Whenever disaster strikes most of us want to blame God.
Does God send punishment on a disobedient people? Most assuredly.
God does and will punish people for disobedience, as we read in the Hebrew Scriptures. But not everything bad that happens is a punishment from God or even an indication of wrongdoing. Many people get the two confused.
In my last blog I discussed Job…..he also wanted answers to his torment but God chose not to reveal the mystery of suffering. Just as well. I don’t think we need to know.
Suffering is a part of the human condition. No one escapes. Am I being too morbid?
This is the time of year when many are celebrating the joy of Christmas. We need this same joy throughout the year, but this particular time has been set aside by many as the date marked for the Messiah’s birth.
Can we expect suffering and at the same time rejoice? Yes, most assuredly.
In fact Paul tells the Romans (12:12)”Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.”
Jesus’ birth brought joy…..the angels sang His birth, “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth peace to men of Good Will.”
The early Christians and the Christian martyrs today….men and women of good will are suffering……..but there is joy in their hearts.
” Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.”( 1 Peter 3:8)
Yes, there will be suffering…perhaps among one of us at this moment…. but joy is within us. Those who know the Lord know suffering but also joy.
Here I go again. I must confess to getting upset when viewing the various educational channels on TV. Not one station has offered an alternative view to the “theory” of evolution. Therefore, most of us just accept what is being said.
The scientists all note the complexity of the cell. The majority of the scientific community is sold on the belief that life developed spontaneously and randomly. All admit not knowing just how the single cell developed from “nothing”. The complexity of the cell and the genetic material within the cell holds the key to our very existence.
God pays attention to details. He hasn’t missed a thing in relation to those cells and the millions of encoded messages that lie within the cell itself. Sometimes these cells go awry……that’s cancer. Sometimes they don’t protect us, or they mutate causing people to develop a variety of illness or humans born with deformities.
Is God capricious? Doesn’t He care about what humanity must suffer? After all, He is the great genetic engineer who designed all of this.
But then there’s us. You and me. If He knows and cares about the complexities of a single cell……certainly He knows the complexities of our life. And life is full of complexities. If not now……then later.
I tell myself that despite all…….all the meaningless and frightful times of life, that God is there.
The rabbis don’t insist on answers from God. They accept the complexity of God Himself. “The Lord gave and the Lord takes away….blessed be the name of the Lord.”(Job 1:21)
Yes, He is unknowable and yet we know Him, through Messiah, Jesus. We don’t understand the complexities of creation but we see the Creator through His workmanship.
The Devil was allowed to torment Job. His friends gave partial answers as if they could solve the problem of suffering. In the end of course, when Job questioned God, he was told only what God wanted him to know. Actually nothing!
“Although painful we must repent of our insistence for an answer, seeing the very demand as a form of idolatry.” (Randy Newman’s book, Questioning Evangelism)
No, God doesn’t owe us answers, but He knows us and hears us. Living without an answer can be liberating. Once we accept the unknowable complexities as part of life then we are free to seek God for comfort, hope, healing and peace.
If He knows the complexities of a tiny cell then He certainly knows us.
What’s the fuss? Haven’t we always had Charlie Brown and his poor pathetic Christmas tree shown on TV for many years? Along with the “The Grinch Stole Christmas” these two have become classic Christmas stories for all ages.
I hope I am wrong…. but I have doubts whether we will be seeing either of those classics on national TV this season. What’s the problem? The following story might affect us all……..read and see what you think.
“An atheist group is accusing an Arkansas grade school of violating students’ constitutional rights by inviting them to a performance of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at a local church.
Students at Terry Elementary School in Little Rock were invited to a performance of the show at Agape Church. Teachers informed parents in letters home that a school bus would shuttle children to and from the show, which would be performed on a school day.
According to their local TV station, the letter the teachers sent home indicates the play will be held on Friday, Dec. 14, at 10 a.m. at the church. Children attending will be taken on a school bus and will need to pay $2 to cover the expense of the bus rides, the letter states. Students are not required to attend the production, according to the school district.
One parent contacted the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers after receiving the letter.
