Edwin Crozier

Why We Should Always Ask Questions First and Discipline Later

March 24, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 1 Comment

A friend of mine tells a story on himself that I have to share with you. I won’t include any names in order to protect the innocent (and guilty). I’m just glad every once in a while I get to use someone else as an example instead of always having to use me.

Anyway, this good brother had taught his children not to take the Lord’s name in vain…ever. He had even taught against the popular euphemisms for the Lord’s name. He wanted his family to always accord the Lord the very highest respect.

How embarrassed and shocked he was when at a picnic he heard his young son hollering almost at the top of his lungs, “Oh my God!” The crime had been committed. The witnesses were everywhere. Punishment must be administered. He yanked up his son and paddled him on the spot. A moment later his wife approached and said, “Hon, he was singing the new song I taught him. You know the part that says ‘Oh my God, I trust in thee.'” As my friend shared the story, I could tell, he still felt small for that one. I felt small for him. I uttered a little prayer of thanksgiving that I’m not the only dad who blows it sometimes.

But the reason God let’s us make mistakes is to learn from them. Certainly, we dads have every responsibility to discipline our children. A good time to practice discipline is when God is disrespected. However, the extreme nature of this story demonstrates a point we need always remember. Even when it seems obvious that our children have done something wrong, we need to get the facts first. Even when it seems absolutely clear our children have violated the rules and crossed the boundaries, we need to press the pause button, calm down, and find out the complete story.

We must not react out of embarrassment, anger, wrath, pride, or any other emotion that prompts hasty discipline. If after investigation, we learn our children have indeed crossed the boundary, then we should discipline them for their good (Hebrews 12:9-10). It will still have its value. Discipline doesn’t have to be absolutely immediate for it to be effective. We can take time to investigate and make sure the discipline is warranted.

When we press the pause button, we will certainly avoid unnecessary guilt for messing up. Fortunately, our children are resilient and forgiving. When we apologize and ask for forgiveness, they are usually quick to give it. But, it certainly makes us feel better if we get a handle on the situation first.

2 Reasons We Don’t Have to Pray Exactly Like the Psalmists

March 23, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 13 Comments

(Check out the index for all the posts in this series.)

Praying Like the Psalmists

“The only way to understand the psalms is on your knees, the whole congregation praying the words of the psalms with all its strength”—Deitrich Bonhoeffer.

I’ve spent a good bit of the past several months studying the Psalms as a guide for prayer, praise, and worship. I completely agree with Bonhoeffer’s sentiment. I think most of us do. Our modern hymns demonstrate we believe the best way to use and understand the Psalms is in prayer and song. Consider some of our modern songs:

“As the Deer” from Psalm 42
“This is the Day” from Psalm 118
“The Lord’s My Shepherd” from Psalm 23
“How Majestic is Your Name” from Psalm 8
“Unto Thee O Lord” from Psalm 25
“I Will Call Upon the Lord” from Psalm 18

The list could go on, but you see the point.

Having said this, there is still part of us that is overwhelmed at the thought of using the Psalms as our guide for prayer. There are 150 of those psalms to go through. On top of that, sometimes the psalmists use phrases with which we are unfamiliar. Like greeting cards, the Psalms often sound good to us when we read them, but they don’t seem to fit us when we actually say them. Not to mention, there are just some ways in which the psalmists speak that seem almost blasphemous. I’ve read some psalms (e.g. Psalm 88) that make me want to change locations when I’m done for fear that lightning will strike where I was standing.

Thus, there is a huge part of us that wants to pray like the psalmists. At the same time, there is a part that doesn’t. With that in mind, I’m going to devote our Monday spiritual springboard to prayer and the Psalms for a while. But, I want to begin in an odd place. I want to first set our minds at ease where we don’t want to pray like the psalmists. Hopefully, as we consider these things we can relax as we look to the Psalms and not be so overwhelmed. Then we’ll be free to gradually learn as much as we can about prayer from the Psalms.

Today, I want to show you 2 of the 4 reasons we don’t have to pray exactly like the psalmists. Next week, we’ll wrap up the other 2 reasons.

2 Reasons We Don’t Have to Pray Exactly Like the Psalmists

1. The Psalms are part of the Old Covenant not the New

Despite the usual practice of Bible printers to include the Psalms when they publish a pocket New Testament, the Psalms are not part of our covenant or the law of Christ. They are part of the Old Covenant law. Note John 10:34. While debating with the Jews, Jesus said, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’?” Jesus quoted from Psalm 82:6. I certainly recognize the Psalms were not written as a legal code. I understand they are not part of the decalogue. I see that they are not written with “Thou shalt” and “Thou shalt not.” Nevertheless, Jesus demonstrates they are part of that Old Covenant.

