Are you saying that if I were born in a garage I would be a car?
Don't misunderstand me, I do not by any means dismiss the influence of culture/family on all sorts of things, including religion. This argument though, which I came across on youtube in a response by Richard Dawkins to a question, is really a quite pathetic attempt to dismiss by contempt rather than by a reasoned and logical argument. If his argument were valid then why is he not a Christian? Well I suspect he would answer that he is a thinker (with the implication that all who are religious are not).
I have seen this type of arrogance before from academics. One man was so sure of the impossibility of the Christians position, that he suggested to me that Christians have different brain chemistry than non- Christians. In his mind, this explained what he thought of as our stupidity. But even if he was right about there being a difference in brain chemistry, it would not prove that he was right and we were wrong about God.
To dismiss all religious people as unthinking idiots as this “argument” does, is to discount many of the greatest thinkers of all time. Einstein, though not a Christian certainly believed in God. It was he who said “Science without religion is lame”. Almost certainly what lies behind what he was saying is that the existence of a creator God best explains the facts that there is something there, and that there is order. Modern Science was born in the Christian West out of the assumption that if it was all created by an intelligent being, then it would make sense to systematically study it. And Newton and many other great Scientists were and are Christian. Even Darwin in his later years was a Christian.
Certainly it is not fashionable to be a Christian, but truth is determined neither by fashion, nor by democratic vote. And most people I meet in this day and age have never examined the claims of Christ and Christianity with their adult minds (see coming post Liar, Lunatic or Lord). To come back to the title of this post (and incidentally to the second part of the Einstein quote above), I want to admit that there are many who are religious who simply follow without engaging their minds. But non-religious people are not exempt from mindlessly following the culture. How about you? Have you examined the claims of Christ with your adult mind?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
God, Wonderful and Terrible - Good and Bad news
I said in the last post that there is another side to the wonder of God that we see in creation. If we are born into a safe and loving environment, it may take time to see this, especially if we live far from wars and the savagery of man and of nature. However sooner (more often than not) or later, we come fact to face with the problem of the existence of pain and of evil in the world. It is a problem (in that it is hard to explain) for both the Christian and the non-Christian. I can never seem to quite make up my mind just how much to “blame” God for it all. I mean in creating free will, He certainly created the possibility of evil (a mankind who was prevented from choosing evil could not logically choose to love in any meaningful way). And what about earthquakes and other “acts of God”. Well at least the insurance companies know who to blame! I am not so sure, since as the Scriptures tell us the “Prince of the power of the air” has an agenda to kill and to steal and to destroy (John 10:10). He seems to be doing a good job!
But is it certainly God who knocked Paul off his horse when he thought he was serving him but was not. Paul later talks about knowing the terror of the Lord (II Corinthians 5:11). I suspect that this is an oblique reference to that event. The Scriptures also talk about God “Awesome and Terrible” (Deuteronomy 10:17 – KJV, AMP), that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and that unregenerate man is His enemy. It is true that He tells this last piece of bad news in the context of simultaneously telling the good news, for “if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). So Christ died for your sins and mine while we were still His enemies. “... perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. God is fearsome and terrible, but God is good and has provided the (only, unique) way of escape.
So there are two pictures here of God, and both are true. “Behold” Paul tells us “The goodness and severity severity of God”. On the one hand He is severe to those who turn their back on Him. On that day, we are told, those who have not accepted His pardon will cry out in terror for the rocks to fall on them. On the other hand, He is good to those who continue in His goodness. God is Love and God is good, but God is also a Holy God and God is a consuming fire. The good news is that we can choose to be on His side. But if we choose not to.....
People tell me they don't have a clue about what the Book of Revelation is all about. While I am not by any means an expert on this, I do have a clue. It is, after all, the “back of The Book”, and as at the back of any book, it tells how it all ends. God and good win, evil and the devil and his angels loose. They and all who follow them (default) are cast into the lake of fire, and God executes justice and revenge on His enemies. Those who have received His pardon, go on to the place where there is no more death, no more tears, no more pain, no more torment. The rest of us are cast into the lake of fire, of everlasting burnings.
The default, the way we all start off, is that we are His enemies. We have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. But Jesus invites us into His Kingdom. “Behold” He tells us, “I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). You don't dine with your enemies (it is a picture of fellowship). If you open the door and invite Him in, He becomes your friend, your saviour and your redeemer. If you harden your heart and choose not to listen to His voice and His invitation, you become deaf and remain His enemy. If we refuse His gift of forgiveness, His free Pardon, what are we left with?
I mentioned above that Paul knew the terror of the Lord. The full quotation is “Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men”. And in the same context “the love of Christ constrains us” and “ we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
I too implore you dear reader to be reconciled to God. There are many I pray will read what I have written. There are many with whom I have longed to be able to share the things that I write today, not as a guilt trip, but because I honestly fear for you. As I said in an earlier post, there are times when (knowing as least something of the terror of the Lord, and loving you deary) the burden of not being allowed to speak is intolerable (see 'Hell? Are you trying to scare me into heaven?'). Please forgive me for the times and the places where my life has failed to reflect the truth of what I say today. I am painfully aware that even as a Christian, I fail in many things (James 3:2). I am “hearing” more protests, more objections. I will answer some of them in the days to come.
But is it certainly God who knocked Paul off his horse when he thought he was serving him but was not. Paul later talks about knowing the terror of the Lord (II Corinthians 5:11). I suspect that this is an oblique reference to that event. The Scriptures also talk about God “Awesome and Terrible” (Deuteronomy 10:17 – KJV, AMP), that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom, and that unregenerate man is His enemy. It is true that He tells this last piece of bad news in the context of simultaneously telling the good news, for “if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10). So Christ died for your sins and mine while we were still His enemies. “... perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. God is fearsome and terrible, but God is good and has provided the (only, unique) way of escape.
So there are two pictures here of God, and both are true. “Behold” Paul tells us “The goodness and severity severity of God”. On the one hand He is severe to those who turn their back on Him. On that day, we are told, those who have not accepted His pardon will cry out in terror for the rocks to fall on them. On the other hand, He is good to those who continue in His goodness. God is Love and God is good, but God is also a Holy God and God is a consuming fire. The good news is that we can choose to be on His side. But if we choose not to.....
People tell me they don't have a clue about what the Book of Revelation is all about. While I am not by any means an expert on this, I do have a clue. It is, after all, the “back of The Book”, and as at the back of any book, it tells how it all ends. God and good win, evil and the devil and his angels loose. They and all who follow them (default) are cast into the lake of fire, and God executes justice and revenge on His enemies. Those who have received His pardon, go on to the place where there is no more death, no more tears, no more pain, no more torment. The rest of us are cast into the lake of fire, of everlasting burnings.
The default, the way we all start off, is that we are His enemies. We have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. But Jesus invites us into His Kingdom. “Behold” He tells us, “I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20). You don't dine with your enemies (it is a picture of fellowship). If you open the door and invite Him in, He becomes your friend, your saviour and your redeemer. If you harden your heart and choose not to listen to His voice and His invitation, you become deaf and remain His enemy. If we refuse His gift of forgiveness, His free Pardon, what are we left with?
