The Scholar's Corner

Allied News

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners," Matt. 9: 12 & 13.

Why did Jesus go to bars? I mean, effectively, that is what he did. He was known to associate with tax collectors and prostitutes; and he was called a drunkard and a glutton. I don't think he gained that reputation because he was always going to Wednesday night prayer meetings; rather, he seemed to frequent other spots. He seemed to always be showing up in unlikely places for a "religious" person, like parties and banquets. And it made the "church going" people of his day furious. So why do you think he kept going to bars?

Well, why does anyone go to a bar? And why do people join the Elks club? I think I know why. A bar or a club is one place you can go where you don't have to pretend you are better than you are. You can have five failed marriages, and the man next to you at the bar won't judge you. He'll just hold out his hand to you and welcome you as a friend. You can also use language that comes naturally to you, and no one will look at you twice. And if you aren't wearing nice clothes no one will even notice. A bar is a place where you can be honest with all your failures and still be accepted. Funny, that's what I thought church was supposed to be.

So, why did Jesus go to bars? Because it was the one place he was welcomed and received. He didn't judge the people, and they didn't judge him. He was able to have fellowship there. But you notice just about every time he went to church, he got thrown out! Or worse, somebody tried to stone him or throw him over a cliff! He was not welcome in synagogues. And Jesus went where he was welcome.

The religious people, for the most part, didn't want anything to do with him. They didn't want him in their churches. And above all, they didn't want him to bring those bums, criminals, and loose women with him into the church, because the "church going" folk were afraid these outcasts might stain the carpet or dirty the pews. So, because Jesus' friends weren't welcome in the churches, Jesus didn't feel at home there either.

It is not that Jesus wanted people to be failures. He was in the business of rebuilding broken lives. But in order to rebuild, people have to know they are broken. And they've got to have someplace to go where they can admit their need. We all need that. We need a place to go where people will not ridicule us for our failures and our weakness, but will love us and accept us instead; someplace where people will say, "it's okay." And it seems, even today, that you can be more honest with your failures in a bar than in a church. That's sad, and I know that is not what God intended. But I guess that is why Jesus felt at home in a bar and avoided places like church, where everyone has to pretend to be better than he is.

I can only wonder, where would Jesus go today?

"He is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters," - Matthew 12:30.

In this country we have brought up on a lie. The lie is that the State can be neutral in matters of religion; that somehow there can be a separation of church and State. But this is not true. There is no neutral, dispassionate ground from which the government can view the free exercise of religion, and I'll show you why:

The State must either choose a standard of morals which supports the Christian world view, or it will end up choosing a standard which is opposed to Christianity. By proclaiming itself neutral in matters of religion, the State refuses to make a choice between competing views of the world. But Jesus himself said that there is no neutral ground. If a person is not for him, then by nature he is against him. No one can be neutral. This would apply to governments as well.

Take for example, the Christian standard of morals concerning human sexuality. The teaching of the scriptures is quite clear: God gave us sexual intercourse to celebrate within the intimate confines of marriage. The Bible insists on marital fidelity and identifies all other forms of sexual promiscuity as defilement and sin; whether it be fornication, adultery, homosexuality, or prostitution. But in the world, homosexuals say that their lifestyle is normal. There is nothing wrong with it. It is not immoral. Who is to say they are wrong? Unless you can appeal to the scriptures as the source of truth in this matter, you cannot say anyone is right or wrong.

But the State cannot appeal to the scriptures, because it claims to be neutral in matters of religion. Therefore, the State cannot make a determination between the Christian world view and the homosexual one. And so, by not choosing a Christian standard as the basis of its laws, the State ends up endorsing a plurality of moral values. But moral pluralism is not neutral, it stands opposed to the Christian view of life.

For example, through our taxes, the government supports organizations which undermine the family and which promote values which are radically opposed to Christian beliefs. Planned Parenthood, which receives U. S. Government subsidies, promotes and encourages promiscuity and encourages children not to consult their parents in matters of sexual morals. In their advertising they state: "If your parents are stupid enough to deny you access to birth control and you are under 18, you can get it on your own without parental consent. Call Planned Parenthood right now." (emphasis added) And in pamphlets distributed to teens without parental consent, PP offers the following advice: "For those who plan on marriage (to someone) eventually, early intercourse can also be a training ground." These beliefs are in direct conflict with Christian beliefs, yet the State funds these teachings, while it has refused to fund a Christian alternative.

What I am saying is that the State cannot be neutral when it comes to matters of religion and morality. By not choosing, the State chooses to endorse and fund a moral view of the world which is radically opposed to the Christian one. Because Christianity teaches that there is only one right way of living; only one standard of moral behavior; by its very nature, Christianity is opposed to moral pluralism. But the State, by not being in agreement with Christian teaching, ends up promoting moral pluralism, with its concomitant immorality. And in this sense, instead of supporting the Church or simply being neutral, the State ends up endorsing moral pluralism as the correct value system upon which the American system of law is based. And this value system is diametrically opposed to the Christian point of view. Christianity defines moral pluralism as deception not neutrality: "there is a way which seems right for everyone (that they can each choose their own way), but the end of that way of living is death, " Proverbs 14:12.

The State then is not really neutral in matters of morality or religion: by not choosing a Christian standard, it chooses the ungodly standards of this world as its foundation for its laws. So, rather than gather with Him, the government then scatters as it teaches this moral pluralism to its people. That hoped for place of neutrality then, really is but a myth. The government, by claiming neutrality, adopts the standards of this age.

If you are like me, you may have read where Jesus says, "You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it," (John 14: 14). And then, there came a time when you prayed very hard for something your really wanted to come to pass. And when it did not, you got depressed and began to doubt the worth of the Bible and the truth of God's Word. It is a hard thing to be disappointed when you are trying to trust God's Word. When we are promised we can have anything we want, if we have faith (Mark 11: 23-24), we often get desperate to have faith. This is especially true when someone we care about is ill and may die; we want to have faith and we want it now! And while faith is sometimes immediately available to us in these last minute circumstances, more often than not, faith is firmly established in us by spending a lot of time in Father's presence over the course of many years. I want to encourage you to seek this true faith, because it is worth every sacrifice. And when you get your prayers answered, you really begin to know the love and the truth and the power of God in his faithfulness to his Word.

So that we do not get distracted or easily discouraged when we set faith as our goal, we need to have a proper understanding of what true faith really is. Faith is not a power we possess which we exercise independently from relationship to God. If we try and exercise a faith principle simply because we know it is the Word of God, what happens is that we may get caught in a bear trap of faith. Unknowingly, Satan will cause us to rely upon ourselves and our "faith" to cause things to happen in the world. This trap is very subtle, but it leads us away from a relationship to God into self-trust, spiritual legalism, and works righteousness.

We see the evidence of people caught in this trap when they reduce the faith process to a "name it and claim it" approach to releasing faith. We also see them begin to accuse others of not having faith. These are all signs of self-trust. And when this name it and claim it approach fails to deliver the desire of prayer, we see people fall into condemnation, defeat, and depression. This approach doesn't work, not because we don't have enough faith, but because it isn't true faith. This false faith cannot work, and God doesn't want it to work, because if it did, it would encourage us in a form of ritualistic legalism about his word and about our relationship to God that would be akin to magic. God is not a logical formula which we can manipulate at will. He wants the best for us. He wants to provide for us and give us our desires, but he wants to do it out of a relationship with us, his children; in a relationship built on love and trust.

