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Grappling With the Hard Questions

God does not reject those who possess honest doubt about Himself and His Son. Need proof? If you are a Christian today, take a look in the mirror, once upon a time, before they believed, every current believer was doubtful about God. One needs to go no further than what the Bible says of the man some have called “doubting Thomas” to see that the Lord will entertain (or kindly address) the honest doubts of men:

“Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”” (John 20:24–29)

Thomas wasn’t alone in his doubt; only a few days earlier, as Mary and the women who had been with her also declared that she had seen the Lord, the disciples doubted as well; (Luke 24:11) records that they considered the account of the women as “idle tales (literally nonsense) , and they did not believe them.” Only after they saw the empty tomb and later that day, the risen Lord, did the disciples believe the report; until then they too, doubted. No one, since the day of the Lord’s return (ascension) to His Father (Acts 1:9-11) has ever seen Jesus in the flesh, yet many have believed in Him and many more will, based on the testimony of the Bible, the work of the Holy Spirit and the evidence of change in the lives of those who have already believed.

Like Thomas, we all have doubts about various things concerning God sometimes. Some of our doubts take the form of innocent questions, like the one asked by many children – “Who made God?” Of course the short answer is that God has always existed and that He has, as the Bible says, no beginning and no end: (Psalm 90:2) states that “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” But then there are the more argumentative questions and dishonest doubts, questions which arise from certain beliefs and which call into question some attribute of God if not His very existence. Questions like, “If God exists (or if God is good), why is there so much evil in the world? Or “If God is a loving God, why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?” And “How could a loving God send anyone to hell?”

Addressing these questions comes in two forms: An apologetic, which is the term given to defending religious doctrine largely through debate; and the other form called a Theodicy, which is simply to vindicate God, or His divine goodness and providence (by what can be known of Him through His word) in view of the existence of evil. At first blush, I would say that because God is sovereign, He is not obliged, which is to say that He is neither morally or legally obligated to explain, vindicate or justify Himself to anyone. But, because God is good, He exists, and He wants us to know Him, He entertains even the doubts of the skeptic, agnostic and atheist, teaching anyone who really wants to know how to recognize His character, His attributes and tendencies through His word.

To begin with I’d like to address the argument put forth by the majority of atheists who insist that God does not exist; the question of “If God exists, why is there so much evil in the world?” What I intend to attempt will not be an exhaustive exposition on the subject, and while the best debater will focus on logic alone to win, I am not debating but rather presenting a defense from God’s word alone. My hope is that the reader will carefully read and consider this Biblical response…

Join me next time as together we unpack what the Bible says on this important question.

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Empathetic Church

Some people wont get this, but when we can ignore the tears of our brothers and sisters in Christ we have ignored a part of the body of Christ.

I have seen it over the years; Christians railing against the poor and homeless on the street. Encountering the homeless, these professing believers say things like, ” if they can hold a sign, they can work;” or quote their favorite biblical text on the subject: “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat!” (2 Thessalonians 3:10) Compassionless Christianity is as unbiblical as the professing body of Christ when it fails to empathize with the separate parts of that body.

What I’m writing about isn’t social justice or a social gospel, this is Christianity 101! Consider this text from Paul to the believers at Corinth:

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact the body is not one member but many.” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14)

To be honest, regarding the outcry concerning racism and inequality in our nation today, I could not see and perhaps still don’t see racism in the church as much as I see a total lack of empathy for Christian brothers and sisters who are hurting. In my time, I have seen black people, white people and Hispanic people who were only willing to worship “with their own kind.”

In the past, Southern Baptists attempted to bridge the gap with something like a racial reconciliation day, where whole churches would close on a given Sunday to worship with another culturally different congregation. But such efforts are often seen as pandering and offensive by the “other” race; this is NOT the body of Christ as He intended it to be!

