Our Warrior God

I know this is sort of cheating since I'm not really making my own post material, but this psalm is so awesome. Read it slow and meditate on the greatness of our warrior God. I have to remind myself daily that God is the Judge and He will settle accounts in His time.

Psalm 68

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song.

¹ May God arise, may his enemies be scattered;

may his foes flee before him.

² As smoke is blown away by the wind,

may you blow them away;

as wax melts before the fire,

may the wicked perish before God.

³ But may the righteous be glad

and rejoice before God;

may they be happy and joyful.

⁴ Sing to God, sing praise to his name,

extol him who rides on the clouds^a—

his name is the Lord—

and rejoice before him.

⁵ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,

is God in his holy dwelling.

⁶ God sets the lonely in families,^b

he leads forth the prisoners with singing;

but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.

⁷ When you went out before your people, O God,

when you marched through the wasteland, Selah

⁸ the earth shook,

the heavens poured down rain,

before God, the One of Sinai,

before God, the God of Israel.

⁹ You gave abundant showers, O God;

you refreshed your weary inheritance.

¹⁰ Your people settled in it,

and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.

¹¹ The Lord announced the word,

and great was the company of those who proclaimed it:

¹² “Kings and armies flee in haste;

in the camps men divide the plunder.

¹³ Even while you sleep among the campfires,^c

the wings of my dove are sheathed with silver,

its feathers with shining gold.”

¹⁴ When the Almighty^d scattered the kings in the land,

it was like snow fallen on Zalmon.

¹⁵ The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains;

rugged are the mountains of Bashan.

¹⁶ Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains,

at the mountain where God chooses to reign,

where the Lord himself will dwell forever?

¹⁷ The chariots of God are tens of thousands

and thousands of thousands;

the Lord has come from Sinai into his sanctuary.

¹⁸ When you ascended on high,

you led captives in your train;

you received gifts from men,

even from^e the rebellious—

that you,^f O Lord God, might dwell there.

¹⁹ Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,

who daily bears our burdens. Selah

²⁰ Our God is a God who saves;

from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.

²¹ Surely God will crush the heads of his enemies,

the hairy crowns of those who go on in their sins.

²² The Lord says, “I will bring them from Bashan;

I will bring them from the depths of the sea,

²³ that you may plunge your feet in the blood of your foes,

while the tongues of your dogs have their share.”

²⁴ Your procession has come into view, O God,

the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary.

²⁵ In front are the singers, after them the musicians;

with them are the maidens playing tambourines.

²⁶ Praise God in the great congregation;

praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.

²⁷ There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them,

there the great throng of Judah’s princes,

and there the princes of Zebulun and of Naphtali.

²⁸ Summon your power, O God^g;

show us your strength, O God, as you have done before.

²⁹ Because of your temple at Jerusalem

kings will bring you gifts.

³⁰ Rebuke the beast among the reeds,

the herd of bulls among the calves of the nations.

Humbled, may it bring bars of silver.

Scatter the nations who delight in war.

³¹ Envoys will come from Egypt;

Cush^h will submit herself to God.

³² Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth,

sing praise to the Lord, Selah

³³ to him who rides the ancient skies above,

who thunders with mighty voice.

³⁴ Proclaim the power of God,

whose majesty is over Israel,

whose power is in the skies.

³⁵ You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;

the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.

Praise be to God!

The Holy Bible : New International Version. electronic ed. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Ps 68:1-35

The Existence of God - Part 2

There is a very prevalent assumption, on the part of many people, that if biological evolution is proven scientifically to be true, then we can rule out the existence of God. This is illogical.

I am not convinced that science actually has proven macro-evolution to be true, but let us assume, for the sake of argument, that it is a fact. (Macro-evolution means one kind of animal turning into a completely different kind of animal - like a whale into a cow, or a reptile into a bird, which has never happened. Micro-evolution means one kind of animal changing within the boundaries of its existing genetic potential, like all the breeds of dogs coming originally from wolves, or a strain of a disease becoming resistant to certain drugs, which obviously does happen).

So if we assume that macro-evolution is true, we still have a big problem. Where did all the original stuff come from in the first place? Where did the matter and energy that everything evolved out of, come from? Of course, no one can answer that, any more than we can answer the question of where God came from. Traditionally, Christians believe that God is eternal. He necessarily exists. He is not derived from anything. This is why Yahweh revealed Himself to Moses as "I am". He was revealing the fact that He is self-existent.