“We’re not saying anything bad about Charlie Brown,” Anne Orsi, a Little Rock attorney and vice president of the Arkansas Society of Freethinkers, told KARK 4 News. “The problem is that it’s got religious content and it’s being performed in a religious venue and that doesn’t just blur the line between church and state, it oversteps it entirely.”
The parent, who did not want to be named, told KARK in a statement that although she could choose not to allow her child to attend, she’s letting her daughter go to the performance for fear the girl could be singled out.
A spokeswoman for the Little Rock School District says the district does not endorse any particular faith or encourage any specific religious activity.”
In case you forgot the story……the loveable cartoon character, Linus, tells Charlie Brown he knows the real reason for Christmas and goes on stage in front of the spotlight and quotes the classic scripture from Luke 2:8-14…..about the shepherds in the fields and baby lying in the manger.
I’m sorry that the unnamed mother felt compelled to let her child attend the play because of peer pressure. However, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will probably be the only Christmas story that little girl will hear this year.
Let’s watch and see what the networks decide to do……..
T’was the night before Thanksgiving. Bob and I had just returned from our mid week Bible study. We had left our dog (well, actually, my daughter’s dog) in the house alone. Forgetting that Maya (aka Puppy) loves to misbehave while we are gone, she somehow managed to reach the top of my kitchen counter and drag off the newly purchased dessert intended for our after dinner coffee. It was a lovely box of Baklava. You know, that wonderful flaky pastry, full of nuts and some sort of sticky syrup.
She didn’t just consume the box of goodies in the kitchen…….no!! She took each piece of the dessert to a different location….two pieces on my sofa in the living room; a couple of pieces downstairs on a chair; and even deposited several on a bed of freshly made sheets. The sticky, sweet, flaky pastry was now all over my house which I had just dutifully cleaned in anticipation for the feast the following day.
Needless to say, I was not a happy lady. I tried counting my blessings as I swept and scrubbed early the next morning. I thought to myself. There must be a lesson in this for me….I really was too angry at both the dog and myself (for the leaving the baklava on the counter) to imagine how this could apply to my faith.
Well, I could see something here. I am just like that dog. Wanting things I shouldn’t have or that aren’t even good for me. Just thinking I might get away with it… as if God wouldn’t find out. Being naughty when I think He isn’t looking. Desiring just one more of something I really don’t need but imagining how my life would be more complete if I just had it!
So now God comes in to clean me up. He can take the sticky, sweet syrup of those “desires” and teach me that what I really wanted wasn’t important after all. Sometimes he has to scrub me clean. Ouch!
Hebrews 12:6 (NLT)”For the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes each one He accepts as His child.”
I can’t punish the poor dog. I still accept her wagging tail and happy woof when we come back home…….even after she has ruined my dessert!
How much more does God love me…….even with the syrup still on my face!!
Philippians 4:6 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God”.
I often feel guilty for being so anxious about life. After all, if I really was a strong believer then I would simply do what Paul told the Philippians. I read that verse with misgivings. How can I tell anyone not to be anxious when I fail so miserably myself?
OK, Paul. Why were you telling those Philippians not to be anxious? Surely they didn’t face the difficulties we encounter today. Or did they? The problems themselves might have been different but the anxiety was still the same.
Paul wrote these new converts with love and compassion for the Lord that consumed him. Recently coming out of their pagan culture to become Christians, these poor people were besieged within their community and possibly faced imprisonment or even death for coming to faith. Slightly more threatening than my life!!
Paul speaks of “his chains” (Phil 1:16)…..supposedly from his Roman prison, yet he wasn’t anxious! What faith! He is encouraging this little flock to retain their faithfulness and not to be overwhelmed by anxious thoughts. He reassured them that God’s grace through the Spirit will sustain them.
Along with prayer he told them to always be thankful for what God gives them. In his rabbinic mindset, Paul, knew that whatever God gives or allows, is for our good. Therefore we can be assured of praying with thanksgiving!!
Now Paul tells them and us
“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (Phil 4:8)
Here’s my plan. Concentrate on God’s good gifts….replacing the “what if’s” with “He loves me and wants the best for me.” ….now repeat after me and slowly!
