Good Whippin's

Today I was re-reading a verse that I’ve been focused on: 2 Peter 3:9

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

This morning the next verse, 2 Peter 3:9, caught my attention:

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.”

That passage brought to mind a memory that gives me a chuckle…

Many years ago as a younger man, a friend and I were asked to prepare a lesson for a men’s Bible study. The topic we were to present was “The End Times”. Now we were both green, but we weren’t totally ignorant.

We knew we had a lot of very well-versed older Christian men in the class, amongst who were several self-proclaimed end-time aficionados. And we knew this was a big topic that generated many conflicting opinions. Our answer was simple: “They’ll hand us our hats if we try to use our limited knowledge of this topic, but no one knows more than Jesus so they won’t beat us up too bad if we stick with Him.”

To us there was only one reasonable, (and safe,) path available. We compiled a document which gave all of Christ’s statements regarding the end-times and used it to give some simple principals that seemed to be laid out plainly in Christ’s comments.

That was the lesson we gave …
…and the whipping we received was epic!

I remember being shocked at the response we received from the “experts” in our midst. (I’ve been tempted at times to joke that "those men apparently knew more on the topic than Jesus", but that wouldn’t be honest or fair.)

The fashionable thing to do these days is to say that my buddy and I were the victims of “hard-hearted Pharisees” and to go on at length about the damage done to our “sweet, tender, spiritual selves”.

Today I appreciate what those men were trying to do. The Bible tells young Christian men that we are to learn from older Christian men. Nothing in those instructions qualifies that we need only learn from older Christian men who are “pure and gentle”.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

- Proverbs 1:7

Our simple presentation was built on a foundation of “our understanding.” We had believed that "simplicity" was a refuge and defense within which we could deploy our best thinking. Even if those men were completely wrong, (which wasn’t the case,) they were concerned about our understanding and willing to correct what they perceived as error. Today we need more Christian men like that.

Once again I am reminded that my only confidence can be in Jesus and God’s Word. Even my best understanding is dangerous in my hands, but if I watch His lead, it’ll be alright...

“For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.”

- Proverbs 1:32-33

Praise Jesus name!

Huffing and Puffing and Blowing Them Down!

I was at lunch today and a trio at a booth across the room were talking and I overheard a small snippet of conversation:

"My brother is 23 years old. He has anger issues..."

Isn't it amazing how effortlessly that flows out of our mouths these days? "I have anger issues!" It sounds medical, clinical...

...an unfortunate waif beset by the dread disease "Anger Issues." A victim, if you will, of the horrible environmental and emotional stresses of a damaged youthhoodfulness.

I know some people who have really ticked me off lately. I've shot my mouth off a few times. I've wanted to throw tantrums...

I've wanted to fall in the floor, kick my heels and scream and cry until everyone who isn't doing what I want, when I want to do it, will either do things my way or suffer the horrible fate that they deserve (for not giving me what I want.)

I've been thinking I need to grow up. Maybe, I've been thinking, someone else should be allowed to enjoy their life besides just me? Maybe I've needed to stop being immature and turn some of these things over to God.

Y'know, I can't help but believe that if I would exercise some self-control and turn to God for deliverence from those things beyond my control, I'll be a happier and better man. Thank goodness I don't have "anger issues", because if I did I wouldn't be able to change.

O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, “Away with you!”

- Isaiah 30:19-22

Thank You Lord.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

- 2 Peter 3:9

Cēterīs paribus

"Cēterīs paribus"
Boy, there's a $10 phrase if I've ever heard one and for all of the confusion it has caused, it should be something different.

Ceteris paribus is Latin and means "holding other things constant". It is used "constantly" (ha-ha-ha!) in the hard sciences, economics and psychology, etc. as both an assumption and a experimental parameter. Here's how Wikipedia.org explains it:

"A ceteris paribus assumption is often fundamental to the predictive purpose of scientific inquiry. In order to formulate scientific laws, it is usually necessary to rule out factors which interfere with examining a specific causal relationship. Experimentally, the ceteris paribus assumption is realized when a scientist controls for all of the independent variables other than the one under study, so that the effect of a single independent variable on the dependent variable can be isolated. By holding all the other relevant factors constant, a scientist is able to focus on the unique effects of a given factor in a complex causal situation."*

When you're trying to explore, experiment and understand, ceteris paribus is a very important tool. But a big problem comes up when you begin to impute ceteris paribus onto the real world.