I mentioned above that Paul knew the terror of the Lord. The full quotation is “Knowing the terror of the Lord we persuade men”. And in the same context “the love of Christ constrains us” and “ we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
I too implore you dear reader to be reconciled to God. There are many I pray will read what I have written. There are many with whom I have longed to be able to share the things that I write today, not as a guilt trip, but because I honestly fear for you. As I said in an earlier post, there are times when (knowing as least something of the terror of the Lord, and loving you deary) the burden of not being allowed to speak is intolerable (see 'Hell? Are you trying to scare me into heaven?'). Please forgive me for the times and the places where my life has failed to reflect the truth of what I say today. I am painfully aware that even as a Christian, I fail in many things (James 3:2). I am “hearing” more protests, more objections. I will answer some of them in the days to come.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A trinity of revelation IV. How it works!
I am a saint, I am, and I will go to heaven when I die. Does it sound a little overconfident, even a little arrogant? Let me explain this in the context of the trinity of His revelations. I hope this will make it clear how the “unity in diversity” of this trinity works. So then to start with, my Heavenly Daddy has assured me that before the bar of God I am justified by the blood of Jesus Christ, and that He remembers my sins no more. So what medium has He used to bring this assurance? My contention is that it is all three forms (the whole trinity) of His revelations. That is together creation, the Bible and His Spirit confirm and reinforce it. I need to unpack this.
In “A trinity of revelations I”, I explained that the arguments about the existence of God from the order (design) in creation are hollow to the unbeliever, but are compelling to the one who believes. You see as part of this, the revelation of God through creation will, if we let it, touch much much more than the intellect, it will touch the soul. We have free will, we choose how we respond to “general revelation”. I already mentioned that sunsets touch me, but they do not touch everybody. Part of the problem is that we have lost our ability to wonder, to be amazed. Remember in order to enter the Kingdom, we are to become as little children. Observe their wonder and joy at all that is. The heavens declare the glory of God, but our ability to see that glory is diminished by our man made “towers of Babel”, our concrete jungles, our apparent self sufficiency, our arrogance and the suppression of truth in unrighteousness (see 'General revelation'). God's revelation is also undermined by the lies of the enemy. God will not force His revelation on us, but for those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, His creation speaks into our soul that He is, and that He is wonderful. And with these eyes and ears Science, rather than telling me that God does not exist (see “I know too much Science to believe in God) fascinates me with its complexity and intricacy. It leads me to ask “Who is He, who created and designed all this?” When I come away from the shallow (but powerful) lusts that war against the soul and draw me into bondage, I find within my soul a longing to know the One who made it all. We see reflections of this in our desire to know and connect with those in the here and now, whom we admire.
There is another side to this I want to explore in the next post. But what I am saying here, is that for the one who has eyes to see and ears to hear, creation provides a kind of backdrop, a canvas upon which further compatible revelations in His Word, and by His Spirit can be written. When Satan and the World whispers into our ears that God does not exist, and it's all a figment of my imagination (Satan speaks his lies in the first person), the heart of the believer answers back “The heavens declare the Glory of God, Creation speaks to me that He is, and that He is wonderful”. This, however, is but one strand of how I know.
That He is wonderful is also confirmed by His Word. In fact “Wonderful” is one of His names (Isaiah 9:6). Part of the wonder of who He is, is that He loves me (John 3:16), and that when I repent and receive His forgiveness, He leads me into fullness of life, and assures me of a place by His side when I die. So as I say, He calls me a saint. Am I saintly? I am less confident about that, a lot less confident. You are a saint too, if you have received Him as Lord and Savior and received His forgiveness for your sins. And you may not be any more saintly than I am. On the other hand He has qualified us to be inheritors of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). We passed! And He has told us in His Word that He wants us to be confident in these things. In I John 5:13 He says “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Notice the tense “have”, it is a present possession. It is a gift, it is not of works (Ephesians 2:8). Is He not indeed wonderful as creation reveals?
And all this is confirmed, reinforced and made real, by the witness of His Spirit. In Romans 8:16 we read “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ... ”. So here is another place where we are meant to experience Him. The assurance His presence brings will not always be 24/7, but then we have the other strands to fall back on. It is in the dark times we learn to trust Him and His Word. His Word is sure.
So then the three strands of His revelation agree and reinforce one another. But at other times, the three strands of revelation keep us in balance. The problem of balance is a major problem for humankind, for we far too easily loose it. Some groups, for example, emphasize the revelation of God by the Word, others emphasize the revelation of God by the Spirit. There is a well known saying that is designed to correct this (and it too is Biblical). The saying is “The Word without the Spirit we dry up (the letter of the law kills), the Spirit without the Word we blow up (we need the Word for correction II Timothy 3:16), but with the Word and the Spirit together, we grow up”. Its a trinity, unity in diversity, confirmation and reinforcement. I like to insert “in the fellowship of the saints” after 'together' in the above saying. We need each other. In the fellowship of those who believe in space (God is at work in Africa), time (the saints of old) and theology (listening to each other), we are to exhibit unity in diversity (and balance). When we do, we reflect Him (Trinity) in our cooperate witness. As iron sharpens Iron, so man sharpens man! As I hinted at in the last post, this is a furnace, and it is meant to refine us and bring us into balance, and unity! Trinity is three in one, it is not one period (unity in conformity), it is not three separate things (diversity without unity) it is three in one (unity in diversity). They will know we are Christians by our love. We have a ways to go!
In “A trinity of revelations I”, I explained that the arguments about the existence of God from the order (design) in creation are hollow to the unbeliever, but are compelling to the one who believes. You see as part of this, the revelation of God through creation will, if we let it, touch much much more than the intellect, it will touch the soul. We have free will, we choose how we respond to “general revelation”. I already mentioned that sunsets touch me, but they do not touch everybody. Part of the problem is that we have lost our ability to wonder, to be amazed. Remember in order to enter the Kingdom, we are to become as little children. Observe their wonder and joy at all that is. The heavens declare the glory of God, but our ability to see that glory is diminished by our man made “towers of Babel”, our concrete jungles, our apparent self sufficiency, our arrogance and the suppression of truth in unrighteousness (see 'General revelation'). God's revelation is also undermined by the lies of the enemy. God will not force His revelation on us, but for those who have eyes to see, and ears to hear, His creation speaks into our soul that He is, and that He is wonderful. And with these eyes and ears Science, rather than telling me that God does not exist (see “I know too much Science to believe in God) fascinates me with its complexity and intricacy. It leads me to ask “Who is He, who created and designed all this?” When I come away from the shallow (but powerful) lusts that war against the soul and draw me into bondage, I find within my soul a longing to know the One who made it all. We see reflections of this in our desire to know and connect with those in the here and now, whom we admire.
There is another side to this I want to explore in the next post. But what I am saying here, is that for the one who has eyes to see and ears to hear, creation provides a kind of backdrop, a canvas upon which further compatible revelations in His Word, and by His Spirit can be written. When Satan and the World whispers into our ears that God does not exist, and it's all a figment of my imagination (Satan speaks his lies in the first person), the heart of the believer answers back “The heavens declare the Glory of God, Creation speaks to me that He is, and that He is wonderful”. This, however, is but one strand of how I know.
