Lifestyle of Peace | Christian Living & Discipleship

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Wrestling with God: Five Things I Struggle with in the Scriptures

Often it is assumed that followers of Jesus don't struggle with the tough questions of faith. Nothing could be further from the truth. We struggle just as anyone else struggles. I have my beliefs, and the evidence for them, but I also struggle with tough existential issues, like the reality of evil, the problem of suffering, and such other issues for those who consider the state of the universe and the human heart.

I struggle with these issues on an intellectual level. I also struggle with them in my personal life. C.S. Lewis wrote two books about the problem of suffering that are instructive, "The Problem of Pain" looks at the intellectual problems of pain, in which C.S. Lewis remarks "I'd write another chapter on suffering if this headache would go away." Indeed. The second book, "A Grief Observed" is the raw brutal meditations of C.S. Lewis after the death of his love. Guess which is more instructive regarding the problem of suffering?

The first issue I'd like to talk about is just that, the problem of suffering. It's an interesting problem, and it's felt first. And secondary is the attempt to understand it intellectually. First, it's a feeling, second a thought.

We wrestle with these questions. I wrestle with these questions. But I've seen enough evidence and seen and experienced enough of God's presence and action in my life to firmly believe that Jesus Christ is a true, living savior, and that the books of the Bible represent the true timeless unchanging word of God. Yet I still struggle with these questions, but I don't wrestle with myself, I engage in exchange with none other than God himself. Think of it, to settle and discuss these questions with God himself! It's a great honor. And God is only too kind and thoughtful in the process, engaging me, answering me, and changing in me, how I perceive things, by expanding my own perception. God is a deep, philosophical, scientifically minded artist, with a great and amazing ability to respond simply, yet profoundly. Yet God can be quite complex when he wants, but always the wiser one, he often answers simply and brilliantly. Should we expect any less from an infinite creator? I suppose not. Let's look at these wrestlings that I wrestle with.

Eternity. To know the face of God, is to know madness. Well, no. Actually that's from Battlestar Galactica. But when we consider the infinity of God, we come against the very limits of our comprehension. How could God be eternal, without beginning or end? It goes against everything I understand about our finite reality. Time is fundamental to reality. I'm based in time, my entire existence is based in time and space. How am I suppose to even consider the reality of a timeless being who created time itself? There would be no time without God having designed it. It's the same with the whole universe, and I suppose, the 4th heaven, the place where God exists. But if there is only God who is eternal, then the environment he lives in can't be eternal, because God is the only eternal one.

But it boggles my mind. What does it mean? What does it say about the nature of reality, the universe, the laws that govern everything to say that God is eternal. Why does God exist? What is the reason for God's existence? Does that mean that the universe beyond our universe, the true reality is fundamentally not a cold-dark place as we think of our universe, but actually quite different?

Does God wonder why He exists? I suppose He doesn't, he's self existent. He's never not existed. It's crazy. Before alpha, and after omega, God existed. If we went to the beginning of the universe, God is there, if we went before the universe even existed, before time or space itself, God is ever-present, timeless, perceiving time like we perceive space.

Am I humble enough to admit that there are some things that not even I could understand? Or any human for that matter? Given the expanses beyond us, the galaxies and nebula, and all the harmonious uniformity, I think that yes, I can say that some concepts will be beyond my reality, like the very concept of eternity, or an eternal all powerful intelligent being we call Father.

The Problem of Evil. When I consider the life of a human sex trafficking victim, the idea that this girl, just a young girl, would be kidnapped, enslaved, beaten and raped repeatedly on a daily basis, until she's given up all hope and become a slave within even her mind, and then be raped tens of thousands of times, until she literally dies of being raped so many times. That is evil, pure, total, complete evil. The evil is so extreme, so powerful, so "boss universal" and it seems to be in such control in our world, that the concept of a loving God, it's difficult isn't it?

This is probably the biggest issue levied against Christianity: If God, why evil? Remember what the ancient philosopher Epicurus said: “Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?”

God allows evil to play itself out in time and space, because of the massive issue of free will and choice. God made a universe, which is intrinsically based on freedom of choice. If God then stepped in every time I was about to make a bad decision, there would be no choice. The universe just isn't like that. Choice is part of every situation. So through the choices of beings God created, evil came into the world. Yet we blame God, when we should be blaming the people who DO the evil: People. Yet we blame God? God is able to set all things right, and He is willing, when the proper time for that comes. Epicurus' dilemma is a false dilemma, oversimplifying the situation, and failing to understand the context of the universe, human will, and the factor of time.