“and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your (our) hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Phil 4:7)
I have written several blogs on the Biblical account of creation vs. the humanistic or evolutionary theory. Without a proper understanding of Genesis and the true account as recorded in scripture we are left with a confusing array of information on origins. Since I am not a scientist……in fact I simply hated chemistry in High School… I feel free to quote more knowledgeable people than myself.
But I do know this. God thought enough of His creation to pass down to us in the simplest words…..His grand design for this world and the human kind that He created from the “ground up”!
The Gap theory might appeal to those Christians who want to believe that evolutionary science might not be all wrong while at the same time still using Genesis in their belief system of creation.
Basically the Gap theory is this: that millions of years passed between Genesis verse one and verse two.
“The earth was without form, and void”.(Gen 1:2) The Gap people translate the verse, “the earth became without form and void”. One little word…….big difference. In short the Gap theory teaches that Day One was not really Day One.!! (Acts and Facts, Creation Research Society, Oct 2012).
Gap theorists believe that the phrase “in the beginning” was a world that existed millions of years ago. Then God destroyed that world and began a new one and that the earth became without form and was void of any life.
The big picture concerns us…you and me. Are we part of God’s original creation plan or are we products of the evolutionary tree…is your uncle a monkey??
In other words……perhaps God had pre-Adamite races. He destroyed them and started again……..well they didn’t do any better the second time did they?
Why do Christian theologians try to compromise belief in the accuracy of scripture to accommodate the scientific community?
I for one do not want to “bridge the gap”. I read my Bible as reliable. God doesn’t need man’s ideas on His creative processes.
I am writing this blog, still in a daze over the elections. How can I be sincere in my thankfulness when I see nothing but calamity facing our country? Doesn’t God know that we are on the brink of collapse? Doesn’t He care?
Then my thoughts turn to ancient Israel. When I read in the Hebrew Scriptures that God’s very chosen people were defeated and conquered by evil empires I give pause to our own situation. He allowed this. The people were warned by prophets to repent. They had turned to idol worship and adopted the life styles of the nations around them. They were even sacrificing their children to Moloch, the pagan god. The priests and kings were leading the people away from the commands of the Lord and into a false belief system. Their children grew up not knowing the Torah of God that was given to Moses as a guide to the people.
So here we are. We too are sacrificing children…….although now it’s called abortion. We too have left our spiritual roots. Church membership is declining and we are accepting moral standards unknown or tolerated even 10 years ago. We have forgotten the guiding principles of our founding fathers who gave us the greatest system of government the world has known.
Be thankful? Yes. Because I know that God is still in control. I know He loves me and He loves you. I know that He hears and answers prayer. He just said “no” this time. Then we must continually beseech him on behalf of our great country.
I still don’t understand why He hears and answers favorably in some situations and why some prayers aren’t answered. But we can trust Him.
We can give thanks while we wait to gather with Him around the ultimate feast in Heaven.
Seems that many kids of the “Millennial” generation have lost their Christian “bearings”. They are faced with major obstacles to their faith in a way that most of the older generation never had to encounter. Many of these young Christian adults live within an academic culture that is at odds with the traditional values of their family.
These young Christians, no longer attend church, or identify with the roots of their faith. They question the Church’s stance on evolution and homosexuality. Their parent’s “old fashioned” ideas on these as well as other topics, leave the kids thinking that older Christians have somehow left their brains “at the door”. They believe we simply aren’t keeping up with the 21st century mindset.
Perhaps they are right. We aren’t giving our young people the tools they need to face the assaults of life in the “real” world. These are real issues to be faced and real problems that we as parents and those in the Christian community have failed to address.
I have no solid answers…….wish I did. But I do know this. Many Bible school teachers shy away from controversial subjects. If they do approach these subjects they do so in an unquestioning manner. No real discussion takes place.
In regards to evolution, there are countless DVD’s and books that will help the Bible teacher. He/she doesn’t need to be a scientist to refute the outrageous claims of the evolutionist.