Can you imagine a child, who came in to his father and screamed "give me this and give me that," but who never gave love to or received love from his father? What a terrible relationship that would be! The child would trust nothing but the power of his own voice because he would not know the love of his father. He would become greedy and selfish. Our heavenly Father has more concern for our welfare than that! He is interested in our character as well!

So, for good reason, faith is not a power which we exercise independently from Jesus, rather it is a trust that Jesus will do for us what we ask. Faith is being in such close relationship with Jesus that we know of Father's willingness and desire to do for us what we ask. This kind of faith only comes by abiding in his presence. It comes from knowing how much we are loved by our Father, by knowing his nature; that he loves to shower upon us good gifts that bring us pleasure. And if we know that he is willing to do for us whatever we ask, and if we know this not just mentally, but down in our deepest depths because we know his love within, then we will have all kinds of faith, and greater faith and ever increasing faith; all because we know of the Father; that he actually delights to give us the desires of our hearts. When we know he is really on our side in our prayers, that will make our faith rise up! And we will have the faith to see our prayers and our desires accomplished! This faith will not come to us simply by intellectually knowing his word, nor will it come in the abstract, nor can we force it to happen by treating God's word like a logical equation. It is borne out of a loving relationship with God our Father, His Son Jesus, and the Lord the Spirit. That is why Jesus told us to remain in him; so that we would know the character and willingness of God to act and so that true faith could be established within us. He said, "apart from me you can do nothing," which means that we will not be able to exercise any real faith under our own power, simply by manipulating the truth of his Word. But if we remain in the presence of God, then he says we shall, "ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you," (John 15: 7). And if we remain in him, that faith will rise up within. And by knowing his goodness, we shall pray and receive the desires of our hearts.

Sharon Herald

August 16, 1997

Very few of us make room in our hearts for God. Even less of us provide Him with what He desires most from us - a place where He can rest. Martha was a woman like so many of us: she was so busy doing things FOR God that she did not take time just to appreciate Jesus for WHO he was. When Jesus came to dinner, she busied herself preparing so many dishes that she made herself frantic. Finally, she became angry and jealous of her sister, Mary, as she sat at Jesus' feet to hear him teach. Mary took time just to adore the wisdom and the beauty of the Lord, while Martha was focusing on her "service" for God. Yet when Martha asked Jesus to rebuke Mary for her "laziness," Jesus responded instead: "Martha, Martha you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:41-42, NIV). How many of us are like Martha, who believe our acceptance before God is based upon what we DO for Him, not upon who we ARE to Him? Our spirits are so restless that we cannot even enjoy His presence. We do not take the time simply to appreciate and love God; we are always on to our next project for Him.

Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary. He has a unique place in the New Testament. He is not called a disciple, apostle, prophet, pastor or teacher. He doesn't seem to have a "job" to do for the sake of the Kingdom, and he isn't in the ministry with Jesus. But he is called Jesus' friend {John 11:11}, the one whom Jesus "loved." Lazarus was such a special friend to Jesus that when Lazarus died, Jesus wept. And it is the only record of a miracle that Jesus did perhaps because of his own personal grief and sorrow [John 11:35-36]. What caused Jesus to have such an attachment to Lazarus? It wasn't because he was one of his disciples who served him in ministry; nor was it because he was one of the 12 apostles whom Jesus was training to take over for him. It seems that it was nothing more than the fact that Lazarus was a friend who gave Jesus a place where he could sit back, kick off his shoes, and rest a while. The scriptures tell us that Jesus grew weary at times [John 4:6] and that he got frustrated with his disciples for their thick-headedness [Matt. 17:17]. It also says that he suffered the same weaknesses that we do [Heb 5:2] but without sin. So it is any wonder that Jesus probably found times when he just wanted to get away from it all, relax and rest from his ministry? And where could he go when he wanted to just blow off some steam? He didn't have a home of us own... Well, he probably went over to his friend Lazarus' and hid in the comfort of such friendship that did not make incessant demands upon him, but which was just willing to be there for him.

You and I have the same opportunity to ascend to the same high calling as that of Lazarus, a higher calling than merely being either his disciple or his servant. God wants a place where He can simply rest in your heart and enjoy you. A place where you can simply rest and enjoy Him. There are indeed times when we must busy ourselves with service to the Master, but there are other times when there is no higher calling than simply resting in the presence of His love. If all you do is DO things for Him, perhaps you should cast off the accusing afflictions of guilt and condemnation, and just find time to make room for Jesus in your heart so that he can find a place of rest in your soul - a place where he will find all the comforts of home.

"If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23, RSV).

Then, making a place where God can come to rest in your soul, you will have filled the highest calling of all: being a friend to God.

Why did Jesus have more acceptance from people who frequented bars and brothels than he did among people who were religious? Why did Jesus make religious people so mad? If you look at the type of people who were offended by Jesus, you might be surprised to find yourself among them. The people who were the angriest at Jesus were the people who paid their tithes, who didn't cheat on their wives, didn't have mistresses, didn't frequent bars or brothels, who went to worship services every Sabbath, and who were, for the most part, fine upstanding members of the community.

But it wasn't the drug dealers, the prostitutes, or the drunks who crucified Jesus... it was the religious community that did. As I said, Jesus found a home among those whom others called "outcasts." The outcasts accepted him, while the "church go-ers" did not. The church go-ers called for Jesus' death. Why were these upstanding citizens so angry with Jesus? Hmmm.... let's see...

Well, Jesus went to so many parties and banquets and drank wine so often that the religious community called him a degenerate (Matthew 11:19), yet Jesus was not embarrassed or ashamed by his behavior. He made no outward show of being either holy or religious. He had a good time. He enjoyed himself. He enjoyed the life the Father had given him. He was happy. He called drunks and prostitutes his friends....

(Are you mad yet?)

He hung out with the wrong crowd and he let himself be seen with all the wrong people... In fact, even when he did go to worship, the members usually wanted to kick him out for his irreverent behavior (Matthew 12: 2 & 10 -15). Jesus definitely did not fit the portrait of a devout person.

But probably what mad people the angriest is that, except for a few times, Jesus acted like he was at a wedding feast. Jesus was often on his way to a party! He laughed out loud and enjoyed himself, and there is no record that he ever turned down an invitation to a banquet. He even turned about 120 gallons of water into wine to help out at a friend's wedding (John 2:6). For the size of the community, that was about enough wine to lay out the whole town for about a week. That was some party! Hmmm... are you angry yet?

Jesus made people mad because he did not walk around with a sour, pinched and concerned expression on his face. He did not walk around, serious all the time, clucking his tongue at sin and all the evil in the world. He walked around with laughter and in joy, celebrating like he was getting married! (Mark 2:18-19) And it made the religious people furious! The religious people were clucking their tongues at Jesus, thinking that he ought to know better!

It was a religious spirit that made people angry with Jesus. Jesus hated the spirit of religion. Religious people think they are better than others, and they look down their noses at people who lives are a mess. The spirit of religion will do that to you. In fact, the more outwardly upstanding the religious people were in Jesus' day, the greater their anger with this Jesus, who just didn't behave like they expected him to.

But among the fallen, the outcasts, the people rejected by the religious... with them Jesus found a home of acceptance. Why? What was the difference between these two groups? The outcasts knew they were evil and needed forgiveness. And as "sinners," they were not ashamed to ask for Jesus it. They knew they did not deserve such a good friend as Jesus. So, when he came to them, they clung to him.

