Questions of God

My entire life, I have heard questions concerning God.
Sometimes, these were serious questions from strong believers; at other times they were questions of ridicule or jest from people who did not know what to believe or in whom.

A long time ago, when I was a young Chaplain who thought he had all his theological ducks in a row, I remember a pre-teen child in a hospital bed whom had been severely burned in a house

fire.
The fire started from, the investigators believed, a cigarette that was carelessly dropped when her father fell asleep.
This young lady was the only person to escape the fire alive; it had let it's internal mark as well as external. Covered in tissue forming scars, when she exhaled - I could smell smoke and residue remaining in her lungs.

I wondered...how could this happen?

Not long after that event, I remember being called out to a drive-by shooting in which a thirteen-year old girl had been killed; the bullet penetrated through the walls and into her chest.
There were over 15 girls having a sleepover that night; but she was the only one injured in any way.
At least 100 shell casings remained on the ground; marking them with business cards folded into a small tent over them, I thought - why did this happen?

Then, a few years later, I sat listening to a radio in my office.
In the news had been reports of airline pilots being caught drinking while flying; then the talk show personality came across the air, interrupting his own show and stated that it seemed that a jet had flown into a building in Manhattan. 
I thought it was a drunk pilot.
But I was wrong.

As September 11, 2001 unfolded, myself and the entire country seemed to speak with one voice to God → Why didn't you do something?

These questions are simple; their answers can be complex.
But to put it simply, 'If God really cares, why doesn't He just fix all the things that are wrong with life and with the world?'

Some might say that these things happened because the individuals didn't have enough faith. 
But I would not want to be the one who said that statement to the mother of the teenage girl who hosted that sleepover so many years ago.

Quite simply, this is not an issue concerning one's personal faith.

No, these questions are at the very heart of what it means to believe, if at all.
They cannot be written off with a joke, or a bumper sticker that tells us to 'Trust Jesus.'
Instead, these issues arise in every heart of every man or woman, whether they are strong believers or simply curious concerning the faith. 

What would happen if God stepped into our world daily?
What if we had absolutely no doubt what God's will for our lives might be?
Without speculation, what would it be like if God made His power known to everyone; believers and skeptics alike?

Well, He already has...at least twice.

The first time was in the Exodus from Egypt.
Using this historical event as a guidepost for insight, we'll soon find out that God's intervention does not always produce the response we would hope from ourselves or one another.

University of Louisville Hospital

The girl who had endured the fire and nearly died from smoke inhalation, truly struck me to the soul back then. Before that episode, I had never seen a person who was so badly burned and still alive.
Seeing something of such horror makes a person question the fairness of God; if such things are continually witnessed and endured, it will lead you to a cold or callousness which will cause one to question the very justness of God.

I imagine, the way most people ponder this thought is through the age old question: 

'Why do good things happen to bad people, and why do bad things happen to good people?'

Certainly, I cannot answer such a broad question; I'm not a theologian, I'm just a seeker and follower of God's Truth. 
But I can see in the passages concerning the Exodus that once Israel had left Egypt, they entered a Covenant with God, which basically resulted in a form of behavior modification.
God stated, 'If you do these things, you will prosper.' In fact, God promised that by obeying Him, Israel would always been 'above the nations.' They would never lose a battle in war, no one would ever get sick by disease and crops would never fail.
Yet, if Israel failed to uphold their end of the Covenant, disaster loomed.

And as we read the account from Scripture, we soon learn that Israel had the absolute worst time keeping the Covenant and the Law God would hand them in the desert. 
In fact, 50 years after leaving Egypt and entering into the Promised Land, Israel had slunk into virtual Anarchy.
Thereafter, most of the Old Testament is an account of Israel's disobedience with a few shining lights attempting to restore the people of God to the One True Faith.

