FreeTruth

Just a brief word for today.

This morning I serve at a funeral for a dear old saint who passed away this past Saturday evening. She was the kind of person whom one could not visit or see in church without walking away smiling. How she brightened a room with her zest for life and her growing faith!

Now she's gone home, much happier still.

This world is filled with sorrows--illness, family griefs, financial losses and crosses, deep loneliness, death, and taunting and rejection for one's faith in Jesus. Indeed, this morning I am called to care for the griefs of others having a good share of my own griefs.

But God lives. And in all that I have been called to endure myself, this is what I have found: trials are not so much about God testing us as they are about God proving Himself.

It's about God proving His sufficiency in our deficiency.

It's about God allowing us to find out that He Himself is our enough.

Have you discovered that yet?

Labels: Comfort, Faith, Grief, Hope

So in Psalm 37:4 we are told to "delight in God and He will give us the desires of our heart." As mentioned yesterday this is a way of saying that when evildoers seemingly have the upper hand (which is the case in Psalm 37 and today), believers must gaze at God with affection and delight rather than at their surrounding circumstances or the powers that be.

In so doing their fear, fretting, and fuming will dissipate, and their desires (for more of God and grace and joy) will increase. The spiritual formula is really quite simple, even if not always easy to apply. Here it is: In hard times, delight in God. When times grow dark gaze at the Light. When times are tough, turn to the bright, pleasing, satisfying Wonder, whose name is God.

When you do, fear will be expelled and desires satisfied.

One reason why so many Christians today are all hot and bothered to the point of spiritual distraction is because they are spending far more time gazing at problems than at the God above those problems. Time doesn't permit me to expound at length about how to remedy this, but can I suggest a simple piece of advice (which I know you're all smart enough to figure out how to apply)?

For every ten minutes you spend watching the news, evaluating economic and political theory, critiquing politicians, reading the lastest alarms from conservative watchdog groups, or keeping current on the latest scandal in Washington or on Main Street, spend an hour delighting in God.

I'm not exaggerating or kidding. Ten minutes watching the news should be preceded or followed by an hour in the Word of God or prayer or fellowship with believers or reading a book extolling the attributes or gospel or grace or glory or sovereignty of God.

Delight in God and he will give you the desires of your heart. Wallow in the gutter of political thuggery and theory or cultural decay and you will only get mad and afraid.

I heard yesterday (in a conversation) about a local civic leader apparently taken down in an FBI investigation. Guess what: in a total of five minutes of conversation and follow up reading I knew all I needed to know about it. If I spend any more time on it, I lose joy, fuel anger, get weak, start sinning.

I can get all the news I really need daily in a very few minutes of headline reading. More than that and I'm headed for the gutter. Instead I choose to spend my time beholding the One whose glory fills the earth and whose hand rules the nations.

Delighting in God, I get more of God and all the joy he gives, even when the world is upside down with corruption.

Today's thought.

Labels: christian life, Culture War, Faith, Joy in Trials, Persecution, Social Action, Trust

Psalm 37:1-40 is as good a soul-antibiotic as you'll find anywhere to remedy the disease of discontented rage infecting Christians in our topsy-turvy world today.

The first call of the Psalm is for us to trust; to trust God and commit our way to him. But why trust God? What do we know about God that is worthy of such trust when jobs are lost, careers screech to a halt, freedoms are curtailed, politicians remake our country, evildoers conspire in back rooms, and cultural morals sink lower (and stink more) than a cess pool?

I count no less than a dozen promises from God and about God that David passes on to us to undergird our trust in him. Let me point out a few:

1. God will break, crush, wither up, laugh at, obliterate, cut off, and in all other ways destroy the wicked (Psalm 37:2, 9, 10, 13, 17, 20, 34, 36, 38). God doesn't put up with wicked nonsense for long. There will be a day--in this world and in the next--when they will meet their end.
2. God will act (Psalm 37:5). I love that. Aslan is on the move. God moves, acts, works, does, rules, all to enact his plans. God is not silent and he's never still.
3. God will make justice blaze like the noonday sun (Psalm 37:6). Are we really being wronged? It'll be made right. Are our rights really being violated? God will not let that stand. Is injustice really happening? We need not fuss, fume, and fight for our rights. God will never let it go unresolved.
4. God is multi-generationally committed (Psalm 37:18, 25, 26). God loves us and our children. While evildoers will come and go, our children will remain forever, the blessed of the Lord. Friends: don't worry too much about your children's future in this mixed up nearly bankrupt world. They'll be fine. God has promised to see to it himself.
5. God is a spiritual hedonist (Psalm 37:4). Delight yourself in God (we hope to discuss how to do that tomorrow) and he'll give you your desires (i.e.-your delights and cravings). Think about that and you'll realize that it means that if you delight yourself in God, making him you highest desire and joy, you'll get more of God. God knows how to make his children happy, filling them with pleasure. It's by giving us himself during the raging afflictions of life.

Friends: don't curse the day or bemoan the times. Today's crises fuel the furnace out of which the pure gold of knowing God and delighting in God emerge. God loves to please us, so he's promised to give us our deepest desire: to know and be known by him. The Bible and experience tell us that trials, tribulations, thieves, and thugs do not diminish the believer's joy; they accentuate and increase it.

So let us embrace these troubled times as a gift from God through which he is going to give us more of himself! Do not fret over evildoers, for what man means for evil, God means for very great, very enjoyable, very satisfying good.

Labels: Culture War, Faith, Joy in Trials, Persecution, politics, Trust

Having seen that we are not to fret or fuss when evildoers have the rule over us, we need to learn from David what we are to do. Psalm 37:1-40 is laced with positive imperatives well worth our reflection.

