Spiritual Kryptonite

One year ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer; given about 6 months to live. 
At that meeting at the Cleveland Clinic with compassion-filled doctors, I was told that they would do their best to extend my life, but they couldn't save it.
That moment ranks as one of the most devastating in my entire life.

That was one year ago this week.
In a strange way, I am thankful for that day, the week and the months that followed. Not because of what I endured, but what I learned about myself and about others and about God and suffering during those months.

When I revealed what I was diagnosed with, a friend gave me a wonderful book entitle 'A Bend in the Road.' It was very insightful, for the pastor who wrote it described his own journey with cancer.
More than anything, it gave me a starting point spiritually.
And what I found was that my contemporary Christians and also faithful men and women from decades long past - each tried to offer spiritual strength however they knew best to do it.
I am so thankful and will ever be appreciative for their work and effort toward me and my family.

Today, as I looked through my Rolodex, my 'Friends' list on a social networking site and through our Church Directory - I found an amazing fact.
The fact is that so many people I know, young and old, are suffering from some type of cancer in their lives. And I think what is most amazing is the amount of people with whom I went to Gauley Bridge High are suffering from various types of cancer.
Some of those are reading this blog right now.

Well, as I endured the 'Cancer Fight,' I found a quote from long ago that I have come to appreciate more and more each day:

"Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory."
                                  -- William Barclay

What I have found with most people who suffer is not that they don't appreciate words of encouragement of a spiritual nature; no, many of them do, especially when it shows you truly care.
Rather, it does matter but it doesn't help in the sense of a person writhing in pain from cancer or chemotherapy or radiation when a well-meaning person speaks of God's will and allowing it to 'run its course' in the life of the one who suffers.

I am one of the blessed in the sense that God healed me; there is no doubt about that.
Nobody walks away from a hospital when they have been diagnosed and confirmed as Stage 4 cancer; they are generally carried out under a sheet.
I walked away because God healed me; for some reason I do not know, God made a decision to touch my life and heal my body.
I do know that it was not because I'm a minister because ministers die all the time; heaven is over-flowing with many of them.
I do know it wasn't because I am so special, righteous, or holy because I know there is One who is Holy and that One is not me.
I do not know why God chose to heal me and not somebody else; but that brings me to an amazing piece of thoughtfulness in this hour. 
Something that I have termed, 'Theological Kryptonite.'

In the minds of those who are closest to me, there is no question God made the conscious decision to heal me. It was nothing of me and all of Him - He specifically and mercifully made the decision to heal my body and is continuing to strengthen me as the days pass.
This being true, it would also mean the reverse is true as well.
If God intervenes in a life, He has made the decision to do so. It also means that at every point of human suffering, God has made a decision as whether or not He will intervene.
Therefore, if a person is not miraculously healed as I was healed, God has likewise made the decision not to heal that person.
It doesn't sound fair but it is very true.

This 'problem' is ages long - Why does a good and holy God allow suffering? Why doesn't He stop it?
This is Theological and Spiritual Kryptonite.

But there is a solution; yet, the solution is more about our understanding of the problem rather than our understanding of God.
You see, whether or not God heals a person is not for humans to decided. Honestly, our minds aren't able to comprehend all of who God is nor what He does. 
We are confined to our view from Earth; though we don't understand, we must learn to trust Him by faith that He will always do what is good, right, holy and best for our lives - at all times.

When we suffer, it is not about our suffering.
Our suffering is about our FAITH.

I'll give you an example to explain what I mean.
In the Biblical account of Job, the grand question of Job is 'Why has this happened to me?' Granted, he had suffered immensely; but that isn't the question for the reader.
The question as we read is - 'How will Job respond?'
Will Job trust God? Will he deny God? What is Job going to do now that all has been taken away?

The reader of Job see able to see what is taking place in the supernatural world; we receive a glimpse of the heavenly court and know why Job is enduring what he is enduring.
Therefore, we don't ask 'why?'
Rather, we will ask 'How will he respond?' and 'To what end is he suffering?'

Like Job, when we suffer we often put God on trial.
We question His goodness, we wonder about His fairness. Some will even get to the point where they wonder if there is a God at all. 
And some, including Job, will get extremely close to blasphemy. We become men and women very close to the edge.