In Hebrew 7:12, we learn when there is a change of priesthood, there is a change of law. We are no longer under the levitical priesthood. Rather, we are under the priesthood of Jesus Christ. Our priesthood has changed, so has the law.

Romans 10:4 says Christ is the end or goal of the Law. When Christ came, He fulfilled the Law. He superseded the Law. It is no longer our pattern and guide for glorifying God.

Having said that, don’t forget Romans 15:4, which explains we can learn from what was written even in the days of the Old Covenant. I’m not suggesting tossing out the Old Testament. That would be silly. In fact, we cannot possibly understand the New without learning from the Old. We just need to keep the Old in proper perspective. Now that the Messiah has appeared, we are no longer under the schoolmaster/tutor/guardian (cf. Galatians 3:19-29).

The point being that we can learn from the Psalms, but we can be relieved from the idea that they are somehow the universal pattern for all praying for all time. We can learn timeless principles about prayer, praise, and worship from them. But we are not seeing our pattern for how to glorify God under the New Covenant.

Let me show practically why this is important. Psalm 5:3 says, “O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.” If we want to pray, do we have to offer the morning sacrifice? If we have to pray exactly like the psalmists, we do. But this is not our pattern. Rather, we learn from this psalm within its Old Covenant context that sacrifice is what grants us access to pray to God. However, under the New Covenant, killing an animal is not how we glorify or draw near to God. We know Jesus is our sacrifice whose blood brings us into the presence of God (Hebrews 10:19-22). See from this how we learn from the Psalms timeless principles about prayer and praise but we do not follow them as our Law and guide for prayer.

2. The Psalms were written using a culturally appropriate genre, not a universal guide for all praying everywhere.

To claim we can only pray like the psalmists, would be akin to claiming we could only ever speak about judgment in apocalyptic. We would be taking a culturally appropriate genre and mandating it as the guide. In that case, we would be missing the real point in the Psalms. The real point is not that we have to use the psalmists’ genre to pray. Rather, we need to learn the lessons God revealed through that genre.

The genre of the Psalms is not an exclusively biblical genre. In fact, it is not even an exclusively Hebrew genre. Many scholars have pointed out that this exact genre was used among the Egyptians and Babylonians of the same time period. The genre of the Psalms is not the universal guide for the only way to pray or even the best way to pray. It was simply a form of prayer used at that time and God used that culturally appropriate genre to reveal His servants’ proper response to Him.

Some are thinking I’ve gone off the deep end and turned into a liberal theologian here. That is not the case at all. Isn’t this what God did with all of the Bible? He used people within their culture, in their background, their styles, their language, and revealed His will through that. That’s all I’m saying God did with the Psalms. He did not use this genre to say this is the only way to pray. He simply revealed His will through the background and culture of the people of that time.

We do not have to become masters at Hebrew parallelism, chiasm, or other characteristics of this genre in order to pray properly. We do not have to use the exact forms and phrases. That was all part of their culture. We have a different culture with different forms.

Consider one example. Psalm 102:1-2 says, “Hear my prayer, O LORD; / let my cry come to you! / Do not hide your face from me / in the day of my distress! / Incline your ear to me; / answer me speedily in the day when I call!” I have a very hard time with this or even remotely praying to God like this. In my culture, I should at least say, “Please.” I can imagine telling my kids, “Listen up!” like that, but I can’t imagine talking my parents like that, let alone my God.

What is happening here? It’s all about culture. Apparently, in that Old Testament culture and in the culturally appropriate genre, this could be said without concern. While I’m sure it is perfectly legitimate at the base level to recite this psalm in prayer, culturally, I’ll never feel comfortable demanding God listen to my prayer. Do I have a lack of faith? Am I weak because I don’t pray like the psalmists in this regard? No. I’m in a different culture. We have different means by which we show respect.

Consider an illustration. In John 19:26, Jesus addressed His mother saying, “Woman, behold, your son!” I wouldn’t remotely encourage modern sons to call their mother, “Woman,” just because Jesus did it. All by itself, it must not be wrong. But in our cultural context it is considered inappropriate and disrespectful. I think we need to consider the same point when we address God.

Wrapping Up

We are going to learn a lot of great information from the Psalms about praying. I can’t wait for us to discuss this and learn from each other as we converse about praying. But I hope we can set our minds at ease. We don’t have to pray exactly like the psalmists to go to heaven. We can relax and take as long as we need to learn from the psalmists.

Make sure you come back next Monday when we’ll wrap up this part of our Psalms study with two more reasons we don’t have to pray exactly like the psalmists.

Let me know what you hope to get out of discussing the Psalms. That will help guide where we go with this.

