Monthly Archives: February 2011

Appended Mind

Posted by on February 25, 2011 No comments

The central part of the Old Testament teaching was “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength”. Deuteronomy 6:4-5

In the Gospels, to the first and greatest of all the commandments, Christ appends mind — “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength”. Luke 10:27

Echoing this, Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:1 and following, addresses the contrast between those who speak in tongues and those who prophesy. All though he wishes that all would speak in tongues, even more so he wishes that all would prophesy. Why?

Because when a person speaks in tongues, if there is no one to interpret the tongues, only he who speaks is edified. But when a person  prophesies, the entire church is edified.

Paul says that those who speak in tongues do not speak to men but to God. Those who prophesy, speaks to men's edification, exhortation and comfort.

Prophecy takes precedence over tongues because it loves God with the mind. Even though tongues come from the Spirit, they are secondary to prophecy because they remain a mystery to the mind. As Paul says,

2) For the one who speaks in tongues does not speak to men, but to God; for no one understands except in the Spirit he speaks mysteries.
3) But one who prophesies speaks to men edification…
5)Greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets the tongues so that he church may receive edification.
— 1 Corinthians 14:2-5

The value of the spiritual gift is determined by the extent to which it edifies the mind. When the mind is edified we love God with that portion that Christ appended to the command "Love the Lord your God…" In this we love with the mind appended. In this we love God completely.
 

© 2011, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Aflame, Burned Yet Unnoticed

Posted by on February 2, 2011 No comments

"And it set him aflame all around,
Yet he did not recognize it;
And it burned him, but he paid no attention."
— Isaiah 42:25

Is Isaiah speaking of not knowing in the pejorative sense? Like those times in our life when we do not recognize what is going on around us; Where we lack vision and are blinded from seeing what God is trying to tell us in the events we encounter. Is he speaking to those times when we are so oblivious to what is going on around us that we do not see the flames all around nor realize that we are being burned?

Or is Isaiah speaking to the positive aspect of a laser focus? Where we are so focused on doing what is right that even in the heat of battle, when the flames surround us and even burn us, they do not impinge on our mission.

As so often is the case with Hebrew poetry, this is not an either/or, rather it is an and/both.

As Toni Dungy once said, "Stubbornness is an attribute if you are right."

So Isaiah is saying that when we set out to do something, when things go wrong, the flames should get our attention. We then take stock in this and perhaps make a change.

But if we are right and just in our task, even when the flames surround us, they should not cause us to change. In fact, when we are right and have focus on the right, the flames around us should not even be noticed, even if they burn us.

© 2011, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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