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I wrote about translations a few days ago and mentioned that I’m enjoying The Passion Translation by Bruce Simmons. Often the translation brings out something I’d missed, and the notes often add additional insight. Here’s his take on the tongues of fire in Acts 2 that I wrote about yesterday.

On the day Pentecost was being fulfilled, all the disciples were gathered in one place. Suddenly they heard the sound of a violent blast of wind rushing into the house from out of the heavenly realm. The roar of the wind was so overpowering it was all anyone could bear! Then all at once a pillar of fire appeared before their eyes. It separated into tongues of fire that engulfed each one of them. (Acts 2.1-3, The Passion Translation, emphasis his)

Here’s the accompanying note:

This was the pillar of fire that led Israel from bondage into the promised land. The same pillar of fire manifested here to initiate a new beginning from dead religious structures into the powerful life of the Spirit. Each believer received an overpowering flame of fire, signified by the shaft of light that engulfed them. It was as though each one received his own personal pillar of fire that would empower him and lead him throughout his life. This was the promise Jesus gave to his disciples of “the one like me” (John 14:26), who would be sent by the Father and never leave them. Today every believer is indwelt by the Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9). 

This must have been another “fun” event for the Trinity! “OK, let’s do this!” A massive attention-getter that resulted in thousands hearing Peter’s first sermon to which 3,000 responded. A jump-start to the church. An additional 3,000 indwelt by the Spirit!

[Peter continued,] “For God’s promise of the Holy Spirit is for you and your families, for those yet to be born and for everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”…Those who believed the word that day numbered three thousand. They were all baptized and added to the church. (Acts 2.39, 41, The Passion Translation)

The 3,000 received the Spirit like we do, a bit more quietly than that first 120. But we have the Spirit nevertheless. Maybe we should live like this is true!

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. (Romans 8.14, ESV) or, as it reads in The Message: God’s Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (John 14.26, ESV)

I’m writing to encourage you to fan into a flame and rekindle the fire of the spiritual gift God imparted to you when I laid my hands upon you. ⁷For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control. (2 Timothy 1.6, 7, The Passion Translation)

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I love reading about the events of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2. I have written that we should note that ALL were filled with the Holy Spirit and ALL spread the word.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2.1 – 4, ESV)

This time around I was thinking about the application of “other tongues,” and the importance of people hearing the word in their own language.

And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?… We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” (Acts 2.8 – 11, ESV)

And here’s the good news: this is going on today! Each of us speaks one or more “native” languages. My wife, the former nurse who teaches piano, speaks “nurse” and “piano.” When she talks with other piano teachers, they use the same language. As I’m drafting this, I’m sitting with the students who competed in the math competition last week. I speak mathematics. This week I spoke “Clemson” with my optometrist who grew up near Clemson and is a Clemson fan. I have a neighbor who is retired Air Force, and with him I can speak “military.” 

You and I are “insiders” in one or more places: our neighborhoods, our work, our expertise, our hobbies, etc. And the lessons from Acts 2 are:

• God desires “decentralized” presentations of the good news. Before Peter preached, all 120 believers were speaking.
• God empowers ordinary people. They were ALL filled with the Holy Spirit.
• God wants people to hear the word in a language they understand, and he does that through his people he has scattered among neighborhoods, workplaces, various interest groups. 

So don’t leave the mission to others! God demonstrated on Pentecost that he wants all of us to participate and empowers us to do so.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2.4, ESV)

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. (1 Corinthians 9.20 – 22, ESV, emphasis mine)

Star Clemson wide receiver Hunter Renfrow was picked up in the NFL draft last week even though he’s only 5’10”, 184 pounds. Small. Quick, they say, but not fast. What he can do is get open and catch the ball, two essential qualities for a wide receiver.

The top pick in the NFL draft was a 5’10” quarterback. In past years, “too small.”

What changed is the NFL has realized that teams shouldn’t rule out players based on artificial and absolute standards, the kind that caused a lot of teams to pass over the legendary linebacker Mike Singletary when he was in the draft back in 1981: 3/8 inches too short. Oops. He went on to have a brilliant career with the Chicago Bears.

Jesus chose what to us looks like a ragtag bunch: fishermen, a tax collector, a guy who hated tax collectors. But from the beginning, God has chosen unlikely people. Moses stuttered, Gideon was fearful. David was the youngest of Jesse’s sons and didn’t even get invited to Samuel’s audition (1 Samuel 16.5-11).

I like that when Paul charged Timothy to invest in “men who will be able to teach others also,” the only qualification was that they be faithful or reliable. Not necessarily educated or talented or from a certain place or of a certain race. Just “faithful.”

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.2, NIV)

⁶  When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed stands here before the LORD.”
⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16.6, 7, NIV)

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I wanted to follow-up on my visit to Lamar, CO, yesterday, and how better than in the words of my host, Pastor Darren Stroh of First Baptist.