Example: A big problem in the climate change debate is that many people are operating on a ceteris paribus foundation. "The world was stable and unchanging and now it is changing, therefore we must restore stability." The truth is that God's creation reflects the creator: wild, untamed, independent and beyond our influence. We live and die at the mercy of nature's incomprehensible might. (Pretty uncomfortable stuff for people who place their own lives at the center of existence.)

Interestingly, the Bible addresses ceteris paribus. It is, as one teacher calls it, "The heresy of the end-times" and is described in 2 Peter 3:4. Here's the passage in context:

"First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

- 2 Peter 3:3-7

"...everything goes on as it has
since the beginning of creation."

Ceteris Paribus

Ceteris paribus is an important and useful tool in so many things, but the decision to apply it as a foundational principal at work in reality is often made unconsciously and fallaciously without due consideration. It's also a great way to establish premisses to science that automatically disqualify God from realistic consideration. (Note that the passage from 2 Peter, above, also says, "...they deliberately forget ...".)

As Christians we have nothing to fear from science. Science reveals so much of God's glory and the wonder of His creation. It challenges our limited, and often immature, conceptions of God and forces us to confront our true insignificance and acknowledge that our true significance is realized only from God's love of us.

As humans we have much to fear from error and abusing ceteris paribus is a big one... big enough to get a person into hell.

* _{Wikipedia contributors, "Ceteris paribus," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ceteris_paribus&oldid=288628203 (accessed May 14, 2009).}

The Trip...

Klaus was 8 years old when his father took him on a trip. It was a dream vacation for a young boy.

It started with a train ride. Then they went hiking through fields and ended the day camping under the stars. The next day was spent with more hiking in the outdoors and then they came to a river. Rather than walking along it or finding a bridge they bundled their clothes up and swam across the river. Then they hiked some more.

Then they came to a sign and Klaus's father stopped, pulled his son to him, hugged him and broke down in tears. "We made it! We made it!" Klaus's father cried.

Klaus and his father had just escaped from Communist Czechoslovakia into West Germany. Klaus would one day understand what that meant, but at 8 years old it had just been a wonderful adventure. Just a walk with his Dad.*

Klaus's father had understood the peril Klaus had faced in Czechoslovakia. He understood the dire future that would inevitably follow if they did not leave. Klaus's father knew that Klaus would have to be led to avoid this peril that he did not yet understand. The price was great, but so was the deliverence.

Our unsaved friends and neighbors also face a peril. A danger more dire than any present in Communist Czechoslovakia. They are blindly living their lives in danger's path and they do not understand the rescue they require.

God wants them led to safety.

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’

“But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’

“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’

“Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
“‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’

“He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

Luke 16:19-31

The danger is imminent and the risk is catastrophic. "...they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead." What price are we willing to pay to assure that those we know are delivered from peril?

Is it time for a walk?


* _{This story is adapted from the real life story of PGA golfer Alex Cejka as related in Jay Nordliner's online "Impromptus" column in National Review Online on May 12, 2009 titled "A Great Reaganite Hope, &c."}

The Counseling Trap

As I have grown as a believer I've become somewhat disenchanted with Christian teaching that is actually secular "counseling" dressed up with a thin veneer of Scripture overlaid to maintain appearances. More and more as I read some of our most popular “Christian Leaders” today I find that their teachings have a foundation built upon "counseling" and they are presenting Christ as an effective answer to our personal problems.

So, what’s wrong with that?

`Truth is, I think that message can be important. The world is gonna "...rip your heart out and stomp that sucker flat". Opening ourselves to the teachings of our Wonderful Counselor is a critical focus for a Christian's peace. Could we really make it without Him sustaining our hearts and minds? No, that’s silly.

But there are a couple of dangers here.

First: Secular counseling is centered on the person being counseled. A person's feelings are the central priority and the objective is to “feel better”. When one ventures down this path there is a great danger that they will subvert their relationship with Christ into a tool to “feel better”. It’s a terrible, (and very common,) temptation to want God to serve us rather than our proper role of serving Him. Christ did not die on the cross to be a Prozac substitute.