God will set all things right and deal with every evil. Every pedophile, every child sex slaver, will stand before God and give an account, and God will deal with them justly. God will also deal with us justly, because we've all sinned. We like to point out the evil in the world and then point at God and say why! How often do I realize the three fingers pointing back at me?

God didn't cause the problem of evil, and if we want to simply it to it's logical conclusion, the problem of evil is not outside me, or around me as much as I must first consider that the problem of evil is fundamentally within me.

Why evil? Why pain? People do evil. Our ancestors did evil in God's sight, when paradise was available to them. They messed it up. And now evil is part of our lineage, sadly. But Christ came into the world, died on the cross, to wipe away our sin, and offer us a new life, and a new future in the kingdom of God, if we will simply receive that free gift.

The slaughter of Christ on the cross. The concept of the crucifixion is quite plain: Sin is punishable by death. Jesus Christ, the God-man came to die in the place of me, if I'll believe the gospel. So in other words, the Creator, if I'm left to my own devices in this life, would kill me, for my sins. That's intense. That's wild.

It's completely alien to my understanding of everything in the world. I can't imagine a situation where it fits my conception of how God ought to be, in my mind. But that's probably a good thing. Because I haven't been right about a lot in my life.

Truly the only way to understand the penal substitution of Christ, that Christ took my penalty for me by being slaughtered on the cross and temporarily spiritually abandoned by God the Father is through the outreaching prevenient grace of the Holy Spirit. I can't understand any of this without the Holy Spirit teaching me about it. It's completely alien to my natural understanding. It's foolish madness to my flesh, but the salvation of God himself when the Spirit explains it to my mind and emotions.

The Sacrificial System of the Old Testament. The concept of animal sacrifice, of the pouring out of blood, by sacrificing animals, that stand in for the person who has sinned, that's crazy to me. It's bizarre to me, it's creepy to me, it's ancient, archaic, and mean, and harsh, and ugly, and completely arbitrary. Once again this is how my mind perceives things outside the Spirit of God. I can't understand it.

And I love animals. I really, really love animals. I have two cats and a dog. I love birds, pets, wild animals, squirrels, rabbits, I just love them all. I think as humans originally designed to live in harmony with animals, that's natural, even in the darkened nature.

Then again, imagine if you had to kill bird, or a cat, and spill it's blood on an altar if you sinned. That would really make me think twice about lying, stealing, or sleeping with a random girl. I'd have to think twice. And I'd actually have to face the reality of the evil of sin.

We think we're so sophisticated in our day and age. Unborn babies are murdered by the millions each year across the Earth, and most of us just let it happen. And we even criticize people who dare to speak up against abortion. It's pathetic. We sit by as millions go without food, clothing, and shelter. We sit in our luxury. And we balk at God taking sin deathly seriously? Sin takes so much blood in our world. Our own sin is pouring it out day and night, as babies are sucked from wombs, as people starve and go without basic shelter or clothing, their blood is poured out and we can't understand God's sacrifice? It's very interesting. We like to judge God, and ask these questions of Him, brazenly, arrogantly, but we don't look at our actions or the actions of the human race, everyday.

Hell. Probably the single most terrifying and fearful concept in the Bible is the concept of hell, outer darkness. This place, as it's depicted, terrifies me. It chills me to the bones.

I would prefer a system, a reality, a moral construct, where all humans can be saved and will be saved. I know that everyone has free choice. But I would prefer perhaps a system where people would go to hell after they die, if they rejected God in their lives. But then maybe after a few months we could let them out? And give them a chance to know Jesus as savior? But that's not how it works. And who am I to question God's perfect judgment?

We won't talk about hell, or God's judgment. We just need to love people! Well, there's a lot more to it than that. We need to talk about hell. Because it's a real place. And we want people to understand about it and not go there.

God indicates that "now" is the time of salvation. There is no time later. The door is open now to know Jesus. But one day the door will be closed. I don't fully understand that. But someday, perhaps I will.

A closing thought, is that fundamentally, as Christians, we can either question God, argue with God, which is OK, but eventually, we have to decide, either we're going to essentially trust Him and dare to trust Him even if we don't understand, or we're going to go our own way. I choose to trust God. It's a choice. I don't fully understand. I struggle. But I choose to trust Him, that He is right and holy and is doing everything according to true cosmic justice and mercy.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

How to Build a Multi-Cultural Church

We're going to look at a plan to help guide a mono-ethnic corps (church) to more accurately depict the culture of the surrounding community. In a world of rapidly changing demographics there are important challenges being faced by churches in diverse communities. As the body of Christ we are called to reach the “whosoever.” How can we as a church reach different ethnic groups and help facilitate a multi-cultural environment that fosters Christian harmony among diverse peoples? Let’s look at how we can build a better future together.