The body of Christ is not black, white, yellow, or brown! It IS diverse but it is NOT to be racially divided it shares one essence, one lifes blood, one purpose and it has one head – Jesus Christ! Paul continues:

“But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, that there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:20–26

I don’t know about yours, but if the various parts of my body refuse to work together I feel sick and am unable to function as I should – that is the condition of the body of Christ today. I dont pretend to understand what different races experience on the street today but I do understand that EVERY member of the body of Christ is needed and valued and that no part of that same body can ever hurt without the rest of it feeling the effects. Paul said, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it...” put another way, he wrote in (Romans 12:15):

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another.”

We have brothers and sisters who are hurting. It DOES NOT MATTER if you understand anything else. Weep with them, listen to them, care for them and pray for them as you would have people to do for you – the world needs to see it, our brethren need to feel it and the body needs the wellness that will come of it.

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Make it Personal

“But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

In the post titled, my-journey-gazing-into-the-mirror-of-my-soul/ I wrote that repentance is to be the first part of any persons conversion and salvation experience; specifically that repentance which stems from the Holy Spirit of God interacting with our conscience and drawing us to a point of agreement with God concerning our sinful and rebellious nature and convicting us both of our lack of and of our need for Him. But there is actually something else which MUST occur even BEFORE such a drawing can take place – the preaching of the gospel is the foremost need of every unbelieving soul. Concerning the unbelieving of Israel, the apostle Paul wrote in (Romans 10:14-15):

“How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?”

The need of the Israelites to hear the truth concerning Jesus Christ before they could trust in Him is the very same need of every living soul – those who have believed in Jesus Christ need to share the vital and lifechanging truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ with those who have not yet heard or believed it.

But what is the gospel?

The gospel IS NOT that Jesus Christ was born of a virgin – though He was.

The gospel IS NOT that Jesus Christ is the Son of God – though He is!

The gospel IS that Jesus Christ died for sinners – which every person who ever lived is! (with the exception of Jesus Christ [see Hebrews 4:15])

The passage I quoted at the beginning of this post from (Isaiah 53) comes from that larger statement made about Jesus Christ, the “Suffering Servant” of God. It states that He was wounded, bruised and chastised for us – for our transgressions, our iniquities and for our peace. Thus it seems to me, that until a person understands that Jesus died for him or her and that His death was our deserved condemnation (see Romans 8:1,5) and until they truly understand that they share responsibility for His brutalization, mockery, suffering and death – they have NOT “received” the gospel.

To understand that before Christ a person is “dead in trespasses and sin” (Ephesians 2:1) is a start but repentance begins with realizing that Jesus Christ “died for me.” Don’t make that statement so sentimental that you lose sight of its meaning; it is true that God sent His Son to die from a heart of love (see John 3:16) and while it is important that we make what Jesus did personal – the fact that He died (and rose again) is the most important aspect of the gospel message!

He was bruised for MY iniquity. He was mangled for MY sin. He was chastised – rebuked, disciplined corrected and ultimately rejected for my transgressions against the only Holy God! He bled because of ME!!! He was spit upon because of ME!!! He was mocked because of ME and He died on the cross of Calvary because of ME – for MY sake!!! He rose again in victory and because He rose, through faith in Him, once day I will rise as well and even now, I have victory in Jesus – “by His stripes we are (I am) healed!!!”

Make that personal!

A.W Tozer once defined repentance in this way:

“Repentance is mainly remorse for the share we had in the revolt that wounded Jesus Christ our Lord” – remorse which changes our mind concerning ourselves, our sin and our God; this is the kind of “godly sorrow” which leads to repentance.

The good news – the gospel of Jesus Christ is that “by His stripes we are healed!” Jesus’ suffering, as Tozer put it, “did not end in suffering, it began in suffering and ended in (our) healing.” What anyone coming to Christ must understand in order to be saved really comes down to what Paul said of himself in (1 Timothy 1 :15):

“…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

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The Demand of Freedom

Arlington is full of memorials reminding us all of the cost of freedom; they also remind us of the demand of it.

