There are several web sites, mainly Christian, which redefine the word 'amuse' as "not thinking". This is unfortunate and wrong.
I don't think that the word 'amuse' is the opposite of 'muse'. I looked it up in the dictionary and found that it came from French. So, the 'a-' is not meaning 'Not' like in Greek (e.g., a-millennial means 'not millennial'). The 'a-' instead means 'at' or 'to'. So, the French meaning is more like 'at thinking' or 'cause to think'.
Now, I understand that there is a tendency for people to sometimes seek too much diversion, and thus to not think too seriously. But on the other hand, sometimes people can worry too much. I think Jesus was 'amusing' (getting the people to think straight) His listeners with the truth when he mentioned the lilies of the field and the birds of the air (Luke 12:27).
I believe there is a wrong assumption that serious thinking can only be good, and thus, non-serious thinking is bad. However, not only worry, but also, anger, fear, pride, and guilt are certainly serious but not necessarily good.
In the bible, it mentions that God laughs or is amused (Psalms 2:4). Smiling and laughing is part of human nature. There is a time to laugh and cry (Ecc 3:4). Amusement can lead away from God or it can lead to clearer thinking.
So, not all amusements are wrong. It's just that there is a tendency in fallen human nature to escape, to pursue vain glories. The need to be amused is exaggerated because of the effects of sin. Laughing at somebody or something other than ourselves temporarily relieves our consciences or our worries.
However, laughing at ourselves seems to be healthier. That kind of amusement happens when personal issues are dealt with. The humility here is real and lasting, not the temporary relief with distractions. Instead of escaping to minor attractions, we find our strength outside ourselves, and we can learn to lighten-up in a more lasting way. I'm not talking about hero worship, which is also temporary. What I mean is dependence on God. God's yoke is easy and His burden is light (Matt 11:30).
I also wonder how the word 'music' has to do with 'muse' and thinking. Doesn't 1 Samuel show how David's harp playing helped King Saul draw his mind away from his despair of his deselection as king and his jealousy of David? Except, with Saul, the music acted more like a drug, and the evil thoughts came right back when the music went away. Perhaps, it was not just the music, but also the presence of a godly David that cheered Saul. Saul had lost the presence of God, and had gained evil thoughts. David spelled 'relief'.
So, I think the word amuse actually means to stimulate thought that is more balanced, a diversion from ones own perspective.
One just has to enter "amuse" and "to not think" in a search engine to find quite a few web sites which try to redefine the word 'amuse'. However, that word is suppose to mean "to cause to think". It is my hope that people will have a reason to rethink what amusement means, not to assign it off as merely wasting time.
I remember, as a child, receiving a chain letter in the mail, though it was addressed to my parents. I don't remember, perhaps it was anonymous. But one thing I remember is that it was very gray like it had been photo-copied many times. It stated that it was important to send copies of this letter to, say, five or ten other people. It said that, if one don't do this, there would be a curse. So, to avoid this curse, one had to copy and re-send this letter.
Nowadays, I receive emails from some well-meaning people, Christians, about issues that are alarming. Some of these issues are: religious freedoms being lost, malware in cyberspace, and other political and social issues. Usually at the end of the letter, there is a call for people to re-send this email to all their email contacts. Though there is not a curse warning, there is an urgency for people to share this information to their friends. When one gets this letter, there is implied guilt if one doesn't go ahead forward this information with their email contacts.
Unfortunately, many times this information is bogus; sometimes it is dated and no longer true. I have learned by experience that if the subject is about the FCC making religious broadcasting illegal, or about a particular malware that will destroy the contents of ones computer hard drive, or about some miracle cure, or another political/social issue that seems incredible, maybe this deserves an inquiry first. Why do people forward emails like this without wondering if it is true? Maybe, they trust it because it came from a friend.
However, a true friend would check out the facts in the information first. One way to do that is to take some or all of the letter, and copy/paste it into a search engine such as google. In the search results, there might be a reference to some web sites that check out the veracity of the claims in the email. Sites such as http://www.snopes.com/ evaluate the truthfulness of the facts in the email. Anyone who deals with the Internet needs to be weary of Urban Legends. These are stories regarding issues, that if unchecked, are nothing more than gossip.