The religious people, however, were deceived into thinking they were good and didn't need mercy. They pushed Jesus away after hearing what he had to say. They thought they had merited God's favor, and were furious when Jesus said did not. And the gap between Jesus and the religious widened. They didn't know their need, and so they rejected God in the flesh. And Jesus' compassion for the troublemakers only made the "good" citizens madder! They wondered, "How can he show mercy to all these people who are degenerate and are causing the community all this trouble?" Yet he did show mercy. And his mercy separated the religious from him.

Some things never change. People are mad today because they hear that some people are laughing in church, falling down, and acting like they have had too much wine. Sounds to me like they might have been in the presence of Jesus. If the religious people crucified Jesus for acting like that, it is no wonder they want to crucify those who act like him today. We had better be careful about what spirit we are of, else we might find ourselves among the religious rather than the drunks. And remember, it was not the drunks who crucified Jesus.

You have sown much, and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages earns wages to put them into a bag with holes... You have looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? says the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while you busy yourselves each with his own house. (Haggai 1:6 &9, RSV).

Taxation in the United States has become oppressive. It is estimated that our current tax rate is 45% of income, based upon a total of federal, state, local, sales and usage taxes that we pay. No government in history has been able to sustain such a high rate of taxation and maintain its freedom. Merrill Lynch has said that by the year 2040, it will take a tax rate of 82% just to pay for existing, unfunded, entitlement programs. In our attempts to save the whole society, we are making it impossible for the individual to survive on his own income. No government that takes 80% of its citizens' earnings will survive for very long. Revolution, economic collapse, or dictatorship will soon follow.

The bible states that the expected and just rate of taxation for a government is a tithe (a tithe means "one tenth," or 10%), but beyond that rate, the government exceeds its legitimate authority and taxes more than God has permitted it, (1 Sam. 8:15-17). When a government, through excess taxation, begins to oppress and take advantage of God's people, the government makes itself a god; ruling the people according to its own desires and powers, and not according to God's will.

Even in times of crisis, as in a time of famine or war, a just government collected only 20% in taxes (Gen 47:24), and that only during the period of the crisis. Extra-ordinary taxes are understandable during such times of great need. But what happens when this crisis mentality becomes perpetual? The government exists to serve itself and not to serve the needs of the people. It becomes an oppressor of the people, and it loses its legitimacy as God's instrument of governance in the world.

So, we have in our country an illegitimate government, by biblical standards; illegitimate at least in terms of its tax policies. However, the remedy for this situation, I am sure very few of you will appreciate: start paying your tithes to God! God expects us to give Him a tenth of our income. Our government can oppress us with God's permission because we fail to pay our tithes! Studies show that only about 3% of church members actually pay tithes. There is a lack in God's house because of the unfaithfulness of His people. God said that if we did not reverence his sanctuary, and if we refused to follow his ordinances, that he would appoint "those who hate (us) to rule over" us and we would not eat the fruit of our own labors (Lev. 26: 2, 14-20; see also Mal. 3:8-10). God will allow His people to be oppressed if they refuse to give Him the honor due His Name. A pittance in the offering plate and $30 a month for satellite TV won't cut it. It reveals your gods: entertainment, pleasure, and self indulgence. How can you claim to reverence God and His sanctuary when you spend your money on yourselves but do not give him the best of your labors and your substance? Whatever you spend yourselves on, that is your god. If you say "tithing is an Old Testament law," no! It is a matter of faith. Jesus implied that tithing is a continuing expectation for God's people (Matt. 23:23), not just legalism. If you don't trust God enough to give Him what he asks of you, how can you say you are living in faith? You are ruled instead by fear and greed.

So if you continue to be an unfaithful steward with the finances of the Church, how can you ask God to deliver you from the oppressive taxation of the world? When will you do with your money what He requires and desires? Our greed and our selfishness as a people has led us to this oppression. If we would be free, let us obey! God will then turn our captivity. But don't blame the government for our disobedience. The curse of taxation is self appointed.

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord GOD, "when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it" &endash; Amos 8: 11-12.

As strange as it may seem &endash; in an age when television preachers and evangelists, radio Christianity, and churches populate the land &endash; we could be having a famine of the Word of the Lord. The prophet Amos tells of a time when all the people would experience just such a famine. This type of famine would occur not in a time of economic desperation, but in a time of prosperity. There would not be a famine of food or of drink, but of hearing the Word of the Lord. Having worked as a pastor for over twelve years, I am convinced that what I am seeing in the United States today is just such a famine.

"How can this be?" you might ask. "How can there be a famine with all these churches and all these books and teaching tapes?"

My answer is: it is the abundance that is making you poor.

Most of my time in pastoral counseling is spent in the spiritual emergency room, picking up the pieces of peoples' disordered and damaged lives. I do my best to help them get back on track, but as often as not, if the remedy requires any responsibility for change on their part, they are soon flying away to another church, looking for someone who will give them sympathy and attention, without requiring them to do anything in return. I am not alone in my observation. I talk with pastor after pastor with the same report. They are grieved by people fleeing from their care. As soon as the mantle of discipline and discipleship is felt, an exodus occurs. People look for an escape so that they do not have to deal with the sin that is causing the destruction in their own lives. They want a "feel good" only religion, and if the truth causes them any pain, they are out the door. They will find another church or pastor who will keep them happy. The odd thing is, they are running from the very painful but necessary surgery that will heal them of the cancer in their souls. They are running for pain killers, but won't come under the knife of God's corrective Word.

This tragic behavior is ironic. For the scriptures tell us that the Word of God will heal us of our sicknesses and our diseases: "He sent forth his word, and healed them, and delivered them from destruction," [Psalm 107:20]. The book of Proverbs is all about how the wisdom of God brings a well ordered life that produces healing to flesh and bones, wealth, riches, honor, and a long life [Prov. 3:8 -26]. Yet people are running from this Word in droves. There is a famine in the land for the Word of God: it is a famine of abundance. The Word of God is available everywhere, but there is a famine of putting it into practice. People will not take the time needed to apply it to their own lives. Instead, they run from its corrective power. They run from its razor sharp exposure of disorder and sin. And they run to the abundance of distractions that will enable them to safely ignore its challenges to their behavior.

What is this abundance that causes a famine of the Word? Let me ask you this: "How much time do you spend watching television or movies, playing or going to sporting events, playing video games, going out on the town, visiting friends, going for drives? And how much time do you spend reading God's Word?" If you are an average American, you spend probably at least 28 hours a week in front of the idiot box and less than 5 minutes a week in the presence of the Word of God. There is a famine of distractions in the land. So many things absorb our time, but the Word of God is ignored. It is no wonder that our lives as individuals, families, and as a nation are in disorder. We have not given first place to God's Word, and we will not! We want a quick-fix religious experience that will make everything better &endash;like a revival service&endash; but we refuse to practice the everyday discipline of obeying the Word so that our lives will truly be made whole.

Unfortunately, even the abundance of churches in the land provides a cover for the famine of God's Word. For when a pastor brings an uncomfortable but corrective Word into the lives of the rebellious, soon they find a million excuses to leave "his" church and go to another that has "more" of something. Usually it is "more music, more youth, more day care, better music, more teens, better preaching," or more programs of one sort or another. The abundance of church activities provides a disguise and a distraction for these rebellious souls. This cover of darkness in the midst of a house of light is the religious way of avoiding the painful issues of repentance that God demands of our souls. And the availability and abundance of churches only give these people plenty of places to run and hide so that the famine in their souls may continue. They will complain when they leave because they feel compelled to justify their sin. So they will criticize the pastor because he has failed to provide them with the "convenience store" religion they so desperately desire. He has demanded something of them. He has committed the high crime of actually confronting them face to face with their sin and their need to change. God forbid!

