From Creation Moments
Origin of the rainbow explained (Genesis 9:13-16). Prior to the Flood there was a diferent environment on the earth (Genesis 2:5-6). After the Flood, God set His rainbow "in the cloud" as a sign that He woud never again judge the earth by water. Meteorologists now understand that a rainbow is formed when the sun shines through water droplets - which act as a prism - separating white light into its color spectrum.
Light can be divided (Job 38:24). Sir Isaac Newton studied light and discovered that white light is made of seven colors, which can be "parted" and then recombined. Science confirmed this four centuries ago - God declared this four millennia ago!
Ocean currents anticipated (Psalm 8:8). Three thousand years ago the Bible described the "paths of the seas." In the 19th century Matthew Maury - the father of oceanography - after reading Psalm 8, researched and discovered ocean currents that follow specific paths through the seas! Utilizing Maury's data, marine navigators have since reduced by many days the time required to traverse the seas.
Sexual promiscuity is dangerous to your health (1 Corinthians 6:18; Romans 1:27). The Bible warns that "he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body," and that those who commit homosexual sin would "receive in themselves" the penalty of their error. Much data now confirms that any sexual relationship outside of holy matrimony is unsafe.
Reproduction explained (Genesis 1:27-28; 2:24; Mark 10:6-8). While evolution has no mechanism to explain how male and female reproductive organs evolved at the same time, the Bible says that from the beginning God made them male and female in order to propagate the human race and animal kinds.
Incalculable number of stars (Jeremiah 33:22). At a time when less than 5,000 stars were visible to the human eye, God stated that the stars of heaven were innumerable. Not until the 17th century did Galileo glimpse the immensity of our universe with his new telescope. Today, astronomers estimate that there are ten thousand billion trillion stars - that's a 1 followed by 25 zeros! Yet, as the Bible states, scientists admit this number may be woefully inadequate.
The number of stars, though vast, are finite (Isaiah 40:26). Although man is unable to calculate the exact number of stars, we now know their number is finite. Of course God knew this all along - "He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name" (Psalm 147:4). What an awesome God!
The Bible compares the number of stars with the number of grains of sand on the seashore (Genesis 22:17; Hebrews 11:12). Amazingly, gross estimates of the number of sand grains are comparable to the estimated number of stars in the universe.
(www.creationmoments.com)
Saturday, November 30, 2013
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Reinstate Oklahoma Law Requiring Ultrasound Before Abortions
Christian News Report:
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case that would reinstate ultrasounds before abotions in Oklahoma. Last December, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to require abortionists to perform an ultrasound, describing the view of the unborn baby in detail an hour before ending the child's life. The court poited back to Planned Parenthood vs.Casey, which says state laws cannot inhibit a woman's ability to obrain an abortion.
"Because the United States Supreme Court has previously determined the dispositive issue presented in this manner, this court is not free to imposie its own view of the law, the justices wrote.
The Center for Reproductive Rights praised the courts decision. President Nancy Northrup said in a statement, "Today the U.S. Supreme Court has let stand another strong decision by the Oklahoma courts protecting a woman's constitutional right to make her own decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy from the intrusion of politicians opposed to her rights and indifferent to her health."
But National Right to Life director Mary Spaulding Balch had a decidely different perspective. "Ultrasound laws save lives," she said. "According to a 2011 Quinnipiac University study, 'ultrasound requirement laws reduce the odds of a woman having an abortion quite substantially.' This find would explain why ultrasound laws provoke such powerful reactions of our opponents even though ultrasounds are routinely performed and are required by abortion providers prior to the performance of any abortion."
(www.religiontoday.com, 11/16/13)
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case that would reinstate ultrasounds before abotions in Oklahoma. Last December, the Oklahoma Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to require abortionists to perform an ultrasound, describing the view of the unborn baby in detail an hour before ending the child's life. The court poited back to Planned Parenthood vs.Casey, which says state laws cannot inhibit a woman's ability to obrain an abortion.
"Because the United States Supreme Court has previously determined the dispositive issue presented in this manner, this court is not free to imposie its own view of the law, the justices wrote.
