“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.” ~ Francis Schaeffer
"We are dealing with God's thoughts: we are obligated to take the greatest pains to understand them truly and to explain them clearly." ~ D.A. Carson
We live in a critical culture and we all tend to go on the defensive when someone criticizes our preferences, lifestyle or personal choices. Both Christians and non-Christians are quick to make statements like “Who are you to judge?” or “What gives you the right?” This is a frequent rebuttal raised when someone offers a point of view or opinion contrary to one we might hold. What is interesting though is that this reply is not truly a response to the questioner’s original statement. It is in fact a clever way to avoid considering the alternate point of view all together, and is in fact an ad hominem or personal attack on the questioner. It is a subtle way of telling the other individual that their opinion is worthless, not worthy of entertaining, or that they are stupid for even bringing it up.
Within the Christian subculture this happens frequently in two forms; we either quote Matthew 7:1; “Judge not, that you be not judged.” or I Chronicles 16:22; “"Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!" The problem is that we take these verses totally out of context when we use them in this manner.
First, the "judge not" verse seems to be taken out of context with the same frequency of "all things work together for good" in Romans 8:28. The rest of the verse reads "for those who love the Lord and who are called according to His purpose" So using it in this context it implies that if you don't love God and if you aren't called, then there is absolutely no guarantee things will work for good in your life.
In the same vein, Matthew 7:1 is taken out of context when we quote the “judge not” to protect our interests. It might be better to consider it in light of John 7:24, "Judge not according to appearance, but due to righteous judgment.” In other words, don’t base your judgment strictly on externals but on the motives and heart attitude of the individual. The challenge being is that we have limited knowledge and discernment and therefore judgment should be reserved for God.
This verse needs to be considered in the context of hypocrisy. Consider Romans 2:3-1 which says "Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things". For example, if as the Bible teaches that sinning in thought is the same as the actual deed we have no business judging our peers or the non-believer because we ourselves are sinners. Don’t misinterpret what I am saying; if we recognize sin as God defines it in His Word we can call it wrong, but we need to be quick to remember that we need to point the person to God’s Word and let Him convict. It’s His job, not ours.
The other verse I have heard some Pastors, televangelists and so-called Christian leaders misquote is not to judge “God’s anointed”. This implies that the person in question is not accountable to anyone or that their pronouncements are ex cathedra or infallible. There are a number of problems with misapplying this verse to any Christian no matter their rank or station; the only perfect and infallible judge is God and His Word. The phrase “Lord’s anointed” in the Old Testament was typically used to refer to God’s appointed prophets (like Abraham), Levitical priests and the kings of Israel. The other key point is that it relates to the idea of bodily or physical harm and not simply questioning the scriptural accuracy or opinion expressed by any believer. How would you even know who is God’s anointed? Do we just have to take their word for it because they say they are? I am not advocating disrespect for church or Christian leadership, however we are called to be biblically discerning and we all should be willing to entertain a question no matter its source.
A prime example of this is when someone claiming to “speak for God” does or says something that is completely out of context or an affront to what God’s Word states, and the problems it causes for other Christians trying to live out their faith. Rather then list off the many pronouncements of various televangelists or para-church organizations I would like to specifically address the activities of Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kansas. This is the group that pickets the funerals of soldiers that have died in the service of their country, and blames it on the morality of America and certain groups. While God’s Word is clear on how God views and feels about specific sins, no where does it give license to “believers” to hate or act in a hateful manner. This is a blight on the Gospel and on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for all sinners and all sin.
When someone claims to speak for God and does not allow for his or her point of view to be challenged or questioned this is an unbiblical position. The bottom line is that when anyone launches a who-are-you-to-say salvo against a Christian we need to be willing to get to the heart of the attack. Are they pointing out that our position is unscriptural or taken out of context, or that they are attacking the argument itself? Our opinions are simply that; our opinion. But if we state or comment on something based on God’s Word we better be sure we have taken great pains to know what His Word says. We are not the authority and we should not expect people to believe us based on our own authority. We need to approach both the believer and non-believer with humility and encourage them to consider the evidence and search the Scripture themselves to see if our views have merit because God says it.
“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness.” ~ 2 Timothy 2:15-16
Note: I am taking a short sabbatical from writing my blog. I hope to be back in a couple of weeks. Thanks for taking the time to read my posts.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
The truth is out there
"THAT'S RIGHT! That's what you get! Look at you, ship all banged up! WHO'S THE MAN? HUH? WHO'S THE MAN? Wait until I get another plane! I am going to line your friends RIGHT BESIDE YOU!" ~ Captain Steven Hiller
"For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." ~ 2 Peter 1:16
Over the weekend the Discovery Channel aired a documentary called "Into the Universe" featuring astrophysicist and author Stephen Hawking. Hawking made the news by stating that it is likely that aliens exist and if they do we should not make contact with them because they could cause a threat to earth. I guess Dr. Hawking is not an E.T. fan, but more likely views aliens as they have been portrayed in films like Independence Day, Alien, Predator and Signs. Great, I guess I better have my baseball bat handy and a bunch of pitchers of water so they don't ruin my barbecue. Fortunately for me life is not some M. Night Shyamalan or Roland Emmerich movie, so I am not holding my breath that some smelly dread locked or translucent aliens will be arriving on my door step any time in the near future.
All kidding aside, what I find truly fascinating is the lengths all humans will go to, to deny the existence of God. Let's be honest; it is far more comforting to think that aliens "seeded" our planet or that all primitive culture was guided by crystal skulled aliens who benevolently gave us a jump start in our development. Amazingly these are both theories held within the scientific community. If that is the case then we are free to live life as we chose and we are only answerable to ourselves. If an all-knowing, all-seeing and all-powerful Creator and Sustainer of the Universe exists then He has the right and authority to judge us and place expectations on how we chose to live. It is far more palatable to ignore this prospect and be our own version of Fox Mulder and say "the truth is out there."
Paul Copan is a Christian theologian, philosopher, apologist, and author and he has written a number of books including; "When God Goes to Starbucks: A Guide to Everyday Apologetics" and "True for You, But Not for Me: Deflating the Slogans That Leave Christians Speechless". He wrote the article below titled "The Presumptuousness of Atheism."
"Atheist Antony Flew has said that the "onus of proof must lie upon the theist."1 Unless compelling reasons for God’s existence can be given, there is the "presumption of atheism." Another atheist, Michael Scriven, considers the lack of evidence for God’s existence and the lack of evidence for Santa Claus on the same level.2 However, the presumption of atheism actually turns out to be presumptuousness.
The Christian must remember that the atheist also shares the burden of proof, which I will attempt to demonstrate below.
First, even if the theist could not muster good arguments for God’s existence, atheism still would not be shown to be true.3 The outspoken atheist Kai Nielsen recognizes this: "To show that an argument is invalid or unsound is not to show that the conclusion of the argument is false....All the proofs of God’s existence may fail, but it still may be the case that God exists."4
Second, the "presumption of atheism" demonstrates a rigging of the rules of philosophical debate in order to play into the hands of the atheist, who himself makes a truth claim. Alvin Plantinga correctly argues that the atheist does not treat the statements "God exists" and "God does not exist" in the same manner.5 The atheist assumes that if one has no evidence for God’s existence, then one is obligated to believe that God does not exist — whether or not one has evidence against God’s existence. What the atheist fails to see is that atheism is just as much a claim to know something ("God does not exist") as theism ("God exists"). Therefore, the atheist’s denial of God’s existence needs just as much substantiation as does the theist’s claim; the atheist must give plausible reasons for rejecting God’s existence.
Third, in the absence of evidence for God’s existence, agnosticism, not atheism, is the logical presumption. Even if arguments for God’s existence do not persuade, atheism should not be presumed because atheism is not neutral; pure agnosticism is. Atheism is justified only if there is sufficient evidence against God’s existence.
Fourth, to place belief in Santa Claus or mermaids and belief in God on the same level is mistaken. The issue is not that we have no good evidence for these mythical entities; rather, we have strong evidence that they do not exist. Absence of evidence is not at all the same as evidence of absence, which some atheists fail to see.
Moreover, the theist can muster credible reasons for belief in God. For example, one can argue that the contingency of the universe — in light of Big Bang cosmology, the expanding universe, and the second law of thermodynamics (which implies that the universe has been "wound up" and will eventually die a heat death) — demonstrates that the cosmos has not always been here. It could not have popped into existence uncaused, out of absolutely nothing, because we know that whatever begins to exist has a cause. A powerful First Cause like the God of theism plausibly answers the question of the universe’s origin. Also, the fine-tunedness of the universe — with complexly balanced conditions that seem tailored for life — points to the existence of an intelligent Designer.
The existence of objective morality provides further evidence for belief in God. If widow-burning or genocide is really wrong and not just cultural, then it is difficult to account for this universally binding morality, with its sense of "oughtness," on strictly naturalistic terms. (Most people can be convinced that the difference between Adolf Hitler and Mother Teresa is not simply cultural.) These and other reasons demonstrate that the believer is being quite rational — not presumptuous — in embracing belief in God."
If you are on the fence or seeking to know more about God I would encourage you to take this challenge for the next three weeks. There are 21 chapters in the Gospel of John; read one a day for three weeks and as you do this ask yourself who is Jesus and what did He come to do? Pray and ask God to reveal Himself to you through His Word. Don't exchange the truth of God for a lie, (Romans 1:25). The Truth IS out there.
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." ~ John 14:6
Source:
http://www.rzim.org/usa/usfv/tabid/436/articleid/88/cbmoduleid/1482/default.aspx
NOTES
1Antony Flew, The Presumption of Atheism (London: Pemberton, 1976), 14.
2Michael Scriven, Primary Philosophy (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966), 103.
3It is important to remember that we are trying to give arguments or good reasons for God’s existence — not "proofs," which imply a mathematical certainty. All too often the atheist’s criteria of acceptability are unreasonably high. One who is genuinely seeking plausible reasons to believe in God can certainly find them.
4Kai Nielsen, Reason and Practice (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 143-44.
5Alvin Plantinga, "Reason and Belief in God," in Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff, eds., Faith and Rationality (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983), 27.
"For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty." ~ 2 Peter 1:16
Over the weekend the Discovery Channel aired a documentary called "Into the Universe" featuring astrophysicist and author Stephen Hawking. Hawking made the news by stating that it is likely that aliens exist and if they do we should not make contact with them because they could cause a threat to earth. I guess Dr. Hawking is not an E.T. fan, but more likely views aliens as they have been portrayed in films like Independence Day, Alien, Predator and Signs. Great, I guess I better have my baseball bat handy and a bunch of pitchers of water so they don't ruin my barbecue. Fortunately for me life is not some M. Night Shyamalan or Roland Emmerich movie, so I am not holding my breath that some smelly dread locked or translucent aliens will be arriving on my door step any time in the near future.
All kidding aside, what I find truly fascinating is the lengths all humans will go to, to deny the existence of God. Let's be honest; it is far more comforting to think that aliens "seeded" our planet or that all primitive culture was guided by crystal skulled aliens who benevolently gave us a jump start in our development. Amazingly these are both theories held within the scientific community. If that is the case then we are free to live life as we chose and we are only answerable to ourselves. If an all-knowing, all-seeing and all-powerful Creator and Sustainer of the Universe exists then He has the right and authority to judge us and place expectations on how we chose to live. It is far more palatable to ignore this prospect and be our own version of Fox Mulder and say "the truth is out there."
Paul Copan is a Christian theologian, philosopher, apologist, and author and he has written a number of books including; "When God Goes to Starbucks: A Guide to Everyday Apologetics" and "True for You, But Not for Me: Deflating the Slogans That Leave Christians Speechless". He wrote the article below titled "The Presumptuousness of Atheism."
"Atheist Antony Flew has said that the "onus of proof must lie upon the theist."1 Unless compelling reasons for God’s existence can be given, there is the "presumption of atheism." Another atheist, Michael Scriven, considers the lack of evidence for God’s existence and the lack of evidence for Santa Claus on the same level.2 However, the presumption of atheism actually turns out to be presumptuousness.
The Christian must remember that the atheist also shares the burden of proof, which I will attempt to demonstrate below.
First, even if the theist could not muster good arguments for God’s existence, atheism still would not be shown to be true.3 The outspoken atheist Kai Nielsen recognizes this: "To show that an argument is invalid or unsound is not to show that the conclusion of the argument is false....All the proofs of God’s existence may fail, but it still may be the case that God exists."4
Second, the "presumption of atheism" demonstrates a rigging of the rules of philosophical debate in order to play into the hands of the atheist, who himself makes a truth claim. Alvin Plantinga correctly argues that the atheist does not treat the statements "God exists" and "God does not exist" in the same manner.5 The atheist assumes that if one has no evidence for God’s existence, then one is obligated to believe that God does not exist — whether or not one has evidence against God’s existence. What the atheist fails to see is that atheism is just as much a claim to know something ("God does not exist") as theism ("God exists"). Therefore, the atheist’s denial of God’s existence needs just as much substantiation as does the theist’s claim; the atheist must give plausible reasons for rejecting God’s existence.
Third, in the absence of evidence for God’s existence, agnosticism, not atheism, is the logical presumption. Even if arguments for God’s existence do not persuade, atheism should not be presumed because atheism is not neutral; pure agnosticism is. Atheism is justified only if there is sufficient evidence against God’s existence.
Fourth, to place belief in Santa Claus or mermaids and belief in God on the same level is mistaken. The issue is not that we have no good evidence for these mythical entities; rather, we have strong evidence that they do not exist. Absence of evidence is not at all the same as evidence of absence, which some atheists fail to see.
Moreover, the theist can muster credible reasons for belief in God. For example, one can argue that the contingency of the universe — in light of Big Bang cosmology, the expanding universe, and the second law of thermodynamics (which implies that the universe has been "wound up" and will eventually die a heat death) — demonstrates that the cosmos has not always been here. It could not have popped into existence uncaused, out of absolutely nothing, because we know that whatever begins to exist has a cause. A powerful First Cause like the God of theism plausibly answers the question of the universe’s origin. Also, the fine-tunedness of the universe — with complexly balanced conditions that seem tailored for life — points to the existence of an intelligent Designer.
The existence of objective morality provides further evidence for belief in God. If widow-burning or genocide is really wrong and not just cultural, then it is difficult to account for this universally binding morality, with its sense of "oughtness," on strictly naturalistic terms. (Most people can be convinced that the difference between Adolf Hitler and Mother Teresa is not simply cultural.) These and other reasons demonstrate that the believer is being quite rational — not presumptuous — in embracing belief in God."
If you are on the fence or seeking to know more about God I would encourage you to take this challenge for the next three weeks. There are 21 chapters in the Gospel of John; read one a day for three weeks and as you do this ask yourself who is Jesus and what did He come to do? Pray and ask God to reveal Himself to you through His Word. Don't exchange the truth of God for a lie, (Romans 1:25). The Truth IS out there.
"Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." ~ John 14:6
Source:
http://www.rzim.org/usa/usfv/tabid/436/articleid/88/cbmoduleid/1482/default.aspx
NOTES
1Antony Flew, The Presumption of Atheism (London: Pemberton, 1976), 14.
2Michael Scriven, Primary Philosophy (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966), 103.
3It is important to remember that we are trying to give arguments or good reasons for God’s existence — not "proofs," which imply a mathematical certainty. All too often the atheist’s criteria of acceptability are unreasonably high. One who is genuinely seeking plausible reasons to believe in God can certainly find them.
4Kai Nielsen, Reason and Practice (New York: Harper & Row, 1971), 143-44.
5Alvin Plantinga, "Reason and Belief in God," in Alvin Plantinga and Nicholas Wolterstorff, eds., Faith and Rationality (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1983), 27.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Hard-knock life
“It's the hard-knock life for us! It's the hard-knock life for us! 'Steada treated,We get tricked! 'Steada kisses, We get kicked! It's the hard-knock life! Got no folks to speak of, so, It's the hard-knock row we hoe!” ~ Little Orphan Annie
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” ~ Romans 8:18
It would be hard to argue that beyond the Lord Jesus Christ, the most influential character in the 1st Century church was the Apostle Paul. If you do not include the book of Hebrews, Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. That is over 30% of the text. Without a doubt, Paul is one of my heroes and I have many books on my shelves that are devoted to the first missionary of Christianity. As an aside; one of my favorite books about Paul is “Paul the Apostle: An Illustrated Handbook of His Life & Travels” by Robert T. Boyd.