Let's start where David does: "trust in the Lord...trust in him, and he will act" (Psalm 37:3, 5). This is connected in Psalm 37:5 with another command to "commit your way to the Lord." The Lord calls us in difficult times under dangerous people to make sure that our primary response is one of trust; trust in God.

The Hebrew words speak of entrusting ourselves to God. One word means literally: to roll onto. We are to roll our way onto God. That's another way of saying what Peter says: "[be] casting all your cares upon him for he cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7). 1 Peter was written for believers in days of thugs and thieves as well. His counsel then matches Ddavid's counsel hundreds of years before. Cast or roll your cares onto God.

Friends, I do not mean to be cliched. What we need in these troubling days is not bogus religious platitudes. What we need is real Godward faith; a conviction that every ruler, every thug, every thief, every trial is nothing more than a puff of air momentarily exhaled by a soveriegn all-wise, all-good heavenly Father who has nothing but the good of his people and the glory of his name in mind. Each will vanish as quickly as it appears, once its divine purpose is complete.

What we should feel, speak, and live in these hard days is simple, solid trust. What people should see and hear above all the shrill cries of Fox News on the right and NBC on the left, is our steady, calm, peace-filled voices, saying: "Our God is in the heavens doing whatever pleases him" (Psalm 115:2-11) and "Though he slay us, yet will we hope in him" (Job 13:15).

Every word we speak, every attitude we express, every response we exhibit should communicate that "though this world will devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us." I am in God's hands, not man's. And there I am truly and eternally safe--even if persecutors come, arrest, and kill.

So Christian: rise up against the tide of rage and fear. Stand in God and in an unshakable trust in his good and sovereign hand. And make sure that it shows. The world desperately needs to see that someone on this crazy planet has the inside scoop on Who's really in control.

Labels: Culture War, Faith, politics, Social Action, Trust

Sorry for the few days away, but it could not be helped.

In my current series I'm trying to answer the political/social crises of our times with a biblical perspective. Psalm 37:1-40 is a timely and powerful response, not only to the thugs and thieves that govern us, but also to the less than stellar, that is to say: the largely ungodly response that many Christians are displaying toward these powers that be.

Given that we've had a few days pause, let me review to get us all up to speed. Friends: this is a moment for us to shine, not to whine; a moment to radiate hope and grace, not to communicate despair and rage; a moment to so live in the midst of confusion and chaos that people actually ask us for the reason for the hope that is in us (1 Peter 3:13-16), not see in us the same frustration and fury that they see in everyone else!

So (by way of review) I've asked the question: "How is your present ('Christian') response to all these evildoers different from that of others in the world who share you basic political or economic point of view, but who are not Christians?"

I have also wondered if our response reflects a sound, solid, sure conviction that while presidents and kings come and go, "in the end there will be only one King standing?"

You see: a right relationship with, and view of, God should enable us to stop fretting (remember: the psalmist exhorts us not to fret three times). So Christian: "Cool down. Chill. Don't get emotional heart-burn over the thugs and thieves of human society. Whatever right responses there may be--like speaking out against evil, voting evil out of office when able, not conforming to the evil, rescuing victims from the evil, and praying for the evildoers--one thing we are not to do, is go into a slow burn. Don't become a boiling cauldron of worry, anger and rage (Psalm 37:8). Just don't go there."

The psalmist would have us be content, not envying the wicked or desiring more than we have (Psalm 37:1, 16). So what if politicians take away our present standard of living? So what if they limit our freedoms? So what if they don't listen to our voice? So what if they seem to get away with political thuggery? So what if my taxes go through the roof? So what--and yes, I mean it--if the USA we have known is forever a thing of the past?

Christians and the Church have flourished in conditions far worse than any on our horizon. We should prepare to do the same without grousing or complaining. The testimony of the gospel and the glory of Christ is at stake. We should be far more concerned about handling the abuse of our rights with grace than we are about the fact that our rights are being abused.

I'm not advocating that these evils don't matter at all, or that they shouldn't grieve us (for all evil should grieve us). But I am saying that whatever a right response to them might be, it does not include fret, rage, and discontentment. We should not fret over evildoers or allow ourselves the crippling and dishonorable "freedom" to rage against others or sink into unhappy discontentment because society just might be taking a really bad turn for the worse.

Based on David's inspired words I'd ask: "Do you have a little? Do you have today's bread, a couple of outfits to wear, something simple to get around in, a roof over your head, a glass of water, enough health to get by? Then you are better off than the D.C's power-grabbers and all the kings and presidents on earth. Make sure to enjoy what God has given you more than you worry about what government is taking away. Don't panic and fret over the media and cultural elite's seeming stranglehold on our culture. In the end they will perish while you endure."

I think that an accurate read of American history reveals that she has endured thugs and thieves at least as bad, and I think, far worse than what we have today (read about the political, business, slavery and segregated world of the 1,800's through 1960). I'm telling you: those were evil, evil days; days of unspeakable injustices at the hands of slave owners, business tycoons, and political power-brokers.

Yet those evildoers have come and gone--and the Church and people of God remain and are going strong! Brothers and sisters: in the end there will only be One King, One Power, One Dominion standing--and we'll be part of His kingdom.

So Psalm 37 has helped us to see what we are not to do in reponse to culture's thugs and thieves. From here on for the next several days we'll look at what we are to do. I hope you'll stay tuned.

Labels: Culture War, Faith, politics, Social Action

When the world seems run by scoundrels, and when it seems like their skulduggery works so that they prosper, it can be tempting to wish we were in their shoes. This is one of the tempations that David challenges us to avoid in Psalm 37:1-40. "Be not envious of evildoers" (Psalm 37:1)!