The point that I want to make is that no matter what science proves or does not prove, if we ask enough of the right kinds of questions we will eventually run out of answers because we will eventually ask questions that are not testable scientifically. Everyone, no matter how passionately they proclaim themselves to be secular-humanists, has faith in something, because everyone believes in something that they can't prove.

If you are a theist, you believe that God exists even though you can't prove it and don't really know what it means that He is self-existent. He just is. If you are an atheist, you believe that matter and energy are self-existent just because they are.

So we Christians must not fall for it when atheists proclaim that they are the only ones capable of doing real science, because they are (in their own minds) free from faith-based assumptions that color the way they view the scientific evidence. They are just as influenced by their faith-based presuppositions as everyone else. It is not bad to have presuppositions - they are unavoidable - it is bad when we operate without being aware of what our presuppositions are, because it breeds arrogance and blindness.

The Existence of God - Part 1

Well, it's been way too long. But we're moved now, and I ought to have time to blog again. I think I will blog for a while about atheism, and why I am not an atheist. There are a number of possible routes one can take in making a case for the existence of God. Today I'm going to talk about what I call the "moral argument".

In summary, the moral argument for the existence of God is that if God does not exist, the concept of morality is meaningless. Humans universally possess a sense of right and wrong (our conscience). This is true in every culture, and while there may be slight variations in the specific behaviors that are considered good or bad, there is remarkable uniformity across all cultures and times in terms of what is considered moral. Therefore, I argue that the presence of a conscience is very difficult, if not impossible, to explain apart from the existence of God. Therefore it is much more likely that God exists, than that He does not exist.

In order to flesh this out a little bit, I would like to contrast my view with the most common opposing view that exists in our society today - secular humanism. Secular humanism says that there is no God, and therefore, humanity is its own authority. So we get to make up the rules as we go. According to secular humanism, we are the product of evolution, which progresses by means of natural selection. Natural selection is the process of weeding out creatures that are less well adapted to their environment, so that the only creatures that get to pass on their genetic code are the ones that can change and survive. In this paradigm, creatures are rewarded (with survival) for preying upon weaker, slower, dumber creatures. In this system, there can be no place for conscience. In fact, quite the opposite is true. If "progress" (this concept must be arbitrarily defined for an atheist - perhaps "increasing social and biological complexity" would be the best definition?) is achieved through doing whatever it takes to survive, then all notions of morality should be considered a hindrance to progress rather than a sign of progress.

To put this in concrete terms - If it helps my survival to shoot you and take your money, atheistic natural selection has absolutely no basis for declaring my actions "wrong". The consistent application of evolutionary philosophy will lead to a society where "might makes right". Adolf Hitler is a prime example of someone who believed in evolution, understood the philosophical implications, and applied his beliefs in real life. The results were horrific, and no one, least of all the secular humanists of our day, wants to identify themselves with that kind of thing.

What we have today in Western society is a lot of secular humanists living contradictory lives. On the one hand, they talk about human rights all the time, and they show genuine concern for poverty and stopping the genocide in Darfur, and all that, while at the same time denying the ultimate philosophical underpinnings of those values. How do we account for atheists who share so many of our moral values? I believe this is the result of two things: social upbringing (our society is loosely based on Judeo-Christian values) and the fact that people, whether they believe in God or not, are nevertheless created in His image, and therefore possess a conscience

If God does not exist there is no such thing as morality. There is so much more to say about this. But I am out of time, so I'll continue this discussion in further posts.

Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit

A week or so ago I heard a piece on a radio show called "Tell Me More" about a boy with schizophrenia and drug addiction. This guy was apparently a good swimmer, he had been on a swim team, but he drowned in only four feet of water, presumably on purpose. He had attempted suicide a number of times before. The show host was interviewing his mother and asking about his story. The mom said that when she took him to drug rehab they said he had to be treated for his mental illness before they could help him. And when she took him to mental health professionals they said he needed to get off drugs before their treatments could be effective. For a long time they did not realize that he had both problems, they thought he was only a drug addict, but then he continued having symptoms - being depressed, hearing voices, wanting to kill himself, etc. - even when he was off drugs for a while. That's when they diagnosed him with schizophrenia.

