Friday, December 30, 2016

TIME ALONE WITH GOD

Time Alone With God
[Jesus] went up on a mountainside by himself to pray.—Matthew 14:23
It was a busy morning in the church room where I was helping. Nearly a dozen little children were chattering and playing. There was so much activity that the room became warm and I propped the door open. One little boy saw this as his chance to escape so when he thought no one was looking, he tiptoed out the door. Hot on his trail, I wasn’t surprised that he was headed straight for his daddy’s arms.
The little boy did what we need to do when life becomes busy and overwhelming—he slipped away to be with his father. Jesus looked for opportunities to spend time with His heavenly Father in prayer. Some might say this was how He coped with the demands that depleted His human energy. According to the gospel of Matthew, Jesus was headed to a solitary place when a crowd of people followed Him. Noticing their needs, Jesus miraculously healed and fed them. After that, however, He “went up on a mountainside by himself to pray” (v. 23).
Jesus repeatedly helped multitudes of people, yet He didn’t allow Himself to become haggard and hurried. He nurtured His connection with God through prayer. How is it with you? Will you take time alone with God to experience His strength and fulfillment? —Jennifer Benson Schuldt
Where are you finding greater fulfillment—in meeting the demands of life or in cultivating your relationship with your Creator?
When we draw near to God our minds are refreshed and our strength is renewed!

INSIGHT: The theme of rest is at the heart of the Jewish faith. For example, one of the central practices of Judaism is Shabbat (Sabbath rest). In the first century, however, many Jewish leaders were requiring extra faith practices so burdensome that Jesus openly challenged them regarding the damage they were doing to the lives of the people (see Matt. 23:2-4). The weighty tasks of religious duty had robbed people of the relational rest God desired. That may be why Jesus spoke some of the most comforting words of His public ministry: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (11:28). Bill Crowder


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CAN IRRATIONALITY PRODUCE RATIONALITY?

CAN IRRATIONALITY PRODUCE RATIONALITY?

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This is precisely what atheistic, naturalistic evolution maintains -- that mindless natural selection produced a thinking mind with billions of neurons and trillions of neuronal connections.

Atheist turned Christian, C.S. Lewis, doubted that this was possible. He compared mindless evolution to someone with a damaged brain:

       "Whenever you know what the other man is saying is wholly due to his complexes or to a bit of bone pressing on his brain, you cease to attach importance to it. But if naturalism were true then all thoughts whatever would be wholly the result of irrational causes. Therefore, all thoughts would be completely worthless. Therefore, naturalism is completely worthless. If this is true, then we can know no truths. It cuts its own throat."

Although I sympathize with his reasoning, I think that it will leave the naturalist undaunted. Why? Because he already believes, based on a mindless process, that our eyes are able to perfectly mirror the physical world! If our eyes can picture or embrace this world, why not also our thinking? If strictly bio-chemical processes can produce vision, why not also thinking?

However, our thinking seems to transcend even what our eyes can do. While our eyes can see, possibly because of deterministic and invariable laws of biochemistry, which do not require freewill, it is much harder to conceive of our thinking in this way.

Thinking can only be of a very rudimentary nature if it is entirely determined by unvarying biochemical forces. This would mean that our thinking is determined by laws locked into predictable patterns.

However, this is precisely what human thought is not! Rather, for thought to discover truth, it needs freedom and flexibility that deterministic laws do not allow. These forces simply repeat the same patterns. Instead, thought has to be able to take wings and break out of its social, biological, and psychological bonds.

I had this experience as I began to grow into Christ. As a new Christian, I had the strange realization that there were thoughts I wanted to think, but could not, places I wanted to take my mind, where it refused to go.

Over the years I have experienced a greater mental freedom to explore and to discover. I think that this is the same freedom an artist experiences.

However, if all thinking is predetermined, then it would have been impossible for me to experience, in such a tangible way, the liberation from my mental prison.

A Logical Restatement

Since a logical restatement provides clarity, let me try to restate what I have been saying above in a logical form:
       Premise #1 -  Thinking and creativity require freedom of thought
       Premise #2 -  Materialism –- biochemical laws and causation – provides no basis for freedom of thought.
       Conclusion -  Our freedom of thought must transcend mere materialistic causation.