First of all, the goal should be to begin to make connections with different ethnic groups in the community. It’s wise to look for leaders in the ethnic community one is trying to reach, and develop personal relationships with those individuals. Christ calls us to all people groups, not just those we're comfortable with.

Knocking on doors and developing relationships can also be a helpful way to begin to develop those connections. I would try to develop close relationships with people of various ethnicities in the community who could help teach me, and help me navigate the cultural landscape.

Christian multicultural outreach expert M. Ortiz (1996) describes an example in which a church in Baltimore was attempting to better reflect the surrounding neighborhood which was 60% black and 40% white. The Pastor of this Baltimore church had no experience with cross-cultural engagement; but with a lot of grace, and the development of two key friendships with an African-American man and a street-wise Caucasian man, he was able to begin to learn and develop his ministry (Ortiz, 1996, p. 53).

Once those relationships have been developed and new people are beginning to attend the corps it would be important to begin to connect with these people on a deeper level. I think this process of developing cross-cultural relationships would be greatly assisted through small groups meeting at least monthly (if not weekly) to begin to develop those relationships and deepen them through sharing honestly with one another (DeyMaz, 2007, p. 86).

The second goal I would set would relate to developing a worship service that better reflected and engaged local cultural norms. The Pastor of the Baltimore church did this quite effectively at his church (Ortiz, 1996, p. 52). He described the worship service on Sunday as the most important hour of the week in regard to this plan (Ortiz, 1996, p. 52). They developed a worship service in which three different styles of music were implemented: African-American worship style, contemporary praise music, and traditional hymn music (Ortiz, 1996, p. 52). This helped the various cultures and ethnic groups, young and old alike, to better connect with the worship experience. If I were trying to reach African-Americans, I would implement worship songs that applied the African-American culture, and if I were trying to reach Latinos, I would look for worship music that met the spiritual needs of Latinos in the community. I would also look to provide translation services for those in the church who spoke different languages, if necessary. The entire worship service and message would have to be adjusted to better serve the ethnic groups in the community.

However, I wouldn't want to go to far into "multiculturalism." Multicultural engagement should be clearly different from the ideology of multiculturalism. Multi-cultural engagement is absolutely vital to evangelism, and carrying out the great commission. But the concept of multiculturalism, the idea that cultures coming into the United States should resist assimilation to American culture is not a biblical concept, but a political ideology. The church should reject pushing multiculturalism, and understand that our job is to evangelize and outreach to communities, and help them to come to Jesus, without undermining American culture in the process. Multi-cultural engagement means connecting to diverse culturals and helping to facilitate a church culture where different culturals can engage and interact as the unified body of Christ.

Now it's important to recognize that multicultural engagement is much than simply outreaching to different ethnicities that are represented in your community. Though this is a key aspect of multicultural engagement. But even if you are in a majority white, or majority black or latino community, there will be subsets called "people groups" within all cultures that have various subcultures. If your in a small community in the Midwest, you'd probably want to consider how to outreach to a people group like sports fans, or hunters and fishers, or how to outreach to millennial young adults, or how to outreach to working class factory workers, or middle class professionals. These are all subcultures within different cultures that will find different styles of worship and preaching and evangelism appealing, and others unappealing.

As we began to outreach to various cultures, we'd have to help establish a multicultural environment in the church. I would teach, preach, and speak regularly to my corps council, advisory board, staff, and church congregation about multi-cultural engagement. I would build up that “narrative” in their minds. I would tell that “story” of who we are as a church, and I would try to inspire the people in my church body with the mission of reaching different ethnic groups with the good news of Jesus Christ.

I would try to win my church family over by inspiring them, and appealing to their better natures regarding developing a multi-cultural corp. This would require a great deal of prayer (DeyMaz, 2007, p. 65). It would also require many frank discussions, and the ability to work out difficult disputes and miscommunications (DeyMaz, 2007, p. 65).

There are bound to be people in the Salvation Army corps that I lead that will push back against multi-ethnic engagement. I don’t believe this is because they are bad people, but mainly because this will be something very new to them. I would need to take the process slowly, and develop relationships with those who might struggle with the process. Some people might even leave the church. But I think overall it could be smoothed over and worked out through a lot of prayer, conversations, friendships, and inspiration for a better future.