This conversation reminded me of a question that has interested me for many years, even before David's problems became serious. The conversation highlighted our society's failure to understand what I believe is a fundamental question regarding human beings.

What is the relationship between our physical body and our spirit? This is the question, as far as I'm concerned. Your answer to this question will determine whether or not you assign personal responsibility to someone with mental illness and what treatment you pursue. I believe that any system of thought that attempts to solve human psychological problems without addressing spiritual issues is doomed to only achieve partial success at best.

In raising this point I am not suggesting that anyone can necessarily explain how the spirit and body interact with each other, though some forms of mysticism (particularly hindu/yoga guys) attempt to do so. But I am suggesting that principles can be discovered from Scripture and science that will guide us in the process of diagnosing problems accurately and addressing them effectively.

I have only read a little bit in this area. I'm no expert and I have no authoritative answers on the question, but I think it is incredibly important. Someone needs to research this and it is astounding to me that there is almost nothing written on this topic. The problem is that it is difficult, if not impossible, to do research on the spirit. Unless of course, we are willing to recognize every attitude and behavior as inherently spiritual in that every attitude and action arises from some spiritual state within the individual (whether consciously or unconsciously), and they all have spiritual consequences in that they propel the individual along a trajectory - either closer to, or farther from relationship with God. This applies to every thought, every small deed, even something as mundane as brushing your teeth. The important thing is not only what you do, but why you do what you do, and with what internal manner (gratitude or complaining, love or selfishness) you do what you do.

Many people assume that if symptoms go away when medication is administered to a mentally ill person, this must mean that the problem is only physical and not spiritual at all. For instance the professor of my counseling class in seminary told us of his experience working at a walk-in clinic in New York City. He said they had all kinds of wierdos walk in off of the street. He said it was not uncommon for people to be brought in by family members or friends, displaying symptoms that looked like demon possession. He said there were a few instances in which the family members told them that the sick person had been into occult activities. He said they would administer a drug called Adavan (sp?) and the demon possession symptoms would go away. Once the patient was calm and in his or her right mind, they could counsel them. His point was that not every thing that looks like demon possession necessarily is possession. He told us that our Biblical training was not enough for us to deal with problems of mental illness, and that we had to refer seriously troubled people to a qualified professional.

I think he was partly right, but missed the most logical conclusion in light of the evidence. Our culture is blind to spiritual things because we distinguish too sharply between the physical and the spiritual. If one assumes that there is a sharp division between the spiritual and the physical realms, where the physical is testable and observable and the spiritual is not, you will miss the truth. It seems to me that the physical and the spiritual realms interact with each other in a dynamic way. The boundary line is fluid and movable, yet real. It is more like gasses or liquids mixing than it is like a solid wall. Thus, everything I do physically has an effect on my spiritual state and vice versa. For instance, I know that if I do not get enough sleep for a period of time, I will get depressed, have negative thoughts and be much more likely to be mean and irritable - lack of sleep influences my personal holiness. If I overeat, I have noticed that I do not feel like praying, or I do not pray with the same level of focus as when I eat slightly less. If I watch a lot of movies or TV (even if the content is innocent), I am less inclined to focus in prayer. My mind is in a very different state as a result of these things, though I have to slow down the pace of life in general to notice the changes. It has also been documented numerous times that people who pray are generally happier and also heal more quickly from illness.

If the spiritual and physical parts of a human being are not so sharply divided, then the use of drugs to suppress the symptoms of demonic possession does not automatically rule out the possibility that the individual is in fact, demon possessed. On this point, it is incredible interesting to me that the Greek word which is translated "sorcery" in our English Bibles is the word "Pharmakeia" from which we get the words, pharmacy and pharmaceutical, etc. This is because in ancient times, as well as today, people used drugs to enter the spirit world and interact with other beings. This is common in many animistic tribal religions and witchcraft, as well as in Hinduism. I remember in India, seeing the Sadhus (holy men who have renounced the world) walking down the street, dishevelled and filthy, absolutely stoned out of their minds. Many of these guys also manifest supernatural powers and symptoms of demonic possession. So it is not at all surprising to me that if some drugs have the capacity to move your consciousness into the spiritual realm, making you aware of what you could not otherwise see and hear, there might also be drugs that have the capacity to move your conscious mind out of that realm. Enter, Adavan. What does all this mean? To me, it means that the starting point in any counseling situation needs to be a careful assessment of the spiritual condition of the individual. How do they describe their relationship to God? how do they describe their relationship to other people? If these primary relationships are characterized by anything other than love, as the Bible defines it, this is a clue. It tells us that something is wrong, though there may be many layers of issues between the root sin, and the presenting problem.