Premise #1 - Thinking and creativity require freedom of thought.

We experience freedom of thought and choice. To doubt this is like doubting our most basic perceptions, like doubting our personhood, experience, and perceptions. We’d think it absurd that someone might tell us that we are not sitting by our computer. Likewise, it’s equally absurd to deny our experience of freedom of thought and choice.

Similarly, Leo Tolstoy had written in War and Peace:

       “You say: I am not free. But I have raised and lowered my arm. Everyone understands that this illogical answer is an irrefutable proof of freedom.”

Premise #2 -  Materialism –- biochemical laws and causation – provides no basis for freedom of thought.

Atheists tend to agree that materialism provides no basis for freewill or our freedom of thought. In “Consciousness Explained,” atheist and materialist, Daniel C. Dennett, acknowledged that materialists deny freewill:

       “But recently I have learned from discussions with a variety of scientists and other non-philosophers (e.g., the scientists participating with me in the Sean Carroll workshop on the future of naturalism) that they lean the other way: free will, in their view, is obviously incompatible with naturalism, with determinism, and very likely incoherent against any background, so they cheerfully insist that of course they don't have free will, couldn’t have free will, but so what? It has nothing to do with morality or the meaning of life. Their advice to me at the symposium was simple: recast my pressing question as whether naturalism (materialism, determinism, science...) has any implications for what we may call moral competence. For instance, does neuroscience show that we cannot be responsible for our choices, cannot justifiably be praised or blamed, rewarded or punished? Abandon the term 'free will' to the libertarians and other incompatibilists, who can pursue their fantasies untroubled. Note that this is not a dismissal of the important issues; it’s a proposal about which camp gets to use, and define, the term. I am beginning to appreciate the benefits of discarding the term 'free will' altogether, but that course too involves a lot of heavy lifting, if one is to avoid being misunderstood.”

Another atheist and freewill denier is Sam Harris. In “Free Will,” Harris wrote:
       “You can do what you decide to do — but you cannot decide what you will decide to do.”

In other words, we humans are not free to decide or even to direct our thoughts and creative expressions.


Conclusion - Our freedom of thought must transcend mere materialistic causation.

Mind activity seems to transcend deterministic laws of science.

The cause must always be greater than the effect. If the effect were greater, it would mean that some aspect of the effect is uncaused. A rational, omnipotent mind is greater than natural mindless causes. Therefore, what is irrational cannot produce what is rational.

In claiming that we are created in the image of God, the Bible claims that we are more than just material objects or “wet machines,” as some call us. We are endowed with a transcendent dignity and freedom.

One final point: When we deny our God-given dignity, we demean ourselves and the rest of humanity. We relegate ourselves to the status of an animal, albeit sophisticated. However, this comes with great cost. Psychologist James Hillman understandably insists that we have to recover a glimpse of our true identity from the deadening materialistic ways we usually interpret our lives:

       We dull our lives by the way we conceive then…By accepting the idea that I am the effect of…hereditary and social forces, I reduce myself to a result. The more my life is accounted for by what already occurred in my chromosomes, by what my parents did or didn’t do, and by my early years now long past, the more my biography is the story of a victim. I am living a plot written by my genetic code, ancestral heredity, traumatic occasions, parental unconsciousness, societal accidents. (“The Soul’s Code: In Search of Character and Calling,” Random House, 6)

When we reject God, we also reject ourselves and the dignity He has given us. In the process, we also reject others and their inherent value. However, after the flood, God had cautioned Noah:
       And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.” (Genesis 9:5-6, invoking Genesis 1:26-27)

Therefore, when we reject our divine origin, we also reject it in other people and give ourselves unauthorized license to treat them as animals.



EVIDENCE THAT CONSCIOUSNESS DOESN’T REQUIRE A LIVING PHYSICAL BODY

What if consciousness exists apart from a physical body? Many would then have to revise their worldview. They would have to acknowledge the existence of the world of spirits and surrender the worldview that they had held – naturalism, materialism, and perhaps even atheism. Instead, it is easier to dogmatically proclaim that spiritual realities are not within the purview of science.