Fourth, I would need to learn as much as I could about the cultures I would be engaging in the community. There could be some very embarrassing and confusing moments if I don’t learn how differing cultures do things; and what customs and rituals are involved in various cultures, including language barriers (DeyMaz, 2007, p. 95-96).

One would need to avoid problems like cultural destructiveness, cultural blindness, and other problems of failing to understand and account for cultural differences (DeyMaz, 2007, p. 103). I would try to be culturally aware, culturally sensitive, and culturally competent (DeyMaz, 2007, p.104-105). I think along with this approach of being culturally “plugged in” I would also look to be inclusive in a way that shows other ethnic cultures that they are welcome to join and become a part of the church family, but also, that they are welcome to come and bring with them their cultural and ethnic traditions and express them in the community freely, as long as those traditions and cultures did not violate the scriptures (DeyMaz, 2007, p.112-113). This would help make the corps a more inclusive place with more diverse expressions of culture in its many forms. While "inclusivity" is a biblical concept, inclusivity should not extend to violations of the clear teachings of the scriptures, or lead to a rejection of the Matthew 18 concept of confronting sin in the church. Inclusivity means providing a welcoming environment, not transforming the church into a politically correct environment pushing a progressive orthodoxy. This should go without saying, but in the current cultural tensions, we have to be wary of such political activism.

Fifth, I would look to mobilize in evangelistic efforts to reach the unsaved in diverse communities. I want the church I lead to be more than a body of Christians inside the walls of a church. I want the corps I lead to be a place of sending out evangelists and missionaries who are going, not to far away places, but to the local community, knocking on doors, handing out fliers, serving food and drink to the needy, and meeting the needs of people in the community. I think this would be vital in increasing the diversity of the corps I lead. There are so many people across such wide lines of ethnicity and culture that need Jesus.

Reaching these people, understanding them in their cultural context, and leading them to faith in Christ will help develop the corps to be a welcoming place for people of any skin color or cultural background. Of course the growth of the corps should not be motivated by simply increasing numbers, or stats, but about bringing glory to God and leading lost people to the love of Christ (DeyMaz, 2007, p. 120-121). A healthy multi-ethnic multi-cultural church can be an incredible blessing to a community in that people are simply astounded and amazed by various cultures and ethnicities in harmony with one another (DeyMaz, 2007, p. 121).

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning” (Smith, 2016). Part of being a successful Salvation Army officer will be fostering an environment in the corps I lead that serves to encourage cultural engagement and multi-ethnic ministry. I intend to do my best to see that this takes place in the corps I serve in through developing connections in diverse ethnic communities, developing a diverse worship experience, helping guide the church members toward cultural engagement, and evangelizing ethnic communities with the gospel of Jesus Christ. All of this will take much time, prayer, and wisdom. But with Jesus Christ all things are possible.

References

DeyMaz, M. (2007). Building a healthy multi-ethnic church: mandate, commitments, and practices of a diverse congregation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/John Wiley.

Ortiz, M. (1996). One new people: models for developing a multiethnic church. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Smith, G. (2016, February 04). 7 Steps to Becoming a Multi-Ethnic Church. Retrieved October 27, 2017, from http://www.malphursgroup.com/7-steps-to-becoming-a-multi-ethnic-church/

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Monday, February 12, 2018

Does Man Need God in Western Civilization?

Malcom Muggeridge said, "It would be difficult for anyone looking around the world today to resist the conclusion that something has gone very badly indeed with what we continue to call “Western Civilization.” This awareness tends to be distorted and muffled – if not obliterated – by the media, which manage to induce us to take for granted the continuingly explosive situations that confront us on every hand, and to see as an enlargement of our freedom and an enhancement of the quality of our living the steady and ominous erosion of the moral standards on which our traditional way of life has been based." - The True Crisis of our Time

In our day and age it seems that for the most part, mankind has slipped from any cognition of morals, values, and God forbid, a loving creator. But when we're angry, or upset, or something terrible has happened, or we've slammed our fingers in a door, what do we exclaim? "God!" "Jesus Christ!"

Why? Perhaps we know deep down there is an ontic referent regarding how things ought to be, and when they don't go rightly, we exclaim in intensity, the name of our creator. How often do you hear someone exclaim "Oh Buddha!?" Or Krishna, or Zoroaster?

In the news lately we hear of super blood moons, terrorist attacks, and deep seeded divisions in culture.