The reason Job or any of the suffering saints' words ring familiar with us is because we often have the very same, deeply felt complaints with God.
Whether it is Job or the Church Father Augustine or even a Pastor from the Victorian Era like Charles Spurgeon - when they speak of their misunderstanding about God, their confusion, their pain - these words hit a nerve because they voice what we think and dare not say.

The purpose of suffering and pain or even with cancer and dying is not 'where is God when I am hurting?'
God is there, we just need a better set of eyes to see Him.
No, the question isn't where is God. The question is where you and I are when we are hurting, when we are suffering, when we are dying?
How do we respond when we are given our piece of 'Spiritual Kryptonite?'
How do we continue to live faithfully when we know we are going to die?

The truth is how we respond speaks volumes about who you are as a person.
So, if you are suffering today or even dying - I know what you're feeling because I was taken to the edge and brought back. I cannot promise you the same results as I have received; though I pray you experience what I have experienced.
I want you to remember, whether suffering from watching a loved-one suffer or feeling the pain yourself, how you respond to what is taking place can either glorify God or invoke sympathy for yourself.
How you deal with what you are dealing with will remain in the minds of those you love far more than anything else. 
Stay strong, keep the faith and may God bless you.

Until next time, try to win one for the good guys.

Other Side of the Story

Anyone who deals with the public, especially police officers, know that there is always more than one side to every story. Biblically, this is true as well.
Nearly everyone knows the Christmas story with angels appearing to faithful but bewildered shepherds, Magi traversing the desert to the Christ-child, etc. But what we don't read in the Gospels is Christmas from the view of God.
That is found in Revelation 12:
Rev 12:1-5 
1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: 2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

What seems to be an ordinary event - a woman giving birth to a child - results in an unseen effect that touches everything in the universe.
We also know this to happen when people come to Christ by faith. 
We're told from the time we can remember in church that when a person comes to faith, the angels in heaven rejoice; that is an unseen effect from the physical world into the spiritual realm which we cannot see.
What if every event in our lives, every decision, every choice, every act of kindness or of disgust, what if those things have an unseen effect on the spiritual world to which we are not aware?

We say that Christians are chosen of God; if that is true, is it really that far-fetched to think God, the spiritual world and the activities within it, are to some degree effected by what we do on earth?

When you see Biblical figures, some seem keenly unaware of the unseen world while others seem totally in tune with it. Job, for example, had no hint that the unseen spiritual world was watching, but they were.
In fact, Job's entire saga was the cause of God challenging Satan.
So, I go back to the question and state it another way - Are we so important to God that one decision by His follower is so important that it can determine a piece of history for the universe?

Well, the answer seems to be yes - we are indeed that important to God. 
If Job proves anything in this regard, he proves that our testing and our responses in our testing matters, not only to the people around us but it matters to God as well.

What Job faced is a predicament faced by all Believers since Adam and Eve encountered the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The root question for all people when faced with a decision is: 'Are we going to chose for God or against God?'
Sadly, more times than not, we have failed.

You see, we do not have the insight or the discernment to immediately know that is what is being asked of us in the time of trial. Job didn't either.
Therefore, this question of trusting God is a question that must be answered every day and in every way.
If we knew what was happening in our lives as God knows, the question would be easily answered. But we do not understand as God understands and we are asked to trust Him by faith.
When we see Job struggling and hanging on to his faith, despite his circumstances, in spite of his 'friends,' and without regard to his wife - we are being asked to join the struggle like him against all that is wrong with the universe.
The one thing Job communicates to me and proves is the fact that we can make a difference; that difference begins by being strong to our faith and not doubting in the dark what God has taught us in the Light and Joy of the blessings in life.

When it comes to suffering - there are very few answers as to 'why' in God's Word. The better question for us to answer is not 'why' but rather, 'to what end?'
One year ago I was diagnosed with Stage 4, terminal cancer and given no chance of survival. 
As He tends to do from time to time, God proved the doctors wrong.

To what end have I been healed and sent forth, only God has determined and in His progressive revelation for my life - I am slowly learning.
A question does remain - 'Why does God delay?'
I mean, seriously, why doesn't He just enlighten me and let me or you or anybody who has struggled, just get on with it? 
Why does God hold back and let evil and sin reign?
Why does God wait to reveal His will in life?
Why does God let individual believers and churches struggle?

God holds back on His knowledge, His view of things for one simple reason - He does it for our sake.
Humanity in general and Christians in particular are in the center of God's plan for the universe.
The motive behind all human existence is His eternal glory.
Therefore, the things that we face in life and the directions we go, they are for the purpose of developing us; not God. 
And as we develop, we become a greater part of His Sovereign plan for the world.

