As I finished up the semester a little over a week ago, I had already been suffering from tension. Not like the tension that causes headaches, but the tension like on a rope that you are pulling on with someone tied to the other end of it. With school, I always have something to do with homework, papers, or reports. This takes a priority in my daily life. When that ends, I find many other things begin pulling at me. What now is my priority? This confusion isn't for a lack of things to do, but a lack of priorities on my part. What is that one thing that is needful? What absolutely has to be done? This is my quandary.
I read the Bible. I pray. I go to work. I take care of what needs to be done at home, yet none of these give me a sense of fulfillment or purpose. What is that underlying element that I turn to and work on when all else is done? Right now, I don't know what that is. I love my job as difficult and annoying as it may be when dealing with middle-schoolers and grade-schoolers. But I get to interact with them and can share my faith with them and I thoroughly enjoy that and thank God for that opportunity. But when I leave work, work stays there.
So now there are many things pulling at me for priorities: different desires to read more, study greek, hobbies, financial needs, or focusing on what my life needs to get back to "living." I could go on and on. Different things creep in, both good and bad, and want to take control. Bad memories creep in and affect my moods. I get to thinking about past relationships and wondering about why they turned out how they did. At any moment I may have loneliness, joy, fullness, gladness, depression, frustration, aggression, emptiness, or worthlessness coursing through the veins of my emotions and it may change at any given moment for no apparent reason.
Recently I have been going through the memory of my life altering events from recent years. Tomorrow is May 25th and it will have been three years since my mother died and my wife left me. And honestly I have to say that sometimes it still hurts like hell. It seems as though now I am finally beginning to actually deal with the loss of my mother. The betrayal of my wife in leaving me how and when she did honestly left me in a state that I do not have the words to truly convey the depth of feeling I had. I felt like a zombie: lifeless. I blindly walked into another relationship a few months later seeking something to help ease the pain and I felt like I had decided to move on. That was the biggest mistake of my life and still has unresolved issues that pull at me as well.
Do I get a headache from all these things pulling at me at once? No, for me it is more of a heartache. When all the emotions have filtered through and I get down to brass tacks, I am always pulled back to God by His love, kindness, and mercy for me. He alone is worthy of my time and effort, and in whatever I do, whether work or play, I believe that it is all a part of His plan to make me who I am.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Friday, May 20, 2011
Sad but True
Tonight on the way home, I was listening to John Hancock on WBT radio out of Charlotte. I heard something that I didn't know whether to cry about or laugh at. Mr. Hancock is not an overly religious gentleman, but is the son of a minister. When a nice lady called in and asked him about the recent prediction that tomorrow is going to be the rapture. She asked if the Bible said that no one can know the day, and he replied that it does say that, which is accurate. Once he had answered her question, she said she would stop worrying.
My thought, however, was that this dear poor woman called a radio talk show host to ask about spiritual matters. No offense to Mr. Hancock or the caller, but if I wanted to know something about my car I wouldn't call a gynecologist. If my foot was hurting, I wouldn't call a skiing instructor. If I wanted siding put on my house, I wouldn't call a librarian. Yet this lady calls a radio talk show host whose show is not about religion specifically, nor do I believe that Mr. Hancock would claim to be a Bible expert.
It saddens me that people do these types of things. Why not crack open the Bible and see for yourself? Google it. Bing it. Yahoo search it. Do not take someone's word for something as potentially important as this event, even an "expert." It seems that this is the way with most people. We do not wish to think for ourselves because then we would be responsible for what we know and what we do with it. As long as we can say, "That's what they told me," we can lay blame at the feet of someone else. Sad but true.
My thought, however, was that this dear poor woman called a radio talk show host to ask about spiritual matters. No offense to Mr. Hancock or the caller, but if I wanted to know something about my car I wouldn't call a gynecologist. If my foot was hurting, I wouldn't call a skiing instructor. If I wanted siding put on my house, I wouldn't call a librarian. Yet this lady calls a radio talk show host whose show is not about religion specifically, nor do I believe that Mr. Hancock would claim to be a Bible expert.
It saddens me that people do these types of things. Why not crack open the Bible and see for yourself? Google it. Bing it. Yahoo search it. Do not take someone's word for something as potentially important as this event, even an "expert." It seems that this is the way with most people. We do not wish to think for ourselves because then we would be responsible for what we know and what we do with it. As long as we can say, "That's what they told me," we can lay blame at the feet of someone else. Sad but true.
Is This Offensive?
Romans 9:14-18 (NASB)
What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
Is this offensive to you? Does it interfere with your sense of "fairness"? I have come to the conclusion today that Romans 9 is one of the greatest chapters in the Bible. It tells me more about God and His glory than any other chapter in the Bible ... maybe.