When God is evicted from the public square, from the scientific institutions, from the public schools, from the colleges, what happens? We've seen a growing depravity in the culture epitomized by perhaps a certain Miley Cyrus, once an idol for millions of young female children on the Disney channel, later seen on MTV naked mounted on a wrecking ball swinging back and forth. Which may be an accurate picture of what the television media is doing to the minds of our young people: wrecking them. Wrecking them with sexuality, drug culture, greed, and materialism.

We've seen the ugly truth behind Hollywood and the media lately. We've seen the truth come out about sexual abuse, and pedophilia in Hollywood. We've seen Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, and so many others outed. We've heard about the depraved sex parties of silicon valley tech companies. We're learning about the truth behind the facade put up by the media. It begs many questions.

"The greatest question of our time will be this: Can man live without God?" -Ravi Zacharias - The Death of Truth and the Decline of Culture

As I've browsed through the channels and viewed the "programming" I'm even more convinced of my previous conviction: The mainstream media through television, radio, internet, and product advertising are at the forefront of the decline of culture in the United States and Europe. And the process of globalization has made that depraved declining media available to the entire world. Then what comes to mind is a piece of scripture from Revelation that says "For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries."(Revelation 18:3)

Does man need God? To me it seems that he does. There was always the village atheist in the old times. But now it has become a popular mainstream belief. The belief seems to be that science explains reality, and that's all we need. But is that true? Does science adequately explain the origins of mankind? It explains some things, yes. But not everything.

Science is based on observation. There is no theory regarding how the universe got here. Evolution is discussed, but where did the material and energy come from? A big bang is theorized, but who caused this big bang? Thankfully there are excellent arguments, like the Kalam Cosmological argument which explain how the universe needs an uncaused designer. Intelligent design is a reasonably view. It's been attacked relentlessly of course. But the facts are the facts, it's a reasonable view. I would say in fact, it is much more reasonable than a universe that "creates itself from the law of gravity" as Professor Stephen Hawking has suggested. But that is an illogical statement, as Professor John Lennox has pointed out. Indeed, quite illogical! A law like gravity? Let me ask you this: Does the fact that two plus two equals four ever put four dollars in your bank account? A law like math or gravity can't create. A third grader knows that.

Never-the-less the question remains, does man need God? To me, it seems that man desperately needs God. I grew up without God. My parents took my sister and I to Catholic church, but to me it was so antiquated and detached from reality that I never made even a meek connection to it. But I needed God. I needed God when the commercials and consumerism had convinced me I needed so many products and subscriptions and new toys.

I needed God when I was so obsessed with NFL football that I collected volumes full of football cards. I needed God when I spent endless hours playing Nintento, Super Nintendo, Playstation, Playstation 2, Xbox, PC, and Xbox 360 games. I needed God when my parents divorced and my world was shattered. I needed God when I turned to drugs and drinking to blot out the terrible emotions I felt. I needed God when I dated numerous girls, slept with them, hurt them, broke their hearts, and found myself more and more empty after each conquest.

And I needed God when I kept asking: "Why am I here? What is the meaning of life? What should I do with this life?"

And in the same way as I need God, so all humanity needs God. Because God shows us the truth. He shows us the way. He shows us how to overcome death. He shows us Jesus Christ, and invites us to believe in him and live a completely different life as a result. But not to believe in some story or book or legend, but to believe in a Living Jesus Christ, and a Christianity that is not just talk or myth, but extends into all reality around us, across the cities, the forests, the rivers and oceans; and is lived out in the physical world, not just in talk, but in true devotion to follow a living God named Jesus Christ.

Many turn hard against the idea of God. Many have had very negative experiences with Christianity. The word "religion" or "religious" has come to be a virtual curse word. It is a taboo in modern society. Spirituality is good, and religion is always bad. People openly mock the Christian worldview citing it as the view of the uneducated rubes of the past. They suggest: Have you ever seen God? No, then God must not exist. But this is overly simplistic. Have you ever seen an atom? Or have you seen the oxygen you breath? Have you seen love? Yet we know these things exist. There is more to life than sight.

The rage against God is quite interesting. There are many militant God-hating atheists out there. But why?