But, if one arrogantly assumes that science has explained away the spiritual realm, and treats a schizophrenic only on the physical level, the symptoms may be suppressed, even for extended periods of time, but the underlying root cause will never be addressed. This is why they cannot ever take a schizophrenic off of their medication without the symptoms recurring. They have not healed anything. It is only a suppressive thing, not a final solution. (I realize that sometimes there are physical root causes too, it can go either way). I do believe that medication is a gift from God to be used wisely and carefully. But it is not to be used as a replacement for God.

When Paul contrasts the filling of the Spirit with drunkenness, I do not think we should understand this to be a contrast of category. That is to say, he is not contrasting a purely physical thing with a purely spiritual thing. Rather, he is contrasting two things that can control a person, which are both fully physical and fully spiritual at the same time. Note, in the following verses, the effects (or causes, depending on how you take the participles) of the filling of the Spirit - "Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ."
- Ephesians 5:18-21

Are not these "spiritual" things also physical?

It seems to me that if one has the fruit of the Spirit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control - that person will be mentally healthy.

Happiness and Hell

Psalm 16 is a perfect summary of the contrast between the nature of true happiness and unhappiness.

"Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
As for the saints in the land, they are the excellent ones, in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.
The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot.
The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me.
I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.
You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore." (ESV)

A few observations:
1. The Psalm begins and ends with David's delight in God. This is the essence of true happiness, knowing God. That is what we were created for.

2. He also lists other things that make him happy: other saints, the land that God gave him to live on, the security and guidance that God gives him. But all these things are secondary to his relationship with God, for without the relationship, he would not have any of these other things. As Paul says in Romans 5:11 - "we rejoice in God". This statement comes after an in depth description of what God has done for us in Christ. It all climaxes in our delight in Him, over and above the many good things that He gives us in addition to Himself.

3. "The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply" vs. 4. This becomes hugely relevant when we recognize that "another god" can be anything we put foremost in our affections. Whatever we really love the most, that is our God.

The tragic thing about sin is that most people cling to it because they think that it will make them happy, but the opposite is true. Drug and alcohol abuse are prime examples of this fact. Sure they give a temporary high, but then the high goes away and is replaced with a hangover. You have to keep on pouring more and more chemical happiness into your body, to temporarily fake yourself into thinking that you are happy. But without the drugs, there is nothing but hollowness, barrenness of soul, despair. The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply. Somehow, the devil has managed to fool the whole world into thinking that God's way is restrictive, inhibited, un-fun, and that his (the devil's) stupid way is the way to really be free and have a good time. But why, if you are really happy, must you keep on doping yourself silly? Why can't you have any peace without the drugs? It is because you are not happy at all. You are miserable and you are totally deceived by the lies of the devil. What you are actually experiencing is a little taste of hell (though the real thing will be much worse).

Why did God give us desire? What is it for? We are all driven by impulses. We are desperate to be happy and we search for happiness everywhere. Human desire, whether it be for sex, food, drink, entertainment, the approval of others, anything... it is infinite. We are never satisfied no matter how much of these things we get. We always want more and more. The reason our capacity for desire is infinite is because God is infinite and we were created with an infinite capacity to enjoy Him. But if we misplace our affections and try to satisfy ourselves with anything less than Him, we will be unsatisfied. This is hell - always wanting, but never obtaining.

There will be no sex in hell, but hell will be full of sex addicts who, through years of debaucherous living, trained themselves to love this thing above all else. They will never be satisfied.

There will be no drugs or alcohol in hell, but hell will be full of addicts in eternal withdrawal. They will never be satisfied.

There will be no food in hell, but it will be full of gluttons with empty bellies. They will never be satisfied.

The list could go on, you get the point. Only when all our desire is focused on God do we find true, infinite satisfaction. Our deepest needs are met in Him. But you see, God really gives everybody what they ask for. To those who say, "I don't want you God" He says, "Okay, you won't have me." And so they are never satisfied because they have abandoned Him, the spring of living water, and have dug for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water, (Jer. 2:13).