This day has been foretold, and if we do not repent as a nation, we will certainly be destroyed, for the disorder will only increase as we abandon the Word of God. "For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings, and will turn away from listening to the truth…," 2 Timothy 4:3-4. This refusal to come under the corrective power of God's Word is creating a famine in the land. There is an abundance of distraction. An abundance of running from shepherds who bring the rod as well as the staff. An abundance of entertainment for the soul in movies and television. But there is a famine of common sense, a famine of simple integrity and honesty, a famine of living by God's Word… and we wonder why pastors waste so much of their time trying to help people who refuse to accept the discipline and counsel that will actually bring healing and order into their lives. Pastors cannot work magic. Like doctors, they can write a prescription straight from heaven's pharmacy, but they cannot make you take it.

That is the reason so much time is spent in pastoral care, because people will not take advantage of the ONE thing that would heal and deliver them: a commitment to know and apply God's Word to their lives.

"God gave Noah the rainbow sign, No more water, the fire next time..." --from an old Negro Spiritual

Events are heating up. India, feeling threatened by China, detonates warning nukes. Pakistan, not wanting to appear weak, talks with China and does the same. This remote region of the world now looks like two kids, in a locked room, playing with a hand grenade. The pin has been pulled out. No matter who drops it, it is bad news for both of them. N. Korea wants the bomb. China is passing nuclear and missile technology to its Islamic allies, destabilizing the region, and we are selling the technology to China for campaign contributions!  

God will not need to destroy the earth for its sins, we will!

I have been wondering if all our fascination with disaster films of late is a sign and a hidden sense in all of us that the hour is late. Titanic, Deep Impact, Armageddon! Something seems to be shaking us - a warning to wake us, perhaps. In spite of all our hopes of seeing a basic goodness in human beings, our darker nature is showing through. Violence and mayhem occupy not just the news, but also our imaginations. Our prime time viewings sate our souls with murder, rape, and vengeance. And still we want to watch more. Only now our fantasies and fears have the potential of becoming all too real. Is it a final penalty for our proud rebellion against God and God's ways?  

God has not been ignorant about our destiny. Not that he wills it, for he does not. He gives us freedom, and we use it badly. He could see the consequence of our sins long ago. Once he destroyed the evil of humanity by flood, but now, it seems, he will let us punish ourselves:

First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, "Where is this `coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. (2 Peter 3:3-7, NIV).

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. (2 Peter 3:10-12, NIV).  

The end is coming. It may even be soon, and we the cause of it. The only question for you is: on whose side will you be? If you have not given your heart to Jesus Christ, to follow him in love as his servant, a terrible prospect of judgment awaits you. Now is the time to make peace with God. Even we who follow him will have to give an account for all our evil deeds, but we look forward in hope to his forgiveness and mercy. What awaits you? You may not have that long to decide. Don't wait. And remember, "No more water... the fire next time."

Sometimes we Christians are a boring lot. With intense and focused zeal we pound the drum, driving home the point of our latest cause with rhythmic fury. Whether that issue is politics or doctrine, we sometimes become, to all appearances, one dimensional creatures lacking depth both of thought and heart. Rather than the message of Jesus' love for all humanity, we carry with us the accusing finger of veiled anger.

That is not to say that the issues that face our culture are not life and death issues - they are. Injustice and the death of the innocent are the very real consequences of our selfishness, and a call to repentance needs to be heard in the land. But who will heed the call if the remedy is worse than the disease? I believe it was Rainer Rilke who said "The words of an unreformed reformer are seldom heeded." Why indeed should the world heed the message of God's love from those who have none to give?

St. Paul was a man who, in the fire of his conversion, saw the Risen Christ. He was by nature a zealous man. He had such hostility to his fellow Jews, who believed in Jesus as Messiah, that he traveled from town to town seeking to put the heretics to death. He was on his way to Damascus to further his cause when he was struck down by a blinding vision of Jesus [Acts 9]. After repenting of his former behavior, Paul began to preach the very Messiah Jesus he had formerly rejected. It says he was very successful in arguing and debating for the cause of Christ. He kept winning the arguments and so infuriated his opponents that they kept trying to kill him. Even though he won the debates, it doesn't say he won many converts. In fact, he baffled people. Finally, Paul had caused so much trouble in Jerusalem that the Apostles sent Paul away from the city, and it says, "Then the Church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace," [v. 31]. Paul leaves, the city has peaceful relations, and Paul is not heard from again for about 9 years.

What had happened? Why did God send Paul, his future apostle to the Gentiles, into a type of exile? It was because Paul was full of zeal, but he lacked grace and love. He now had the truth, but he still had the same old personality. He was an arguer and a debater. He was more interested in proving Christ than in loving those Christ died to save. Twenty years later, Paul reflects on his zealous addiction that lacked affection:

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing," (1 Corinthians 13:1-3, RSV).

Like Paul, we often bang the cymbal of insistence with so little love for those who oppose us that the message we preach is our intolerant selves and not the love of Jesus Christ. Sometimes, for our own sakes and for the sake of the true Gospel, we need to take a break from our religious interests to appreciate and give thanks for the beauty of this life. Yes there is wickedness and evil in the land, but there is also the glory of sea and the sky and the field and the forest. There is music on which flows the melody of creation itself. There is fellowship and friendship and food for the table. There is this need within us to cultivate a thankful life and to know first hand the joy of the Lord. If we do not, then we fail to be God's true representatives. Can you imagine Jesus not having times of song and celebration and worship? Can you imagine Jesus without laughter? These are not the images of the same God enfleshed whose first miracle was to create wine for a wedding feast in order to keep the party going.

You are the message God is sending into the world. You are his living letters. What people see in you is the Person you represent. Therefore, to be a true message from God, you are to live the love. Any less is a disservice to the One who sends you.

Back

Slippery Rock Eagle

Fri. Feb 13, 1998

The Titanic! Invincible! Unsinkable! A monument to human ingenuity!

So ran the newspaper headlines and stories about the largest ship ever built. But every time humanity breaks into a song of self congratulation, disaster seems to follow close behind. It is almost as if God is offended by our vanity.

It has been said that human beings have an edifice complex. We like to build the biggest and the best and to exult in our achievements. It is a source of pride in human accomplishment. We hope to make a name for ourselves. We want to have fame and achieve a type of immortality through our greatness.

Our pretensions to greatness began in a city named Babel {Genesis 11}. There, the whole world got together under one leader and decided to build a tower into heaven. The word "babel" means "the gate of God." The people were trying to build a tower so high that they could walk into heaven and find eternal life. Only they wanted to get into heaven by human strength - without God! They wanted to find security in each other and in things they could make with their own hands. They did not want to depend upon God for life.

Things haven't changed much. People still want security in this world. They fear death, and so try to escape it by achievement. But history is littered with the resulting failures. The empires of Napoleon, Hitler, Stalin, Alexander, Caesar, and Genghis Khan all lie in ruins. The monuments to past moments of glory turn to dust under the fierce and steady winds of time. In our day, Donald Trump declared himself the king of finance, and soon found himself on the brink of financial collapse. Elvis, the King of Rock and Roll, died of self indulgence. The League of Nations was organized to end all wars, and WWII came a few short years later. The stock market rise that would never stop ended in the Great Depression.

The same is true of the church world. Ministries that build to glorify a ministry instead of God produce the same fruit. There is a tower of faith in Cuyahoga Falls that is a vacant embarrassment to a failed ministry. It is visible for miles, and it is an object of ridicule and scorn. There is a tower of prayer in Tulsa that almost bankrupted a ministry. The PTL's Christian version of Disneyland was sold on the auction block and cost a man his family as well as his position. No one is exempt. When we seek our security and our honor in the things we make instead of in God, then we are in trouble.

The claims of titanic invincibility once again cause me to shudder; for I fear the result of such boastfulness: "We are the Greatest Nation on the face of the Earth! America will never fall! We have put in place stop gaps so that the great stock market crashes of the past will never happen again! Our military is the mightiest in the world! God won't let anything happen to us." Everything seems to be going along fine. Things look secure on the surface. The band plays on deck, they are still serving drinks in the lounge, and the party goes on.

But below the water line, the ship is taking on water. It doesn't look serious at first. The ship is so big, it seems nothing can happen to it, but then, it starts to list just a little...

and soon, the screams of thousands who have no boat and no hope of rescue echo through the still night air. What hubris, what foolishness, to claim a ship unsinkable! How boastful and vain!

Yet how we are like a ship. We proudly sail off with the same blindness, thinking that our lives will not be cut short and that death will not take us! In our pretended invincibility, we refuse to take precautions and make provisions. We will not take Jesus as Lord. The price of our pride is a dark and watery deep that will silence our cries for rescue. We seek redemption at our convenience, but it is too late! Death approaches us, a nation takes on water, but the band plays on. Jesus is the lifeboat, large enough to take all on board.

"Ah... but not yet," say we. "Play us another song while we dance!"

Friday, May 1, 1998

"SURGE!" So goes the commercial that characterizes, or caricatures, the seventeen-to-thirty year old crowd, labeled Generation &endash;X. Pictured as a generation that is "over-the-edge," without limits or restraints, this demographic is being targeted with hype and verve. By appealing to a sense of abandon, Madison Avenue is trying to capture the brand loyalty of those who refuse to give their loyalty to anything or anyone. It is a generation that has been cast off and is wary and suspicious of every thing. It has grown up with the high sensory overload of M-TV, and it is quick to spot market manipulation and phoniness.

Traditional "church" won't cut it because it is not radical enough. This generation is unlike the previous Boomers who rebelled against the standards of their elders. For Gen-X has no standards to rebel against. Their elders have removed God and commandments and morals from the schools and the laws of the land. Everything is relative and almost anything is okay. Their elders have said it is okay to abort children waiting to be born. The members of Generation-X are the survivors of this holocaust. One third of their brothers and sisters have already been cut down by the surgeons' blade or evacuated by a suction tube. What is the message this society is sending to them?

"You are inconvenient. You are unwanted. You are in the way. And you are disposable, like tissue paper."

It is no wonder this generation is not committed to anything, but are sold out to everything. If they are sold out to sin, they are 100% sold out. Why should they care when the world does not care about them? They are a radical group that does not want a polite "Church of the Whitewashed Tomb," where everyone is expected to look nice on the outside but is only conforming to the valueless culture in which they live. Traditional churches do not know how to handle these radicals who question the value of everything and are content with nothing. But Gen-X knows what it does not want. It does not want to be sold a bill of goods. It wants something real and genuine, not the phony social club environment most people call "church."

Jesus said, "no one can be my disciple unless he is willing to be executed as a criminal for my name's sake," [Matt. 10:34-38; 16:24-25]. Jesus said, if you want to be my follower, you have to be willing to be considered a social outcast, a criminal, and a misfit. Jesus demanded 100% radical commitment. And most of the church world settles for a dollar in the offering plate, and calls that "obedience."

No wonder the Generation of the X considers the "church" lame. It isn't the real thing Jesus promised. If you haven't yet faced death; if you haven't counted the cost; and if you aren't willing to die for Jesus, you are not His disciple. You are just playing church.

So how do you expect to reach a generation that can see right through you?

It is only when you reach the point of despair that you are really fit to serve God. As human beings, one of our most common failings is that we think we can help God through our abilities. But God does not want our abilities, He wants to use His abilities through us. This is a hard lesson for us. The scriptures are full of countless examples of "heroes" who only became fit for the Master's use after they had been humiliated or failed greatly trying to fulfill their dreams through their own strength. Our pride makes us think we can serve God through our power. But this arrogance smells like a dead fish in God's nostrils. God is not as concerned that we do great things for Him as He is that we become like Jesus, in love and humility.

Look at these great "heroes of faith" - Abraham was promised a son and thought he could help God out by producing one with a slave girl [Gen. 16], Joseph had dreams of ruling over his brothers [Gen. 37], Moses killed an Egyptian because he wanted to liberate his fellow Jews [Exod. 2], Peter boasted he would follow Jesus anywhere, even to death if need be [Matt. 26:33], and Paul preached up such a storm in Jerusalem after his conversion that the whole city was in an uproar [Acts 9: 22-31]. Yet in each of these examples, God was more interested in developing the character of the person than He was in fulfilling their hopes and dreams. It is only after they had given up on their plans that God could move in them with His.

Look what these "heroes of faith" had to go through before they were finally ready to be used by God. Abraham's wife, Sarah, became so old that she couldn't bear children, but then God stepped in to do what she could not do by her natural strength. Sarah bore a miracle child when she was about 90 years of age.

Joseph spent 13 years in slavery and prison before his dreams began to come to pass.

Moses had been a prince in Egypt and a ruler of men. But after 40 years of exile, he lost all confidence in himself. He became a stammering shepherd in the desert and was so shy that he was afraid to speak in public! But that is when God finally called him to be His mouthpiece and to deliver the Jews from slavery!

Peter was humiliated by denying Jesus three times. Rather than being bold and courageous, Peter saw himself for what he truly was: a coward! And it was only after Peter's self-revelation that Jesus called him to be the shepherd of His flock. In his failure, Peter learned to have compassion and mercy towards others. Up to that time, Peter had no sympathy for others' weaknesses. But after denying Jesus, there was no way he could look down upon anyone else! He failed to follow Jesus, but he received mercy from God, and, what's more, he learned to have mercy. And he finally had the qualities he needed to be a pastor to others.

And look at Paul, the great apostle. After seeing Jesus in a vision on the road to Damascus, Paul spent 9 years in the desert doing next to nothing. He had this tremendous call from God! He had this great commission to reach the Gentiles! But he had to sit still for 9 years while he waited to be sent by God as a missionary evangelist. Why did God assign him to the desert? Because while Paul was full of zeal, he lacked love [see 1 Cor. 13!]. God was more interested in Paul than in Paul's mission. Only after spending years sitting on the back burner was Paul able to do the work God wanted him to do. For then Paul went out under God's strength, rather than in his own zeal.

Why is it necessary for us to be crushed to be fit to be used by God? Because God is not interested in our ability or in our strength. He does not want our testimony to be how great we are, but how great He is! When we are crushed, we see ourselves as we truly are: weak, frail, and helpless creatures. We see that our only hope is God, for only He can make a way where this is no way. Paul found this out, when he wrote this passage:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction... We do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of the affliction we experienced in Asia; for we were so utterly, unbearably crushed that we despaired of life itself. Why, we felt that we had received the sentence of death; but that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead, (2 Corinthians 1: 3, 3-4, 8-9, RSV)

Being crushed makes us compassionate. And our faith is increased towards God when He moves on our behalf. It is only after we have failed to succeed by our own strength that we truly see the strength of God. And it is only then that we are fit for the Master's use.

"He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear; but with righteousness he shall judge..." (Isaiah 11:3-4).