In Seminary, one of the first classes I endured was an Old Testament Survey class by one the the Godliest men I've ever met, Dr. Thomas Smothers.
I remember for the first week or so, he taught us a lot about the Canaanite Religion; he would return to that theme often when speaking of Israel.
Shortly, I learned the reason → The Israelites followed the Canaanite faith more than they followed the true faith that had witnessed and agreed to while witnessing supernatural events.
But I digress.

You see, Jesus came to establish the New Covenant because from the time of Exodus until John the Baptist, humanity proved through Israel we could not live up to God's standards or even His basic expectations.
We are too fallen; His image within us is too marred.
Therefore, we need another way → Jesus providing the way by His grace.

Secondly, we think of God when we believe He is quiet or when perceiving His 'inactivity.'

When people come to a difficult place in their life, they often times want clear-cut evidence of God's will.
I have literally heard men cry out to God, through tears and pain, screaming at the top of their lungs for a sign or a thunderous shout from heaven.

At this point, I must admit, I am very skeptical about people who say that they've heard from God; especially when it is hidden in "church-speak.'
Phrases such as, 'I felt the Lord tell me in my heart...' or 'At that, God spoke to me...'
While I will agree this does and can happen, it has been my experience that God gets the blame for a lot of things that He's not even involved with; therefore, I am skeptical when a person tells me that they've heard from God and now knows His will.

Now, at the Exodus, God's will was indeed ever-present.
There was never a question about what God wanted the Israelites to do; all they had to do if they had a question concerning His will was simply look outside.
God put His cloud outside of Israel's camp, if it moved, they were to move; if God's cloud stayed put, they were to stay in the camp and not go anywhere.

Later, the visible reminder of God was codified into 613 laws, given by the hand of God Himself through Moses to the people.
And His Law covers everything imaginable, such as sexual relations, purification rituals, how many days to work in a week, what to eat, even warfare rules were in place.

The people had no doubt at any time concerning what God wanted them to do in life; it is the very thing that Christians today say they want - God to simply tell them what He wants.
But did the clouds or the Law increase the obedience of the people?

No.
Even in knowing exactly what God wanted, they still failed.

The Israelites marched when they were told to stay, stayed when told to go, fought instead of making peace and made peace with those whom they were to fight to the death.
Truthfully, they could bend the rules God had established better than anyone else who has ever lived.

All of this tells us one thing: Having established rules which clearly detail God's will, does not help humanity grow spiritually or dependent upon God because the one thing we see in Israel is the lack of spiritual development.
When God is so evident, when He is ever-present and predictable, it eliminates the need for faith.
And we know from Scripture, without faith it is impossible to please God.


As I stood outside the residence which had been sprayed by an Uzi or MAC-10, given the 9mm shell casings, others audibly said, 'Where was God this morning?'
Years later, the whole nation wondered the same sentiment when the twin towers were hit.

It doesn't have to be a tragic evident like each of us were witnessing in that moment; with everyday things that happen in our lives, we wonder 'Where is God?' from time to time.

For people who believe and even more so for those who hunger for solutions in their lives, we want proof that God is living and acting on behalf of humanity in a positive way.

Returning to the account of the Exodus, we are told that Moses was unlike any other person in his relationship with God; he spoke to God as one would speak to a friend.
Moses would go into a tent, speak with God, the people were afraid to come near during that holy time; then Moses would emerge with his face glowing so brightly that the people had to cover it with a veil.

I can promise you one thing about those meetings; there was not one atheist in the Israelites' camp because they saw the reality and presence of God.

And yet, the first time Moses draws away and meets with God on Mount Sinai, what did the people do?
They built a Golden Calf to worship; having Aaron, Moses' brother fashion it out of their gold.
These were the same people who witnessed the plagues, were delivered through the Red Sea and tasted heavenly manna each morning.

Still, their disobedience was as great or greater than that of ours today; idolatry being a spiritual smack in the face to our holy God.

Knowing these things, I have reached a conclusion concerning what people say they want in their times of trial or non-believers clamoring for so that they might have evidence so they are able to believe.

