Troubled Times, Good Times?

And they said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household." And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house.  And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God. (Acts 16:31-34 ESVST) While they praise God, experience earthquakes, and gain freedom, they see the jailer in a prison of his own making about to end his meaningless life. They intervene, giving the jailer hope and a future, and he immediately brings this good news to his family who also respond. I guess if Paul and Silas would have never healed that girl, gotten beaten, and thrown in jail, they would have missed the stage on which God wanted them to perform. The beating and jail time was the price of admission for them to be used by God to help the jailer and his family join the family.

Liar, Liar, Life On Fire

Matthew 11:16-19 But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.  For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He has a demon.  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.

A generation that decides what is truth rather than discovering it rushes recklessly into the future. In many respects we do not care for truth unless it benefits us. The negatives of our lives are because we are victims not because we are sinners.

Obesity is a disease, narcissism is a disorder and homosexuality is something we are born with. We label the constant battle within to do right and wrong “bipolar” instead of describing it as a struggle for control as the Apostle Paul did in Romans chapter 7.  We tend to condemn others for the acts we ourselves commit believing they have issues and we have reasons.

Paul told Timothy in his second letter to him, chapter 4, that he should teach the Word in a way that reproves, rebukes and exhorts but realize that when he is finished people will frustrate him by choosing what to believe based on what leader tells it to them the way they want it.

Truth, in America and in the “church” in America has become relative rather than absolute. Majorities rule the church and nation and we are fine with that even though Jesus said in Matthew 7: 13-14 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.  For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

We have allowed the Supreme Court to be supreme, the majority to be right rather than just the majority and culture to dictate what Christ followers look like.

As a result, those who claim to be Christians often demonstrate the same pathological problems that affect the unbeliever. We have identified with the wrong crowd, the wrong savior and the wrong philosophy.

The byproduct of this thinking is that we are endure life rather than live it. We gather to gain strength in our numbers rather than our God and we reassign definitions to words in order to make them fit what we want to believe.

God created us to be “discoverers” not “creators.” Truth, by definition, needs to be discovered and life adjusted to it rather than adjusting the “truth” to our lives.

Our nation and our church will eventually see that Godlessness in any way shape or form will lead to disaster but since God is rich in mercy there always seems to be hope….in Him and His ways and in truth.

If we are to turn the ship away from the impending cultural disaster we need to begin doing what we can do instead of thinking about what we cannot accomplish. It would be wise for us to concentrate on the following:

1.     Understand and respond to the fact that there is one God and that we are not Him.

2.     Understand and respond to the fact that God is the creator and sustainer of all life and has created life with absolutes and that He is patient but not tolerant.

3.     Understand and respond to the fact that we are separated from God by our sin and that God is rich in mercy.

4.     Understand and respond to the fact that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, is the only satisfactory payment to God for this sin of ours and to accept His payment for our sin.

5.     Understand and respond to the fact that Christ came to die in order to give us life, not just keep us out of hell. The big tragedy in life is not hell but a separation from God and the refusal to repair the relationship we damaged.

6.     Understand and respond to the fact that Satan is real and real good at deceiving and destroying but he can only do so as we give him opportunity.

7.     Understand and respond to the fact that a majority is just that and not the determiner of truth. (With this in mind churches should change from majority rule to elder rule, from Drucker led to Spirit led and from man centered to God centered institutions.)

8.     Understand and respond to the absolutes in the institutions God created or allows. The institution of the church as the body and bride of Christ. The institution of Government as the vehicle for order in order that we might live at peace. The institution of marriage between one man and one woman for life. These are all intentional and purposeful structures to allow us an intentional and purposeful life.

9.     Understand and respond to the fact that the battle in this world is not ours but God’s, that He does not need us but wants us and will use us as we position ourselves to be used by Him. Our job is to position ourselves not to depend on self.

10. Understand and respond to the idea that we were made to love God and each other and allow God to define what He means by such concepts.