Paul should give hope for all that the long suffering, grace and mercy of God can be extended and is available to everyone no matter how heinous and troubling our past may be. Before his conversion on the road to Damascus as recorded in Acts chapter 9, Paul was an accessory to murder. In Acts 7:58 as Stephen was being stoned for preaching about the resurrection of Jesus Christ those participating brought his belongings and laid them at the feet of Paul, then known as Saul.
By his own testimony in Galatians 1:13-14 as well as before King Agrippa in Acts 26:10-19 he persecuted the church and tried to destroy it. This was not just a simple verbal harassment or tongue lashing that we might experience for identification with Jesus Christ. Paul and his cronies invaded homes, dragged entire families off to prison, tortured and killed people in an effort to make them recant or blaspheme Jesus Christ and make them rue the day that they became professing Christians. How this pales in comparison to any hardship or “trials” we face today within the modern church.
After Saul became Paul on the road to Damascus his life was hardly a bowl of cherries. He was completely ostracized by his former collegeagues and actually they sought to kill him. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 he shares the hard-knocks he endured to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On five separate occasions he was given 39 lashes with a whip. This was not just the whip you see in an Indiana Jones movie; this was a cat of nine tails or Roman flagrum that included glass, bone and nails in the tips. He was beaten with rods five times and stoned and left for dead. In the 1st Century stoning was not as simple as picking up a baseball sized rock and pitching at someone, although that would be painful and could cause major damage. The process of stoning entailed taking someone to the edge of some high place, pushing them off and then have two people pick up a large boulder and try to crush the victim. If that did not kill them the mob would then pick up any available stone and throw them until the victim was dead.
If these hardships were not enough to discourage someone from practicing their faith consider that Paul was also put in prison, shipwrecked, stranded on an island, bit by a snake and adrift at sea for a day and night. Paul’s courage and hope in Jesus Christ in the face of real trials and persecution served as a great source of encouragement to these early converts who also were martyred for their faith. Robert Boyd states; “It is not only doubtful but asinine to suppose that all these believers would have experienced such deaths just to promote a hoax. These people were for real.”
Paul invested his life in the church and into his protégé Timothy for the cause of Christ no matter what. In 2 Timothy 4:2 he told Timothy to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” When Paul is talking about in or out of season he is not talking about the time of the year but whether we feel like it or not we need to share the good news of Jesus Christ. If anyone had ever had a bad day or earned the right to take some time off, it would be the Apostle Paul.
Oswald Chambers puts it this way; “If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything. There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.”
Chambers continues; “One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, “Now that I’ve experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God.” No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him. You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times.”
In Philippians chapter 3 Paul can truthfully and boldly say that he suffered loss of all things to know the surpassing worth of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The tenth verse can be read like a prayer; “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Paul found his complete identity and worth in his risen Savior and any hardship he endured on His behalf paled in comparison to the future glory that awaits.
“Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” ~ Titus 2:13-15
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” ~ Romans 8:18
It would be hard to argue that beyond the Lord Jesus Christ, the most influential character in the 1st Century church was the Apostle Paul. If you do not include the book of Hebrews, Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament. That is over 30% of the text. Without a doubt, Paul is one of my heroes and I have many books on my shelves that are devoted to the first missionary of Christianity. As an aside; one of my favorite books about Paul is “Paul the Apostle: An Illustrated Handbook of His Life & Travels” by Robert T. Boyd.
Paul should give hope for all that the long suffering, grace and mercy of God can be extended and is available to everyone no matter how heinous and troubling our past may be. Before his conversion on the road to Damascus as recorded in Acts chapter 9, Paul was an accessory to murder. In Acts 7:58 as Stephen was being stoned for preaching about the resurrection of Jesus Christ those participating brought his belongings and laid them at the feet of Paul, then known as Saul.
By his own testimony in Galatians 1:13-14 as well as before King Agrippa in Acts 26:10-19 he persecuted the church and tried to destroy it. This was not just a simple verbal harassment or tongue lashing that we might experience for identification with Jesus Christ. Paul and his cronies invaded homes, dragged entire families off to prison, tortured and killed people in an effort to make them recant or blaspheme Jesus Christ and make them rue the day that they became professing Christians. How this pales in comparison to any hardship or “trials” we face today within the modern church.
After Saul became Paul on the road to Damascus his life was hardly a bowl of cherries. He was completely ostracized by his former collegeagues and actually they sought to kill him. In 2 Corinthians 11:23-33 he shares the hard-knocks he endured to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On five separate occasions he was given 39 lashes with a whip. This was not just the whip you see in an Indiana Jones movie; this was a cat of nine tails or Roman flagrum that included glass, bone and nails in the tips. He was beaten with rods five times and stoned and left for dead. In the 1st Century stoning was not as simple as picking up a baseball sized rock and pitching at someone, although that would be painful and could cause major damage. The process of stoning entailed taking someone to the edge of some high place, pushing them off and then have two people pick up a large boulder and try to crush the victim. If that did not kill them the mob would then pick up any available stone and throw them until the victim was dead.
If these hardships were not enough to discourage someone from practicing their faith consider that Paul was also put in prison, shipwrecked, stranded on an island, bit by a snake and adrift at sea for a day and night. Paul’s courage and hope in Jesus Christ in the face of real trials and persecution served as a great source of encouragement to these early converts who also were martyred for their faith. Robert Boyd states; “It is not only doubtful but asinine to suppose that all these believers would have experienced such deaths just to promote a hoax. These people were for real.”
Paul invested his life in the church and into his protégé Timothy for the cause of Christ no matter what. In 2 Timothy 4:2 he told Timothy to “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” When Paul is talking about in or out of season he is not talking about the time of the year but whether we feel like it or not we need to share the good news of Jesus Christ. If anyone had ever had a bad day or earned the right to take some time off, it would be the Apostle Paul.
Oswald Chambers puts it this way; “If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would never do anything. There are some people who are totally unemployable in the spiritual realm. They are spiritually feeble and weak, and they refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that our relationship is right with God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not.”
Chambers continues; “One of the worst traps a Christian worker can fall into is to become obsessed with his own exceptional moments of inspiration. When the Spirit of God gives you a time of inspiration and insight, you tend to say, “Now that I’ve experienced this moment, I will always be like this for God.” No, you will not, and God will make sure of that. Those times are entirely the gift of God. You cannot give them to yourself when you choose. If you say you will only be at your best for God, as during those exceptional times, you actually become an intolerable burden on Him. You will never do anything unless God keeps you consciously aware of His inspiration to you at all times.”
In Philippians chapter 3 Paul can truthfully and boldly say that he suffered loss of all things to know the surpassing worth of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The tenth verse can be read like a prayer; “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Paul found his complete identity and worth in his risen Savior and any hardship he endured on His behalf paled in comparison to the future glory that awaits.
“Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” ~ Titus 2:13-15
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Who is He?
"Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary." ~ John Lennon
"Many people entertain the idea that Christianity, like almost any other religion, is basically a system of beliefs-you know, a set of doctrines or a code of behavior, a philosophy, an ideology. But that's a myth. Christianity is not at all like Buddhism or Islam or Confucianism. The founders of those religions said (in effect), 'Here is what I teach. Believe my teachings. Follow my philosophy.' Jesus said, 'Follow me'(Matthew 9:9). Leaders of the world's religions said, 'What do you think about what I teach?' Jesus said, 'Who do you say I am?'(Luke 9:20)” ~ Josh McDowell
One of the common misconceptions is that Jesus Christ was/is just a good moral teacher. The view is often held that He never claimed deity or that His words are simply pleasant suggestions and quaint ideas. Yet three of the gospels in the New Testament record where God Himself called Jesus His "beloved Son". On these occasions God stated that He was "well pleased" with His Son, and also told those with Him to "hear him" or listen up, (Luke 9:35 and Mark 9:7).
John Lennon stated that the disciples of Jesus were thick and ordinary, and at times the Bible bears this out. While they may have exhibited this trait Peter acknowledged in Matthew 16:13-17 who Jesus was and is; "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." This knowledge and the resurrection of Jesus Christ caused Peter and his fellow disciples to literally change the world, and Christianity shows no signs of vanishing from the scene.
What did Jesus say about Himself? In John 12:44-50 He states; "And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
Whether you are religious or not you likely know or have heard John 3:16, but have you ever read the verses that follow? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, to have the same authority of God and God claimed Him as His one and only Son.
Author, speaker and Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias penned these words about Jesus. This was first published on his blog "A Slice of Infinity" on May 15,2000
"One of the recurring elements in the Bible, especially in encounters involving Jesus, is the element of surprise. That surprise is not only contained in what Jesus said, but more often it is to whom He said the words that brings the surprise.
Consider Jesus' claim in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." These words of Jesus certainly establish what we would call exclusivity. Jesus is saying here, "I am the only way to God. There is no other religious practice or guru or prophet that can lead you to God." Now no doubt, such a claim provokes a strong response and perhaps you yourself find it difficult to believe. But friend, let us be honest here: Every major religion in the world claims exclusivity and has a point of exclusion. And truth by definition is exclusive. Everything cannot be true. If everything is true, then nothing is false.
But back to this element of surprise. Yes, Jesus did say that no one could come to God except through him alone. But have you ever noticed to whom Jesus said these words? He said them to Thomas, the apostle whose name, even after two millennia, is synonymous with doubt. Thomas was the last to believe in the resurrection of Jesus because he did not want to trust such a magnificent claim secondhand. He needed to see and feel before he would bend his knee to the Christ he knew had been crucified. Ironically, Thomas went on to preach the gospel in India, my homeland, a land of over 330 million deities and innumerable "ways to God." Ultimately he gave his life for the exclusive claims of Christ.
Another example of the Gospel's apparent irony is found in Jesus' question to his disciple Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus patiently waited for Peter's response—"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"—knowing later that three times Peter would eventually deny knowing Jesus. Yet, Peter recovered from that painful moment and spent the rest of his life striving for the gospel and in the end, he himself was crucified upside down.
What surprises us in these instances is Jesus' ability to understand our weaknesses and to touch our hearts and minds where each of us needs it most. You see, He knew of Thomas' doubt before it was spoken. He knew of Peter's denial before the act. And He knows you and me and can still surprise us today wherever we are and meet us in our weakness."
Today's Slice: Ironic Surprise by Ravi Zacharias
The Gospel of John has a primary focus; to firmly establish the deity of Jesus Christ and His divine Sonship. Verse after verse unequivocally point to His authority and exclusivity. Read it for yourself and determine just who is this Jesus.
"Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” ~ John 14:5-7
"Many people entertain the idea that Christianity, like almost any other religion, is basically a system of beliefs-you know, a set of doctrines or a code of behavior, a philosophy, an ideology. But that's a myth. Christianity is not at all like Buddhism or Islam or Confucianism. The founders of those religions said (in effect), 'Here is what I teach. Believe my teachings. Follow my philosophy.' Jesus said, 'Follow me'(Matthew 9:9). Leaders of the world's religions said, 'What do you think about what I teach?' Jesus said, 'Who do you say I am?'(Luke 9:20)” ~ Josh McDowell
One of the common misconceptions is that Jesus Christ was/is just a good moral teacher. The view is often held that He never claimed deity or that His words are simply pleasant suggestions and quaint ideas. Yet three of the gospels in the New Testament record where God Himself called Jesus His "beloved Son". On these occasions God stated that He was "well pleased" with His Son, and also told those with Him to "hear him" or listen up, (Luke 9:35 and Mark 9:7).
John Lennon stated that the disciples of Jesus were thick and ordinary, and at times the Bible bears this out. While they may have exhibited this trait Peter acknowledged in Matthew 16:13-17 who Jesus was and is; "Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven." This knowledge and the resurrection of Jesus Christ caused Peter and his fellow disciples to literally change the world, and Christianity shows no signs of vanishing from the scene.
What did Jesus say about Himself? In John 12:44-50 He states; "And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”
Whether you are religious or not you likely know or have heard John 3:16, but have you ever read the verses that follow? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, to have the same authority of God and God claimed Him as His one and only Son.
Author, speaker and Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias penned these words about Jesus. This was first published on his blog "A Slice of Infinity" on May 15,2000
"One of the recurring elements in the Bible, especially in encounters involving Jesus, is the element of surprise. That surprise is not only contained in what Jesus said, but more often it is to whom He said the words that brings the surprise.
Consider Jesus' claim in John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me." These words of Jesus certainly establish what we would call exclusivity. Jesus is saying here, "I am the only way to God. There is no other religious practice or guru or prophet that can lead you to God." Now no doubt, such a claim provokes a strong response and perhaps you yourself find it difficult to believe. But friend, let us be honest here: Every major religion in the world claims exclusivity and has a point of exclusion. And truth by definition is exclusive. Everything cannot be true. If everything is true, then nothing is false.
But back to this element of surprise. Yes, Jesus did say that no one could come to God except through him alone. But have you ever noticed to whom Jesus said these words? He said them to Thomas, the apostle whose name, even after two millennia, is synonymous with doubt. Thomas was the last to believe in the resurrection of Jesus because he did not want to trust such a magnificent claim secondhand. He needed to see and feel before he would bend his knee to the Christ he knew had been crucified. Ironically, Thomas went on to preach the gospel in India, my homeland, a land of over 330 million deities and innumerable "ways to God." Ultimately he gave his life for the exclusive claims of Christ.
Another example of the Gospel's apparent irony is found in Jesus' question to his disciple Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus patiently waited for Peter's response—"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"—knowing later that three times Peter would eventually deny knowing Jesus. Yet, Peter recovered from that painful moment and spent the rest of his life striving for the gospel and in the end, he himself was crucified upside down.
What surprises us in these instances is Jesus' ability to understand our weaknesses and to touch our hearts and minds where each of us needs it most. You see, He knew of Thomas' doubt before it was spoken. He knew of Peter's denial before the act. And He knows you and me and can still surprise us today wherever we are and meet us in our weakness."
Today's Slice: Ironic Surprise by Ravi Zacharias
The Gospel of John has a primary focus; to firmly establish the deity of Jesus Christ and His divine Sonship. Verse after verse unequivocally point to His authority and exclusivity. Read it for yourself and determine just who is this Jesus.
"Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” ~ John 14:5-7
Monday, April 26, 2010
One of these things...
“One of these things is not like the others, One of these things just doesn't belong, Can you tell which thing is not like the others, By the time I finish my song? ~ Sesame Street
“The word “heaven” has been appropriated for many purposes, and used in connection with dreams, loves, lyrics, and fiction, until now it has been deprived of meaning for much of society.” ~ Ralph E. Knudsen
Most of us enjoy going on vacation. I say most because there are some that truly enjoy the actual vacation itself, but they tend to dread the preparation and planning required to make it truly an enjoyable, successful and fulfilling event. Think about your last big vacation and the planning that went into it. You likely checked out a couple of different destinations before settling on the one you wanted to go to. Getting vacation advice from friends and family can be a mixed bag, so if you are like me you are risk adverse and do not want to take any chances on well meaning, but faulty suggestions. After deciding your destination you then checked out your options for lodging, activities and entertainment. You calculated the cost, made your reservations and then impatiently waited for the time of your departure. Once you actually got to go on this long awaited trip you realized that all of that planning and toil to get ready were worth it all.
If we put that much thought and effort into an earthly destination, why do we not devote the same if not greater effort to determining our future destination once our life has ended? Think about it; depending on your age, country of residence and financial situation the average vacation lasts one to three weeks. When our time on earth ends and we breathe our last breath we have all of eternity to spend in one of two places; heaven or hell. If, as the Bible teaches, those are our only two options it would seem that we would want to devote a little time understanding how the two compare, and also determine how we can know for sure which place we are destined for.
Through out the ages Heaven and Hell have captured the imaginations of poets, painters and writers. Employing allegory various authors have attempted to describe both places. John Milton wrote “Paradise Lost” describing the fall of man and how Satan was cast into hell. In his “Divine Comedy” Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote about both but in “The Inferno” he gives a vivid yet futile attempt to describe hell. Even John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” attempts to describe Heaven or as he calls it “The Celestial City” or “The Desired Country.” While these are at best shadows of the two final destinations for all of mankind, the prose should make us all stop and consider where we want to spend our eternity.