However, it seems that science can speak to the question of consciousness existing apart from a body:

·            Of the 2,060 patients from Austria, the US and the UK interviewed for the study who had survived cardiac arrest, almost 40 per cent said that they recall some form of awareness after being pronounced clinically dead. http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/670781/There-IS-life-after-DEATH-Scientists-reveal-shock-findings-from-groundbreaking-study

·            Of those who said they had experienced some awareness, just two per cent said their experience was consistent with the feeling of an outer body experience – where one feels completely aware and can hear and see what’s going on around them after death. Almost half of the respondents said the experience was not of awareness, but rather of fear.

One man was able to recall the events in the hospital with “eerie accuracy” after he had “died temporarily.”

This finding has often been reported but often ignored. Why? Perhaps Dr. Parnia’s response is illuminative:

·            “The detailed recollections of visual awareness in this case were consistent with verified events."

·            "This is significant, since it has often been assumed that experiences in relation to death are likely hallucinations or illusions.”

These findings are not unusual. Wikipedia reports:

·            In a review article B. Greyson refers to Van Lommel's study (as well as other sources) and mentions that there have been "documented and corroborated accurate perceptions by near-death experiencers of incidents that occurred during the time when the brain was fully anesthetized or deprived of blood flow, as during cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest". B. Greyson also mentions that apparently some patients reported events that occurred beyond what their sense organs could perceive and that would have been impossible for them to perceive even in a conscious state. (Greyson, Bruce (2015-11-09). "Western Scientific Approaches to Near-Death Experiences". Humanities. 4 (4): 775–796. doi:10.3390/h4040775.)

·            Another review article reports that 41 (12%) of the cardiac arrest patients interviewed provided accounts similar to the Sam Parnia's 2001 study. Also, the same review article. One patient had a conventional out of body experience where he reported being able to watch and recall events during the time of his cardiac arrest. His claims were confirmed by hospital personnel. “This did not appear consistent with hallucinatory or illusory experiences, as the recollections were compatible with real and verifiable rather than imagined events”. (Parnia, Sam (2014-11-01). "Death and consciousness--an overview of the mental and cognitive experience of death". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 1330: 75–93. doi:10.1111/nyas.12582)

These findings point powerfully to another reality, a spiritual reality, outside of the physical. If this is so, then the existence of a supreme Spirit Being from which all the spiritual entities derive their existence, becomes very probable.

P. van Lommel concluded:

·            How could a clear consciousness outside one's body be experienced at the moment that the brain no longer functions during a period of clinical death with flat EEG?... (the) NDE pushes at the limits of medical ideas about the range of human consciousness and the mind-brain relation. (van Lommel P, van Wees R, Meyers V, Elfferich I. (2001) "Near-Death Experience in Survivors of Cardiac Arrest: A prospective Study in the Netherlands" in The Lancet, December 15; 358(9298):2039–45)

However, such findings are ignored, because they do not fit into the prevailing materialistic paradigm – that nothing exists outside of the physical world. To suggest otherwise opens the door to considerations about the existence of God – an inconvenient and uncomfortable truth.

But there are many other evidences that point to the existence of a spiritual reality:

       Accounts from spiritistic cultures
       Accounts derived from occult practices – the ouiji board, séances….
       Spirit encounters

However, these forms of evidences are also routinely ignored or dismissed, because they do not conform to a materialistic worldview. Some evolutionists have even admitted that God must be resisted at all costs:

       We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs . . . in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated commitment to materialism. . . . we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counterintuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door. (Lewontin, Richard, Review of The Demon-Haunted World, by Carl Sagan. In New York Review of Books, January 9, 1997.)

       Even if all the data point to an intelligent designer, such a hypothesis is excluded from science because it is not naturalistic. (Todd, Scott C., "A View from Kansas on the Evolution Debates," Nature (vol. 401. September 30, 1999), p. 423.)