One reason it's folly to envy those in power and who seem to be getting their way at the expense of others is that their flower is fast fading (Psalm 37:2). For the righteous to wish for what the wicked has--their power, their wealth, their influence, their victoires, their control of the White House, their manipulation of the system--would be as foolish as if the sun would envy a hundred watt bulb! The sun is more brilliant, and the sun's radiance more enduring. The 100 watter will flicker and die.

In short, the powerful and prosperous above us will "wither like the green herb" beneath a blazing sun (Psalm 37:2), while "the heritage of the blameless will remain forever" (Psalm 37:18).

For this reason, "Better is the little that the righteous has than the abundance of many wicked" (Psalm 37:16). Do you have a little? Do you have today's bread, a couple of outfits to wear, something simple to get around in, a roof over your head, a glass of water, enough health to get by?

Then you are better off than the D.C's power-grabbers and all the kings and presidents on earth. Enjoy what God has given you more than you worry about what government is taking away from you. Don't panic and fret over the media and cultural elite's seeming stranglehold on our culture. In the end they will perish while you endure.

Do you have a little with a righteous standing before God in Christ? You have more than all the wicked kings of earth combined! Do you have today's bread along with an increasingly transformed and righteous life by the sanctifying mercy of the Holy Spirit? Then you are the rich one. You are the truly powerful one. You are the one toppling the dominions and powers within by the grace of God.

I plead with my friends to give far more time and attention to enjoying, reading about, delighting in, and being satisfied with all they have in Jesus than they do reading about, fretting over, fighting for, and arguing about what the government is taking away, or how government might be better run.

I'm not saying that we shouldn't speak up or be concerned. I'm just saying that if you're fretting and fuming on a regular basis about all that's wrong with the world and the powers that be, you're letting them take away far more than your freedom or taxes. You're letting them take away your joy and contentment.

Whatever government can take away, they cannot touch a heart contented in God. Friends, whatever you do, don't envy the wicked or pine for the good old days. Live in the present moment of God's goodness and righteousness--and whatever happens you will be able to remain unfazed and unflappably joyful in your soul.

Labels: Contentment, Culture War, Faith, politics

So what do we do when it seems that thugs and thieves have the upper hand with no one to stop them? How do we respond when the wicked flourish, and the righteous don't?

Once again I call us back to Psalm 37:1-40. There are more than 20 imperatives in this Psalm, with 3-5 more implied commands for us to keep in mind. Three of them tell us what not to do when the wicked prosper; the rest tell us what to do. Let's look today at one of the "thou shalt nots", thrice repeated in the Psalm:

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers...
"Fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way...
"Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil" (Psalm 37:1, 7, 8).

Sounds a little emphatic doesn't it?!

The Hebrew word repeated in each of these verses actually means: to burn, to kindle, to get all heated up. The translation "fret" is actually a little weak. It speaks of emotion more heated than mere fret or a tad of worry. David is telling us not to get all "hot and bothered" when the wicked seem to have the upper hand.

Cool down. Chill. Don't get emotional heart-burn over the thugs and thieves of human society. Whatever right responses there may be--like speaking out against evil, voting evil out of office when able, not conforming to the evil, rescuing victims from the evil, and praying for the evil-doers--one thing we are not to do, is go into a slow burn. Don't become a boiling cauldron of worry, anger and rage (Psalm 37:8). Just don't go there.

In Psalm 37:8 David gives a compelling reason why we must not travel that road --"Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil." When we allow the prosperity and success of the wicked to get to us, we begin to share their wickedness. Sustained fret and anger, even when we think it's justfied, begins to eat at the soul, and sin is not far behind. Fretful anger leads only to evil.

Soon, instead of loving, doing good to, and praying for our enemies, as Jesus tells us to, we will be:

-cursing the wicked
-plotting against them ourselves
-justifying lying and shenanigans of our own to try to dethrone them
-indulging unsubstantiated rumors about them
-believing the very worst about them
-hating and despising our enemies

So what do we do? One way to turn down the heat a bit is to consider the following question: "When all is said and done, what is the very worst that man can do to me?" Jesus tells us in Matthew 10:28 not to "fear those who can kill the body, but cannot kill the soul."

The very worst that man can do to me is kill me. But when man kills, God makes alive. What man puts in the ground God raises up. If the wicked persecute the righteous they only add to the reward of the righteous (Matthew 5:10, 11). If they kill the righteous, they only hasten the day of the saints' going home to glory.

Man's worst is God's best. That ought to help cool our passions.

Labels: Culture War, Faith, Hope, politics, Social Action

Recently in the space of minutes I read first, numerous comments by Christians regarding our present political/cultural/social situation, and then second, Psalm 37:1-40. The contrast was so sharp, so diametrically opposite, so glaringly revealing that I knew as a pastor and brother in Jesus, I would need to call attention to it. I do so not to criticize sincerely concerned people, but to call to a better and more soul and God-pleasing way.

Daily comments from Christians about our cultural situation and political leaders express such anxiety, such anger, such fear, such hostility, such despair, such rage, such angst that I am much concerned that we as Christians are missing a grand opportunity to shine forth something very different to a watching world.

We are missing an opportunity to shine forth Psalm 37.

Over the next week or two I think it could transform us to meditate together step by step through this Psalm for the deepening joy and shining testimony of our lives.