That He is wonderful is also confirmed by His Word. In fact “Wonderful” is one of His names (Isaiah 9:6). Part of the wonder of who He is, is that He loves me (John 3:16), and that when I repent and receive His forgiveness, He leads me into fullness of life, and assures me of a place by His side when I die. So as I say, He calls me a saint. Am I saintly? I am less confident about that, a lot less confident. You are a saint too, if you have received Him as Lord and Savior and received His forgiveness for your sins. And you may not be any more saintly than I am. On the other hand He has qualified us to be inheritors of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12). We passed! And He has told us in His Word that He wants us to be confident in these things. In I John 5:13 He says “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.” Notice the tense “have”, it is a present possession. It is a gift, it is not of works (Ephesians 2:8). Is He not indeed wonderful as creation reveals?
And all this is confirmed, reinforced and made real, by the witness of His Spirit. In Romans 8:16 we read “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, ... ”. So here is another place where we are meant to experience Him. The assurance His presence brings will not always be 24/7, but then we have the other strands to fall back on. It is in the dark times we learn to trust Him and His Word. His Word is sure.
So then the three strands of His revelation agree and reinforce one another. But at other times, the three strands of revelation keep us in balance. The problem of balance is a major problem for humankind, for we far too easily loose it. Some groups, for example, emphasize the revelation of God by the Word, others emphasize the revelation of God by the Spirit. There is a well known saying that is designed to correct this (and it too is Biblical). The saying is “The Word without the Spirit we dry up (the letter of the law kills), the Spirit without the Word we blow up (we need the Word for correction II Timothy 3:16), but with the Word and the Spirit together, we grow up”. Its a trinity, unity in diversity, confirmation and reinforcement. I like to insert “in the fellowship of the saints” after 'together' in the above saying. We need each other. In the fellowship of those who believe in space (God is at work in Africa), time (the saints of old) and theology (listening to each other), we are to exhibit unity in diversity (and balance). When we do, we reflect Him (Trinity) in our cooperate witness. As iron sharpens Iron, so man sharpens man! As I hinted at in the last post, this is a furnace, and it is meant to refine us and bring us into balance, and unity! Trinity is three in one, it is not one period (unity in conformity), it is not three separate things (diversity without unity) it is three in one (unity in diversity). They will know we are Christians by our love. We have a ways to go!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
A trinity of revelation III. His Spirit to my spirt.
There is a big difference between knowing about somebody and knowing them as a person. The Bible uses the same word 'ginosko' for knowing God as it does for the intimate knowledge of a man and a woman. There is mystery in how the Bible describes the relationship we can have with God. There is the intimate unspoiled Father (daddy) child relationship we all needed and at one stage longed for with our earthly fathers (Romans 8, see “Not like my Father”) , there is friendship with God (John 15:15), there is God as comforter, and greatest of all, we are the Bride of Christ.
We come to know a person, as they allow us into their life. The wonder of it all it that that is exactly what God wants to do for us. He wants to invite us into the intimate relationship and fellowship of the Trinity. It is a cause and a reason to wonder, that the Creator of the Universe, the One who spoke and stars were flung into space, is interested in, and is crazy about little old me, and little old you.
Our concept of knowing in the West is dominated by rationality. There is however a trinity of ways of knowing. We can know by reason, by intuition and by experience (see the July post 'Is Reason is the unique pathway to knowledge?'). When we come to truly know a person we know him or her, in all three of these ways of knowing. We will know things about the person that can be stated as facts, we will have gathered intuitively aspects of her character, and we will experience him in relationship. Most of us have this experience a “kindred spirit”. It is much much more than a purely rational thing.
We are meant to experience God. Paul describes God as the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (II Corinthians 1:3). How can we comfort others with God's comfort if we have not experienced it ourselves? We are intended to experience His comfort then, but there is so much more of Him that we are meant to experience too.
There are some in the body of Christ for whom the word “experience” is a dirty word. 'We cannot rely on experience' they tell us. I agree that we cannot rely on experience alone. We need to test all things from the Word of God. Is it Biblical to receive the experience of comfort from God? Yes it is! Do we need to beware of experiences that go outside the Biblical norm? Yes, but we also need to be careful that we do not reject signs and wonders that are from Him. I need to ask a question. “Is God allowed to surprise us?” For too long we have put God in a box. I fear that without realizing it we have posted signs on our churches “God keep out”. Rumour has it that God wants His church back!
I understand though that there are lying signs and wonders, and again, yes we do need to test all things. I also understand that it is safer to reject it all, but if we do we should not be surprised that finish up with we an impoverished even boring Christianity, that has little attraction to the World. I remember one preacher saying in a sermon that heaven is going to be like one long Church service. My immediate response (tongue in cheek) was “Oh no, what's the other place like?” I have not always experienced church as I believe it is intended to be. There are times when an hour and twenty minutes seems like an eternity, but there are also times when five hours have passed with my hardly noticing the time. At such times I am aware of the healing presence of God. Such times bring reality to the Hymn writers words that talk about being “lost in wonder lover and praise”.
There is a promise that comes to mind where Jesus tells us of the one who has and obeys His commandments “I ... will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him” (John 14:21 Amplified Bible) . It is a promise with a condition to be fulfilled. In a related point, we are intended to become more and more like Jesus. This is His goal for our lives (Romans 8:29). Here is another question. Does God expect us to become more like Jesus but without the resources, in particular the affirmation, that He gave Jesus? That would not be just. Jesus clearly experienced the tangible presence of God. The audible voice comes from heaven “You are my beloved son, I am some proud of you my son (Phil paraphrase of Mark 1:11).
Most of us have not received that level affirmation that the Father gave to Jesus before He even started His ministry. But that same affirmation is there in the Word “He has given us the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry “abba” daddy Father, and He calls those of us who have received His salvation “saints”. He intends that we move into the realty of this relationship with Him, as His Word becomes more and more real in our lives. His Spirit witness to our spirit that we are His beloved sons and daughters (Romans 8:16). It is intended to be tangible. But we do not have because we do not ask, and most of us are probably afraid of it too. I myself would prefer not to be knocked off my horse (Acts 9). I'm pretty safe, I don't own a horse!
So then this third strand of revelation is much more than a revelation of propositional knowledge, it is a giving of Himself to us. As He said to Abraham all those years ago “I am your exceedingly great reward”. He is ours too, if we will seek Him, and if we will allow it.
We come to know a person, as they allow us into their life. The wonder of it all it that that is exactly what God wants to do for us. He wants to invite us into the intimate relationship and fellowship of the Trinity. It is a cause and a reason to wonder, that the Creator of the Universe, the One who spoke and stars were flung into space, is interested in, and is crazy about little old me, and little old you.
Our concept of knowing in the West is dominated by rationality. There is however a trinity of ways of knowing. We can know by reason, by intuition and by experience (see the July post 'Is Reason is the unique pathway to knowledge?'). When we come to truly know a person we know him or her, in all three of these ways of knowing. We will know things about the person that can be stated as facts, we will have gathered intuitively aspects of her character, and we will experience him in relationship. Most of us have this experience a “kindred spirit”. It is much much more than a purely rational thing.
We are meant to experience God. Paul describes God as the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (II Corinthians 1:3). How can we comfort others with God's comfort if we have not experienced it ourselves? We are intended to experience His comfort then, but there is so much more of Him that we are meant to experience too.