The Center for Reproductive Rights praised the courts decision. President Nancy Northrup said in a statement, "Today the U.S. Supreme Court has let stand another strong decision by the Oklahoma courts protecting a woman's constitutional right to make her own decisions about whether to continue a pregnancy from the intrusion of politicians opposed to her rights and indifferent to her health."
But National Right to Life director Mary Spaulding Balch had a decidely different perspective. "Ultrasound laws save lives," she said. "According to a 2011 Quinnipiac University study, 'ultrasound requirement laws reduce the odds of a woman having an abortion quite substantially.' This find would explain why ultrasound laws provoke such powerful reactions of our opponents even though ultrasounds are routinely performed and are required by abortion providers prior to the performance of any abortion."
(www.religiontoday.com, 11/16/13)
Saturday, November 23, 2013
ObamaCare Mess Begs the Question: How Can We Get America Back to Great?
By Dr. Ben Carson and Kim R. Holmes
Hundreds of thousands - perhaps millions - of people have lost their health care coverage under ObamaCare. And it's not the botched website or even bureaucratic incompetence (although there's plenty of the latter to go around) that accounts for the failings of the new health program. Rather it's the misguided idea that government should replace the individual and his or her doctor in making health care decisions. That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the proper role of government.
Both of us have written books about the greatness of America. We've looked at the history of what made America a successful country and are deeply disturbed that the nation has gotten off track. We are concerned by the vision of America, represented most baldly by ObamaCare, which assumes that only a centralized government can solve vast social and economic problems such as health care. If our history tells us anything, it's that such a vision is a mirage.
Government didn't make America great. It was individual Americans possessing the freedom to make the important decisions in their lives. They formed voluntary associations and insurance companies to protect themselves from ill health. They gathered together in churches and community halls to solve problems on their own, without the heavy hand of government. It was the miracle of the American ethos interacting with limited government and a free economy that made America the wealthiest, most successful nation on earth.
The key assumption was that no government would ever be as effective as a free people in solving complex social and economic problems. If this were manifest only in programs like ObamaCare, perhaps we could worry less. But it actually is part of a much larger trend. The growth of government across the board is not only drowning the nation in debt, it is killing the free spirit of the American people.
America was once a place where people could pursue the American Dream with encouragement from the government. Government would protect us in our daily lives and make sure the economy was free enough for people to go as far as their energy and talents would take them. Unlike in Europe, Americans did not want government to take care of their every need, or control their decisions.
Another part of American exceptionalism is a willingness to take care of those who truly cannot take care of themselves. This is our duty as Americans and has spawned many charitable organizations and churches. Government does not need to be in control of charity.
What made America different - exceptional, if you will - is the historical fact that Americans embraced a culture, economy and system of government that put a premium on freedom. People were free to prove themselves, which meant that some failed while others succeeded. Freedom of opportunity, not equality of results, set America apart. Millions of immigrants came to America looking for this freedom and were (and still are) willing to take that chance.
George Santayana once said that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." If Americans cannot remember what worked and what didn't work in their past, they are condemned to lose their future. It's not about resurrecting the past. Some things are obviously best left behind. Rather, it's understanding that America's unique path to success as a nation depended on very specific things.
We would never have become a great nation had we let others do for us what we, as individuals, felt obligated to do for ourselves. Freedom was not some abstract principle but the life blood of everyday life. It worked so well because it harnessed a secret about the truth of human nature - that everyone yearns to be free, prosperous and, yes, secure - to the service of the greater good.
The people who constructed ObamaCare forgot all this. They overlooked that it is unjust to punish one set of people - e.g., force them out of their current insurance - in order to subsidize another. They forgot that the genius of the American system - in the past - was that it was decentralized, allowing people the freedom to experiment in order to solve problems on their own.
In this respect, for example, it would have been far better to have reformed whatever ailed our health care system by providing people with more choices, and to help those who needed it to obtain adequate protection, rather than have the government dictate those choices for them - and denouncing as "substandard" the choices many had freely made. But that would have required President Obama to change his world view and his understanding of American history.
We can turn America around if we focus on what made the country great in the first place: an abiding faith in the individual and respect for his or her freedom; the beliefs that the best government is one that governs least and that the bonds of trust that bind civil society together are still the very things that made our freedom possible.
Remembering that is how we get America back to great.