"Atheists don't hate fairies, leprechauns, or unicorns because they don't exist. It's impossible to hate something that doesn't exist. Atheists hate God because he does exist." -Ray Comfort

Still there is so much clamor against "organized religion" and the many evils of it. But have we forgotten that Christianity has produced great institutions like orphanages, hospitals, universities, and the like? Have we forgot that the freest and most prosperous nations on this Earth have been grounded in the Christian faith? Yet the blanket assumption is laid out that "all religion is created by man and therefore false." But is there evidence for such a conclusion? Or is it just a slogan of our day and age? Yes, this is simply a slogan, and it falters when faced with the facts. We don't get out of ethical living that easily. But it certainly is a useful slogan to toss aside ethical living and live a debauched "me-centered" life.

However, as Dr. Norm Geisler said, “The unexamined life is not worth living by insisting that the unexamined faith is not worth believing."

One is not suddenly free to live a life of empty debauchery and depravity simply by pointing out the failings of "organized religion." That is not an acceptable remedy to the soul. Christianity has certainly been practiced poorly by many. So how about instead of judging, condemning, and then discarding the very excellent teaching of Christ in the gospels, why not instead step forward and live it as correctly as possible, to show the "organized religious types" how it is done? That is, in fact, exactly what Jesus Christ did when he confronted the religious hypocrites of his day and age, the pharisees.

It's been a question on my mind in the past few weeks. How did we get here? How did things get this way in the United States? This nation was founded on Christian principles. This is in fact a Christian nation as evidenced by statements made by the Supreme court. So then how did this happen? And I think several factors play into it. But the biggest factor has to be the minds of young people. The young people are future society. The current professional class right now are the young people of yesterday.

I saw it most clearly myself as I was growing up. What were the influences on my mind? Primarily? My parents. My friends. The television. The public school. I was a middle class, middle middle class kid growing up into the culture of the 1990s. Dad was a teacher, mom was a nurse. As middle class as they come. As I grew up into junior high and high school I became increasingly confused as to why all the people around me seemed so interested in nothing more than the latest products, the latest television shows, (South Park was very popular when I was in junior high) and the latest sporting events. Why is that? Because it's the primary focus of the culture. The television, music, news, movies, it's all geared toward selling things, and triggering temptation.

Have you ever noticed how rare it is for a truly intellectual television show to air on TV? It's all dumbed down. It's like it's specifically designed to keep people consuming and not asking questions. Thank the Lord of Heaven and Earth for the Internet. Because there I could search, I could participate and inquire. I read about all kinds of ideas that I simply didn't know about. They were not allowed within the orthodoxy of television media, public school curriculum, videogames, news, and sports.

Therefore my conclusion must be that the mind of the child in western society is held hostage by the media of today. Think about it, really think about it. Malcom Muggeridge knew it. Noam Chomsky knows it. G.K. Chesterton could see it years ago. Francis Schaeffer saw it in the 1970s. Dr. Zacharias sees it today. I can see it too.

The vast majority go to public school, they are taught materialism, scientism, and modernity.

The vast majority watch television, and are sucked into a culture of sexuality, sports, materialism, technology, and purchasing. Selfishness is king.

The vast majority are not given a Christian message. Many are given a dead Christian message or a prosperity gospel message (think Joel Osteen and T.D. Jakes.) Others are given a straw-man description of Christianity as a "backwards religious" cult of simpletons. If the Christian message is in there at all, it must compete with an incredible noise and temptation and past programming within the mind. No wonder it's so difficult for Christians in the west to live truly holy lives. There is far too much noise. And no wonder young people reject faith: They've been programmed with slogans from society blasted at them constantly like "religion is man-made" and "all the evil caused by religion" and "religion is for stupid people." None of those things are true of course.

So it's not an easy time to be a Christian, or to share the Christian message. But this is not a special situation. World Christianity has always faced chaos and trouble. And it's always overcome. And we will overcome also.

When you look at church history, what has Christianity had to face? Let's see, first intense persecution in Israel in the first century AD. Then intense persecution in the ancient Roman empire AD 100-300. The fall of the Roman empire. Evangelizing the barbarian invaders. Then fighting corruption from the papacy, leading to two reformations. The Muslim invasion of Europe and North Africa. Then two world wars, and now today, globalization and mass media. It's no different than the past chaos Christianity has faced. We will overcome the world, because Christ overcame the world.

The first step is to believe that we can. We've been sold the lie in this country that "it's done, you can't change it." Abortion is done. Secularism is done. Media depravity is a reality, accept it. Gay marriage is a reality, accept it. Next they'll be saying you need to take a microchip implant (Iplant 7 series from Apple?), just accept it. It's a new era, just do it. I refuse that. I can change anything. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. This is nothing new for world Christianity, we've faced worse in the past two thousand years and overcome it by leaps and bounds.