I'd begin by calling attention to what this psalm makes obvious: there have always been thugs and thieves in high places. David uses multiple words to describe those of his day:

-Evildoers (Psalm 37:1, 9)
-Wrongdoers (Psalm 37:1)
-The wicked (Psalm 37:12, 14, 16, 17, 20, 21, 32, 35, 38, 40)
-Enemies of the Lord (Psalm 37:20)
-Ruthless (Psalm 37:35)
-Transgressors (Psalm 37:38)
-Duplicitous thieves (Psalm 37:21a)

The psalmist calls his times "evil times" (Psalm 37:19) in which sufferings were many, and plotting and dangerous people (Psalm 37:7, 12, 14, 15) gnashed their teeth against the righteous, conniving and scheming to destroy. These were people who gathered in dark, secret, smoke-filled rooms to formulate evil devices and strike deals to foist their evil agendas on common ordinary run of the mill decent people, no matter what the cost in human life or suffering those agendas might entail.

Let me be clear right up front: I agree with my many Christian friends who believe that there are such thugs and thieves in high places today. The degree of political muggings and evil shenanigans currently going on is appalling. Evildoers are in high places (and by and large such evil-doing is bi-partisan, spilling over into Tea Partiers, libertarians and the whole lot of them). Everybody's got an agenda. Few have a truly godly one.

So what do we do? David's inspired counsel to the oppressed victims of thugs and thieves differs sharply from the common response of American Christians. We'll examine that response in coming days.

But first let me ask a question to help you examine your own response: "How is your present ('Christian') response to all these evildoers different from that of others in the world who share you basic political or economic point of view, but who are not Christians?"

Is your response different in any clear and obvious way from Rush Limbaugh (the blustering rant), Glenn Beck (the mad Mormon), Bill O-Reilly (the verbal 'Catholic' bully), Sean Hannity (the smirking wiseacre), or any of the other conservative, anti-Obama, anti-establishment, government-bashing voices that don't seem to have a God-centered breath in their lungs, or Christ-satisfied, Heaven-trusting bone in their body?

Would an observer be able to tell the difference between you and them? Think about it.

As you do this, you may choose to read Psalm 37 repeatedly. Such reading in faith will be like an oxygen machine. It'll fill your lungs with faith and joy, yes even when thugs and thieves seem to prevail.

Labels: Culture War, Faith, politics, Social Action, Trust

Just days before His passion, our Lord battles hell over the death of His friend Lazarus. In the course of this, in John 11:25, 26 Jesus makes two bold declarative statements, followed by one penetrating personal question, all of which present watershed issues for our lives.

First, Jesus claims the power of, and makes the promise of, eternal life, in Himself: "I am the resurrection and the life." He does not say "I give resurrection and life" (although of course He does), but "I am resurrection and life. Life exists in Me" (John 1:4). No wonder the grave couldn't hold Him.

Then Jesus declares: "Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." This two-fold promise is awesome indeed: "Believe in Me and live forever. And even if you die, you really won't. You'll just pass into life eternal."

Now the personal question Jesus asks: "Do you believe this?" What Jesus asked Martha, He would ask us. Do you believe this?

Granted, these are bold claims if ever there were such! But that's just the point. Such claims demand a conclusion. You must either believe, or not. One thing you cannot do is ignore. And here's a fact: you either do believe, or not. The direction of your life reveals which it is.

If you really believe this, the direction of your life is set: you are seeking to know and serve and love and trust Christ in such a way that you might enjoy His presence and favor forever in the eternal life He is and gives.

If you don't believe, the direction of your life is set: you are doing whatever floats your boat to create as many fun feelings as you can between now and when you croak. You're not concerned to store up for an afterlife that you don't think really exists.

So do you believe? Are you willing to risk all to have Christ, and with him life eternal? Or will you go on in the day-dream that it really doesn't matter after all?

What's the old set of alternatives regarding Jesus? He was either the Lord (of life), or a liar, or a lunatic. Whatever you do just don't cling to the nonsense that He was simply a good man and moral teacher.

Such claims as those in John 11:25, 26 do not leave you that option. You're going to have to make your choice. What's it going to be?

Labels: Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Lent, resurrection of Christ. Guest Post

Many of you know James 5:13-18. I feel like I'm just beginning to really know it, if you know what I mean. I've got a long way to go, but at least in recent time, this is what I've seen:
1. A brother in severe back pain just before a missions trip, stand and walk within minutes of prayer, and stay strong throughout the next days of his long ride and work.
2. Another brother have potentially serious surgery near his brain, go into the hosptial one day, be told he'd be there at least 4-5 days, and in recovery for months, only--in response to many fervent prayers--have the surgery, get a wonderful report, and leave the hospital the next day!
3. A mom's long and persistent prayers for a prodigal son answered this week with him "coming home" to Christ with a contrite heart and humble faith.
4. A sister and daughter travel to Haiti to serve; get there and back safely and with a deepening heart for Christ and others; having left a mark on dozens of children and families--prayed for all the way there and back again.
5. A brother in the Lord--and son of one of our TFC sisters in Jesus, prayed for on Sunday and now--this Thursday given a medical report saying his cancer is in remission.
6. Long damaged and even broken relationships prayed for, talked through, and on the mend.
7. A brother with a recent stroke--prayed for and experienceing the sustaining grace of God in trial.
8. Another brother with cancer, not fully healed but prayed for and tasting the very good, very sufficient grace of God.
9. A brother caught in sin, and earnestly prayed for, now repenting, and being restored to family and those around him.
10. A family mourning the tragic loss of a son, but through prayer and fellowship going on with God in grace.

I could add more my friends, but this will do to make this point: pray on dear ones. Pray on!

Labels: Faith, Prayer, Spiritual disciplines

As I draw this series to a close, I would not want to be misunderstood. In this discussion I have presented reasons for faith. I have done this because throughout the Bible God presents reasons for faith, evidence (to borrow someone's phrase) that demands a verdict. But the reason I believe is not that I am smart enough to see those reasons while others are not.