The Apostle John provides the most details about Heaven in the book of Revelation in chapters 21 and 22. What is interesting is that he repeatedly employs the word “like” when trying to describe the dwelling place of God, for even though he was physically there he could not fully capture it's majesty. John provides the measurements, the beauty, the radiance and the materials that make up God’s abode. Heaven is a literal place, and not just a state of mind. Throughout the New Testament it is mentioned in this literal sense. Jesus tells us He goes to prepare a place for us, (John 14:2-3), the angels proclaim that in Acts 1:11 that Jesus has been taken up into heaven, and when Stephen was stoned in Acts 7:55-56 he looked up and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at His father’s right hand in heaven. It is the place where God most fully makes known His presence to bless and where His glory is most fully on display. No brochure or travel guide can adequately describe the dwelling place of God, but it is the source of hope for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. One author has described it as “A prepared place for a prepared people.” The key question for us all is have we determined what God says about heaven and how we can have assurance that we will have it as our home?
More has been written by Christian authors about Hell. Some would deny its existence but the Bible describes it as a literal place. It is described three times in Mark chapter 9 as a place where the worm never dies and the fire is never extinguished. What is interesting is that people that do not believe it exists are quick to tell others to "go" there, or think those that conceive and carry out the most heinous acts possible are deserving of it. But when pressed on the basis for who is going there no one wants to think about whether or not there is objective criteria or standard to determine that.
In the King James translation of the Bible the word hell is used 31 times in the Old Testament and some 21 times in various forms in the New Testament. It described as a place of torment, isolation, and never ending punishment. It is complete separation from God, and it is not going to be a party with all your friends, and contrary to modern culture they won’t be serving beer. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus described the torment of the Rich Man who begged for just a drop of water to sooth his tongue. Throughout the four gospels Jesus very clearly and emphatically taught that hell existed and our knowledge of it almost comes exclusively from His teachings.
Without a doubt writing or contemplating heaven is far more enjoyable than thinking about hell. Its typically something we prefer to put out of our mind and it is hardly an idyllic topic. One of these things is not like the other and the vast majority of us would far rather think about spending eternity with God than the alternative. If you have not spent any time comparing the two or determining how you can receive one over the other, I would encourage you to do so. God sent His Son Jesus Christ so none would perish but have everlasting life, (John 3:16). God does not desire that we go to hell, and has provided a means of escape, but sadly some will not accept His gift of salvation. Don’t take my word, your family's, your Pastor, Priest's or your church word for it. Pick up God’s Word and see what He says about it. He promises in I John 5:13 that "these things" or His Word was written so you can know for sure if you have eternal life.
For those who have accepted God’s free gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ you have the assurance and hope of heaven. But has this weigh of glory, (II Corinthians 4:17), inspired you to tell others about God’s mercy and grace? God is not willing that any should perish…are we?
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.” ~ II Corinthians 5:10-11
“The word “heaven” has been appropriated for many purposes, and used in connection with dreams, loves, lyrics, and fiction, until now it has been deprived of meaning for much of society.” ~ Ralph E. Knudsen
Most of us enjoy going on vacation. I say most because there are some that truly enjoy the actual vacation itself, but they tend to dread the preparation and planning required to make it truly an enjoyable, successful and fulfilling event. Think about your last big vacation and the planning that went into it. You likely checked out a couple of different destinations before settling on the one you wanted to go to. Getting vacation advice from friends and family can be a mixed bag, so if you are like me you are risk adverse and do not want to take any chances on well meaning, but faulty suggestions. After deciding your destination you then checked out your options for lodging, activities and entertainment. You calculated the cost, made your reservations and then impatiently waited for the time of your departure. Once you actually got to go on this long awaited trip you realized that all of that planning and toil to get ready were worth it all.
If we put that much thought and effort into an earthly destination, why do we not devote the same if not greater effort to determining our future destination once our life has ended? Think about it; depending on your age, country of residence and financial situation the average vacation lasts one to three weeks. When our time on earth ends and we breathe our last breath we have all of eternity to spend in one of two places; heaven or hell. If, as the Bible teaches, those are our only two options it would seem that we would want to devote a little time understanding how the two compare, and also determine how we can know for sure which place we are destined for.
Through out the ages Heaven and Hell have captured the imaginations of poets, painters and writers. Employing allegory various authors have attempted to describe both places. John Milton wrote “Paradise Lost” describing the fall of man and how Satan was cast into hell. In his “Divine Comedy” Italian poet Dante Alighieri wrote about both but in “The Inferno” he gives a vivid yet futile attempt to describe hell. Even John Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress” attempts to describe Heaven or as he calls it “The Celestial City” or “The Desired Country.” While these are at best shadows of the two final destinations for all of mankind, the prose should make us all stop and consider where we want to spend our eternity.
The Apostle John provides the most details about Heaven in the book of Revelation in chapters 21 and 22. What is interesting is that he repeatedly employs the word “like” when trying to describe the dwelling place of God, for even though he was physically there he could not fully capture it's majesty. John provides the measurements, the beauty, the radiance and the materials that make up God’s abode. Heaven is a literal place, and not just a state of mind. Throughout the New Testament it is mentioned in this literal sense. Jesus tells us He goes to prepare a place for us, (John 14:2-3), the angels proclaim that in Acts 1:11 that Jesus has been taken up into heaven, and when Stephen was stoned in Acts 7:55-56 he looked up and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at His father’s right hand in heaven. It is the place where God most fully makes known His presence to bless and where His glory is most fully on display. No brochure or travel guide can adequately describe the dwelling place of God, but it is the source of hope for those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. One author has described it as “A prepared place for a prepared people.” The key question for us all is have we determined what God says about heaven and how we can have assurance that we will have it as our home?
More has been written by Christian authors about Hell. Some would deny its existence but the Bible describes it as a literal place. It is described three times in Mark chapter 9 as a place where the worm never dies and the fire is never extinguished. What is interesting is that people that do not believe it exists are quick to tell others to "go" there, or think those that conceive and carry out the most heinous acts possible are deserving of it. But when pressed on the basis for who is going there no one wants to think about whether or not there is objective criteria or standard to determine that.
In the King James translation of the Bible the word hell is used 31 times in the Old Testament and some 21 times in various forms in the New Testament. It described as a place of torment, isolation, and never ending punishment. It is complete separation from God, and it is not going to be a party with all your friends, and contrary to modern culture they won’t be serving beer. In Luke 16:19-31 Jesus described the torment of the Rich Man who begged for just a drop of water to sooth his tongue. Throughout the four gospels Jesus very clearly and emphatically taught that hell existed and our knowledge of it almost comes exclusively from His teachings.
Without a doubt writing or contemplating heaven is far more enjoyable than thinking about hell. Its typically something we prefer to put out of our mind and it is hardly an idyllic topic. One of these things is not like the other and the vast majority of us would far rather think about spending eternity with God than the alternative. If you have not spent any time comparing the two or determining how you can receive one over the other, I would encourage you to do so. God sent His Son Jesus Christ so none would perish but have everlasting life, (John 3:16). God does not desire that we go to hell, and has provided a means of escape, but sadly some will not accept His gift of salvation. Don’t take my word, your family's, your Pastor, Priest's or your church word for it. Pick up God’s Word and see what He says about it. He promises in I John 5:13 that "these things" or His Word was written so you can know for sure if you have eternal life.
For those who have accepted God’s free gift of salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ you have the assurance and hope of heaven. But has this weigh of glory, (II Corinthians 4:17), inspired you to tell others about God’s mercy and grace? God is not willing that any should perish…are we?
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience.” ~ II Corinthians 5:10-11
Sunday, April 25, 2010
The problem of evil
“The Bible is the Chief moral cause of all that is good, and the best corrector of all that is evil, in human society; the best book for regulating the temporal concerns of men, and the only book that can serve as an infallible guide.” ~ Noah Webster
One of the most challenging questions any Christian has to face when sharing the Gospel with someone is the problem of evil. Much has been written on the topic and I would encourage anyone perplexed by this question to pick up a copy of Timothy Keller's book "The Reason for God". The very problem of evil came to the ultimate intersection at the Cross of Calvary. If mankind could have been reconciled to God by any other means than Jesus Christ suffering and death to pay for sin and evil couldn't God have found another solution? If God can make sense out of the suffering of Jesus Christ what makes us think He cannot make sense of suffering and evil in the present world? What follows is a post by Christian author and apologist Ravi Zacharias.
" Some time ago I was speaking at a university in England, when a rather exasperated person in the audience made his attack upon God.
“There cannot possibly be a God,” he said, “with all the evil and suffering that exists in the world!”
I asked, “When you say there is such a thing as evil, are you not assuming that there is such a thing as good?”
“Of course,” he retorted.
“But when you assume there is such a thing as good, are you not also assuming that there is such a thing as a moral law on the basis of which to distinguish between good and evil?”
“I suppose so,” came the hesitant and much softer reply.
“If, then, there is a moral law,” I said, “you must also posit a moral law giver. But that is who you are trying to disprove and not prove. If there is no transcendent moral law giver, there is no absolute moral law. If there is no moral law, there really is no good. If there is no good there is no evil. I am not sure what your question is!”
There was silence and then he said, “What, then, am I asking you?”
He was visibly jolted that at the heart of his question lay an assumption that contradicted his own conclusion.
You see friends, the skeptic not only has to give an answer to his or her own question, but also has to justify the question itself. And even as the laughter subsided I reminded him that his question was indeed reasonable, but that his question justified my assumption that this was a moral universe. For if God is not the author of life, neither good nor bad are meaningful terms.
This seems to constantly elude the critic who thinks that by raising the question of evil, a trap has been sprung to destroy theism. When in fact, the very raising of the question ensnares the skeptic who raised the question. A hidden assumption comes into the open. Moreover, as C. S. Lewis reminds us, the moment we acknowledge something as being “better”, we are committing ourselves to an objective point of reference.
The disorienting reality to those who raise the problem of evil is that the Christian can be consistent when he or she talks about the problem of evil, while the skeptic is hard-pressed to respond to the question of good in an amoral universe. In short, the problem of evil is not solved by doing away with the existence of God; the problem of evil and suffering must be resolved while keeping God in the picture."
Zacharias continued to address this dilemma; "As we have been discussing the theme of evil, we see how the presence of evil raises the question of the goodness of God. I have yet to hear a skeptic who failed to raise this as a major reason for his or her skepticism. The question is without doubt one of the most daunting questions raised of the Christian faith, which talks of a loving God who is in control of all things.
Unfortunately, glib and incoherent answers to such heart cries have resulted in a breakdown of communication between honest skeptics seeking the truth and those who claim to know it. But if the Christian can be charged with ignoring the force of the question, then the questioner must also face the indicting possibility that he or she has often not thought through the question itself fairly. We have already seen how the question does not disprove the existence of God, now we see how the skeptic answers his own question about good and evil.
In a landmark debate between the agnostic philosopher Bertrand Russell and the Christian philosopher Frederick Copleston, Copleston asked Russell if he believed in good and bad. Russell admitted that he did. Copleston then asked him how he differentiated between the two. Russell said that he differentiated between good and bad in the same way that he distinguished between colors. “But you distinguish between colors by seeing, don’t you? How then, do you judge between good and bad?” “On the basis of feeling, what else?” came Russell’s sharp reply.
Somebody should have told Russell that in some cultures people love their neighbors while in other cultures they eat them--both on the basis of feeling! Did Mr. Russell have a personal preference?
How can we possibly justify differentiating between good and bad merely on the basis of feeling? Whose feeling? Hitler’s or Mother Theresa’s? There must be a transcendent moral law, a standard by which to determine good and bad. Without such a point of reference, the question of evil is no longer coherent. Removing God, the giver of the moral law, from the question of evil, in essence, blunts the force of the question.
Yes, the “why” of evil must be spoken to and in fact, in the Bible God has. At the heart of evil is the will of man to resist the love of God. In response to an article entitled What’s wrong with the world, G.K.Chesterton replied : “I am, yours truly, G.K.Chesterton.” He was right. We can all reply the same way. Only when we grasp this can the problem of evil begin towards a solution."
Today's Slice: The Polemic Shot In the Foot by Ravi Zacharias
One of the most challenging questions any Christian has to face when sharing the Gospel with someone is the problem of evil. Much has been written on the topic and I would encourage anyone perplexed by this question to pick up a copy of Timothy Keller's book "The Reason for God". The very problem of evil came to the ultimate intersection at the Cross of Calvary. If mankind could have been reconciled to God by any other means than Jesus Christ suffering and death to pay for sin and evil couldn't God have found another solution? If God can make sense out of the suffering of Jesus Christ what makes us think He cannot make sense of suffering and evil in the present world? What follows is a post by Christian author and apologist Ravi Zacharias.
" Some time ago I was speaking at a university in England, when a rather exasperated person in the audience made his attack upon God.
“There cannot possibly be a God,” he said, “with all the evil and suffering that exists in the world!”
I asked, “When you say there is such a thing as evil, are you not assuming that there is such a thing as good?”
“Of course,” he retorted.
“But when you assume there is such a thing as good, are you not also assuming that there is such a thing as a moral law on the basis of which to distinguish between good and evil?”
“I suppose so,” came the hesitant and much softer reply.
“If, then, there is a moral law,” I said, “you must also posit a moral law giver. But that is who you are trying to disprove and not prove. If there is no transcendent moral law giver, there is no absolute moral law. If there is no moral law, there really is no good. If there is no good there is no evil. I am not sure what your question is!”
There was silence and then he said, “What, then, am I asking you?”
He was visibly jolted that at the heart of his question lay an assumption that contradicted his own conclusion.
You see friends, the skeptic not only has to give an answer to his or her own question, but also has to justify the question itself. And even as the laughter subsided I reminded him that his question was indeed reasonable, but that his question justified my assumption that this was a moral universe. For if God is not the author of life, neither good nor bad are meaningful terms.
This seems to constantly elude the critic who thinks that by raising the question of evil, a trap has been sprung to destroy theism. When in fact, the very raising of the question ensnares the skeptic who raised the question. A hidden assumption comes into the open. Moreover, as C. S. Lewis reminds us, the moment we acknowledge something as being “better”, we are committing ourselves to an objective point of reference.
The disorienting reality to those who raise the problem of evil is that the Christian can be consistent when he or she talks about the problem of evil, while the skeptic is hard-pressed to respond to the question of good in an amoral universe. In short, the problem of evil is not solved by doing away with the existence of God; the problem of evil and suffering must be resolved while keeping God in the picture."
Zacharias continued to address this dilemma; "As we have been discussing the theme of evil, we see how the presence of evil raises the question of the goodness of God. I have yet to hear a skeptic who failed to raise this as a major reason for his or her skepticism. The question is without doubt one of the most daunting questions raised of the Christian faith, which talks of a loving God who is in control of all things.
Unfortunately, glib and incoherent answers to such heart cries have resulted in a breakdown of communication between honest skeptics seeking the truth and those who claim to know it. But if the Christian can be charged with ignoring the force of the question, then the questioner must also face the indicting possibility that he or she has often not thought through the question itself fairly. We have already seen how the question does not disprove the existence of God, now we see how the skeptic answers his own question about good and evil.
In a landmark debate between the agnostic philosopher Bertrand Russell and the Christian philosopher Frederick Copleston, Copleston asked Russell if he believed in good and bad. Russell admitted that he did. Copleston then asked him how he differentiated between the two. Russell said that he differentiated between good and bad in the same way that he distinguished between colors. “But you distinguish between colors by seeing, don’t you? How then, do you judge between good and bad?” “On the basis of feeling, what else?” came Russell’s sharp reply.
Somebody should have told Russell that in some cultures people love their neighbors while in other cultures they eat them--both on the basis of feeling! Did Mr. Russell have a personal preference?
How can we possibly justify differentiating between good and bad merely on the basis of feeling? Whose feeling? Hitler’s or Mother Theresa’s? There must be a transcendent moral law, a standard by which to determine good and bad. Without such a point of reference, the question of evil is no longer coherent. Removing God, the giver of the moral law, from the question of evil, in essence, blunts the force of the question.
Yes, the “why” of evil must be spoken to and in fact, in the Bible God has. At the heart of evil is the will of man to resist the love of God. In response to an article entitled What’s wrong with the world, G.K.Chesterton replied : “I am, yours truly, G.K.Chesterton.” He was right. We can all reply the same way. Only when we grasp this can the problem of evil begin towards a solution."
Today's Slice: The Polemic Shot In the Foot by Ravi Zacharias
Saturday, April 24, 2010
That's not fair
“Despite what they tell you, there are simply no moral absolutes in a complex world.” ~ Berkeley Breathed
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:10
One of the most difficult concepts for both the Christian and the non-Christian is the question of how can a loving God send people to hell? Much has already been written on the question so I wanted to pass along some articles by some leading Christian Apologists. This post was written by Ravi Zacharias on April 15, 2002.
