Matt W Cook

Just a few family pics to distract you all.

A good point was brought up in the comments. It was suggested that fundamentalists do not take the Bible at face value. After thinking about it for a second I realized that is completely true. If fundamentalists really did take the Bible for what it was meant to be they would be just about the most radical, revolutionary and loving people in the world. As it is fundamentalists are usually dry, boring and rather spiteful.

So how, then, is the Bible to be read? Joey’s right that there are loads of difficult, complex and even seemingly contradictory things in that big book. Because of this we can’t just call our interpretation of the Bible ‘taking it at face value’ even though I’d like to. This is basically how I think the Bible should be read:

1. With a focus on what is focused on. Major in major points. Those things that are repeated the most and stressed the most and given the most place in Scripture should be given the most place in deciding how to interpret it. The things that I see repeated most are issues about the glory of God, the waywardness of man, the benefits of following God, the supremacy of Christ and the radical demands placed on the life of a believer. I see these things stressed again and again and so I give them high place.
2. Literally. I do not mean that every single word in the Bible has a corresponding physical meaning. If that were the case then Jesus would be a physical, wooden door. When I say I read the Bible literally I mean that I try to take it the way the author intended it. So when things are obviously meant in a spiritual way I take them spiritually. When they are meant in a physical way I take them physically. It’s hard to figure out which one is which, but I don’t believe it is necessary to take something as purely spiritual just because it involves the miraculous.
3. Prayerfully. If we believe in any way that the Bible is God’s book and God is alive and active then we’d be fools to read it on our own. Our reading must be saturated with prayer so that the Spirit will guide us into the meaning He meant for us. Reading the Bible without praying is kinda like taking your vitamins without eating any food. It looks good, but you’ll starve to death anyway.
4. Honestly and self-critically. Let’s face it, we’re sorely influenced by the way we’ve been brought up and our education. Regardless of our background and convictions we all need to realize that we are influenced by our families, teachers, favorite books and movies and everything else we’re come in contact with. Try to limit how much influence all this has over the way you read. Not that this influence is bad, because it is by influence that we learn. We cannot teach ourselves everything. It’s just that when trying to figure out how to read the Bible it’s best if we do it without presuppositions.
5. With a focus. People read the Bible for different reasons. If you read the Bible purely for interests’ sake then I suppose it doesn’t really matter much how you choose to read it. But if you read the Bible to change your life and understand God better then the way you read it matters very much. It’s pointless to read the Bible if you have no reason to read it. Find out what your reason is.

My little list here is born out of my convictions on what the Bible is. If you think the Bible is something different you’ll certainly end up reading it differently. Of course, all this stuff is useless if the Bible doesn’t change our lives. It’s true that fundamentalists have failed miserably here by studying the Bible intently and trying to find the right way to ‘think’ instead of allowing the Bible to change and challenge them to the right thing to ‘be’. I realize I may have worded things a little off in my last post. Joey’s right on that the people who read the Bible to gain fuel to attacking others and insisting all those different from them are on their way to hell are scary. In my reply I didn’t really mean to say that those who consider the Bible literally and inerrantly the Word of God are scary. I meant that those who claim these things had better be living radically obedient lives. The Bible, though certainly concerned with thinking rightly about God, seems more concerned with being holy before him.

A dear friend of mine words it better than I could:

And the reason why “fundamentalism” goes sour is that people are able to believe right and revolutionary things that don’t make sense and then completely divorce them from their lives. Or they take no prisoners on doctrine but then let huge concessions go in lifestyle. In their speech and worldview they make their own concessions as well. They take up causes that don’t cost them anything, like being anti-gay or fighting for the ten commandments monument to remain standing in the supreme court or to bring back prayer at the start of the school day. And then they completely ignore their own theology of the poor, or of hell. They believe that everyone is condemned and they reflect the wrath of God to the world, and yet make no expression in their life of the compassion that God/Jesus burn with. This is truly something that doesn’t make sense.

And what [Matthew is] saying is that if we really believe in what the bible has revealed, and actually do warp our lives to it, then we don’t make sense at all. We don’t make sense to liberals, we don’t make sense to fundamentalists. We don’t make sense on the planet. And that is the call.

I’m writing this partially in response to a post by my friend Joey. Maybe you should read it up before you continue.

