Category: Hear From the President

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This week let me draw your attention to two celebrations coming next month: Black History Month and National Marriage Week. Though not part of the historic Christian calendar, these celebrations do highlight two important issues.

In the U.S., February is celebrated as Black History Month. First proposed in 1920, it became an official national celebration in 1970. The purpose is to draw attention to the significant contributions made by African Americans in the fields of art, literature, science and industry.

Though many of GCI’s U.S. churches acknowledge Black History Month, some have asked, why single out this one group? What about other minorities—haven’t their contributions also been neglected? That’s a fair question, but the fact that we have a nationally recognized celebration of Black history shows the progress our society has made in race relations.

My friend, Curtis May tells of indignities and humiliations he experienced growing up in the segregated South. I remember attending one of our congregations as late as the mid-60s, where African-American members were seated in a separate section of the hall. Though that practice seems unthinkable now, it still astonishes me that so many of us—black and white—accepted it as “God’s way.” It shows just how much we can be influenced by the trends and opinions of the world around us—both for good and bad. For an interview with Curtis about Black History Month, go to www.gci.org/history/bhmonth.

Thanks to Dr. Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement, America has become a more just society in matters of racial equality. Though we’re far from perfect, our national acknowledgement of Black History Month shows that we have come a long way, though it should also remind us that we still need further progress as a nation, as a church and as individuals.

Jesus accepts everyone, just as the old hymn reminds us: “Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red, brown, yellow, black or white, they’re all precious in his sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” These lyrics would make a good focus for a discussion with your congregation during Black History Month. They also can inform celebrations of other cultures and ethnicities. For additional resources for Black History Month celebrations, go to:

• www.biography.com/tv/classroom/about-black-history-month
• www.britannica.com/blackhistory.?q=go/BlackHistory

National Marriage Week Celebration

This year, the U.S. celebration of National Marriage Week will occur on February 7-14 (for information go to www.nationalmarriageweekusa.org/). Other countries have similar celebrations at other times.

Though we’ve seen progress in race relations in the U.S., I’m saddened to note that in the Western world, the institution of marriage is severely threatened. Increasingly, committed marriage relationships are viewed as optional—one of several possibilities for people choosing to live together. National Marriage Week celebrates traditional marriage, noting that marriage yields better results in combating poverty, in child-rearing, and in producing happier, healthier and longer lives.

In the insightful and sobering report, “Why Marriage Matters: Thirty Conclusions from Social Science,” a group of family scholars summarized findings from the social sciences concerning divorce, cohabitation and marriage in the U.S. The lead author, W. Bradford Wilcox, who directs the National Marriage Project, wrote this:

Family instability is on the rise for American children as a whole. This is mainly because more couples are having children in cohabiting unions, which are very unstable. This report also indicates that children in cohabiting households are more likely to suffer from a range of emotional and social problems—drug use, depression, and dropping out of high school—compared to children in intact, married families. [A summary of the report is available at www.familyministries.org/files/MarriageMatters_final.pdf. To order the full report, go to http://www.amppubgroup.com/subject/social-science/why-marriage-matters-third-edition-twenty-six-conclusions-from-the-social-sciences/.]

Family instability affects older people too. Divorce among those age 50 and over is at the highest level on record. A National Center for Family and Marriage Research study reports that in 1990 only one in ten people 50 or older got divorced. By 2009 it was one in four. If that pace of increase holds, in 2030 the number of over-50 divorces will top 800,000 (The Gray Divorce Revolution, 11/13).

That these trends are taking their toll in our society is no surprise, for the traditional marriage relationship is God’s design. We don’t have to join the debates raging about the alternatives, but we can show, by example, that traditional marriage is what God intends. Here is an area where Christians should be shining lights in a world that has lost its way.

As pastors and ministry leaders, we have an important role in helping married couples grow stronger in their relationships. As we all know, marriages (including our own) are under constant attack. Oftentimes the worst attacks come simply through neglect. It’s what we “pour into” our marriage that makes it a success. The greatest source of this “in-pouring” is the grace of God both in creation (creating the institution of marriage itself) and in redemption (with God’s gifts of forbearance, forgiveness, unconditional love and positive, hopeful regard toward one’s spouse). The ultimate foundation for all human relationships is the reality that in Jesus Christ our Triune God has entered into a relationship of covenant love with all humanity, declaring that he will never leave or forsake us. He never will divorce us.