(www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/11/15/)
Hundreds of thousands - perhaps millions - of people have lost their health care coverage under ObamaCare. And it's not the botched website or even bureaucratic incompetence (although there's plenty of the latter to go around) that accounts for the failings of the new health program. Rather it's the misguided idea that government should replace the individual and his or her doctor in making health care decisions. That is a fundamental misunderstanding of the proper role of government.
Both of us have written books about the greatness of America. We've looked at the history of what made America a successful country and are deeply disturbed that the nation has gotten off track. We are concerned by the vision of America, represented most baldly by ObamaCare, which assumes that only a centralized government can solve vast social and economic problems such as health care. If our history tells us anything, it's that such a vision is a mirage.
Government didn't make America great. It was individual Americans possessing the freedom to make the important decisions in their lives. They formed voluntary associations and insurance companies to protect themselves from ill health. They gathered together in churches and community halls to solve problems on their own, without the heavy hand of government. It was the miracle of the American ethos interacting with limited government and a free economy that made America the wealthiest, most successful nation on earth.
The key assumption was that no government would ever be as effective as a free people in solving complex social and economic problems. If this were manifest only in programs like ObamaCare, perhaps we could worry less. But it actually is part of a much larger trend. The growth of government across the board is not only drowning the nation in debt, it is killing the free spirit of the American people.
America was once a place where people could pursue the American Dream with encouragement from the government. Government would protect us in our daily lives and make sure the economy was free enough for people to go as far as their energy and talents would take them. Unlike in Europe, Americans did not want government to take care of their every need, or control their decisions.
Another part of American exceptionalism is a willingness to take care of those who truly cannot take care of themselves. This is our duty as Americans and has spawned many charitable organizations and churches. Government does not need to be in control of charity.
What made America different - exceptional, if you will - is the historical fact that Americans embraced a culture, economy and system of government that put a premium on freedom. People were free to prove themselves, which meant that some failed while others succeeded. Freedom of opportunity, not equality of results, set America apart. Millions of immigrants came to America looking for this freedom and were (and still are) willing to take that chance.
George Santayana once said that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." If Americans cannot remember what worked and what didn't work in their past, they are condemned to lose their future. It's not about resurrecting the past. Some things are obviously best left behind. Rather, it's understanding that America's unique path to success as a nation depended on very specific things.
We would never have become a great nation had we let others do for us what we, as individuals, felt obligated to do for ourselves. Freedom was not some abstract principle but the life blood of everyday life. It worked so well because it harnessed a secret about the truth of human nature - that everyone yearns to be free, prosperous and, yes, secure - to the service of the greater good.
The people who constructed ObamaCare forgot all this. They overlooked that it is unjust to punish one set of people - e.g., force them out of their current insurance - in order to subsidize another. They forgot that the genius of the American system - in the past - was that it was decentralized, allowing people the freedom to experiment in order to solve problems on their own.
In this respect, for example, it would have been far better to have reformed whatever ailed our health care system by providing people with more choices, and to help those who needed it to obtain adequate protection, rather than have the government dictate those choices for them - and denouncing as "substandard" the choices many had freely made. But that would have required President Obama to change his world view and his understanding of American history.
We can turn America around if we focus on what made the country great in the first place: an abiding faith in the individual and respect for his or her freedom; the beliefs that the best government is one that governs least and that the bonds of trust that bind civil society together are still the very things that made our freedom possible.
Remembering that is how we get America back to great.
(www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/11/15/)
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Spurgeon:The Guilt and The Cleansing
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7
There are two things I shall try to talk about, as God shall help me. The one is that sin is a very foul thing: David says, "Purge me," "Wash me." The other is that the cleansing must be very great: this process of hyssop sprinkling and of washing must be very potent, for he says, "I shall be clean." "I shall be whiter than snow."
