s thoughts, opinions, and interpretations of the text.

Bob’s son, Steve, preached the funeral telling story after story about the greatness of his father.  When asked, “How are you?”  Bob would usually reply, “Rejoicing in the Lord.”  When asked how to be addressed, Bob did not like titles and simply asked to be called, “Bob.”  He was a humble man even requesting months ago to be buried in a very simple coffin ordered from a monastery.  His request was granted by the family.

Steve shared one story in which he and his father were talking to a couple about the new ministry Steve would be a part of in a different state. The couple had asked Steve, Bob’s son, what he would be doing at the church. Steve replied, “Well I'm the Head Honcho.” After the couple left, Steve and Bob only walked a couple of steps and Bob corrected Steve immediately. Bob said, “You are not the Head Honcho. You are the Chief Servant.” Steve said that he had never forgotten that talk.

Please pray for Mary Lou, Bob’s wife, and for God’s comfort for her during this time.  Bob is now “rejoicing in the Lord” in the awesome presence of the Lord in Heaven.

Phil Parker

Jesus the Jew (Part 2)

Continuing a review of Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg, chapters 2 and 3 have some incredible points of interest that will be listed here in brevity.  Each day as I read a little more of this book, I’m pleasantly surprised at the insight of the authors.

This book says that Jesus would have been studying the scriptures at a very early age (typical for Jewish boys) by learning to memorize the Written Torah (first five books of the the Old Testament) around 5-6 years old and then studying the Oral Torah (rabbinic traditions handed down in interpreting the Written Torah) around age 10.  Jesus would have been extremely knowledgeable in scripture because of an extreme study of scripture since childhood.  Study of the Torah was very common among all Jews, not just Jewish leaders or rabbis.  In Jesus’ day both men and women started studying the Torah from childhood and continued their study through their entire life.  Sometimes the Torah was even studied at social events and parties in homes.

Jesus would have studied the Torah (Teachings), the Neviim (Prophets) (Joshua, Judges, Isaiah, etc), and the Ketuvim (Writings) (Psalms, Proverbs, etc).  All three of these sections compose the Bible of Jesus’ day called the Tanahk, an acronym from the first letters of each section.  The books he quoted from the most are Deuteronomy, Isaiah, and Psalms which are from each section.

Jesus would also have studied or known about what other Jewish rabbis had taught before him such as two famous rabbis, Hillel and Shammai.  The discussions of other Jewish thinkers from 200 B.C. to 200 A.D. are recorded in the Mishnah.  The Talmud includes the Mishnah and is a large volume of commentary on the Mishnah completed in A.D. 500.  Jesus followed the pattern of other great rabbis by teaching using stories/parables as well as inviting his disciples to observe his daily life.  Teaching alone is not enough, but teaching and character combined will make a good disciple.  The disciples of Jesus were able to see both components as they lived with him.

The author urges the reader to study the Bible that Jesus studied.  She confesses in the following quote,

“My Bible had a well-worn crack in the binding at the first page of the New Testament, bypassing three quarters of the text that Jesus had faithfully learned by heart as he grew up.  His library was right at my fingertips, but to my embarrassment, those were the pages I had hardly read.  Now when I read the Gospels, I always glance at the cross-references, checking for the passage Jesus was quoting from in the Bible that he read, our Old Testament.” (page 52).

I also confess to exclusively studying the New Testament mainly because it seems much easier to understand and explain than the Old Testament.  But if we also study the scriptures that Jesus studied, the Old Testament, we will develop a fuller interpretation of the meaning of the New Testament.  Try reading Deuteronomy this week remembering that Jesus quoted extensively from that source.

In the next post, I’ll write about the prophecies of Jesus and how they are understood in a Jewish context from the book Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus.

Phil Parker

Jesus the Jew

Recently, I was surfing the Barnes and Noble bookstore looking for just the right book to explain more deeply about the culture in Jesus’ day.  I stumbled upon a jewel of a book titled, Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus, by Ann Spangler and Lois Tverberg, Copyright 2009.  This book is such an eye opening resource regarding the Jewish times and culture during the time of Jesus.  For the next few blog entries, I’ll be quoting from this book as well as giving my own insights into Jesus’ ministry.

Surprisingly, the authors are not Jewish and give this brief paragraph in the introduction to explain the purpose for writing the book.

“You might wonder if the authors of this book are Jewish, and the answer is no.  We are Christians who are fascinated with our Savior and his life and teachings.  If Jesus had been an Eskimo, we’d be studying Inuit (Eskimo) language and culture, learning about igloos, ice fishing, and polar bears.  The goal of this book is not so much to help you understand Judaism as to help you hear Christ’s life changing words with greater clarity and force.  God promised Abraham that Gentiles would be blessed through his descendants.  When we honor this ancient people by learning about their culture and customs, God blesses us with a deeper understanding of our Scriptures and of Jesus, our Messiah.” page 12.

I’ve discovered that what the authors have purposed in this book has actually come true in my life as I have read along the past few months.

Each chapter begins with a helpful quotation from a Jewish rabbi or Jewish saying that adds interest to the reading and helps the reader to understand more of the culture. 

The authors explain that in the time of Jesus, women were encouraged to participate and study the scriptures at the Jewish synagogue.  Some women actually contributed in rabbinic debates and their words are recorded.  It was many centuries later that women were separated from men during worship and given other restrictions. 