"During the 2002 Winter Olympics, a major publication had a headline that read, “Crybaby Olympics.” The article highlighted the refrain of complaints launched by several competitors who felt they had been duped out of their legitimate attainment by some unscrupulous judge. Now, I have no doubt that in any competition there is always the possibility that someone has been cheated out of winning. Anyone who has ever competed knows the feeling of suspicion when medals are awarded on an inexact basis of measurement. Judging is a hazardous task, but so is judging the judges.
However legitimate one’s complaint might be, the fearful thing is that the winners of the award never seem to stop by the judge’s desk and say, “Excuse me, but I really do not think I deserved that.” Winning seldom questions the validity of the judge’s decision. Losing often does.
Whatever else all this displeasure proves, it proves two things. One, that we expect a judge to be objective and fair. But secondly, there is a more serious concern. How does a Judge judge if there are no absolutes by which to do the judging? You see, it is one thing to measure how far an object has been thrown and another thing to say which was more beautiful a performance on ice. The latter demands an aesthetic measure, which is not always exact.
But you see, deep inside all of us are both of these moral realities. We affirm the need to be right and fair, and we somehow believe that even in beauty there are some misjudgments that reveal prejudice. What this tells us is that life must have absolutes. This itself reveals the fact that we are born as moral agents and when that moral agency is violated, deep inside we cry.
The Bible makes it clear that God is a judge and He is fair. One of the most telling passages is in the book of Genesis when God is judging the cities of Sodom and Gommorah. Abraham asks God if He is going to wipe out both the righteous and the unrighteous. God assures Abraham that He sees everything and then says this: “Shall not the judge of the earth do that which is right?”
You and I may not have been robbed of a medal in the Olympics. But we do know that when destiny-defining decisions are made, the Judge of all the earth will do right. He knows the absolutes, and He will not make a mistake. That is both comforting and daunting."
More from Dr. Zacharias:
"Yesterday I spoke of the disappointment of some of the competitors in the Winter Olympics who thought that poor judging had denied them their rightful victory. If their assessment is correct, one can sympathize with their hurt. After all the effort and the pain that goes into preparing to become the world’s best, I cannot imagine the anguish that would well up if dishonesty robbed the rightful one of his or her reward.
Although such a loss is merely that in athletic competition, it points up to the greater need of how important being just is. That truth is one of the most pertinent in any civilized society. Was it not Plato who said that Justice is the firmest pillar of good government? His student Aristotle went even further. Aristotle said that justice is not just part of virtue, it is virtue entire; nor is the contrary injustice a part of vice but vice entire.
One does not have to fully agree to note the power of what is being said. Justice is virtue entire? That being just is the sum and substance of good morality? But think about this. Suppose you say you love somebody, but you are unjust in your dealings with them. How would that person respond to your words, “Ah, but I love you”? Or if you tell somebody that you will always speak the truth but that there are times you will be unjust in dealing with the truth. How would they respond? You see the point, don’t you? Justice is an intrinsic part of virtue.
That is why God in His nature is pure and just. His justice meets the demands of the law that must be met if you and I are to be the recipients of His mercy.
To the Christian, Good Friday is a very special day, because on that day two thousand years ago, a pure and just God paid the penalty for our separation from Him and made the way to be forgiven and live in a loving relationship with Him.
You know, friends, there is one verse in the Bible that occurs three times: once in the book of Hebrews to the Hebrew church, once in the Book of Galatians to the Asian church, and once in the Book of Romans to the European church. All of this from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk. The verse just says this: “…the just shall live by faith.”
What that really means is that our perfection cannot get us into heaven. But our faith in the Perfect One can. His justice comes hand in hand with His perfect love. Neither ever violates the other."
Today's Slice: Judging the Judges-Part 1 by Ravi Zacharias
“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” ~ 2 Corinthians 5:10
One of the most difficult concepts for both the Christian and the non-Christian is the question of how can a loving God send people to hell? Much has already been written on the question so I wanted to pass along some articles by some leading Christian Apologists. This post was written by Ravi Zacharias on April 15, 2002.
"During the 2002 Winter Olympics, a major publication had a headline that read, “Crybaby Olympics.” The article highlighted the refrain of complaints launched by several competitors who felt they had been duped out of their legitimate attainment by some unscrupulous judge. Now, I have no doubt that in any competition there is always the possibility that someone has been cheated out of winning. Anyone who has ever competed knows the feeling of suspicion when medals are awarded on an inexact basis of measurement. Judging is a hazardous task, but so is judging the judges.
However legitimate one’s complaint might be, the fearful thing is that the winners of the award never seem to stop by the judge’s desk and say, “Excuse me, but I really do not think I deserved that.” Winning seldom questions the validity of the judge’s decision. Losing often does.
Whatever else all this displeasure proves, it proves two things. One, that we expect a judge to be objective and fair. But secondly, there is a more serious concern. How does a Judge judge if there are no absolutes by which to do the judging? You see, it is one thing to measure how far an object has been thrown and another thing to say which was more beautiful a performance on ice. The latter demands an aesthetic measure, which is not always exact.
But you see, deep inside all of us are both of these moral realities. We affirm the need to be right and fair, and we somehow believe that even in beauty there are some misjudgments that reveal prejudice. What this tells us is that life must have absolutes. This itself reveals the fact that we are born as moral agents and when that moral agency is violated, deep inside we cry.
The Bible makes it clear that God is a judge and He is fair. One of the most telling passages is in the book of Genesis when God is judging the cities of Sodom and Gommorah. Abraham asks God if He is going to wipe out both the righteous and the unrighteous. God assures Abraham that He sees everything and then says this: “Shall not the judge of the earth do that which is right?”
You and I may not have been robbed of a medal in the Olympics. But we do know that when destiny-defining decisions are made, the Judge of all the earth will do right. He knows the absolutes, and He will not make a mistake. That is both comforting and daunting."
More from Dr. Zacharias:
"Yesterday I spoke of the disappointment of some of the competitors in the Winter Olympics who thought that poor judging had denied them their rightful victory. If their assessment is correct, one can sympathize with their hurt. After all the effort and the pain that goes into preparing to become the world’s best, I cannot imagine the anguish that would well up if dishonesty robbed the rightful one of his or her reward.
Although such a loss is merely that in athletic competition, it points up to the greater need of how important being just is. That truth is one of the most pertinent in any civilized society. Was it not Plato who said that Justice is the firmest pillar of good government? His student Aristotle went even further. Aristotle said that justice is not just part of virtue, it is virtue entire; nor is the contrary injustice a part of vice but vice entire.
One does not have to fully agree to note the power of what is being said. Justice is virtue entire? That being just is the sum and substance of good morality? But think about this. Suppose you say you love somebody, but you are unjust in your dealings with them. How would that person respond to your words, “Ah, but I love you”? Or if you tell somebody that you will always speak the truth but that there are times you will be unjust in dealing with the truth. How would they respond? You see the point, don’t you? Justice is an intrinsic part of virtue.
That is why God in His nature is pure and just. His justice meets the demands of the law that must be met if you and I are to be the recipients of His mercy.
To the Christian, Good Friday is a very special day, because on that day two thousand years ago, a pure and just God paid the penalty for our separation from Him and made the way to be forgiven and live in a loving relationship with Him.
You know, friends, there is one verse in the Bible that occurs three times: once in the book of Hebrews to the Hebrew church, once in the Book of Galatians to the Asian church, and once in the Book of Romans to the European church. All of this from the Old Testament prophet Habakkuk. The verse just says this: “…the just shall live by faith.”
What that really means is that our perfection cannot get us into heaven. But our faith in the Perfect One can. His justice comes hand in hand with His perfect love. Neither ever violates the other."
Today's Slice: Judging the Judges-Part 1 by Ravi Zacharias
Friday, April 23, 2010
To tell the truth
“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them” ~ Galileo
"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." ~ John 8:32
What parent has not watched with dismay as their child takes a course of action or embarks on a path that you know is only going to lead to frustration? When our kids are small it is easy to jump in and try to do it for them, but as they grow older they want to show their independence. So you hear them say; “I know that” or “I will do it myself” or “Let me figure it out for myself.” Most parents try to find a balance between encouraging their children to be independent, rational and decisive thinkers and trying to help them avoid the many pitfalls and perils of life. We can foresee these problems usually based on our experience, knowledge and maybe even the fact we once tried the same thing only to recognize its futility.
Picture if you will an individual you know or maybe even yourself being diagnosed with a terminal illness. It has been something that has been there all along but had gone unnoticed for years. Somebody brings it to your attention but you try not to think about it. Something or somebody occasionally reminds you that you have this condition but you are in denial. When you do think about it you try to slow down the sickness or search for cures, but everything you try is fruitless. This terminal illness worsens each passing day, but you just do not want to face up to the reality of your condition.
You are not alone in this terminal condition and there is actually hope and a cure for your plight. You have a friend who also suffers from this same problem and he also is looking for a means to correct the problem. He has studied, researched and pursued a cure and miraculously it has been revealed to him how to end the suffering. He has discovered the answer to his problem and yours and he is overjoyed at the prospect.
This friend approaches you and shares with you the symptoms you both have experienced. He shows you that you too have this terminal condition and wants to tell you about the cure. But you react with surprise that he would attempt to tell you that you are ill. You tell him there is nothing wrong with you and that you have no interest in what he has to share with you. After all, how does he know for sure that he is right? What gives him the right to tell you that you have a terminal condition? He tells you how many others have found this cure and thrived because of it, yet you tell him to leave you alone.
Picture this same friend who knows about this cure, yet rather than tell you he keeps it to himself. He is thriving and blissfully enjoying himself and watches your condition get worse by the day, yet he stays silent. He watches you slowly fade away and even when you appear willing to hear about the cure he still says nothing. Eventually he watches as you die and only then is he remorseful that he didn’t share with you the cure for your plight. Of these two individuals which one of these is showing compassion? Which one loves you more and is truly merciful?
The illness we all suffer is the terminal problem of sin, and according to Romans 3:23 that problem is universal; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Just one sin is one too many for a holy God who cannot tolerate sin, (Isaiah 59:1-2). The result or wage we earn through our sin is death, (Romans 6:23). But God’s justice and mercy intersected at the Cross and He provided a way for all the world to be free from the terminal nature of sin, (John 3:16). What is your reaction when someone shares this message with you? Are you the patient who tells his loving friend to leave you alone, or do you recognize that your friend is trying to show you the same mercy and compassion he has received at the nailed scarred hands of Jesus Christ?
Penn Gillette is a magician and comedian who is part of the duo of Penn and Teller. He is an atheist and believes that there is no God. If you visit YouTube you can watch Penn in a video called “The Gift of the Bible” and this is an excerpt of what he says; “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there is a heaven and hell, and that people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, or whatever, and that you think that it is not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward, and atheists who think that people shouldn’t proselytize, just leave me alone and keep your religion to yourself; how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
Do we care enough about others to tell them about Jesus Christ? Do we care enough to share it in a thoughtful and loving manner that leaves people with the impression it is because we care? Or do we appear to think we are somehow better than them because we have received what was freely given? Do we forget that we too were once dead in our trespasses and sin, (Ephesians 2:1)?
In his famous message “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards states; “All wicked men's pains and contrivance they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, don't secure 'em from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do; everyone lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes won't fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the bigger part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done: he doesn't intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take care that shall be effectual, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail. But the foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The bigger part of those that heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell: and it was not because they were not as wise as those that are now alive; it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape.”
If you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ and you have a friend or relative that is telling you about the free gift of salvation try to keep in mind that they are only doing so because they love you and care about you. If you are a Christian and you aren’t telling others then why not? Mercy is rescuing someone from their deplorable state. Are we showing mercy by remaining silent?
"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy" ~ Titus 3:5a
“How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard.” ~ Hebrews 2:3
"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." ~ John 8:32
What parent has not watched with dismay as their child takes a course of action or embarks on a path that you know is only going to lead to frustration? When our kids are small it is easy to jump in and try to do it for them, but as they grow older they want to show their independence. So you hear them say; “I know that” or “I will do it myself” or “Let me figure it out for myself.” Most parents try to find a balance between encouraging their children to be independent, rational and decisive thinkers and trying to help them avoid the many pitfalls and perils of life. We can foresee these problems usually based on our experience, knowledge and maybe even the fact we once tried the same thing only to recognize its futility.
Picture if you will an individual you know or maybe even yourself being diagnosed with a terminal illness. It has been something that has been there all along but had gone unnoticed for years. Somebody brings it to your attention but you try not to think about it. Something or somebody occasionally reminds you that you have this condition but you are in denial. When you do think about it you try to slow down the sickness or search for cures, but everything you try is fruitless. This terminal illness worsens each passing day, but you just do not want to face up to the reality of your condition.
You are not alone in this terminal condition and there is actually hope and a cure for your plight. You have a friend who also suffers from this same problem and he also is looking for a means to correct the problem. He has studied, researched and pursued a cure and miraculously it has been revealed to him how to end the suffering. He has discovered the answer to his problem and yours and he is overjoyed at the prospect.
This friend approaches you and shares with you the symptoms you both have experienced. He shows you that you too have this terminal condition and wants to tell you about the cure. But you react with surprise that he would attempt to tell you that you are ill. You tell him there is nothing wrong with you and that you have no interest in what he has to share with you. After all, how does he know for sure that he is right? What gives him the right to tell you that you have a terminal condition? He tells you how many others have found this cure and thrived because of it, yet you tell him to leave you alone.
Picture this same friend who knows about this cure, yet rather than tell you he keeps it to himself. He is thriving and blissfully enjoying himself and watches your condition get worse by the day, yet he stays silent. He watches you slowly fade away and even when you appear willing to hear about the cure he still says nothing. Eventually he watches as you die and only then is he remorseful that he didn’t share with you the cure for your plight. Of these two individuals which one of these is showing compassion? Which one loves you more and is truly merciful?
The illness we all suffer is the terminal problem of sin, and according to Romans 3:23 that problem is universal; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Just one sin is one too many for a holy God who cannot tolerate sin, (Isaiah 59:1-2). The result or wage we earn through our sin is death, (Romans 6:23). But God’s justice and mercy intersected at the Cross and He provided a way for all the world to be free from the terminal nature of sin, (John 3:16). What is your reaction when someone shares this message with you? Are you the patient who tells his loving friend to leave you alone, or do you recognize that your friend is trying to show you the same mercy and compassion he has received at the nailed scarred hands of Jesus Christ?
Penn Gillette is a magician and comedian who is part of the duo of Penn and Teller. He is an atheist and believes that there is no God. If you visit YouTube you can watch Penn in a video called “The Gift of the Bible” and this is an excerpt of what he says; “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there is a heaven and hell, and that people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life, or whatever, and that you think that it is not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward, and atheists who think that people shouldn’t proselytize, just leave me alone and keep your religion to yourself; how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate someone to believe everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”
Do we care enough about others to tell them about Jesus Christ? Do we care enough to share it in a thoughtful and loving manner that leaves people with the impression it is because we care? Or do we appear to think we are somehow better than them because we have received what was freely given? Do we forget that we too were once dead in our trespasses and sin, (Ephesians 2:1)?
In his famous message “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” Jonathan Edwards states; “All wicked men's pains and contrivance they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, don't secure 'em from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do; everyone lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes won't fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the bigger part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done: he doesn't intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take care that shall be effectual, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail. But the foolish children of men do miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in their confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The bigger part of those that heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell: and it was not because they were not as wise as those that are now alive; it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape.”
If you have not yet accepted Jesus Christ and you have a friend or relative that is telling you about the free gift of salvation try to keep in mind that they are only doing so because they love you and care about you. If you are a Christian and you aren’t telling others then why not? Mercy is rescuing someone from their deplorable state. Are we showing mercy by remaining silent?
"He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy" ~ Titus 3:5a
“How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? It was declared at first by the Lord, and it was attested to us by those who heard.” ~ Hebrews 2:3
Thursday, April 22, 2010
There must be some misunderstanding
“Ya see, me and the Lord have an understanding.” ~ Joliet Jake Blues
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” ~ 1 John 5:13
Picture if you will a couple that decides to get married. On the surface they appear to love one another so they take the next logical step of making a commitment before friends and family and they “tie the knot.” They enjoy the reception and the words of good luck from well-wishers, but immediately after the ceremony the groom turns to the bride and says; thanks for a great day. Take care and I will check in with you from time to time. Maybe we will get together on the holidays. If I need you I will give you a call. Have a great life.