Every act of faith, by every believer in the world, counts and reverberates throughout the universe, which is being brought to a climactic end - for His Eternal Glory.
Until next time, try to win one for the good guys.

It's Unfair

M. Scott Peck has one of the greatest, simple statements of the universe in his The Road Less Traveled:
'Life is difficult.'

From simple living, every person knows life is difficult; it doesn't matter what color your skin may be or what culture from which you originate - life can be hard and at times, it certainly is unfair.
This may be the most difficult question for Bible scholars and teachers to answer - 'why do things seem unfair.' 

Indeed. Why do babies die? They've done nothing wrong to be struck down.
Why do loving, dedicated husbands or wives lose their spouse to a lot lizard or playboy?
Why does an elderly Korean War vet get HIV from a blood transfusion?
I believe I can speak for a ministers and maybe all Christians when I say that 'why' is one of the most difficult questions to ever be answered accurately.

But we're not alone.
There are countless Biblical figures who found that life was unfair to them as well, even though they were supposed to be the 'chosen' of God.
To Esau, it was unfair that Jacob received the patriarchal blessing; but to God, it was the unfolding of His will on earth.
To Joseph, it wasn't right that he found himself in the bottom of a well; but to God, being sold as a slave was how He would orchestrate the survival of the Hebrew race and the nation of Israel.
And to Jesus, I'm quite certain it wasn't fair to Crucify Him on the Cross which bore my name of punishment; but to God, it was how He would reconcile lost humanity to Himself out of love.
From this, I have learned - if something doesn't make sense to me, that does not mean it doesn't make sense at all nor does it mean that it won't make sense in the future.
We just have to catch up spiritually to what God is doing.

The seeming unfairness we see from a Holy and Just God is no different in our lives than it was in the lives of the people of Scripture.
Simple proof of this statement can be found in a very common cuss word; this word has even seeped into the acceptability of prime time television.
The word 'God' quickly followed by the word 'Damn' clearly implies that we feel God should be doing a better job of running His universe. These sentiments are flowing through our minds because we are having a true crisis of faith - our belief does not match our reality at that point in time.

To solve this problem of the seeming unfairness of God - man has taken several steps.
One is to promote and believe the idea that God does not exist at all. The rationale is that if God existed, He would have the power and the concern to do something about the situation of the world and certainly about the unfair situations in His believers lives.
While this appeals to many intellectuals, the simple fact is that any rational person can see from nature that there is a Creative Design to the place we call home on this earth. 
In short, those that deny God would rather deny His existence than try to understand His ways because to understand Him deeper means there will be a struggle - and this struggle is not easy.
Simply put - they're just too lazy to pursue the God who has pursued them throughout their entire life.

Others try to solve the problem through religion - like Hindus and their concept of Karma. 
In their system, the world is fair - all things come back around appropriately.
While I would love to believe this, I know it is not true because you can't explain away a newborn's death nor the success of evil men.

In Christian thought it must be admitted that God Himself is far above our understanding of time; and this may very well be the key to understanding our position in a crisis or tragedy.
As humans, though we are the apex of God's creation, still - we can only function in the present. We can think of the past, we can contemplate the future; but we can only function in the present.
God, on the other hand, lives in what has been called 'The Constant Present.'

For example: To humans, God created the Universe in the past and there has been successive people, ages, generations and technological advancements to this day. 
To God, Creation happened followed by the Resurrection of the Saints and entrance into New Jerusalem.

For humans, with our limited view of eternity, even speaking of God's concept of time is hard to understand. Why would it be any easier to understand the purpose and nature of God's end goal with a trial or tragedy we may face?

You see, we focus way too much on what God can do on our behalf in the present.
Instead, we ought to be focusing in on what He has done and what He will do once the experience is complete and how He is going to use it for His glory.

Granted, only at the end of time will we as Christians be able to see as God sees; whether people, places, things or events - we will see things as He sees them because He is making us whole in Himself.

It will be on that day that we will finally understand all of who He is and what He has done; and then we will praise Him and shout His glory throughout the Universe.
Until then, if you are wondering why God is keeping you in the dark about some of things of the world or in your own personal life - the reason is because you and I are not able to absorb that much light in our present state.
On the last day, we will and on that day, we will understand.