Those headstones remind us of the more than one million Americans who have given to the last full measure. – over 100,000 in World War I; over 400,000 in World War II; almost 40,000 in Korea; over 58,000 in Vietnam and over 5,000 have been killed in action since 9/11.

I was impressed by the comments made by a recent Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff speaking a few years ago at a Memorial Day Wreath Laying ceremony at Arlington. Rather than leading the people to consider how they died General Dunsford said of those man and women who are remembered there:

“It’s how these men and women lived that is important. It is how they lived that makes us remember them. In life, these individuals chose to be something bigger than themselves. They chose to accept hardship and great personal risk. They were people who truly embodied the most important values and traditions of our nation.”

The general concluded by challenging those in attendance to leave “with the resolve to strengthen their commitment to our nation and the values for which it stands.”

Today we not only remember those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom as a nation but we also remember the One who died to liberate all men from a tyranny even more sinister than that of a Hitler, Stalin or a Bin-Laden.

When we look upon His cross we think not only about the way He died but about the way He lived, the truths He taught and the purpose in His coming. Even more, we remember that the grave DID NOT have the last word but Jesus rose again and will one day, as promised, return for those who trust in Him.

I mentioned earlier that there was a demand of freedom upon those who enjoy it; that demand of freedom is (in my mind) loyalty to the One who has provided it and sustained it. It is a loyalty that will not shrink back or compromise but will stand fast and refuse to allow anything to steal away that which was gained at such a great cost.

Considering the life of the Lord today, I challenge you as General Dunsford challenged those in attendance at Arlington to strengthen your commitment to the Lord and to the freedom that He procured at the cost of His life for you.

Our gratitude today is to those who fought for our nation and paid the ultimate price for freedom with their life blood and to Him who fought for our souls, paying the ultimate price for our eternal freedom with His blood.

Never forget…

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Just How Good is “Good Enough?”

There once was a man who came to Jesus asking the question of all questions. The man was young, wealthy, spiritual and yet aware that he lacked something of great spiritual importance; this was his question:

“Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”” (Luke 18:18)

Now, it is assumed that this man presided over a synagogue nearby and that he had heard Jesus speak certain parables about faith (Luke 18:1-8) and humility (Luke 18:9-14) and who had seen Him bless the children (Luke 18:15-17). Unlike the Pharisees and Scribes who always came at Jesus with the intent of discrediting Him or catching Him in some heresy or religious error, this man with apparently good intentions came to ask Jesus a question that of vital importance to him.

But Jesus knew this man perfectly, just as he knows each of us perfectly. He knew the religious background of this man and after correcting the man to understand that (v.19) “NO ONE is good but God,” Jesus zeroed in on the little verb “do” in the man’s question and said:

“You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’” (Luke 18:20)

The mans reply is a familiar one,

“…he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.”” (Luke 18:21)

Recognize the answer? I can’t tell you how many times I have spoken to someone about the Lord and about sin when they replied, “I haven’t killed anyone. I haven’t stolen anything or committed adultery;” among other things. But if God is the only one who is good, does the doing or not doing of any of those good things make one fit for the kingdom of God – a person who God MUST accept? A. W. Tozer put it like this: If doing good is the way to obtain eternal life, “just how good would that good have to be?”

The religious and moral man saw himself as a good man but, if his question was an honest one, he seemed to think that he still lacked something to make him acceptable and in fact he DID lack something but as to what, he was unsure.

Jesus, using the man’s logic took him a little further saying,

“You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”” (Luke 18:22)

Jesus was NOT giving credence to the mans notion that DOING good would gain for him eternal life (despite what some dispensationalists might suggest) but rather pointing to the one thing which stood between the man and Almighty God – wealth. The last verse in the section makes clear that the man was “rich” or “had great possessions” (Matthew 19:22); he in fact had an idol which (v.23) indicates he loved more than God. In reality, this man neither “loved the Lord his God with all his heart soul mind and strength” nor “his neighbor as himself” – he loved his possessions.