If we would just implement these ten things we would be wise for we would be applying the wisdom of God over the wisdom of man. Those who want life need to seek God and understand that abundant life comes from dying to self, not crying to self. We need to admit that we can and do believe what we want and surround ourselves with those who allow us to do so or face the reality of constant broken lives. This life is really about God, not me. Any other descriptions and accounts of life that do not include Him at the center are Satanic and may be portrayed as loving, kind and inclusive when they are really fueled by hatred, jealousy and isolation.

For now the choices are ours. Soon our choices will cease and we will reap the fruit of what we believed.  In many cases the damage done by believing lies will never be repaired.

We seem to have often created a belief system that is not only based on lies and self indulgence but absolutely doomed to failure from the start. We believe that God is rich in mercy and grace, which He is. So, we think that when we ask for forgiveness and He grants it to us all will be well. Which might or might not be.

If I were to take out a gun and murder someone and then later come to realize that I made a very bad mistake and asked his family for forgiveness and they forgave me that would be nice. However, the man I murdered is still dead. Their forgiveness may make my misery and their misery more tolerable but it does not change the fact that a person died.

Forgiveness does not necessarily mean the removal of the consequence for the evil deed.

For those who are believers in Jesus Christ, Christ followers, true Christians, they are indeed forgiven for all their past sins when they come to the cross and see their need and accept God’s provision of Jesus Christ. The forgiveness for all the past sins is something that indeed will change the future for they will never see the judgment that is due them, and there will indeed be judgment.

However, one needs to see that the “past aspect” of their salvation, or the idea of having sins forgiven by God will not change the fact that a sin has been committed. The murdered man is still dead yet my penalty has been paid in full and I am now clean before my God.

In reality, there are three aspects of salvation. In the past we are freed from the penalty of sin. In the present we are freed from the very power of sin. As a true believer we have a choice, a real choice now that we have the capability of understanding and responding to the truth. That is why it is so critical to not believe whatever we want to believe but to know and respond to the truth, for if we believe whatever we want to believe we give up the very power that God wants to give us to defeat the power of sin in our life today. The power to live life as it ought to be lived comes from living in the truth, not in living in the lie.

The third aspect of our salvation is the future aspect or the fact that one day those who are God’s children will be free from the very presence of sin. God is not tolerant and one day those who are His true children will live in a place where there is no sin.

Many who call themselves Christians often celebrate the idea of being forgiven for past sins and the fact that one day they will live in a place without sin. However, few celebrate the idea of being delivered from present sin today. Somehow we have believed our own lies, live as those around us live an wonder why we cannot pull ourselves out of the slew we seem to always dwell in.

The answers are clear. The truth can be discovered. If we seek God we will find Him.

Perhaps we still have time to change the course of history even though we will not be able to change the scars of self-indulgence we have already incurred. Perhaps we can begin to set things up for the next generation in a way that will actually work,  giving them a chance at real hope and real change instead of handing them the rhetoric of hope and change when in reality nothing changes.  Perhaps we can work on the prevention of disaster with more resources and diligence rather than setting our sights and energies on restoration.

A good maintenance plan usually means there is no need for restoration. We need to stop neglecting our children, our churches and our nation. For now the choice may still be ours.

How important is my opinion?

A December 2013 Pew Research Center poll found that 60 percent of American adults believe that evolution is how the human species came to be, while 33 percent believe that humans have existed in their present form since the beginning. About 24 percent of respondents said they believe a "supreme being" guided the process of evolution, while 32 percent said that evolution is entirely due to natural processes.

Does it really matter? If truth exists does it really matter what a majority thinks? Can truth be truth even if no one believes it?

Belief determines nothing to be true or false. 

Be careful what you believe for once  you are there it often seems impossible to change what you believe and if your wrong, no matter the reason, your still wrong. 

In the beginning God….not Dave. That is a good start.