We come to know more and more profoundly the meaning and nature of God’s covenant love in Christ as we live out that love in all our relationships, including in marriage and with people across racial boundaries. Doing so enables us to know and experience more deeply God’s ever-faithful covenant love that not only strengthens relationships but restores seemingly dead relationships back to life. This is the resurrection power of Jesus’ own love and life.

Though we’ve made progress in race relations, the decline in traditional marriage values is a sober reminder that we live in a broken and fallen world. It is a world that desperately needs the moral guidance, healing touch and sure hope that God provides.

Please continue to remind those you serve of God’s faithful covenant love and then that the most powerful impact we make as Christians is by our examples of sharing that love. May we all “go out into the world uncorrupted, a breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society.” By our examples, may we “provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living God” (Philippians 2:15 The Message).

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the early days of our church’s transition from legalism to grace, I think one of the most dramatic changes was the way we regarded the “food laws” listed in Leviticus chapter 11. It was not the most important change spiritually, but this particular “upgrade” in our understanding did impact most of us in practical, down-to-earth ways.

I remember now, with some amusement, how some regarded this change as a kind of litmus test to see if we had really “accepted the new covenant.” Thankfully, we have matured, though some people continue to think that it is somehow “unrighteous” to eat what Leviticus 11 labels as “unclean.” Perhaps this letter will provide a more accurate perspective.

I recall talking with some teenagers years ago about their extra-curricular activities following one of our youth activities. They were all under age and got hold of some beer, which they drank to a moderate level of excess. Then they ordered pizza. Some of the pizzas came with pepperoni. As I discussed with them the illegality and dangers of underage drinking, they were quick to point out that they did not eat the pepperoni. In their minds, it appeared that drunkenness was minor compared to the “sin” of eating pork.

Because we are ministers, not nutritionists or dieticians, it is not our responsibility to tell people what they should or should not eat. What a person decides to put in their stomach might be a matter of wisdom and common sense, but according to the New Testament, it is not a matter of righteousness. But some old habits die hard. If someone decides to follow Old Testament dietary rules, be a vegetarian or even a vegan, they are free to do so. The problem comes when they decide that in doing so they are being more righteous than those who do not follow their preferences.

It is sometimes argued that “clean” food is better for you. Maybe it is in some cases, but it is important not to read health advice into the Bible’s food laws. Some of the great Jewish sages made that mistake. For example, Maimonides thought that unclean animals were disease carriers. Apparently, he did not know about deer ticks, salmonella bacteria in poultry, or E. coli in beef and lamb. Some saw significance in the fact that unclean animals are scavengers and clean animals are not. Whoever came up with that one apparently did not know how close the “clean” fish, sole, is to being a bottom-feeder. Nor, apparently, had they observed that chickens eat disgusting things. I won’t go into detail!

God gave Israel the list of clean and unclean animals as yet another way to keep them separate from the other nations (Gentiles). Some of those nations ate almost anything. An archaeological excavation at the ancient city of Gath discovered that Philistines enjoyed eating dogs. That doesn’t surprise me, given some of the things I am invited to “enjoy” on my travels around the world. I personally feel that some foods should be off-limits to anyone! I still can’t bring myself to eat certain seafood. But that’s my personal dietary preference, not a matter of righteousness.

The real issue in Israel’s food laws was social order. God wanted his people to have a distinct culture, so they would stand out from other nations. The detailed rules of the old covenant effectively accomplished that separation—addressing every aspect of life, including diet. The food laws of Leviticus 11, which were part of the old covenant’s purity laws regulating Israel’s worship and social interactions, limited God’s people to the consumption of “clean” meats. Eating clean meats symbolized communion with God while eating unclean meats symbolized distrust and separation from God.

Thus, in new covenant times, when Peter was struggling with the question of taking the gospel to the Gentiles, God gave Peter a vision of both clean and unclean animals and then commanded him to “kill and eat” (Acts 10:13). Peter protested: ““Surely not, Lord!…I have never eaten anything impure or unclean” (Acts 10:14). In reply, God declared: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:15).

Through this vision, God was teaching Peter that Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension had ended distinctions between clean and unclean people, symbolized by the end of distinctions between clean and unclean animals. The previously “unclean” Gentiles, like the previously “unclean” animals, were now declared clean in God’s sight. In Jesus, Israel and the Gentiles were brought together as the one people of God, filled with the Spirit.

Our calling is to participate with Jesus in what he is doing to take the gospel into all the world—unto all people. As we do, we are free to have fellowship (including table fellowship) with everyone. Paul corrected those who passed judgment on others concerning food preferences: “I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for anyone who thinks it unclean” (Romans 14:14 ESV). Paul also declared that “Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for anyone to make another stumble by what he eats” (Romans 14: 20 ESV).