Let me be clear: I do not believe that God calls us to faith without reason. Faith without reason is superstition. Faith is not a leap into a darkness devoid of evidence, it is a reasonable conclusion drawn from the evidence. It is seeing where the evidence points, concluding that there is clear and sufficient evidence that something is true, and then commiting one's self to that conclusion.

Faith in God and in the Bible as God's Word is not a leap into a dark pit of irrationality. It is simply accepting the fact that there is clear and sufficient reason to believe it is God's Word and submitting accordingly.

But here's the deal: some people are willing to do that and some are not. The evidence can be seen by all willing to look (Romans 1 makes it clear that just nature alone gives enough reason to believe; people know that there is a God). But some believe it and some don't. Some submit; some do not. Some surrender to the facts; others resist them. Why?

I'm asking the question, "Why do I believe the Bible is God's Word?" from a different angle now. What I'm asking now is not what reasons do I have to surrender my life to the Word of God, but why am I willing to do so.

There is only one reason why I am willing to surrender to the evidence: it is the sovereign, electing, regenerating, faith-giving grace of God. It is because the Spirit of God has opened my eyes to see the truth and my heart to make me willing to receive it.

Man's mind can and does comprehend the reality of God and the divine quality of the Bible. But the only way Man's heart will be willing to receive and bow to the authority of that Word is if God gives a new heart by grace.

I believe because God enabled me to do so. There was a day on which my dead-like-Lazarus-soul was called from the grave of its hardened condition by the life-giving voice of God through His Word, and I walked from the tomb of my unbelief.

"Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature's night
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off my heart was free
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee."

I am what I am, and believe what I believe, by the grace of God.
I am a debtor to mercy alone.
I stand amazed and weep for joy.

Labels: Apologetics, Bible, Election, Faith, Regeneration, The Word of God

Hello all. This will be my last post of the week as I retreat this evening to a secluded place for a couple of days of pastoral reflection, prayer, and planning.

Before I go, I want to pick up briefly on the thoughtful questions offered by you guys in commenting on my post yesterday. What are we to make of buying insurance? Is it a gamble or an act of love and stewardship? Not an easy question. I don't pretend to have complete or well-thought out answers. These are quick off the top of the head reflections thrown in your direction for a kind of group conversation. I'll be interested to hear from you all on it.

In favor of insurance I think some would argue that it is in line with biblcal commands to be like the ant, "storing up food in summer for the winter season" (Proverbs 6:6), and that it is a legitimate application of the call for parents to save up for children (2 Corinthians 12:14).

Some would argue that insurance is responsible planning for future needs. It could also be argued that house insurance or life insurance is similar to a poor man's means of providing an inheritance for his wife and children, if he should die prematurely.

Also in favor of insurance is the argument that those who do not have it may perhaps unwittingly, be assuming (some would think presuming) that others will foot the bill when need arises. If I do not have life insurance, who will provide for my family? Someone will have to. Insurance is a way for me to contribute to that now. If I don't have insurance for my home then who will foot the bill when a tornado hits? Someone always has to provide the money for everything. Is insurance a way for me to at least try to contribute my fair share in that responsibi;ity? Is insurance, in this light, a form of love for others who would otherwise have to pick up the pieces of my or my family's need?

Against the idea of insurance is that it leads away from daily reliance on God, and may violate the Matthew 6:25-34 call to be concerned with today only and to leave tomorrow to God. But is Jesus really prohibiting such things as planning for the future? Proverbs 6:6 and James 4:13-16 would both seem to encourage faith-based and God-submitted planning for the future.

Still, it is clearly a danger that people can put way too much focus on the future and become obsessed with their accounts, insurance policies and savings. In the end too much concern about this leads to a reliance on money, not on God; something God specifically forbids in 1 Timothy 6:17. Money-trust may well be the very essence of materialism.

Some would also say that present tense needs in the kingdom are often neglected because people are saving up for the future. I certainly have seen this on more than one occasion. This does seem to be a very real concern for Jesus since in MAtthew 6:33 He urges concern for the kingdom first and for future needs second.

This is a tough set of principles to balance. What do you think?

Labels: Faith, Materialism, money

Today's post is my last comment (expanded) from yesterday's conversation. I want to make sure that those who may have missed the comments interact with these thoughts.

I think that it is commendable to have strong faith and trust in the healing grace of God and I would even commend making prayer for healing a matter of first resort (yes I wrote "first" so that we show by our actions that we trust God more than doctors, or whatever our own traditional or alternative treatment of choice may be).

But the great concern I am expressing is over the very bad theology that treats medicine as if it is bad or healing by miracle in this life as if it is an absolute birthright of every believer. To treat medicine as bad is to deny both the goodness of God's creation (which provides cures for disease) as well as the creation mandate of Genesis 1 (which commands us to have dominion over the earth--which includes dominion over disease through whatever ethical means we may discover). Those who despise medicine unwittingly disobey that mandate.

And to treat healing by miracle in this life as an absolute birthright in this life is to confuse the "not yet" (what is a birthright to be given us when heaven dawns) as a "now" (something we can name and claim for here and now all the time). This confusion has led countless sincere but misguided Christians into grave disillusionment and doubt when their namings and claimings have not materialized.

Such teachings are usually what is behind the tragedies such as we're talking about here. The ideas that we can name and claim such things, that we can create miracles by "word-faith", that to go to a doctor when prayers for direct healing have not rendered healing is an evidence of unbelief--are all ideas that are serious distortions of the Word. And they have led to untold grief.