I want to clear up a few things about the relationship between what we popularly call liberal Christianity and fundamental Christianity.

Joey makes a few pertinent points that fundamentalist Christians need to think about. The most obvious is the general idea that we fundamentalist folks have a sort of ‘think like me or you’re going to hell’ mindset. It’s true that most of us seem to think that way. I suppose it creeps in when we start identifying ourselves with a particular school of thought, theology or denomination. We feel like we’re part of a good club and the membership requirement is the acceptance of a statement of faith in doctrine. They will know we are Christ’s disciples by our love, eh? Not by our statements of faith. Not that I consider doctrine to be a fringe issue or unimportant, it’s just that perfect doctrine without love is useless.

But I have a few disagreements and maybe a few clarifications in regards to Joey’s post. One is his view of Bible college. I went to the same place as Joey, though a couple years later. I imagine the teaching I got was pretty much exactly the same as his. I even got my big, healthy serving of Piper like he did. But my experience was very different from his. For me Bible college served as a beginning to many changes in my life and worldview. I know there were many people who walked into KLBC’s doors with a blank slate that they seemed aching to fill with whatever the teachers wanted to shove in there. It wasn’t really like that for me. Let’s face it, kids, if you are willing to believe anything you’ll end up being brainwashed by whoever you listen to, whether a Brethren Bible College, a secular university, a liberal seminary or a wacky pastor. If you don’t have a discerning mind you’ll end up getting screwed because pretty much everyone you come across is gonna have an agenda, even if they think that agenda is God’s honest truth. Fundamentalists get a bad rap because we’re accused of trying to force our opinion on others. But guess what, every book you read and every lecture you listen to is designed to convince you of the truth of the opinion of the writer or speaker, regardless of whether that person is evangelical, atheist, Muslim, liberal or whatever. Everyone in the world is convinced they’re right. If we thought we were wrong we’d try to figure out of was right and believe in that instead…and then we’d be convinced we were right. If you go into it with the right mindset Bible college, like almost any educational institution, can help a lot. It can prod you to challenge what you’ve been brought up with and it gives to a chance to examine things for yourself, if you’re willing to do that. If you’re not willing to do that then it’ll just turn you into your favorite professor. I recommend Bible college, but only to those willing to use their brains for themselves.

But I’ll agree with one thing wholeheartedly. Piper followers, and pretty much everyone who takes the Bible and believes it at face value, are scary people. It’s true. Listen to a Piper sermon if you don’t believe me. That guy is nuts, eh? It actually sounds like he believes that stuff he’s preaching about. I just read over a few of my posts over the last year. I guess a bunch of them are pretty scary, too. I suppose the reason we sound so scary is because our worldview makes us that way. Realize this: if we believe that the Bible is God’s true word to man and inerrant (and we should check that stuff out before jumping on board and screaming ‘Yes! And death to all who disagree’) then we will find ourselves living scary lives. If we believe that seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness is the way to go then we will be living lives that look totally foolish. If we believe that living is Christ and death is gain we will be very different people than most. I actually appreciate a lot of things about liberal Christians, though I disagree with much that they claim. I appreciate that they live lives relatively consistent with what they claim to believe. The people who scream that the Bible is totally inerrant and that everyone is going to hell but them and their crew, yet live like average, selfish, worldly folks are idiots or liars.

In the end we find that most of the things we hold to touch on the subjective. Liberal and conservative scholars can argue their heads off all day long and both have really convincing points, but few people ever really change their views because of a public debate. For a while I held a very liberal view of the Bible. I started leaning toward a more conservative interpretation right before Bible college. In recent years I started to test my conservative interpretation, because the fundamentalists who claim to have the almighty power of God on their side had better be willing to prove it. So I tried to prove it. I took Jesus at his word when he told me to give up all for him, to give a bunch of money away and seek first God’s righteousness. So far everything’s been taken care of and the promises of God have held true.

And what if it is all true? What if the Bible really is what it claims to be? What if the foolishness of God is indeed wiser than the wisdom of man? There is a heavy charge on all of us. Find out what is true. Find it and value it because truth, above all things, is important. Don’t let your presuppositions and desire to be ‘right’ rob you of the truth. And once you start finding out what the truth is, live according to that knowledge. There’s nothing worse than a man who claims to know a truth yet lives as if that truth is a fable.