Paul’s point was that we should not insist that others eat what we regard as acceptable. Eating or not eating does not define a right relationship with God. In the multi-cultural setting of the city of Rome, Paul urged that dietary differences between Jews and Gentile Christians be accommodated, declaring that “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17 ESV).

The new covenant gives us new direction related to a new kind of fellowship that is centered around Jesus Christ. Let’s help our people follow that direction.

Your brother in Christ,
Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I’m sometimes asked why we no longer refer to God as a “family.” Isn’t that term appropriate, given that there is a Father and a Son who are bringing “many sons to glory”? My answer is that whereas the analogy of God as a family works at some levels, we must be very careful because it can lead in directions that distort the biblical revelation of the one God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The analogy of God as a family can be used in a limited way to indicate that just as there are relationships between family members, there are relationships in the triune God. However this analogy is easily misunderstood as indicating that just as in a family there are separate persons who each have their own being, so God is made up of persons with separate beings.

But that is not the case. What is true of human relationships in families is not necessarily true of God, who is not a creature. While there is a triune relationship within God’s one being, that relationship is not between separate beings. The three “persons” of the Trinity, through their absolutely unique relationships, constitute the one being of God in a way that is quite unlike a human family.

The uncreated God cannot be explained in terms of a created human family. Trying to do so amounts to mythology and even idolatry.

Most of us probably are familiar with the Hebrew word Elohim. It is one of several names used for God in the Old Testament. In our former teaching, we mistakenly claimed that Elohim is a “uniplural” noun—like the noun “family.” Following this line of reasoning, we erroneously concluded that there are two separate Gods (Father and Son), comprising a “God family.”

From the Akkadians and Egyptians to the Greeks and Romans, pagan religions have taught a plurality (pantheon or family) of gods. The Greeks even constructed a family tree for their pantheon. [1] This pagan conception is known as polytheism (many gods, like the pantheon of Egyptian gods pictured below), or bitheism or ditheism in the case of two gods.

In contrast to the polytheistic misconceptions of paganism, God revealed himself to Israel as one (single, exclusive) God. He commanded his people: “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). “Before me” is literally, “before my face”—a Hebrew idiom meaning “beside me” or “in addition to me.” [2] Though Elohim is a plural noun, it was never understood as a reference to many gods, and certainly not a reference to a family of gods.

The pantheon of gods in pagan religions ruled the realm of the gods, the supernatural and, ultimately, the human world. Typically one of these gods was designated head of the pantheon and, like the other gods, would have at least one consort (female partner). But God forbade Israel to think of him in these polytheistic and sexual terms. Yahweh definitely is not the head of a pantheon. He has no consort. There are no other gods in his presence [3]. Therefore, Moses proclaimed: “Hear , O Israel, the LORD [Yahweh] our God [Elohim], the LORD [Yahweh] is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

Old Testament Hebrew does not support the idea of a “God family.” The nouns used for God’s names and titles are coupled with singular verbs. For example, it is said in Genesis 2:7 that “the Lord [Yahweh—a singular noun] God [Elohim—a plural noun] formed [a singular verb] a man from the dust of the ground.” Though Elohim is a plural noun, the Bible almost always couples it with a singular verb.

Note, however, that while emphasizing the unity and uniqueness of one God, Elohim does allow for the idea of a plurality of persons in the one Godhead. We see this hinted at in Genesis 1:2, 26: “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters…. Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness…'” This rich linguistic character of Elohim is found only in Hebrew and in no other Semitic languages—not even in Biblical Aramaic. [4]

Note also that, as is true in the English language, Hebrew has both singular and plural nouns. However, quite unlike English, Hebrew is able to specify singular, dual and plural meanings for nouns. [5] For example, in the Old Testament, God is named Eloah (a singular noun) 57 times; he is named Elohim (a plural noun referring to three or more) 2570 times; and he is named Elohiam (a plural noun referring to two) exactly zero times.

The nature and usage of the plural noun Elohim in biblical Hebrew, taken together with the singular verbs that are coupled with it, while allowing for the possibility of some kind of plurality in God, does not allow for separate beings who make up a pantheon (family) of gods. When we add to this the Old Testament’s emphatic teaching that there is only one God, it becomes clear that our former teaching that God is a family of two separate Gods is not biblical. Even though the Hebrew Scriptures hint at a plurality of persons in the Godhead, the notion of there being two separate “god beings” is ditheism (a form of polytheism)—a belief expressly prohibited by God himself.

