August 21, 2002
Ann (not her real name) was eighteen when she met and married Brad. He was charming and handsome. The problem was that Ann believed in Jesus and Brad did not.
Further, Brad drank too much and flirted with other women. Ann’s parents and Christian friends saw the danger signs and warned her. Deep in her heart, Ann knew they were right, but she married him anyway.
The marriage fell apart two and a half years later. Brad’s roving eye led him away from Ann. His drinking increased and, when he drank, he was verbally abusive. After he slapped her a few times, she decided to leave him.
Ann still asks God, “Why did this happen? You could have made our marriage happy. Why didn’t you change Brad?”
Her questions seem naive to those outside her situation, even those outside the Christian faith. Perhaps believers struggle with this issue more than those who are not. We know that Jesus paid our penalty for sin. God’s wrath was poured out on Him and we are forgiven, no longer condemned. However, sin has a consequence that seems like punishment? This makes our salvation seem not quite what we believed it to be.
The problem comes when we forget that sin’s punishment is about eternity. People who do not repent and turn to God will face eternity separated from Him. The Bible calls it the “second death” and its location is “hell.”
On the other hand, suffering as a consequence of a sin is different. If a Christian sins and gets into trouble like Ann did, the consequence only happens in this life. In eternity, Ann will be with Christ forever, He will “wipe away all tears,” and she will enter eternal joy.
So why should Christians suffer the consequences of sin, even though their sin is forgiven? Ecclesiastes offers a clue by saying, “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.”
Any person finds it harder to stop doing wrong if no pain is involved. God chastens His people through consequences so we will learn to hate sin and to stop sinning. His goal is that we are transformed people who are like Him. We cannot continue in sin and reach that goal.
Even when we sin, God is gracious. Consider Old Testament King David. He committed adultery with Bathsheba and had a son. That illegitimately conceived child died, but the next son born to him and Bathsheba (by then his wife) was Solomon. From that line, the Messiah was born, an honor to David and a blessing to the world.
David also lived as a warrior. When he wanted to build a temple for God, God would not allow it because of the “blood” in his life. This was a sad and serious consequence; however, God allowed David to write the Psalms — which have endured far longer than any temple ever could.
Remember that suffering does not always imply punishment or lead to a hidden and greater good. Sometimes, it is simply the consequence of sin. Also remember that God takes responsibility for everything that happens. Job said, “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?”
The Bible says God “disciplines those He loves” and explains that consequences are for those who are “accepted” as His children. If someone is not disciplined by God, then they are not a child of God. Far better to bear that label and suffer the consequences of sin for a little while, then to reject God as Father, Lord and Savior, and then bear sin’s consequences forever!
Showing posts with label consequences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label consequences. Show all posts
Monday, July 2, 2018
Friday, June 22, 2018
Why bad things happen ............. Parables 758
July 23, 2002
When the popcorn bowl runs out, I like to suck the butter and salt out of those partly popped kernels in the bottom. Sometimes I gnaw on them, despite a little voice that tells me to stop it. Once I cracked a filling in a back tooth. My dentist added insult to injury by reminding me I’d made a foolish decision.
This incident reminds me of that huge question: Why does God allow suffering? People in every corner of the world ask it. While the biblical answers may not satisfy everyone, over the next few weeks I’ll offer a few that immensely help me.
First, three foundations. One, suffering does not always imply God’s punishment. Sometimes it does, but not every time.
Two, while God can bring good out of anything, that is not always the reason He allows bad things to happen. Sometimes they are just bad.
Third, God does take responsibility for everything. Job said, “Shall we accept good from God, and not evil.” The very next line reads, “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
Jeremiah repeated the thought: “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” While the mind of God does not make sense to our limited perspective, yet the Bible affirms we can trust Him anyway. It also reveals a few why’s concerning evil and suffering.
One reason we suffer is that we bring it on ourselves. We make foolish choices, and our actions have consequences. Without them, we would never regret foolishness, or change. Ecclesiastes puts it in the negative: “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.”
Cause and effect are important to our stability. Water should satisfy our thirst. Flipping a switch should turn the lights on or off. We expect results from what we do and if they do not happen, we are perplexed, even thrown off balance.
This applies to both good and foolish choices. When I bite a hard popcorn kernel, my less-strong fillings are apt to take a beating. When I ignore God’s moral warnings, my life will fall apart. When I behave and obey Him, I experience not only His blessing but His pleasure.
The foolish choices of others can cause us suffering too. Children suffer in war. People die at the hands of reckless drivers. A construction worker neglects a safety check. Airline mechanics do too. Innocent people suffer consequences.
Consequences should change our choices but what about drivers who run stop signs, make illegal turns, drive too fast, and cut in too quick, who never get a traffic ticket or ever have an accident? Or consider an elderly couple, normally careful drivers, yet one day he failed to stop at a stop sign. They were hit by a truck and both died. Does this make “cause and effect,” and God, capriciousness?
Christians know God takes responsibility for everything. In the case of the elderly couple, He had reasons for allowing their suffering and death. They were people of faith and belonged to Him, so they were not being punished — Jesus already took their punishment for sin.
Neither did they die so ultimate good would happen. It did not, at least for them here on earth. Their death was a tragic event, even though God could have stopped it. For the most part, it happened as a result of a wrong choice.
But God also has reasons for not applying that rule of cause and effect to others who seem to deserve it. Maybe He is giving them a second chance. Maybe He has a greater plan for their lives.
Sometimes people blame God when trouble strikes, but I would not want God to change the rule of cause and effect. When I do something dumb, I do not like the consequences, yet without their predictability (in general), the world would make even less sense than it does.
When the popcorn bowl runs out, I like to suck the butter and salt out of those partly popped kernels in the bottom. Sometimes I gnaw on them, despite a little voice that tells me to stop it. Once I cracked a filling in a back tooth. My dentist added insult to injury by reminding me I’d made a foolish decision.
This incident reminds me of that huge question: Why does God allow suffering? People in every corner of the world ask it. While the biblical answers may not satisfy everyone, over the next few weeks I’ll offer a few that immensely help me.
First, three foundations. One, suffering does not always imply God’s punishment. Sometimes it does, but not every time.
Two, while God can bring good out of anything, that is not always the reason He allows bad things to happen. Sometimes they are just bad.
Third, God does take responsibility for everything. Job said, “Shall we accept good from God, and not evil.” The very next line reads, “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
Jeremiah repeated the thought: “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both calamities and good things come?” While the mind of God does not make sense to our limited perspective, yet the Bible affirms we can trust Him anyway. It also reveals a few why’s concerning evil and suffering.
One reason we suffer is that we bring it on ourselves. We make foolish choices, and our actions have consequences. Without them, we would never regret foolishness, or change. Ecclesiastes puts it in the negative: “When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong.”
Cause and effect are important to our stability. Water should satisfy our thirst. Flipping a switch should turn the lights on or off. We expect results from what we do and if they do not happen, we are perplexed, even thrown off balance.
This applies to both good and foolish choices. When I bite a hard popcorn kernel, my less-strong fillings are apt to take a beating. When I ignore God’s moral warnings, my life will fall apart. When I behave and obey Him, I experience not only His blessing but His pleasure.
The foolish choices of others can cause us suffering too. Children suffer in war. People die at the hands of reckless drivers. A construction worker neglects a safety check. Airline mechanics do too. Innocent people suffer consequences.
Consequences should change our choices but what about drivers who run stop signs, make illegal turns, drive too fast, and cut in too quick, who never get a traffic ticket or ever have an accident? Or consider an elderly couple, normally careful drivers, yet one day he failed to stop at a stop sign. They were hit by a truck and both died. Does this make “cause and effect,” and God, capriciousness?
Christians know God takes responsibility for everything. In the case of the elderly couple, He had reasons for allowing their suffering and death. They were people of faith and belonged to Him, so they were not being punished — Jesus already took their punishment for sin.
Neither did they die so ultimate good would happen. It did not, at least for them here on earth. Their death was a tragic event, even though God could have stopped it. For the most part, it happened as a result of a wrong choice.
But God also has reasons for not applying that rule of cause and effect to others who seem to deserve it. Maybe He is giving them a second chance. Maybe He has a greater plan for their lives.
Sometimes people blame God when trouble strikes, but I would not want God to change the rule of cause and effect. When I do something dumb, I do not like the consequences, yet without their predictability (in general), the world would make even less sense than it does.
Wednesday, September 13, 2017
No weeds? .......... Parables 640
July 27, 1999
Dag Hammarskjold, diplomat and former Secretary General of the UN once said, “You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn’t reserve a plot for weeds.”
A modern Chinese proverb says the same thing using another analogy: “Forbidden fruit creates many jams.”
In a world of continual change, a few things stand firm. One is the truth that folly will impact our lives — just as untended weeds will ruin our rose garden.
Folly can seem harmless at first. An army officer was out hunting with his friends. While pausing for a rest, he thought he would create some excitement so touched a match to some dry grass. Within minutes the entire area was ablaze, and the men were powerless to stop it. Flames, fanned and driven by a strong wind, raged rapidly across the prairie burning thousands of acres of land, homes, buildings and countless head of livestock. But it seemed so harmless.
Folly can seem to be a quick fix for a problem, such as cheating on exams. Students who do it either fear failure or simply want a shortcut to success. They may get away with this folly for their term finals but in the trials of life, the lessons they borrowed without learning for themselves will be repeated. One way or another, life has a way of showing cheaters that dishonest shortcuts produce painful regrets.
Another folly is called “casual love” or what started out in the 60's as “free” sex. In those days, it seemed harmless and without consequence but today, in the United States in one day, over 25,000 people contract a sexually transmitted disease, or about 10 million a year. One state (Illinois) spends over 800 million dollars dealing with the effects of illicit sex. The entire nation spends billions. So much for “free” sex.
If that is not enough jam from that forbidden fruit, one statistician says that more babies are born in one year in the 90's with birth defects because of sexually transmitted disease than all the babies affected by polio during the epidemic of the 50's.
Another related folly is adultery. Marriages, families and the tender hearts of children are torn apart because someone gave in to their hunger. That folly may keep lawyers employed, but no one can claim these are positive results. Our nation’s strong family norm slowly deteriorates, replaced by one-parent homes struggling to survive.
These jams are not the lot of common people either. Royalty can fall into folly too. One evening, when King David of Israel should have been in the fields with his army, he instead gazed out over his city and saw on a nearby rooftop, a beautiful woman enjoying her evening bath. His desire led to adultery then later to murder, as he arranged for the woman’s husband to be killed in battle. From his position of power, he thought no one would know or find out — but he forgot about God.
God revealed David’s plot to a prophet named Nathan. Nathan confronted the king, and just as the Bible says, his sin “found him out.” As another prophet said, “Woe to the wicked. Disaster is upon them. They will be paid back for what their hands have done.”
No forbidden fruit is exempt from disastrous consequences. Hammarskjold stands with Scripture. Both oppose the foolish idea that we can sow wild oats without harvesting an unwanted crop. As the Chinese affirm, no one can taste, eat or even steal forbidden fruit without getting themselves in a sticky and unpalatable jam.
Dag Hammarskjold, diplomat and former Secretary General of the UN once said, “You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy doesn’t reserve a plot for weeds.”
A modern Chinese proverb says the same thing using another analogy: “Forbidden fruit creates many jams.”
In a world of continual change, a few things stand firm. One is the truth that folly will impact our lives — just as untended weeds will ruin our rose garden.
Folly can seem harmless at first. An army officer was out hunting with his friends. While pausing for a rest, he thought he would create some excitement so touched a match to some dry grass. Within minutes the entire area was ablaze, and the men were powerless to stop it. Flames, fanned and driven by a strong wind, raged rapidly across the prairie burning thousands of acres of land, homes, buildings and countless head of livestock. But it seemed so harmless.
Folly can seem to be a quick fix for a problem, such as cheating on exams. Students who do it either fear failure or simply want a shortcut to success. They may get away with this folly for their term finals but in the trials of life, the lessons they borrowed without learning for themselves will be repeated. One way or another, life has a way of showing cheaters that dishonest shortcuts produce painful regrets.
Another folly is called “casual love” or what started out in the 60's as “free” sex. In those days, it seemed harmless and without consequence but today, in the United States in one day, over 25,000 people contract a sexually transmitted disease, or about 10 million a year. One state (Illinois) spends over 800 million dollars dealing with the effects of illicit sex. The entire nation spends billions. So much for “free” sex.
If that is not enough jam from that forbidden fruit, one statistician says that more babies are born in one year in the 90's with birth defects because of sexually transmitted disease than all the babies affected by polio during the epidemic of the 50's.
Another related folly is adultery. Marriages, families and the tender hearts of children are torn apart because someone gave in to their hunger. That folly may keep lawyers employed, but no one can claim these are positive results. Our nation’s strong family norm slowly deteriorates, replaced by one-parent homes struggling to survive.
These jams are not the lot of common people either. Royalty can fall into folly too. One evening, when King David of Israel should have been in the fields with his army, he instead gazed out over his city and saw on a nearby rooftop, a beautiful woman enjoying her evening bath. His desire led to adultery then later to murder, as he arranged for the woman’s husband to be killed in battle. From his position of power, he thought no one would know or find out — but he forgot about God.
God revealed David’s plot to a prophet named Nathan. Nathan confronted the king, and just as the Bible says, his sin “found him out.” As another prophet said, “Woe to the wicked. Disaster is upon them. They will be paid back for what their hands have done.”
No forbidden fruit is exempt from disastrous consequences. Hammarskjold stands with Scripture. Both oppose the foolish idea that we can sow wild oats without harvesting an unwanted crop. As the Chinese affirm, no one can taste, eat or even steal forbidden fruit without getting themselves in a sticky and unpalatable jam.
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
When evil wins .......... Parables 490
November 7, 1995
The arguments continue. Did O. J. really do it? Will this case forever have a cloud hanging over both the crime and the decision? Will we ever know? Maybe, maybe not.
What irks those convinced of his guilt is that he appears to have gotten away with it. Those who disagree are irked because his case became a racial issue and because the police appeared to be on the wrong side of the law. Either way, evil seems to have won.
Whenever law-breakers (or supposed law-keepers) walk away from their rotten deeds without due consequence, Psalm 37 comes to mind. It say: “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away... Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret — it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.”
In historical context, the psalmist was encouraging God’s people. While things looked bad for the moment, evil would not prevail; eventually they would live safely in their land.
The psalm contains an important principle: “The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.”
There is a day coming for those who escape the long arm of human law. God’s arm is longer. He, in perfect justice, will deal with all who do evil, whether their crime is murder, violence, hatred, racism, abuse, robbery, envy, lying, blasphemy, or even gossip and unbelief.
If I could rephrase Psalm 37 in regard to the O. J. Simpson case, I would write, “Don’t get bent out of shape because a double homicide goes unpunished. Whether guilt lies with unknown assailants, a football player, the police, or (as my dad says) the lawyers, the Lord will deal with them. It is better you do not get riled. Instead, trust God and hold your tongue and your temper. Don’t let evil prevail in your own heart. A vehement desire for revenge, hatred, or even scorn are punishable by God too, just as are those other evil acts.”
The Gospels say the same thing. When people came to Jesus and told Him about a certain disaster that happened to other people, they seemed to imply God was punishing some secret evil they had done. However, Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
He makes the psalmist’s point. While unpunished evil is not desirable, and the killer (O. J. or otherwise) needs to be found and proven guilty, personal hatred, vindictiveness, or a “I would never do that” pride is evil also. Instead, the psalmist invites us to, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
We may not see the day that the guilty are punished here, but if we trust God, their judgment day will come and we will not only miss seeing it then, but be glad we are not standing in the crowd on that terrible day when the guilty finally receive what they deserve!