We are discussing a book by Erwin Lutzer in Sunday school: Ten Lies About God. In the three lessons I have lead the discussion, each seem to have at their core the desire to exalt man over God. Whether it is God's command over nature and the horrible natural disasters that occur, the condemnation of non-believers who never had a "chance" to hear the gospel, or God's freedom in election, each lie wants to exalt man and blame God. The old question of "Why do bad things happen to good people" pops it's head up. In a moment of clarity during one f the lessons, I asked the question, "From God's perspective, who is innocent?" If Romans 3 does not come to mind, go read your Bible. Paul concludes that there is none righteous and that all have sinned. We never learn God's perspective do we? That's what theology does and that's just for the academia and for the preachers and Bible-thumpers. Jonathan Edwards would disagree.
Although a Calvinist, and in this day and age that's a bad word and labels people as uncaring and impractical, Edwards life and view of all things flowed from his belief about who God is. For Edwards, obedience to the commands of Christ was preeminent to the Christian life. What were Christ's commands? Love God and love your neighbor, and not in word only but in DEED and in TRUTH. People also hate the book of James, but James is pointing to the obvious fact that real faith requires an attitude of the heart followed by a subsequent act of obedience. If we say we love Christ but do not love others around us and meet their needs as Christ did, are we fooling ourselves? C.S. Lewis says that what we are comes out in what we do. That's a good statement because it agrees with Jesus words in Mark 7. At our core we are and always will be sinners thus none of us are innocent before God. So to charge God with guilt over bad things happening to "good" people is false.
Why then do we as the creatures say to the Creator, "That's not fair"? It is a symptom of the sin in our heart. Although we have sinned like Adam, we want to make God obligated and bound to our will and desire and free ourselves from responsibility. If you have children or work with children this concept should be easy to grasp. When the child does wrong they want to justify and blame us and make excuses, thus charging us with guilt for their transgression. Does this remind you of Adam's response to God seeking him in the garden? "The woman whom YOU gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." It's your fault God!! If you had not given me this woman, I wouldn't have eaten!! It's her fault God!! Yet in the end if you look at scripture, Adam freely took of the fruit and ate it.
So, why do Christians have a problem with free election of God in salvation? I think there are at least a couple of things I can point to. First is our sinful nature. As a Christian we still have to deal with and subdue those old desires. We still say to God; "That's not fair!" We still want to shackle God with our perspective and sense of fairness. Second is the American culture. We have developed a deep abiding sense of entitlement in America. We believe that we are exceptional people and we are. We do more than any other nation to help the poor of our nation and those of other nations as well. Unfortunately we ascribe our greatness to our people or our form of government rather than God. We can see the influence of Christ's teachings in taking care of the sick and the poor, yet we ascribe it to our innate goodness. Once again we exalt man and dethrone God.
Even so, scripture says that God "has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." You can either accept it or stand with those who accuse God and say, "That's not fair!" I think I am with Joshua on this one.
What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, "I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION." So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH." So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
Is this offensive to you? Does it interfere with your sense of "fairness"? I have come to the conclusion today that Romans 9 is one of the greatest chapters in the Bible. It tells me more about God and His glory than any other chapter in the Bible ... maybe.
We are discussing a book by Erwin Lutzer in Sunday school: Ten Lies About God. In the three lessons I have lead the discussion, each seem to have at their core the desire to exalt man over God. Whether it is God's command over nature and the horrible natural disasters that occur, the condemnation of non-believers who never had a "chance" to hear the gospel, or God's freedom in election, each lie wants to exalt man and blame God. The old question of "Why do bad things happen to good people" pops it's head up. In a moment of clarity during one f the lessons, I asked the question, "From God's perspective, who is innocent?" If Romans 3 does not come to mind, go read your Bible. Paul concludes that there is none righteous and that all have sinned. We never learn God's perspective do we? That's what theology does and that's just for the academia and for the preachers and Bible-thumpers. Jonathan Edwards would disagree.
Although a Calvinist, and in this day and age that's a bad word and labels people as uncaring and impractical, Edwards life and view of all things flowed from his belief about who God is. For Edwards, obedience to the commands of Christ was preeminent to the Christian life. What were Christ's commands? Love God and love your neighbor, and not in word only but in DEED and in TRUTH. People also hate the book of James, but James is pointing to the obvious fact that real faith requires an attitude of the heart followed by a subsequent act of obedience. If we say we love Christ but do not love others around us and meet their needs as Christ did, are we fooling ourselves? C.S. Lewis says that what we are comes out in what we do. That's a good statement because it agrees with Jesus words in Mark 7. At our core we are and always will be sinners thus none of us are innocent before God. So to charge God with guilt over bad things happening to "good" people is false.
Why then do we as the creatures say to the Creator, "That's not fair"? It is a symptom of the sin in our heart. Although we have sinned like Adam, we want to make God obligated and bound to our will and desire and free ourselves from responsibility. If you have children or work with children this concept should be easy to grasp. When the child does wrong they want to justify and blame us and make excuses, thus charging us with guilt for their transgression. Does this remind you of Adam's response to God seeking him in the garden? "The woman whom YOU gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate." It's your fault God!! If you had not given me this woman, I wouldn't have eaten!! It's her fault God!! Yet in the end if you look at scripture, Adam freely took of the fruit and ate it.
