While waiting for my daughter at the orthodontist office this AM, I picked up a recent copy of Newsweek magazine. The cover story is on Christian persecution. As I read the article, I found myself with very opposed emotions. On one hand, I was excited that “finally the main stream media is reporting the truth of the war against Christians who live in Muslim lands.” I have lived in such a country twenty years ago and saw firsthand the daily oppression and hate toward Christians. Even yesterday, I received an email from a dear friend in that country stating that he again is under death threats. The world needs to wake up to the true nature of Islam — for those who persecute Christians are the ones being true to their book, the Qur’an. Yet, on the other hand, the excitement faded into restrained tears as the reality of the content was read. It is true that our Christian brothers and sisters around the world are suffering for the Name of Jesus Christ. The cost to many Christians is home, village, business, church, a limb, virginity, even life. Too often, I forget the suffering of the saints in Muslim lands. The article was a good wake up call for me, one knows the persecution but has become comfortable again, to pray fervently for the persecuted church.
I listened to a wonderful sermon re repentance this AM. One thing that sticks with me is the idea of repenting when good things happen to me. Like me, you usually think of repentance when bad things happen. Yet, read these words from Romans 2:4, “Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” One way to figure out how we receive that sentence to ask, “When good things (finally) happen to you — how do you respond?” When the preacher asked that question in the sermon I was listening to — I immediately blurted out, “It’s about time.” Meaning, “finally something good from God in this disappointing world.” Yet, the meaning goes further: I presume that I deserve good from God for all the good I’ve done. I believe God owes me! The gospel is so opposite: I deserve nothing, yet the Son of God, Jesus, became nothing for me so that I could have everything in Him. Thus, when good happens — it drives to me to turn to God (repentance) and to say “Thank you for yet another undeserved good thing from your gracious hand!” Thus, not only do the bad things, but even good things lead to repentance — all of life is to be one of repentance.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous,” wrote the psalmist (Ps 34:19). Jesus echos similarly when he states, “In this world you will have tribulation.” (Jn 16:33) How I wish that it were the other way around! Few are the afflictions of the righteous. In this world you will not have tribulation. Yet, as much as I wish, the reality of affliction does not change. If affliction had the last word, then I believe I would be truly depressed. But praise to God that He entered our tribulation through the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Not only does Jesus know our affliction, but He leads us through it so that we can agree with the psalmist when he completes the sentence re afflictions, “but the LORD delivers him out of them all.” (Ps 34:19) Further, Jesus encourages, “But take heart, I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16:33) Amen!
In church circles, the “sinner’s prayer” usually is something like, “Lord please forgive me my sins. I believe Jesus died for me.” It is the prayer often associated with one’s conversion. Yet, why keep such a prayer only for conversion? At least for me, daily I wrestle with sin; daily I need to believe that Jesus died for me. I saw this type of “sinner’s prayer” today as I read Ps 25. Hear (read) the following excerpts from the seasoned saint, David:
Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
For your name’s sake, O LORD,
pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Consider my affliction and my trouble,
and forgive all my sins.
Oh, guard my soul, and deliver me!
Let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in you.
Amen!
I overlook the significance the familiar words, “The LORD is my shepherd” (Ps 23:1). The “LORD” — my God is infinite, there is no other! Yet, is “my shepherd” — God is personal, He truly is interested in me! This combination of an infinite and personal is awkward. I tend to favor one or the other but not both. E.g. God is infinite — big, but far away. Or God is personal — caring, but not really doing much to fix things. The beauty of both infinite and personal means that God is big and caring, near and really doing much to fix things now. What a great God!
I wrestle with the idea of God fighting my battles for me. Today I read from Exodus and came to Ex 14:14 “The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” I can’t tell you how difficult that is for me! I want to fight because I want to say “I did it! It was me who won!” Yet, the Lord commands His people to be silent, to wait and see His victory. I suppose the larger problem for me is that I do not long for the Lord’s victory! Instead, as stated above, I long for my own victories. May it be that as I am silent, I will have the result that God states a few verses after v.14 — “then they shall know that I am the LORD.”
It’s dangerous to recommend a book without first reading it, but this may be an exception. Please go to link to find out more! Note: at the link you can go to the additional links — including a viewing of the book promo webcast.
Covenant Theological Seminary professor Dr. Robert Peterson make a reply to Rob Bell’s popular book “Love Wins.” Please see the seven minute YouTube video Dr. Robert Peterson responds to Rob Bell’s book, “Love Wins”
I recently finished reading Francis Colllins’ “The Language of God“. I plan to write about his book as well as the overall theme of evolution in a forthcoming post.