For me, getting past this issue has been a central obstacle to maturing as a Christian. And as God has led me down this path, I have looked back to find that much teaching that I’ve received in the past was designed to adapt Jesus to my self-centered world view rather than to teach me to adapt to His Will and Purpose. (And this is still a work in progress.)

Second: The combination of Christianity and secular counseling has introduced many secular ideas that are built on a self-centered worldview that is inconsistent with the Bible. Accommodation to sin becomes "Compassion". Our feelings become the central priority of life. “Truth” becomes subject to its impact upon us and our feelings. And let's face it, doing the right thing doesn't always "feel" good and sin sometimes feels really good, (for a season.)

Probably the worst result I’ve seen emerge from this outlook is the naturally following conclusion that God is modeled upon what we feel God should be and what we are comfortable understanding God to be. “Truth” in the Bible is then interpreted by how well it matches up with our prior decision on who God is. How often do we hear:

“I can’t believe that a loving God would [fill in the blank]”
or
“If God… [characteristic they feel God has]
…then how could He… [behavior of God that contradicts that characteristic]?”

This question is a great one when it leads us to a new understanding of God that breaks our personal perceptions. It is disasterous when it leads to a person abandoning Truth because their worldview has become their god. And there's the problem in a nutshell. If a person is centered upon God, counseling has valuable potentials. Without God counseling promotes sin through self-centeredness.

Whatever value modern counseling techniques may or may not have, it is common for these models to promote a self-centered worldview that is problematic for a servant of the Living God. When these tools are deployed into the body without adequate effort to address this danger, a problem is likely to follow. Our calling to discernment demands that we be aware of and on guard against these dangers and that process has to start with ourselves and our own beliefs.

An Interesting Story

I get this daily Newsletter from Lifeway. (Lifeway's the Baptist publishing arm.) It starts each message with a listing of today's readings from the Bible (to read the Bible in a year,) and also gives a bible verse and a short message and a prayer. I'm not a huge fan of this newsletter and often just read the Bible verse before deleting the rest, but this little story was buried in today's message, so I thought I'd share it with you:

A story is told of an occasion when Christmas Evans, the great Welsh preacher of a past century, was due to preach. Prior to the service the church was packed with people eager to hear the great orator.

As the service was about to begin, it was announced that Christmas Evans was unable to keep the engagement and a lesser-known preacher would take his place.

People began to show signs of leaving until the moderator said: "All those who have come to worship Christmas Evans may leave. All those who have come to worship God may stay."

No one left.

_{Everyday with Jesus - May 12 as published by Lifeway Newletters via email. A sample of the newsletter can be found here and the link to subscribe is in the fine print at the bottom of the page.}

"...and Again I say, "Rejoice"!

About two years ago my wife walked out on me. I was blessed by so much love and support from Christian brothers and sisters. I was also inundated with worldly advice and counsel from these same brothers and sisters. Today, I stand in amazement at what many otherwise strong believers were suggesting. (Divorce is a brutal issue for Christians and they simply didn't know better.)

Praise God I was led to Rejoice Marriage Ministries where I found biblically sound answers to the challenges that were beseiging my life. Further, I have also been blessed to receive daily encouragement for over two years from this ministry that has helped me to stay focused on God and His Word when the world would like to call me away.

There is a biblical answer for people in the midst of divorce. Responding to Satan's attack in the world's way will derail a life into a series of ever expanding defeats. Godly counsel will take this adversity and transform a man or woman in God's hands into a servant who brings glory to Him.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

- Romans 5:2-5

Modern John's

I believe that someday we will look back with horror at our current attitudes and behavior concerning divorce.

Today we understand that those who harassed and attacked veterans returning from combat in Vietnam were acting in a craven manner at the lowest depths of the human spectrum. I believe that we will someday view the Church’s reluctant acceptance of the destruction of families in a similar vein.

Modern Christians have made themselves complicit in this crisis using feeble justifications of “kindness”, “understanding” and “not wanting to be judgmental” and refusing to stand in the face of evil. There are, however, voices out there ministering to this issue with integrity, compassion and love. They strike me as voices...

“...calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord.’”