Sounds pretty ridiculous, right? What bride in her right mind would want to continue on in a relationship like that? Her spouse is disinterested in a committed and mutually beneficial co-habitation. He is totally detached or does not see the need of showing her any devotion, honor, love or respect. He will call on her when the mood strikes, and expect all of his needs to be met and all of his demands answered on his time table. If she asks for any help or on-going attention he bristles that she dares to place any demands on him for time, money or consideration. She is simply there to his advantage, and is to him a commodity to be used. In such a relationship there might come a day when he shows up and she tells him to shove off because their “partnership” is meaningless since they never truly got to know one another or stayed together.
Is this how we view our relationship with God? Do we treat God as a commodity or as our Creator? Often we see Him as a cosmic genie in the bottle; we say prayers like they are three wishes to be granted. We expect God to answer our prayers to our specifications and He better not expect anything from us in return other than a cursory acknowledgement. We get into dire straits and we cry out to Him, but when things are going our way we ignore Him completely.
Maybe we treat or view salvation like a commodity. It is our “fire insurance” and we only dust it off after disaster strikes. We can live life as we please and play with fire never concerned for how this puts us in jeopardy or the likely end result. Then when the flames of problems and the trials of life singe us we want to rely on that old policy that we have let lapse or have misplaced.
When God comes into an individual’s life, through placing our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, He does not come in as a co-equal partner. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Sovereign Lord and we need to acknowledge Him as King. It is not simply “add God” and then go on with the mindset of “its just business as usual”. The Gospel changes everything. Like the American Express tag line, “Membership has its privileges”, so does being a child of God. But with privilege comes responsibility and some requirements. Requirements that are not burdensome or tedious if we truly grasp how fortunate we are to receive the gift of salvation that we never could earn or deserve.
A relationship with God is not “an understanding” with the “Big Guy Upstairs”. He inspired men to write the Bible so we could have a better understanding of who He is, what are His attributes and what He expects and desires from us. Our relationship with Him is pictured in the New Testament as a marriage. The believer who professes their love for Jesus Christ is the bridegroom that is totally devoted to that relationship. Though at times we are an imperfect mate that is prone to forgetfulness, fickleness and on occasion outright disdain, our groom never waivers in His love or commitment to us. Someone who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus is the bride of Christ and we are complete in Him. He is the source of our total satisfaction, joy and identity. This is not meant to be a lackadaisical or shallow relationship that we jump in and out of when it is convenient or when we are in need.
In John 15:1-25 the key word that is used to describe our relationship with God is the word “abide”. This has with it the idea that a relationship with God is lasting, enduring, ever present and it always remains. God always keeps up His end of the bargain and is constantly abiding, never changing and never failing. We are more like the groom I described earlier and want all of the benefits and none of the responsibilities. We have responsibilities as believers in Christ and in this same passage we are expected to bear fruit. Bearing fruit can be, but is not limited to, desiring to consistently attend church, reading our Bibles and actually living out what it says. It is also seen in godly attitudes (Gal 5:22-23), righteous behavior (Phil 1:11), praise (Heb 13:15) and especially by sharing your faith in Jesus Christ as Messiah and Son of God (Rom 1:13-16).
Don’t delude yourself into thinking the total definition of your Creator is “God is love” and that He simply winks at our sin. God is love but He is also Holy and He cannot tolerate sin. He poured out His wrath on His Son on the cross because of our sin. He will “by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:7). Just like the relationship of a couple should be forever changed when they get married, so too does the dynamic change between man and God after true repentance unto salvation.
If we view God as having no authority or that He has no right to place any expectations on our life then maybe we truly do not have a relationship of saving faith. There is a very sobering passage in Matthew 7:21-23 where Jesus tells His audience that at the final judgment that many people will cry out to Him and say that they did all of these good things in His name. Just like the relationship I described at the onset that is all just a sham, Jesus tells these people in verse 23 to go away, I never knew you and you never truly knew me.
Are we constantly abiding in Christ and are we bearing fruit? Is our relationship with God deep and meaningful or is it just a commodity called on when the mood strikes? If not then maybe we need to reevaluate whether or not we are the devoted spouse or the uncommitted groom. God did not send His Son to die a painful and humiliating death for anything less than our all. There was no lack of commitment on His part when He died on the cross for you and I; we owe Him no less than our best.
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” ~ John 10:10b
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.” ~ 1 John 5:13
Picture if you will a couple that decides to get married. On the surface they appear to love one another so they take the next logical step of making a commitment before friends and family and they “tie the knot.” They enjoy the reception and the words of good luck from well-wishers, but immediately after the ceremony the groom turns to the bride and says; thanks for a great day. Take care and I will check in with you from time to time. Maybe we will get together on the holidays. If I need you I will give you a call. Have a great life.
Sounds pretty ridiculous, right? What bride in her right mind would want to continue on in a relationship like that? Her spouse is disinterested in a committed and mutually beneficial co-habitation. He is totally detached or does not see the need of showing her any devotion, honor, love or respect. He will call on her when the mood strikes, and expect all of his needs to be met and all of his demands answered on his time table. If she asks for any help or on-going attention he bristles that she dares to place any demands on him for time, money or consideration. She is simply there to his advantage, and is to him a commodity to be used. In such a relationship there might come a day when he shows up and she tells him to shove off because their “partnership” is meaningless since they never truly got to know one another or stayed together.
Is this how we view our relationship with God? Do we treat God as a commodity or as our Creator? Often we see Him as a cosmic genie in the bottle; we say prayers like they are three wishes to be granted. We expect God to answer our prayers to our specifications and He better not expect anything from us in return other than a cursory acknowledgement. We get into dire straits and we cry out to Him, but when things are going our way we ignore Him completely.
Maybe we treat or view salvation like a commodity. It is our “fire insurance” and we only dust it off after disaster strikes. We can live life as we please and play with fire never concerned for how this puts us in jeopardy or the likely end result. Then when the flames of problems and the trials of life singe us we want to rely on that old policy that we have let lapse or have misplaced.
When God comes into an individual’s life, through placing our faith and trust in His Son, Jesus Christ, He does not come in as a co-equal partner. He is the Creator, Sustainer and Sovereign Lord and we need to acknowledge Him as King. It is not simply “add God” and then go on with the mindset of “its just business as usual”. The Gospel changes everything. Like the American Express tag line, “Membership has its privileges”, so does being a child of God. But with privilege comes responsibility and some requirements. Requirements that are not burdensome or tedious if we truly grasp how fortunate we are to receive the gift of salvation that we never could earn or deserve.
A relationship with God is not “an understanding” with the “Big Guy Upstairs”. He inspired men to write the Bible so we could have a better understanding of who He is, what are His attributes and what He expects and desires from us. Our relationship with Him is pictured in the New Testament as a marriage. The believer who professes their love for Jesus Christ is the bridegroom that is totally devoted to that relationship. Though at times we are an imperfect mate that is prone to forgetfulness, fickleness and on occasion outright disdain, our groom never waivers in His love or commitment to us. Someone who has placed their faith and trust in Jesus is the bride of Christ and we are complete in Him. He is the source of our total satisfaction, joy and identity. This is not meant to be a lackadaisical or shallow relationship that we jump in and out of when it is convenient or when we are in need.
In John 15:1-25 the key word that is used to describe our relationship with God is the word “abide”. This has with it the idea that a relationship with God is lasting, enduring, ever present and it always remains. God always keeps up His end of the bargain and is constantly abiding, never changing and never failing. We are more like the groom I described earlier and want all of the benefits and none of the responsibilities. We have responsibilities as believers in Christ and in this same passage we are expected to bear fruit. Bearing fruit can be, but is not limited to, desiring to consistently attend church, reading our Bibles and actually living out what it says. It is also seen in godly attitudes (Gal 5:22-23), righteous behavior (Phil 1:11), praise (Heb 13:15) and especially by sharing your faith in Jesus Christ as Messiah and Son of God (Rom 1:13-16).
Don’t delude yourself into thinking the total definition of your Creator is “God is love” and that He simply winks at our sin. God is love but He is also Holy and He cannot tolerate sin. He poured out His wrath on His Son on the cross because of our sin. He will “by no means clear the guilty” (Exodus 34:7). Just like the relationship of a couple should be forever changed when they get married, so too does the dynamic change between man and God after true repentance unto salvation.
If we view God as having no authority or that He has no right to place any expectations on our life then maybe we truly do not have a relationship of saving faith. There is a very sobering passage in Matthew 7:21-23 where Jesus tells His audience that at the final judgment that many people will cry out to Him and say that they did all of these good things in His name. Just like the relationship I described at the onset that is all just a sham, Jesus tells these people in verse 23 to go away, I never knew you and you never truly knew me.
Are we constantly abiding in Christ and are we bearing fruit? Is our relationship with God deep and meaningful or is it just a commodity called on when the mood strikes? If not then maybe we need to reevaluate whether or not we are the devoted spouse or the uncommitted groom. God did not send His Son to die a painful and humiliating death for anything less than our all. There was no lack of commitment on His part when He died on the cross for you and I; we owe Him no less than our best.
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” ~ John 10:10b
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Give peace a chance
“All we are saying is give peace a chance.” ~ John Lennon
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” ~ Isaiah 26:3
You can learn much about people by simply looking at their car. I am not talking about determining their status on the social ladder or the value of their portfolio. I am speaking specifically about their bumper stickers. I typically read them; mostly for the amusement they provide rather than for any deep philosophical or spiritual value. At times they are thought provoking, but other times they seem to be poorly thought out to their logical end.
Take for example one that I saw over the weekend that was on the car of someone who had other bumper stickers promoting Darwinism. The sticker read; “We have fossils we win.” The only problem with that is that it suggests that those that subscribe to a Biblical position on creation deny the existence of fossils or the fossil record. That would be an absolutely false assumption because Christians know that fossil’s exist; we just disagree on how an evolutionist interprets and applies it to their yet unverified theory.
One bumper sticker that I see quite frequently is the ubiquitous “COEXIST” sticker which is put out by Peacemonger.org. You have probably seen this on the bumper of various makes and models of cars. It has a blue background with white letters resembling religious symbols to spell out the word. The C is the symbol for Islam, the O is a peace symbol, the E is the symbol for gender equality, the X is the Star of David, the I is the Wiccan Pentangle, the S is the Ying Yang symbol representing Confucianism and the T is shaped like a cross to represent Christianity.
I always wonder what this sticker means to the individual that has it on display. Are they hoping that by a cosmic roll of the dice they can cover all their ground by “respecting” all religions? You know; just covering all my bases just in case. Or are they displaying a certain level of naïveté thinking that all roads lead to God? My hope is that it is not willful ignorance or a distinct lack of scholarship that shows they have not attempted to personally research the claims each faith makes. Have they ignored the law of non-contradiction; all contradictory propositions are not true simultaneously. All of these belief systems claim exclusive truth; two things that are mutually exclusive is a contradictory statement. To think that all of these religions are truth is contradictory so in terms of logic they cannot coexist.
If you search the internet you will come up with multiple explanations or definitions for the sticker. One explanation states “COEXIST is a way to demonstrate your support of religious freedom, tolerance and understanding.” As a Christian I see nothing inherently wrong with that idea, at least on a surface level. Another was; “To encourage others in a greater religious understanding of other’s distinctive faiths, beliefs and practices, and to promote friendship, goodwill and mutual trust among them.” From a biblical perspective isn’t this exactly what the Apostle Paul did in his Epistles and more specifically in Acts 17 on Mars Hill when he addressed the Greeks? Paul was not blissfully ignorant of the belief systems or philosophy’s of his day and used his knowledge as a means to present the Gospel in a loving, respectful and well reasoned fashion.
In Acts 17 we see Paul in Athens and he has been preaching the Gospel about Jesus Christ and the Resurrection. He was taken to the Areopagus which was named after the Greek god Ares, whose Roman equivalent is Mars; hence Mars Hill. The Greeks were polytheistic, so they had statues to a pantheon of gods and they wanted to give Paul a listen to see if they could just add Jesus Christ to their menu. They must have had "coexist" stickers on their chariots.
Paul was given an audience by the two leading philosophical schools; the Epicureans and Stoics. Paul understood that the Epicureans believed that gods were uninvolved in human affairs, that we should simply pursue pleasure and that there was no afterlife or judgment. The Stoics on the other hand were Pantheistic or that god was the soul of the universe and that humanity and all existence was tapped into him; the universal soul. Stoics also believed in determinism which is basically "what cannot be cured must be endured" or "that's life, deal with it."
If you read Acts 17:22-34 you will see that Paul eloquently and knowledgeably addressed this very “religious” or superstitious gathering. He pointed to their altar to “an unknown God” and boldly stated that this is the God that I declare to you. What is notable is that he used natural theology which is God revealing Himself in nature to build bridges and challenge the prevailing beliefs. He complimented them on their religious inclinations, drew on observable data from the natural world that reveal God’s nature, identified God for them, established a relationship between God and humans, showed them how God can and will judge the world, and even used their own poets as a means to point them to the one, true God. He did not compromise or water down the Gospel to make it more palatable to his listeners. He spoke the truth in love.
Paul was respectful, loving and knowledgeable but he was also interested enough to try to understand the personal motivations that were the underlying reasons these individuals believed what they believed. He listened first and then was “ready to give an answer”, (I Peter 3:15). Unlike some belief systems the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not asking for blind obeisance, and is ready, willing and able to stand up to the harshest of scrutiny. The Truth welcomes a thorough examination and does not bristle or chafe when questioned. If we chose to ignore the evidence the only one we can blame is ourselves.
The world is looking for answers and they desire peace. The only true and lasting peace comes from the Giver of all good things. If we as Christians believe in love, then we have to love everyone, even those who believe in “the unknown god”. Why would anyone want to hear about our God, our faith and our beliefs, if we don’t even care enough to understand theirs?
“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:5-
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” ~ Isaiah 26:3
You can learn much about people by simply looking at their car. I am not talking about determining their status on the social ladder or the value of their portfolio. I am speaking specifically about their bumper stickers. I typically read them; mostly for the amusement they provide rather than for any deep philosophical or spiritual value. At times they are thought provoking, but other times they seem to be poorly thought out to their logical end.
Take for example one that I saw over the weekend that was on the car of someone who had other bumper stickers promoting Darwinism. The sticker read; “We have fossils we win.” The only problem with that is that it suggests that those that subscribe to a Biblical position on creation deny the existence of fossils or the fossil record. That would be an absolutely false assumption because Christians know that fossil’s exist; we just disagree on how an evolutionist interprets and applies it to their yet unverified theory.
One bumper sticker that I see quite frequently is the ubiquitous “COEXIST” sticker which is put out by Peacemonger.org. You have probably seen this on the bumper of various makes and models of cars. It has a blue background with white letters resembling religious symbols to spell out the word. The C is the symbol for Islam, the O is a peace symbol, the E is the symbol for gender equality, the X is the Star of David, the I is the Wiccan Pentangle, the S is the Ying Yang symbol representing Confucianism and the T is shaped like a cross to represent Christianity.
I always wonder what this sticker means to the individual that has it on display. Are they hoping that by a cosmic roll of the dice they can cover all their ground by “respecting” all religions? You know; just covering all my bases just in case. Or are they displaying a certain level of naïveté thinking that all roads lead to God? My hope is that it is not willful ignorance or a distinct lack of scholarship that shows they have not attempted to personally research the claims each faith makes. Have they ignored the law of non-contradiction; all contradictory propositions are not true simultaneously. All of these belief systems claim exclusive truth; two things that are mutually exclusive is a contradictory statement. To think that all of these religions are truth is contradictory so in terms of logic they cannot coexist.
If you search the internet you will come up with multiple explanations or definitions for the sticker. One explanation states “COEXIST is a way to demonstrate your support of religious freedom, tolerance and understanding.” As a Christian I see nothing inherently wrong with that idea, at least on a surface level. Another was; “To encourage others in a greater religious understanding of other’s distinctive faiths, beliefs and practices, and to promote friendship, goodwill and mutual trust among them.” From a biblical perspective isn’t this exactly what the Apostle Paul did in his Epistles and more specifically in Acts 17 on Mars Hill when he addressed the Greeks? Paul was not blissfully ignorant of the belief systems or philosophy’s of his day and used his knowledge as a means to present the Gospel in a loving, respectful and well reasoned fashion.