Faith means believing in advance what will only make sense in the future.
And isn't that what Christ has asked of us all along - to have faith in Him, trusting from this life to eternal life?

Until next time, try to win one for the good guys.

The Blissful 18

Eighteen years ago today, I was married. 
A little over a year ago, I was told that I would not be alive on this day to celebrate this anniversary. Therefore, it is a very blissful 18th.

Since then life has taken its twists and turns, leading me to the place we call the present. While there are things I would change if I could, I would not change the person with whom I was doing it with.
Whether it was being in school or even having cancer, with Tina - it is a Wonderful Life.

As I look back across our marriage, I am confronted with something that many married couples do just as Christians do when discussing God - they think and dwell upon what they call, 'the good old days.'

For married couples, I really don't know what that means. 
Is it before children? Is it the time when the people were younger? 
Is it the present and they just don't know it?
It is as difficult to define as it is to describe.

Yet, I do know what it means when Christians say they wish things could go back to 'the way things were.' 
You probably know it as well - a time when God dwelt atop a mountain and you could see the smoke ascending with the fire blazing. 
A time when manna was provided to eat and God's will revealed in the Law plainly and clearly.
I do not understand this just like I don't understand the 'old days' of marriage.
Why in the world would anyone want to go back to that time period when today, instead of seeing God on a mountain or hearing His voice - we may have God Himself dwelling within us?

The problem is that we don't really know the value of what we have.
For example, it is a tragic marriage when a person attempts to struggle with the other for power. That marriage is either going to fail or to leave one of the people in it, absolutely miserable.
Marriage, a healthy marriage, is a relationship where two people submit to one another. It is never a struggle for superiority but a journey together as God makes us One in His Union.
It is in that Union where we find great value.

Similarly, the Union we have with Christ by His Spirit dwelling within us is absolutely unsurpassed by anything known in ancient times.
Why in the world would we go back to a time before the Resurrection?
Why would we go back to a day before Pentecost?
Today, we have the best of all worlds because the Holy Spirit, God Himself, dwells within the believer.

That being true, shouldn't that mean that God's will for our lives and our churches is absolutely crystal clear? I wish that was true, but it isn't; as evidenced by over 1,200 Christian denominations.
But there is a difference in us from the ancients.

New Testament Christians are weaned children. 
We are expected to grow up, we are expected to mature. 
We are expected to work and serve for the glory of the Lord.

The Old Testament believers never understood nor practiced this idea.
In the OT, the people never grew up.
The people who trusted God wandered in the desert for 40 years, then it came time to enter the Promised Land. As they did so, on the very day they crossed over and began to eat of the produce of the land, the manna from heaven which had been supplied to them by the hand of God, stopped and would never return.
From that time forward, they were expected to plant for a harvest rather than be on God's welfare role.
And do you know what these people did?
They stopped worshiping the Lord who delivered them from slavery and began to worship fertility gods of the land so that their crops might be blessed.

Just like the transformation a single person goes through to become 'One' with their spouse over the years, when God stopped being visible on the Mountain and began to dwell within His children, transformations of great proportion have taken place.

There is no question that the moment God, through the Holy Spirit, chose to dwell within His people that by the nature of His existence, it would create doubt because the people could no longer physically see Him..
They could no longer see the smoke and fire on the Mountain nor could they see a Nazarene teaching on a hillside and healing people.
This way of relating to His people was indeed different, but it is an improvement.
You see, in the 'old days' all who heard His voice, heard it and was afraid of it - but only for a while. 
It wasn't long that those who heard His voice soon learned to ignore it.

Now, in a similar manner, the Holy Spirit within is also easy to ignore.
Scripture informs us that we can 'quench' the Holy Spirit. It also tells us that through our actions and attitudes, we can 'grieve' the Holy Spirit.
Yet, the upside is that unlike the days of the past, having the Holy Spirit within us is the most intimate relationship ever established between God and man.
As such, we are becoming to be more like Him and through us, He lives and acts on this earth.
In our weaknesses, He intercedes on our behalf - even to the point where He groans for us when we don't know how to pray.

In our marriages, there are joys and disappointments; but through love and guidance and trust, we overcome and drive on together. 
In our spiritual lives, when we have those same disappointments and trials, we often want God to appear and guide us personally. 
Granted, when we have those times of troubles, having the Holy Spirit within may not remove all the times of disappointment we have and it may not instantly reassure us of God's truth; but the Holy Spirit has a wider scope of ministry than just being present to show us the existence of God like the smoke of Mount Sinai did for the Israelites.

The Holy Spirit is called the 'Helper' in the New Testament; His very name implies the fact that believers will have problems. It teaches us that God has sent Himself as our helper in every time of need.
And the one thing the Holy Spirit does in those times of trials and disappointments that surpasses times of old is the fact that He does not vanquish them immediately from our lives. Instead, God allows troubles to sometimes rage while at the same time He reminds us that those troubles are only temporary.

The peace God brings now is a prelude to the day when His rest and peace reigns for ever as we live our lives eternal before Christ Himself.
And while we wait on that day when eternity is ushered into the world, I am thankful that I have a small piece of heaven on earth today with my wife and children.

Until next time, try to win one for the good guys.

Times Have Changed

Ever wonder what God is like?

If you lived in 2000 B.C., you and I could look up at Mount Sinai at the fire and smoke and say, 'God is like that...' And we would be fearful of touching the mountain, thinking if we did we would die.

If you and I lived in 29 AD, we would hear a man making Messianic claims.We would see a man would could feed thousands with very little, heal the sick and think to ourselves, 'Somehow, God is just like that man over there...'

But you and I live in the 21st Century; God is neither confined to a mountain top nor does Jesus walk our streets.  And yet, many times when I stand before the church, I wonder what the people in the pew think God is like right now.

The New Testament tells us that God is like those very people in the pews; as God was within Christ, He is also within each person who has trusted Him by faith. 
Like with Christ, there is an indwelling which takes place by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Together, we are the Body of Christ - a new species in which God lives, extending His work and His hands through our lives to touch those in the need of a hand from God.
And as we read the New Testament, the Apostle Paul writes as if that was God's plan all along and we are only now catching on.
In fact, Paul claimed that God had moved from a Temple in Jerusalem to human temples; those who believe.

As the church, we carry the image of God; we should also carry the practice of God.
For example, when there was a famine in Israel, Paul went to churches he had started on the mission field and led in fund raising to aid in their relief.
Paul brought the Church money, but through his work, God was meeting His children's need just as much as if He had sent manna from heaven. 

As the Church and the Body of Christ, we are to meet similar needs of others in our time.

One thing we often fail to realize is that in the New Testament, there is no distinction between God and His Church. You may have never heard that before, but it is true.
When Saul was on the Damascus road headed out to arrest Christians as he had done previously, the Risen Christ appeared, knocked him to his knees, shining so bright that it would temporarily blind Saul, and asked, 'Saul, why are you persecuting ME?'
He didn't ask why Saul was persecuting His believers or followers, but why Saul was persecuting Jesus personally. 

In his mind, Saul was after heretics, not Jesus Himself. 
To him, Jesus had already been crucified and was dead; there was some suspicion as to who stole His body but Saul believed Him to be dead.
But just as Jesus was alive and the Spirit indwelling in those who believed, those people were in fact His own body.
In essence, whatever hurts us, hurts the Lord.

Do you want to know what God is like? Look no further than in the pews.
Do you want to see God? Then look to the people who belong to Him.
Quite frankly, it ought to be that simple.

You see, nonbelievers do not know names like William Carey, Mother Teresa or John Calvin; why would they? 
But the lost do know me.
Many will only see me....and you.

A watching world judges God and Christianity by those who carry the name of Christ.
Let's strive to live up to the name 'Christian.'

Until next time, try to win one for the good guys!

Jesus, On His Terms

Condescended - It means 'to descend to be with.' 
It's a unique word to describe what God did in the incarnation; how God chose to speak to us through Christ. He 'descended to be with' us.

Whether people realize it or not - God is fairly creative in how He has spoken to humanity.
To Abraham, He appeared at the door of a tent as a traveler. 
To Moses, He appeared on a hill side as the Burning Bush.
To Joshua, He appeared before Jericho as a soldier.
To Hagar, in the wilderness as a friend.
He spoke each time with words they needed to carry out the will of God. 
And when God chose to speak to the Nation - He used prophets.