There are some in the body of Christ for whom the word “experience” is a dirty word. 'We cannot rely on experience' they tell us. I agree that we cannot rely on experience alone. We need to test all things from the Word of God. Is it Biblical to receive the experience of comfort from God? Yes it is! Do we need to beware of experiences that go outside the Biblical norm? Yes, but we also need to be careful that we do not reject signs and wonders that are from Him. I need to ask a question. “Is God allowed to surprise us?” For too long we have put God in a box. I fear that without realizing it we have posted signs on our churches “God keep out”. Rumour has it that God wants His church back!
I understand though that there are lying signs and wonders, and again, yes we do need to test all things. I also understand that it is safer to reject it all, but if we do we should not be surprised that finish up with we an impoverished even boring Christianity, that has little attraction to the World. I remember one preacher saying in a sermon that heaven is going to be like one long Church service. My immediate response (tongue in cheek) was “Oh no, what's the other place like?” I have not always experienced church as I believe it is intended to be. There are times when an hour and twenty minutes seems like an eternity, but there are also times when five hours have passed with my hardly noticing the time. At such times I am aware of the healing presence of God. Such times bring reality to the Hymn writers words that talk about being “lost in wonder lover and praise”.
There is a promise that comes to mind where Jesus tells us of the one who has and obeys His commandments “I ... will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him” (John 14:21 Amplified Bible) . It is a promise with a condition to be fulfilled. In a related point, we are intended to become more and more like Jesus. This is His goal for our lives (Romans 8:29). Here is another question. Does God expect us to become more like Jesus but without the resources, in particular the affirmation, that He gave Jesus? That would not be just. Jesus clearly experienced the tangible presence of God. The audible voice comes from heaven “You are my beloved son, I am some proud of you my son (Phil paraphrase of Mark 1:11).
Most of us have not received that level affirmation that the Father gave to Jesus before He even started His ministry. But that same affirmation is there in the Word “He has given us the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry “abba” daddy Father, and He calls those of us who have received His salvation “saints”. He intends that we move into the realty of this relationship with Him, as His Word becomes more and more real in our lives. His Spirit witness to our spirit that we are His beloved sons and daughters (Romans 8:16). It is intended to be tangible. But we do not have because we do not ask, and most of us are probably afraid of it too. I myself would prefer not to be knocked off my horse (Acts 9). I'm pretty safe, I don't own a horse!
So then this third strand of revelation is much more than a revelation of propositional knowledge, it is a giving of Himself to us. As He said to Abraham all those years ago “I am your exceedingly great reward”. He is ours too, if we will seek Him, and if we will allow it.
Monday, September 13, 2010
A trinity of revelation II. The Bible.
If it is true that the heavens declare the Glory of God (and they do) then, as I said in the first post on this trinity, they also declare that He exists and is powerful. Among the things that they do not tell us though, is that God loves us, wants a relationship with us, and went to extraordinary lengths to make it possible. Neither do they tell us how to get right with Him, or how to live life. All of this, and more, comes in the Bible.
I like to think of the Bible as God's love letter to mankind (and mancruel too). I like the way that some of the early missionaries used to put it “God loves bad boys, and Jesus died so that you could live a full life and then go to heaven to be with Him forever when you die.” It is, if you think about it, an extraordinary message, not one that anyone would likely make up. In other words it is a message that had to be revealed. You see, the natural man, if he acknowledges God at all, has this tendency to think that being good is how to get right with Him. Please do not misquote me here, I am not saying not being good does not matter, I am saying the fact we are not good does not exclude us, if we are willing to turn our lives over to Him, and to let Him change us.
In fact Christianity is unique in this, every other religion is man reaching up to God, while Christianity alone is God reaching down to man. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die in my place, so that I might have life (abundant and eternal) in Him. Only in the Bible do we see this revelation of God's initiative. Apart form the Bible, and the witness of God's people to its life changing truth, this amazing plan of salvation (how we get right with God) would be unknown.
But some will ask “Isn't it just a book, written by man (and so a book by man, and not a revelation from God at all)?” The Bible (the Hebrew Christians Scriptures) consists of 66 books, written certainly by man, but inspired by God. This is a truth claim to be checked out. Paul tells us (II Timothy 3:16) "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". Note that it says all, not just some. It is all inspired by God. The Greek word translated 'inspired' here is a compound word theo-pneustos. It literally means God Spirited (or God breathed as one translation puts it, since the Greek uses the same word for breath and spirit).
I like the way the Invervarsity statement of Faith puts it affirming “The unique divine inspiration, entire trustworthiness and authority of the Bible” (see http://www.intervarsity.org/about/our/doctrinal-basis ). This statement, refined in the furnace of interdenominational dialog among those who take the Scriptures as authoritative, affirms several things. Firstly that the inspiration is divine, it originates with God. This divine inspiration does not obliterate the personality of the one being inspired. Within both the Sovereignty of God and the free will of man – God's Spirit moved “Holy men of old” to write, and to write accurately, what God wanted written. This is not a “type writer” view of inspiration, it is not direct dictation, but nevertheless gives accurately all God intended. That and nothing more. Thus it is authoritative, and we can trust it entirely. The Intervarsity statement includes the word “unique”. There is no other work that is fully inspired in the way the Bible is inspired, and in fact all other forms of revelation are to be tested by agreement or not, with the Scriptures. Thus the Scriptures are God's primary verbal revelation of Himself to mankind.
As strong as the above statement is, it is is not strong enough for some. It is however the one I use, and do so because the words it uses are all words the Scripture uses about itself. In my opinion, we need a very good reason for going beyond Biblical words (see I Corinthians 4:6). Its a long debate. I could recommend a point by point summary of the issues – at http://www.christinyou.net/pages/inspiration.html. I like this summary, because the author does not spell out the solution, but rather brings together in point form, the ingredients needed for a fully reasoned position on the issues.
So then the Scriptures are God's primary verbal revelation of Himself. They are not the only vehicle for His revelation, for “the invisible things of Him are clearly seen from the creation of the earth”, and the Spirit searches the heart of man (see 1 Corinthians 2:10). Note that I can say these last two things authoritatively since these are Biblical concepts. The Spirit will not tell me to murder since in His inspired writings He wrote “Do not murder”. Well it is a trinity, each one is to confirm the other. On the other hand the subjective (what I feel God may be revealing to me), is to be tested by the objective written Word “rightly handled” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV).
I like to think of the Bible as God's love letter to mankind (and mancruel too). I like the way that some of the early missionaries used to put it “God loves bad boys, and Jesus died so that you could live a full life and then go to heaven to be with Him forever when you die.” It is, if you think about it, an extraordinary message, not one that anyone would likely make up. In other words it is a message that had to be revealed. You see, the natural man, if he acknowledges God at all, has this tendency to think that being good is how to get right with Him. Please do not misquote me here, I am not saying not being good does not matter, I am saying the fact we are not good does not exclude us, if we are willing to turn our lives over to Him, and to let Him change us.
In fact Christianity is unique in this, every other religion is man reaching up to God, while Christianity alone is God reaching down to man. God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die in my place, so that I might have life (abundant and eternal) in Him. Only in the Bible do we see this revelation of God's initiative. Apart form the Bible, and the witness of God's people to its life changing truth, this amazing plan of salvation (how we get right with God) would be unknown.