In Acts 17 we see Paul in Athens and he has been preaching the Gospel about Jesus Christ and the Resurrection. He was taken to the Areopagus which was named after the Greek god Ares, whose Roman equivalent is Mars; hence Mars Hill. The Greeks were polytheistic, so they had statues to a pantheon of gods and they wanted to give Paul a listen to see if they could just add Jesus Christ to their menu. They must have had "coexist" stickers on their chariots.
Paul was given an audience by the two leading philosophical schools; the Epicureans and Stoics. Paul understood that the Epicureans believed that gods were uninvolved in human affairs, that we should simply pursue pleasure and that there was no afterlife or judgment. The Stoics on the other hand were Pantheistic or that god was the soul of the universe and that humanity and all existence was tapped into him; the universal soul. Stoics also believed in determinism which is basically "what cannot be cured must be endured" or "that's life, deal with it."
If you read Acts 17:22-34 you will see that Paul eloquently and knowledgeably addressed this very “religious” or superstitious gathering. He pointed to their altar to “an unknown God” and boldly stated that this is the God that I declare to you. What is notable is that he used natural theology which is God revealing Himself in nature to build bridges and challenge the prevailing beliefs. He complimented them on their religious inclinations, drew on observable data from the natural world that reveal God’s nature, identified God for them, established a relationship between God and humans, showed them how God can and will judge the world, and even used their own poets as a means to point them to the one, true God. He did not compromise or water down the Gospel to make it more palatable to his listeners. He spoke the truth in love.
Paul was respectful, loving and knowledgeable but he was also interested enough to try to understand the personal motivations that were the underlying reasons these individuals believed what they believed. He listened first and then was “ready to give an answer”, (I Peter 3:15). Unlike some belief systems the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not asking for blind obeisance, and is ready, willing and able to stand up to the harshest of scrutiny. The Truth welcomes a thorough examination and does not bristle or chafe when questioned. If we chose to ignore the evidence the only one we can blame is ourselves.
The world is looking for answers and they desire peace. The only true and lasting peace comes from the Giver of all good things. If we as Christians believe in love, then we have to love everyone, even those who believe in “the unknown god”. Why would anyone want to hear about our God, our faith and our beliefs, if we don’t even care enough to understand theirs?
“Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~ Philippians 4:5-
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Death and taxes
"The only difference between a taxman and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin." ~ Mark Twain
"The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." ~ Will Rogers
April 15th has come and gone and hopefully by now the wounds inflicted on you by the IRS have begun to heal. Before I let you heal completely I thought I might yank the band aid off real fast and post some thoughts on taxes. We have all likely heard Ben Franklin's oft repeated quote; "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Both are something we would rather not face or think about, but as try as we may they are part of life's certainties that we must eventually deal with.
My job has afforded me the opportunity to travel internationally on a frequent basis. One of the things that I have discovered is that Americans are taxed to a lesser extent than most of our allies. Tax Freedom Day in the US, or the day on the calendar where we cease paying the government and start actually paying ourselves is caluculated to be April 9th. Our neighbors to the north in Canada celebrate tax free day on June 6th, the UK on May 14th and in Germany it is July 8th. Sweden and Norway are the run away winners paying 57% of their annual income in taxes and their Tax Freedom not kicking in until July 29th.
If you attend SS or Bible time as a child you have probably heard the story of Zacchaeus before as found in Luke 19. Maybe as a child you even sang the song about Zacchaeus being a “wee little man” who climbed up in a Sycamore tree “for the Lord he wanted to see”
ZACCHEUS WAS A WEE LITTLE MAN
A WEE LITTLE MAN WAS HE
HE CLIMBED UP IN THE SYCAMORE TREE
THE SAVIOR FOR TO SEE
AND WHEN THE SAVIOR PASSED THAT WAY
HE LOOKED UP IN THE TREE
AND HE SAID,
ZACCHEUS, YOU COME DOWN FROM THERE
FOR I'M GOING TO YOUR HOUSE TODAY
FOR I'M GOING TO YOUR HOUSE TODAY
It is a memorable song and it is a good lesson for children to learn about the compassion of Jesus and His love that He shows for every individual. But there are many lessons in this passage for adults that I think we sometimes overlook in these stories we classify as “children’s Bible stories.”
We all are familiar with paying taxes and none of us really care to give the IRS or other government agencies any money. But what we experience in our current culture is nothing compared to the taxation at the time Luke was writing his Gospel. Taxation was a huge form of oppression at this time. During the earthly ministry of Jesus the Romans occupied Israel and they dominated the region. Part of being a conquered nation was the requirement to pay tribute money or taxes to the government. This taxation was not for the local benefit but for the benefit of Rome. It would be like we were invaded by Canada and on top of the our state tax and Federal Taxes we pay today, we would also have to send money up to Canada too.
The job of tax collecting which was also known as being a “publican” and it was not a low paying government job. These positions were auctioned off to the highest bidder and then that person would have to meet quota or a specific amount that they would have to pay to the Roman government. But they just didn’t collect the amount that was necessary but they would collect more than enough to make themselves wealthy in the process. This led to abuse and unfair taxation. It says in Luke 19:2 that Zacchaeus was a “chief tax collector”, but what did this mean? He was in charge of a district or larger area and had tax collectors or publicans reporting to him. Zacchaeus must have been quite wealthy to start with because he had the tax collecting franchise for Jericho which was a large city that was a center for commerce and trade so bidding on the right to collect taxes there would have been expensive. It would be like being the chief tax collector in Atlanta or maybe Chicago.
What type of taxes could Zacchaeus and his crew of publicans collect? They could tax just about anything.
• Road and bridge taxes on anyone walking or driving a horse and cart
• Poll taxes on males 14+ and girls 12
• House & Land taxes
• Market tax which would be paid when you walked into Walmart
• Registration or Inventory
• Livestock and animials...tax you on your dog and cat
• Entering the gate of a city
• Customs when you leave one county and enter another
• Income Tax
• Salt Tax (salt was the main preservative for meat and food)
• Sales Tax
• Any agriculture goods (your tomato patch…)
• Imports and Exports
• Census (Luke 2:2 Joseph & Mary going to Bethlehem and the associated inconvenience of travel)
• And on and on…
Because Zacchaeus worked for Rome he was a despised and hated man; a complete social outcast to the Jewish people. He would have been considered as someone that his fellow Jews would not want to associate with let alone be welcome in their homes or at their social gatherings. If they saw him on the street they would likely avoid him or cross the street to get away from him. We can see the opinion that they held for publicans in the previous chapter in Luke 18:9-11. He probably would not have been welcome in the Synagogue because his association with Gentiles or non-Jews like the Romans would have made him ceremonially “unclean” and therefore not allowed entrance into their meetings or worship. He was considered by the Pharisees or religious leaders to be one of the worst elements of society and in Matthew 9:11, 11:19, 21:31 and Luke 3:12 they would talk about “publicans and sinners”. Zacchaeus was in total disfavor in the Jewish culture.
Zacchaeus probably had to at times fear for his life. Remember he represented the oppressive Roman government that collected unfair taxes and gave it to there own people so they would not have to work. Israel hated being occupied and a group of people known as Zealots were known assassins who would kill traitors or Roman government officials. They were known as “the dagger men” and I am sure they would have loved to take out Zacchaeus.
But the unique thing about Zacchaeus is that despite all of his wealth there was something about the Gospel of Jesus Christ that appealed to him. It says in verse 3 that “he sought to see Jesus”. The other important thing about Zacchaeus is that he did not let anything stand in his way or any excuses stop him from seeking after Jesus.
His first obstacle was the crowd. He did not let the crowd influence him. Remember, Jericho is a large city and center or trade so there was likely a huge group of people that wanted to see this man who some said was the Son of God. They had heard about his healing, feeding and teaching of the people. The city of Bethany was less than 15 miles away and Jesus recently had raised Lazarus from the dead and probably word had made it to Jericho about Christ. The Bible says in Luke 19:3 “because of the press” or the large mass of people Zacchaeus was blocked from seeing Christ. Often we let “the Crowd” stop us from doing what we know is right and we worry about what “the Crowd’ thinks of us or what they might say about us. Zacchaeus was focused on just one thing and that was seeing Jesus and following Him that he ignored the crowd and found a way to get to Him. In verse 7 we can see that the crowd was murmuring that Jesus took an interest in Zacchaeus but Christ didn’t let the crowd stop him from His ministry. We cannot and should not let “the Crowd” stop us from seeking and accepting Christ or following His will for our life.
Zacchaeus was a "vertically challenged" man but he did not let his limitations hold him back. It says also in verse 3 that he was small in stature. So what did he do; it says in verse 4 that he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up in a Sycamore tree. A sycamore tree has low spreading branches that would have hung out over the road. Imagine a short little man running down the street and doing something so undignified as climbing up a tree to watch the procession. This despised little man was probably being laughed at and being made fun of already for being short. He did not let his so-called or perceived limitations hold him back from seeking Christ. We sometimes try to convince ourselves that we have limitations or things in our lives that would make us unacceptable to Jesus. We are never asked to clean ourselves up before coming to Jesus Christ. Or maybe we view ourselves as not smart enough or good enough. There is no limitation to the love of Christ and He is ready to accept us no matter what.
Zacchaeus did not let his status in the Jewish society keep him away. Remember he was viewed as “unclean” for his association with the Romans. He did not let the possibility that he might be laughed at, spat upon or hated stop him from going into a crowded area and seeking after Jesus. God is no respecter of persons and it says in the Bible that he uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, (I Corinthians 1:27). He didn’t try to religiously or socially clean himself up first before he sought after Christ.
The final hindrance to Zacchaeus was his wealth. In Luke 18:18-27 we see the story of the rich young ruler who came to Christ and wanted to know what he had to do to gain eternal life. He talked about all of his goodness and his religious practices but when the time came to sacrifice everything to follow Christ he blinked and rather than accept what Jesus had to offer he went away sad. In contrast look at the reaction of Zacchaeus and the fruit of his conversion. In verse 8 it says that he acknowledge his sin and he gave half of his wealth to the poor and also gave 4 times the amount he defrauded from people. If he took 40 dollars from you, you would receive $160 back. The OT law only required one-fifth as repayment for fraud. Four-fold was only required if an animal was killed and two-fold if it was taken but found alive. What do you and I hold dear and what are we unwilling to give up in exchange for a personal relationship with Christ? What is our “idol” or thing we hold on to so dearly that we will not give it up to follow Christ? Is it our time, our friends, our habits or addictions? What is the thing we think most about and spend out whole lives chasing rather than seeking after Jesus and following God’s will for our lives. What are you willing to give up for Jesus? He gave up the glory of heaven and His very life for you and I. ANYTHING He asks for in return is small in comparison to what he gave up for us.
We need to notice what the Lord says to Zacchaeus in Luke19:5; “…make haste and come down; for today I must dine at thy house”. This was not a request but a mandate. Jesus invited himself immediately to fellowship with Zacchaeus. There was an urgency about this request. In our culture we don’t understand the importance or significance of dining with people like they do in the Eastern culture. It is a sign of acceptance and deep affection. Jesus loved Zacchaeus and He loves you and I and all He wants is fellowship and a deep and meaningful relationship with us.
Look at the reaction of Zacchaeus in verse 6; “he received him joyfully…” Imagine this man despised, shunned and ignored was having the chance to fellowship with the Son of God!
What does it say in Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
What is our reaction when we have a chance to fellowship or worship Christ? Do we receive it joyfully or begrudgingly?
Jesus knew the heart condition of Zacchaeus and He also knew that Zacchaeus was seeking after the Savior. Notice what Jesus doesn’t say to Zacchaeus. He doesn’t say; “I cannot spend time with you because you are a sinner, I cannot be associated with you because you haven’t cleaned up your act first, or I cannot fellowship with you until you stop sinning.” Jesus knew the heart condition and sin of Zacchaeus just like He knew and knows yours and mine. Jesus is concerned with our sin but He loved us before we first loved Him and he is ready to accept us unconditionally.
The theme of the book of Luke can be found in verse 10; “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This is the message of the Gospel and the work and purpose of Christ!
There are only two sure things in life; death and taxes. Just like we have to prepare a tax return we also have to prepare for the inevitable outcome of passing on into eternity. Have we made adequate preparation for life's final journey?
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Don’t let the Crowd, your limitations, your socials status or things of this world you hold dear keep you from accepting Christ as your Savior. ~ I John 1:9
"The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn't get worse every time Congress meets." ~ Will Rogers
April 15th has come and gone and hopefully by now the wounds inflicted on you by the IRS have begun to heal. Before I let you heal completely I thought I might yank the band aid off real fast and post some thoughts on taxes. We have all likely heard Ben Franklin's oft repeated quote; "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." Both are something we would rather not face or think about, but as try as we may they are part of life's certainties that we must eventually deal with.
My job has afforded me the opportunity to travel internationally on a frequent basis. One of the things that I have discovered is that Americans are taxed to a lesser extent than most of our allies. Tax Freedom Day in the US, or the day on the calendar where we cease paying the government and start actually paying ourselves is caluculated to be April 9th. Our neighbors to the north in Canada celebrate tax free day on June 6th, the UK on May 14th and in Germany it is July 8th. Sweden and Norway are the run away winners paying 57% of their annual income in taxes and their Tax Freedom not kicking in until July 29th.
If you attend SS or Bible time as a child you have probably heard the story of Zacchaeus before as found in Luke 19. Maybe as a child you even sang the song about Zacchaeus being a “wee little man” who climbed up in a Sycamore tree “for the Lord he wanted to see”
ZACCHEUS WAS A WEE LITTLE MAN
A WEE LITTLE MAN WAS HE
HE CLIMBED UP IN THE SYCAMORE TREE
THE SAVIOR FOR TO SEE
AND WHEN THE SAVIOR PASSED THAT WAY
HE LOOKED UP IN THE TREE
AND HE SAID,
ZACCHEUS, YOU COME DOWN FROM THERE
FOR I'M GOING TO YOUR HOUSE TODAY
FOR I'M GOING TO YOUR HOUSE TODAY
It is a memorable song and it is a good lesson for children to learn about the compassion of Jesus and His love that He shows for every individual. But there are many lessons in this passage for adults that I think we sometimes overlook in these stories we classify as “children’s Bible stories.”
We all are familiar with paying taxes and none of us really care to give the IRS or other government agencies any money. But what we experience in our current culture is nothing compared to the taxation at the time Luke was writing his Gospel. Taxation was a huge form of oppression at this time. During the earthly ministry of Jesus the Romans occupied Israel and they dominated the region. Part of being a conquered nation was the requirement to pay tribute money or taxes to the government. This taxation was not for the local benefit but for the benefit of Rome. It would be like we were invaded by Canada and on top of the our state tax and Federal Taxes we pay today, we would also have to send money up to Canada too.
The job of tax collecting which was also known as being a “publican” and it was not a low paying government job. These positions were auctioned off to the highest bidder and then that person would have to meet quota or a specific amount that they would have to pay to the Roman government. But they just didn’t collect the amount that was necessary but they would collect more than enough to make themselves wealthy in the process. This led to abuse and unfair taxation. It says in Luke 19:2 that Zacchaeus was a “chief tax collector”, but what did this mean? He was in charge of a district or larger area and had tax collectors or publicans reporting to him. Zacchaeus must have been quite wealthy to start with because he had the tax collecting franchise for Jericho which was a large city that was a center for commerce and trade so bidding on the right to collect taxes there would have been expensive. It would be like being the chief tax collector in Atlanta or maybe Chicago.
What type of taxes could Zacchaeus and his crew of publicans collect? They could tax just about anything.
• Road and bridge taxes on anyone walking or driving a horse and cart
• Poll taxes on males 14+ and girls 12
• House & Land taxes
• Market tax which would be paid when you walked into Walmart
• Registration or Inventory
• Livestock and animials...tax you on your dog and cat
• Entering the gate of a city
• Customs when you leave one county and enter another
• Income Tax
• Salt Tax (salt was the main preservative for meat and food)
• Sales Tax
• Any agriculture goods (your tomato patch…)
• Imports and Exports
• Census (Luke 2:2 Joseph & Mary going to Bethlehem and the associated inconvenience of travel)
• And on and on…
Because Zacchaeus worked for Rome he was a despised and hated man; a complete social outcast to the Jewish people. He would have been considered as someone that his fellow Jews would not want to associate with let alone be welcome in their homes or at their social gatherings. If they saw him on the street they would likely avoid him or cross the street to get away from him. We can see the opinion that they held for publicans in the previous chapter in Luke 18:9-11. He probably would not have been welcome in the Synagogue because his association with Gentiles or non-Jews like the Romans would have made him ceremonially “unclean” and therefore not allowed entrance into their meetings or worship. He was considered by the Pharisees or religious leaders to be one of the worst elements of society and in Matthew 9:11, 11:19, 21:31 and Luke 3:12 they would talk about “publicans and sinners”. Zacchaeus was in total disfavor in the Jewish culture.