God is one being with a plurality of what we refer to as divine “persons.” This is why I say we should be very careful in saying that “God is a family.” The truth about the nature of God, which is only hinted at in the Old Testament, is revealed to us fully by Jesus Christ. Given that revelation, we can say with confidence that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit live in a loving, eternal relationship as one Triune God—a relationship in which, by grace, we have been included. This wonderful truth of our participation and inclusion is helpfully explained by Gary Deddo in a two-part article. We published part one last week and you’ll find part two in this issue of Weekly Update.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

PS. For those interested in further reading on this topic, here are the sources I’ve referenced in my letter.

[1] See the chart at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_tree_of_the_Greek_gods.

[2] H.D. Spence: The Pulpit Commentary: Exodus Vol. II. Logos Research Systems, S. 131.

[3] Victor Harold Matthews; Mark W. Chavalas; John H. Walton: The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Electronic ed., S. Ex 20:3.

[4] Gustav Oehler: Theology of the Old Testament, p. 88.

[5] E. Kautzch, ed.: Gesenius’ Hebrew Grammar, p. 244.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Happy New Year to all of you! And thanks to those who sent me cards, letters and emails on my 62nd birthday. Also thanks for the positive comments about the recent Advent-themed Speaking of Life videos.

My prayers are with all who are experiencing the record-breaking cold in the US. Betty Johannsen found a way to blow a stunningly beautiful bubble in the extreme cold. Her husband, GCI pastor Doug Johannsen, photographed it and his picture is now being used on a local TV station’s Facebook page:

I pray that everyone experienced great joy in celebrating our Lord’s birth. John Biswas invited me to speak at the Christmas service of his congregation in San Bernardino, California. Most of the service (pictured at right) was in the Bengali language although most of those attending there are fluent in English.

A new year always brings with it great expectations. Though 2013 left much of the world in a terrible mess, we do hope for better in 2014, though the likely reality is that in the year ahead some things will stay the same, some will get better and others will get worse. Of course, “better” or “worse” depend on one’s point of view. And everyone has a particular point of view, which may or may not be based on fact.

Though much of what we see going on in the world saddens us, I find joy in seeing what God is doing, often behind the scenes, to ensure the eternal future of all human beings. That sense of joy is greatly magnified as we join in what Jesus is doing as his co-ministers. Let me share some of what I’ve experienced recently.

Though I’m unable to travel to the Philippines to help with the typhoon recovery work there, I feel a personal involvement in having contributed financially. I’ve also found joy in hearing reports from the many people in our fellowship who are serving there on the front lines.

I’ve also experienced great joy in hearing about the growth of our summer camps. 2013 was a successful camp year in every way. Our team is planning an even more ambitious program for 2014. I cannot overemphasize the positive impact these camps have in the lives of thousands of young campers and hundreds of staff members. Please pray for the camp currently going on in Australia (you can follow them at https://www.facebook.com/pages/GCI-Youth-Australia/143788422338178?ref=hl).

Every day I’m reminded that our denomination, though small, makes a significant impact around the world. Hector Barrero, our mission developer in South and Central America, told me about his recent visit to GCI congregations in Honduras and El Salvador. Our members there are enthusiastically involved in the work of Jesus in their communities despite many limitations. Kalengule Kaoma, our mission developer in East, West and Central Africa, told me about his recent visit to Uganda where he met several groups who are interested in joining us. He also learned of two pastors who are interested in planting GCI churches in the area. We wait to see what God will do next!

Susi Albrecht, who works in our home office, told me about the volunteer work her father, GCI elder Hermann Birawe is doing in Zurich, Switzerland. Although Hermann struggles with health issues, he is working with some Syrian children (pictured at left) who are refugees from the ongoing civil war in Syria. Because Hermann lived through a war himself some 70 years ago, he connects with and understands these children in a deeply personal way. Susi told me that his work with these children is a very bright spot in her father’s life. Isn’t God amazing? Not only does he help those who need it, but he blesses those who provide it. Truly, all are included in the love of God!

In this troubled world, people like Hector, Kalengule and Hermann are bright spots. They remind us that no matter our situation, we can shine as lights in a dark world. Our works do not save us, but because we are saved, we can work. And when we work by faith in the grace of our Lord, the glory of God shines forth so that all may give him glory. Let’s work together in 2014, fulfilling our calling to share with Jesus in the ministry that he will be doing in and through us.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

PS. Beginning in this issue, we’re publishing a two-part article from Gary Deddo titled “Jesus’ Acceptance.” It helps us understand what we mean when we say You’re included. I encourage you to read it and to share it with others.

