Little Is Much

Yesterday I was looking at the Biblical concept of God using "small" people and things to accomplish great things for Him. Examples abound: David and Goliath, the widow's mite, the jar of oil that never quit, Mary's jar of ointment, small lunches that fed multitudes, Gideon, and concepts like God not choosing the wise and important, as in 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, and revealing spiritual truths to babes in Matthew's Gospel. A friend of mine recently said I was the poster child for destitute people helping the destitute. I was talking to another friend yesterday about the same thing. God still creates something out of nothing. I'd rather be doing something with the very little I have than sitting around doing nothing, and feeling sorry for myself about my lot in life. A number of years ago, I saw this message on a church marquee: "Whatever your lot in life, why don't you try to build something on it?" That message helped knock me out of a time of reverse culture shock (recently returned from missionary service), and it's still relevant today. Destitution is a state of mind. I do not advocate the prosperity gospel, which is no gospel at all. What I do advocate is trusting the Lord with everything you have, and seeing what He can do with it. I call it investing. Little Is Much may be a good theme for Shelter of Hope, Inc., a non-profit ministry the Lord helped a friend and me start two years ago. Some of you May remember the old Gospel song "Little Is Much." Yesterday the Lord gave me new verses for it (leaving the chorus intact). Happy New Year. God bless you all.

Healing Postscript (For Now)

I enlisted people to pray about the step of faith mentioned in the last blog. The conclusion I reached was that quitting the medication in question did not fit the pattern the Lord was using to heal me at this time (He has been healing me first, then directing me to quit medication, or not to quit). Therefore, I resumed the medication and am awaiting for direction and healing from the Lord. Not that the Lord can't break His own pattern. Nevertheless, that is the decision for now. And if I'm wrong, I know the Lord forgives me.

Healing Personalized

An update on my healing. Yesterday, and even before, I felt the Lord wanted me to quit taking hormones, so I did last night. The result was a difficult night, which raised some interesting questions. What does the Lord want to accomplish? Does He want to heal me of all post-menopausal symptoms? Or does He want to strengthen me in the "inner man," so that I have complete victory over crabbiness, sleeplessness, mental confusion and lack of focus, without removing the outward symptoms? What about the doctor? If I don't cooperate with her, how can I expect her to cooperate with me? If I just quit my medicine, and continue to struggle with symptoms, what kind of witness is that? (Of course, there is always the possibility that the Lord will do a complete, but delayed, healing). Can this be done in a way that makes the doctor a partner, and the recipient of a witness? If so, how? Does the Lord want to completely remove the need for a doctor? If so, does that justify alienating the doctor? This healing is not just about me. How is what happens going to affect not only the doctor, but others also? What does the Lord want to accomplish in their lives? How long do I wait before concluding that maybe I was mistaken in my perception of what the Lord wants to do, and wants me to do? Ideally, I would like satisfying answers to these questions before I continue down this road. But I also want to trust and obey the Lord completely. So, what next? Such are some of the challenges of total commitment to the Lord. And in reflection on the televangelist in my previous blog, the above questions need to be seriously addressed by persons who seek and do not receive healing. It's not always a matter of faith. It's also what the Lord wants to accomplish. To dismiss such questions (which, by the way, do not have pat answers), or to answer them superficially and stereotypically, can be damaging to the one who was not healed, and it reveals the heart of the human instrument of healing.

Healing

Until this year, I had only one memorable Christmas in my entire life, the Christmas I had in Rwanda, Africa in 1982. This year's Christmas includes an ongoing gift, the fulfillment of a promise the Lord made to me almost 22 years ago. He had promised that I would go through a time of wilderness wandering (cf. Numbers 14) until I came to the end of myself. Then I would be healed. I almost gave up, almost forgot the Lord's faithfulness. Then last week, He showed me through a Tozer book that I had turned my health into an idol. Before long, I could really see it. I repented and laid that idol on the altar once and for all. Soon I began to see signs of healing. Praise the Lord! My health has really been a can of worms. (This healing is going to be gradual). My hope is revived. Some issues in my life are being dealt with. I don't really know how to function without this idol, but the Lord is teaching me. How I praise His Name, not only for what He has done and is doing, but also for how He is doing it, and for Who He is. This is going to be a big adventure, one that I can really get into. I'm excited! This morning, just as I was leaving, my roommate's TV was tuned in to a controversial televangelist's show, and a healing was taking place. I began to think about faith healers, and to wonder if some of them are missing the mark (aside from the veracity of their claims of healing). I reflected on my healing, and on how much the Lord has had to do in my life to make me ready to live as a healed person: how much sin He has had to deal with, how much baggage I've had to put down, and how much my thinking has had to change. And I often wonder about these healers who focus on instantaneous healings. Instantaneous healings can bring notoriety, which Jesus avoided. The healings that take years, like mine, don't carry with them any sense of impressing the crowds. Jesus did some instantaneous healing, but He also, at times, dealt with the sin of people who wanted to be healed. Surely the reason He told people not to spread the news of their healing, was that His mission was primarily to be our Savior from sin, and that He didn't want people to get the idea that He was about physical healing only. The time to tell was after He had died and risen from the dead, for then people would understand what He really came to do, and what kind of Savior He really is, a suffering Savior. He didn't come to end all suffering in this life. He came to suffer for us on the cross to take away or sins and rise from the dead. Then after He rose from the dead He would suffer WITH His disciples in every period in history, as they suffer for spreading the good news about Jesus and His forgiveness.

Christian Growth and the Mind

1 "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is — his good, pleasing and perfect will" (Romans 12:1-2). I have recently said yes to the Lord in taking a gigantic step of faith. I have found that when the Lord wants to make a big change in my life, He starts by changing my thinking about whatever it is He wants to change. With my thinking changed to a more Biblical point of view, He can guide me more easily by the Holy Spirit. That is why reading is very important for the Christian (as opposed to visual media). A lot more could be said about this, but I will leave it for now.

Loss of Salvation

The debate will ever swirl about whether or not a person can lose their faith in Christ. I just read a story about a man who claims to have renounced his faith after much agonizing. I know that many will say he never was really a believer. But that is something no mere mortal can ever know, and it sounds flippant to even say. We need to mourn, not say things flippantly. The story struck terror in my heart. The guy is crazy. We need to take his decision very seriously. It's the worst decision a person could ever make, because Hebrews six says He can never be restored, and the eternal consequences are horrible and irrevocable. God does not waste words. Why would He have written Galatians and Hebrews if this weren't a real possibility? And think how many people this man can influence, especially his family. Many will also say Arminians teach that God throws people away. Mark this down: ARMINIANS DO NOT TEACH THAT GOD THROWS PEOPLE AWAY, BECAUSE GOD DOES NOT, IN FACT, THROW PEOPLE AWAY. People make choices. Four of the five points of Calvin and Arminius are about free will versus determinism. People are not able to fall away accidentally They choose to do so. That's what loss of salvation is about. Christians who believe they can't fall away are more in danger of doing so, because they're not guarding against it. Christians who believe they can fall away will be guarding against it. The Christian life is a fight from start to finish. The Enemy of our souls is out to destroy us in any way he can. We need to be vigilant all the time. Christians who persevere strengthen other Christians. Christians who do not persevere can weaken other Christians, but we can fight this weakening by keeping our focus on Jesus by His grace. Praise Jesus that He is strong enough to keep us and wants to keep us.

Wrestlings

You know those things we wrestle with. The wrestlings are really painful. But in the end, when we finally pass the crisis, we often find that the solution is simple. One obvious, and even silly example in my experience was a wasting time waiting for a certain person to get to the office. He seldom came when he said he would. I'd get all impatient and worked up. Then it hit me. If you don't want to waste time waiting for someone to get to the office, don't waste time waiting around for him to get to the office! Get up and and leave. Get busy doing the next thing. Wasting time is my responsibility. His lateness is his responsibility. Some things are simple! (Mine is self-employment, not an hourly situation). Not everything is that easy, but many things are. More than we'd like to admit. If I let people upset me, then I'm letting them control me. My emotions are my responsibility. Don't let others control your emotions. That's more than half the battle.

Friend or Acquaintance?

Sometimes the Lord gives me opportunities to adjust my expectations. Friendship, to me, implies a certain amount of commitment (not measured, but you know when they're committed or not). We Americans use the term "friend" rather loosely. Acquaintances are not friends. Even acquaintances we really like. No one can force a person to be a friend. They either are or aren't. If things aren't working out in a relationship, an adjustment of expectations may be in order. Maybe they aren't really a friend. I recently adjusted my expectations for an individual. People will be who they are no matter what you do. Your/my job is not to change others. Our job is to deal with ourselves.

Contentment

My life is really a bummer from the world's perspective, but from God's perspective it is beautiful. Many Christians don't even see it. But the Lord has given me a great ministry and a glorious inheritance! All praise be unto to Him! I'm actually content, though I struggle in a couple of major areas. The contentment, I think, comes partly from the fact that the Lord has shown me His purpose for my being in the situation I'm in. Yesterday I looked up the Biblical meanings for "contentment" and "content." The meaning in the New Testament is pretty much the same as in our modern English. The Old Testament meaning carries the idea of bringing beauty out of difficulty. The New Testament and English meanings are passive, being satisfied and accepting. By contrast the Old Testament meaning is active, involving us in bringing beauty into or out of a bad situation. I like this. It is what the Lord has led me to do. I have seen how this has affected others. I still share my struggles with a few people for prayer support, making it clear that I want prayer, not sympathy. But a poignant example of a big change is that I used to share the bad things alot with my family, and that was hard on them. Now I don't. And one of my brothers sometimes shares his and his wife's struggles with me. I was with them last month. The subject of my challenges never came up. It's as if they assume everything is ok since I'm not talking about any problems. They seemed more relaxed with me. And I like that. In a sense, everything IS ok. It's like the older man who was asked how he was. He replied, "I'm doing very well. This tent I'm living in is becoming dilapidated, and may soon need to be replaced, but I myself am doing very well." Amen. Everything is ok between God and me. And that's what matters.

What Do Atheists Sing About?

Yesterday someone sent me a video clip called, "Atheist Ain't Got No Songs," by Steve Martin. It was hilarious, but I wonder where the compassion is for the lost. A line in the clip was "atheists just sing the blues." Well, what do atheists sing about? Themselves? They have nothing in their lives, no one to look up to, nothing grander than themselves to sing about. Seems kind of lonely to me. And self-centered. Maybe that's why they're atheists. They want to be their own god. Shades of Eden. A fatal perspective, if there ever was one. I have an atheistic friend. At least she says she is. I have doubts about that. I love her. she doesn't see. She's a nice person. She loves beauty, music, nature, galaxies. She loves me, too. Said I was her mother away from home. She has heard the Gospel from me and many others, but persists in her unbelief. I pray for her, but laugh at her unbelief? Never.

Undermining the Gospel

Few Christians know how dangerous are the special interest groups that try to make exceptions for themselves, push their agenda, and even try to enact laws and policies to protect themselves. Those who claim they were born the way they are and can't help it are really striking at the heart of the Gospel. This isn't a political issue. We are all born sinners. That's why we need a Savior. For someone to make him/herself an exception strikes at the heart of the Gospel. It's really saying that Jesus can't save them, making the Gospel message, and the whole Bible a lie, and removing them from God's saving grace. Evolution is the same way. Evolution also strikes at the heart of the Gospel. Evolution has animals dying long before man sinned. The Bible says that death is the wages of sin. Thus, any system that puts death before sin is wrong. It says the Bible is false, and makes Jesus' death and resurrection appear unnecessary. Christians need to think critically, and not just except any idea that comes down the pike. The consequences can be serious.

Whose Kingdom?

How does God build His Kingdom? His methods are totally different from the methods used by the world. God builds His Kingdom through prayer, preaching, evangelism, and discipling. Alot of Christians are involved in social and political programs. God does not build His Kingdom through political, social, and environmental programs or means, that is, programs or means which support political, social, and environmental causes. Christians are finding and will continue to find it difficult to preach, pray, evangelize, and disciple in the context of political, social, and environmental programs. If we as Christians try to do God's work from within these arenas, we will be forced to make major compromises. If a Christian has a job in these arenas, he or she will have to understand that compromise does not further God's Kingdom. If he or she wants to make a Kingdom impact from within social, environmental, and political programs, great suffering can be expected. The Bible says that all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus, will suffer persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). If we compromise in order to avoid persecution, we sin. That's the message of the Book of Hebrews. Jesus said His Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Scripture says that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are divinely powerful(2 Corinthians 10:4). I know professing Christians who are following and supporting some or all of the above worldly causes through ungodly organizations, and sincerely think they are doing God's work. But those ungodly organizations would persecute them if they stood up for the Truth. If you are one of those Christians, get out! The price of staying could be spiritually fatal! It seriously matters whose kingdom you are building.

What Is the Bible About?

Many Christians use the Bible as a fix-it manual to fix things in their lives or in the lives of others. People who use this approach are given to proof-texting. I have read the Bible through numerous times, and have not found support for this approach. It is legalistic and self-centered. We couldn't fix anything before we were saved (works), and we can't fix anything afterward. We think that if we plug in the right spiritual (Biblical) formula, the right results will come out. This is a form of legalism. It likens the Word of God to a piece of machinery and makes the Christian life simplistic and mechanical. God isn't required to fix things for us. To think so is a very self-centered expectation. The Christian life isn't about us. And it isn't about fixing anything (works). It is about trusting God and having a relationship with Him. It is about God fulfilling His purposes in and through us. And He will "break" things, if necessary, in order to fulfill His purposes for us, and through us, to fulfill His purposes for the world. Many believers aren't taught that when they trusted in Jesus for their salvation, they became HIS soldiers for HIM to use in HIS enterprises, at a price HE sets. And our physical survival is not guaranteed. The Bible, then, is about having a relationship with the suffering God, through Jesus Christ, Who suffers with us through all the vicissitudes of life. We focus on that relationship, and as we do, He shines His light on the areas He wants us to work on, and works with us, sanctifying us and empowering us to become more like Him, and to serve Him as suffering solders.

Christmas Blessings

Since I don't know if I'll be back here before 12/24/10, I am leaving you a Christmas message now. My mind goes to the book of Ruth, which is my favorite Old Testament book. To me, it shines like a bright light in the Old Testament. Why? When God's people are going astray from Numbers through the last prophets, here is a story about a woman, who was also a foreigner (two big strikes against her in that culture and time), who left her foreign gods, and came to dwell in the shadow of the One True God (Israel should have stayed there!). One of her rewards was to become the great-grandmother of Israel's most famous king, David, and an ancestor of the Messiah, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. This is really what the Gospel is all about. Need I say more? God bless you richly this Christmas season, which is a reminder of the dawn of redeeming grace at Jesus' birth.

In Our Own Strength

Those who follow this blog regularly know I teach an adult Sunday School class. I have received spiritual help through many of the lessons. A point that this week's lesson makes is that we often repent of our idolatry, then resort to pulling on our own bootstraps when God doesn't answer in our time frame. Some of the examples in the lesson really hit home! I deal with alot of health issues, and have tried many home remedies. I don't like to take pills, though I use three prescription drugs. (Mostly I don't like the side effects and expense). On numerous occasions my remedies have caused some trouble, but I'm not sure that they have caused more trouble than the ones prescribed by my doctor. The Lord often brings temporary healing in response to the prayers of my prayer partners, but has so far chosen not to heal completely. Many would say God always heals in response to the prayer of faith. This idea contradicts the testimony of all of Scripture regarding suffering, and places an unnecessary burden on people to work up the required amount of faith for healing. Trophimus and Timothy are two Biblical characters who were not healed miraculously. Jesus healed, but He was not mostly about healing. He was about forgiveness and restoring our relationship with God. We should be about that, too. Since Paul declined to heal Timothy, and told him to take wine (medicine) for his stomach, and frequent ailments, I think that people of faith can take medicine without sinning. The problem comes when we try to take matters into our own hands, or trust the remedy more than we trust God. This requires alot of discernment. And it is a lesson I should take to heart.

Evangelism

I have a friend who claims to be an atheist. I don't believe it's true. I think that she simply doesn't have any other frame of reference for herself, having been raised in an atheistic culture. She has been presented with the Truth many times and chooses not to accept it. I've shared the Gospel with her. Others have, too. I pray for her daily, but I don't keep presenting the Gospel or pressuring her about trusting Jesus. I believe it will take something supernatural in order for her to believe, not more words. This is true in many cultures around the world, and my friend isn't American. My friend understands the Gospel. More explanations won't help. One thing I do is to live out the Gospel. People need to see it in actual experience. I always go back to the golden rule. I try to do unto others what I would have them do unto me. If people try to change my opinion after I've made a decision, it offends me. I don't make snap decisions. I deliberate carefully. I look into matters from all angles, and make thoughtful decisions. Pushing me is counter-productive. My friend comes from a culture that makes decisions in the same way. So I feel I have to respect that. I want people to respect me. Do I want my friend to be a Christian? Passionately so! But I believe that now I must get out of the way, and let the Lord work. I have another friend who keeps on pressing the issue. In response, my non-American friend has told her firmly that she is sorry, but she is an atheist. In light of that, I cringe when my other friend keeps on pushing.

Another God

Public school students are bombarded with environmentalism. This is part of a new age agenda to train citizens for a new world order. They are taught that recycling is the answer to a multitude of problems, such as global warming, ozone depletion, extinction of species, and climate change. This is not based on solid scientific evidence. In fact, the process of recycling uses more energy than it saves. The agenda is to push the idea that these alleged problems are man-made (which they are not), and that the solution is man-made (which it is not). This kind of teaching leads to despair (there are documented incidences of that), and places a burden on people that God never intended for them to carry. Anything that leads to despair is not from God. Climate change is cyclical, a normal part of the history of the earth. Those in charge of the agenda won't tell you that. That we should not trash the earth is obvious, but human beings can't save it. Environmentalism makes the earth a god, a god that we must save! The earth can't save us. Jesus saves us. We don't have to try to save Him. The thought of trying to do it is ridiculous. The prophet Isaiah talked about idols that we make, that can't save (Isaiah 44:6-20). We need to trust Jesus completely to forgive our sins. And He has a plan for the earth.