Zacchaeus probably had to at times fear for his life. Remember he represented the oppressive Roman government that collected unfair taxes and gave it to there own people so they would not have to work. Israel hated being occupied and a group of people known as Zealots were known assassins who would kill traitors or Roman government officials. They were known as “the dagger men” and I am sure they would have loved to take out Zacchaeus.
But the unique thing about Zacchaeus is that despite all of his wealth there was something about the Gospel of Jesus Christ that appealed to him. It says in verse 3 that “he sought to see Jesus”. The other important thing about Zacchaeus is that he did not let anything stand in his way or any excuses stop him from seeking after Jesus.
His first obstacle was the crowd. He did not let the crowd influence him. Remember, Jericho is a large city and center or trade so there was likely a huge group of people that wanted to see this man who some said was the Son of God. They had heard about his healing, feeding and teaching of the people. The city of Bethany was less than 15 miles away and Jesus recently had raised Lazarus from the dead and probably word had made it to Jericho about Christ. The Bible says in Luke 19:3 “because of the press” or the large mass of people Zacchaeus was blocked from seeing Christ. Often we let “the Crowd” stop us from doing what we know is right and we worry about what “the Crowd’ thinks of us or what they might say about us. Zacchaeus was focused on just one thing and that was seeing Jesus and following Him that he ignored the crowd and found a way to get to Him. In verse 7 we can see that the crowd was murmuring that Jesus took an interest in Zacchaeus but Christ didn’t let the crowd stop him from His ministry. We cannot and should not let “the Crowd” stop us from seeking and accepting Christ or following His will for our life.
Zacchaeus was a "vertically challenged" man but he did not let his limitations hold him back. It says also in verse 3 that he was small in stature. So what did he do; it says in verse 4 that he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up in a Sycamore tree. A sycamore tree has low spreading branches that would have hung out over the road. Imagine a short little man running down the street and doing something so undignified as climbing up a tree to watch the procession. This despised little man was probably being laughed at and being made fun of already for being short. He did not let his so-called or perceived limitations hold him back from seeking Christ. We sometimes try to convince ourselves that we have limitations or things in our lives that would make us unacceptable to Jesus. We are never asked to clean ourselves up before coming to Jesus Christ. Or maybe we view ourselves as not smart enough or good enough. There is no limitation to the love of Christ and He is ready to accept us no matter what.
Zacchaeus did not let his status in the Jewish society keep him away. Remember he was viewed as “unclean” for his association with the Romans. He did not let the possibility that he might be laughed at, spat upon or hated stop him from going into a crowded area and seeking after Jesus. God is no respecter of persons and it says in the Bible that he uses the foolish things of this world to confound the wise, (I Corinthians 1:27). He didn’t try to religiously or socially clean himself up first before he sought after Christ.
The final hindrance to Zacchaeus was his wealth. In Luke 18:18-27 we see the story of the rich young ruler who came to Christ and wanted to know what he had to do to gain eternal life. He talked about all of his goodness and his religious practices but when the time came to sacrifice everything to follow Christ he blinked and rather than accept what Jesus had to offer he went away sad. In contrast look at the reaction of Zacchaeus and the fruit of his conversion. In verse 8 it says that he acknowledge his sin and he gave half of his wealth to the poor and also gave 4 times the amount he defrauded from people. If he took 40 dollars from you, you would receive $160 back. The OT law only required one-fifth as repayment for fraud. Four-fold was only required if an animal was killed and two-fold if it was taken but found alive. What do you and I hold dear and what are we unwilling to give up in exchange for a personal relationship with Christ? What is our “idol” or thing we hold on to so dearly that we will not give it up to follow Christ? Is it our time, our friends, our habits or addictions? What is the thing we think most about and spend out whole lives chasing rather than seeking after Jesus and following God’s will for our lives. What are you willing to give up for Jesus? He gave up the glory of heaven and His very life for you and I. ANYTHING He asks for in return is small in comparison to what he gave up for us.
We need to notice what the Lord says to Zacchaeus in Luke19:5; “…make haste and come down; for today I must dine at thy house”. This was not a request but a mandate. Jesus invited himself immediately to fellowship with Zacchaeus. There was an urgency about this request. In our culture we don’t understand the importance or significance of dining with people like they do in the Eastern culture. It is a sign of acceptance and deep affection. Jesus loved Zacchaeus and He loves you and I and all He wants is fellowship and a deep and meaningful relationship with us.
Look at the reaction of Zacchaeus in verse 6; “he received him joyfully…” Imagine this man despised, shunned and ignored was having the chance to fellowship with the Son of God!
What does it say in Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
What is our reaction when we have a chance to fellowship or worship Christ? Do we receive it joyfully or begrudgingly?
Jesus knew the heart condition of Zacchaeus and He also knew that Zacchaeus was seeking after the Savior. Notice what Jesus doesn’t say to Zacchaeus. He doesn’t say; “I cannot spend time with you because you are a sinner, I cannot be associated with you because you haven’t cleaned up your act first, or I cannot fellowship with you until you stop sinning.” Jesus knew the heart condition and sin of Zacchaeus just like He knew and knows yours and mine. Jesus is concerned with our sin but He loved us before we first loved Him and he is ready to accept us unconditionally.
The theme of the book of Luke can be found in verse 10; “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” This is the message of the Gospel and the work and purpose of Christ!
There are only two sure things in life; death and taxes. Just like we have to prepare a tax return we also have to prepare for the inevitable outcome of passing on into eternity. Have we made adequate preparation for life's final journey?
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Don’t let the Crowd, your limitations, your socials status or things of this world you hold dear keep you from accepting Christ as your Savior. ~ I John 1:9
Monday, April 19, 2010
Should I stay or should I go?
"I would not join any club that would have someone like me for a member." ~ Groucho Marx
"Most people have some sort of religion—at least they know which church they're staying away from." ~ John Erskine
When you are a kid you typically are privy to conversations the surrounding adults do not necessarily want you to listen to or hear. But that does not seem to stop them from saying things in front of those impressionable young minds. That was the case during my youth, and sadly I think I have followed the example of my elders and done the same thing as a parent. One discussion that I would typically over hear from both those that attended church and also those that did not, was the reason that they did not go to church was because it was full of hypocrites. While that may be true the thought that typically occurs to me, (but I refrain from saying), is why would that stop you; we could always use one more.
When I talk with friends and co-workers about why do they dislike church and organized religion the topic of hypocrisy is often mentioned. Back in 2008 the Southern Baptist Convention conducted a survey that found that 72% of adults believed that God exists. The survey also found that 72% said they do not attend church because they say it is full of hypocrites. I appreciate this quote by John Roberts; “It's nice to know that God has rounded up all the hypocrites and put them in church buildings — at least on Sunday mornings — so that all the people in the world who have pristine motives and clear consciences don't have to put up with them.” I think if we are honest with ourselves we have to admit that the “religious” have not cornered the market on hypocrisy in this world. We need to look no further than our own home to witness people who live out the adage of “do what I say not what I do.” Try as we may we cannot always live out our personal beliefs no matter how diligent we may be.
The dictionary definition of hypocrite is “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion” or “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” With out a doubt there is hypocrisy on display among those who are religious and are regular church attendees. When Jesus was queried in Matthew 9 by the Pharisees about His association with sinners his reply in verse 12 was; "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” The vast majority of people I attend church with recognize that we are in need of help with our sin and our hypocrisy and that is a key reason we chose to attend; we know we have a problem and we are looking for a solution.
I have always found it puzzling that other groups fail to recognize their own hypocrisy. Take for example someone who believes in survival of the fittest or natural selection. If you adhere to social Darwinism that only the strong, biggest and best should survive then why would you want to protect endangered species? If the snail darter and spotted owl cannot adapt and overcome then tough luck for them. If they cannot cut it then why do they deserve to live? If social Darwinism is the answer than why do we care about the plight of those experiencing genocide in Darfur, world hunger or honor killings? My only point is that hypocrisy is not reserved only among the “religious”. If you believe in nihilism; that life has no purpose, meaning or intrinsic value, then why is universal health care for example even necessary? It just seems we are delaying the inevitable, so let's just get on with it. Please note my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek. We should care for all of creation, but especially for humanity who was created in God's image.
The word hypocrite is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, and the Hebrew word chaneph which is an adjective that is translated to mean godless, profane and irreligious. In the New Testament it takes on a much different meaning. It meant generally, in classical Greek, stage playing, acting, the histrionic art; hence, it came to mean acting a part in life. It carried with it the idea of wearing a mask or masking your true identity. In general, the meaning is acting a part, false, deceptive and deceived, formally and outwardly religious and good, but inwardly insincere and unrighteous.
In most cases where it is used in the New Testament it is used by Jesus Christ to describe those that felt they were the religious elite. He was describing the religious people that believed that their pious actions and appearance made them special in the sight of God and earned His favor. The true follower of Jesus Christ knows that it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5).
Attending church with my so-called fellow "hypocrites" is a source of great encouragement and joy to me. It is not that misery loves company; rather it is those who have been freed from their former miserable condition revel in the company of others who have also tasted that same joy and freedom from sin’s bondage. I don’t go to church because it makes me better than anyone else; I go because I know that I am not. Like John Newton stated; “I remember two things--that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."
What is the real reason we do not attend church? Blaming it on all the hypocrites seems a bit disingenuous since we all fail to consistently live out our stated beliefs or feelings. Don’t use that as an excuse. Salvation is not based on the imperfect but on the perfect; the perfect life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” ~ Psalm 34:8
"Most people have some sort of religion—at least they know which church they're staying away from." ~ John Erskine
When you are a kid you typically are privy to conversations the surrounding adults do not necessarily want you to listen to or hear. But that does not seem to stop them from saying things in front of those impressionable young minds. That was the case during my youth, and sadly I think I have followed the example of my elders and done the same thing as a parent. One discussion that I would typically over hear from both those that attended church and also those that did not, was the reason that they did not go to church was because it was full of hypocrites. While that may be true the thought that typically occurs to me, (but I refrain from saying), is why would that stop you; we could always use one more.
When I talk with friends and co-workers about why do they dislike church and organized religion the topic of hypocrisy is often mentioned. Back in 2008 the Southern Baptist Convention conducted a survey that found that 72% of adults believed that God exists. The survey also found that 72% said they do not attend church because they say it is full of hypocrites. I appreciate this quote by John Roberts; “It's nice to know that God has rounded up all the hypocrites and put them in church buildings — at least on Sunday mornings — so that all the people in the world who have pristine motives and clear consciences don't have to put up with them.” I think if we are honest with ourselves we have to admit that the “religious” have not cornered the market on hypocrisy in this world. We need to look no further than our own home to witness people who live out the adage of “do what I say not what I do.” Try as we may we cannot always live out our personal beliefs no matter how diligent we may be.
The dictionary definition of hypocrite is “a person who puts on a false appearance of virtue or religion” or “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” With out a doubt there is hypocrisy on display among those who are religious and are regular church attendees. When Jesus was queried in Matthew 9 by the Pharisees about His association with sinners his reply in verse 12 was; "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” The vast majority of people I attend church with recognize that we are in need of help with our sin and our hypocrisy and that is a key reason we chose to attend; we know we have a problem and we are looking for a solution.
I have always found it puzzling that other groups fail to recognize their own hypocrisy. Take for example someone who believes in survival of the fittest or natural selection. If you adhere to social Darwinism that only the strong, biggest and best should survive then why would you want to protect endangered species? If the snail darter and spotted owl cannot adapt and overcome then tough luck for them. If they cannot cut it then why do they deserve to live? If social Darwinism is the answer than why do we care about the plight of those experiencing genocide in Darfur, world hunger or honor killings? My only point is that hypocrisy is not reserved only among the “religious”. If you believe in nihilism; that life has no purpose, meaning or intrinsic value, then why is universal health care for example even necessary? It just seems we are delaying the inevitable, so let's just get on with it. Please note my tongue is planted firmly in my cheek. We should care for all of creation, but especially for humanity who was created in God's image.
The word hypocrite is mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible, and the Hebrew word chaneph which is an adjective that is translated to mean godless, profane and irreligious. In the New Testament it takes on a much different meaning. It meant generally, in classical Greek, stage playing, acting, the histrionic art; hence, it came to mean acting a part in life. It carried with it the idea of wearing a mask or masking your true identity. In general, the meaning is acting a part, false, deceptive and deceived, formally and outwardly religious and good, but inwardly insincere and unrighteous.
In most cases where it is used in the New Testament it is used by Jesus Christ to describe those that felt they were the religious elite. He was describing the religious people that believed that their pious actions and appearance made them special in the sight of God and earned His favor. The true follower of Jesus Christ knows that it is “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5).
Attending church with my so-called fellow "hypocrites" is a source of great encouragement and joy to me. It is not that misery loves company; rather it is those who have been freed from their former miserable condition revel in the company of others who have also tasted that same joy and freedom from sin’s bondage. I don’t go to church because it makes me better than anyone else; I go because I know that I am not. Like John Newton stated; “I remember two things--that I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior."
What is the real reason we do not attend church? Blaming it on all the hypocrites seems a bit disingenuous since we all fail to consistently live out our stated beliefs or feelings. Don’t use that as an excuse. Salvation is not based on the imperfect but on the perfect; the perfect life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” ~ Psalm 34:8
Sunday, April 18, 2010
An attitude of gratitude
“The most important prayer in the world is just two words long: ‘Thank You’.” ~ Eckhart von Hochheim
“When gratitude dies on the altar of a man’s heart, that man is well nigh hopeless.” ~ Bob Jones, Sr.
If you have been married or have children you typically enjoy doing nice things for your spouse and children. In most cases we do these “random acts of kindness” out of love and devotion for those we care deeply about. How crestfallen we all have been at times when the recipient of our largess seems less that appreciative, or does not exhibit the level of enthusiasm or gratefulness that our “sacrifice” warrants. No time is this probably bigger on display than during the holidays. What mother has not spent hours preparing a fine meal only to have it devoured in a moment’s notice, and then the family scatters like cockroaches after a light switch has been flipped. It is far easier to voice than live out the adage of it is better to give than to receive, especially when we feel slighted and at times angry for the lack of recognition we believe our kindness and hard work deserves.
Many years ago I worked as an announcer in Christian radio and we would air a children’s song written by Dixie Phillips and Chris Newman. The lyrics were; “Grumbly hateful or humbly grateful, what’s your attitude? Do you grumble and groan and let it be known you are ungrateful for all God’s done for you.” Some parents remind their children of this song when they are displaying a bad attitude but maybe we should consider singing it to ourselves sometimes. Step back for a moment and consider the innumerable blessings we have received from God on a daily basis. I know I am often guilty of not showing God gratitude for even the simplest of gifts; health, religious freedom and the quality of life of my American birth and citizenship just to name a few. Do we act like we truly believe James 1:17 and that every good gift comes from above?
What is our primary motivation to serve others? Is it for recognition? Because we expect something in return from them? Or is it a subtle form of manipulation to make them do what we want them to do? It is easy to forget that our sole motivation for serving others is to model what Jesus Christ did for us; "even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28) In his devotional book “My Utmost for His Highest” Oswald Chambers states; “If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.”
Chambers talks about Paul’s motivation to serve others and how keenly aware of the debt he owed to Christ. Chambers writes; “Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…” (1 Timothy 1:13). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.”
It can be difficult at times to serve others and pour yourself into them and for them. We can grow frustrated at the lack of appreciation and gratefulness they show to us, but when we step back and consider just how ungrateful we can be to God for His mercy, grace and long suffering towards us on a daily basis how dare we take offense. His Son, Jesus Christ willingly and completely poured Himself out as an offering for us on the cross and for all of His creation and so what gives us the right not to do likewise? We are reminded in Hebrews 13:15-16; "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."