Imagine the embarrassment of one who finds out the email he/she sent on was found out to be false. Well, imagine the denial, then. If more people check out to see if such emails are true, then more people might guard their reputations and check out to see if they're true, too. Especially for Christians, who represent Christ, who is Truth, isn't it important to present truth in ordinary life.
"A deceptive theology keeps circulating through the Church--a doctrine that basically says it is still our nature to sin after we have been born again. I am convinced this is a doctrine of demons. The devil wants to convince us that sin, wickedness, addictions and every other form of bondage are rooted in our nature. That way, he can torment us and then blame it on our old man. But in the parable of the lost sheep, Jesus said, "There will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance (Luke 15:7). This parable demonstates the common state of most people in the kingdom - according to Jesus, ninety-nine out of a hundred people in God need no repentance! The normal Christian life is not supposed to be an exhausting wrestling match with a dead man, but is an abundant, joy-filled life with God, salted with an occasional season of strong resistance from our archenemy".
Spirit Wars: Winning the Invisible Battle Against Sin and the Enemy, p. 44, Kris Vallotton, 2012
Well, let's look at the parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7). The lost sheep represents the sinner, the ninety-nine sheep do not need repentance, and the shepherd rescues the lost sheep or sinner. Parables are stories, but with inner meanings. Luke 15:1-2 is the setting for this story. Around Jesus (the shepherd) were sinners ("the tax collectors and sinners"). Also, nearby were the Pharisees and the teachers of the law ("those who don't need repentance"). Jesus was showing that He needed to take time to reach sinners with good news.
But doesn't this symbolism of the ninety-nine conflict with Jesus' statements about the Pharisees. If the Pharisees didn't need any repentance, then why did Jesus say this to the Pharisees:
Matt 5:20:
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 23:27:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.
Matt 12:34, Matt 23:33: "You brood of vipers!"
Does it make sense that Jesus says the Pharisees need no repentance in Luke 15 but that they are also filthy in Math 23:27?
Luke 7:29-30 says,
All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right, because they had been baptized by John. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.
So, actually, the Pharisees rejected the baptism of repentance. They followed their pharisitical law, and saw no need for repentance. That is perhaps why Jesus said that the ninety-nine (the Pharisees and teachers of the law) "righteous persons who do not need to repent". Either this was a sarcastic comment about Pharisees, or it was meant to be in quotes, otherwise, it doesn't seem consistant with the rest of the bible.
Matt 23:13:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.
According to Jesus, the Pharisees weren't even a part of the Kingdom. So, contrary to Kris Vallotton, the ninety-nine, representing the Pharisees, were not of the Kingdom. They were even against the Kingdom. They rejected repentence. They thought their righteousness was sufficient, though Jesus said it wasn't sufficient.
Heb 13:8:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
This verse is not about healing in its context. It's about getting carried away by strange teachings, like about eating certain foods, and then trying to make it seem like Jesus is all for this.
Mark 7:19:
For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)
Likewise, what Jesus said about the ninety-nine (the religious) needs to be consistant with what he said about them throughout the bible.
So, is Kris Vallotton's idea of holiness that of the Pharisees? Is it something superficial, feeling confident in ones own ability to stay sin free?
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector:
Luke 18:
9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Kris Vallotton:
"In fact, I have gone several weeks in a row without sinning". (Spirit Wars, p. 45)
Andrew Murray (from Holiness and Humility):
"We hear a great deal of seekers after holiness and professors of holiness, of holiness teaching and holiness meetings. The great test of whether the holiness we profess to seek or to attain is truth and life will be whether it be manifest in the increasing humility it produces. In the creature, humility is the one thing needed to allow God's holiness to dwell in him and shine through him. In Jesus, the Holy One of God who makes us holy, a divine humility was the secret of His life and His death and His exaltation; the one infallible test of our holiness will be the humility before God and men which marks us. Humility is the bloom and the beauty of holiness".
"The chief mark of counterfeit holiness is its lack of humility. Every seeker after holiness needs to be on his guard, lest unconsciously what has begun in the Spirit be perfected in the flesh, and pride creep in where its presence is least expected".
Jesus' idea of holiness goes way beyond the common idea of holiness at the time. It goes to the heart, not just the outer show. In Matt 5, by the words, “You have heard that it was said", and then, "But I tell you", Jesus shows the difference between the Pharisees' holiness and God's holiness. Jesus is 'raising the bar' from the Pharisee's standard for holiness, raising it up to what God originally intended. Looking into the heart for signs of hate, lust, or pride is required. Anyone who looks into their heart knows that there still are some corners that need improving. And when someone thinks they know their heart, they still might not be accurate.