These words were spoken of Jesus. The people longed for a coming King who would himself be truly honest and who would judge others with fairness and truth. We all know how justice can be perverted with a bribe, but just as easily, it can be perverted by rumor, gossip, and the public opinion poll. Because of our human tendency to rush to judgment, the Scriptures caution us to deliberate and weigh issues before deciding them:

He who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. (Proverbs 18:17).

He who renders a decision before listening--that is his folly and his shame. (Proverbs 18:13).

Jesus, it says, was acclaimed by all the people, and they wanted to make him King [John 6:15], but he hid himself from them. It says he didn't trust popular opinion, because "He himself knew what was in man," [John 2:24-25]. Public opinion polls are not a reliable thing. The same populace who cried, "Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!" on Sunday, were screaming "Crucify Him!" by Thursday. The public is a fickle thing, and dangerous is the tyranny of the popular will.

For this reason, we are not to be ruled by the whim of the day. The Republic was set up to protect us from ourselves! Rumor and gossip fill the airwaves, and we are swayed by those with the most effective spin. But truth is amassed in evidence, not in statements made in media shows. And judgment must come by weighing the facts, not by appealing to our sentiments.

Because of the pandering of the media to public opinion, we have become confused about how, as Christians, we should proceed. Should we forgive and forget? Or should we seek justice through the laws of the land? Our confusion arises because we do not understand the role of the State and then our role as the Church in dealing with Bill Clinton as an individual caught in sin.

The scriptures, in Romans 13, say that the State exists to suppress evil and govern in righteousness for the welfare and protection of ALL the people. The Christian is subjected to this "impartial" standard as much as anyone. If the law is corrupted so that it does not apply equally to those with money and power, the purpose of the State is perverted, from God's perspective, and injustice reigns through partiality.

For Clinton, as citizen and as a "brother" in Christ [I am not evaluating this claim, just taking it as his face value], there two different needs: One is for the State to enforce the law impartially, and the other is for the Church to offer counsel for repentance and reconciliation.

Gordon MacDonald, is one of the two pastors offering Bill Clinton face to face accountability over his past, sinful conduct. MacDonald said, after accepting the counseling role, he had been struck by Clinton's public expression of contrition at the Friday prayer breakfast, which MacDonald accepted as genuine.

``No one could have been present and retained a disbelieving, a cynical, a hardened attitude toward this man who opened his heart and acknowledged his realization of his sin,'' he said. He said he would not take any political stand on Clinton or impeachment, but said people of faith had an obligation to ''treat seriously any attempt by a self-proclaimed sinner who asks for forgiveness.''

``Have I worried about being used? Of course,'' he said. ``If the president's repentance is false or short-termed, that will show in time, and we will have to swallow hard and admit that we were taken in.''

There is a lot of wisdom in this stance. Some repentance is as the result of the moment. It is a surface response to the discomfort of being caught and it is an attempt to escape the consequences of pain. It can be genuine, but poorly motivated, and as soon as the pressure is off, a person will return to his old ways, because there was not true sorrow over the deed itself. In other words, the person in his heart is not convinced that the action is wrong, but is responding to the threat of punishment. Length of time and testing is needed to see if the depth of repentance is there and a true conversion has taken place. Wisdom and love demand no less. This was the mistake that Oral Roberts made when he pronounced Jimmy Swaggart 'clean' of demons after one session of deliverance when Jimmy first fell into public disgrace. Jimmy's denomination wanted to put him in counseling and set him down for a while, until they were sure that his repentance would hold. But Oral Roberts stepped in and short-circuited the process of restoration. He helped Jimmy escape from the consequences of accountability, which his denomination was trying to use to bring him to healing. In the end, Oral gave Jimmy an excuse to run from the discipline. Jimmy Swaggart then fell into greater destruction, and Oral helped all the way.

If we, as the Church want to be faithful to Bill Clinton, we need to take a cautious, long-term attitude towards his repentance. We can forgive him now, but wait for the change of his character to be demonstrated in new behavior before we bless him with favor. Also, we can and should let the State do its job, as God's instrument in dealing with him impartially. Remember - it was only this public exposure of his sin by the State's agency that finally caused him to deal with his behavior and ask for forgiveness. Let the State finish its work for Bill's betterment. And always lift him up in prayer, so that his healing and repentance will be genuine and complete in his conversion to Christ's righteousness.

Dec. 25 1998

There are times when words fail. There are times when familiar truths become stale because of our superficial acquaintance with the oft repeated story. Such a time is this: when we celebrate Christmas - the story of God becoming flesh in our midst. This is such a time when words cannot capture - when words cannot express - the glory and depth of the Mystery. At such times, sermons become difficult, and the best use of words is to point us to what we cannot understand nor fully comprehend, so that we may kneel before the mystery in awe and wonder, as did the shepherds coming in from the fields.

To see the Unseen wrapt in flesh, sweat, and rags - the Unseen made visible to human eyes! To touch the Uncreated - to lay hold of Life! How can this be?

If reason were able to explain God among us, and if we were able to reduce this truth to words, it would no longer be God that we describe.

Why?

Because if we could enclose God in our words, we would be pointing to the finite, not the Infinite. Reason can only point to the infinite, but it cannot grasp it or reduce it to logic and formula. The Mystery is greater than that!

And when we come to such a juncture, our minds do us best service when we recognize the limits of our ability to know. What we cannot comprehend in its "All and All" can yet, somehow, be held in our hands! The Infinite God has clothed himself in human flesh and walked among us.

At times like these, Reason must bow the knee and point beyond itself to what it can see but cannot reveal. Reason must say "There! There is God! But I cannot go there! Faith alone will allow you to be embraced by the Infinite!"

This child of flesh - this Jesus, this Immanuel, this God with us - is a contact point by which God allowed us to touch the Infinite and to be touched by His Love.

Before this Mystery, our only proper response is to find safety in humility before the majesty: to kneel, to worship, and to adore. All else is empty and vain.

Merry Christmas to you all! And may you kneel before the Mystery and be grasped by His Love in Jesus Christ!

Expression Magazine

One of the most frightening scriptures is when Jesus said, "....whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven," (Matthew 10:33, RSV). Out of fear for one's own life, it is possible for Christians to deny the Lord. We have not faced persecution in this country like Christians in other nations, but it may come to that here. And are we prepared for it? Would the majority of the Church in the United States be willing to face death for the sake of Jesus? I tend to doubt it. For we have, in a multitude of small ways, denied the Lord for much less. We don't open our mouths and admit we are Christians in the workplace. When a co-worker swears or tells an off color joke, we may also swear and laugh to disguise our real feelings. We tend to go along with the crowd to "fit in." When we know that abortion is wrong or that homosexuality is still sin, we may not open our mouths in public to stand for what is right. We would rather be though of as compassionate by our co-workers than endure the criticism that may come if we stand up for truth.

Such acts of cowardice may be understandable. Many people actually do live in fear of what others think. But there is an act of denying Jesus that has no excuse. It is done in private, where no one can see you. You don't have to tell anyone about it. In fact, it is such a private matter, it is considered impolite for anyone to ask you about it. And if you deny the Lord there, you have no excuse whatsoever. It is called voting! Sadly, in the darkness of the voting booth, countless Christians pull the lever to pad their own pockets, and by their vote they deny the Lord.

Unique among the nations for its time, God gave the people of the United States the privilege of governing themselves. He entrusted them with the right and responsibility of self rule. To other peoples he gave kings or tyrants to rule over them, but in us He saw a potential for spiritual maturity that was worthy of freedom from oppressive forms of government. But such self government requires a moral populace. John Adams, in his first year as vice-president under George Washington said: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral a religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."