But some will ask “Isn't it just a book, written by man (and so a book by man, and not a revelation from God at all)?” The Bible (the Hebrew Christians Scriptures) consists of 66 books, written certainly by man, but inspired by God. This is a truth claim to be checked out. Paul tells us (II Timothy 3:16) "All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". Note that it says all, not just some. It is all inspired by God. The Greek word translated 'inspired' here is a compound word theo-pneustos. It literally means God Spirited (or God breathed as one translation puts it, since the Greek uses the same word for breath and spirit).
I like the way the Invervarsity statement of Faith puts it affirming “The unique divine inspiration, entire trustworthiness and authority of the Bible” (see http://www.intervarsity.org/about/our/doctrinal-basis ). This statement, refined in the furnace of interdenominational dialog among those who take the Scriptures as authoritative, affirms several things. Firstly that the inspiration is divine, it originates with God. This divine inspiration does not obliterate the personality of the one being inspired. Within both the Sovereignty of God and the free will of man – God's Spirit moved “Holy men of old” to write, and to write accurately, what God wanted written. This is not a “type writer” view of inspiration, it is not direct dictation, but nevertheless gives accurately all God intended. That and nothing more. Thus it is authoritative, and we can trust it entirely. The Intervarsity statement includes the word “unique”. There is no other work that is fully inspired in the way the Bible is inspired, and in fact all other forms of revelation are to be tested by agreement or not, with the Scriptures. Thus the Scriptures are God's primary verbal revelation of Himself to mankind.
As strong as the above statement is, it is is not strong enough for some. It is however the one I use, and do so because the words it uses are all words the Scripture uses about itself. In my opinion, we need a very good reason for going beyond Biblical words (see I Corinthians 4:6). Its a long debate. I could recommend a point by point summary of the issues – at http://www.christinyou.net/pages/inspiration.html. I like this summary, because the author does not spell out the solution, but rather brings together in point form, the ingredients needed for a fully reasoned position on the issues.
So then the Scriptures are God's primary verbal revelation of Himself. They are not the only vehicle for His revelation, for “the invisible things of Him are clearly seen from the creation of the earth”, and the Spirit searches the heart of man (see 1 Corinthians 2:10). Note that I can say these last two things authoritatively since these are Biblical concepts. The Spirit will not tell me to murder since in His inspired writings He wrote “Do not murder”. Well it is a trinity, each one is to confirm the other. On the other hand the subjective (what I feel God may be revealing to me), is to be tested by the objective written Word “rightly handled” (2 Timothy 2:15 NIV).
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Hell? Are you trying to scare me into heaven?
I interrupt the trinity of revelations because the objections I “heard” at the end of the last post are too important to ignore. You may have noticed that the reaction of the world to our talking about hell is less than welcoming (British understatement!). Before I deal with the issues I need to deal with what I believe lies behind this, in many ways, understandable reaction.
They tell me I am difficult to correct. I don't doubt it. It was not that long ago that I wrote in my journal “I have yet to find a single person, and I most certainty include myself, who is able to hear the truth.” The difficulty of hearing the truth is underlined by Jesus when, at the close of His earthly ministry, He tells His disciples “I have many things to say to you, but you are not yet able to bear them”. The fact of the matter is that it is hard to hear the truth. Note closely He is talking here to believers. What I am saying is that if those who walked with Him, and sought with all that was within them to follow Him for three years here on earth, had problems hearing the truth, it is no wonder that the rest of us (including the World) have difficulties.
The Scripture instruct us to speak the truth in love. There are many who are willing to speak the pure unadulterated truth, but most of the time it is not in love. When it is not spoken in love, we cannot hear. We also need (by our lives) to earn the right to be heard. This takes time, it takes relationship. Even then, when we speak the truth it needs to be in gentleness and in love, because the truth is too difficult to hear. But it is the truth that sets us free.
If you are like me in this (and you may not admit it, but you probably are) you both want the truth and you don't want it. I think it is part of our fallen human nature. I have wanted people to love me enough to confront me when necessary. But I do know that I am not easy to confront. I remember this song on the radio when I was a boy. “Two lovely black eyes – oh what a surprise. Only for telling a gal she was wrong. Two lovely back eyes”. I did not understand the song at the time. But I understand it now. As children we are much easier to correct (I don't say easy). And of course, part of being able to enter the Kingdom is becoming as a little child.
To start to address the issue behind the issue, if heaven and hell are real, and if we go to one of the two places when we die, and if it depends on the decisions we make in the here and now, it would not be loving of me not to try and tell you about it, even if it made you mad. Think of it this way, if you knew that your friend was driving down a road where round a sharp bend the bridge was washed out, and that they would likely plunge to their deaths, would you not try and warn them?
So then if this thing about heaven and hell is not true – it is a huge guilt trip, but if it is true (and believe me we are convinced that it is) then perhaps you can understand that at times it is an intolerable burden that we are not allowed to tell you. It it made worse by those who share these things without sensitivity or love. Let me apologize for those who do this. I do not identify with their insensitivity, but I do understand what drives them.
They tell me I am difficult to correct. I don't doubt it. It was not that long ago that I wrote in my journal “I have yet to find a single person, and I most certainty include myself, who is able to hear the truth.” The difficulty of hearing the truth is underlined by Jesus when, at the close of His earthly ministry, He tells His disciples “I have many things to say to you, but you are not yet able to bear them”. The fact of the matter is that it is hard to hear the truth. Note closely He is talking here to believers. What I am saying is that if those who walked with Him, and sought with all that was within them to follow Him for three years here on earth, had problems hearing the truth, it is no wonder that the rest of us (including the World) have difficulties.
The Scripture instruct us to speak the truth in love. There are many who are willing to speak the pure unadulterated truth, but most of the time it is not in love. When it is not spoken in love, we cannot hear. We also need (by our lives) to earn the right to be heard. This takes time, it takes relationship. Even then, when we speak the truth it needs to be in gentleness and in love, because the truth is too difficult to hear. But it is the truth that sets us free.
If you are like me in this (and you may not admit it, but you probably are) you both want the truth and you don't want it. I think it is part of our fallen human nature. I have wanted people to love me enough to confront me when necessary. But I do know that I am not easy to confront. I remember this song on the radio when I was a boy. “Two lovely black eyes – oh what a surprise. Only for telling a gal she was wrong. Two lovely back eyes”. I did not understand the song at the time. But I understand it now. As children we are much easier to correct (I don't say easy). And of course, part of being able to enter the Kingdom is becoming as a little child.
To start to address the issue behind the issue, if heaven and hell are real, and if we go to one of the two places when we die, and if it depends on the decisions we make in the here and now, it would not be loving of me not to try and tell you about it, even if it made you mad. Think of it this way, if you knew that your friend was driving down a road where round a sharp bend the bridge was washed out, and that they would likely plunge to their deaths, would you not try and warn them?
So then if this thing about heaven and hell is not true – it is a huge guilt trip, but if it is true (and believe me we are convinced that it is) then perhaps you can understand that at times it is an intolerable burden that we are not allowed to tell you. It it made worse by those who share these things without sensitivity or love. Let me apologize for those who do this. I do not identify with their insensitivity, but I do understand what drives them.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
A trinity of revelation I, “General revelation”.
Recall how I am using the word “trinity” (with a lower case t) as having three interconnected components. The trinity of revelations is general revelation, the Bible, and Spirit to spirit unveiling. Spirit to spirit (Holy Spirit to the human spirit), was what I was talking about in the last post.