Jer 17:9:
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
But God says,
Matt 5:48:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
If one seriously conciders this command from God, then it is impossible to attain. God allows the believer to mature. There is sanctification, the process of maturing.
2Cor 3:18:
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Sometimes, in the bible, the word perfect means mature - that seems attainable in this life with God's help. Sometimes it means complete. Even Jesus was made complete with his sufferings. However, for a believer to be perfect as God is perfect does seem impossible.
Mark 10:27:
With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.
Salvation, to be declared righteous, to receive the Holy Spirit, to inherit eternal life, and to have both relationship and fellowship with God are also impossible without God in it. So, who can change myself, my heart to be more Christ-like? Not me! Not all by myself!
Now, back to Kris Vallotton's take on the parable of the lost sheep.
How could he be so wrong about this ninety-nine being the righteous of the Kingdom? As I've shown, the ninety-nine stood for the Pharisees who thought they were so sinless that they didn't need repentance. However, Jesus said their righteousness was insufficient to enter the Kingdom. Why is Kris Vallotton's version almost the opposite of Jesus' version?
Could he be so careless with the bible to assume the parable of the lost sheep in Luke 15 is the same as the parable of the lost sheep in Matt 18? If one looks at the settings, dialog, and the topics before and after both passages, one sees that Jesus is using the same basic illustration twice on two different occasions. In Matthew, Jesus is referring to the ninety-nine as children of the Father. In Luke, Jesus, for the sake of argument, refers the ninety-nine as those not needing repentance, though Luke 7:29-30 shows that it was the Pharisees who were self-described as not needing repentance.
One reason for being so careless with the bible might be Kris Vallotton's Dominion Theology. Dominion Theology says that The Bride of Christ (all believers) must be spotless before Jesus Christ can come back for His Church. Thus all believers need to sinless. So, if Kris can get support from the bible and Jesus, that believers living today can be beyond sin, then His theory is affirmed. His attempt seems quite flimsy. Even an average bible reader can see that something is wrong in Kris's bible interpretation. He left some 'low hanging fruit' so that one can see how off he is without having any bible school background.
Most Evangelicals believe that individual Christians can find victory over sin, in that they can stop sinful habits and practices. But that does not make Christians sin-free. There is continual sanctification and growth up until the day they die. Not just acts of sin are reduced, but the condition of the heart and inner motivations are being conformed to God's desire for them. This is life-long repentance. The Christian condition is not just a struggle with Satan; there is life-long putting to death the old man of sin. There are many bible verses in which this is supported.
Matt 22
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a King's wedding banquet for His Son. Some of the first invited refused to come. On second notice, they acted even worse, either ignoring the invitation, going their own way, or mistreating the King's servants.
After this, the King invited anyone, good or bad, to the wedding. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
Now, one of the guests came in without the wedding clothes, like the other guests. When the King saw him, He asked, "How come you don't have any wedding clothes?" After that, the king ordered him thrown out into darkness where there is weeping and pain.
You see, the King provides the clothes for the guests at the wedding banquet. The clothes are like the white robes of righteousness in the book of Revelation chapter 7. Those who try to crash the party without the wedding garments are like those who claim to be sinless. The wedding garments are like the imputed righteousness of Christ, or garments washed in His blood. The invitees were good and bad, all sorts of people - good sorts of people like those who grew up in christian homes and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior - bad sorts of people like ex-prostitutes and ex-thieves. The common denominator is that they were invited to the wedding banquet (heaven) and accepted the wedding garment (Christ's righteousness, instead of their own righteousness). Like the lost sheep, sinners realize they can not depend on themselves, to go it alone. They need a Savior. This whole parable in Matt 22 opposes the Dominion Theology idea. All God's people have to use Christ's righteousness, not any self-righteousness, in order to meet Christ.