There was no cosmic hide-and-seek games; God was evident.
He spoke. He entered human life. His will was clear.
These are the very things modern man claims He desires and even needs.

Yet, God's involvement produced the exact opposite effect  on Israel; it is the same involvement many today say that will give us greater surety and hope.

Would such involvement help today?
Would it help people believe or even strengthen or encourage those who already believe?
I doubt it, and if it did, it probably wouldn't be in the way God desires from humanity.

Yet, God has not withdrawn.

Earlier I spoke of there being at least two ways God has involved Himself in human affairs.
The first was clearly in the revelation of the early Covenants and the Law; these were perfect revelations for imperfect humanity.
As a result, humanity failed to draw near to God and spiritually develop as the Lighthouse for the Nations as He intended.

The second time God intervened boldly with humanity was through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.
God became man, entered human flesh and walked among us.
Instead of pronouncing great commandments from God, Jesus opened His arms full of grace and compassion and mentioned only two commands to follow:

"Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength."

"Love your neighbor as yourself."

On these, Jesus said, hang the entirety of the Law and the Prophets.
But we still have a difficult time living and obeying even these two simple commands of God.

So, God did something unheard of; something no right thinking person on earth ever expected.
The Eternal Son of God, in human flesh, died in a manner by which all of humanity's sin were thrust into Him as if He had committed every one of them Himself.

In return, if a person trusts that particular sacrifice of God, then the individual receives Christ's righteousness as if they were the Lord themselves. 

It is at this point, it must be admitted, that I do not know how all of these spiritual and theological truths work themselves out into the reality of our lives; however, I do know that this is how it works.
I cannot explain Physics either, but I do know the laws of physics are reality. Just because we cannot fully explain something has no bearing on whether or not it is true.

In the same manner, this is the truth of God taking away our sin and giving us His life.
As a result, the one who believes inherits eternal life.

Due to the fact that our human minds cannot explain this in totality, only why it works; I believe this is a positive, an advantage over OT Israel.
You see, one of the reasons Israel failed was because there was no spiritual growth, no need for faith. With God still ever-present, albeit in a different way, this way in the New Covenant demands faith.

Unlike the clouds of God directing Israel, they saw to believe; the Christian is required to have faith, which means we must believe then see.
Through grace, may your sight be 20/20 because your faith is so strong.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

The Chief End

"Lust is the craving of salt from a man who is dying of thirst."

                                                                                                 ~ Unknown

Dr. Stephen Hawking, a man who is no great supporter of the faith, once asked, 'Why does the Universe bother to exist?'
Dr. Adrian Rogers stated it another way: 'Why, I?'

It's the same question, asked by to vastly different people with incredibly opposite worldviews.

It is a good question; apart from the faith there is little rhyme or reason for the Universe, or you and I for that matter, to exist.

Centuries ago, the Church asked the same question in the Westminster Catechism (1646): 'What is the Chief End of Man?'
The answer: '...to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.'

In the ancient world, we find that what we know as OT Israel was the first ancient society to celebrate the glory of nature being the handiwork of God.
Nature was to be celebrated and enjoyed because God is to be celebrated and enjoyed.

I can readily find God throughout Creation; in the prancing of a whitetail deer across a field; in a new litter of foxes seeing light for the first time from their mother's den; the vast amount of life underneath the ocean which few ever see; even in the last shovel-full of snow being removed from my driveway as my back begins to ache.

Soon, Spring will soon dawn and the earth will awaken with new life.
The wild flowers which are now dormant, will rise forth from the ground;  this automatic reaction to the sun's light will be as if God has handcrafted each and every Lilly or Black-Eyed Susan.

Yet, a secular mind can witness the very same images from the world, year after year, and never see what I see.
In the secular mind, with all the seemingly 'valid' worldviews, claims and systems, a caring, involved God within His Creation is simply explained into non-existence. 