Why? Because we've got Christ. He is our King, our Lord, our blessed Comforter. And we have the current ministry of the Holy Spirit, who moves too and fro between the nations, like Gandalf the White between Rohan and Minas Tirith uniting the Christian peoples against the forces of the evil one. All we have to do is believe in him. We petition the Lord God, and he hears us. As the word says:
"Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing. Why do you complain, Jacob?
Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord;
my cause is disregarded by my God”?
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." -Isaiah 40:26-31(NIV)

Young people are hungry for the truth today. As men like Ravi Zacharias, William Lane Craig, Frank Turek, and many others travel to universities to give their presentations on Christianity they are speaking to increasingly massive crowds. Young people are hungry for the truth. At a recent event Ravi Zacharias of RZIM spoke to over 40,000 young people. It reminds me of the 2012 talks given by the presidential candidate Ron Paul, as he traveled to universities like UCLA and spoke regarding liberty and restoring the Constitution to 4,000 and 6,000 and in Wisconsin 3,500; an event that I attended. It reminds me of the campaigns of people like Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders in 2016, with thousands of young people turning out.

People are fed up with the corruption in Congress, in banking, and in big business. They know about the lies. But just like the media ignores candidates they don't like, so also the mainstream media ignores news of any real substance, instead covering celebrity gossip and "this politician said this or that" while the Constitution is shredded and religious liberty is assaulted. And so the mainstream media also conveniently ignores people like Ravi Zacharias, William Lane Craig, Stephen Meyer, and Lee Strobel who share a relevant Christian message. But never-the-less young people just don't buy into post-modernism or this materialistic scientism. They know deep down there is something more. They want answers! Thank God for ministries like the Veritas Forum, Cross Examined, Reasonable Faith, and RZIM that go into university campuses. Because so many churches simply fail to penetrate into people groups, even those right around them.

There is too much noise, depravity, and temptation for young people these days. Young people, teens, twenties, thirties have been thrown to the wolves of addiction, pharmaceuticals, sexuality, fine foods, new technologies, products, and entertainment. I was stuck in it all, wondering what truly mattered, wondering what the ultimate reality was. I sought out the perfect high, the perfect social encounters, the perfect true love sexuality for completion but all of those things fell short and instead left me addicted, confused, depressed, and starving for something I didn't know I needed.

Jesus Christ is the perfection I so deeply required. His internal presence through the Holy Spirit is the final fulfillment of such ancient lusts and longings buried within me. I want everyone to know, especially young people who are suffering in the three ring circus out there in the United States and Europe, that all of those temptations, treats, and triumphs are in the end hollow. The truth is that we need God just like our parents and grandparents needed God. We need God in reality, in relevance, and in truth. We really really do.

The noise is so loud in the culture: "Buy this!" "You need that!" Instead turn to Christ. Join faith communities. Get active in Christ. Support organizations like RZIM, Cross Examined, The Veritas Forum, Cru, the Salvation Army, and others. Stand out, and swim against the stream.

That way we can work toward a better tomorrow, and shut off a lot of that media noise, replacing it with outlets of biblical truth, important causes, and means of edification for the body of believers in Jesus Christ, the blessed Lord and King of the entire, actual, real Earth. He is our literal leader, our high chancellor, who will soon claim his position and set things right on the Earth. Await that day with hope in the Lord, that you will walk and not grow weary, you will eat hearty of his truth, and stand the test of faith over the test of time and temptation. Until that day of his return, participate in these organizations, share the gospel of grace through faith, and stand strong in the faith. God bless you all, amen.

In conclusion, John 10:7-18 (NIV) says: "Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. 13 The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

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Wednesday, February 7, 2018

I was almost Aborted

"We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." -2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV)

I'm a very lucky man. Yes, very lucky to be alive. Or shall we say blessed?

Never give up hope. Even when there seems to be so little left! Our lives are series of moments that hang like lattices on one another. The strands weave together, through a dangerous world. One in which I nearly never entered.

You see, when my mother became pregnant she went to the doctor in severe pain. The doctor gave her a brief examination, took no scans of any kind but decided that the egg was caught in the Fallopian tube, and the pregnancy needed to be terminated. In fact it was urged that it should be done that day. Thank you Lord that my mom was a trained nurse. She knew it could be any number of issues. My life almost ended that day, in abortion. But my mom knew better. And I survived.

I was delivered on a holy Saturday, and there were no doctors available, because it was resurrection weekend. But finally a doctor was found, though my head was caught and stuck during the birthing process, and they had to do a C-section to free me. But I survived.