Christmas greetings!

Sometimes it’s nice to state the obvious—that’s what most Christmas cards do. In celebrating Christmas, it’s not the date of Jesus’ birth that’s important, but the stunning fact of his incarnation. In his infinite creativity and freedom, God reached down to us by becoming one of us. In doing so, he delivered the joyous good news of who he is for us and who he has made us to be in him.

Irenaeus, the second century Christian teacher, put it this way:

For, in what way could we be partakers of the adoption of sons, unless we had received from Him through the Son that fellowship which refers to Himself, unless His Word, having been made flesh, had entered into communion with us? Wherefore also He passed through every stage of life, restoring to all communion with God (Against Heresies, Book 3, 18.6-7).

As the apostle Paul explained, the eternal, all-powerful Son of God willingly put himself through this profound change, taking upon himself our fallen human nature and mortal body:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).

The angels celebrated with great joy when Jesus was born. Let us join in the celebration!

Along with the other members of our home office staff (pictured and listed at right), Tammy and I say “Thanks and Merry Christmas” to our pastors, ministry leaders and all the other GCI members who serve so selflessly within our part of the body of Christ.

2013 has been an amazing year in our journey together and it looks like 2014 will be another. It’s exciting to think about what God may have in store for us. We deeply appreciate your service during the year now closing and look forward to our service together, with Christ, in the year ahead.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

PS: Weekly Update will be published next on January 8. The home office will close on December 24 and reopen January 2. In the meantime, please note in this issue the announcement about the 2014 US regional conferences. The first one is in Southern California in February.

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As you know, Nelson Mandela died last week at age 95. He led the black majority in the Republic of South Africa in a long struggle to cast off the oppressive rule of the white minority with its evil policy of apartheid (racial segregation). When Mandela became his country’s first black president, he refused to call for revenge against the oppressors, becoming an international symbol of the power of forgiveness.

Though far from perfect, South Africa is a much better place because of Nelson Mandela. For some helpful perspective on his life and legacy, I recommend “Nelson Mandela and the Ironies of History,” an article by Albert Mohler posted online at www.albertmohler.com/2013/12/07/nelson-mandela-and-the-ironies-of-history/.

Mandela was unusual in that his struggle for freedom and equality did not lead to an early grave, though he suffered many long years “buried” in prison. Others who espoused non-violent resistance to oppression met violent deaths—Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. spring immediately to mind. These were imperfect men, but their lives eventually made a significant difference for the cause of peace.

And of course, none can compare to Jesus of Nazareth who has the title, “Prince of Peace.” His life was perfect. He brings us God’s own peace, a peace that this world can never give.

The urge to be free is a strong drive in human beings. Last month Curtis May and I visited GCI’s Richmond, Virginia congregation for their 50th church anniversary. Pastor Bill Winn and Elder Chip Brockmeier arranged for us to visit historic St. John’s Episcopal Church where delegates from Virginia met in 1775 for the second time and Patrick Henry made his famous speech in which he said, “Give me liberty or give me death!”

As I enjoyed the visit to that historic church, I thought about the choice made there that resulted in the Revolutionary War, in which so many died. But that is the result when we make the choice—liberty or death.

As Christians, we celebrate a different kind of revolution—one planned from the foundation of this unhappy, fallen world. That revolution, on behalf of Adam, Israel and all humanity, was brought about by the Incarnation, through which Jesus embraced us all in our fallen brokenness. In doing so, he in himself resolved the conflict, giving humanity new life. As Thomas F. Torrance wrote in When Christ Comes and Comes Again:

Far from being rebuffed by the disobedience and rebellion of man, the will of God’s love to see and create fellowship with man established the covenant of grace in which God promised to man in spite of his sin to be his God, and insisted on binding man to Himself as His child and partner in love. God remained true and faithful to His covenant. He established it in the midst of the people of Israel, and all through their history God was patiently at work, preparing a way for the Incarnation of His love at last in Jesus Christ, that in and through him he might bring His covenant to complete fulfillment and gather man back into joyful communion with Himself.

Patrick Henry laid a choice before the Virginia delegates when he said, “Give me liberty or give me death!” That is still the choice offered by the multitude of “freedom fighters”’ in our world today. Sadly, the result in most cases is death followed by the establishment of a different type of tyranny. So often, today’s freedom fighters become tomorrow’s oppressors and their “freedom” ends up being another form of bondage.

“Liberty or death” is not the choice that Jesus offered. In fact, it wasn’t even an offer, or a choice. Jesus does not say “I am come that they might have a choice of death or freedom.” He says, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10, KJV).