1. First than, a little about THE DEFILEMENT.
Sometimes, it has been asked by unconverted men, "Why do you talk so much about atonement? Why should he require the shedding of blood and the endurance of great suffering?" Sinner, if you had a right sense of sin, you would never ask such a question. In asking that question, you speak upon the supposition that God is such a one as yourself. But he hates sin, he sees in sin such loathsomeness as you have never dreamed of; there is, to him, such horrible abomination,such a heinousness, such a detestableness and uncleaness about sin, that he could not pass it by. If he did, he would bring upon his own character the suspicion that he was not holy. Had God passed by human sin without a substitutionary sacrifice, the seraphim must have suspended their song "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." The Judge, who winks at sin, is the abettor of sin. If the supreme Ruler does not punish sin, he becomes himself the patron of all guilt,and sin may take its rest beneath the shadow of his wings. But it is not so: and sinner, God would have you know, and have angels know, and have devils know, that however lightly any of his creatures may think of sin, and however foolishly simple man may toy with it, he knows what a vile thing it is, and he will have no patience with it. "He will by no means spare the guilty."
2. And now we shall have a few words upon THE POWER OF THE CLEANSING.
Whom can it cleanse? That is the first question. David answers it, for he says, "It can cleanse me." He meant himself. I would not exaggerate David's sin, but it was a very frightful one. What could be more dreadful than for a man so highy-favored, who had so much light, so much communion with God, and who stood so high as a light in the midst of the nation, to commit two crimes so accursed as those which we must lay at his door - adultery and murder? While my blood runs chill at the very thought of his having committed them, yet in my soul I am glad that the Holy Spirit ever permitted such a black case to stand on record. What an encouragement to seek pardon it has been to many who have sined as foully as David did! If thou canst bend thy knee, and pray David's prayer, thou shalt get David's answer, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." What if thou hast even defiled thy neighbor's wife? What if thou hast even smitten thy neighbor to his heart, and left him dead upon the earth? These two crimes will damn thee to all eternity excpt thou shalt find pardon for them through the blood of Jesus; but there is pardon for them there. If thou lookest up to where that blood is streaming from the hands and feet and side of Jesus; if thou doest trust thy broken spirit in his hands, there is pardon for thy crimson sins to be had just now. Is there a harlot here? O poor fallen woman, I pray that Christ may so forgive thee that then thou wilt wash his feet with thy tears, and wipe them with the hairs of thine head! Is there a thief here? Men say that you will never be reclaimed, but I pray the eternal mercy, which saved the dying thief, to save the living thief.
Another question is,When will it cleanse? It will cleanse now. It will cleanse at this moment. He who trusts Christ is saved the moment that he trusts. His sin is blotted out the instant that he accepts Christ as his Substitute, and justifies God in smiting sin in the person of theSavior.
(C. H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon MInistries, PO Box 1673, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 5C8)
There are two things I shall try to talk about, as God shall help me. The one is that sin is a very foul thing: David says, "Purge me," "Wash me." The other is that the cleansing must be very great: this process of hyssop sprinkling and of washing must be very potent, for he says, "I shall be clean." "I shall be whiter than snow."
1. First than, a little about THE DEFILEMENT.
Sometimes, it has been asked by unconverted men, "Why do you talk so much about atonement? Why should he require the shedding of blood and the endurance of great suffering?" Sinner, if you had a right sense of sin, you would never ask such a question. In asking that question, you speak upon the supposition that God is such a one as yourself. But he hates sin, he sees in sin such loathsomeness as you have never dreamed of; there is, to him, such horrible abomination,such a heinousness, such a detestableness and uncleaness about sin, that he could not pass it by. If he did, he would bring upon his own character the suspicion that he was not holy. Had God passed by human sin without a substitutionary sacrifice, the seraphim must have suspended their song "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." The Judge, who winks at sin, is the abettor of sin. If the supreme Ruler does not punish sin, he becomes himself the patron of all guilt,and sin may take its rest beneath the shadow of his wings. But it is not so: and sinner, God would have you know, and have angels know, and have devils know, that however lightly any of his creatures may think of sin, and however foolishly simple man may toy with it, he knows what a vile thing it is, and he will have no patience with it. "He will by no means spare the guilty."
2. And now we shall have a few words upon THE POWER OF THE CLEANSING.
Whom can it cleanse? That is the first question. David answers it, for he says, "It can cleanse me." He meant himself. I would not exaggerate David's sin, but it was a very frightful one. What could be more dreadful than for a man so highy-favored, who had so much light, so much communion with God, and who stood so high as a light in the midst of the nation, to commit two crimes so accursed as those which we must lay at his door - adultery and murder? While my blood runs chill at the very thought of his having committed them, yet in my soul I am glad that the Holy Spirit ever permitted such a black case to stand on record. What an encouragement to seek pardon it has been to many who have sined as foully as David did! If thou canst bend thy knee, and pray David's prayer, thou shalt get David's answer, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." What if thou hast even defiled thy neighbor's wife? What if thou hast even smitten thy neighbor to his heart, and left him dead upon the earth? These two crimes will damn thee to all eternity excpt thou shalt find pardon for them through the blood of Jesus; but there is pardon for them there. If thou lookest up to where that blood is streaming from the hands and feet and side of Jesus; if thou doest trust thy broken spirit in his hands, there is pardon for thy crimson sins to be had just now. Is there a harlot here? O poor fallen woman, I pray that Christ may so forgive thee that then thou wilt wash his feet with thy tears, and wipe them with the hairs of thine head! Is there a thief here? Men say that you will never be reclaimed, but I pray the eternal mercy, which saved the dying thief, to save the living thief.
Another question is,When will it cleanse? It will cleanse now. It will cleanse at this moment. He who trusts Christ is saved the moment that he trusts. His sin is blotted out the instant that he accepts Christ as his Substitute, and justifies God in smiting sin in the person of theSavior.
(C. H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon MInistries, PO Box 1673, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 5C8)
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Our Universe
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Psalm 19:1-3
The existence of a great functional universe of which our earth is but a minute part, is beyond question but how it came to be, is a matter of debate. To assert, as some do, that all things appeared as the result of a gigantic accident is, in my opinion, a great absurdity. To further maintain that the universe functions with the unfailing precision, that it does, without the controlling influence of a Creator, is an even greater absurdity.
The Psalmist points out that the very fact of the heavens declare the absolute necessity of an all-powerful and all-loving intelligence that is responsible for their existence and their continuation.
For those who like to say, "You have to show me!" the Psalmist is saying "look to the heavens". They speak, day and night, with a voice understood by men of every tongue. Look to the east and see the sun appear in the morning, as it has been doing for millennia and know that some unseen power causes it to do so.
The Apostle Paul corroborates the Psalmist's claim and identifies the One responsible. "For by Him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:16,17)
Amazingly, the great Creator and Manager of the universe knows you and me by name. He knows all about our hurts and hopes, our failures and fulfillments because He came to this very small particle of His universe and lived for a while. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
The universe is not the result of an accident and our future will not be the result of an accident. The One who created all things and controls their destiny became our Savior and controls our destiny. The One who will create a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1) also stands by to support us in all trials and see us safely into our new home.
(Pastor Bill Cummins - drbc@bresnan.net)
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Psalm 19:1-3
The existence of a great functional universe of which our earth is but a minute part, is beyond question but how it came to be, is a matter of debate. To assert, as some do, that all things appeared as the result of a gigantic accident is, in my opinion, a great absurdity. To further maintain that the universe functions with the unfailing precision, that it does, without the controlling influence of a Creator, is an even greater absurdity.
The Psalmist points out that the very fact of the heavens declare the absolute necessity of an all-powerful and all-loving intelligence that is responsible for their existence and their continuation.
For those who like to say, "You have to show me!" the Psalmist is saying "look to the heavens". They speak, day and night, with a voice understood by men of every tongue. Look to the east and see the sun appear in the morning, as it has been doing for millennia and know that some unseen power causes it to do so.
The Apostle Paul corroborates the Psalmist's claim and identifies the One responsible. "For by Him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." (Colossians 1:16,17)
Amazingly, the great Creator and Manager of the universe knows you and me by name. He knows all about our hurts and hopes, our failures and fulfillments because He came to this very small particle of His universe and lived for a while. "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet was without sin." (Hebrews 4:15)
The universe is not the result of an accident and our future will not be the result of an accident. The One who created all things and controls their destiny became our Savior and controls our destiny. The One who will create a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1) also stands by to support us in all trials and see us safely into our new home.
(Pastor Bill Cummins - drbc@bresnan.net)
Friday, November 8, 2013
A Question for Dr. Sproul
Why Does God Let Random Shootings, Fatal Accidents, and Other Horrible Things Occur?