To be fair, love for God does NOT save you – His love for YOU does! The Bible says in (1 John 4:19) “we love Him because He first loved us.” Jesus Himself declared in (John 3:16), “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” We are saved by grace through faith, Paul wrote in (Ephesians 2:8-10) and from His cross, by His blood, Jesus exchanged His righteousness for every believer’s sin (Isaiah 53:6, 2 Corinthians 5:21). As someone once said, “Jesus Christ will NEVER stand at the right side of a plus sign!” It is not faith in Jesus plus good works that saves you and gains for you an eternal inheritance in heaven – it is faith in Jesus Christ alone!

When his idol was revealed to the man, the “rich young ruler” walked away from Jesus unwilling to part with the one thing that kept him from eternal life with God. He didn’t need to DO one more thing – He needed to BELIEVE in Jesus Christ! Is there something in YOUR life that is keeping you from eternal life as well; something you just can’t let go of? If you do but can’t turn loose of it, pray, call on the Lord to help you – to take it from you. To the religious and the irreligious the message is the same – turn from your idols and trust in the living God; eternal life is gained in only one way – only through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

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Spiritual Motherhood

Must a woman have children in order to be a mother?

Some people, reading my question might respond with a “Duh, Rich”; but you might be surprised to learn what the Bible says about the question. The Apostle Paul, writing to a young apprentice in the ministry named Titus gave instruction concerning the older men and women of the church, these were not necessarily parents or even couples in the church but just the elder (both physically and spiritually); concerning the women he wrote:

“But as for you (Titus), speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine…to the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things—that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed.” (Titus 2 : 1, 3–5)

Obviously, a certain kind of motherhood involves childbirth and child rearing and it is that understanding which keeps some women (who have never had children) from church on a day set aside in many places to honor mothers via a message on one of a handful of mothers mentioned in the scriptures. Mothers like Hannah, Samuel’s mother (1 Samuel 1:1-2:11), Mary, the mother of Jesus and Lois and Eunice, the grandmother and mother of Timothy (2 Timothy 1:5) – mentioned for their exceptional heroism, self-sacrifice and devotion to both their children and their God. But there is another type of mothering to which every spiritually mature woman of faith is called:

Spiritual motherhood is that calling.

Such a woman lives a consecrated life, a life set apart for God and His plan. Their consecration is evident in their behavior – a tongue which is under control, a life free from bondage to worldly things and integrity which is evident to all as she practices what she preaches. Her life is characterized by a real conviction concerning God’s word and a genuine trust in the Lord’s will; a genuine and godly love for others and a patient confidence in the Lord. Her lifestyle naturally draws other women to her (women younger in life or in the faith) and makes it possible to pour into them her experience on a number of women’s issues and especially on family and marital issues, bringing spiritual wisdom derived from the Bible to bear on their lives. In this way, a woman who may never have raised up a family herself may raise up spiritual children to the Lord.

The 97 year old Holocaust survivor, Alice Von Hildebrand herself outspoken on the subject, made the following statement concerning Spiritual Motherhood to women who desired to be natural mothers but for whatever reason, had not or could not have children:

“It may very well be that in your beautiful desire to be a biological mother you have missed, ignored or overlooked the opportunity from God to be a spiritual mother.”

For years, some of the women reading this may have wished for children – wished to be a mother – wished to have someone into whom you could pour your heart of love for God, someone you could nurture and grow in the faith. God has called the elder women of the faith to be such a mother to the younger women in the church. A generation of women is in need of your experience – could you be a mentor , will you be a spiritual mother to them?

Happy Mother’s Day to all!

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God’s Word is a Mirror

When you look into a mirror and see something out of place, what do you do about it? Assuming that you drag the comb or brush out to fix your hair, or you grab a washcloth to clean your face, or (if you’re a man) a razor to shave your whiskers or (if you’re a woman) you dab some makeup on your cheeks – why? Why, when you see something in the mirror that is out of place do you do whatever you do to correct it?