There is such resistance to the Christian faith that salvation must be the work of God:

       And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)



New York School of the Bible: http://www.nysb.nyc/



THE BEST GIFT EVER

The Best Gift Ever
Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.—1 Peter 3:15
At a winter retreat in northern New England, one of the men asked the question, “What was your favorite Christmas gift ever?”
One athletic man seemed eager to answer. “That’s easy,” he said, glancing at his friend next to him. “A few years back, I finished college thinking I was a sure bet to play professional football. When it didn’t happen, I was angry. Bitterness ate at me, and I shared that bitterness with anyone who tried to help me.”
“On the second Christmas—and second season without football—I went to a Christmas play at this guy’s church,” he said, gesturing toward his friend. “Not because I wanted Jesus, but just to see my niece in her Christmas pageant. It’s hard to describe what happened because it sounds silly, but right in the middle of that kids’ play, I felt like I needed to be with those shepherds and angels meeting Jesus. When that crowd finished singing ‘Silent Night,’ I just sat there weeping.
“I got my best Christmas present ever that very night,” he said, again pointing to his friend, “when this guy sent his family home without him so he could tell me how to meet Jesus.”
It was then that his friend piped up: “And that, guys, was my best Christmas present ever.”
This Christmas, may the joyful simplicity of the story of Jesus’s birth be the story we tell to others. —Randy Kilgore

The best Christmas gift is Jesus bringing peace and forgiveness to others.

INSIGHT: Do you struggle at times to find the right words to talk about the good news to someone who hasn’t yet accepted it? If so, the apostle Peter offers a refreshingly flexible approach to sharing our faith. He urges us to give others a reason to ask about our hope in Christ (3:15). If we honor Christ as Lord in our hearts first, the difference it makes in us will prompt questions (v. 15). Peter envisions the kind of transformation that others will envy—in the best sense of the word. Those living under the influence of Christ will treat one another with compassion and humility (v. 8). They won’t return evil for evil, or insult for insult, but rather blessings for curses (v. 9). This difference in our lives will help others open themselves up to receiving the best gift they could ever receive. Mart DeHaan

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A PERSONAL STORY

A Personal Story
Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.—Psalm 27:10 nlt
A baby just hours old was left in a manger in a Christmas nativity outside a New York church. A young, desperate mother had wrapped him warmly and placed him where he would be discovered. If we are tempted to judge her, we can instead be thankful this baby will now have a chance in life.
This gets personal for me. As an adopted child myself, I have no idea about the circumstances surrounding my birth. But I have never felt abandoned. Of this much I am certain: I have two moms who wanted me to have a chance in life. One gave life to me; the other invested her life in me.
In Exodus we read about a loving mother in a desperate situation. Pharaoh had ordered the murder of all baby boys born to the Jewish people (1:22). So Moses’s mother hid him as long as she could. When Moses was three months old, she put him in a watertight basket and placed the basket in the Nile River. If the plan was to have the baby rescued by a princess, grow up in Pharaoh’s palace, and eventually deliver his people out of slavery, it worked perfectly.
When a desperate mother gives her child a chance, God can take it from there. He has a habit of doing that—in the most creative ways imaginable. —Tim Gustafson
Father, today we pray for those facing desperate and lonely times. We pray especially for poor and defenseless children everywhere. Help us meet their needs as we are able.


Share the love of Christ.

INSIGHT: As a result of Jochebed’s faith in God, Moses was saved. Amazingly, Jochebed was even paid by Pharaoh’s daughter to nurse her own son! (Ex. 2:7-9). As the grandson of the Pharaoh, Moses was given the best education possible as well as military and administrative training that would enable him to lead many Jews out of Egypt (Acts 7:22). Pharaoh sponsored all of this. The baby in peril is now a baby of privilege. Only God could accomplish something like this! Sim Kay Tee


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Thursday, December 29, 2016

WHAT CAN I GIVE HIM?

What Can I Give Him?
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.—Psalm 103:2
One year, those responsible for decorating their church for Christmas decided to use the theme of “Christmas lists.” Instead of decorating with the usual shiny gold and silver ornaments, they gave each person a red or green tag. On one side they were to write down the gift they would like from Jesus, and on the other they were to list the gift they would give to the One whose birth they were celebrating.
If you were to do this, what gift would you ask for and what would you offer? The Bible gives us lots of ideas. God promises to supply all our needs, so we might ask for a new job, help with financial problems, physical healing for ourselves or others, or a restored relationship. We might be wondering what our spiritual gift is that equips us for God’s service. Many of these are listed in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. Or we might long to show more of the fruit of the Holy Spirit: to be more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind and good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled (Gal. 5:22-23).
The most important gift we can ever receive is God’s gift of His Son, our Savior, and with Him forgiveness, restoration, and the promise of spiritual life that begins now and lasts forever. And the most important gift we can ever give is to give Jesus our heart. —Marion Stroud
You overwhelm me with Your gifts, Lord. In return, I want to give You the very best present that I can. Please show me what You want most from me.