Since we believe that God is the author of this planet and is sovereign over it, it's inevitable that we ask where he is when these terrible things take place.
I think the Bible answers that over and over again from different angles and in different ways We find our first answer, of course, in the book of Genesis, in which we're told of the fall of humanity. God's immediate response to the transgression of the human race against his rule and authority was to curse the earth and human life. Death and suffering entered the world as a direct result of sin. We see the concrete manifestation of this in the realm of nature, where thorns become part of the garden and human life is now characterized by the sweat of the brow and the pain that attends even the birth of a baby. This illustrates the fact that the world in which we live is a place that is full of sorrows and tragedy.
But we must never conclude that there's a one-to-one correlation in this life between suffering and the guilt of the people on whom tragedies fall. If there were no sin in the world, there would be no suffering. There would be no fatal accidents, no random shootings. Because sin is present in the world, suffering is present in the world, but it doesn't always work out that if you have five pounds of guilt, you're going to get five pounds of suffering. That's the perception that the book of Job labors to dispel, as does Jesus' answer to the question about the man born blind (John 9:1-11).
On the other hand, the Bible makes it clear that God lets these things happen and in a certain sense ordains that they come to pass as part of the present situation that is under judgment. He has not removed death from this world. Whether it's what we would consider an untimely death or a violent death, death is part of the nature of things. The only promise is that there will come a day when suffering will cease altogether.
The disciples asked Jesus about similar instances - for example, the Galileans' blood that was mingled with the sacrifices by Pilate or the eighteen people who were killed when a temple collapsed. The disciples asked how this could be. Jesus' response was almost severe. He said, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish," again bringing the question back to the fact that moral wickedness makes it feasible for God to allow these kinds of dreadful things to take place in a fallen world.
( Dr. R. C. Sproul, Now, That's a Good Question!)
Since we believe that God is the author of this planet and is sovereign over it, it's inevitable that we ask where he is when these terrible things take place.
I think the Bible answers that over and over again from different angles and in different ways We find our first answer, of course, in the book of Genesis, in which we're told of the fall of humanity. God's immediate response to the transgression of the human race against his rule and authority was to curse the earth and human life. Death and suffering entered the world as a direct result of sin. We see the concrete manifestation of this in the realm of nature, where thorns become part of the garden and human life is now characterized by the sweat of the brow and the pain that attends even the birth of a baby. This illustrates the fact that the world in which we live is a place that is full of sorrows and tragedy.
But we must never conclude that there's a one-to-one correlation in this life between suffering and the guilt of the people on whom tragedies fall. If there were no sin in the world, there would be no suffering. There would be no fatal accidents, no random shootings. Because sin is present in the world, suffering is present in the world, but it doesn't always work out that if you have five pounds of guilt, you're going to get five pounds of suffering. That's the perception that the book of Job labors to dispel, as does Jesus' answer to the question about the man born blind (John 9:1-11).
On the other hand, the Bible makes it clear that God lets these things happen and in a certain sense ordains that they come to pass as part of the present situation that is under judgment. He has not removed death from this world. Whether it's what we would consider an untimely death or a violent death, death is part of the nature of things. The only promise is that there will come a day when suffering will cease altogether.
The disciples asked Jesus about similar instances - for example, the Galileans' blood that was mingled with the sacrifices by Pilate or the eighteen people who were killed when a temple collapsed. The disciples asked how this could be. Jesus' response was almost severe. He said, "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish," again bringing the question back to the fact that moral wickedness makes it feasible for God to allow these kinds of dreadful things to take place in a fallen world.
( Dr. R. C. Sproul, Now, That's a Good Question!)
Monday, November 4, 2013
Contentment In Christ
Devotional
She had lived ninety-four years, nearly seventy of those years as a widow who had raised two children as a single parent. As we gathered around her graveside with friends and family, the word that was repeatedly used about her was content.Shedidn't complain, wonder, or waver - she was simply content.
Such contentment is remarkable. One Puritan writer called it a "rare jewel." In fact, the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4 tells us that there is a "secret" to contentment. What is the secret? "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (v.13).
