Last night, millions watched the debate between Kelly and Brian Sabient (representing atheism) and Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron (attempting to prove God’s existence without using faith or the Bible). I have reviewed as much of the video as I can stand and have come to some interesting conclusions.
At first, I was disappointed in Ray’s use of Scripture in his opening comments. He had made a commitment to prove God’s existence without the Bible and then proceeded to use the Bible, handing ammunition to his enemies who took full advantage of the moment and exploited his mistake. After much thought and prayer about the matter, I’ve come to the conclusion that Ray had not choice but to use Scripture.
This was his chance to speak to millions of “on the fence” people who might not otherwise have the opportunity to hear the gospel. Further, Ray believes that the Word of God has the supernatural ability to pierce through the hardness of the human heart. And finally, Christianity has made the mistake before of attempting to prove God’s existence without the Bible and our attempts at doing so have failed to convert people or change our surroundings. A convincing argument for a Creator might be fabricated from the witness of nature, but a converting faith is only borne on the wings of God’s inspired revelation of Himself to mankind. What was Ray’s mistake? It was in agreeing not to refer to faith or the Bible to begin with.
The reason I could not stand to watch the entire debate online, stopping the stream early instead, was because of the knot that formed in my stomach as I listened to Kelly blaspheme God in such an extreme way. My heart breaks for her. It is apparent to all who watched that atheism leads to intellectual arrogance and belligerence toward Christians. This rebellious attitude is not only proof of the fall of mankind into sin, left unchecked it always leads to the ultimate end of a soul unable to repent because of the hardening of the heart through the deceitfulness of sin. Should Kelly continue choosing to blaspheme God, she will inevitably push her will beyond the point of ever humbling herself before her Creator. She expressed that she’d rather go to hell than to live in eternity with a God she perceives as unfairly violent toward sinners. I hope this isn’t a self-fulfilling prophecy for her.
The thought that terrifies me the most is that they have become preachers of a false gospel. It isn’t that they question a Creator, it’s that they persuade others to purposely break the command not to blaspheme the Holy Spirit (a misinterpretation of Jesus’ intent, by the way). I’ve encountered the writings of Richard Dawkins and other such rationalists who purport that Christians are guilty of indoctrinating generations of people into believing in a warmonger-god. Yet the skeptics themselves are actively and intentionally recruiting followers to join them in their hate-filled, angry tirade against the very God who bought them with the price of His own dear Son.
At the end of the day, there will be millions who simply will not believe the gospel record. This is nothing new and we cannot naively assume that we’ll ever rid the world of atheism or agnosticism by simply arguing science or Scripture alone. What does seem to be new is the intensity with which atheism belittles people of faith. It is as though the battle lines are being drawn more clearly. The forces of light and darkness are engaged in a more intense form of warfare than at any other time in the recent past. Perhaps we’re moving toward a climax.
Perhaps it is that the day is soon coming when men will make their final choices concerning God and His Son. Should you accept the record of the Bible as inspired and inerrant, as I do, then you’ll discover that the Bible itself predicts the rising intensity of this debate toward the ultimate battle between Jesus and the forces of darkness. Thankfully, we who believe, already have the rest of the story laid out before us, and… Jesus wins!
This past Sunday, I began preaching a revival meeting for Beacon Baptist Church in Gravette, Arkansas. It’s been a real privilege and honor to do so, especially considering that the church’s Pastor has been such a great leader within our association. Bro. Dan Fagala has remained at the same church for over thirty-five years and has served in a multitude of denominational capacities. On Monday, he and I went out on Beaver Lake in his boat to fish for crappies, to no avail. We (I mean he) caught four keepers. I managed to snag one little perch which finned me fairly well before I could throw him back.On Sunday, the most spectacular thing happened. When we arrived home from the revival service Sunday afternoon and opened our garage door, our Chevy Impala had mysteriously turned sideways!
Can you feel the love?… It took me about ten minutes to remove the car from the garage, but I wonder how long it took the prankster to park it to begin with. There are three major lessons I see in this situation…
1. Thank God for fun friends. Quite honestly, this was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
2. Life gets a little sideways sometimes for unexplainable reasons. We find ourselves in situations where we are perplexed. Thankfully because of the assurance we have in Christ, we know everything really will work out in the end “for them that love God and are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
3. Never leave your keys with a crazed graphic artist who is about to be ordained as a Deacon… Okay, that’s not much of a lesson, but thank God for security systems anyway!
In today’s devotional reading from J. Sidlow Baxter’s book Awake My Heart, there is a particularly moving paragraph that not only puts into perspective what the Christian’s worldview ought to be, but also inspires us to remember the ultimate end of that worldview…
Christ’s people were never meant to live at the world’s sea-level. We are meant to have a mountain view, the long view, the wide view, the really understanding view. We are meant to see the happenings of our time in the light of inspired prophecy, through the eyes of the Holy Spirit, from the high view-point of the divine purpose, and with our gaze on the ultimate victory of Christ.
He then closes out the writing with a sample prayer of commitment for the coming year that I want to make my own:
I will give not less than thirty minutes each day to prayer. I will commend my Savior in earnest conversation to at least one person each week. I will read consecutively each day from both Old and New Testaments. I will allow nothing in my life which might in any way compromise the name of Jesus.
But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord…” -Jonah 1:3
A devoted Sunday School teacher once taught her class the story of Jonah being swallowed by the whale after running from God. She added all the flare and drama she could muster, then she proceeded to ask them what the moral of the story was. One little boy spoke up, “You can’t keep a good man down.”
Jonah is introduced to us as a man on the run. I believe that there are too many Christians today who identify with Jonah early in the story. They are running, they are trying to escape the calling of God and the presence of God. Jonah fought the inner battle over surrendering to God’s will, as well as a personal battle with racism toward the Ninevites. Ultimately God won out, of course, but we will never know the blessings Jonah missed while he was running.
In our lives, we’ll never know the blessings we’ve missed when we’ve wasted time running from God’s purpose. Whether we are allowing a distraction to keep us from the Father, or we are willfully rebelling against His will for our lives, we miss out on so much.
What is God calling you to do today? It may be difficult, but there is a blessing in the journey for those who will attempt the difficult. Give in and go for God today!
The blog has been put on hold for a couple of weeks now, primarily because of all that my wife and I have been experiencing in our personal lives. Here’s a recounting of it…
On Monday evening, October 30, Angie left her ladies’ Connection Cafe meeting feeling well, but by the time we drove from the church to our house (just a couple of minutes) she was in terrible pain. We decided to go to the emergency room. Our beloved friends, Cory and Lachelle McCaig, came to sit from about 10:00 pm until 4:30 Tuesday morning while Angie was subjected to numerous tests, which found essentially nothing wrong.
On Tuesday morning, October 31, we went for a follow-up visit at her physician’s office and he became concerned about some possible internal bleeding. He decided to admit her to St. Mary’s hospital where he would perform a laproscopic procedure simply to explore any potential problems. He, like the emergency room physician, sought to rule out the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy. One he began the procedure, he discovered the worst scenario, an ectopic (tubal) pregnancy, which can be deadly.
The short, one-hour procedure turned into a two and one half hour operation with a large incision. I was so moved as I waited in the surgery waiting room as about two dozen members of our church surrounded me, waiting to hear that Angie had come through the surgery okay. We were delighted to hear that she would be just fine. The physician explained that she had sustained heavy internal bleeding and that her risk of possible death had been higher than he had anticipated.
Angie’s Dad brought her Mom down from St. Louis to help take care of her for a few days but her stay was interrupted by yet another family emergency. On Thursday, Angie’s grandmother suffered a heart attack and was in intensive care in Washington, Missouri. The family had hoped that she was improving, but in the middle of Thursday night, a call came alerting us that she had taken a turn for the worse. Angie’s Mom borrowed my car and drove through the night to be at her mother’s side. Ella Briggs (our daughter’s namesake) went home to heaven on Friday, November 3.
Later that afternoon, Angie and I loaded up our van and began the trip to St. Clair to attend the funeral, but wisdom along with some forceful but loving input from our family, prompted us to turn back and stay at home. Angie was recovering a little each day, but it may be a total of six weeks recovery time before she is completely healthy again. We’ve taken a much needed one night sabbatical to a nearby vacation spot and have attempted to settle back into a routine, with Angie returning to work on this past Monday, November 13.
The Sunday before all of this began, my text included Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to His purpose.” That Monday night, Angie testified at Connection Cafe that she had (at least we thought at the time) a miscarriage, but that God was faithfully teaching us to trust Him. It isn’t merely a cliche that “everything happens for a reason.” When you’re a believer, nothing is left to chance anymore. You realize that God has a sovereign plan that allows His children to endure some very difficult crises in life in order that we might enjoy “the fellowship of (Christ’s) sufferings.”
Since we learn how to be disciples through the tough stuff, what have I learned from all of this?
First, I’ve learned the importance of God’s timing. Had Angie not been persisent with her physician in his office, he would have sent her home where she may have bled to death. We’ve heard numerous testimonies from others who experienced the same trauma and were in grave danger. God rescued Angie just in time. On a similar note, I’ve learned the mysterious nature of God’s timing. Why would Angie’s grandmother pass away just after Angie’s surgery when her mother would have to make a midnight dash for Missouri and when Angie could not attend the funeral? All I can conlcude us that God is ultimately wise.
Second, I’ve learned the value of a loving church family, a fellowship of believers. I was surrounded in a waiting room by numerous friends and members of our spiritual family. Once home, people provided meals as well as company with their visits. We’ve experienced an outpouring of love and compassion for which we will be forever grateful. I’ve often heard others say, “I don’t see how people make it through things without a church family.” That statement was exemplified in our tragedy.
Third, I’ve learned what a beautiful and courageous woman I married! I sat in the surgery waiting room virtually helpless. I could do nothing to ensure her safety except to pray. I could do nothing to help her recover except play nurse and fetch water. Yet I watched as Angie handled the situation like a champ. Note that champions have weak moments, moments of curiosity about the activity of God and moments of emotional break-down. Tears rarely come from cowards. I’ve learned a new respect for her. While it was our baby that died so prematurely in a pregancy complication, it was her body that experienced such drastic trauma. I wish I could be half as strong as her!
More than anything, we’ve learned “in all things (to) give thanks unto God, for this is the will of God for (us) in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18) At our former church, we used to have a responsive chant: “God is good… all the time… and all the time… God is good.” God really is good. We don’t always get what we expect or want, but God never ceases to be holy or loving. God has been glorified in our lives in so many ways in the last few weeks, all we can do is humbly give Him praise, cry our tears, and go on in faith that God will always be good!
“So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.” -1 Corinthians 3:7
In six days, God made the world, then He watched it grow. He made flowers to bloom in the spring, trees to turn from sproutlings into giant oaks. He made man to develop from a tiny embryo to a full grown adult. God gives growth.
This is true in our spiritual life as well. God gives us spiritual growth. He did not save us for the moment but for a lifetime and for all of eternity. We are not merely trophies in God’s trophy case, we are living and flourishing creatures. Our hearts and minds and souls are to grow by a steady diet of the Word of the Lord. We’re to develop our gifts, go for our dreams, and determine to accomplish God’s great purposes on earth.
Are you growing? God has given you the tools of prayer, fellowship, and His Word. He’s given you 176 hours this week in which to grow. He even gives you trials and tribulations so that you might grow spiritually and develop depth and strength. It is God that gives growth! So flourish today under the green thumb of God’s special care.
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who will also do it.” -1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Paul’s prayer for the people of Thessalonica was a heartfelt prayer for their permanent cleansing. “May God completely cleanse you and set you apart for His purposes… May He preserve you until Jesus comes again.” Then Paul notes that the God who called them to the Christian life would be faithful to keep His promise. They would be cleansed. They would be set apart. They would be found blameless when Jesus comes becuase of His miraculous intervention in their lives.
The fulfillment of God’s promises toward His children does not hinge on our faithfulness but on God’s faithfulness. Our being found blameless at the throne is not contingent upon our ability to wash ourselves with religion, but on His ability to preserve those that He saves. We didn’t save ourselves, yet so often we begin to believe that we must somehow keep ourselves in the favor of God. Each time we make a mistake, we come to the conclusion that surely this time God will be finished with us.
While we should never treat sin lightly, we must realize that God’s patience with His children is inexhaustible. This is no license to sin, it is rather motivation to serve our loving Father faithfully. To know in advance the victorious outcome of our life of faith frees us to run the race with patient endurance for “our God is faithful, who will do it!”
“I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.”—1 Corinthians 15:31
Have you noticed that no matter how well you feel that you handled life yesterday, today always brings new and greater struggles? Here’s the bad news: that struggle which is renewed every morning will continue until you die or the Lord comes back for you. Here’s the good news: God means the struggle for your growth and therefore each new day’s struggle is an opportunity to become more like Christ, to fulfill our ultimate purpose on the planet.
Therefore, like Paul, we should be willing to get up each morning and die to self all over again. We can’t read Paul’s words about dying daily without reading further to verse 34, “Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.” You see, it’s not just about putting ‘self’ to death each day, but about waking up to righteousness. He even shames his listeners by reminding them that most people don’t know God and you can tell it in their behavior. We should be different. We should die daily to self and to sin, and live our lives in freshness and newness.
We’re only going to survive the daily struggle of dying and rising if we put God first and give Him the supremacy and preeminence in our lives. After all, His mercies “are new every morning.” (Lamentations 3:23)
“At the end of twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. The king spoke, saying, ‘Is not this great Babylon, which I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?’ While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: ‘King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you.’” -Daniel 4:29-30 (NKJV)
Whose kingdom are you building with your life? Without realizing it, many of us are building our own kingdoms. If we’re pursuing pleasure, possessions, or power for our own glory, then we’re building our own kingdoms. In fact, most people, without even realizing it, live life for themselves rather than for God. If our lives are not centered on Christ, then they are centered on self. To check this in your own life, ask yourself what your goals are? What is your purpose? Whom do you exist for? Whom do you ultimately work for?Jesus said it plainly, “
Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…” To build God’s kingdom we must live a God-centered life. Everything else about who I am needs to revolve around His glory. I am married, but my marriage was designed in the eternal wisdom of God to bring Him glory. I have a career (personally, it’s a ministry, but you get the point), but my work is supposed to bring Him glory. I am a parent and I am to raise my kids to glorify God.
Lord help us never to fall into the trap of Nebuchadnezzar, building our own kingdoms, living life by our own designs for our own goals. Instead, help us to be consumed with a zeal for Your glory!
“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”—1 Peter 1:7
Tests come daily! God never tempts us to sin, but He allows various kinds of trials, including temptation, into our lives to test us. God’s testing is never for the purpose of failing us, but rather for refining us. God’s tests are always designed to make us successful at living life while Satan’s temptations are designed to make us fail. One of my favorite quotes comes from Philips Brooks…
“Do not pray for easy lives; pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you yourself shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come to you by the grace of God.”
By submitting to God’s tests, we allow ourselves to be refined and purified in the fiery trials of life. What are you going through now that may be a test? How can God refine your life through this? Say a prayer today that God would give you power equal to whatever you may be facing, that your life might