Praying Like the Psalmists: An Index

March 22, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 8 Comments

I hope you enjoy my series on praying like the psalmists. For easier navigation, I have added this index or table of contents so you can jump to whichever post you want to study, whenever you want to study it.

Please return to this index weekly. As each new post is added, a new link will be placed in this post.

Why We Don’t Have to Pray Just Like the Psalmists

Introduction to the Series and 2 Reasons We Don’t Have to Pray Just Like the Psalmists

2 More Reasons We Don’t Have to Pray Just Like the Psalmists

Believing in the God of the Psalmists

God is My Rock, Redeemer…

God is My Shepherd

God is Near

God is Love

In the End, God Always Wins

March 16, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 8 Comments

Well, once again, someone has allowed their fervor for copyright to overtake their desire for free advertising. The video I had posted here originally has been removed and is no longer allowed to be embedded. You can watch Il Divo sing Amazing Grace at the Roman Coliseum by clicking this link. Then come back and find out what I got out of it.

I have to admit the above video is extremely moving. However, that is not why I post it. Secondly, I must also admit I personally believe God has only authorized us under His new covenant to sing while worshipping Him and not to play orchestrations even though it is highly emotional for us.

With those caveats, let me explain why I post this video.

As you watch the video, notice the building in which this concert is held. It is the Roman Coliseum. 1900 years ago, Christians were killed in this theater for sport. Christians were mauled by lions, burned at the stake, drawn and quartered. The crowds laughed and jeered. The emperors took up the sword against the emperor of the universe, King Jesus, and they believed they were winning. The Christians themselves may have believed the Romans were winning. How many times did they wonder if God could win against such evil?

Nearly 2000 years later, however, 4 men stand on the grounds where the blood of our brothers and sisters was spilt. Do they listen to jeering crowds demand their death? Do they cower before ravenous lions and armored gladiators? No. They stand for all the world to see, singing an anthem of Christianity. The crowds look on and cheer their praises.

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found; was blind but now I see. Twas grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. When we’ve been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.”

As I listen, I can almost hear the blood of my brothers and sisters crying out in praise of God’s mercy and grace along with the four men on stage. They have been on the other side for nearly 2000 years of our earth’s time, but they still have just as much time to sing God’s praise as when they first begun.

Many of you who follow my mutterings are Christians. Some of you are not. No matter on which side you fall, please see this for what it is. Rome turned all its power against Christ. The emperors are dead. Rome defeated. Christ lives on. Christ’s empire still stands. We as Christians can stand on the battlegrounds of the past and sing praises to our King and God.

“Through many dangers, toils, and fears, I have already come. Twas grace hath brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home!”

Hallelujah! God always wins!

Pray through the Bible with Your Family

March 10, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 5 Comments

Seemingly, one of the most difficult aspects of parenting is to pass on spiritual disciplines such as daily Bible study and prayer. I’ve heard many state they don’t have time. I’ve heard many state they just keep putting it off. However, perhaps the most often used reason is, “I just don’t know how.” Today’s springboard for your family will provide you an excellent practical way to pass on both spiritual disciplines at one time.

Why Bother?

However, before I give you that tool, let’s first back up and understand that this is not homework. This is not an issue of having to study and pray enough to be good enough to go to heaven. This is not an issue of if we miss a day, we’ll go to hell. Do you remember what Peter said to Jesus in John 6:68 when Jesus had asked if the disciples wanted to leave Him? Peter said Jesus had the words of life, where else would they go? We don’t study the Bible to be good enough to go to heaven. We study the Bible because it contains Jesus’ words of life. There is no other source for life. Thus, if we don’t get in the word, we’ll have death.

In like manner, note Psalm 145:18: “The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” If the Lord is near those who call on Him, what does that mean about those who don’t? We do not pray to be good enough to go to heaven. We pray because that is what draws us close to God. If we are not close to God, the adversary will eat us for lunch.

We don’t do these things as a checklist to get the right things done. We do them because life is contained in these disciplines. If we don’t do them, we’ll die. Think of it like insulin for the diabetic. The diabetic doesn’t take insulin because he/she has to, has been assigned to, or wants to be good enough. Absolutely not. Rather, the diabetic takes insulin because without it the result is a diabetic coma and death. These disciplines are our medicine that keep us connected to the real power of God.

So, are you ready for this revolutionary tool to help you practice these disciplines and pass them on to your children? I admit, I adapted this from my good friend David Banning, who in turn, took it from the creators of the Our Spiritual Heritage Bible class curriculum. We call it “Praying through the Bible.” Here’s how it works.

Praying through the Bible

Gather your family together and let each person have a sheet of paper. On the sheet of paper write five sentence starters with space in between.