So, why do Christians have a problem with free election of God in salvation? I think there are at least a couple of things I can point to. First is our sinful nature. As a Christian we still have to deal with and subdue those old desires. We still say to God; "That's not fair!" We still want to shackle God with our perspective and sense of fairness. Second is the American culture. We have developed a deep abiding sense of entitlement in America. We believe that we are exceptional people and we are. We do more than any other nation to help the poor of our nation and those of other nations as well. Unfortunately we ascribe our greatness to our people or our form of government rather than God. We can see the influence of Christ's teachings in taking care of the sick and the poor, yet we ascribe it to our innate goodness. Once again we exalt man and dethrone God.
Even so, scripture says that God "has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires." You can either accept it or stand with those who accuse God and say, "That's not fair!" I think I am with Joshua on this one.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Victory
Romans 8:35-37 (NASB)
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
What a way to begin a day!! The end of the school semester has brought ample time for my brain to flood with all other types of thoughts and emotions. Painful memories, current struggles and doubts, and many other things that tend to hamper faith have come to the forefront of my mind, but today I started with these verses. It struck me that the verses do not say we endure, but it says that we conquer!! We win!! We have overcome any obstacle that may inhibit us from experiencing the fullness of the life of Christ. How so? Is the life of victory in Christ an easy care free life? May it never be!! It is through tribulation, distress, persecution, and suffering that we come to know and experience the fullness of Christ. Through Him, and through Him only, do we not only overcome these obstacles but we conquer them as a glorious victory on the field of battle called life. When we refuse to let the disease that is destroying our body overcome our joy in Christ, we conquer!! When we refuse to let the needs of life overwhelm us, we conquer!! When we refuse to lash out at the one who is hurting us, we conquer!! When we refuse to give in to the temptations of life, in public and in private, we conquer!! When we face death and we refuse to lose hope, we conquer!! In all these things Christ's power, glory, and magnificence is brought to the forefront of our minds, shown in our lives, and seen by others. In these times we bear a greater witness for Christ than we could in a thousand lifetimes of joy, peace, and ease.
The greatest theological question people seem to have is "How can there be a good God and suffering in this world?" When we face the trials of life, refuse to give in to the despair they can bring, and give Christ glory, then we show that only through Him can we endure the suffering this life brings with hope. Because only in Christ do we have hope. Who else answers the question "How can a man be justified before God?" Through Him we have conquered the greatest peril to a man's soul: the debt of sin that separates us from Him. Peter said in Acts that there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we MUST be saved!! Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." Only in Him and through Him is there any hope at all for this life and the life that follows for it is appointed for man once to die and after this the judgment. We have an appointment to keep that no one has ever missed and a follow up immediately after. Are you prepared for the follow up? Will you win this race of life? Only through Jesus Christ is victory possible.
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written, "FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
What a way to begin a day!! The end of the school semester has brought ample time for my brain to flood with all other types of thoughts and emotions. Painful memories, current struggles and doubts, and many other things that tend to hamper faith have come to the forefront of my mind, but today I started with these verses. It struck me that the verses do not say we endure, but it says that we conquer!! We win!! We have overcome any obstacle that may inhibit us from experiencing the fullness of the life of Christ. How so? Is the life of victory in Christ an easy care free life? May it never be!! It is through tribulation, distress, persecution, and suffering that we come to know and experience the fullness of Christ. Through Him, and through Him only, do we not only overcome these obstacles but we conquer them as a glorious victory on the field of battle called life. When we refuse to let the disease that is destroying our body overcome our joy in Christ, we conquer!! When we refuse to let the needs of life overwhelm us, we conquer!! When we refuse to lash out at the one who is hurting us, we conquer!! When we refuse to give in to the temptations of life, in public and in private, we conquer!! When we face death and we refuse to lose hope, we conquer!! In all these things Christ's power, glory, and magnificence is brought to the forefront of our minds, shown in our lives, and seen by others. In these times we bear a greater witness for Christ than we could in a thousand lifetimes of joy, peace, and ease.
The greatest theological question people seem to have is "How can there be a good God and suffering in this world?" When we face the trials of life, refuse to give in to the despair they can bring, and give Christ glory, then we show that only through Him can we endure the suffering this life brings with hope. Because only in Christ do we have hope. Who else answers the question "How can a man be justified before God?" Through Him we have conquered the greatest peril to a man's soul: the debt of sin that separates us from Him. Peter said in Acts that there is no other name under Heaven given among men whereby we MUST be saved!! Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me." Only in Him and through Him is there any hope at all for this life and the life that follows for it is appointed for man once to die and after this the judgment. We have an appointment to keep that no one has ever missed and a follow up immediately after. Are you prepared for the follow up? Will you win this race of life? Only through Jesus Christ is victory possible.
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