Thoughts of faith as an explanation are as useless as speaking French to an antelope.
Unless the antelope originates from Narnia, it simply won't understand.

Many are turned away from the faith because of what they seen in those who claim belief. Why wouldn't they?
Christians haven't exactly been the greatest examples of peace, love and virtue over the last 2,000 years.
But were we ever expected to be?

As I write these words, I am reminded that the Christian's role is not to argue a point or a worldview; we are not called to be lawyers who argue a case.
Instead, the Christian is called into the Kingdom as a witness; a witness doesn't argue, they simple tell what they have experienced.
Applied to the faith it means as Christians, we shouldn't tell people what the Christian life or walk is 'supposed to be;' but rather, we should speak of how it really is.

Quite possibly, so many are turned away from the faith because they can detect a sense of falsehood in our words.
Our very own experience is apt to betray us if we are not careful; truthfully, not all things are marigolds and maple syrup when a person accepts the faith of Christ.
Simply looking to the lives of the Apostles with all of them, save one, being martyred is enough evidence to tell us that the prosperity preachers on television in our time are sharing a false reality.

G.K. Chesterton once stated he viewed the world as a Cosmic Shipwreck.
In this analogy, a sailor may wake up and try to remember a civilization he once encountered; yet, he cannot recall it, even as he holds the relics from that place in his hands.

Using Chesterton's analogy, our world still bears the image of our Creator and still contains His purpose within it. 
Yet, His greatest creative work, that of crafting man in His own image, has become so separated from His Creator, that even when blessed by God's hand, man's fallenness acts as a drug within his eyes preventing him from seeing the reality of truth.

Moments of pleasure are instances of God's Paradise restored to Earth; yet, these things run a risk in our lives - as has been proven consistently.
Often, a believer will take away from God's glory and ascribe it to ourselves or something else.
Like the ancients, we are apt to turn God's good gifts into idols; yet, we do not call them idols anymore. 
We call them addictions.

Yet, rightly used, in their appropriate place, these things bring a joy to our lives because they are still God's gifts.
It may be a morning sunrise on the ocean or over a mountain crest; moonlight on new fallen snow; or even the majesty of a rainstorm - each of these things in their appropriate realm in life are great blessings by which we see the hand of the Creator.
Used  wrongly, the beauty of creation may become abused for seductive or lewd purposes, just as the wisdom of a physician can be abused to form addictions through prescriptions.

In actuality, while the Church as a whole and Christians individually, have not lived up to our own expectations before God, we have lived up to the expectations God has set before us in Scripture.
It would seem that if we stayed closer to what God's expectations are and strove for that ideal in our lives, instead of what is in our own minds, we would become the loudest propagandists of His triumphs within the world rather than a group of people who seem to be better at finger-wagging than grace-sharing.

For any Christian, the truth of the errors and sins of the Church as a whole is undeniable.
In truth, there is no need for you or I to defend the actions of the Church; the simple fact is that we are evidence of what is wrong with the world.

Yet there is a difference between the world and the Christian.

The Christian is a recovering sinner and knows it; even though we may be forgetful at times.

The great need of the Church, of Christians today, is to have modern-day Prophets stand up and tell the Body of Christ that we're not dead yet.
Certainly, our obituary has been written too early; for as long as we have breath within our lungs the task with in the world is not finished.

We need people to claim our heritage and steer our future based on what Christ expects of us as His servants, His family and His Church in the world.

When I was a child, Sunday School teachers and preachers in Evangelical churches often spoke with great passion concerning the Communist Threat of the Soviet Union.
It makes sense, the Soviets were our enemies, the arms race was going full throttle and a proven, vehement anti-Communist was the President of the United States and was standing up for Western Civilization.

The question often was posed, 'If the Russians invaded, if the Communists came to our town and they put a gun to your head, would you deny Christ?'
Interestingly enough, nobody ever questioned why the Soviets would invade a small mountain town in West Virginia or what the value of our area would be; we just assumed they were Godless and would search out Christians and torture them.

Today, Christians can substitute 'Communist' with 'Columbine' or 'Sandy Hook' or even 'ISIS,' but the meaning is still the same.
What if our way of life depended on how we believed and what we did with that belief?

Friend, it already does.

The Apostle John wrote that it is the individual Christian's responsibility to make known to the world the 'invisible things of God.'
This is primarily to be done through 'love,' the love of God being passed through the Christian to others in the world who do not know Him.
Yet, the first word that comes to mind concerning Christians is not 'love;' but that is the very thing by which Jesus said His true followers would be known.

The Gospel is still the 'Good News' of God.
The question for you and I is whether or not we are truly demonstrating to the world that we exist for the glory of God in this life and the next; in other words, does society as a whole or individual people get the message of God's love, joy and peace through our lives?
The answer to this tells us whether or not we are living up to God's expectation for our lives.

A good test → Are people glad to see you?

There's your answer.
Until next time, win one for the good guys.

The Faith to Endure

"Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'...for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."
                                                                           ~ Gospel of Matthew 6:31ff

It is February 2016.

In a few days, I will celebrate the 22nd Valentine's Day with my wife.
Before that, I will lead in a Marriage Retreat with members of the Air National Guard.
And just a couple of days ago, I watched a 39 year-old quarterback hand a hefty loss to a young, up-and-coming, cocky team from Charlotte, North Carolina.

But the best thing about all of this → I was never supposed to live to see any of it and yet, here I sit, becoming a Word-smith once again; attempting to communicate and explore another one of God's Truths.

I was diagnosed with terminal adrenal Cancer in October 2012, exactly two days before my 39th birthday. 
On that day, I was given about six months to live; no doctor can accurately predict how long a cancer patient will live, they can only guess. 
For me, in all likelihood, I wasn't going to see another summer.

Now, let me say this → I didn't like that idea one bit, but in as much as I could be, I was OK with death; dying worried me a little, but being dead only meant that I would be with the Lord.
Heaven is never the lesser alternative to Earth.

As the days went forward, something amazing happened; I began to see a real contrast in life, death and eternity.

The Church I served seemingly rallied around me; unbeknownst to many of us, there was a group planning to replace the suffering pastor. 
When I didn't die, planning became plotting with a lot of people hurt in the progress.
In this, I realized the life some proclaim to own and the life they really lead, isn't the same; and sometimes it is this realization that is the most difficult when you are betrayed by those closest to you.

But I digress.

At the time, eternity was merely a breath away; or so it seemed.
Some days it was difficult to pick up my feet without shuffling as I walked.

The death so many are afraid to die, began to be told through this very blog.
And soon, through this venue and my military travels, support swelled throughout the world.
Truthfully, I still don't know why the Ukraine and other parts of Eastern Europe read this blog so often, but my tracker indicates the region is second only to the United States.

As the Body of Christ prayed and wept, fasted and prayed more, a wonderful thing happened.

After a second surgery, removing a portion of my left lung, there was no Cancer left in my body.
A tumor the size of a softball was taken out, previously resting on my kidney; along with it went my adrenal gland.
A few lymph nodes were removed.
But Cancer did not remain.

I have heard my agnostic friends tell me that it was a misdiagnosis.
Others have told me that I was lucky.
Well, I doubt it; for, if I believed I had that kind of luck I would have won the multi-state lottery of epic proportions a few weeks ago and tonight I would file to run for President.

No. I saw the images light up.
I saw the distraught look in the doctor's faces.
I had terminal Cancer and then I didn't; I was healed by God Himself.

But sadly, not everybody gets the same result as I received.
God simply does not heal everybody who prays for healing; He does not deliver every Christian out of every difficult situation - even if that believer doubles up on communion wafers every Sunday morning the entire life.

Is God capricious?
Is God uncaring about some and loving toward others?
There are no easy answers as to why God answered the prayers on my behalf and does not answer them on the behalf of others, especially when offered up by the same people.