When someone became a disciple it was customary to sit at the feet of the teacher and learn from him.  Remember the Apostle Paul stated that he studied under Gamaliel, but in the original Greek language it says that he “sat at the feet of Gamaliel.”  So when the Bible describes Mary sitting at the feet of Jesus, the Bible was describing her as a disciple of Jesus.

According to Luke 10:38-42, Martha was very critical of her sister’s behavior, sitting at the feet of Jesus, when there was so much to do for the house guests.  Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen what is better, meaning that Mary is focusing on discipleship, sitting at the feet of Jesus, while Martha is too distracted to be a serious disciple. 

Unfortunately, Martha describes myself much more than Mary does.  My personality is more of doing stuff than actually praying, studying, etc.  An audiobook I listened to a few months ago helps with this dilemma, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver.  These are two good resources to help in your spiritual walk.

Phil Parker

Who do you say I am?

Mat 16:13  When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."  Mat 16:15  "But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Mat 16:17  Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."  Mat 16:20  Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.

This is one of my most favorite passages in the Bible.  In September 2009, my son Nathanael decided to follow Jesus.  When we were baptizing him, we asked him to to state that he believed that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) the Son of the Living God.  This comes from this passage and Peter's confession of Jesus as the Christ.

To give a little background, Jesus had his disciples follow him to the city of Caesarea Philippi, a pagan territory that had become famous for the worship of the Greek god, Pan.  Caesarea Philippi was located 25 miles north of Galilee near the source of the Jordan river.  This area was governed by the Roman ruler Herod Philip the Tetrarch.

It was in this unbelieving area where the people worshiped a false god, that Jesus directly asked the disciples, "Who do you say I am?"  The responses that had been proposed by others were John the Baptist, Elijah, Jeremiah, or another prophet.  Elijah was suggested because of the prophecy in Mal 4:5  "See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes.”  Herod Antipas had even suggested that Jesus was John the Baptist risen from the dead (Matt 14:1).  “One of the prophets” is explained by the People’s Commentary, “The Jews believed that at the coming of the Messiah the prophets were to rise again.” (The People's New Testament (1891) by B. W. Johnson).

Even though Jesus asked all of the disciples, Peter spoke up and answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”  It’s inspiring to see that Peter recognized Jesus as the Messiah (Annointed One, King of Israel), but unfortunate that Peter did not understand Jesus’ mission and ultimate destiny at the cross (Matt 16:21, 22).  Just a few verses later, Peter is speaking against Jesus for stating that he will suffer, die, and rise again. Jesus strongly corrects Peter. 

Peter’s confession is certainly not the only one in scripture referring to Jesus.  Andrew’s confession is found in John. 1:41 and Nathaniel’s in John. 1:49. 

The church was not built on Peter, alone, but on all of the apostles and prophets.  The Greek for "you" suggests that Jesus asked the group “Who do you say I am” and Peter simply spoke up first, probably because of his outgoing personality.  The Greek “you” is in the plural form.

Ephesians 2:19-20 reinforces this view.  "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, Eph 2:20  built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 

If there is someone to emphasize here, it’s definitely Jesus, not Peter.

The term church, ekklesia, literally meant “gathering or group” and was commonly used for town meetings.  The way Jesus used the phrase was not in referring to a specific institution, but a gathering/group of believers.  There’s a church in Chiang Mai, Thailand composed mainly of foreign members whose name is “The Gathering.”  I like that name.  It correctly describes the original Greek meaning.

Regarding the binding and loosening in Matt 16:19, Jesus also gives incredible authority to the church through the disciples by telling them that whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.  Many people will say, “I want Jesus, but I don’t want the church.”  This is an impossible statement, because the church is Jesus’ body as well as Jesus’ authority here on earth.

Finally, Jesus warns the disciples not to tell others about His identity.  The proper time for revealing his Messiah identity to the masses had not come.

There’s one phrase that stands out to me in this passage (Matt 16:13-20).  Jesus’ promise that “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”  I see two pictures here.  One is Satan and his demons attacking the church. Jesus promises that the church will not be consumed by Satan.  Satan will be repelled!

The other picture is the church attacking the gates of Hades.  As the church advances into the kingdoms of darkness held by Satan, Satan will not be able to withstand the church’s charge.  Our family, as well as many other missions groups, is attacking Satan’s kingdom of darkness in Thailand.  Satan has many of the people in Thailand in darkness with addictions to drugs and alcohol, marriage and family breakdowns, idol worship, abuse of children, and many other areas of evil.  As we invade those areas with the love of Jesus, Jesus promises to defeat Satan battle by battle. 

Phil Parker

Software Decisions

Lately, I’ve had my hands full trying to figure out the vast choices of computer software.  I finally have settled on the following software and would be glad to talk with any of you reading this blog about the pros and cons.

 

Photo Editing - Adobe Lightroom 2.6

Desktop Publishing - Serif PagePlus X4

Movie Creation/Editing - Serif MoviePlus X3

All three of these have proven to be good pics so far.  If you have a piece of software that you love or just can’t live without, I’d enjoy hearing about it.

Phil

Crisis in Haiti

Praying for Haiti

Our family is deeply saddened by the earthquake in Haiti. We ask that you join with us in prayer for the Haitian people as well as the international travelers impacted by the crisis. May everyone look to Jesus, our Savior, during this difficult time.

Two charities that Michelle and I support and would like to recommend to you for helping in this emergency are Compassion International (www.compassion.com) and International Disaster Emergency Relief (IDES) (www.ides.org). Both charities are working to send relief to the people in Haiti. God bless you all.
Phil and Michelle Parker

Psalms 116:5 The LORD is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion.