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.

God Victorious?

It is amazing to me how much our assumptions color the way we interpret the events in our lives. This is a pretty obvious point. But it has taken on fresh significance for me since Dave died. This post is about the sovereignty of God, and how our belief or unbelief on this point is so crucial in times of suffering.

The logic is not complex: God, if He exists, is all-powerful. God, if He exists, is all-knowing. Therefore, everything that happens in the universe happens because He either directly causes it Himself, or He allows secondary agents to bring it about.

This applies to the good and happy things as well as the sad and awful things. You see, if God knows everything in advance, then He knows that bad things are coming in advance. And if He has all power, then He could stop them if He wanted to... but He often does not stop them. He could have stopped my brother from soaking himself in gasoline and lighting himself on fire. The God I pray to and worship every day decided that He would allow that to happen. Or perhaps God actually made David do it. If God is real these are our only options. Now I have opened the biggest of all worm-cans.

The struggle for most people is that the Bible claims over and over again that God is a good and loving God. At this point in the thought process, people respond in one of the following ways:

1. God must not really exist, since so many bad things happen in the world. It is not possible that a supreme being who is all-powerful, all-knowing and loving can exist, or else he would stop all the evil in the world. This is a classic atheist argument.

2. God's sovereignty is limited by human free will. He cannot stop bad things from happening because if He did, it would violate human will. This is probably the most prevalent line of reasoning in the American church today.

3. God has a purpose for allowing bad things to happen. Since He is the one who defines, by His essential nature, what love is, it is possible for Him to be loving, all-powerful, and all-knowing, and to allow the existence of evil and pain. This is the view that I take because I believe it is what the Bible teaches.

Why bother with all this "logic" and "theological stuff"? Because I believe that the most important thing about us is what we think about God (Tozer), and the quickest way to find out if someone believes in the Almighty God who actually exists, or in some smaller version that they have invented in their own mind, is to find out what they believe about this topic.

The greatest possible good is for God to be glorified. God is glorified when His character is displayed through His actions, and is acknowledged, first among the members of the Trinity, and then by His creatures.

God is glorified in the display of His love and mercy when He saves sinners from the punishment that they deserve, and He is glorified in the display of His holiness and justice when He gives sinners the punishment they deserve. In either case, He is glorified because in both cases His character is accurately displayed. All humanity sinned in Adam and therefore justly deserves to burn in hell for eternity. Therefore, if we get anything less than absolute hell, that is a gift of His grace. We should not be amazed that God allows suffering in the world. We should be amazed that He allows so many people who hate Him to go on living relatively comfortable lives.

Many people, including Christians, recoil at this talk. They say things like, "I don't think I want to worship a God like that!" Well, fortunately it's not all wrath and judgment. But without a proper understanding of our true plight, we cannot truly appreciate the grace that He gives. If we think we deserve to be saved from hell, we will not really be thankful, nor do we truly understand what our salvation actually is. Our salvation is more than just a "get outa hell free" card. It is the state of being that delights in God above all else. Believing in Jesus is equal to finding all satisfaction in Him.

John 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst." (ESV)

He compares Himself to bread and water because He wants us to recognize Him as the only source of true spiritual satisfaction. Those who come to Him and believe in Him never hunger or thirst - spiritually. This is where we discover the beautiful confluence of God's glory and our happiness. You see, by seeking His own glory, through our salvation and the destruction of the unrepentant, He is working for our happiness at the same time, because we were created to be in relationship with Him. Therefore, it is in the experience of worship - recognizing who God is through what God has done - that we are ultimately fulfilled. It is only through this that we can be fulfilled.

If we seek happiness in anything other than relationship with God, we commit idolatry, and are doomed to disappointment.

Jeremiah 2:11 -13 Has a nation changed its gods, even though they are no gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit. Be appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked, be utterly desolate, declares the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. (ESV)

Or on the positive side:

Psalm 73:25-28 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works. (ESV)

So God is not a cruel tyrant for seeking His own glory in all that He does, for in so doing, He gives us the only possible way to happiness. Unless of course we do not believe in Him. Then His glory does not bring us happiness. So the bottom line is this - God is going to be glorified through every one of us. Either He will be glorified through destroying us or through saving us. Our responsibility is to acknowledge that His judgment is just, and that we deserve to be punished, then to ask Him for mercy. And He promises that everyone who asks Him for mercy will receive mercy.

Isaiah 55:1-2 "Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food."

Isaiah 55:6-7 "Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."(ESV)

I am heavily indebted to John Piper for the insight about delighting in God and how that dovetails with Gods glory. See, Desiring God, or anything else he has written for the full explanation.

All of this builds up to the answer to our original question - If God is loving and He knows everything and He could stop bad things from happening, why doesn't He stop them?

Answer # 1 - He is judging the sins of those who do not believe. (See Luke 13, "unless you repent, you will all likewise perish")

Answer #2 - He is testing and strengthening the faith of those who do believe. (See Romans 5:1-11, Romans 8:18-39, the whole book of 1 Peter, James 1:2-4).

Believers "pass the test" when we demonstrate that we still find satisfaction and happiness in our relationship with God even though He may take everything else we have.

"Though He slay me, I will hope in Him." Job 13:15 (NASB)

"For Your sake we are being put to death all day long, we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." Romans 8:36-37 (NASB)

That brings Him glory. That makes us happy.

The meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

Been too busy to post anything lately because the things I want to write about are sort of huge topics and I still haven't mastered the skill of conciseness. So I figured I'd take the next 3 minutes and just tackle the meaning of life, the universe, and everything.

I stole that title from a book by Douglas Adams. He was an atheist who wrote sci-fi comedy stories. Most notably, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It turned into a whole series of stories, one of which bears the title I'm borrowing for this post. Adams' books are funny, but also sad because his conclusion is that there is no meaning to life. Fortunately for us, Adams is wrong.

God is Trinity. I won't take the time to list all the proof-texts and things right now, I'll get back to that later. But for the moment consider this. There is one God, eternally existing in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are of one essence - not only of the same essence - but of one essence. In other words, they are not three individuals all made out of the same kind of stuff, they share one essence, deity, with each other. And yet they are distinct from each other in...consciousness?...personhood?... It's hard to nail down with words because, well, it just is. But the point of all this is that at the core of who God is, in His eternal nature, there is community. The primary thing that distinguishes the 3 persons of the Godhead from each other, and the thing that unites them together, is that they love each other. God is in an infinite, dynamic state of unity and distinction that is perfectly balanced forever.

This is very important because it establishes the foundation for our understanding of what community is. It brings us down to the very simple and easy to understand, "Greatest commandment: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. When we do this, we are like God.

But it gets better. We are not only to be like God in our behavior, we who are united to Christ by faith are actually being drawn into the eternal love and union of the Trinity. Jesus prayed,

"I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may beleive that You sent Me. The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them even as You have loved Me." John 17:20-23

There are many more Scriptures to quote on this point but I'll do that later. The point of all this is that the meaning of life is relationship with God and others. Why do they stick prisoners in solitary confinement? Why is that punishment? You might think that they would be happy to get away from all those other mean guys and have some time alone. But the fact is, we are so deeply wired for relationship that we go crazy if we don't have it. Love really is the meaning of life, cliche as it may sound. That's what going to church is all about.

Awesome quote from Jonathan Edwards

Here is a great quote from Jonathan Edwards. It is from page 8 of his book on "Religious Affections." I found it timely.

"We find that people exercise the affections in everything else but religion! When it comes to their worldly interest, their outward delights, their honor and reputation, and their natural relations, they have warm affection and ardent zeal. In these things their hearts are tender and sensitive, easily moved, deeply impressed, much concerned, and much engrossed. They get deeply depressed at worldly losses, and highly excited at worldly successes. But how insensible and unmoved are most men about the great things of another world! How dull then are their affections! Here their love is cold, their desires languid, their zeal low, and their gratitude small. How they can sit and hear of the infinite height, depth, length, and breadth of the love of God in Christ Jesus, of His gift of His infinitely dear Son offered up as a sacrifice for the sins of men, and yet be so insensible and regardless! Can we suppose that the wise Creator implanted such a faculty of affections to be occupied in this way? How can any Christian who believes the truth of these things not realize this?"

This quote pierces me because I see so much of myself reflected in it. How quickly I get excited enough to devote hours to training for a canoe race. It feels like nothing to devote two hours to watching a movie I'm looking forward to seeing... but when was the last time I spent two hours in prayer?

Where 2 or 3 are gathered...

So today I'd like to comment on Matthew 18:15-20. In this passage, Jesus says that if you see your brother in sin, you should go to him privately and confront him with love. If he does not respond, then you should bring another person with you and confront him together. If he does not respond to this, bring the matter before the entire church, and if he still does not repent - "Let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Treating someone like a Gentile or a tax-collector means rejecting that person socially. For Jews in that time, Gentile's and tax-collectors were outcasts. Jesus says here that when we corporately judge someone who is in unrepentant sin, that person is judged by God. This is a hugely serious point. There is real spiritual power in the church discipline process.

I comment on this passage here for two reasons. First of all, to take another shot at the erroneous, but apparently very prevalent, notion that being a follower of Jesus means you never confront people with their sin because that would supposedly be unloving. Of course, in reality, love seeks for the purity of its object. Therefore, true love sometimes must confront, but not for the purpose of crushing the person, it is for the purpose of restoring the sinning individual to fellowship with God and the community. As Paul says to the Corinthians with regard to the man he judged in 1 Corinthians 5, "...so that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, otherwise such a one might be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your love for him" (2 Corinthians 2:7-8). This statement was made after the guy repented of his sin. If we fail to treat an unrepentant brother like a "Gentile or a tax-collector" we basically approve of his sin by our friendliness and he will feel no need to change.