Contentment comes as we live out of our real, vital, personal relationship with Jesus. That relationship is forged in our union with Jesus, and we live through Him as He strengthens us with "his energy that he powerfully works within" (Col. 1:29).
When we live in and through Christ, we learn to be content materially. That's the context of Philippians 5. Paul was in prison, and in those days, prisoners had to provide their own creature comforts, either from their own purses or the gifts and care of family and friends. So, the Philippians wanted to share in his trouble - they sent him money and other physical necessities via Epaphroditus to sustain him.
In response, Paul thanked them for their thoughtfulness. But he also wanted them to know that he was content with his material possessions. "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content" (4:11). Whether he had plenty or little, Paul could be content with what he had.
How is that possible - to be content with one's material possessions? Only through Christ who strengthens. Only because in Him are great riches, sustaining food, and priceless treasures that sustain the heart when the body goes without.
Indeed, we often have to learn material contentment through difficult situations. Paul was in a Roman prison for preaching the Gospel (1:12-13). Even worse, it appeared that some were using his situation to preach the gospel out of envy and rivalry (1:15), running down Paul and his ministry in order to build themselves up.
If that were our situation, we would be frustrated and upset, far from content. Yet Paul expressed a basic contentment with his situation: "Whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and in that I rejoice" (1:18). How could he be content when his situation seemed so dire? Only through Christ who strengthens.
Because of his real, vital, personal union with Jesus, Paul was content for eternity. He knew that to live is Christ and to die is gain (v.21). So, his material possessions were not his ultimate gain and his situation was not his final destiny; rather, the beginning, middle, and end were all Jesus. Since Paul had a vital union and communnion with Christ, he could be content with all else. His destiny was to be with Jesus.
Here, then, is the secret to be content, we must see that we have Jesus. And He is enough and all that we need.
(Dr. Sean Michael Lucas, First Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, TABLETALK,Oct.2013)
She had lived ninety-four years, nearly seventy of those years as a widow who had raised two children as a single parent. As we gathered around her graveside with friends and family, the word that was repeatedly used about her was content.Shedidn't complain, wonder, or waver - she was simply content.
Such contentment is remarkable. One Puritan writer called it a "rare jewel." In fact, the Apostle Paul in Philippians 4 tells us that there is a "secret" to contentment. What is the secret? "I can do all things through him who strengthens me" (v.13).
Contentment comes as we live out of our real, vital, personal relationship with Jesus. That relationship is forged in our union with Jesus, and we live through Him as He strengthens us with "his energy that he powerfully works within" (Col. 1:29).
When we live in and through Christ, we learn to be content materially. That's the context of Philippians 5. Paul was in prison, and in those days, prisoners had to provide their own creature comforts, either from their own purses or the gifts and care of family and friends. So, the Philippians wanted to share in his trouble - they sent him money and other physical necessities via Epaphroditus to sustain him.
In response, Paul thanked them for their thoughtfulness. But he also wanted them to know that he was content with his material possessions. "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content" (4:11). Whether he had plenty or little, Paul could be content with what he had.
How is that possible - to be content with one's material possessions? Only through Christ who strengthens. Only because in Him are great riches, sustaining food, and priceless treasures that sustain the heart when the body goes without.
Indeed, we often have to learn material contentment through difficult situations. Paul was in a Roman prison for preaching the Gospel (1:12-13). Even worse, it appeared that some were using his situation to preach the gospel out of envy and rivalry (1:15), running down Paul and his ministry in order to build themselves up.
If that were our situation, we would be frustrated and upset, far from content. Yet Paul expressed a basic contentment with his situation: "Whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed and in that I rejoice" (1:18). How could he be content when his situation seemed so dire? Only through Christ who strengthens.
Because of his real, vital, personal union with Jesus, Paul was content for eternity. He knew that to live is Christ and to die is gain (v.21). So, his material possessions were not his ultimate gain and his situation was not his final destiny; rather, the beginning, middle, and end were all Jesus. Since Paul had a vital union and communnion with Christ, he could be content with all else. His destiny was to be with Jesus.
Here, then, is the secret to be content, we must see that we have Jesus. And He is enough and all that we need.
(Dr. Sean Michael Lucas, First Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, Mississippi, TABLETALK,Oct.2013)
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