Article RSS Feed
Articles
THE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS (Part 2 of 2)
In the Fall and subsequent redemption of man by the blood of Jesus Christ, the glory of God is maximized, in that His Son now takes center stage to a watching universe. But redemption is in response to our sin, and because God hates sin, it must be expunged from us. The Roman Catholic Church teaches the concept of Purgatory, a place after death and before heaven in which one’s sins are purged before entering eternity. The concept of purging our sins seems biblical but the time and place for this is extra-biblical. The time and place for the purging of our sins is not after death and in Purgatory but now and on earth.
Our fallen world is the best of all possible worlds, not to maximize human happiness, but to purge us of our sins. Recall Revelation 22:11: “Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.” Something important is permanently fixed in us at the time of our death. If this does not strike terror in us, then we have not understood.
read moreTHE BEST OF ALL POSSIBLE WORLDS (Part 1 of 2)
The world is collectively waging war against God. We neither like the way He made us nor the way He made the world. We feel driven to correct His many mistakes. The rebellion is on, for none can deny the suffering and inequities of life. How can this world be the work of a loving, omnipotent God?
In 1710, the renowned Enlightenment figure Gottfried Wilhelm Leibnitz opined in his Theodicy that our world was not only the handiwork of God, but the “best of all possible worlds.” He was a serious and brilliant Christian, having invented calculus contemporaneously but independently of Newton. Some believe that he was the last “universal genius,” possessing all the knowledge in the world. But few have shared his opinion. In fact, Voltaire, shocked by the 1755 great earthquake of Lisbon that killed 60,000 people, disagreed so vehemently that in Candide, he placed this quote in the mouth of a fool. Most today would agree with Voltaire. But might Leibnitz be right?
read moreThe Loneliness of Christ
Mother Theresa once said: “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.” In the words of Sylvia Plath, an American poet, novelist, and short-story writer, “the loneliness of the soul in its appalling self-consciousness is horrible and overpowering.” Many people experience loneliness. Sometimes that loneliness is overpowering. Who understands? Our Lord understands because He, too, experienced deep, soul-shaking loneliness.
Author Dan Brown said: “the worst kind of loneliness in the world is the isolation that comes from being misunderstood.” Few people understood the ministry of Jesus Christ during His lifetime. Probably the only ones who had some understanding of His purpose were his mother, his father, John the Baptist and his relatives Zacharias and Elizabeth (the aged parents of John the Baptist). But Zacharias, Elizabeth, Joseph, and John the Baptist were all dead by the time Jesus began His public ministry.
read morePrayer Day?
I recently went to a local outdoor park with some men and had a half day of prayer on a Saturday morning. We met at 7:30, had coffee and bagels, enjoyed some fellowship and received the instructions for our morning. We used a prayer guide called “Making Time for Prayer” which can be purchased at MIMbooks.com.
Before going into the time, I had rehearsed the issues, “the what” that I was going to bring up before God. Relationships, my to-do list and schedule, health, finances and other complaints—the normal typical issues most of us carry around. I know I needed this time as it had been awhile since I spent three-plus uninterrupted hours with Him. I related to David in Psalm 25:27, “The troubles of my heart are enlarged.”
read moreDeath and Hope
We have a hope to live; a hope for life and a hope to never experience death. We loath the thought of death.
Death is the ultimate enemy of hope. Death is final. It extinguishes hope. In death, hope ceases.
Death, its process and the inevitable coming experience on the other side of death is out of our control.
Perhaps that is why we tend to shy away from discussing death. And we are aware that it extinguishes our hope.
But does it?
read moreSex, Body and Soul – Part 3
In Part 2 we discussed man’s body and soul/spirit. To review, God created man with two parts: a body and a soul/spirit. As Christians we spend this life investing in our souls. This is the process of dying to ourselves (e.g. Luke 9:23-24 and John 12:24-25), of being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29), of allowing Jesus to increase as we decrease (John 3:30). Investing in our souls during this earthly life impacts the quality of our souls in eternity.
But what about our bodies? The bible tells us that bodily discipline is of little profit (1 Timothy 4:8). I may be convicted out of stewardship to invest in a healthy earthly body, but a healthy earthly body does not translate into a healthy eternal body. So, how do I invest in my eternal body? The bible teaches us that there is one area in our earthly lives that impacts our eternal bodies: sexual morality.
read moreSex, Body and Soul – Part 2
One of the major themes of the bible is the value of our souls. Jesus teaches in Matthew 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Our earthly bodies can be spared, but at all costs we are to guard and preserve our souls. How we invest in our soul on earth impacts the quality of our soul in eternity. But what about our resurrected body? Is there anything we can do on earth that will affect the quality of our body in eternity?
1 Timothy 4:7b-8 states: “Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
read moreSex, Body and Soul – Part 1
There is nothing in the human experience quite like the act of sex. It is a uniquely physical act. It is a uniquely spiritual act. It is beautiful if performed within God’s boundaries. But it is destructive to body and soul if experienced outside God’s design.
What the bible teaches regarding marriage and sex is fundamentally different than what the world teaches. It is no secret that in recent years our world has undergone a seismic change in regards to its perspective toward sex. Those who seek to uphold a sexual morality based on biblical standards find themselves increasingly at odds with the prevailing culture, mocked for holding an antiquated worldview, and slandered as being intolerant and close-minded.
How do we stay encouraged and resolute in our pursuit for purity? Where can we find motivation as we swim upstream against an increasingly hostile environment? How do we teach our children to view sexuality through a biblical lens and impart to them a desire for purity amidst a generation that disdains moral excellence?
read moreAn Opportunity or a Test?
Many times in life, circumstances can bring opportunities our way. This could be a new job opportunity, a relocation opportunity, a relationship opportunity or maybe even an opportunity to go the route of vocational ministry. The question sometimes we need to ask ourselves: could the opportunity be a test from the Lord? We see in 1 Samuel 24 and 26, David had two great opportunities to eliminate Saul so that he wouldn’t have to run any longer.
In Chapter 24 Saul and three thousand men are pursuing David and his men. Saul decides to go into a cave to relieve himself. Of all the caves he chooses, the one he enters is where David and some of his men are hiding. While Saul is taking care of business David cuts off a piece of his robe. What is very interesting is that David’s conscience bothers him. In verse 4, David’s men tell him that “the Lord has delivered your enemy into your hand”. David disagrees and says the following in verse 6, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” David persuades his men and does not allow them to strike Saul when they had the opportunity…
read moreThe Sacrificial Life
The Apostle Paul instructs us in Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Then again in I Peter 2:5 we are instructed to “offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” As followers of Jesus Christ, it is clear in Scripture that we are commanded to live sacrificial lives. This Biblical truth is one that many may hear and be aware of, but do we really understand and know what it means to live a “sacrificial life?”
A working definition of sacrifice is “to give up something of current value for something of greater future value.” The baseball team readily understands this principle. With a man on third and no “outs,” they will next hit a “sacrifice fly ball” most every time. What this means is that the batter will intentionally hit a fly ball to the outfield to be caught, thus securing an “out” for the opposing team.
This “out” in our illustration represents the “something of current value.” The “out” is sacrificed because it is then known that it will subsequently result in their runner on third scoring after the “out” was secured. The ability for the runner on third to score represents the “greater future value.”
read more
Recent Comments