If we’re honest we might say something like “So I don’t look bad in public.” Or, “So I don’t embarrass myself.” Or, “In order to look good to my girl, my guy, my husband or my wife;” you get the point. It is that last statement which I suspect drives our desire to respond to the reflection in the mirror of God’s word. My daughter had a friend years ago in our churches youth group who gave the following answer in response to a question about why she dressed up for church, she said: “I dress like this because when I come here, I’m out on a date with God.” She valued the relationship that she had with the Lord and dressed like it. I bring that up because as I said last time, I believe that God’s word is a mirror revealing not so much what is on our faces but rather what is in our hearts and, as a Christian, it is my desire to respond to the reflection of myself that I see when I read the word of God not only in order to please and honor Him but also to represent Him well in this world.

The reality is however, that every believer will enter into eternity still working on the man or the woman in the mirror.

When we are “born again” (John 3:3), we become new creatures (2 Corinthians 5:17):

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Even so, the New Testament is full of instruction like that found in (Colossians 3:8-10):

 “But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him…”

My point is this: in Christ we are made righteous in a moment: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) That exchange is called justification and it happens the moment we believe in Jesus Christ – we are freely forgiven through God’s grace in Jesus Christ; the burden of our sin having been carried and borne on Christ’s cross and paid for with His blood thousands of years before you were born and applied to your life the moment you believe.

But the process of our ongoing transformation to be like Christ, will take a life time. Think about it, the habits and lifestyles which took a lifetime until we met Jesus to develop will take time to change but one thing WILL change immediately along with our standing before God. As T. W. Hunt wrote in a study called The Mind of Christ – “your want to will change.” You will have seen yourself in the mirror of God’s word and you will want to do something to improve your “appearance” as a child of God.

Such ongoing transformation is called sanctification: an ongoing purification of our souls requiring that rather than being “conformed” to the ways of the world around us (Romans 12:2), we are to be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.”  Such a process requires both the mirror of God’s word and the enabling power of God’s Holy Spirit who lives within every believer (Romans 8:9) along with a daily submission to both.

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My Journey – Gazing Into The Mirror Of My Soul

People consult me every day; sometimes many times a day – I always tell them the truth. What am I?

A look into the mirror may lead you to think about your younger days – good or bad; it may also lead to wonder about who you are becoming but it only reveals to your eyes who you really are today.

A mirror may take the form of reflective glass in a bathroom or hall, or a photograph or a glimpse into a placid pool of water but God has provided us a different kind of mirror, one which when honestly observed reveals more than meets the eyes in those other types – it is a mirror to your soul. That is what James, the half-brother of our Lord considered the word of God to be:

“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was.” (James 1:23–24)

I too have always considered the word of God to be a mirror which reveals not the outward appearance of a person but rather the inward appearance of that person and not as they wish they appeared but as they do actually appear. The problem, as James saw it, was that after people have seen themselves in God’s mirror – if they are a hearer of the word and not a doer – they just walk away and disregard what had been revealed to them. Naturally speaking, have you ever done that? As a man I have disregarded my reflection in the bathroom mirror and forgotten to shave but I dare say that a scant few women have EVER looked into the mirror after having just woken up and done nothing to alter the appearance they first saw with their waking eyes. But spiritually speaking, how often have we gazed into God’s mirror and been struck with the fact that something is spiritually out of place with us and done nothing about it?

In (Romans 7:7) Paul declared that he “would not have know sin except through the Law.” The Law of which he spoke was the law of Moses and the Levitical law given to men by God; the words of those laws revealed certain expectations of God; but Paul says that the law also revealed sin to him. The law brought his personal rebellion against God to Paul’s attention – it revealed something of his own heart to Paul.

When the Pharisees and Scribes came to the Jordan to see or else to be baptized by John the Baptist, he said to them:

“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7)

These people did not see themselves as God did and were under wrath as is every person today who either has not looked into God’s mirror at all or has looked into it and disregarded what they saw.

When I first believed, it was from a place of conviction that I came. I knew that God had expectations of those He created and I knew that I had not lived up to them – I did not yet know that living up to God’s expectation was impossible apart from a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ and the residency of His Holy Spirit within me; I learned that the day I was born again and continue to learn it today.