"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed." - John 3:19-20 (NASB)

Hell is separation from God. If God is not there, it can be nothing but hell, for He is the very definition of goodness and happiness and everything we really need and want.

So why did God create so many pleasurable things other than Himself? Just to trip us up? No, the good things in this world are to be enjoyed with gratitude. Gratitude orients our enjoyment properly, because it reminds us that all the good things we enjoy are from God, and are intended to give us a small taste of some aspect of His inherent goodness. A good meal, a beautiful sunset, even the passion of sex, all were given as good gifts from God, to be enjoyed in the proper way, place and time. When these things are taken out of their proper contexts, they do not satisfy like they should. Instead of increasing our understanding of God and our happiness in Him, they become stumbling blocks that we worship in God's place.

"For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the created thing, rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, amen." - Romans 1:25 (NASB)

All this is to say that if you want to be happy, seek God, you won't be disappointed. If you want to be miserable forever, reject Him. Or as John Piper would say, "God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him."

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore!"

In faithfulness You have afflicted me...

I've really been enjoying Psalm 119 lately, and have been meditating on verse 75.

"I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are righteous, and that in faithfulness You have afflicted me."

So I thought I should list all the evidences of God's faithfulness in this situation.

1. David came home before he burned himself, and so was able to have a meaningful conversation with my parents the night before. In that conversation he expressed his desire to turn things around, and re-affirmed his faith in Christ. This is a huge comfort to all of us.

2. The kids were all gone, and did not see him burn.

3. He had the chance to apologize to my dad before losing consciousness.

4. Michael 'just happened' to be in Fort Worth instead of Maryland so he could come quickly.

5. All our friends and church family really stepped up in a huge way to support us (thank you!)

6. This experience has given me a much greater sense of urgency for prayer:
- for unbelievers
- for wandering believers
- for my own need to persevere in faith
- for my own need to take sin seriously in my personal life, and not just ignore "small" issues
- for my daughter, and any future children we may have
- for spiritual protection against demonic forces
- for awareness of hurting people around me, and the courage to get involved in their lives and love them even (especially) if they don't want me to.

7. This experience has given me new awareness of the incredible power of prayer and the sovereignty of God

8. This experience has given me a new depth of longing for Jesus to come back and fix this world, thereby loosening my attachment to the worldly, temporary things that I cannot keep forever anyway.

9. This experience has caused me to be much more "of sober spirit" (1 Peter 5:8) and has reminded me that we are in a real spiritual war.

10. After encountering firsthand the blindness and spiritual deception that has overtaken the minds of so many former church kids, this experience has motivated me to go on the offense against these lies by writing this blog, and by addressing these issues with my High School Sunday School class and young adults Bible study. Already I have seen positive results in some kids.

11. This experience has provided a tangible demonstration of the fact that real freedom is found in a disciplined life - exactly the opposite of what the world says.

12. This experience has motivated me to savor every minute that I have with my wife and daughter and all the people I love, because this life is so short.

13. This experience has reminded me that all sin leads to death.

14. This experience has proven to me that God is really the only true source of spiritual satisfaction; that when everything else is bad, He is good. It has proven that He is faithful, and it has given me the first real opportunity to learn what it means to rejoice in trials. I would not have asked for this to happen if God had told me about it in advance, but now that it has happened I can say that it is in faithfulness that He has afflicted me.


"Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven. Your faithfulness continues throughout all generations; You established the earth, and it stands. They stand this day according to Your ordinances, for all things are Your servants. If Your law had not been my delight, then I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for by them, You have revived me."
- Psalm 119:89-93

I've been thinking today about the previous post, and realizing there are many loose ends to be brought together. For one thing, the title - God Victorious - I realized it may not be clear how that relates. That post came about as a result of someone telling me that a Christian young person thought that David's death was only a victory for Satan, and not at all a victory for God, since many people who need to repent of their sins are not repenting, but are merely rationalizing their lifestyle in various ways.

Two things. We don't know what's happening inside of them. Repentance often is a long process. Also, if God is really glorified by judging sinners as well as by saving them, then He is victorious even if they never repent.

I'm doing a lot of studying on this. It is helping me work through the grief, and it's edifying. Don't know if anyone else is reading it, but, anyway, more is coming.