I saw a short video recently by John Piper--(google John Piper, prosperity gospel video)--in which he expresses his very strong feelings against the prosperity gospel (which is part of what we're talking about here). He despises these false teachings because they are misleading and destroying souls. Evangelists and missionaries are promising health and wealth to get converts. In so doing they are not offering people God, the Giver of Life and Savior of souls. They simply are offering people an idol: good health and wealth. This destroys souls in the name of faith.

In this particular case it destroyed a body too.

I admire the faith and the apparent sincerity of this man; I simply grieve the error, ignorance, and irresponsible shepherds that lead people to pursue folly in the name of faith. The costs are catastrophic, both for this life and the next.

Tim

Any more thoughts?

Labels: Dependance on God, Doctrine, Faith, Healing, Persecution

I had another post planned for this morning but this emailed question just came in and as I was answering it I thought i'd include you in the conversation. A friend sent me the following:

Hi Pastor Tim,

What are your views and/or our churches view on "tests of faith" regarding the healing of sickness in people through faith and prayer alone ?

I site the case in Wisconsin where a man (Dale Neumann) was charged with second degree reckless homicide in the death of his daughter who had undiagnosed diabetes. He refused to take his daughter (Madeline) to a doctor even though she had symptoms. She eventually became gravely ill and died on the floor while a prayer group stood over her. The father later testified that " If I went to the doctor, I'm putting the doctor before God". The father had once studied to be a Pentecostal minister. Doctors who testified in the case said that there was a good chance Madeline would have survived if she had gotten the correct meds. including insulin.



What a shame and very sad. I pray that the girl is in heaven and I pray for her parents who are now being persecuted. I personally don't think that going to the doctor is putting a doctor before God. I think doctors were given their expertise, talent and knowledge by God and are tools to be used by him in the healing of sickness. Not everyone can be a doctor, I know I couldn't do it. The other question is: Should this man be put in jail for testing his faith ? I believe his wife was already found guilty and jailed. I feel this gives the liberal media and government another reason to attack fellow Christians. I feel that we as Christians are stereotyped by non Christians and that the results of this mans decision feed that stereotype. I feel a need to defend myself and my faith to people who think that I am another "Dale Neumann". I did not have a chance to talk to Dr. Joe about this but I'm sure he would probably get fired up and have some strong views of his own. I'm just looking for some comfort in your thoughts about this. This has been troubling me the past couple of days.

thanks

My reply was;

Great questions brother.

I only have time for a brief answer bro, but here goes.

I believe in healings, but I also believe God uses doctors at times to bring about that healing. This man’s faith, while sincere, is sadly misguided and as you suggest, almost embarrassing to the testimony of Jesus. This family is clearly the victim of some very bad teaching and theology. They don’t know their Bibles very well, and the result has been tragic.

However, I’m not sure the man should be put in jail for acting on what he honestly believes. But I also know that the world will seize every chance it gets to mock and persecute Christians. This is where the world is so hypocritical. On the one hand if Christians really live what they believe and do daring things for God in that faith, the world calls them fanatics and weirdoes. On the other hand if we don’t live to the max what we believe, or if we somehow fall short, they call us hypocrites.

Jesus addressed this in Luke 7:31-35 when he tells the world of His day: “You can’t make up your mind. If someone comes from God being really “holy” and separated from worldliness (like John the Baptist) you reject him, but if Someone else (like Jesus) comes along who seems worldly—he eats and drinks with sinners-you call him a hypocritical glutton and unholy drunk. The world will condemn Christians no matter what they do.

I grieve for the misguided faith of this now grieving and assaulted father, and I pray for him to see greater light and to have great comfort as he has to face himself and his grief for the rest of his days. I'm afraid he may receive harsh treatment for doing a wrong (however sincere his intent); something Peter warns us aboutin 1 Peter 4:13-16.

At the same time, the way the world is reacting is typical of the ungodly; they simply cannot be pleased—which goes to show that in the final analysis, humans will always find an excuse not to believe. The reason the world condemns Christians no matter what they do is because it is trying to hide from God behind finger-pointing hypocrisy. The world figures that if it can label Christians as either ungodly hypocrites or weird fanatics, it won’t have to face the claims and truth of Christ Himself.

It’s weak, wimpy, and cowardly, but it’s the way the world is.

There’s a perspective for the moment my friend. A lot more could be said, but that’s all that time allows. Keep asking questions.

Your brother,
Tim

What do you think?

Labels: Faith, Healing, Persecution, The World

Alina was seven years old when the eye doctor she'd had her whole life noticed that her left-eye retina was detached. She'd had issues with this eye since birth. It was stricken with glaucoma congenitally, and was virtually blind from her earliest days. At one, she underwent surgery at the hands of one of the world's best eye surgeons to relieve the pressure and salvage the eye, though not its sight (BTW-pictures of the inside of Alina's eye from that operation have been seen across the world by people attending this doctor's lectures on eye surgery. Undoubtedly, the inside of Alina's eye is one of the most famous eye insides in the world!).

But as if blindness in the eye was not trial enough this new report in her seventh year was not good. A detached retina leads to screaming pain, the only remedy for which is removal of the eye and the implanting of an artificial eye, a trial on top of her other trials that we simply longed that she would not need to bear.

She was sent to the Wills Eye Institute in Philly, where surgeons tried to laser-rivet the retina back in place just to keep it there so it would not cause any more problems or pain. But a week after surgery when we followed up at the doctors, they grieved to report that the surgery had not worked. The retina was still detached, and they did not have any real clue what to do next. They told us to return in a week and they would give us any options they might suggest.