Also check out the bottom half of Jerry’s post for more on this.

And because I love you all, I’ll throw in a few pictures today.

This is me making some yummy, homemade butter and the boys raiding it before anyone else gets to it. Also included are the ever-important Joseph pics. He’s pretending to cry in the third shot. I dunno why.

We all face those times when the physical seems to attack the spirtual. Sometimes we just seem too tired, hungry, hot or uncomfortable to hear or obey the Spirit. So what do we do? Do we give up and say ‘Oh well, I’d love to love God but my durned sinful body won’t let me.’? No. We fight the good fight. If the body worked for us then the spiritual struggle wouldn’t be all that big of a struggle, would it?

So what do we do when the moment of truth comes and we find that we just don’t care? What do we do when we know we should do our duty but can’t muster up the joy or will to do it? I have a few ideas and I’ve broken them down into dos and don’ts

DO

• Pray about it.
• Duh. When you feel crappy and don’t want to obey then pray, ‘God, I feel crappy and I don’t want to obey.’ You won’t catch him off guard, he knows how you feel. Be honest. Ask for help. Pray hardest when you don’t feel like praying because that’s when you’re in the most danger. And remember, he who bought you is faithful and he won’t let you fall to the uttermost. Get close to that vine.
• Get a drink.
• Okay, maybe this one shouldn’t head the list, but I think the concept behind it should stand. When I wake up in the morning I look and feel like the zombies out of Heroes 5. I can hardly walk or speak, let alone commune with the ruler of the cosmos, and I’d hit anyone who crosses my path with a big, rusty knife. In Canada I prepare the coffee maker before I go to bed and just flip the switch as soon as I wake up. Some people don’t like the idea of caffeine being used as a spiritual help. I figure that drinking coffee to help my time with God is about the best use of coffee I can think of. This suggestion isn’t really about coffee, but whatever it is that wakes you up, be it tea, juice, or quick exercise. There are a few words of warning, though. Don’t do anything that takes more than three minutes. That’s coming close to distraction. If all you need is a stiff, black coffee don’t fire up the cappuccino machine. Also don’t make the mistake of thinking you absolutely need whatever help you’re using. If you can’t get your coffee you’ll still need to suck it up and pray.
• Write.
• This one is more focused on personal times of prayer and meditation than other spiritual duties. Writing helps you to stay focused and remember what you’re doing. How many times have you been tired while praying and suddenly found that you stopped praying and were thinking about a movie you saw last week? Writing keeps you on track and it gives you a great record of what you’ve been reading and praying about.
• Organize.
• Opening the Bible to wherever you feel the Spirit leads is usually not so helpful. A Bible reading plan is great. I use something called The Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan. You can find it on the Internet. It suggests four separate readings a day (I only do three). It’s helpful because you get a better picture of scripture and you can see yourself making progress. A Prayer plan would also be helpful. Make a document on your computer or in your journal or on a whiteboard. A list of thins to pray for daily and weekly. Don’t listen to the goons who call it legalistic. It’s only legalistic if you make it that way. It’s a help.
• Be regular.
• Don’t miss a day. I don’t care if you’re staying at a friend’s house or in an airplane or whatever. Don’t miss a day. There are few things harder than trying to re-establish a habit that was messed up once. One time is all the flesh needs to get away from its medicine. Don’t miss a day.
• Be willing to break the rules.
• Not legal rules, social ones. Be willing to cut a meeting short because you have to go pray. Be willing to give that homeless guy a hundred bucks instead of a quarter. Be willing go to bed a little earlier for the sake of a good morning. Be willing to be looked at funny for the sake of Jesus. Imagine no one is looking, and do the right thing.
• Pay attention to all the disciplines.
• I’ve had my prayer life hurt by lack of evangelism. I’ve had the Bible seem to dry up in my hands because of lack of prayer. Marital problems have, in the past, caused me to shudder at the suggestion of prayer. Every part of your life is connected. When you have felt dry for an extended period of time examine yourself. Where is your life in trouble? What do you need to pick up again to get it going? Prayer? Bible? Fasting? Service? Giving? Meditation? Preaching? Evangelism? Examine yourself hard.
• Get out.
• Of your comfort zone, that is. We toss that phrase around a lot but few know what it really means. Do something good that’s uncomfortable. Go visit a sick person or widow. Get down to Jane and Finch and give out the Gospel. Pray in public. Something good that hurts.
• Just do it.
• Duty sometimes leads to desire. Just do it, soldier.