God loves us…….we are all sinners. That includes those of us who have been added to God’s community of believers. We don’t have all the answers in questions of faith, but we do have the Bible. God has given us guidelines for living our life. The list of “no’s” is there for all to read. He loves homosexuals as much as He loves anyone of us. However, that life style is a sin….along with other sins listed. We didn’t write the book. This was God’s idea…..not ours.
Because our culture has been willing to call the deviate behavior an”alternate lifestyle’ doesn’t make it right. Young adults, however, view this as being narrow minded or even bigotry. They are being led to believe that homosexuality is something that “just happens” and people are born with this tendency. Maybe so.
Although many psychologists have refuted that idea…..the mindset of most liberal professors in both secular and Christian schools, also consider that homosexuals can be accepted “just as they are” without a change of behavior.
Does that mean that robbers, child molesters, wife abusers, murderers, are equally accepted? I doubt that.
Jesus told the woman that was brought to him and accused of adultery… to repent. Although He loved her and excused her He told her to “go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)
All have sinned and fallen short of the God’s glory.….all of us need to repent and pray for what is amiss in our lives. With repentance comes a change of lifestyle, otherwise why repent?
Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body[c] and in your spirit, which are God’s.( 1 Cor. 6:18-20)
Yes, God loves us……….but He also gave us laws. He knows what we need.
I subscribe to Christianity Today magazine. Many times I have been tempted to write……either pro or con to an article which caught my attention. This time however, I was quite disturbed by a recent article written by Carolyn Arends. She is a Christian singer, song writer, as well as a contributor to Christianity Today. Here’s my response to her recent article in the November issue. See if you agree with me.
God Did It.
The article by Carolyn Arends…..”God Did It” was interesting although fraught with danger. I always enjoy her writing and her discernment on matters of faith, however, this time she missed the mark.
Her son was sincere in his desire to know the truth of creation. He read Genesis 1 and 2, as inspired. His view of an Almighty Creator who made the heavens and the earth; divided the waters and made a completed human, says it all. Is this too simple?
Billy Graham, notwithstanding, errs in his belief that the Bible is not a “book of science”. I am not a scientist but I do know that Scripture itself is replete with scientific principles. No, it isn’t a text book…..but we are finding more and more evidence which proves that our Creator did not need eons of time for the creation process.
Evolution itself involves death and decay from the beginning.
Here’s the heresy. If atheistic evolution is correct, then death is a good force through which only the fittest survive. Death, therefore, is not “the wages of sin” and that our Lord’s death was not necessary for salvation. Therefore as Billy say, “The Bible is a book of Redemption.” Yes, from the sin of the first man and woman…not from the primordial slime, which produced death and decay.
Poor Moses!….He was on the spot. God was calling him to do something that he didn’t feel qualified to do. I can see him squirming as the Lord told him that he was to return to Egypt and tell the Pharaoh to release the Hebrews from their bondage.
“O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:10) In essence he is saying…… “I’m not the man you want.”
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, God could have given Moses an eloquent tongue and answered Moses’ excuse, but He didn’t! Instead, God sent Moses back to Egypt with all his weaknesses.
The apostle Paul felt there was a limitation in his life and asked God to remove it. He called it “a thorn in the flesh”. As strange as it might seem God told him, “My power is made perfect in weakness.” Upon hearing that the apostle responded, “I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ………for when I am weak then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
If Paul could have pointed to his remarkable physical resources then the power of God in his life would not be so obvious.
I can sympathize with these men. Although I am disciple of the Lord and a Christian duty is set before me and if God really expects me to do and to be all that He wants……. then He should grant me special abilities….. but He doesn’t. I am still me.
God does not need to overcome my inadequacies before He can use me. The truth is, God’s power is manifested in weakness! Now that’s amazing. He can use me just as I am.
That doesn’t mean that I am not to “equip” myself. But I am aware that real confidence comes from knowing God is with me. Let’s call it “God confidence”.
We are always told to be “self confident”…but without the power of God then our self-confidence becomes our focus…not God’s spirit within us.
As Paul says. “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, (that’s us) to show that the transcendent power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Cor. 4:7)
AbideLines 