The arguments continue. Did O. J. really do it? Will this case forever have a cloud hanging over both the crime and the decision? Will we ever know? Maybe, maybe not.
What irks those convinced of his guilt is that he appears to have gotten away with it. Those who disagree are irked because his case became a racial issue and because the police appeared to be on the wrong side of the law. Either way, evil seems to have won.
Whenever law-breakers (or supposed law-keepers) walk away from their rotten deeds without due consequence, Psalm 37 comes to mind. It say: “Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away... Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret — it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for them, they will not be found.”
In historical context, the psalmist was encouraging God’s people. While things looked bad for the moment, evil would not prevail; eventually they would live safely in their land.
The psalm contains an important principle: “The wicked plot against the righteous and gnash their teeth at them; but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming. The wicked draw the sword and bend the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright. But their swords will pierce their own hearts, and their bows will be broken. Better the little that the righteous have than the wealth of many wicked; for the power of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD upholds the righteous.”
There is a day coming for those who escape the long arm of human law. God’s arm is longer. He, in perfect justice, will deal with all who do evil, whether their crime is murder, violence, hatred, racism, abuse, robbery, envy, lying, blasphemy, or even gossip and unbelief.
If I could rephrase Psalm 37 in regard to the O. J. Simpson case, I would write, “Don’t get bent out of shape because a double homicide goes unpunished. Whether guilt lies with unknown assailants, a football player, the police, or (as my dad says) the lawyers, the Lord will deal with them. It is better you do not get riled. Instead, trust God and hold your tongue and your temper. Don’t let evil prevail in your own heart. A vehement desire for revenge, hatred, or even scorn are punishable by God too, just as are those other evil acts.”
The Gospels say the same thing. When people came to Jesus and told Him about a certain disaster that happened to other people, they seemed to imply God was punishing some secret evil they had done. However, Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
He makes the psalmist’s point. While unpunished evil is not desirable, and the killer (O. J. or otherwise) needs to be found and proven guilty, personal hatred, vindictiveness, or a “I would never do that” pride is evil also. Instead, the psalmist invites us to, “Commit your way to the LORD; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
We may not see the day that the guilty are punished here, but if we trust God, their judgment day will come and we will not only miss seeing it then, but be glad we are not standing in the crowd on that terrible day when the guilty finally receive what they deserve!
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Acting like a sheep? .......... Parables 460
February 21, 1995
My farming experience did not include sheep but a neighbor told me about one of their annoying idiosyncrasies. If a fence had a little hole in it, they would find it and crawl through even if it meant leaving their pasture and wandering in areas without food. When they were brought home, the fence had to be fixed or they would crawl through it again.
Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet, makes an interesting observation. He says “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned to our own way.”
Isaiah was one of many prophets who preached God would bless them for following Him and bring a curse if they disobeyed. These curses were sometimes simple, logical consequences of their social and moral failures and sometimes included famine, drought, disease and the invasion of more powerful enemies.
During one of those periods of disobedience, the writer of Judges commented, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” In their eyes, idol worship, injustice and lawbreaking was acceptable.
Isaiah and the other prophets could not see any sense in abandoning the laws of God. When God’s people obeyed Him, they always experienced spiritual and material prosperity. Why would they crawl through His fence of protection when the results were so disastrous? When the consequences of going astray completely overwhelmed them, they turned back to God but after years of this cycle of disobedience, consequences, repentance, God finally refused to hear their cries. He abandoned them to the invading Assyrians and allowed them to be taken into captivity in a foreign land. They remained in Babylon for decades lamenting their sheep-like behavior and learning again that sinful choices bring disaster.
Today, people still turn away from the laws of God and still miss the connection between this choice and the consequences. For example, the American Civil Liberties Union decided that praying and reading Scripture is unconstitutional in schools. As a result, these God-honoring activities are now illegal in the United States. Good things happen when people praying and read the Bible, not so when they turn away. Is there a connection between this choice and the dramatic drop in student self-esteem and the drastic increase in student discipline problems?