If I were a wise man, I would do my part. Yet what can I give Him—give Him my heart. Christina G. Rossetti


INSIGHT: In Psalm 103, David praises God for His tender mercies and steadfast love (vv. 4, 8, 11, 17). David did not want to forget the many blessings God had given him (v. 2)—forgiveness and healing (v. 3), deliverance (v. 4), provision and renewal (v. 5), and protection (v. 6). This psalm reminds us of who God is (vv. 7-9, 13, 19), what He has done with our sins (vv. 10-12), and who we are (vv. 14-16). In response, we “praise the Lord” (vv. 20-22). Sim Kay Tee

CHRISTMAS IN CAPTIVITY

Christmas in Captivity
On those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.—Isaiah 9:2
Rev. Martin Niemoller, a prominent German pastor, spent nearly eight years in Nazi concentration camps because he openly opposed Hitler. On Christmas Eve 1944, Niemoller spoke these words of hope to his fellow prisoners in Dachau: “My dear friends, on this Christmas . . . let us seek, in the Babe of Bethlehem, the One who came to us in order to bear with us everything that weighs heavily upon us. . . . God Himself has built a bridge from Himself to us! A dawn from on high has visited us!”
At Christmas we embrace the good news that God, in Christ, has come to us wherever we are and has bridged the gap between us. He invades our prison of darkness with His light and lifts the load of sorrow, guilt, or loneliness that weighs us down.
On that bleak Christmas Eve in prison, Niemoller shared this good news: “Out of the brilliance that surrounded the shepherds a shining ray will fall into our darkness.” His words remind us of the prophet Isaiah, who prophetically said, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned” (Isa. 9:2).
No matter where today finds us, Jesus has penetrated our dark world with His joy and light! —David McCasland
Lord Jesus, we find hope and strength in knowing that Your light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
The joy of Christmas is Jesus.

INSIGHT: An old song proclaims, “The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin; the light of the world is Jesus.” How can we spread Jesus’s light? Do you have guests coming for Christmas dinner? Pray that your demeanor may reflect Christ’s care and concern. Perhaps some of us may feel a need to invite to our home those who may be lonely or neglected. Others may want to serve food at a mission and talk with those who are emotionally hurting. “Let your light shine . . . that [others] may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” This will bring joy to God, to others, and to ourselves. Jim Townsend


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JOY FOR ALL

Joy for All
Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.—Luke 2:10
On the final day of a Christian publishing conference in Singapore, 280 participants from 50 countries gathered in the outdoor plaza of a hotel for a group photo. From the second-floor balcony, the photographer took many shots from different angles before finally saying, “We’re through.” A voice from the crowd shouted with relief, “Well, joy to the world!” Immediately, someone replied by singing, “The Lord is come.” Others began to join in. Soon the entire group was singing the familiar carol in beautiful harmony. It was a moving display of unity and joy that I will never forget.
In Luke’s account of the Christmas story, an angel announced the birth of Jesus to a group of shepherds saying, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
The joy was not for a few people, but for all. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son” (John 3:16).
As we share the life-changing message of Jesus with others, we join the worldwide chorus in proclaiming “the glories of His righteousness and wonders of His love.”
“Joy to the world, the Lord is come!” —David McCasland
Father, give us eyes to see people of all nations as recipients of Your grace and joy.
The good news of Jesus’s birth is a source of joy for all people.

INSIGHT: The heart of the Father for those on the fringes is demonstrated by the fact that the joyous announcement of the birth of the Savior was first made to those out in a field tending sheep. The significance of the fact that God chose shepherds to be the first ones to receive the announcement can be lost on us. In Christ’s day, shepherds were ceremonially unclean and considered untrustworthy. But they were the ones God chose. The love of God knows no societal or class boundaries. Jesus came to show the love of God to everyone. When have you felt like an outcast? Did someone reach out to you? What can you do to show Jesus’s love to others? J.R. Hudberg