But none of these matched the Son of God becoming a man in the person of Jesus Christ through the incarnation. After 400 years of silence, God chose to speak in authority and finality through His Son. 
And even today, the words He spoke still linger

The first words God spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Hagar were 'Fear Not.'
The angels as messengers of God, speaking to Gideon, Daniel, Mary and the Shepherds was 'Fear Not.'
As you read the Bible, you sort of get the feeling that 'Fear Not' was a divine 'Howdy.'
But what it tells us is that the appearance of God always struck fear in the hearts of man.
Yet, when God to speak in finality, He came in the most unassuming and least threatening way He possibly could - God became a new born baby.
And unless you have a volcanic diaper to change - babies just aren't scary.

But even though God came in a manner which would not frighten, people were disappointed with the Messiah. 
In truth, not much has changed. 
Millions upon millions of Christians are disappointed with the Lord for one reason or another. Maybe it is because of a lost love or a lost child; disease may have ravaged a person you deeply care about; rejection from others - all in all, there are thousands of reasons we may feel that God has disappointed us.
Like the ancients, Jesus wasn't what they expected at all - nor is He often what we expect in our lives.
What we need to learn is to not make Him into the Jesus we want Him to be, but allow Him to be the Jesus Christ He is - the Lord of All.
That is the place where our desire ends, His begins and worship in our hearts starts to praise our Everlasting Father.

Think About It:

When we have difficult times even tragic times, many Christians will demand that God speak from the heavens and decree a change in our situation.
We want a voice that tells us His will and way for our lives; we believe if this happens we will listen with obedient hearts and follow Him with strict adherence to all He desires. 
But truthfully, does that really sound like something we would do?

You see, Jesus came and made God's will absolutely clear, and it was rejected.
As He spoke, "Follow Me," or "This is how you should pray...." people tended not to listen and many times they didn't like what He had to say.
The fact is, many still didn't follow Him across the street much less to the Cross; and as far as praying goes - we have the example and the knowledge, but even today we still don't pray.

Instead of instant and absolute obedience to His voice, Jesus received what He receives now - open questions. Anybody can debate what God "really" wants, but only the Holy Spirit can communicate to us exactly what God demands of us in our obedience.
He was not silent, nor is He silent today.

Also when in a hard time, we want God to show Himself and prove that our faith is not in vain and that we haven't been wasting our time in serving Him. 
Well, God isn't hidden today - He's seen through His people; but in the first century they actually saw God in flesh. He took shape in the world.
God showed up with a name, a face and an address in Nazareth. His message about seeing God: 'Anyone who has seen Me, has seen the Father.'
It was blunt, but true; and the people just couldn't accept it.

Jesus' visibility and bold claims about being God in flesh brought on a new problem: Where was the smoke and fire from the Old Testament experiences with God?
Where was the lightening and the striking dead of evil people?
Jesus as a person just didn't match up to what people thought God should be.

Jesus was Mary's boy; even His brothers thought He was nuts (that's a clinical term we use for psychologically challenged). He was ordinary. 
The truth is that Jesus' skin got in the way.
Our problem today is not that God does not show Himself, it's that we so often reject Him because we will reject His body which comes in the form of fallen men and women in the world. 

Then we have another problem - when we go through a trial, we question the 'fairness' of God. You know, like Job - going through something that he didn't deserve and wondering why.
We go through things like this as well in our lives and we still wonder why God is being so unfair to us.

In Jesus' time, all people believed the Messiah would come and set things right just as we all believe about God's involvement in our lives. He is going to come in our lives, kick around the evil doers and set things right. If I was mistreated wrongly, He will vindicate me.
Isn't that what we believe?

The prophets even promised as much when they claimed the Messiah would swallow up death and wipe tears away from all faces.
When the Messiah did come it is true that He did heal many but it is also true that Jesus left many more not healed. Lazarus was raised from the grave but thousands more died during His life and they remain dead today.

Now, this problem of God supposedly being unfair bothers many Christians today and it can be disturbing. But the problem is not 'is God fair?'
We tend to confuse God with life.
Life is not fair, but God is fair; this tension in the world sometimes causes doubt because we cannot fully grasp it in our minds.
For example, Jesus said of John the Baptist, 'of woman, no greater man has been born.' Yet, in a jail cell and in the process of losing his head, John the Baptist voiced doubt - 'Should we look for another?'
Was life unfair to John? Yes.
Was God unfair to John? No.
For in the life and death of John the Baptist, Jesus was glorified; and this is the ultimate end to our lives as Christians - to glorify God through His Holy Son.