Let's start with what the scripture says about general revelation (well it is a trinity – the components are interconnected). In Psalm 19, David declares “The heavens declare the Glory of God”. When we can see the stars on a dark night, far away from man made lights, the heavens are glorious. Without saying a word, they communicate the Glory of the one who created them. The Psalm goes on to say “Day unto day utters speech” i.e. creation talks to us on a daily basis, and “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard”. Or, to put it another way, the language creations speaks is a universal language, understandable by all. In Romans 1:20, Paul is even bolder, he says “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.” Note that Paul says “clearly seen”. In other words the very fact of creation (there there is something there) shouts that God exists and among other things, that He is powerful. “Well then”, you might ask, “Why does not everybody see it?”. Good question!
Paul has a good answer. In the very same context (Romans 1:18) he says that we suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Lets look at this a bit more closely. Remember the post “I don't believe adultery is wrong”? What lies behind this is, I believe, is a prime example of how it all works. To paraphrase this verse, Paul is saying that we know the truth about God, but we sit on it, push it down out of sight, in and through unrighteousness. You see if you want to commit adultery and God tells us that adultery is wrong, then one of two things has to go. Either the adultery has to go (because God will not change His mind about this), or God has to go. Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). Part of what this means is that when we sin, we don't any longer feel His presence, and we loose the reality of our closeness to Him. What felt so real before, now feels as unreal as it previously felt real. I have been there.
On top of this, when I consistently go against what I know is right, my conscience becomes insensitive. The Bible again talks about having our consciences seared with a red hot iron. I don't think that there would be too much sensitivity left after that (after the pain is gone). So after a while the guilt that was intended to bring us back on track feels unreal. In fact, we are likely to turn on those who would in any way remind us of our sin.
At some level, we probably all know about “guilt ignored”. The first time we do something we ourselves think is wrong, our consciences really bother us. The next time it bothers us a little less, and then a little less until the “voice” of our conscience no longer bothers us at all. At this point we have become deaf. Hearing God and obedience are closely linked. This is as true of the Spirit to spirit communication I was talking about last day, as it is of the “voice” of creation in general revelation. You know the saying I am sure, “there is none so deaf as those who will not hear”.
Do you know anyone who rationalizes his or her behaviour and is in denial about this or that? Perhaps a better question is “Do you know anyone who at some level is not?” We hide it of course. Even Christians wear masks at times. We do it to cover our shame, to cover our shame from others and from ourselves (see “You don't believe in Adam and Eve do you?).
But its not just wanting to do what God does not want us to do that suppresses the truth. Some of us feel let down by God (and/or by Christians). “If God exists and is powerful, He would not have let this or that happen”. I suspect that for me the greatest trial would be to loose a child. I have to say that I don't know how I would react. But in a way failing to trust the one who is faithfulness incarnate, is a form of unrighteousness. You see to believe that someone who is good is bad, is wrong, even if our logic, or the lies of others, or the lies we tell ourselves, leads us to that conclusion. I tell you, if God is not good, we are all in trouble, deep, deep trouble. But He is good. The cross of Christ shouts that to this wicked and hurting world.
In an earlier post I argued that every World view is a position of faith, that we do not come to believe what we believe about reality by logic (see the faith of the atheist). Part of what I am saying here, is that logic will not likely move us from unbelief to belief. The arguments from design about the existence of God are compelling if you already believe, but are hollow and empty if you have already made up your mind to believe something else. The scary thing though is, as Paul tells us in the very same passage from Romans, that in spite of our denial and rationalization we are without excuse. In particular the arguments we use to convince ourselves and others that God does not exist will, on “that day”, be clearly seen to be what they are, empty excuses. And, even scarier, from the same passage (verse 18), “the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against those who suppress (hold) the truth in unrighteousness. I am hearing objections here. I hear “How can a God of love send anyone to hell?” and “Is He a God of love or a God of Wrath”, and “Are you trying to scare me into heaven?”. I need to answer.
Let's start with what the scripture says about general revelation (well it is a trinity – the components are interconnected). In Psalm 19, David declares “The heavens declare the Glory of God”. When we can see the stars on a dark night, far away from man made lights, the heavens are glorious. Without saying a word, they communicate the Glory of the one who created them. The Psalm goes on to say “Day unto day utters speech” i.e. creation talks to us on a daily basis, and “There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard”. Or, to put it another way, the language creations speaks is a universal language, understandable by all. In Romans 1:20, Paul is even bolder, he says “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead.” Note that Paul says “clearly seen”. In other words the very fact of creation (there there is something there) shouts that God exists and among other things, that He is powerful. “Well then”, you might ask, “Why does not everybody see it?”. Good question!
Paul has a good answer. In the very same context (Romans 1:18) he says that we suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Lets look at this a bit more closely. Remember the post “I don't believe adultery is wrong”? What lies behind this is, I believe, is a prime example of how it all works. To paraphrase this verse, Paul is saying that we know the truth about God, but we sit on it, push it down out of sight, in and through unrighteousness. You see if you want to commit adultery and God tells us that adultery is wrong, then one of two things has to go. Either the adultery has to go (because God will not change His mind about this), or God has to go. Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). Part of what this means is that when we sin, we don't any longer feel His presence, and we loose the reality of our closeness to Him. What felt so real before, now feels as unreal as it previously felt real. I have been there.
On top of this, when I consistently go against what I know is right, my conscience becomes insensitive. The Bible again talks about having our consciences seared with a red hot iron. I don't think that there would be too much sensitivity left after that (after the pain is gone). So after a while the guilt that was intended to bring us back on track feels unreal. In fact, we are likely to turn on those who would in any way remind us of our sin.
At some level, we probably all know about “guilt ignored”. The first time we do something we ourselves think is wrong, our consciences really bother us. The next time it bothers us a little less, and then a little less until the “voice” of our conscience no longer bothers us at all. At this point we have become deaf. Hearing God and obedience are closely linked. This is as true of the Spirit to spirit communication I was talking about last day, as it is of the “voice” of creation in general revelation. You know the saying I am sure, “there is none so deaf as those who will not hear”.
Do you know anyone who rationalizes his or her behaviour and is in denial about this or that? Perhaps a better question is “Do you know anyone who at some level is not?” We hide it of course. Even Christians wear masks at times. We do it to cover our shame, to cover our shame from others and from ourselves (see “You don't believe in Adam and Eve do you?).
But its not just wanting to do what God does not want us to do that suppresses the truth. Some of us feel let down by God (and/or by Christians). “If God exists and is powerful, He would not have let this or that happen”. I suspect that for me the greatest trial would be to loose a child. I have to say that I don't know how I would react. But in a way failing to trust the one who is faithfulness incarnate, is a form of unrighteousness. You see to believe that someone who is good is bad, is wrong, even if our logic, or the lies of others, or the lies we tell ourselves, leads us to that conclusion. I tell you, if God is not good, we are all in trouble, deep, deep trouble. But He is good. The cross of Christ shouts that to this wicked and hurting world.