Violence on television is another example. God tells us to hate violence and refuse to look at it. However, television brings crime and bloodshed into our homes. While psychologists argue its effects, statistics show that brutality increases when these programs are made available in communities that once were without them. Is there a connection?
What proof do theorists need that the laws of God are valid? In spite of the hypocrites and phonies, when anyone genuinely places their faith in Christ, the process of becoming like Him begins. Christ produces a desire to obey God that results in increasing efforts to stop sinning and do right. According to Jesus, this change for the better is not only valid evidence of genuine faith, but has a life-giving, preservative effect on all of society.
When people cannot or will not observe the consequences of sinful behavior, could it be that they, like sheep, have turned their own way? To those who prefer their own wisdom, the Bible gives this grave warning: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12).
God says it, His prophets say it and statistics back it up: it is folly to act like sheep.
My farming experience did not include sheep but a neighbor told me about one of their annoying idiosyncrasies. If a fence had a little hole in it, they would find it and crawl through even if it meant leaving their pasture and wandering in areas without food. When they were brought home, the fence had to be fixed or they would crawl through it again.
Isaiah, an Old Testament prophet, makes an interesting observation. He says “All we like sheep have gone astray, we have all turned to our own way.”
Isaiah was one of many prophets who preached God would bless them for following Him and bring a curse if they disobeyed. These curses were sometimes simple, logical consequences of their social and moral failures and sometimes included famine, drought, disease and the invasion of more powerful enemies.
During one of those periods of disobedience, the writer of Judges commented, “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” In their eyes, idol worship, injustice and lawbreaking was acceptable.
Isaiah and the other prophets could not see any sense in abandoning the laws of God. When God’s people obeyed Him, they always experienced spiritual and material prosperity. Why would they crawl through His fence of protection when the results were so disastrous? When the consequences of going astray completely overwhelmed them, they turned back to God but after years of this cycle of disobedience, consequences, repentance, God finally refused to hear their cries. He abandoned them to the invading Assyrians and allowed them to be taken into captivity in a foreign land. They remained in Babylon for decades lamenting their sheep-like behavior and learning again that sinful choices bring disaster.
Today, people still turn away from the laws of God and still miss the connection between this choice and the consequences. For example, the American Civil Liberties Union decided that praying and reading Scripture is unconstitutional in schools. As a result, these God-honoring activities are now illegal in the United States. Good things happen when people praying and read the Bible, not so when they turn away. Is there a connection between this choice and the dramatic drop in student self-esteem and the drastic increase in student discipline problems?
Violence on television is another example. God tells us to hate violence and refuse to look at it. However, television brings crime and bloodshed into our homes. While psychologists argue its effects, statistics show that brutality increases when these programs are made available in communities that once were without them. Is there a connection?
What proof do theorists need that the laws of God are valid? In spite of the hypocrites and phonies, when anyone genuinely places their faith in Christ, the process of becoming like Him begins. Christ produces a desire to obey God that results in increasing efforts to stop sinning and do right. According to Jesus, this change for the better is not only valid evidence of genuine faith, but has a life-giving, preservative effect on all of society.
When people cannot or will not observe the consequences of sinful behavior, could it be that they, like sheep, have turned their own way? To those who prefer their own wisdom, the Bible gives this grave warning: “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12).
God says it, His prophets say it and statistics back it up: it is folly to act like sheep.
Monday, April 25, 2016
The power of sin .................. Parables 423
May 31, 1994
According to a survey by Queens University at Kingston entitled “Canada Youth & AIDS Study”, about 1 percent of the population is homosexual, not 10% as some claim. (Three studies in 12 areas of the United States reach the same percentage figure.) Why is such a small segment of the population given so much clout in determining what moral values should be acceptable in Canada?
The Bible offers one explanation. Romans 1 says, “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities... have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that (people) are without excuse.
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator... because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.
“Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
This passage of Scripture not only denounces homosexual activity, it explains the reason those with that orientation (which it calls “their perversion”) cannot control themselves. God has taken His hand of grace from them. They have no power over their own lusts.
Those who refuse to acknowledge God as God and who exchange the truth about God for a lie cannot worship and obey Him. Instead, they bow down to their own gods. In New Testament times, these gods were images and carved idols. Today, an idol could be defined as anything people rely on to meet their needs. If it is not the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, then it is an idol.
The power that only 1% of the population wields is really a misconception. The few who are gay are able to convince a larger majority who are not because the larger majority has also rejected God. Just as the mood of the dog can be discerned by the wagging of its tail, the prevailing attitude of Canadians seems to be against godly sexual morals. While not all these would call themselves gay or lesbian, they also have rejected God. As a consequence, many have been turned over to their various sins, as reflected in Canada’s crime rate, the divorce and abortion rate, and the increase in social problems. No one can reject God and maintain goodness.
According to Patrick Johnson’s Operation World, Canada’s population may include about 10% genuine Christians. However, for a nation that largely rejects God, our message is more repulsive than that of the 1%. While they insist on their right to freely sin: we call for a return to God and freedom from sin’s control. Does anyone really want that kind of freedom?
According to a survey by Queens University at Kingston entitled “Canada Youth & AIDS Study”, about 1 percent of the population is homosexual, not 10% as some claim. (Three studies in 12 areas of the United States reach the same percentage figure.) Why is such a small segment of the population given so much clout in determining what moral values should be acceptable in Canada?
The Bible offers one explanation. Romans 1 says, “Since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities... have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that (people) are without excuse.
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator... because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts.
“Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”
This passage of Scripture not only denounces homosexual activity, it explains the reason those with that orientation (which it calls “their perversion”) cannot control themselves. God has taken His hand of grace from them. They have no power over their own lusts.
Those who refuse to acknowledge God as God and who exchange the truth about God for a lie cannot worship and obey Him. Instead, they bow down to their own gods. In New Testament times, these gods were images and carved idols. Today, an idol could be defined as anything people rely on to meet their needs. If it is not the true God, the Creator of heaven and earth, then it is an idol.
The power that only 1% of the population wields is really a misconception. The few who are gay are able to convince a larger majority who are not because the larger majority has also rejected God. Just as the mood of the dog can be discerned by the wagging of its tail, the prevailing attitude of Canadians seems to be against godly sexual morals. While not all these would call themselves gay or lesbian, they also have rejected God. As a consequence, many have been turned over to their various sins, as reflected in Canada’s crime rate, the divorce and abortion rate, and the increase in social problems. No one can reject God and maintain goodness.
According to Patrick Johnson’s Operation World, Canada’s population may include about 10% genuine Christians. However, for a nation that largely rejects God, our message is more repulsive than that of the 1%. While they insist on their right to freely sin: we call for a return to God and freedom from sin’s control. Does anyone really want that kind of freedom?
Friday, March 25, 2016
Why doesn’t God fix it? .................. Parables 410
March 1, 1994
Babies die. Children waste away with cancer. Marriages fall apart. Car accidents take lives. People brutally murder other people. Tornadoes destroy people and property. Earthquakes, floods, and fires take their toll. People are trapped in poverty or wheel chairs or pitifully hooked up to tubes. Why doesn’t God fix everything?
Struggling and skeptical people ask how could there be a God when life is so difficult, so painful? How could God be good and still allow all these things? If there is a God, he is not fair. Why doesn’t God fix everything?
Think for a minute what the world be like if He did. There would be no more illness or death, no more economic downturns, no more wars globally or across the breakfast table. No one would ever have an accident or break a bone. There would be more hate. And the weather would be perfect and the environment completely stable. We would like that. All our problems would be over. Or would they?
The greatest difficulty with this scenario is that when God did fix these things, people really did not welcome His efforts. He raised dead children and adults. He healed those with wasting, horrible diseases. He taught people how to love one another. He ordered the wind to stop blowing. He fed crowds with a handful of groceries. He fixed everything.