If we were to accept Jesus for who He is and not who we want Him to be for us personally, a lot of things would instantly change.
Jesus prayed about our faith, forgiveness and about our ability to resist the devil in the world. 
The physical world wants answers to end poverty, sicknesses and oppression.

In His time, Jesus failed to measure up to what the world thought a King should be.
As sad as it is to say, nothing has changed today.
Today, people want to focus on health and prosperity; instead the real, persistent problems for the Church are problems of pride, hypocrisy and legalism.

The reason Jesus prayed about faith, forgiveness and resisting evil is because these things in our walk with the Lord are the very attributes which overcome the world and glorifies Him through our lives.
Don't lose heart in times of struggle - allow Him to make you into a mighty weapon in the Lord's Army.

Until next time, go win one for the Good Guys.

God & Silence

Recently, I read once again the story of Jesus Christ's temptation in the wilderness after His baptism by John the Baptist. 
What Satan was tempting Christ with isn't really that much different from today's questions concerning God. That may be why they are so interesting.

Satan challenged Jesus' ability to provide; His response though on a 40 day fast was, 'Man shall not live on bread alone...'
When He was tempted with the seduction of earthly glory, thereby taking a short cut around His ultimate mission, Jesus responded, 'You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'
In the last temptation, He was challenged concerning His ability of protection. Jesus would not throw Himself off the Temple, nor challenge God's ability. He simply answered, 'You shall not put the Lord you God to the test.'

In our times of trial and tragedy, these are the very things we seek from God.
We want to see His power in our lives. We desire to see His protection. And we want to see Him glorified in what He can do in our bodies or families when we are physically ailing - we usually expect this from some type of healing power.
Unlike Satan, we do not taunt God; instead, we ask sincerely and we often hope frantically.
And it is in those times, when God does not answer, that we experience a time much like Jesus experienced in the last few hours of His life on earth.

When Charlemagne, King of the Franks and the First Holy Roman Emperor, heard the account of Christ's betrayal, arrest and execution, he exploded into a rage. Shaking his sword, Charlemagne exclaimed, 'Oh, if only I had been there; I would have slain them all with my legions.'
Well, Charlemagne's courage is gallant - but he was not there for he was about 8 centuries later on the world stage. 
But I will tell you who was there - God Himself.

One of the darkest and saddest things that is known from the death of Christ is the fact that God was present, Jesus His Son called out to Him; yet, God the Father did not lift a finger to help Him.

In Gethsemane, Jesus said to His disciples of the inner circle that He was 'grieved to the point of death.'
As Judas was leading the Temple police and Sanhedrin to the olive grove, Jesus was praying for another way. He was praying for a way out so that the Cup of God's Wrath would not fall on Him.
And yet, even as Judas arrived, God remained silent.

Many Christians have been in a place during their lives just like Jesus was in those last hours where they felt God was ignoring them, turning a deaf ear to them or even forsaking them. 
No - God hurts when we hurt and loves us dearly; but sometimes He is silent.

Like Jesus, all that is wrong with the world sometimes seems to be triumphing over all that is right. 
When it happened to Christ, he was beaten before Pilate, ridiculed before Herod and slapped around by the Sanhedrin. 
Even as we read in horror today of the event, we know that there was no rescue.
While they clamored for a miracle, there was no miracle; only pain and suffering.

As Jesus took His last breath on the Cross and died, do you know what the response was?
Nature convulsed.

The death of the Son of God was so irrational and so out of place, nature itself could not remain silent.
Sometimes it is similar in our lives as believers, things are so out of whack - and our world convulses as we hurt.
But rest assured, God has not turned a deaf ear nor has He stopped loving us. 
His intervention may simply be delayed for a greater reason in your life.

Do you realize of all the events that happened to Jesus just prior to the crucifixion and immediately afterwards, only Calvary was open to the public?
Everything else, took place privately or a semi-private location.
After He was raised, Jesus also only appeared to those who believed in Him previously.
As far as we know, He never appeared to one nonbeliever.
Because of what He endured on the Cross, we may have eternal life.

That time of suffering and silence of God enables us today to obtain eternal happiness and joy.
While it was taking place Jesus voiced His disappointment with God: 'My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?'
But today, that silence can be seen as necessary because it was through Jesus' sacrifice and God not rescuing Him that He may save us from our sins and rescue us today through the power of the Gospel.

Remember that the next time you hurt and it seems God is silent; He may very well be planning a greater day ahead with future deliverance.

Until next time, try to win one for the Good Guys.