The liberty that Jesus gives us is not something we gain by armed struggle, or even passive resistance. It is God’s gift of loving reconciliation with God and with others that we cannot obtain in any other way except through the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In this season of Advent, most Christian churches are in a “countdown” to the celebration of Jesus’ birth at Christmas. It’s common during this time of year to hear discussions concerning whether December 25 is the right day to celebrate Jesus’ birth, or even if it is appropriate to do so at all.

Trying to figure out the exact year, month and day of Jesus’ birth is not new. Theologians have been at it for almost two thousand years. Here are brief samplings of some of their ideas:

• Clement of Alexandria (c. 150-220 A.D.) mentioned several possible dates including November 18, January 6 and the day of Passover, which, depending on the year, would have been March 21, April 24 or 25 or May 20.
• Sextus Julius Africanus (c. 160–240) mentioned March 25.
• Hippolytus of Rome (170–235), a disciple of Irenaeus, mentioned two possible dates in his Commentary on Daniel: “For the first appearance of our Lord in the flesh took place in Bethlehem eight days before the Kalends of January [December 25], on the fourth day [Wednesday], under Emperor Augustus, in the year 5500.” In another document and in an inscription on a statue of Hippolytus, the date given is April 2.
• Based upon statements from the Jewish historian Josephus, some place Jesus’ birth in the period of March 12-April 11, 4 B.C., since Christ was born before the death of Herod the Great.
• John Chrysostom (c. 347–407) mentioned December 25.
• In Computation of the Passion, an early anonymous work, probably of North African origin, the date mentioned is March 28.
• Augustine (354-430), in De Trinitate, writes that, “He is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also He suffered…and He was born according to tradition on December 25.”
• Messianic Jews mention a couple of options—the predominant one based on the schedule of the priests’ service in the temple, specifically the “course of Abijah” (Luke 1:5). This approach leads them to place Jesus’ birth on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles and his circumcision on the eighth day of that festival.

It’s interesting to speculate that Jesus could have been born (or conceived) during Passover or the Feast of Tabernacles. I like the concept of Jesus reversing the work of the death angel if it happened during Passover. And there would be a satisfying symmetry in his coming to “tabernacle” with us if he was conceived or born during Tabernacles. However, there is not enough evidence to be sure, though perhaps we can make intelligent guesses based on the small amount of evidence available to us.

In Luke 2:1-5, we read that Caesar Augustus decreed that the Roman Empire should be taxed and that everyone had to return to their own city to pay the tax. So Joseph and Mary returned to Bethlehem and there Jesus was born. It is reasonable to assume that such a census would not have been ordered at a time that would interfere with the harvests. It is also reasonable to assume that the census would not have been ordered in the winter when the weather is usually cold and travel is difficult. Since Spring was the time for preparing to plant, perhaps autumn, after the harvest, is the most likely time of the year for the census, and thus for Jesus’ birth. However, it is not clear from Scripture how long Joseph and Mary stayed in Bethlehem. Perhaps Jesus’ birth occurred several weeks after the census was taken.

The fact is, we can’t know the date of Jesus’ birth for sure. Scoffers seize on this vagueness, claiming that the whole idea is a myth, and Jesus never existed. However, even though the date of Jesus’ birth is uncertain, the fact of his birth is founded on verifiable historical evidence. Biblical scholar F.F. Bruce has a nice comment about those who doubt it: “Some writers may toy with the fancy of a ‘Christ-myth,’ but they do not do so on the ground of historical evidence. The historicity of Christ is as axiomatic for an unbiased historian as the historicity of Julius Caesar. It is not historians who propagate the ‘Christ-myth’ theories” (The New Testament Documents, p. 123).

The people of Jesus’ time knew from the prophecies about when to expect the Messiah. But those prophecies, or the Gospels, don’t pinpoint the date with the degree of precision that modern historians might desire. But that is not the purpose of the Bible, which is to make us “wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:15).

The main focus of the New Testament writers was not on the date of Jesus’ birth, but that God the Father had sent his Son at just the right time in all of history to accomplish his saving purposes and thus fulfill his promise. The apostle Paul proclaimed, “When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Galatians 4:4-5). And we read in the Gospel of Mark: “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. ‘The time has come,’ he said. ‘The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!'” (1:14-15).