DON’T

• Follow your heart.
• Christians have forgotten that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick. When you know what you should do you often hear that little desire in the back of your mind telling you to do something else that seems so much easier and rather innocent. Your heart will try to get you to do anything other than your duty because duty and truth are generally odious to your sinful little heart. Be wary of the suggestions of the heart, they point to a very easy path.
• Do what’s easy.
• The easy road is almost never the right one. If the easy road was the right one then I would think that most people in the world would be happy, holy and generally satisfied with life. As it is most people are miserable, profane and generally pissed with everything that crosses their path. Usually you will find duty and help to be off the beaten track, outside the camp.
• Get distracted.
• Don’t take a nap. Don’t go for a walk to clear your head. Don’t play that game just for five minutes. Stay focused! When people think of the devil they usually think of some demon possessing people or drawing them to nasty, blatant sins. I picture a man selling candy. Don’t buy that crap. Stay on target.

Here’s some pics, courtesy of the Islamabad International Airport:

For those living in the West it is becoming increasingly important to understand non-Western cultures. Especially in a place like Canada when in some areas it’s hard to find a Caucasian. I actually like the ethnic mix we’ve got going on. It helps guard against cultural arrogance and it creates a worldview that’s a little more open and understanding of the world than most. I love immigrants.

And so I hear these days that in America and Canada there are politicians who don’t match the traditional picture of public figures. I saw on Canadian parliament a turbaned Sikh once. I hear that a Muslim man is running for president in America. Neat. I told a few people about this. I’ve always gotten the same response:

“What is the world coming to? We’re certainly in the last days now! I can’t believe they’d let a [Muslim, Sikh or any other non-white person] run for public office!”

I was surprised.

I have this question: what’s the difference? When it comes down to it what’s the difference between a Muslim and a ‘normal’ Canadian or American? What’s the difference between a Sikh and a politician who is Christian by name but atheist by conduct? What’s the difference between a religious man from far away and an irreligious man from next door?

When did we get this idea that immigrants were stupid or dangerous? Haven’t we had enough incompetent western leaders to realize that maybe an eastern one can’t be much worse? Personally, if I voted based on moral integrity, I’d vote for the Muslim before I voted for a Canadian. But, of course, I don’t vote based on moral integrity. I vote based on how I think a candidate would run the country. Certainly morality does play a part in it. But if a wonderfully godly Christian who had no clue what he was doing decided to run for office I don’t think he’d get my vote.

I guess I just don’t understand how we can possibly call a Muslim pagan or immoral while the average man walking down our streets and running our government has a moral system that would make a devil blush.

In the Lord I take refuge;
how can you say to my soul,
“Flee like a bird to your mountain,
for behold, the wicked bend the bow;
they have fitted their arrow to the string
to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart;
if the foundations are destroy,
what can the righteous do?”

David, it seems is being assaulted from two sources. His life seems to be full of problems. We probably can’t figure out which particular stress he’s dealing with now, but from the words here we can be sure that it’s pretty bad. Maybe even life threatening. The second stress seems to come from a friend. A friend, it seems, sees all the stuff David is needing to deal with and advises that he runs. Run away to the mountains! Look, your enemies are closing in on you. They’re coming and there’s nothing you can do about it! Pack up and get out of here. They’ve destroyed the foundations of the city and when the foundations go what can even a righteous man do? Run!

David seems to be a little offended by this. “How can you say this to me?” He asks. How can you even suggest something like this? Run? Are you crazy? Don’t you know that I take refuge in the Lord? Don’t you know that the Lord is in his holy temple? Don’t you know that his eyes see and test the children of men? Don’t you understand that the Lord is righteous and will always protect those who are his? How can you say all of this to me? How can you tell me to run and take refuge in mountains? Mountains are weak and flimsy. They’ll fall and melt at the breath of the one I take refuge in. I cannot take refuge in the mountains. I take refuge in he who made the mountains.