The doctors couldn't decree my death sentence, because God knew my mother would become a nurse, an RN, and have the knowledge to understand what was really happening. Imagine if my mother had been a dentist or an electrician?

It's not that my life amounts to much, it doesn't. For most of us, in the grand scheme of things we're very little. We don't matter all that much in the mechanisms of history. Though maybe that's not completely right. Maybe we really do matter more than we realize to the course of history.

Who can fail to recall that classic film "It's a Wonderful Life." Think of how history and events had been so impacted in the small town where George Bailey resided. One man, so deeply impacted a community. Now I know that this film is a work of fiction. But the theme runs true.

How would the world be different if you or I had never existed? Things would indeed be very different. There are thousands of lives we've effected, for better and often for worse. And think of the people they've impacted! The people we've impacted have often gone on to impact thousands or even millions of others.

Scientists tend to take a uniformitarian view of the past, that history remains basically static in a geological and biological framework, but catastrophism seems just as likely, given how small events can have such massive world-changing impacts on world history.

One life really does matter. It really really does. We think we can do so little. But we can actually make a huge difference. And I don't mean if we have millions of dollars or know the right people or have social media influence. I mean anyone with a little determination, rich or poor, dumb or smart, can make a huge difference. It's true. All you have to do to begin is to believe that it's possible. And it is.

Each of us lives a series of moments through our lives, and those moments define our lives. And we have to try and make the right choices, so that we can make a difference for good in the world. There is a lot of evil in the world. I mean, there is a ton of evil in the world. The norm is evil. And it invades the church, it sits in leadership positions and tries to guide the body toward false ideologies. It's a deadly danger. So the odds are stacked against us.

We've one life. So precious. We walk around and see all these people. I look at their faces. And I watch them. They're like works of art. Their faces are like paintings. Human beings can are beautiful! I notice this incredible beauty. They look to me like royalty of some sort. There is an aura about them. I'm awe-struck by it, really. I can't help but notice.

At the same time, humans can be unspeakably ugly. Humanity is so debased at times, when I see it I can hardly believe it, the hatred, the disregard, the violence, the demented debased humor.

I see humanity, of great value, royalty, children of God though they don't seem to know it, and I'm amazed at what has happened. We're like a bride and groom on their wedding day who have slipped into the mud and come up looking somber. Still beautiful, yet marred.

The things we do! The depraved things we lower ourselves to. And the chill of the cold, cold winds of winter that shoot through... Something is quite off. These works of art have gone oddly astray.

J.R.R. Tolkien portrayed the contrast, as a great assembly of angels singing, God guiding the orchestra. And the united singing was the creation of the world. But one sang out of tune, intentionally creating discord in the infinite harmony. The artistry of creation, the artistry of humanity, is contrasted with the artistry of sorrow and darkness. Not because there is something apart from the holiness and purity of God, but because outside of God there is nothing.

It's taught in our world, today, in our society. A worldview contrary to the truth of Christianity is taught to all young people through the culture, through education, and civilization. The exceptions are those who are taught the truth. But the lies are institutionalized, and the truth is on the outskirts.

So we find contrasts in our world, paradoxes, anomalies, and all manner of bizarre situations that strain the senses. So much beauty in the human condition, mingled with so much trauma and darkness. The contrasts are astonishing. The beauty of a sunset, astonishing! The icy frigidness of a cold winter night, astonishing...

The simple pleasure of watching a man cut an apple. I recall one time, when I was very young, I was on a train. I think I was in Atlanta for the 96' Olympics, or something like that. And I was young, about 11 years old. I was watching this man, sort of hunkered down, carving the peeling off an apple. He had a blade in his hand and was carving a line out of the apple, moving the apple in a circular arch, the blade gliding across the apple. And I was awe-struck in this moment. Then I noticed another man, watching him carve up the apple as well, and the man looked at me, and smiled, like he knew I was marveling at the beauty of the man carving up the apple. It was a powerful moment in my memory. Things as simple as this...

They are the moments that define our lives. They are the memories that transform us. And God is guiding those moments. He's weaving the strands together. He's the orchestrator behind the meta-narrative. He's the author, writing the story, clicking on the typewriter, putting it all together. And he nods to us in our memories. He speaks to us, sometimes backwards in time. When a strand come to fruition in the future, we look back and notice how he brought it all together, and we access a memory and see God there, nodding to us, and smiling. He works through people you see. It is his great and odd pleasure to work through mere humans.

"For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all." -Isaiah 53:2-7 ESV