“Dear God, You are…”

“Dear God, You…”

“Dear God, forgive me for…”

“Dear God, thank you for…”

“Dear God, help…”

Then, have someone read a section of scripture. You may read a whole chapter. You may read a whole story. You may read a few verses that contain some powerful messages. As the reading is being done, have everyone work on completing those sentences based upon the reading.

For example: Read Genesis 1. You might finish the sentences in this way.

“Dear God, You are the creator of all things and the giver of life.”

“Dear God, You created the world and everything in it.”

“Dear God, forgive me for not taking better care of Your creation and not giving You the proper praise for Your great power and might.”

“Dear God, thank You for providing such a wonderful world, perfectly suited for us to live.”

“Dear God, help my faith in You as creator and sovereign Lord of the universe grow every day.”

Trust me, you’ll be amazed at the answers your children come up with.

When you are done with the reading, discuss what everyone has written down. Can you see how this part is great Bible study. Without saying, “We’re going to study Genesis 1,” you have studied and discussed it with your children. After discussing the passage, go around the room and let everyone pray. I always tell my children that they can pray about whatever they want, but we do want them to be sure to pray through what they have written down. You might even keep a journal of what everyone says so you can look back over what you’ve learned and prayed about.

By the way, if your children didn’t come up with an ending for some of the sentences, don’t worry about it. As they hear yours, they’ll get better at it.

Yes, this takes some time. Yes, this takes some work. Yes, it will take some discipline from us as parents. But it will be worth it. It will revolutionize your family prayer life.

Thanks for jumping on today’s springboard. I hope it gives you a great boost in your family life.

Thank God One Day at a Time

March 9, 2009 by Edwin Crozier 4 Comments

I’m a little leery to share today’s springboard with you. To do so, I’ll be sharing some of my weaknesses and flaws. However, it is probably good to pass on that really I post these springboards for me; you just get to listen in for free. If you weren’t reading this, I would still post because I put these springboards out to remind me so I can overcome the weaknesses I’ve worked so hard to develop over the past 35 years.

In just the past two weeks, I’ve reached an understanding that has revolutionized my prayer life and deepened my relationship with God.

The background is that for most of my life I’ve handled money abysmally. Even after learning better, old habits died hard. This has left me in the sad position that what others who have planned better might consider small emergencies are DEFCON level 5 crises for me. For instance, we recently had some work done on the Suburban and my friend who did the work basically said, “This might last two weeks, it might last two years, but its time to start looking for something new.” This poses a problem. We don’t have a car savings. Additionally, we are now working our way through the Dave Ramsey approach of getting out of debt. Therefore, we don’t want to borrow money to buy a vehicle.

Add to that, my wife went to the dentist and we learned she has some work that is imminent and extremely costly. And I really do mean extremely. As long as a tooth doesn’t break, we can hold off. But once that happens, then it will be an emergency. Like the car, we don’t have a dental savings. We’re still doing that Dave Ramsey stuff, which means we don’t want to borrow money for this either.

Here’s a separate springboard for you…SAVE MONEY! As Dave Ramsey says, the rain is coming, you need a rainy day fund.

But back to my main thought. In my mind’s eye, because of my own financial folly, I have these two anvils hanging over my head held by fraying strings. At any moment, they’ll come crashing down. Every day, I beg God not to let it happen. However, I’ve been holding out on my thanksgiving. I’ve had the idea that when I have the money to get a new vehicle before the Suburban breaks down, then I’ll give thanks. Or when I have the money to pay for dental work before the emergency hits, then I’ll give thanks.

Here is the problem with that. Each day is spent in amazing fear that today might be the day. When that is my mindset, a wedge is being pushed between me and God. The relationship dwindles. However, just recently, I was thinking about living one day at a time as Matthew 6:34 teaches. It hit me. I haven’t been giving God His due thanksgiving.

Today, the Suburban is still running. Today, Marita’s teeth are still working. Who knows what might happen tomorrow, but today, God has delivered me from these crises. As Proverbs 3:5-6 says, I need to acknowledge Him. As I’ve learned to give God thanks for daily victories, I no longer see Him as the adversary. I realize He’s not obligated to stave off the crises coming because of my own folly. Yet, today, He has done so. Therefore, today, instead of being filled with fear about tomorrow, I’m filled with gratitude about today.

The more I see God’s daily victories, the closer I draw to Him. As I offer this thanksgiving and think about the daily blessings God has given me, my faith in Him increases. Who knows, maybe tomorrow will be the day it all comes crashing down. However, I’m learning each day that God will see me through today. When that “today” gets here, He’ll see me through that day as well.

So, today I thank God. He is providing my victory today.