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ON TIME

On Time
When the set time had fully come, God sent his Son.—Galatians 4:4
Sometimes I joke that I’m going to write a book titled On Time. Those who know me smile because they know I am often late. I rationalize that my lateness is due to optimism, not to lack of trying. I optimistically cling to the faulty belief that “this time” I will be able to get more done in less time than ever before. But I can’t, and I don’t, so I end up having to apologize yet again for my failure to show up on time.
In contrast, God is always on time. We may think He’s late, but He’s not. Throughout Scripture we read about people becoming impatient with God’s timing. The Israelites waited and waited for the promised Messiah. Some gave up hope. But Simeon and Anna did not. They were in the temple daily praying and waiting (Luke 2:25-26, 37). And their faith was rewarded. They got to see the infant Jesus when Mary and Joseph brought Him to be dedicated (vv. 27-32, 38).
When we become discouraged because God doesn’t respond according to our timetable, Christmas reminds us that “when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son . . . that we might receive adoption to sonship” (Gal. 4:4-5). God’s timing is always perfect, and it is worth the wait. —Julie Ackerman Link
Heavenly Father, I confess that I become impatient and discouraged, wanting answers to prayer in my own time and on my schedule. Help me to wait patiently for Your timing in all things.
God’s timing is always right—wait patiently for Him.

INSIGHT: The story of Simeon, Anna, and the baby Jesus at the temple is found only in Luke’s gospel. Some scholars believe that much of this unique material could have come from Luke’s personal interaction with Mary the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:1-2). Dennis Moles

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DISAPPOINTMENT WITH GOD

DISAPPOINTMENT WITH GOD

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I have been so distressed to hear the many testimonies of young people who have left the church and its faith. So many of these testimonies involve a simple equation: Their expectations about God and His promises have not measured up to the reality of their lives. They have lamented:
       I prayed and trusted, but God didn’t answer my prayers.
       I asked for His guidance, but He always remained silent.
       I was confident that He had led me into my marriage, but He clearly did not. My wife took off with another man. I can no longer trust Him; nor do I want to.

My story had been similar. I was trying to follow Christ the best I could, but it wasn’t good enough. I became overwhelmed with depression and panic attacks, and God refused to answer my prayers. I couldn’t understand why He was allowing me to suffer so. He promised me His comfort, but it seemed that everyone else had more comfort than I. He promised to love me, but I felt totally unloved, unlovable, and utterly rejected. He promised that He would never leave me, but I felt entirely abandoned. From my perspective, the Christian life was a huge fraud.

If I had a viable alternative, I would have turned away, but I didn’t have one. I had already tried out every promising option, and each had all failed me. Either God would somehow come through for me or I was finished.

His silence convinced me of either of two things. Either I was so worthless that God wouldn’t waste His time with me, or God didn’t exist, and everything that I had experienced was just a matter of self-deception.

However, since I had nowhere else to turn, I began to read the Psalms and found that the Psalmists had the same problems. David had complained:

       How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? (Psalm 13:1-2)

This Psalm made me think. David had been the man “after God’s own heart,” and yet he suffered such torment. His God had promised David that He would never leave him, and that He would establish an everlasting kingdom through his descendent. How then could David feel so forsaken? Clearly, he had been praying to God, but God didn’t seem to be answering him, and it wasn’t because He had rejected David. Perhaps He hadn’t rejected me?

Many of the Psalmists also complained that their suffering didn’t match up with their glowing expectations based on God’s promises. This was also true for His Chosen People, the Nation of Israel.  The Psalmist Ethan reviewed God’s glorious promises to King David:
       “I [God] will maintain my love to him [David] forever, and my covenant with him will never fail…I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered…that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun; it will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky." (Psalm 89:28-37)

However, by the next verse, Ethan’s tone dramatically changed. Now, he began to accuse God of unfaithfulness:

       But you have rejected, you have spurned, you have been very angry with your anointed one. You have renounced the covenant with your servant and have defiled his crown in the dust. You have broken through all his walls and reduced his strongholds to ruins…O Lord, where is your former great love, which in your faithfulness you swore to David? (Psalm 89:38-40)

According to Ethan, God had betrayed His people and had reneged on His promises. Israel’s present degraded status failed to measure up to what their God had promised them. Ethan seemed to be rejecting the faith of his Father’s.