Afterward:
Kris Vallotton seems to be concerned about false guilt from Satan. But he dismisses all guilt, all bad motivations along with it. As one can see by reading his book, there is some truth in it. Just because there are bible quotes in it doesn't make what he says true. Satan can quote the bible also, as he did when tempting Jesus. Satan can also mix truth with false ideas, as he did with Eve in the garden, which makes for stronger lies. This can confuse those who seek to follow Jesus. The followers of Jesus need to be equipped in order to prevent this from happening (2 Tim 3:16-17).
http://www.charismamag.com/site-archives/1490-online-exclusives/march/14956-bethel-church-god-the-bad-and-the-ugly
Here is a published interview with Kris Vallotton. He seems to dismiss critics against his views as people taking himself out of context, or liars. He said these critics haven't read his whole books. Yet his supporters will quote part of one of his books. Why not his critics? Mormons will say to those who disagree with them, "Have you read the book of Mormon?". Well, one can know enough from others, know enough without reading the whole book. Even if his whole book was true, one false teaching like this from page 44 of his book is enough to show that Kris Vallotton has lack of biblical knowledge, and can not competently interpret the bible. What biblical authority can one have if they miss something that should be obvious, especially about Jesus? For a Bible teacher to have mistaken the "ninety-nine" as actually righteous, and not knowing about the context of that passage in Luke 15 is a big blunder. How can anyone trust a teacher like that to correctly interpret and apply the bible?
Another interpretation for the "ninety=nine" comes from Herbert Lockyer. In All the Parables in the Bible (pp 284-285), he call the parable in Luke 15, the parable of the Shepherd and his sheep, as opposed to the parable of the lost sheep which is in Matthew 18, and he says that these are not the same parable. So far, so good. He also disagrees that the ninety-nine represent the Pharisees because they could not be ones not in need of repentance, as Jesus said. At least he sees the seeming inconsistancy. So, he interprets the ninety-nine as the Angels in heaven from whom the Christ left in order to save sinners. However, this interpretation fall apart because Angels and sinners are two different things. In the parable, all one-hundred are sheep. Angels are angels, sinners are sinners, and sheep are sheep - otherwise one is comparing 'apples with oranges'. The interpretation I have shows biblically how Jesus could call the Pharisees "not in need of repentance", in a way of making an argument: for instance, "Say there are ninety-nine sheep ...".
The last time I read the bible through, these verses below struck me as something more than just biblical metaphor. Many of the verses refer to 'stretched' or 'spread', that is, in the past tense. The bible verses below are biblical evidence for the expansion of the universe.
D. Russell Humphreys in his book, "Starlight and Time" (Master Books, Inc., Green Forest, AR, 1994), elaberates on this expansion of the expanse. Dr. Humphreys, explains that the expansion could be as a "white hole". This involves higher Physics including Einstein's theory of general relativity. In this theory, which has been scientically tested, matter, time, gravity, and space are related. So, by expansion (rapid expansion) of space, vast eons of time are also created. This effect, called, "gravitational time dilation", explains why a distant star's light takes billions of light years to arrive to earth, yet earth may be only thousands of years old. Dr. Humphreys goes into more details such as 'event horizons' and a 'fourth dimension' of space. Very heady stuff.
But when one gets to the gist of creation, the Creator of light isn't limited by the speed of light or anything. "Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." (Jer 32:17)
Job 9:8:
"He alone stretches out the heavens
and treads on the waves of the sea."
Job 26:7:
"He spreads out the northern skies over empty space;
he suspends the earth over nothing."
Job 37:18:
"can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?"
Psalm 102:25:
"In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands."
Psalm 104:2:
"He wraps himself in light as with a garment;
he stretches out the heavens like a tent"
Isaiah 40:12:
"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?"
Isaiah 40:22:
"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in."
Isaiah 40:26:
"Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing."
Isaiah 42:5:
"This is what God the LORD says?
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it"
Isaiah 44:24:
"This is what the LORD says?
your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
I am the LORD,
who has made all things,
who alone stretched out the heavens,
who spread out the earth by myself,"
Isaiah 45:12:
"It is I who made the earth
and created mankind upon it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;
I marshaled their starry hosts."
Isaiah 48:13:
"My own hand laid the foundations of the earth,
and my right hand spread out the heavens;
when I summon them,
they all stand up together."
Isaiah 51:13:
"that you forget the LORD your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?"
Jeremiah 10:12:
"But God made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding."
Jeremiah 51:15:
"He made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding."
Zechariah 12:1:
"This is the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The LORD, who stretches out the heavens, who lays the foundation of the earth, and who forms the spirit of man within him, declares:"
Copyright ? 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