We feel we need to add a lot to our lives. We live in great fear, it seems. Over here in Pakistan it seems that people are more concerned with safety and security than they are with fulfilling their purpose in this land. Canada is exactly the same. We spend so much time and money worrying about insurance and savings and safe cars and safe foods and safe this and that and the other thing. We spend so much energy in the things we think will keep us safe that when it comes time to devote ourselves to the reason we were created we find that we’re out of time and energy. Our church planning meetings focus on offerings and insurance plans instead of prayer and the Spirit. Our missionary planning meetings focus on exit strategies and secure e-mail connections and other crap that won’t ever really keep us safe. Why are we counting on these plans and organizations to keep us safe? Why are we so scared?

“But Matthew, God gave us brains and we’re supposed to use them, not to just through caution into the wind.”

True, God gave us brains. And my brain reads the Bible and my brain tells me not to worry about what I will eat or drink or where I will live or whether I will die because if I seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness he’ll take care of the details.

Don’t ever be afraid to obey. Even if obedience means social stigma, physical pain or any other kind of suffering. If you really sit down and count the cost you’ll find it all worth it.

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Sunday, August 19, my dear brother decided to make the step that many
men are deathly afraid of. That's right, Stephen Cook is now
officially engaged to Anne Fraser!

I just want to publicly say that I am so excited I wet myself a
little. I look at these two and I see them as a perfect match and I
KNOW that they'll be happy together. Steve, you da man. This is a
great step and although I can promise that you will not regret this
choice. You picked a fine girl.

Anne, you got yourself a great dude. I've known Steve for a while and
I'm sure that he'll protect you and care for you more than he'd take
care of himself.

Our prayers are with you both!

I was recently asked to fill one page with ‘The Essentials of my Christian Life’. That’s a tough question, eh? For a few days I just stared at a blank screen and couldn’t figure out what to write. I mean, the essentials of my Christian life? It reminds me of the philosophy paper back at KLBC that PK made us do. How do I write something like that? Eventually I did get it done. I reproduce it here for you all. Enjoy:

It is difficult to put down in words the essentials of my Christian life, but I suppose I could try by breaking it down into three categories of faith, hope and love.

I have confident faith that…

– there is one God, holy, infinite, just and loving. He is the source of all things good in the universe. He created man in a perfect environment, happy and holy and in perfect communion with Himself. Through Adam’s sin the perfect fellowship was broken, Adam and his offspring were corrupted in all their faculties and mankind was put under judgment. God sent His Son, who was true God Himself, to mankind in human form. He lived a perfect life and died a substitutionary death for the sin of the world. Those who believe in Him are justified, sanctified and, ultimately glorified. This salvation is by grace through faith alone.
– once a believer embraces Christ he is sealed by the Holy Spirit and kept from ultimately falling away. The Holy Spirit also enters his life and causes radical changes in all his faculties. He is a new creation. Though he still must struggle with sin his entire life the Spirit enables him to progress from faith to faith.
– those who die without embracing Christ and placing their faith in Him are eternally lost.
– all believers should be baptized.
– The Bible is the Word of God, given to man.
– Christ will return at any time to judge, reward and rule.
– it is every believer’s duty and privilege to go into all the world and preach the Gospel, making disciples of every nation.
– to live is Christ and to die is gain.

I have assured hope that…

– if I seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness my needs will always be met.
– there is no greater joy to be found this life or the next than communion with God, as He is the source of all happiness.
– a believer can seek the presence of God and his guidance through the means of grace which include prayer, the Bible, service, discipleship, fellowship with believers, the Lord’s Supper, etc. While these things are not meritorious, God has given us these conduits of grace as a means to draw closer to him.
– the Christian life is not meant to be a dry system, but an active relationship with the creator of the universe.
– one day I, and all others who are in Christ, will stand around the throne of God and of the Lamb and rejoice in His glory for days without end. At that point I know not what I will be but I know that I will be like Him for I shall see Him as He is.

Concerning love…

– The greatest charge to a Christian is to love God. This love is shown through desire for presence, pleasure, and glory and action leading to that end. A man who does not love God cannot possibly know Him as He is.
– The second greatest charge to a Christian is to love man. This love is shown through desire for man’s good and action leading to man’s good. This includes things like evangelism, humanitarian aid, kindness, gentleness, hospitality, patience, meekness, boldness, courage, etc.
– The love of God causes a believer to hate all sin.
– All ‘Christian’ virtues, practices and traditions are null and made useless if they are without love. Without love faith becomes opinion and hope becomes mere expectance.

Pakistan Zindabad!