If we will not restrain ourselves, then God may give us a government which will restrain us against our will through force! Those who are lawless in morals cannot rule themselves through laws of their own making. And we are fast approaching the decline of the rule of law. To prevent that, we need to pray first, repent of our selfishness, and then vote in agreement with God's righteous principles. But most of us don't even do that much to see righteousness established in our land!

Only 50% of conservative Christians even bother to vote in a Presidential Election. Twenty three percent don't even register. James Dobson wrote, "At a recent primary here in Colorado, a pro-abortion candidate defeated a pro-life person by a margin of only 27 votes. A state attorney in Florida who had consistently done battle with pornographers lost by 54 votes. The members even of a small church in each district could have reversed these decisions by simply showing up at the polls." When, we the Church, do not fulfill our duties and responsibilities, do we have any right to blame the world for the way it is? We are refusing to exercise the responsibilities of the privileges of democracy through our apathy and abdication. God has given us this right and we have squandered it for a lack of care. How much worse is it now that we use those privileges not to advance the cause of Christ but to satisfy our lusts and greed:

In ancient days, the pagans worshipped false gods of the harvest. They thought that if they sacrificed their own children on the altars, then they would get a better crop. Like them, we vote for those who promote abortion in exchange for more government programs that will pander to our every whim and desire for more. We have lost the spirit of self-sacrifice and self-restraint. O Christians, we are without excuse when we sacrifice our principles and our conscience for the sake of money in our pockets! We are sacrificing more than our vote, we are denying the Lord who bought us. We are saying, in effect, that God isn't big enough to take care of our needs, but the government is. The State has become our God. And we ignore the cries of the weakest of God's children in order to secure a pension. Can you face the Lord with your vote and tell him that you knew it was right? Will you blame the world for its evils, when you did not do the little that you could to stem the tide?

If we fail God in such a small matter as the vote, how shall we stand for Him when real persecution comes?

Political Commentaries

First Published in KeyStone Unity Press and Pennsylvania Reporter (Christian Coalition of PA) in May, 1994

The Founder's of this nation raised the battle cry for liberty with the words oft repeated, "We have no king but Jesus!" But our contemporaries have abandoned our historical quest for freedom with a cry of a different sort, "We'll have any king who will give us health care!" Just as Esau traded away his birthright for a bowl full of porridge to appease his temporary hunger, so we are in danger of trading away our heritage of liberty for the temporal security of cradle to grave health care.

Esau was judged by God for caring so little about the privileges of being the first born son in the family (Genesis 25). Traditionally, the first born son held a position of great honor and was in line to inherit double the portion of earthly goods that the remaining children received. But Esau was so concerned about feeding his stomach that he was willing to cast it all away for the sake of a simple meal. So he sold his birthright to his brother Jacob for a bowl of mush. And God rejected Esau because of his unworthy choices.

In our nation, we have surrendered our trust in God as our provider, and we now we look to the State to take care of us. We want to live in a world that has no risks and where our needs are always met. We are willing to surrender our liberty for security, and because we have turned to the State in such dependency, we are willing to change our allegiance from Almighty God to a human government which promises to meet our every need.

But the life of faith and trust in God has risks. God demands our dependence upon him. And because of that risky dependence upon God, we are to look to him alone to meet our needs through prayer and by faith. Jesus told his followers not to worry about food our clothing, because "the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. " (Matthew 6:31-32). Yet rather than trust ourselves to the uncertain nature of God, we would rather take refuge in a government program that promises us the security of daily bread.

But there is a price for such allegiance. The price is slavery. Oh, no matter that the health program will eventually sap 15% or more of our income in new taxes to fully cover the program. And no matter that every state will be forced to provide abortion on demand. No matter that the Federal Government will overturn state laws and undermine the people's right to govern themselves. "Just give us health care and we will serve you all our days!" The dream of liberty which The Founders found so dear is now being sold on the auction block of fear and insecurity to the politician who will make the highest bid of promises to satisfy our cravings. And our response is, "Give us leeks and onions. Give us meat. Give us those things we crave, and we will be your slaves." We will willing trade away our freedom to a government which promises to keep our bellies full.

Merrill Lynch just did a tax study called Saving the American Dream which found that unfunded government programs like future Social Security and medical payments will eventually increase the tax rate to 82% on individual income if we continue with present mandates. How high a price are we willing to pay for our present bowl of porridge? If we do not rise up and resist the tempting but poisonous pill of federal programs, we will indeed place upon this generation a burden it cannot bear. And the freedoms we so cherished will be lost in the maze of federal regulation. Our freedom may still be there somewhere, but no one will know how to bring it out of the dank labyrinth of government bureaucracy for its light to shine again upon the citizens of the land.

©1994 Jefferis Kent Peterson

Permission is hereby granted for non-commercial reproduction in whole or in part, without alteration and with proper citation as to source and author.

Miscellaneous Writings

As we see the day of Christ approaching, we also see a countervailing force in the world seeking to disrupt the Kingdom of God. One barometer of the devil's resistance to the plan and purposes of God is racial and ethnic animosity. Jesus said that in the latter days, "nation (ethnic group) will rise up against nation (ethnic group)..." And if we look around the world, even in our own country, we see a rising tide of racial strife. The hope of Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, which was to produce an end to poverty and create equal opportunity for all, has collapsed under its own weight on the unstable economic base of the United States. Just as Communism failed to produce a utopian society, we too are finding the limits of our government's ability to solve to human problems such as drugs, poverty, and murder. We are finally facing the truth that these problems are as deeply spiritual as they are material.

Racial hatred and fear are as natural to the human condition as is sin. But in the United States, we are substituting a New Age anthropology, which believes in the basic goodness of human beings, for a biblical one. We believe that if we can just "educate" someone right, that prejudice, racism, drugs, and unwanted pregnancies will disappear. But the Bible says that sin is the natural state of "Man," and these problems will not disappear without a revival of the Spirit of God. Unrestrained by the countervailing force of the Holy Spirit, racism and hatred are as natural to humanity as are lust and greed. And we are seeing all these forces of hatred and ethnic strife rearing their ugly heads anew in spite of all our "education." It is not just happening here in the United States, but these same forces are ripping apart the fragile peace of the world, just as Jesus said.

It is the challenge of the Church to provide an alternative to this sea of hatred. If we are going to shine forth in the darkness, we need to show the world how different the Kingdom of God is from this world and its ways. If we can reveal true unity in spite of ethnic and racial differences, we can appeal to liberals and conservatives alike who are hungering to see some ideals manifest in the earth. But the government cannot do this; no law can enforce it among us; only true unity born of the Holy Spirit can overcome the natural prejudice of "Man" and cause love to reign supreme. I submit, this call to racial harmony is the challenge to the Church for the 1990's. And the Bible has the pattern for the Church to follow:

In ancient Israel, there was a low wall, called the Soreg, around the Temple, beyond which no Gentile could pass upon pain of death. Paul called it a "dividing wall." It was a wall that kept the nations out of the Holy Place. Although Isaiah declared that the Temple would be a place of prayer for all nations and that all nations would come to the light of God in Zion (Is. 56:7; 60:1), the Gentiles still had to worship God from afar. They could not get too close to the presence of the Lord because, according to the Law, the Gentiles were unclean. God had called Israel to be a light to the Gentiles; to be an example, separate and set apart. But a misinterpretation of this special calling of the Jews encouraged a racial pride and prejudice that created a spiritual division between the races as well as a natural and physical one. Hatred and mistrust, envy and racism were the outcomes of this division. This is the reason that Paul called the Soreg, "a dividing wall of hostility,"

But don't you know, God had an answer for this problem, and his name is Jesus! Paul said, "but you Gentiles who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who has made us (Jew and Gentile) both one, and has broken down the dividing wall of hostility... that he might create in himself one new humanity in the place of two... thereby bringing the hostility to an end," (Ephesians 2:14-16) God created the Church to be that model of reconciliation for the world. The Church is to be that model of unity in fellowship, worship, and prayer. Now if there is to be any division, it is to be between the people of God and the people of the world. There, a natural animosity exists, because those who hate Christ and his government will hate his people as well. But we cannot help that.