We'd been praying all along, as had hundreds of friends, family, and perfect strangers (who loved and trusted the same Savior we did). So we prayed on for God to save Alina's eye. Seven days later we returned to Wills Eye and awaited the doctors' advice. They took her in, examined her eye, and then hurried out to tell us what they had found: the retina was re-attached. That's right: that which was humanly, naturally and physically impossible and therefore unheard of, had happened. The retina had returned to where it belonged "on its own" and there it has stayed to this day.

In this case our doctors were humble and honest enough to say, and they do to this very hour, that they have no explanation for what happened except that it had to be a miracle. It was God. Retinas do not re-attach any more than the mute talk or the deaf hear or a dog flies. It just does not and can not happen.

But it did.
Friends this is the hand of God.
God is; God cares; God moves; God heals; God saves eyes.

And by the way: God saves souls too. He saves them from hell, from sin, from bondage to fear and drugs and anxiety and depression and anger and soul-hollowing despair. God saves eyes to remind us that He is God and that He is a Savior whose arm is not so short that it cannot deliver (Isaiah 50:2).

I invite you today to come afresh to Him to seek His salvation of your soul from your sin and need, for your joy in your God.

Labels: Blessing, Faith, God's Blessing, Prayer

"Let us tell to coming generations the glorious deeds of our God" (Psalm 78:4).
How God provides!
Morning by morning new mercies we see.

If you want further evidence of this be sure to read Peter and Brooke's testimonies responding to yesterday's post. Then read on here.

One Friday afternoon in the spring of 2000 Gayline and I spent a few minutes discussing our car situation. Once again we are not the type who sit around often talking about such things (it had been years since our last such conversation), but this moment seemed to demand it. You see, we had a Chrysler "K" car, which, as my old readers will remember, was not a particularly stylish make. Besides, our "K" was arKaic (sorry). It was old and it seemed diseased; at least it looked leprous. And of course most of all it was a mechanical mess; we weren't sure how long the old leprous thing would keep running.

So the talk revolved around whether to try to get another car. But how? We could pay cash for one, except that we didn't have the cash. We could pursue a second income, but in doing so we would have to neglect both family and church needs. We could borrow money for one but we really wouldn't have the money to pay it back. We could charge it on a credit card, but we just didn't think it wise to do life that way. We could beg for one, but I wasn't sure how that would reflect on the reputation of my Father above. We could steal one, but I wasn't sure how the morning headline "Local Pastor Caught Hot-wiring BMW" might affect church attendance and community good will. So we decided to pray and wait on the Lord.

We didn't have to wait long. Forty five minutes later the phone rang and on the other end of the line a friend asked if I was home. Since he had called me at home, it made no sense to deny it. He then asked if he could swing by to show me something, to which I of course said yes. Ten minutes later he pulled into the driveway in a car I did not recognize which turned out to be a one year old like new vehicle of which he had taken possession through a business deal.

Getting out he asked me if I thought our family could use a car like this. Unsure of what he was getting at, and inwardly wrestling with how to tell him that no matter how good of a car or deal it might be, we probably would not be able to afford it, I hesitated. "Yes, I'm sure we could," I replied tentatively . He said "Good!" and reaching into his pocket he pulled out the key, placed it in my hand, and said, "It's yours!"

A gift. Free. No costs. No payments.

It turned out that there was another option besides the paying cash, getting-a-second-income-and-neglecting-family-and-church-in-the-process, borrowing, charging it on a credit card, begging from others, or stealing alternatives I'd thought of: God could just give us a car. In fact, God could foresee months in advance the need for a car that we would have that Friday afternoon and long before that day set in motion a business deal for my friend that would end up including a car thrown in, a deal that would end up being closed on this particular Friday so that he would come into possession of the car the very day we were forced to talk about our need for a new one so that he would actually be driving our new car to our house while we were talking about our need for it, so that it could be delivered within 45 minutes of when we discussed that need so that we would have one more opportunity to experience God's jaw-dropping love in action.

"God knows even before we ask," Jesus said (Matthew 6:8). So why ever panic (Matthew 6:25-34)? And why not pray, and then wait and see what God does?

Two questions:

Does God always act so quickly? No, God's children often have to wait what feels painfully long as their Father makes sure not only to provide for their needs but also, in the process, to build their character. Sometimes to teach us patience, God drizzles His blessing over a long period. Other times to teach us awe, He sends a quick downpour! Be thankful for both.

Does God advocate passivity when it comes to our needs? No; if a man will not work neither shall he eat, He inspires His apostle to tell us (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12).

But here's the truth: if you are a Christian who works as hard as you can at a God-honoring job which He has provided, working with strength that you know comes from Him and which you daily and prayerfully depend on Him to give; and if you work hard without sacrificing time with God or commitment to the other priorities of life (like church and family), making sure never to neglect the kingdom and righteousness of God for the sake of work or physical concerns (Matthew 6:33), and if you still have needs that go beyond what your income can meet, then it's time to pray and wait on God to do His wondrous deeds.

Don't start by thinking about how you can work harder or borrow more or swing a better deal.

Start by asking your heavenly Father, and waiting on the good hand of the One Who provides.

Then, when He does provide, whether it be by drizzle or downpour, be sure to be amazed and grateful and in awe of Him.

And finally be sure to tell this and the coming generations of the wonders done by your God.

Labels: Blessing, Faith, God's Blessing, Prayer

On the highest peak of the highest mountain a narrow less-than-an-inch ridge can set the course of rivers. It's called a watershed. If a drop of rain falls to the east of that ridge, it'll flow eastward. If another falls just an inch away on the west side it'll flow westward. In the end they will be thousands of miles apart.

Life is full of watershed moments; moments in which decisive direction determining conclusions and/or choices are made.