Secondly, I want to say a couple things about the statement, "where two or three are gathered." I've been quoted this verse, completely out of its context of course, by several people in recent weeks. Dave also quoted it to me back in December when I was trying to convince him to come back to church. All of these guys seemed to think that that statement means you don't need to go to church. They interpret it to mean that anytime you're hanging out with your friends, that's good enough, church is unnecessary. Putting the statement in its context pretty much settles the issue. He is not saying we don't need church, he's saying that the church community, even a small segment of the community, has spiritual power from Christ to judge sin. This power, however, would not be accessible if one were not in fellowship with the body! It means exactly the opposite of what they think it means.

Judgmental hypocrisy

Wednesday night I had a couple of conversations with friends of Dave at the memorial concert. One conversation in particular got me all riled up. I won't name the person of course, but I will relate the substance of our discussion because it was about this topic of the church. He approached me and was very openly blaming my brother's death on another individual, who in his estimation, was primarily responsible for getting Dave into heavy drug use. I have no idea if this is really true or not, because I was not there and did not see what he saw. But I was taken aback at how harsh he was being in his statements about this person. I know this person as well, and have reason to think better of this individual than he thought I should. It occurred to me that he, being a very close companion of Dave's for the last couple years, probably was trying to shift any sense of blame off of himself, though he also openly indulges in the same lifestyle.

Before I go on, a side note is in order. I have struggled a lot with feelings of anger and a desire for violent revenge against those who encouraged David to live the way he did, and who encouraged him in leaving the church. I know I have to forgive, and by the grace of God I am forgiving. I say, "am forgiving" rather than "have forgiven" because the moment I think I'm over it, those feelings come back. So it's a process, not an event. But it's a process I'm committed to sticking with, by God's grace. The reason I say this is because I know there is a significant chance that the two people I am discussing will read this. I want you both to know that I am not holding any grudges. David is responsible for his own actions, and we are responsible for love and forgiveness.

So anyway, he was blaming David's death on this other person, and I was pointing out that Dave made his own choices and we shouldn't really just blame one person. I pointed out that Dave's first mistake was abandoning the church, and that if he had not done so, he would not have been vulnerable to that kind of influence in the first place. That statement elicited a lengthy monologue from him about how bad church is and how hypocritical church people are, and how judgmental and unloving they are. This dragged on for some time. I was feeling really emotional, and struggling to keep it under control so I just let him ramble on for a while. Then I finally cut in and started talking about some of the stuff I posted yesterday, trying to explain why we need church - not because it is a museum of those who have achieved sinless perfection, but because it is a conduit for the grace of God in our lives, and because we are all so wicked, we need to go to church.

The irony is not hard to find here. He was just blaming David's death on this other person, using very strong and harsh language, and accepting absolutely no personal responsibility for any influence he might have had on David's choices. He was the judgmental one. He was the hypocrite. But worse than that, he was totally blind.

"Therefore, you have no excuse, every one of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things, and we know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things."
- Romans 2:1-2

The Bible never condemns being judgmental, in fact, if being judgmental means observing someone else in sin, and calling it sin, then the Bible actually commands judgment. What it condemns is hypocritical judgment. If I judge someone harshly for doing something I am also doing, that is wrong, but it is right to call sin what it is - sin!

"Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way that you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye." - Matthew 7:1-5

What does it mean to take the speck out of your brother's eye? It means that once you are no longer being a hypocrite, you can judge in the proper way, and help your brother. It is no accident that Jesus illustrates His point with eyes and sight. He is pointing out that when you are in sin, you are blinded by that sin, and therefore are not able to help others deal effectively with their sin. But he is not saying that you should just ignore sin in the lives of others.

For more on this point, see the following scriptures:
Matthew 18:15-20
1 Corinthians 5:1-13 (note vss. 3-5 in particular)

Part of the reason we need to go to church is so that we can be lovingly judged by others. God put us in a community because none of us can see ourselves as clearly as we ought to. So we need others to help us with this. God uses people in this process as well as the inner conviction of the Spirit. If I say that my relationship with God is just between me and Him, I short-circuit this process. The key ingredient that determines the difference between judgment that leads to peace and edification, and the judgment that creates division, is love. If we judge in love, and if this judgment is received with humility, it produces growth and maturity.

David's death has given me a much greater sense of urgency when it comes to loving confrontation of my brothers in Christ. I am thinking right now of one person that I know I need to have a conversation with. He is a great guy, but there is one "little thing" that I have noticed before, but have not had the courage to speak up. Well, I am going to speak up now, because I have seen the horrible consequences of what can happen when you don't say anything because you are chicken.