However, what a crime it is for us who claim the Name of Christ to resurrect that dividing wall of hostility between us in the Church on the basis of race, culture, class, skin color, or ethnic heritage! How sinful to deny by our actions that we are one in Jesus! If the world's divisions become part of the Church, how can we offer any testimony to the world? How can we offer the desperate world any hope? If Jesus said the world will know us by our love for one another, and we fail to love one another in a practical way; then how will the world know there is a Savior! The Church is called to be an example of the Kingdom of God in distinction to the strife of this world. And if we fail to be an example, then we give no witness worth believing and Christ becomes irrelevant to this age; for he has no solutions to the world's problems. Jesus may be God's answer to man's prejudice and fear, one new man in the place of two; but if his truth does not have any affect on the way we treat each other, why should anyone believe us? We have made a lie out of the Good News of God and we make a mockery of the Kingdom.

But we can fulfill God's plan. We can come together. I have seen it happen. I have seen churches strive to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Anywhere people will truly submit themselves to the Holy Spirit, God will deal with their fear, their hatred, and their pride. I have seen it in city churches and suburban churches. It is possible. But it is happening on such a small scale while our society is being torn apart. Too much of the Church is denying the call of God or is finding an excuse for its prejudice and fear. Beloved, it must not be so. We can fulfill the call of God to love each other in deed and in truth.

But how do we love one another? Do we pretend that the races don't exist and that everyone is one color? No! By all means, no! For that denies the beauty of our diversity. We are to appreciate the God given differences in race and culture as expressions of the divine character. We can have unity in the midst of our diversity. And only in that diversity can true love be shown. There is a message spray painted on a school parking lot in my neighborhood that sums up the danger of racial or cultural blindness. It says, "conformity corrodes the soul; equality sets us free." This is the truth. Somewhere, somehow, we need to be a witness to the beauty of God. That beauty is revealed in a Pentecost that unites all the nations of the earth in One people without destroying what makes them unique.

My friends, what this world desperately needs to see is the love of God truly shown among us in our love for one another. If we can walk in this love for each other, we can reach the world. If we fail in it; God may pass us by for another generation who will truly listen to His call.

It has been said that we are raising a generation of children who cannot read, but truthfully, the move away from classic western literature and towards contemporary fantasy in the classroom is stripping this generation of an ability to think. It saps them of their ability to think ethically because they are not taught to think of others but of themselves. Classic literature, from writers like Bacon, Dickens, Shakespeare, Melville, and Hawthorne, has always centered around the drama of individuals faced with making moral choices in the midst of troubling circumstances. The play, Hamlet, is the epitome of this genre of literature because it portrays a human being as a mixture of motives, both good and evil. The whole play deals with Hamlet's struggle to choose between his passions. And as a result, we see in Shakespeare's play an accurate reflection of the struggles we all face.

In contrast, many teachers in the public school system rely heavily on works of fantasy, witchcraft, myth, and thrillers of one sort or another because "it keeps the kids attention." The common theme of these books is that you can use of force or magical powers to get what you want out of life. Rather than show the realistic wrestling of a person trying to overcome a selfish desire for revenge, for example, the books simplistically paint the bad guys as so totally evil that the use of force is always justified in accomplishing one's personal goals. Human beings are usually portrayed as one dimensional, either good or bad, like cardboard cut outs on the stage. The people provide scenery around which the action can take place, but there is very little development of character. And issues of morality are often avoided. No inner struggle or wrenching conflict is portrayed. Life seems to be so simple and easy that the children are not prepared by that type of literature to deal with real conflict situations where one's own desires are denied.

Classic literature however is more faithful to a biblical view of humanity. No one on earth is good, but we have all sinned. We all struggle against selfishness. We all are a mixture of motives, both good and evil, and the human drama is a wrestling match between our two natures. Therefore, classic literature has depth of character because it portrays the complexity of the human condition. And by using classic literature in the classroom, we can show how moral choices have certain consequences in life. We can use moral failures and successes portrayed in literature to teach our children how to restrain their own inner selfish impulses for the benefit of others. The classics can be a type of boot camp for the moral decision making process.

Modern humanistic philosophy, in contrast to the biblical world view, does not believe that humanity is basically evil, but basically good. It does not believe humanity is sinful. So, rather than teach people how to restrain their behavior, this philosophy concentrates on how to have children get their inner "needs" for affirmation and approval met through education. The fantasy literature that reflects this philosophy now is a major influence in many schools. The problem with a steady diet of this type of literature is that it does not teach a child to distinguish between his own impulses and right and wrong. Without guidelines in social morality, the child is left to decide for himself right and wrong based upon what he feels like inside. The phrase "you do what you think is right," is the operative principle of humanistic morality. This values clarification model is used in health, sex ed., drug awareness, and through literature it invades every other area of education. But what happens to a generation that likes drugs because it feels good or is willing to kill because someone makes them feel bad?

As a generation of children is inundated with this world view, they gradually lose their ability to think ethically, make moral decisions, or restrain their behavior. Instead of being taught to sacrifice themselves for the benefit of others, they are taught to think selfishly. As a result, many of today's youth see other people as an obstacle to obtaining their desires; so, if they see a jacket or sneakers they like, they are willing to kill for it and take what they want. They have no self-restraint. They have not been taught it. Many of those teenagers arrested for murder now define justifiable homicide as "he got in my face," or "he made fun of me." They show no remorse nor do they show any concern that murder might not be the right thing to do. The concentration is on "me, my wants, and what makes me feel good."

Our educational system, by denying a biblical view of the human condition, and by replacing it with a modern liberal view, is perpetuating the inability of our youth to distinguish between fantasy and reality, right and wrong. We do not train them to ask themselves, "Should I do this or not? Is it right?" We only train them to ask "What do I want to do?"

Our culture was created on the biblical model and used the law as the necessary means of restraining the behavior of those who would not restrain themselves. But the Founders knew that democracy would only work if the people were individually moral and self-controlled. John Adams, in his first year as vice-president under George Washington said: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other."

As we abandon our biblical foundations and refuse to face the nature of sin in humanity, we lose our ability to govern ourselves. A return to classic literature alone would not reverse the tide, but if society were to reject the humanistic and liberal view of humanity and recognize the need to teach our children self-restraint, then the classics could aid our instruction. For our culture to acknowledge that human beings can be evil and do evil things, they would also have to acknowledge a need for a Savior to forgive them for the evil they do. But that is the last thing modern liberals want to do. So the consequence of our rejection of biblical truth about humanity is selfishness which leads to the blood-letting now so common on our streets. There is indeed a consequence for every choice we make. And morals have an effect upon us whether we want to acknowledge it or not.

Jefferis Kent Peterson

The Scholar's Corner

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