When in the hospital, I remember seeing a four-year old child who had been born with bone cancer. 
That child, undoubtedly, had people pray for him his entire life; yet, that child didn't make it.
I lived and he died.

Something seems inherently wrong and unable to be understood by this scenario.

I'm sure many readers will reference the current onslaught of 'your best life now' ministries; how you can prosper with health and wealth.
In doing so, we will hear that if the people involved had enough faith, the child would have lived; after all, Jesus Himself promised anyone who had the faith of a Mustard Seed could move a mountain.
What difficulty would it be for Him to remove Cancer?

If your life, therefore, is not filled with victory and triumph, of joy and health as well as prosperity; it simply indicates a lack of faith on some level, by someone.

Interestingly enough, in looking to the life of the Early Church, the Apostles may have had more faith than any group of people before their time or since.
As a result, only one of them, the Apostle John, lived to old age; the rest were martyred for their faith, many times being tortured before an agonizing death.

So, either the Apostles had it wrong or modern day 'Prosperity Gospel' adherents have gotten it wrong.
I can't speak for others, but I will side with the Apostles every time; by the way, let me be clear, there is only ONE Gospel - the Blood Gospel of Jesus Christ.

What we believe about God really and truly matters; as much as anything else we experience in life - our thoughts concerning the Divine will determine who we are in life.

People who attend sensational services or Prosperity Gospel churches are not maniacs. 
They are not lunatics. 
Much of what they teach is taught in other evangelical churches every week.

Yet, we are still confronted with a question; a difficult question:
Why are some healed and restored to life while others wither away and die?

It would be easy to say that a person is sick because they don't have enough faith.
It is even easier to look at a person who is suffering and believe they have done something to deserve their fate.
Yet, this is not the solution to the problem; for, many suffer without just cause, such as the Biblical patriarch Job. He had done nothing wrong, in fact, he suffered because he had done everything right.

However, in Job there may lie a wonderful answer for the problem.

In the last several chapters of Job's account, he rants and rails against God; calling God into account for the injustice He has inflicted upon His servant.
God never chastises Job for this; instead, He allows Job to voice his anger.

When Job is finished, God answers in a whirlwind asking Job questions such as, 'Where were you when I laid the foundations of the world?'
And God recounts the Creative Act only He can preform; essentially asking Job that if he's so smart and understanding, why wasn't he present when the universe was formed.

The message is clear as it is hidden; if God can rule over the Universe and Create such wonders, then He can be trusted to take care of the things in our lives, regardless of how much we heart or how bad we are suffering.

That doesn't make the hurting or suffering or the pain associated with it any easier, but when there is a trusting faith involved, not necessarily for healing but for enduring and seeing it through to the end, a person's mindset changes.

Not every person who gets sick is suffering because they are grand sinners and God is judging them; likewise, not every person who recovers is a saint.
The truth is, Christians are not promised an easier road in life just because we believe in the Risen Lord.

Instead, we are called to endure; the promise is that we will be strengthened in His power as we do, thereby enabled to complete the course, as the Apostle Paul would say.

I don't know why some are healed and some are allowed to die.
Yet, I do know that not all people suffer or are sick because of themselves; sometimes, people suffer as a witness to others, as an example of faithfulness.

I was healed, others have passed; I may not know why for myself, but I am thankful.

The key thing that I learned through it all was not that the sick needed more faith, or that they needed to give money to some organization; but rather, when we are sick, when we are suffering, we need to remember that it is going to work out.

I know that's not what most people wish to hear, nor is it popular; but it is true.
God will give us faith to endure the worst troubles of our lives; Job never knew why he suffered, nor may we at times.
Yet, God is always faithful and will strengthen us through the very end.

Whether it is life or death, the God who Created the Universe can be trusted to care for our bodies and our soul in our worst times on earth, until we join Him in the heavens.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.