- Isaiah 40:3

Please take a prayerful look at:

Rejoice Marriage Ministries

I strongly recommend them from my personal experience and ask you to prayerfully consider work and their fruit. Unfortunately we focus so much on the happiness of the husband and wife while forgetting that we are emotionally crippling the children in the family. God is healing and restoring marriages and families.

"When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”

Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.”

- Matthew 11:2-6

If you do not know how to handle the issue of divorce in a manner that is both compassionate AND Biblically sound, you might refer people to this ministry for the care they deserve as Children of the King. Worldly dabbling in the counseling of divorce situations is fraught with peril. Even many (most?) pastors struggle to properly address this issue in a Biblically sound manner.

“You stumble day and night, and the prophets stumble with you.

So I will destroy your mother - my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”

- Hosea 4:5-6

I understand the terrible devastation that pastors have experienced as they deal with this epidemic of divorce that is sweeping the Church. They, more than most, are caught in the crossfire amid the ruins that divorce is pushing into our churches. However, there is a biblical response to divorce and this issue will not begin to turn around until we stop compromising in this area.

Acceding to the world’s approach to divorce has created a disaster that must be stopped. The only way this crisis will be reversed is by God's intervention and confession, repentance and seeking God’s face are the only way that we can be a part of His solution.

Praise God and God's Love

When all falls apart we turn to You, Lord and You lead us closer to You. For all we need is in You and is You. Thank you, Father, for loving us this way:

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

- 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 NIV

To which we join the angels in singing:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and praise!”

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

- Revelation 5:11-14

As do we!
Amen!

A Breather

Yes, even I get tired of hearing/reading me rant and blather. Here is God's Word for a welcome respite.

PSALM 51

_{For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.}

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you.

Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.

Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.

- Psalm 51 NIV

Amen.

From My Desk

For over 20 years I have had a button with a saying on it that I have kept in my desk at various jobs.

It says:

"Evil Flourishes
When Good People
Think They're Perfect"

Important message, that one...

Abomination - An Intro

I have a real gripe with the way the modern, conservative church handles Homesexuality and Lesbianism.

No, I'm not a person who wants to compromise The Word and somehow say we should embrace homosexuality into the church. I suspect that the church may soon accept homosexuality as "just another" constituent portion within the body (using the same logic and emotional appeals that we've used to accept divorce within the church.) That would be a travesty, but I've written about that before. I've also written about how it is too easy for the church to focus on fighting homosexuality at the expense of confessing to and repenting from our own sins.

Even the secular (atheist) mainstream press is now very familiar with the fact that the Bible says that homosexuality is an "abomination". I'm not surprised to see the press mishandle (or disregard) scripture, so that doesn't bother me. I find real concern elsewhere: the church has begun to handle that quote as if it were to mean that "abomination" means "Homosexuality is Sin ++" or "Homosexuality is Super Sin" or "That Sin Which We Dare Not Speak It's Name!"

Make no mistake, an "abomination" is serious. "Abomination" is "a sin that God hates". The Bible says firmly, (and repeatedly!) that homesexuality IS an abomination. So far, so good... ...The problem is that we stop there.

I want to write a post doing a word study on "abomination". Those who want to de-emphasize or discount "abomination" would therein be severely disappointed at what such a study reveals. Those who want to use the "abomination" designation to brand homosexuals with a "Scarlet Letter" will be well advised to be veeeery, veeeery careful. "Abomination" is a label applied to quite a few things more than just homosexuality.

If we want to rush headlong tying up nooses to hang the homosexuals because of their "abominations" we'd better be sure to tie a lot of extra nooses because when we start that party we're gonna fill a whole lotta trees with church-going heterosexuals, Deacons and Pastors before we even dent our "abomination" problem.

Here's just a taste:

"These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren."

- Proverbs 6:16-19 KJV

If you didn't hear the voice of Scooby-Doo in the back of your mind saying, "Ruh-Rooooh!" then go back and read that again and do it carefully this time! It is worthy to reflect upon and tremble at the title of Jonathan Edwards' sermon from almost three centuries past for we are truly "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God". If we cannot fully appreciate the magnitude of our sins then we cannot also clearly regard the immensity of the Grace we have received.

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

- Matthew 7:3-5 NIV