In an earlier post I argued that every World view is a position of faith, that we do not come to believe what we believe about reality by logic (see the faith of the atheist). Part of what I am saying here, is that logic will not likely move us from unbelief to belief. The arguments from design about the existence of God are compelling if you already believe, but are hollow and empty if you have already made up your mind to believe something else. The scary thing though is, as Paul tells us in the very same passage from Romans, that in spite of our denial and rationalization we are without excuse. In particular the arguments we use to convince ourselves and others that God does not exist will, on “that day”, be clearly seen to be what they are, empty excuses. And, even scarier, from the same passage (verse 18), “the wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against those who suppress (hold) the truth in unrighteousness. I am hearing objections here. I hear “How can a God of love send anyone to hell?” and “Is He a God of love or a God of Wrath”, and “Are you trying to scare me into heaven?”. I need to answer.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
You hear from God? And fairies too right?
Even some Christians look at me as if I'm a little crazy, when I tell them I hear from God. “It sounds a little scary Phil. What if He tells you to kill somebody?”. Well that would not be God. Its not rocket Science you know, its fairly simple “God good, Devil bad”!
But that Christians are supposed to hear from God is very Biblical. In John 10:27 Jesus says it explicitly “My sheep know my voice”. If He is the Good Shepherd (and He is) then we who believe and follow are the sheep. If we want to hear His voice though, then we have to follow, and we have to stop believing that He does not want to communicate. When we don't believe that He wants to "talk" to us, we are going to miss it even when He does (unless He hits us over the head with a two by four!).
If a man told me that he loves his wife, but that he never speaks to her, I would be strongly inclined to disbelieve him. If you tell me God loves me (and He does John 3:16), but that He never speaks to me, I would be inclined to disbelieve you too.
So you are hearing voices are you Phil? Should we send for those nice men with the white coats from the Waterford to come and take you away? Well Paul on the Damascus road heard God's audible voice, but I never have, not His audible voice. Sometimes God's voice “sounds” a lot like my own thoughts. I first noticed that it was Him though, when I was talking to somebody else about Him, and wanted to take notes because I had no idea I knew anything about what I was saying.
Some people do hear God's audible voice, and I do not by any means dismiss it. But you have to test it, in the same way that you have to test if the inner voice is of God (I John 4:1). From the example of Paul on the Damascus road, it seems that God might use His audible voice when we are not listening, and He needs to get our attention. Perhaps it also does it when He wants to make something very, very clear.
The main way that God speaks to us is through His Word. Most Christians (and some who do not profess to be Christians) have had this experience of particular verses “jumping out at them”. It is as though God is underlining the verses to draw our attentions to them. At other times there is a sudden understanding of a passage that was incomprehensible to us a moment before. I will say more about this in “A trinity of revelations”. Sometimes God speaks to us through others who may or may not know that God is speaking through them. There are signs everywhere, in movies, in books, in magazines in a sunset. I always have this sensation of God waving to me in a sunset. “Its your imagination Phil” - well God can even use my imagination, but it all needs to be tested. I mean sometimes it is really bizarre, like when God changes the amalgam fillings in teeth into gold (http://www.therisinglight.com/tag/gold-teeth-miracles/). It is controversial of course, and we do need to ask “Is that God?”, and “Why would He do that?” I would find it hard to believe if I had not seen it for myself. I asked a lady I know personally who received a gold tooth in a meeting in Toronto “How did it make you feel”. 'Loved' she replied. Sounds like God to me, and the message she heard was “I love you”. But if it came with the message “go kill Tom” - I would not believe that it was God.
So testing to see if it is the voice of God is important. He will not tell you to murder someone, because in His Word, He tells us “Do not kill”. Likewise He will not tell you to commit adultery. As I say it's not rocket science. We do need to be aware though, of our ability to be deceived (see future post the heart is deceitful … ). Many times our own desires get in the way. In particular, in the process of learning to hear God's voice (its the same as the process of learning to follow Him, or to learn to walk) we will make mistakes. That was not God's voice. We will know. But we can learn to recognize the voice of loved ones on the phone, so why not God's voice?
There seem to be two errors the Christian can fall into. He or she can refuse to believe that anything out of the ordinary is of Him, the other is that God only uses the bizarre. I could conceive of a church called “The church of golden teeth” where, unless you received at least one gold tooth, you were not considered to be saved. Perhaps you did not notice, but we can be creatures of extremes :)
The point though is that the more radical the “thought”, the more careful we need to be. If I believe that God is speaking to me in a sunset, or in a piece of music and I am wrong, there is no real harm done. If I believe that he is telling me to divorce my wife and I am wrong, the consequences are devastating. The process of confirmation is important. We need to ask for example if it is it consistent with the Word, is it in accord with godly counsel, has the Lord Himself confirmed it in a variety of ways? I have experienced this last form of confirmation when the very same verse, which seems very pertinent to my situation, comes at me multiple times in just a few days, and from completely independent sources. There is a saying that “coincidences are little miracles that God does not get the credit for”. But even here we need to be careful, because the fellow with the pitchfork can manufacture coincidences too. A friend of mine took 666 on his speedometer as a sign to do something that later turned out to be a disaster. I could have told him (but I think he knew anyway) that 666 is the number of the Beast (the Devil - Revelation 13:18)! Sometimes the full confirmation comes only after we have started the path of obedience. “When you walk in the way, you will hear a voice behind you saying “This is the way, walk in it!?
One last thought. I get a little nervous when Christians start of their sharing what they heard from God with “Thus sayth the Lord”. It somehow takes away my right to test it. But I will not let them take away my right, indeed my obligation, to test it.
But that Christians are supposed to hear from God is very Biblical. In John 10:27 Jesus says it explicitly “My sheep know my voice”. If He is the Good Shepherd (and He is) then we who believe and follow are the sheep. If we want to hear His voice though, then we have to follow, and we have to stop believing that He does not want to communicate. When we don't believe that He wants to "talk" to us, we are going to miss it even when He does (unless He hits us over the head with a two by four!).
If a man told me that he loves his wife, but that he never speaks to her, I would be strongly inclined to disbelieve him. If you tell me God loves me (and He does John 3:16), but that He never speaks to me, I would be inclined to disbelieve you too.
So you are hearing voices are you Phil? Should we send for those nice men with the white coats from the Waterford to come and take you away? Well Paul on the Damascus road heard God's audible voice, but I never have, not His audible voice. Sometimes God's voice “sounds” a lot like my own thoughts. I first noticed that it was Him though, when I was talking to somebody else about Him, and wanted to take notes because I had no idea I knew anything about what I was saying.
Some people do hear God's audible voice, and I do not by any means dismiss it. But you have to test it, in the same way that you have to test if the inner voice is of God (I John 4:1). From the example of Paul on the Damascus road, it seems that God might use His audible voice when we are not listening, and He needs to get our attention. Perhaps it also does it when He wants to make something very, very clear.
The main way that God speaks to us is through His Word. Most Christians (and some who do not profess to be Christians) have had this experience of particular verses “jumping out at them”. It is as though God is underlining the verses to draw our attentions to them. At other times there is a sudden understanding of a passage that was incomprehensible to us a moment before. I will say more about this in “A trinity of revelations”. Sometimes God speaks to us through others who may or may not know that God is speaking through them. There are signs everywhere, in movies, in books, in magazines in a sunset. I always have this sensation of God waving to me in a sunset. “Its your imagination Phil” - well God can even use my imagination, but it all needs to be tested. I mean sometimes it is really bizarre, like when God changes the amalgam fillings in teeth into gold (http://www.therisinglight.com/tag/gold-teeth-miracles/). It is controversial of course, and we do need to ask “Is that God?”, and “Why would He do that?” I would find it hard to believe if I had not seen it for myself. I asked a lady I know personally who received a gold tooth in a meeting in Toronto “How did it make you feel”. 'Loved' she replied. Sounds like God to me, and the message she heard was “I love you”. But if it came with the message “go kill Tom” - I would not believe that it was God.