To know the date of Jesus’ birth might be interesting from a historical perspective, but it is theologically irrelevant. We need to know that it happened, and what is more important, why it happened. On that, the Bible is abundantly clear. As we lead our congregations in this season of Advent, let’s keep that big picture in mind and not get bogged down in the details.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

In the last two issues of Weekly Update our focus has been on the topic of grace (please read Gary Deddo’s important article about law and grace in last week’s edition). Because this week Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, it seems like a good time to talk about a different kind of “grace”—the custom of asking a blessing at a meal. Many Americans will say grace before getting down to the serious business of consuming their Thanksgiving turkey.

Of course, saying grace is not the same as saving grace, although for some it may seem almost that important. Some may feel the need to ask God to remove impurities from the food, or to protect them from harmful ingredients. Personally, I never pray in that way, as I wonder how it makes the person who prepared the meal feel. However, it is always appropriate to remind ourselves of our dependency on God for every aspect of our lives. And that is what saying grace at a meal is all about. The English word “grace,” when used in this context, is derived from the Latin gratiarum actio, an “act of thanks.” If you speak Spanish, you will recognize the similarity to the word gracias.

Most Christian families have their own tradition for saying grace before meals. The Bible provides no “rules” concerning this custom—it does not specify what to say or how long to pray. My grandfather often prayed in Russian and my mom, sisters and I didn’t understand most of it. He would finish in about 30 seconds. But not so for my dad. When he said grace before the meal, we often had to remind him that the food was getting cold!

Some Christians say grace when eating in restaurants. It’s fine to do so, but some discretion is called for, though a brief, unobtrusive prayer thanking God for a meal in a restaurant is unlikely to offend. You’ll remember that Jesus criticized the Pharisees for praying in public, but his concern was not that they prayed in public, but that they were praying to be seen as “righteous.”

Most cultures and all major religions have traditions of praying before or after meals. The Christian tradition comes from ancient Judaism, where the typical custom was to offer a blessing before, but, more often, following the meal. Rather than “blessing” the food, these prayers of thanksgiving acknowledged God as a generous provider. This custom originated in a command given to Israel in the Law of Moses, known among the Jews as birkat hamazon: “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you” (Deuteronomy 8:10). This is one of 613 commandments (called mitzvot) found in the Torah. Sadly, some Jews applied it in legalistic ways, adding all sorts of requirements as to when and how to pray.

We know that Jesus followed Jewish prayer customs, at least to some extent. For example, he gave thanks before distributing the loaves and fishes to the five thousand (Matthew 15:36). The fastidious Pharisees, who did everything according to the letter of the Law of Moses, criticized Jesus’ disciples for eating without washing their hands in accordance with the specified Torah rituals. It is thus likely that they neglected other requirements related to prayer.

Of course, Jesus was not promoting poor hygiene, nor was he promoting ingratitude. However, he did use every opportunity to wean his disciples away from a performance-based relationship with God. He wanted them to know what the apostle Paul later wrote to the Christians in Rome: “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Let us remember that in all aspects of our lives, including when we say grace at meals.

As my family sits down for our Thanksgiving meal, I will be offering to God a prayer of gratitude both before and after we eat.

A blessed and happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Non-believers and even some believers see God’s grace as something too good to be true. How about you?

In GCI, we are on an exciting journey from performance-based legalism to the grateful embrace of salvation by God’s grace. I think most of us now understand grace intellectually. But has the astonishing truth of God’s grace sunk in? It is one thing to accept grace as a doctrinal argument, but another for grace to be the truth that defines and thus transforms our lives.

For some, there remains a tension between grace and obedience. This is not new—we see it in the New Testament. “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace?” challenged Paul in Romans 6:15. “By no means,” he answered, though we can sympathize with these early Christians for having this question.

We too find grace a difficult idea to internalize. Our experience with “special offers” and TV bargains has taught us that if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And we all know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. So when we read that God has done all that is required to save even the worst sinner, we are suspicious. Our “Yes but….” program clicks in, and we ask “What’s the catch?” There must be more to it than just “accepting Jesus.” We know we can’t earn salvation, but surely we have to do something? Pastors have told me that by emphasizing grace over legalism they worry that they may be encouraging their people to disobey God.

I love the way Peter’s second epistle opens:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires (2 Peter 1:2-4).

God has already offered to himself what we could not offer. The grace in which we participate is the life of faithfulness that Jesus lived towards the Father. As Thomas F. Torrance wrote: “And in this God-Man we partake in grace, as members of his body, reconciled to God through him and in him, and even it is said, are incomprehensibly partakers of Divine nature!”