More could be said, but that is enough for now.

What is the Church?

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." - Hebrews 10:23-25

I have decided to begin a blog. My brother's death has generated many important discussions about the nature of the church: what it is, what it ought to be, what it ought not to be. Also there has been much debate on the issue of what Christian love is, and whether or not we ought to judge people who are in sin.

Since David killed himself I have realized, much to my grief, that there were many things I never said to him that I wish I had said. Some of these things are personal sentiments, and others are more heavy duty doctrinal arguments that I wish I had had the guts to confront him with. I was afraid of pushing him away, but now, perhaps due in part to my cowardice, he has slipped further than I can possibly reach, and I suppose he now knows more about reality than I do. But still there are many people left behind who are just like him. So I want to address some specific points that I wish I had shared with Dave, in the hope that someone will read them and benefit.

The first question I would like to tackle is this: can someone completely abandon church and still honestly claim to have fellowship with God? This is what I keep running into. There are a bunch of people who say that church is bad for a number of reasons - too hypocritical, too judgmental, it tries to force everyone into a mold, etc. They claim that the essence of knowing God is love, and so all they have to do is love people and God will be happy with them. They don't need to go to church because they can worship God on their own, in their own way. As Dave used to say so often, "Church just doesn't minister to me." It is true that the essence of knowing God is love. Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love God and your neighbor (Matt 22:37). It is also true that we all ought to have personal worship not only as a part of daily life, but as the very essence of everything we do. But this is not a substitute for corporate worship.

The church is the body of Christ. This means that we who believe in Christ are united with Him by faith, and therefore are also united spiritually with each other. Our union with Christ cannot be properly experienced apart from ongoing interaction and participation with His body. God gave us baptism and the Lord's supper to illustrate these concepts in tangible ways.

Baptism pictures our identification with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. If we believe in Him, it means that when He died, so did we, and when He was raised, so were we - because we are united with Him.

"Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, so shall we also be in the likeness of His resurrection." - Romans 6:3-5

As each individual is united to Christ by faith, we are also automatically united to each other as well.

"For even as the body is one and yet has many members, and all the members of the body, though they are many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit." - 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

The Lord's Supper is also a symbol of our unity with each other in Christ. As we all partake of the same bread and cup, it symbolizes our communal dependence upon Christ as our only source of spiritual life (John 6:53). In the famous passage about the Lord's supper in 1 Cor. 11, the sin that Paul tells them they must examine themselves about is the sin of disunity. He tells them sternly that they must not share in the meal if they have not resolved their quarrels.

Our unity with each other is a fact whether we act like it or not. The New Testament is full of exhortations for us to live and work in unity with each other. Disunity and factions within the church are a sign of immaturity.

"Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment." - 1 Corinthians 1:10

"For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?" - 1 Corinthians 3:3

Unity shows Christian maturity.

"...being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace...until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man."
- Ephesians 4:3, 13

All this is to say that our corporate worship is not primarily about "just me and God". It is supposed to be about "WE and God." This corporate outlook runs counter to the exaltation of individualism that is such a foundational part of American society. I suspect that is why so many American Christians have a hard time understanding why they need to go to church. We live in a self-oriented culture, and this has permeated the church in many ways. Even the way we talk about the gospel as a "personal relationship with Jesus Christ." How weird would it sound to our ears to tell someone that they could have a "corporate relationship with Jesus Christ"? And yet, our relationship with God includes both a personal, and a corporate element. If we elevate either of these elements at the expense of the other, we mess up the church.

On the one extreme, we have people who think that church is anything they feel like making it because it's just them and God. They have no concern for history or tradition, and no sense of communal responsibility. It is out of this framework that statements like, "church just doesn't minister to me," arise. When Dave said this, it revealed that he was only thinking of church in terms of what he could get out of it, not in terms of how he could fit into his unique niche within the larger framework, and use his gifts to serve the larger Body of Christ. So if church wasn't "working for him" he could leave it and God would be okay with that because the corporate entity meant nothing.

On the other extreme, if the personal relationship with God is downplayed, you end up with people thinking that they are saved just because they were born to Christian parents, even though they have never known God themselves. This problem exists in our culture as well, though it is now less common that it probably was a few decades ago. Neither extreme is Biblical.

I have much more to say, and I guess, if I'm going to be a good blogger I will have to learn to be more concise. But then again, what's the point of having a blog if you can't run on and on? Better here than in the pulpit eh? ; )

In coming posts, I will address the issue of church discipline and the false dichotomy between judgment and love, and the oft misquoted, "where two or three are gathered" passage in Matt. 18, which is often used as an excuse to skip out on church even though the intent of the passage is exactly the opposite. I will also discuss what to do when problems come up in church, as we all know they do.