I attended the Day of Prayer event today in town.  Pastor Kristina, the organizer, and I were the only in-town pastors that showed up.  And the organizer, frustrated that only 11 showed up looked at us and said, “How about we just have the pastors pray today.”  I was reminded of your analogy of whether we are called to be trade schools or general contractors.  I politely suggested that God hears the prayers of all, whether they are polished or not.  In fact, he oftentimes listens closer to the unpolished, heartfelt prayer than the Pharisees.  Everyone got to pray.

Afterwards, I encouraged him telling him that to focus on who wasn’t there wasn’t helpful for him.  “You cannot reach the world from where you are not.”  He asked me where I got that.  I smiled and said, “The training yesterday that you were invited to but missed.”  

All that to say that your words impacted Lamar the day afterwards and from that point forward.  Thank you for being the messenger of God in our midst.  

The day went well, including safe travel 3 hours each way through wide-open country. The first gas station I saw after leaving my house was at the 150-mile point, 35 miles from Lamar!

I opened by asking them, “If one person came to you wanting to grow in their Christian walk, what would you do?” I challenged them to invest in people intentionally, reaching the world “from Lamar.” I shared “as your servant was busy here and there, he was gone,” from 1 Kings 20.40. Don’t be so busy being busy that you forget what God told you to do in Ephesians 4.11, 12:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

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As you read this, I will have returned from rural Lamar, Colorado, where I have been invited to speak to a group of pastors by Darren Stroh, pastor of First Baptist, Lamar, who I see periodically at district meetings of the American Baptists.

Lamar has a population of about 8,000 people, and there are over 40 churches, many of which are struggling. No one will build a big church there! I showed them this picture and asked them where their compass is pointed.

Are they focused on the scattered church or the gathered church? Their gathered churches will not be large, but that’s OK because God seems to value his people scattered. Acts 8 is clear:

And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles…Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. (Acts 8.1, 4)

I suggested that they take on Jesus’ challenge to reach the world starting from where they are. (Luke 24.46, 47)

He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24.46, 47, NIV)

As Lorne Sanny, second president of The Navigators said, “Why did he say, ‘Beginning at Jerusalem’? Because that’s where they were! You cannot reach the world beginning from where you are not!” And that’s the reason I went to Lamar. I don’t know anyone there other than Darren, but they do. And these pastors are in a position to invest in people in Lamar…to reach the world!

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I’m sometimes asked why I quote from the translations I use. Sometimes I browse translations to pick one which best reinforces the point I’m making, but I don’t always. The English Standard Version (ESV) is the one I carry and is the default for most of my quotes. Is it the best? I defer to a Bible translator who, when asked which was the best translation said, “You tell me which verse you’re interested in, and I’ll tell you which translation I like!”

Sometimes I use the New International Version (NIV2011) if I want to use gender-inclusive language, which it works hard at. (Sometimes, however, the meaning gets lost. For example, 2 Corinthians 5.17 reads in most translations something like, “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creation…” In the NIV2011, it reads, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come!” I don’t think that quite gets it.)

Often I use The Message (MSG) if I want to get our attention as with today’s closing quote.

A recent translation for me is The Passion Translation (TPT) by Bruce Simmons. Like The Message it uses everyday language although Bruce also works hard to stay close to the original languages. Sometimes the footnotes alone are worth having TPT in your toolbox. For example, when talking about the wise men in Matthew 2, a TPT footnote is the only reference I’ve seen to the fact that these wise men are most likely descended from contemporaries of Daniel! We know that Daniel was chief of the wise men, and he could have taught them the prophecies, some of which he wrote. 

As we discuss translations, I hope you know that there is no value in NOT reading a particular translation. Often when I’m teaching a seminar on daily time with God I suggest some translations to start with. Nearly always someone comes up afterward to tell me they don’t like, and don’t think I should recommend, a particular translation. I usually (kindly, I hope!) suggest that they not read one they don’t like, but I strongly recommend that they read one that they do approve of!

As always, however, the bottom line is not which translation we read but which one we put into practice!

These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. (Matthew 7.24 – 27, MSG, emphasis mine)

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Yesterday I wrote about the math competition I help judge every year, and the emphasis was on the futility of trying when you don’t know what you’re doing, when you haven’t trained.

This year, the competitors were unusually verbose. Some years, those who have no idea how to solve the problems don’t write many words. This year, there were a plethora of words on papers which received no credit.

Why didn’t they receive credit? Because nothing they said was true or relevant to the problem. And mathematics is one of the few arenas left in the world of education where we don’t have to reward students for trying or for writing a bunch of nonsense.

Mathematics is still concerned with truth. And when we look at papers, they are coded so we don’t know the students’ names. Not their names, not their race or gender or age or grade. We are concerned only with the truth of what’s written there. Students’ sincerely believing that their answers are correct doesn’t make them correct.

Friday I saw some of the most beautifully written solutions, neat, organized, demonstrating, for example, how to get those 10 numbers that I wrote about yesterday equal. Unfortunately, good mathematics proves that they can’t be made equal under the processes we gave them.

There is truth in a world that doesn’t believe in facts or believes in “alternative facts,” or among people who believe that all religions are essentially the same. Either Pilate’s view of the world is true or Jesus’. Either Jesus is the Truth and the Son of God or he’s not.