For now, I commend his chapter entitled “The War of the Worldviews”, for in it he simply addresses common stumbling blocks to Christianity.
In regard to “What about all the harm done in the name of religion” Collins writes, “The church is made up of fallen people. The pure, clean water of spiritual truth is placed in rusty containers, and the subsequent failings of the church down through the centuries should not be projected onto the faith itself, as if the water had been the problem.” (He alludes and I add — what about all the harm done in the name of non-religion such as that from Stalin and Pol Pot.)
In regard to “Why would a loving God allow suffering in the world?” Collins writes, “There are several answers to this dilemma. Some are easier to accept than others. In the first place, let us recognize that a large fraction of our suffering and that of our fellow human beings is brought about by what we do to one another. It is humankind, not God, that has invented knives, arrows, guns, bombs, and all manner of other instruments of torture used through the ages. The tragedy of the young child killed by a drunk driver, of the innocent man dying on the battlefield, or of the young girl cut down by a stray bullet in a crime ridden section of a modern city can hardly be blamed on God. After all, we have somehow been given free will, the ability to do as we please. We use this ability frequently to disobey the Moral Law. And when we do so, we shouldn’t then blame God for the consequences. Should God have restrained our free will in order to prevent these kinds of evil behavior? That line of thought quickly encounters a dilemma from which there is no rational escape. …What about the occurrence of natural disasters: earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, great floods and famines? On a smaller but no less poignant scale, what about the occurrence of disease in an innocent victim, such as cancer in a child? The Anglican priest and distinguished physicist John Polkinghome has referred to this category of event as ‘physical evil,’ as opposed to the ‘moral evil’ committed by humankind. How can it be justified? Science reveals that the universe, our own planet, and life itself are engaged in an evolutionary process. The consequences of that can include the unpredictability of the weather, the slippage of a tectonic plate, or the misspelling of a cancer gene in the normal process of cell division. If at the beginning of time God chose to use these forces to create human beings, then the inevitability of these other painful consequences was also assured. Frequent miraculous interventions would be at least as chaotic in the physical realm as they would be in interfering with human acts of free will. For many thoughtful seekers, these rational explanations fall short of providing a justification for the pain of human existence. Why is our life more a vale of tears than a garden of delight? Much has been written about this apparent paradox, and the conclusion is not an easy one: if God is loving and wishes the best for us, then perhaps His plan is not the same as our plan.”
Some good thoughts to consider.
Again, I intend to write re evolution and particularly the growing trend of theistic evolution in the evangelical church. For today, though, I am struck by humanity’s longings for justice and benevolence all the more displays the biblical truth of being created by a moral God and having morality stamped upon us.
Context sure does add perspective to the Scriptures! I read Psalms 20-23 this AM and was struck by the fact that the compiler of the Psalms (someone or some committee before Jesus’ day had put the psalms in the order we have in our Bible today) had reason to put these four psalms in the order that they are. Ps 20 reads much like a benediction – v.5 May the Lord fulfill all your petitions! Then Ps 21 speaks of the blessings the King has received – v. 2 You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. v.6 For you make him most blessed forever. When I read those two psalms, I though to myself, “Wow! I want that blessing!” I also had self-pity: “Why don’t I have that blessing?!? Where is the great blessing that I read about in the Bible in my own life?” As I was wallowing, I next read Ps 22 and context was given me. Ps 22 speaks of the forsakenness that God’s people often experience. V.1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? V.2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. King David is ascribed authorship for these psalms and we have no good reason to doubt this. This means King David who experienced great blessing (Ps 20 & 22) also experienced great forsakenness (Ps 22). The compiler of the Psalms was keeping a good perspective, preserving a right context to the salvation history of God’s people. I appreciate this — for I can relate to the blessing and to the forsakenness in this life. I will go a step further, not only do I appreciate this, I need this context. When I am experiencing blessing, I am reminded that that the blessing is not the ultimate good — for it can all be taken away. Similarly, when I am experiencing forsakenness, I am reminded that it is not the final word — for Jesus uttered those very words of forsakenness on the Cross to not only enter my forsakenness, but to take it away. This is where Ps 23 comes in — The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want… even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me… I shall dwell in the in the house of the Lord forever. It is no wonder that this Ps 23 is one of the most beloved psalms! We relate well to it — it speaks of forsakenness (the valley of the shadow of death) as well as the blessing (You are with me). May the Lord continue to give me a right context to the mounts and vales that I experience in life!