I say this to you today because I believe that two things are necessary or required for the salvation of a soul. First, a warning from God which produces godly sorrow and second, belief or faith in Him whom God has provided to deal with our sins as a ransom and a refuge for our souls. That warning from God will come by God’s Spirit (John 16:8–11):

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.”

and through God’s word (Acts 2:36-37):

“Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?””

“Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38)

Truly, I think it is as Oswald Chambers wrote in his book “Our Ultimate Refuge”: “Until a person is hit with sorrow, the last thing they seek God to be is their refuge.” A refuge isn’t a place a person seeks when all is well with them; refuge is sought from danger: from storms, from rain and from terror. But as soon as a person sees him or herself as God does – as a sinner and a rebel possessing no way of justifying or saving themselves, that person won’t glibly walk to Jesus – they will run to Him and by faith in Him they will be born again (John 3:3)

It starts with an honest look in the mirror and frankly, spiritual life is driven in part by returning to the mirror of God daily.

More on this later this week….

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Settled in The Power of God’s Word

 “You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.” (Isaiah 26:3)

Today, in the midst of a global pandemic and the overwhelming political use of it to accomplish certain goals and intentions against our nation and our faith, the population is stuck and divided between two positions: Some of us are in fear and some of us are angry – some are both.

Some of us are in fear – fear for our health and the health of our loved ones, neighbors and friends; fear for our economy and the future of our nation. Others are just angry – angry that some people don’t seem to be as afraid, alarmed or concerned as they are about the health risks concerning the virus and /or that those same people are refusing to heed the cry of the “experts” on the issue (either concerning the virus or the economy) OR they are angry with those leaders who have taken advantage of the crisis to advance their own socio-political and radical environmentalist agendas.

Both the fearful and the angry people have one thing in common – no peace.

Isaiah wrote that perfect peace is only available to those whose minds are stayed (fixed or centered on) God – such a person is at peace because he or she has placed their trust in God. That, “stayed mind” is the third position being expressed today because it takes into account and considers what God’s word says – what it predicts (or prophecies) and what it promises.

Consider this, in (Matthew 24) Jesus both predicts (prophesies) and promises that days like these would come. I say promises because according to (Isaiah 55:11) in which God declares:

“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”

Every word of God WILL come to pass!

In (2 Timothy 3:1-5) Paul speaks to a young minister about the “perilous times” to come and the kind of behavior and attitudes which will mark those days and be manifested through both false teachers and worldly men:

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!”

In the gospel of (Luke 17:26-30), Jesus made mention of the days prior to His return characterizing them to be like the days of Noah and Lot:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

Was there a great revival in those days? No – they were marked by judgment.

The people ate, drank, gave their children in marriage, they bought, sold, planted, built and they were immoral – they lived but they did NOT seek God!

Some view their political party rivals as their enemy but in (Ephesians 6:12), Paul makes it clear that “we do not wrestle (war or fight) against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

The tension we feel and the stress upon us because of the evil we see in the world may come through or by the hand of our fellow man but it originates with Satan.

The Bible tells us how to wage a spiritual war in (2 Corinthians10:3-6). First, it says that the weapons we wage war with are NOT carnal – “we do not war according to the flesh.” We don’t mock, don’t shoot, don’t slander, don’t assault – don’t let our flesh respond to the emotional and or physical stresses upon it; instead, we bear the weapons of God and wage a spiritual warfare. We prayerfully use the word of God – even if it only assails our own attitudes rather than the issues around us. We bring EVERY thought into captivity (v.5) to the obedience of Christ! Such was Paul’s warfare, so it should also be the warfare of all who have believed in Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ said in (Matthew 24:12) that “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” What love, emotional love, physical love? No, more like empathy and compassion for our fellow man will grow cold. More than that, a lack of “love for the truth” (2 Thessalonians 2:10) of God – to deny His truth is to reject God. When we face oppression, the flesh wants to lash out against our oppressors but as we have seen, God would not have us to respond according to the flesh. When our answer to His word is “yeah, but…” we are NOT loving His truth! I think that this is part of what the “apostasy” which Paul mentions in (2 Thessalonians 2:3) looks like – a departure from loving God and the people He created AS WELL as a rejection of His authority and truth.