I know in my own life that I tend to get my nose out of joint when I feel like I am under appreciated for things I may do for my family or others. Then I hear that still small voice in my head reminding me that like Paul, I have been forgiven for so much and that in comparison to what Jesus Christ has done for me I have no room to complain. I am reminded by the Holy Spirit that my service is unto the Lord, and I am forced to look in the mirror and ask myself what was my motivation in the first place? It is in those moments I feel so small but my hope is restored when my gaze is returned to the Cross and the Savior who willingly, humbly and gratefully died for me and to do the will of the Father.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” ~ Romans 5:1-11
How can those verses alone not make our lips praise His name and pray two simple words to God; "Thank You!"
“When gratitude dies on the altar of a man’s heart, that man is well nigh hopeless.” ~ Bob Jones, Sr.
If you have been married or have children you typically enjoy doing nice things for your spouse and children. In most cases we do these “random acts of kindness” out of love and devotion for those we care deeply about. How crestfallen we all have been at times when the recipient of our largess seems less that appreciative, or does not exhibit the level of enthusiasm or gratefulness that our “sacrifice” warrants. No time is this probably bigger on display than during the holidays. What mother has not spent hours preparing a fine meal only to have it devoured in a moment’s notice, and then the family scatters like cockroaches after a light switch has been flipped. It is far easier to voice than live out the adage of it is better to give than to receive, especially when we feel slighted and at times angry for the lack of recognition we believe our kindness and hard work deserves.
Many years ago I worked as an announcer in Christian radio and we would air a children’s song written by Dixie Phillips and Chris Newman. The lyrics were; “Grumbly hateful or humbly grateful, what’s your attitude? Do you grumble and groan and let it be known you are ungrateful for all God’s done for you.” Some parents remind their children of this song when they are displaying a bad attitude but maybe we should consider singing it to ourselves sometimes. Step back for a moment and consider the innumerable blessings we have received from God on a daily basis. I know I am often guilty of not showing God gratitude for even the simplest of gifts; health, religious freedom and the quality of life of my American birth and citizenship just to name a few. Do we act like we truly believe James 1:17 and that every good gift comes from above?
What is our primary motivation to serve others? Is it for recognition? Because we expect something in return from them? Or is it a subtle form of manipulation to make them do what we want them to do? It is easy to forget that our sole motivation for serving others is to model what Jesus Christ did for us; "even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Matthew 20:28) In his devotional book “My Utmost for His Highest” Oswald Chambers states; “If our devotion is to the cause of humanity, we will be quickly defeated and broken-hearted, since we will often be confronted with a great deal of ingratitude from other people. But if we are motivated by our love for God, no amount of ingratitude will be able to hinder us from serving one another.”
Chambers talks about Paul’s motivation to serve others and how keenly aware of the debt he owed to Christ. Chambers writes; “Paul’s understanding of how Christ had dealt with him is the secret behind his determination to serve others. “I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man…” (1 Timothy 1:13). In other words, no matter how badly others may have treated Paul, they could never have treated him with the same degree of spite and hatred with which he had treated Jesus Christ. Once we realize that Jesus has served us even to the depths of our meagerness, our selfishness, and our sin, nothing we encounter from others will be able to exhaust our determination to serve others for His sake.”
It can be difficult at times to serve others and pour yourself into them and for them. We can grow frustrated at the lack of appreciation and gratefulness they show to us, but when we step back and consider just how ungrateful we can be to God for His mercy, grace and long suffering towards us on a daily basis how dare we take offense. His Son, Jesus Christ willingly and completely poured Himself out as an offering for us on the cross and for all of His creation and so what gives us the right not to do likewise? We are reminded in Hebrews 13:15-16; "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God."
I know in my own life that I tend to get my nose out of joint when I feel like I am under appreciated for things I may do for my family or others. Then I hear that still small voice in my head reminding me that like Paul, I have been forgiven for so much and that in comparison to what Jesus Christ has done for me I have no room to complain. I am reminded by the Holy Spirit that my service is unto the Lord, and I am forced to look in the mirror and ask myself what was my motivation in the first place? It is in those moments I feel so small but my hope is restored when my gaze is returned to the Cross and the Savior who willingly, humbly and gratefully died for me and to do the will of the Father.
“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” ~ Romans 5:1-11
How can those verses alone not make our lips praise His name and pray two simple words to God; "Thank You!"
Saturday, April 17, 2010
A fool's errand
“We have met the enemy and he is us.” ~ Pogo (Walt Kelley)
“When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.” ~ Matthew 21:45
If you have spent any time reading the four gospels of your Bible, (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), you will frequently see certain groups that were constantly in opposition to Jesus Christ. Some of these groups included the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes. These three parties were both complicated and somewhat mysterious, and they made up the religious establishment of the day. Often we read passages that detail their anger at Jesus Christ. When we see them plotting and scheming against the promised Messiah “righteous indignation” burns in our hearts. Then our attention drifts and the tendency is to wonder who we know or who we think Jesus would label as a Pharisee or legalist of our era. But we would all do well to stop and consider that if Jesus walked the earth today we would probably be the ones He would single out as hypocrites and white washed tombs, (Matthew 23:27). If we are devoted in our faith we are the “religious establishment.” We have met the enemy and he is us.
When I read and study the Bible I like to get a basic understanding of the cultural background and the mindset of individuals or groups. In a nutshell I am trying to figure out what makes them tick. A very good resource for this is “The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible” or Z-PEB for short. In Z-PEB the Scribes are described as the scholars and authorities of the rabbinic law and they primarily challenged Jesus for his failure to observe traditions and ritual customs. There were scribes that were affiliated with both the Pharisees and Sadducees. So in simplistic terms the Scribes were all about the tradition of the church. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but in their minds tradition trumped God’s Word or needed to be added to it to be “right” with Him.
The Sadducees were the opposition party to the Pharisees, and denied the “supernatural”. The Pharisees believed in resurrection but the Sadducees did not. The fascinating thing was that they did not like each other at all but they joined forces against Jesus Christ. While the Pharisees enjoyed the esteem of the masses, the Sadducees exerted their influence with the aristocracy. According to Z-PEB they were mainly concerned with having political influence and maintaining the status quo. While the Pharisees professed a zeal for their interpretation of “righteousness” and monitored Jesus and his disciples constantly, the Sadducees resided in Jerusalem and only seemed to oppose Him when he wandered into their seat of power.
William L. Coleman has written a little known book titled “The Pharisees’ Guide to Total Holiness” and in it he states; “There are a lot of good reasons to study this ancient fraternity. Their behavior and beliefs tell us a good deal about religion in general. They teach a tremendous amount about the ministry of Jesus Christ. And maybe even more important than these, they give us a chance to look at ourselves. They supply the mirror that will cause us laugh at our own reflection, and then at the next glance we may want to cry.” Coleman goes on to say; “Let the reader beware, because if he is anything like the author, he will be tempted to pick out a contemporary group and say, “Aha! These are the modern Pharisees.” It’s a fool’s sport at best.” Coleman talks about how some scholars believe the Pharisees were the conservatives of their day, while others call them the liberals. He states; “Because of that fruitless game nothing is accomplished except a bit of second-grade name calling. The facts seem to bear out that there is a little Pharisee in me and a little Pharisee in you.”
According to Z-PEB the meaning of Pharisee can be best defined as follows; “The most widely accepted etymology is that which traces back to the Hebrew…which means “to separate". A Pharisee, according to this explanation is a “separatist” or a separated person. This broad definition would apply to any and all Christians who chose to separate themselves from anything that we believe scripture would tell us is not appropriate for a follower of God. It would also apply to our personal application of scripture for activities or practices we would avoid for conscience sake.
Coleman states; “No one is able to pinpoint the day and the hour when the Pharisees officially began. Originally they did not gather as a group of businessmen in a hotel in Jerusalem and decide to inaugurate a fraternity. Rather, they came into existence almost spontaneously in answer to a desperate need. They start as a spirit with a noble cause, during the time of the Babylonian exile.” The Israelites were conquered and taken into captivity and the Pharisees desired to preserve the law and national identity of their faith. Without going into a detailed explanation; the Pharisees were national heroes because they fought to preserve Judaism from the likes of Nebuchadnezzer, Antiochus Epiphanes, John Hyrcanus, and Aristobulus. Coleman quotes the “Concise Dictionary of Judaism” which states; “These men were heroes and champions of Jewish freedom who represented the finest tradition of their people and of human morals.” How does that compare to our view and definition?
In the time of Christ the population in Jerusalem was approximately 25,000 to 30,000. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that there were 6,000 Pharisees in the area, or one out of every ten people. The vast majority were laymen including businessmen, fisherman and carpenters. They were a grass roots organization and they represented the common man. This would seem to mirror the vast majority of local churches today that are made up of all walks of life pursuing a deeper relationship with their Creator.
In Acts 23:6 the Apostle Paul identifies himself as a Pharisee and the son of one. He does not appear to be embarrassed by the association. Coleman writes about the fact that the Pharisees initially stood for something important; protecting and propagating the laws of God. They were dedicated to the laws of God and they possessed a high level of religious zeal. So far that seems like a fairly accurate description for most consistent church-goers and Christians. They were very proud of their moral stand against anything perceived as impure or ungodly. They were dedicated to not violating God’s laws and they set up personal “hedges” or “fences” to avoid anything that might defile them or anger God. So to do this they set up hundreds of oral laws known as the “seyag” or fences. The problem was that these were not viewed as optional and these laws became as important as scripture, and even in some instances they trumped or became more vital than scripture itself.
To boil this down to where we all live; we are the Pharisees when we add anything to Gospel or allow our good qualities and good intentions of our faith to degenerate into a mechanical formalism. We consciously or unconsciously oppose the Gospel and Jesus Christ when we add anything to His Word or expect anyone to conform to a specific religious “code of conduct.” This applies to anyone and everyone because we are all prone to think that someone to the left or right of us in terms of practice and convictions has got it wrong, and they need to see it our way. Coleman states it very clearly; “Christ’s concern over the Pharisees centered around the fact that their opinions, both casual and official, were becoming inseparable with the laws of Moses, and Jesus considered the confusion reprehensible.”
We all run the risk of being more focused on what is going on outside or our externals rather than dealing with our internal heart issues. From that perspective we all can be guilty of a very subtle form of Pharisaical and empty religion. When we hunger and thirst after righteousness we need to be sure that it is a righteousness from God rather than our feeble and misguided attempts to buy God’s favor through what we do. Jesus warnings and castigation of the religious leaders is something you and I would do well to ponder and see if it describes us in any way. I have met the enemy and it is me.
“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." ~ 1 Samuel 16:7b
“When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them.” ~ Matthew 21:45
If you have spent any time reading the four gospels of your Bible, (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), you will frequently see certain groups that were constantly in opposition to Jesus Christ. Some of these groups included the Pharisees, Sadducees and Scribes. These three parties were both complicated and somewhat mysterious, and they made up the religious establishment of the day. Often we read passages that detail their anger at Jesus Christ. When we see them plotting and scheming against the promised Messiah “righteous indignation” burns in our hearts. Then our attention drifts and the tendency is to wonder who we know or who we think Jesus would label as a Pharisee or legalist of our era. But we would all do well to stop and consider that if Jesus walked the earth today we would probably be the ones He would single out as hypocrites and white washed tombs, (Matthew 23:27). If we are devoted in our faith we are the “religious establishment.” We have met the enemy and he is us.
When I read and study the Bible I like to get a basic understanding of the cultural background and the mindset of individuals or groups. In a nutshell I am trying to figure out what makes them tick. A very good resource for this is “The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible” or Z-PEB for short. In Z-PEB the Scribes are described as the scholars and authorities of the rabbinic law and they primarily challenged Jesus for his failure to observe traditions and ritual customs. There were scribes that were affiliated with both the Pharisees and Sadducees. So in simplistic terms the Scribes were all about the tradition of the church. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but in their minds tradition trumped God’s Word or needed to be added to it to be “right” with Him.
The Sadducees were the opposition party to the Pharisees, and denied the “supernatural”. The Pharisees believed in resurrection but the Sadducees did not. The fascinating thing was that they did not like each other at all but they joined forces against Jesus Christ. While the Pharisees enjoyed the esteem of the masses, the Sadducees exerted their influence with the aristocracy. According to Z-PEB they were mainly concerned with having political influence and maintaining the status quo. While the Pharisees professed a zeal for their interpretation of “righteousness” and monitored Jesus and his disciples constantly, the Sadducees resided in Jerusalem and only seemed to oppose Him when he wandered into their seat of power.
William L. Coleman has written a little known book titled “The Pharisees’ Guide to Total Holiness” and in it he states; “There are a lot of good reasons to study this ancient fraternity. Their behavior and beliefs tell us a good deal about religion in general. They teach a tremendous amount about the ministry of Jesus Christ. And maybe even more important than these, they give us a chance to look at ourselves. They supply the mirror that will cause us laugh at our own reflection, and then at the next glance we may want to cry.” Coleman goes on to say; “Let the reader beware, because if he is anything like the author, he will be tempted to pick out a contemporary group and say, “Aha! These are the modern Pharisees.” It’s a fool’s sport at best.” Coleman talks about how some scholars believe the Pharisees were the conservatives of their day, while others call them the liberals. He states; “Because of that fruitless game nothing is accomplished except a bit of second-grade name calling. The facts seem to bear out that there is a little Pharisee in me and a little Pharisee in you.”
According to Z-PEB the meaning of Pharisee can be best defined as follows; “The most widely accepted etymology is that which traces back to the Hebrew…which means “to separate". A Pharisee, according to this explanation is a “separatist” or a separated person. This broad definition would apply to any and all Christians who chose to separate themselves from anything that we believe scripture would tell us is not appropriate for a follower of God. It would also apply to our personal application of scripture for activities or practices we would avoid for conscience sake.
Coleman states; “No one is able to pinpoint the day and the hour when the Pharisees officially began. Originally they did not gather as a group of businessmen in a hotel in Jerusalem and decide to inaugurate a fraternity. Rather, they came into existence almost spontaneously in answer to a desperate need. They start as a spirit with a noble cause, during the time of the Babylonian exile.” The Israelites were conquered and taken into captivity and the Pharisees desired to preserve the law and national identity of their faith. Without going into a detailed explanation; the Pharisees were national heroes because they fought to preserve Judaism from the likes of Nebuchadnezzer, Antiochus Epiphanes, John Hyrcanus, and Aristobulus. Coleman quotes the “Concise Dictionary of Judaism” which states; “These men were heroes and champions of Jewish freedom who represented the finest tradition of their people and of human morals.” How does that compare to our view and definition?
In the time of Christ the population in Jerusalem was approximately 25,000 to 30,000. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that there were 6,000 Pharisees in the area, or one out of every ten people. The vast majority were laymen including businessmen, fisherman and carpenters. They were a grass roots organization and they represented the common man. This would seem to mirror the vast majority of local churches today that are made up of all walks of life pursuing a deeper relationship with their Creator.
In Acts 23:6 the Apostle Paul identifies himself as a Pharisee and the son of one. He does not appear to be embarrassed by the association. Coleman writes about the fact that the Pharisees initially stood for something important; protecting and propagating the laws of God. They were dedicated to the laws of God and they possessed a high level of religious zeal. So far that seems like a fairly accurate description for most consistent church-goers and Christians. They were very proud of their moral stand against anything perceived as impure or ungodly. They were dedicated to not violating God’s laws and they set up personal “hedges” or “fences” to avoid anything that might defile them or anger God. So to do this they set up hundreds of oral laws known as the “seyag” or fences. The problem was that these were not viewed as optional and these laws became as important as scripture, and even in some instances they trumped or became more vital than scripture itself.
To boil this down to where we all live; we are the Pharisees when we add anything to Gospel or allow our good qualities and good intentions of our faith to degenerate into a mechanical formalism. We consciously or unconsciously oppose the Gospel and Jesus Christ when we add anything to His Word or expect anyone to conform to a specific religious “code of conduct.” This applies to anyone and everyone because we are all prone to think that someone to the left or right of us in terms of practice and convictions has got it wrong, and they need to see it our way. Coleman states it very clearly; “Christ’s concern over the Pharisees centered around the fact that their opinions, both casual and official, were becoming inseparable with the laws of Moses, and Jesus considered the confusion reprehensible.”
We all run the risk of being more focused on what is going on outside or our externals rather than dealing with our internal heart issues. From that perspective we all can be guilty of a very subtle form of Pharisaical and empty religion. When we hunger and thirst after righteousness we need to be sure that it is a righteousness from God rather than our feeble and misguided attempts to buy God’s favor through what we do. Jesus warnings and castigation of the religious leaders is something you and I would do well to ponder and see if it describes us in any way. I have met the enemy and it is me.
“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." ~ 1 Samuel 16:7b
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