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” (John 18.37, 38, ESV)

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14.6 – 9, ESV)

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On Friday I participated in an annual ritual now known as the Soifer Mathematical Olympiad, in which middle and high school students attempt to solve five increasingly difficult problems. I spent the morning in the room with the 140 contestants clarifying what they didn’t understand so I have a feel for what many of them were experiencing.

Here’s problem #1 (easy) so you have an idea what was going on:

Given numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. In a step, you may add or subtract 1 from any two of the numbers. Is there a series of consecutive steps that in the end produces ten equal numbers? (Go here for a complete set of problems. Solutions or critiques of your solutions provided upon request.)

Questions from the students included, “What am I supposed to do?” Answer: “If a series of steps can produce 10 equal numbers, show how. If it can’t, explain why.” Another question: “Do I add or subtract 1 to two different numbers?” “Answer: “What does the problem say?”

Bottom line: many of the students were in shock because it’s the first time in their educational experience that they’ve been asked to do something they can’t do. The math questions they are used to are on the order of, “Given a right triangle with legs 8 and 15, use the Pythagorean Theorem to compute the length of the hypotenuse.” 

Our problems require them to write an essay. Spoiler Alert! The answer to #1 follows: 

The sum of the given numbers is odd, and the allowed steps increase the sum by 2, decrease it by 2 or leave it unchanged. Hence, the sum remains odd. On the other hand, the sum of 10 equal integers is even, and therefore the equality of ten numbers cannot be achieved.

40 students got #1 right, meaning over 100 students didn’t solve #1 or anything else. This parting comment from a stunned 4th grader (a little younger than the target population!) sums it up:

What’s our lesson? Some of us would say, “Of course, it’s not by trying it’s by trusting Jesus to save us from our sins.” But it’s more than that. We are saved to something, not just from something. 

[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2.14, NLT)

But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. (1 Peter 1.15, ESV)

In the words of Dallas Willard, it’s not by trying, it’s by training. The students who wrote the top papers didn’t get there accidentally—they’ve been studying and practicing for years. To change the metaphor, if all the weight I can lift on a certain exercise is 50 pounds, trying harder won’t get me to 100 pounds. But over time, training will.

John Ortberg suggested that if you want to practice patience, for example, why not select the longer checkout line?! Memorizing and meditating on scripture for problem areas helps too. Change is not instant, but growth does occur over time…when we train.

And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. (Mark 4.26 – 28, ESV)

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12.2, NIV)

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I’ve been writing the past two days on the map and compass, stimulated by a delightful story from Seth Godin. Check it out here if you missed it. The lesson was that the wrong map won’t stop you from reaching your destination if your compass is good. I suggested that we should not be so hard on fellow believers whose maps are different from ours if their compass (loving and following Jesus) is on track. Yesterday, I advocated honing the compass (skills) in our discipleship training rather than focusing solely on our map (knowledge).

Here’s one more thought, gleaned from my friend Tom who spends a lot of time mentoring alcoholics and other substance abusers at our local Rescue Mission: some folks just need a new compass! He works with men who are on their third time through the 1-year rehab program. They know the map! And they’ve been at least shown the new compass and encouraged in some of the spiritual disciplines that would help keep them on track if they engaged in them.

But their existing compass, the one which draws them back to their old friends and old ways is strong. We need to help them not only practice the disciplines, including time with God, scripture memory, and engagement with a community that will support a God-centered lifestyle, but we also need to help them jettison the vestiges of the old life. Let the new community replace the old one, for example. Help them build the “fences” that will keep them away from temptation.

So it’s embracing the new compass and throwing away the old one. Nothing earthshaking here, but perhaps a good reminder of what we all need to do…for others and ourselves.

Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. (2 Timothy 2.22, NLT)

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I hope you all realize that these blogs often reflect my “thinking out loud,” and don’t always represent fully formed positions that I would live and die for. Yesterday and today I’m writing about the map and the compass, and my ideas are very much a work in progress. But I’m excited at the possibilities.

Yesterday, I relayed the story of a soldier who traveled 600 miles, finding his way home using an irrelevant map. The point of the story was that a useless map accompanied by a working compass would often do the trick. My application was that our “maps” may differ (our traditions, our theology, our denominations, for example), but God may still use us to get the job done if our compass is right–that is, we’re following Jesus.

Today, I want to use the map/compass metaphor to suggest that sometimes our process of helping believers reach maturity over-emphasizes the map at the expense of the compass. There are important things to be known, for sure: for example, Jesus as God-man, loves us and died on the cross for our sins, and salvation is by grace through faith. These principles should certainly be part of everyone’s map.

But the compass is often neglected. Before the map/compass metaphor, I would have said knowledge AND skills. Are we teaching believers to have daily time with God, for example, and helping them memorize scripture and pray effectively so they will be strong (2 Timothy 2.1) and ensure their relationship with God is strong? It’s not just the map of things to know, it’s the compass of how to live.

Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” (Luke 11.1, ESV)

Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28.19, 20, MSG, emphasis mine)