Torrance is right. There is something incomprehensible about it. God’s grace towards us shows a level of love that seems unnatural to us. Charles Wesley expressed it beautifully in his hymn Amazing Love:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

It does sound too good to be true. But it is true. We can delight to be alive in Jesus and united in his life. We should rightly be dumbfounded by his grace. When we recognize how and why Jesus takes away the sin of the world, we are immediately brought to a point of disconnection from our own false center and nourished by the true vine of life, which is the fullest purpose of God. Worrying about how we and others are falling short is to maintain a focus that stems from legalism.

We never need worry that we are over-emphasizing God’s grace when we point people to Jesus and a living, loving relationship with him. Grace and obedience are not at odds—rather they are integrated in the source of both—the person of Jesus Christ.

In this week’s Update I have included an article by Dr. Gary Deddo that explores this topic in depth. It’s entitled “Too Much Grace?” I think you will find it helpful and encouraging. And it goes without saying that it is important sermon material. Though it’s long, I believe that the time taken to read it, then share it with others, will be time well invested.

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

When I saw the picture of the two shops shown below, the song, “Lookin for Love (in all the wrong places)” came to mind. Depending on how they define the word “love,” a person entering either shop might be a bit embarrassed. Part of the problem is that our English word “love” covers a wide variety of meanings, depending on context. But that was not a problem in the Greek-speaking world of the first century. Their signs would have indicated that in one shop you would find eros and in the other you would find both filia and agape.

Eros speaks to romantic or sexual love and filia to brotherly love or friendship. Agape was a relatively unused word picked up by early Christians to speak of God’s kind of love shown especially in Jesus Christ. Agape is self-giving, perfecting love that is steadfast and faithful. Similar to the Hebrew word hesed, agape indicates God’s everlasting covenant love that is neither contractual nor conditional. Like a covenant promise, agape is freely given.

Had you walked into a first-century church looking for filia and agape, you might have been surprised to hear the preacher reading from a letter written by someone named Paul addressing the topic of law-keeping. Some in the congregation might be nodding in agreement while others are shaking their heads, shouting “No, no!”

The latter group holds a legalistic understanding of the Christian faith, grounded in a religious heritage that emphasized strict conformance to the ten commandments, with the Sabbath command being the ultimate test. To even hint that keeping the law of Moses was not God’s foremost demand for Christians would have sounded heretical to them. Their understanding of law-keeping was so ingrained that they would have dismissed any challenge to that view without giving it a fair hearing. Though they might not have put their hands over their ears or ripped their clothing (as Paul’s audiences sometimes did), many probably felt like doing so.

In his letter to the churches in Galatia, Paul explained that Christians are to fulfill the law of Christ, which is the law of love. That law is people-oriented rather than task-oriented—focused on relationships, not lists of rules (see Galatians 6:2). The law of Christ cannot be imposed according to an external written code because it is written on one’s heart by the Holy Spirit. A written code cannot encompass the law of Christ because that would mean doing the impossible: encompassing Christ himself—his whole heart, mind, purpose and wisdom.

Rather than a written code, the law of Christ is an internal principle that brings forth a life expressive of Jesus’ own “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Indeed, “against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23, ESV). The law of Christ arises out of a growing relationship of faith, hope and love with God through Christ Jesus and the working of his Holy Spirit within us.

While trying to explain this to Christians in Galatia, Paul became quite emotional. Some legalists with a Jewish background insisted that Gentiles must keep the law of Moses in order to be part of the new covenant people of God. Paul said “No!” and ended the third chapter of his letter by saying that Gentiles can inherit the promises of salvation without any need to keep the law of Moses.

For Paul, a Christian’s obligation is to love as God has loved us in Christ. Everything else is secondary—even the sacrosanct ritual of circumcision: “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Galatians 5:6). Now Paul is really meddling! But he was unrepentant. His press secretary (if Paul had one), would no doubt have groaned as he added, “I wish those who unsettle you would castrate themselves!” (v. 12, NRSV). Other translations try to make this sound a bit nicer, but that is what Paul said.

I can appreciate Paul’s anger here. Legalism truly is “looking for love in all the wrong places”—it is a false holiness. Sadly, some don’t recognize or understand that. Legalism is the equivalent of not being able to see the difference between death and freedom. When we have freedom in Christ, the person we used to be is uprooted and torn out. In Christ, we live in newness of life; we are a new creation. Our nourishment comes from being rooted in Christ who accepts us where we are to grow us up into his perfection of holy loving. In Romans 13:8-10 (ESV), Paul summarized his understanding of what it means for a Christian to abandon legalism in order to obey the law of love:

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Thankfully, God has allowed us to understand, so we can find and enjoy his love in “all the right places.”

Your brother in Christ,

Joseph Tkach