It was fantastic for a time. People were excited about what He was doing. However, as much as He loved them and wanted them to experience His power and be healed from the damage of life, He was far more interested in dealing with the roots of their problems. These diseases and troubles were merely the symptoms. Like a physician, He knew that no matter how many people rose from the dead, human hearts are sicker than bodies with cancer or leprosy. For that root problem, His fix was repentance and faith in Him.
It was at this the people balked. They wanted everything fixed, but only up to a point. If it meant a change in the way they thought and lived, they were not interested.
It seems that the issue should have ended in a simple stalemate. God wanted to help them, they only wanted a certain amount of help. God would fix as much as they would let Him, and everyone would be happy. Not so.
The people proved the very point God was trying to make. The condition of their hearts was their greatest problem. Instead of a polite “no thanks” to God’s offer, they retaliated against Him. They accused Him of being Satan. They hurled insults and spit in His face. They mocked Him and nailed Him to a tree. Rather than having God fix everything, they killed Him.
We are responsible for the consequences of our choices, not God. If I insist on eating junk food all day, I will develop health problems. Is it fair to God to ask Him to fix that, even though in mercy He might?
My own sin and the sin of other people brings problems into my life. I may not be personally responsible all the time but can anyone ask God to fix the problem without expecting Him to deal with the sin and the sinner(s) that are responsible? Human responsibility consequences make sense.
Actually, there is a day coming when God will make all things perfect. Revelation 21 says, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
His offer is still available.
Babies die. Children waste away with cancer. Marriages fall apart. Car accidents take lives. People brutally murder other people. Tornadoes destroy people and property. Earthquakes, floods, and fires take their toll. People are trapped in poverty or wheel chairs or pitifully hooked up to tubes. Why doesn’t God fix everything?
Struggling and skeptical people ask how could there be a God when life is so difficult, so painful? How could God be good and still allow all these things? If there is a God, he is not fair. Why doesn’t God fix everything?
Think for a minute what the world be like if He did. There would be no more illness or death, no more economic downturns, no more wars globally or across the breakfast table. No one would ever have an accident or break a bone. There would be more hate. And the weather would be perfect and the environment completely stable. We would like that. All our problems would be over. Or would they?
The greatest difficulty with this scenario is that when God did fix these things, people really did not welcome His efforts. He raised dead children and adults. He healed those with wasting, horrible diseases. He taught people how to love one another. He ordered the wind to stop blowing. He fed crowds with a handful of groceries. He fixed everything.
It was fantastic for a time. People were excited about what He was doing. However, as much as He loved them and wanted them to experience His power and be healed from the damage of life, He was far more interested in dealing with the roots of their problems. These diseases and troubles were merely the symptoms. Like a physician, He knew that no matter how many people rose from the dead, human hearts are sicker than bodies with cancer or leprosy. For that root problem, His fix was repentance and faith in Him.
It was at this the people balked. They wanted everything fixed, but only up to a point. If it meant a change in the way they thought and lived, they were not interested.
It seems that the issue should have ended in a simple stalemate. God wanted to help them, they only wanted a certain amount of help. God would fix as much as they would let Him, and everyone would be happy. Not so.
The people proved the very point God was trying to make. The condition of their hearts was their greatest problem. Instead of a polite “no thanks” to God’s offer, they retaliated against Him. They accused Him of being Satan. They hurled insults and spit in His face. They mocked Him and nailed Him to a tree. Rather than having God fix everything, they killed Him.
We are responsible for the consequences of our choices, not God. If I insist on eating junk food all day, I will develop health problems. Is it fair to God to ask Him to fix that, even though in mercy He might?
My own sin and the sin of other people brings problems into my life. I may not be personally responsible all the time but can anyone ask God to fix the problem without expecting Him to deal with the sin and the sinner(s) that are responsible? Human responsibility consequences make sense.
Actually, there is a day coming when God will make all things perfect. Revelation 21 says, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
His offer is still available.
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