Both are taking place today!

Somehow, those of us clinging to either fear or anger in response to the world around us MUST return to seeing this world and reacting to it in light of the words and promises of God rather than the carnality of our emotions.

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My Journey

A brother in Christ asked me recently whether I counted my past life as Paul considered his to have been in (Philippians 3:7-8) – as “loss,” “dung” (KJV), or “rubbish” (NKJV). I said to him, “yes and no,” because I believe that Paul was referring to things like his reputation, education, status among men, and even his passion or “zeal” for God prior to knowing the Lord Jesus Christ – his “confidence in his flesh” (v.3-4) when he said it; I don’t think Paul meant things like the way God was getting his attention in those days. I don’t think that Paul meant “the goads” of the Lord (Acts 9:5) including the devotion of the followers of Christ, whom Paul persecuted, as they faced death or imprisonment for faith in Jesus as Stephen did in (Acts 6:8-7:60).

Why did I say yes and no? Because although my past life was in many ways, a deplorable moral train wreck; along the way, God used some of the things from my past to get my attention.

You see, for most of my life, I have been aware of God because of those things.

As a young teenager I would sing “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” in front of my house in the morning, while I was waiting for the bus or a ride to school – because somewhere I learned that Jesus was a Lion. I wouldn’t have called it worship because I didn’t know what that was but I was singing it to Him.

Silly, I know.

I wasn’t really ‘raised’ in church but I went to CCD as a kid – I was a kind of black sheep to the nuns who taught there, but I learned some things about Jesus there too.

Then I heard the rock opera, “Jesus Christ Superstar,” I didn’t know that it was meant to mock Jesus rather than exalt Him so, year after year as 97 Rock in Buffalo NY played the entire work on Easter Sunday, I would listen and sing the songs as an act of remembrance and one day I watched the movie by the same title. On that day, as I watched, Jesus was nailed to a cross while many stood near Him, mocking and laughing and His disciples boarded a bus leaving Him alone to die on the cross – I wept…I cried hard. I asked my mom, “Why did He die like that?” and “Why did, how could His friends leave Him there to die?” Questions that would be answered several years later, on the day I gave my life to Him who gave His for me.

Just because I was aware of God didn’t mean that I knew Him or had accurate knowledge about Him either; the fact was that I really knew very little about Him. For instance, as I grew older and my sins increased, I came to view God as a “three strikes and you’re out” kind of God. Maybe it was because what little exposure I did have to what He is like came from people who taught that you could earn your way into Heaven by doing good. On Easter Sunday morning 1988, I entered into church with the overwhelming conviction that I had sinned one too many times and after hearing a message that involved a gospel presentation when I finally learned the answer to WHY Jesus died like He did, in tears I came forward to ask Him to save my soul.

Did I come to understand Him fully in that hour? No. Did I turn from all of my sins in that hour? No.

I began a new life in Christ, in that hour. I began a journey of transformation, in that hour.

Have I had doubts about God since then? No.

Have I ever had doubts about myself and my relationship to God since then? …Yes, occasionally and especially when I forget that the only works which count for eternal life are the works that Jesus Christ did to save me.

I’m still on that journey today and I have learned a few things about myself and about God during the 32 years since my first encounter with Him on the road I had been traveling. It is from those lessons that I write in order to help those on the road to keep headed in the right direction and also in order to introduce others to the Son of God who died and rose for them like He did for me.

Over the years, the Lord has used tragedy, danger and answered prayer to draw me nearer to Him in faith but the one thing that He has consistently used to humble, refine and draw me nearer to Himself is the mirror He left for us which is His holy word.

More on that later this week….

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