I was drawn into this perplexing drama. It seemed that I wasn’t alone. The Psalmists also felt betrayed by their God, who had failed to live up to His promises.

The Psalmist Asaph had also felt betrayed by God. It was apparent to him that the arrogant enemies of God were living far better than the righteous. He therefore complained:

       Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. (Psalm 73:13) 

According to Asaph, it had been a disappointment to serve God. However, these Psalmists had been the exemplars of the faith, and they were concluding that their faith had been a waste of time, just like the testimonies of those youth who had departed from the faith.

Even the Messiah claimed that His Father had abandoned Him:

       Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

However, we know that this abandonment had only been temporary. By the end of the Psalm, He proclaimed that this “abandonment” had not been the end of the story:

       For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. (Psalm 22:24)

Was there a lesson here for me? Perhaps I too had failed to see the big picture. Perhaps I was suffering from myopia. Did the Psalmist Ethan resolve His conflict with God? He simply concluded:

       Praise be to the LORD forever! Amen and Amen. (Psalm 89:52)

It doesn’t seem that Ethan was able to see the big picture – that God would once again exalt His nation and show Himself faithful to His covenant, His promises to David. However, it does seem that he had concluded that there was more to the picture than what he was presently able to see.

Perhaps there was more to my suffering than what I was able to see. Perhaps my Savior had secretly been loving me in the midst of my tears, and even suffering along with me (Hebrews 4:15).

However, the Psalmist Asaph was subsequently blessed with a revelation. He entered the Temple and was shown the big picture – the prospering of the arrogant and the suffering of the righteous were only temporary. After this revelation, he gratefully proclaimed:
       I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you. Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:22-26)

Asaph had not been able to contemplate any possible resolution for his conflict. The arrogant were prospering and the righteous were suffering. However, he had been shown otherwise. He had been enabled to see beyond his limited experiences and observations.

Perhaps also there was something that I was missing. Perhaps there was a purpose for my suffering as there had been for Asaph’s. Perhaps I was demanding too much – an immediate understanding about what I was suffering.

Perhaps also those who had left the church were also expecting too much. Perhaps they weren’t ready for the big picture of God’s plan. Perhaps, instead, God was requiring them to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7).

Why do some persevere and continue to look towards God, even in their perplexity, while others leave? I cannot answer this question. I just pray that they will return to our only possible Hope.

Meanwhile, I thank God for what I had suffered. I liken myself to the Psalmist David who confessed:
       It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. The law from your mouth is more precious to me than thousands of pieces of silver and gold. (Psalm 119:71-72)


New York School of the Bible: http://www.nysb.nyc/





THE POWER OF SIMPLE WORDS

The Power of Simple Words
We did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.—2 Peter 1:16
Raucous laughter marked the guests in my father’s hospital room: Two old truck drivers, one former country/western singer, one craftsman, two women from neighboring farms, and me.
“...and then he got up and busted the bottle over my head,” the craftsman said, finishing his story about a bar fight.
The room bursts into laughter at this now-humorous memory. Dad, struggling for breath as his laughing fought with his cancer for the air in his lungs, puffs out a reminder to everybody that “Randy is a preacher” so they need to watch what they say. Everything got quiet for about two seconds, then the whole room exploded as this news makes them laugh harder and louder.
Suddenly, about forty minutes into this visit, the craftsman clears his throat, turns to my dad, and gets serious. “No more drinking and bar fights for me, Howard. Those days are behind me. Now I have a different reason to live. I want to tell you about my Savior.”
He then proceeded to do just that, over my father’s surprisingly mild protests. If there’s a sweeter, gentler way to present the gospel message, I’ve never heard it.
My dad listened and watched, and some years later believed in Jesus too.
It was a simple testimony from an old friend living a simple life, reminding me again that simple isn’t naïve or stupid; it’s direct and unpretentious.
Just like Jesus. And salvation. —Randy Kilgore

Go and make disciples of all nations. Matthew 28:19 

INSIGHT: Nothing hits home for people like a straightforward, unembroidered recounting of personal testimony about how Christ has changed our lives. The blind man of John 9:25 blurted out, “One thing I know. I was blind but now I see.” His healing was unarguable. There is nothing quite like the unadorned truth of testimony—“Tell it like it is.” Jim Townsend