How you answer the question "Has God spoken and is the Bible His final Word?" is a watershed. If the Bible is God’s final Word (i.e.-His ultimate authoritative revelation from which all saving truth is to be gained, and by which all truth-claims and opinion/preferences are to be tested), then the course of life is fixed.

If you are convinced by the Spirit of God that the Bible is the Word of God, life can only flow along a path marked by two further life-consuming questions: "What has God said?" and "How then do I need to believe and live?" Life will move irresistibly toward a course of study (to know God's Truth) and submission (to believe and obey God's truth). Life will be marked by a persevering impassioned quest to learn and to do; to hear and to obey.

If one lands on the other side of this watershed, doubting or denying that the Bible is God's Word, then life will flow along an entirely different path. It will not be impassioned to hear or obey His voice. At best it'll be mildly religious, respectably broad-thinking, philosophically undecided, spiritually double-minded.

I think I detect in today's church this fundamental double-mindedness. Too many debates rage over gender roles, the nature of God's sovereignty and the perfection of His knowledge, the existence of an eternal hell, emergent perspectives (and a host of other matters), which when you listen carefully are being argued, not over the text and meaning of Scripture, but over the integrity and authority of Scripture.

In other words, people's arguments against historic Christian doctrines often seem to reveal a lack of conviction that the Bible is God's Word and the final authority for faith and practice. As they recount their journey away from biblical orthodoxy they admit that it began with personal philosophical or emotional struggle rather than Biblical data.

At a more personal level, when people say: "I know that's what the Bible says, but...", unbelief that the Bible is God's authoritative voice is exposed. People “but” their way out of obedience to God’s Word because at least in the moment they do not really believe that that’s what it is. Similarly, the fact that many Christians do not read their Bibles consistently or give themselves to a life of learning God's truth reveals the same foundational flaw in their faith. Logically such neglect can only mean that one's confidence that God has spoken and that the Bible is His final Word is weak at best.

I know that we all (myself included) battle the flesh and the busyness of life, and this makes Bible disciplines hard to practice. But don't you think that there must be something fundamentally askew in our thinking about the Bible (whether or not it is God's Word) if we are not making it our relentless habit and impassioned commitment to read it and hear it and obey it?

Here's the watershed: what will you decide about the Bible? Land on one side of the question and you'll move toward a life determined by personally preferred opinions. Land on the other side and you'll live life in a perpetual posture of an eager and humble submission: "Lord, speak. Your servant will believe and obey."

Where have you landed?

Labels: Faith, Hearing God's Word, The Word of God

One reason many don't rightly hear the Word of God is because they have nagging doubts that it is the Word of God. Like the boy Samuel of old (1 Samuel 3:1-10), they fail to hear/read God's words as the words of God, because they think them instead to be the words of man. Their heart need is for faith: an evidence-grounded and Spirit-produced confidence that the Bible is the very Word of the true God. Settle that matter and the urgency of right hearing becomes clear.

But has God really spoken and is the Bible His final Word? Can I offer five broad reasons why I believe the answer to both these questions is yes?

1. Prediction. If you read a book in which there are hundreds of specific predictions of historical events--including dozens about the coming Messiah--all of which have come true, wouldn't you agree that there is reason to think that that book might have a Divine origin? Such is the case with the Bible.

2. Perfection. If you read a book written by 40+ men spanning 1,500 years, the major teachings of which address the most controversial topics known to man, and if you find that its message is perfectly consistent, and without contradiction, wouldn't you at least consider that it had a single, unifying, inspiring Mind behind it?

3. Corroboration (verification). If you read a book that presents thousands of historical details about towns, cities, people, rulers, and events, multiplied hundreds of which have been verified by archeological science, would you not begin to trust in its integrity?

And if you read the message of the Bible--what it says about God, about human nature, about sin, about life, about history, about death--and then see that all of these are corroborated both by nature and human experience, would you not think that this is more than coincidence?

What nature reveals about the Creator--that He is powerful, intelligent, wise, loving and yes, even angry-- and what Scripture reveals about that Creator are in perfect harmony. This fact drives me to believe that that God is real, and that the Bible is His Word.

4. Incarnation. If abundant historical evidence exists that Someone once lived who did amazing things like healing the sick and raising the dead (including himself), who even claimed to be God in the flesh, wouldn't you pay attention to His words? And if this Man claims that the Bible is God's Word, wouldn't you find that good reason to believe that it is?

That Jesus worked miracles and did wondrous things, including predicting and causing His own resurrection is one of the more verifiable claims of ancient history. So when He as the most authenticated miracle-worker and most celebrated teacher of all time claims that the Bible is the inspired, infallible, authoritative Word of God,that's good enough for me. I love Andy Stanley's take on it:

"My high school teacher once told me that much in Genesis is false. But since my high school teacher did not prove that he was God by rising from the dead, I'm going to believe Jesus instead." (Cited by Geisler and Turek in I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be An Atheist)

5. Self-authentication. And finally if you read a book that is simply alive and powerful, that by its own truth, beauty, and glory has changed everything about you and not only you but countless millions of others like you, would you not credit it with being something more than human?

This is what I mean by self-authentication. The Bible proves itself by it's own inherent worth, beauty, and power. It's like the sun. No one has to argue that the sun is bright; all they have to do is see it and its effects. So it is with the Bible, once it is read and learned in truth. It proves its own Divine origin. It is simply too powerful, too beautiful, too intrinisically good to be anything other than Divine.

Based on these facts, God has convinced me that He has spoken, and that the Bible is His final Word. In doing that, He also has set the direction of my life. Once I knew that God has spoken and that the Bible is His final Word, all I've been able to do ever since is approach the Bible echoing the boy Samuel: "Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

How about you?

Labels: Apologetics, Faith, Hearing God's Word, The Word of God