So testing to see if it is the voice of God is important. He will not tell you to murder someone, because in His Word, He tells us “Do not kill”. Likewise He will not tell you to commit adultery. As I say it's not rocket science. We do need to be aware though, of our ability to be deceived (see future post the heart is deceitful … ). Many times our own desires get in the way. In particular, in the process of learning to hear God's voice (its the same as the process of learning to follow Him, or to learn to walk) we will make mistakes. That was not God's voice. We will know. But we can learn to recognize the voice of loved ones on the phone, so why not God's voice?
There seem to be two errors the Christian can fall into. He or she can refuse to believe that anything out of the ordinary is of Him, the other is that God only uses the bizarre. I could conceive of a church called “The church of golden teeth” where, unless you received at least one gold tooth, you were not considered to be saved. Perhaps you did not notice, but we can be creatures of extremes :)
The point though is that the more radical the “thought”, the more careful we need to be. If I believe that God is speaking to me in a sunset, or in a piece of music and I am wrong, there is no real harm done. If I believe that he is telling me to divorce my wife and I am wrong, the consequences are devastating. The process of confirmation is important. We need to ask for example if it is it consistent with the Word, is it in accord with godly counsel, has the Lord Himself confirmed it in a variety of ways? I have experienced this last form of confirmation when the very same verse, which seems very pertinent to my situation, comes at me multiple times in just a few days, and from completely independent sources. There is a saying that “coincidences are little miracles that God does not get the credit for”. But even here we need to be careful, because the fellow with the pitchfork can manufacture coincidences too. A friend of mine took 666 on his speedometer as a sign to do something that later turned out to be a disaster. I could have told him (but I think he knew anyway) that 666 is the number of the Beast (the Devil - Revelation 13:18)! Sometimes the full confirmation comes only after we have started the path of obedience. “When you walk in the way, you will hear a voice behind you saying “This is the way, walk in it!?
One last thought. I get a little nervous when Christians start of their sharing what they heard from God with “Thus sayth the Lord”. It somehow takes away my right to test it. But I will not let them take away my right, indeed my obligation, to test it.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Slavery that frees
It is clear from the context of the promise “If you continue ... the son shall set you fee” (see the last few posts and John 8), that Jesus was speaking to believers. So it is possible to be a believer and not be free. It is not automatic. In fact from my observation, many who enter the Kingdom seek to walk as close to the world as possible, but they are not free. Actually I cannot conceive of anyone more miserable than a Christian who is not fully committed (well as committed as you can be at this point in time). You see if this is you, you can't any longer really enjoy your sin (you feel convicted), but you do not have the joy of close fellowship with Him. We cannot be close to Him and continue in our sin, and we cannot continue in our sin and expect Him to fulfill His promises (Isaiah 59:2). We cannot continue continue unchanged and expect to experience the abundant life Jesus promises (John 10:10). Growth is the main sign of life!
The saying nature abhors vacuum has a spiritual application. When we take something out of our lives, if we don't take deliberate steps to replace the bad things with good things, other things will rush in to replace them (see about the seven devils worse than the first in Matthew 12:45). At best is will be a life of quiet desperation. At one point in my journey I went from a form of Christian workaholism to obsessive (angry) thoughts. So how can we avoid replacing bad with bad? The Bible tells us what to do, and it is to give whole hearted radical obedience the Lord. And He does intend that we be radical. There is a zeal that is not of Him of course, pushy, insensitive Evangelism, for example. If you are turned off by that, welcome to the club. The Bible describes these things as zeal without knowledge.
On the other hand Paul describes himself as a bond servant of Jesus Christ. In the culture of the time, a bond servant was a servant who could be free, but (because he loved his master) chose to remain servant. Paul (again) in Romans 6:16 asks “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” The latter is zeal with knowledge, and it sets you free, free to be all that you were created to be.
But I prefer the way that Heidi Baker puts it. She talks about being “radical lovers of God”. This too is very Biblical. The first commandment is to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength - radical lovers of God. Heidi and her husband live it. I don't have many heros, but these guys certainly make the list. I first encountered Heidi (“on screen”) when she was talking about “loving the dump” (yes my first reaction was the same as yours). She and her husband went to war torn Mozambique to rescue children orphaned by the civil war. They would go to the dump and pick up children who had been physically and sexually abused and left there to die. They would take them home and love them back to life (Google “Iris ministries”). Heidi and Roland live the principle of being bond servants of Jesus Christ. At the same time, I know of no one who exhibits more of the joy of the Lord than these two (Psalm 34:5). Next to Jesus I would like to be more like them. Unfortunately in the West, such examples are few and far between. People like Heidi and Roland do however show that it is possible, and their very lives challenge. As I say after Jesus, I would next choose to follow their example. This form of slavery brings “exceeding joy”. I am not quite there yet, but that is the direction I am in process of pursuing.
The saying nature abhors vacuum has a spiritual application. When we take something out of our lives, if we don't take deliberate steps to replace the bad things with good things, other things will rush in to replace them (see about the seven devils worse than the first in Matthew 12:45). At best is will be a life of quiet desperation. At one point in my journey I went from a form of Christian workaholism to obsessive (angry) thoughts. So how can we avoid replacing bad with bad? The Bible tells us what to do, and it is to give whole hearted radical obedience the Lord. And He does intend that we be radical. There is a zeal that is not of Him of course, pushy, insensitive Evangelism, for example. If you are turned off by that, welcome to the club. The Bible describes these things as zeal without knowledge.
On the other hand Paul describes himself as a bond servant of Jesus Christ. In the culture of the time, a bond servant was a servant who could be free, but (because he loved his master) chose to remain servant. Paul (again) in Romans 6:16 asks “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” The latter is zeal with knowledge, and it sets you free, free to be all that you were created to be.
But I prefer the way that Heidi Baker puts it. She talks about being “radical lovers of God”. This too is very Biblical. The first commandment is to love God with all our heart and mind and soul and strength - radical lovers of God. Heidi and her husband live it. I don't have many heros, but these guys certainly make the list. I first encountered Heidi (“on screen”) when she was talking about “loving the dump” (yes my first reaction was the same as yours). She and her husband went to war torn Mozambique to rescue children orphaned by the civil war. They would go to the dump and pick up children who had been physically and sexually abused and left there to die. They would take them home and love them back to life (Google “Iris ministries”). Heidi and Roland live the principle of being bond servants of Jesus Christ. At the same time, I know of no one who exhibits more of the joy of the Lord than these two (Psalm 34:5). Next to Jesus I would like to be more like them. Unfortunately in the West, such examples are few and far between. People like Heidi and Roland do however show that it is possible, and their very lives challenge. As I say after Jesus, I would next choose to follow their example. This form of slavery brings “exceeding joy”. I am not quite there yet, but that is the direction I am in process of pursuing.
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