Would you care?
I was thinking about something recently that is kind of important to me, and I wanted to get input about it. To do this, I would like to start with a thought experiment:
Imagine that you work for a certain company that completely goes out of business. It no longer exists. However, another company has just moved into town which is going to allow everyone related to the old company to have a job. You will work with the same people, doing a very similar job, at the same pay (or maybe better). The only differences will be in the following areas:
- the building is different
- the company name is different
- the product/service is different (e.g. old company made snacks, new company makes clothing; old company cared for orphans, new company cares for the homeless)
So here is the question - would you care about the fact that your old company is out of business? Why or why not?
I really look forward to your responses!
Pride Comes Before
I tend to be naturally skeptical of a lot of things. For some reason skepticism has been equated with intelligence in our modern world, but I don't think my skepticism is because of intelligence. My skepticism is due to pessimism. Whenever something seems good, I tend to start questioning and doubting. Unfortunately, this has affected my spiritual life a number of times. I often tend to doubt God, even when I don't have good reason to. Many times I have asked God to help my faith, and he has worked in my life - taking care of me in amazing ways and always providing for me and my family, and even answering very specific prayers. But for some reason, I still struggle with doubt sometimes.
I was caused to think about this with a recent reading from my daily Bible reading, which comes from Deuteronomy 8:17-18 -
"You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.' But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today." (NIV)
What this passage reminds me of is that these doubts are not so much about intelligence or pessimism, but about pride. Maybe not always pride in the typical sense; I may not sit around thinking about how awesome I am and how I never have needed God. Nevertheless, I do often fall into the trap of thinking that I can do things on my own. It's an easy trap to fall into. We live in the world and we live in the flesh. So for us it is difficult sometimes to look from the outside and recognize that God is really at the heart of it all. That's the kind of pride I am talking about. We allow ourselves to sit in our own world and imagine that it really is all about us. That really, we can do it on our own. After all, it's not like people who reject God somehow cease to live, right?
But here Moses reminds the people of Israel not to go down that path. It is going to be easy for them, especially for people generations down the line, to imagine that it was all by their own power. But in reality, it is not at all by their own anything! They are not more powerful, not more righteous, not more cunning, not more deserving than anyone else. But God has worked in them to bless them (and indeed the entire world) and so they should always remember that. They should always remember that it is only through God that these blessings have come.
We need to remember the same thing. God is at the heart of all life. Every blessing, every good thing - life and existence itself is sustained by God. So in a very real way, we need God in everything we do. I know many people who have fallen away from God for various reasons, and I am sure that this kind of pride is at the heart of much of it. Let us all remember that it is God who gives us the ability, not just to do this or that, but to "live, and move, and have our being." And let us glorify and honor him accordingly!
Minority Report
Yesterday's reading is probably my favorite reading so far. Taken from Numbers 13 and 14, the reading for Feb. 8 records the story of the 12 spies going into the land of Canaan to check out what is there. Now keep in mind at this point, the Israelites have been traveling in the desert for over a year. They have seen miracle after miracle. Not only do they remember the plagues which struck Egypt and freed them from their control, but they have seen numerous other miracles along the way. So one would think that upon coming to the promised land, they would be ready to trust in God to give them this land.
As the spies come back from their days in the land of Canaan, they first bring good news. It is indeed a wonderful land! It is abundant, producing large amounts of very bountiful produce, and has all the space they could need for their people to live happily and be blessed! But, there is a catch - it is already being lived in by powerful people. People much greater in size, and who are dug in far more firmly, with fortified cities and the like. This latter point is what most of the spies focus on. They even exaggerate their concerns, saying they seemed like "grasshoppers in their own eyes."
But Caleb and Joshua feel differently. They see the land, and how wonderful it is, and encourage the people - "let's go take it now!" To these two, God has promised and so God will deliver. They trust unequivocally in God's promises, and so have courage to face these giants. No matter what the people of the land have, they do not have God, and that is enough for them! Unfortunately, the people do not listen - indeed they begin to mutiny and God is just about ready to wipe them all out and give Moses a new people to become the great nation he promised, before Moses intercedes. Nevertheless, for 40 years they will wander in the desert because the people did not trust the Lord.
This story has so many things to be learned from it, but I want to focus on something personal to me, and I'm sure a lot of you reading. How often do you let the negatives outshine the positives? I do this all the time. I must admit it - probably my greatest spiritual struggle is worry. I worry about so many things - things that are happening, but most of the time things that aren't and things that probably never will! I worry about all sorts of health issues, I worry about my family, and so on. Now, I know from Scripture that God has promised to take care of me. Not only do I have the promises of God to his people from the Old Testament, but I have the very words of Jesus, who reminds me that God takes care of the birds of the field, and so will certainly take care of me! But I, as the spies of the majority, doubt God. I doubt his willingness to do so. I see the giants - I see the fears and the possibilities - and I latch onto them. They get stuck in my mind, so that I am blinded to the beauty of his promises. And this blindness so often has kept me from being effective in the here and now.
One thing this story has encouraged me to do is to renew my efforts to go in a different direction, away from the stress and anxiety that I have brought upon myself through worry, to the direction of joy and hope that is brought by trusting in the promises of God. Think for a second about what the people of Israel lost by their faithlessness. They were right on top of finally having the promised land - they were there! It could have all been theirs right then! But because they grumbled and complained and refused to trust the God who had revealed his power over and over again, they were punished. How miserable! How sad! And yet this is often what we choose today. We choose to trust in our own power over the hand of God. Though we know he created all things, and that he has already defeated even death (!), we want to trust more in our own power. We forgo prayer, study, meditation - we forgo looking for God's promises and claiming his promises, and instead give into our own powers which we know are going to fail frequently. How silly! How sad! Is it any wonder that we have so much anxiety and depression?
The world gives us the majority report still today - there is no hope, there is no promise, nothing but pain and suffering and bitterness to come. But for those of us who call ourselves the children of God, we must trust him and be willing to offer (and live by) the minority report. God has promised, and he will deliver!
The Nadab and Abihu Argument
My friend, mentor, and shepherd-at-a-distance Dale Isom recently wrote an entry on his blog regarding Nadab and Abihu (as it relates to the use of instruments in worship) as he is going through his daily Bible reading. I wanted to respond to it, but comments sections can be difficult for longer responses, so due to the length of the response especially, I decided to make a post here, attempting to answer that argument.
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The Nadab and Abihu story to me is one of the more frustrating arguments used against instrumental worship, because despite the seeming parallel on the surface, I think the differences are so very vast that it should be dropped, or else used in a plethora of other examples where it generally is not. Let's begin this discussion with a look at the actual backdrop to the Nadab and Abihu story.
Firstly, Nadab and Abihu had a great burden on their shoulders - a burden I think people often overlook. Unlike many people in Israel, they had some kind of direct experience with God. Remember the words of Exodus 24:9ff. Aaron, Nadab and Abihu (among others) had some kind of special encounter with God. Presumably it was not the full glory like Moses encountered later (cf. Ex. 33:21-23; 34:6), but it was enough to be awesome and life changing. Indeed, it should have changed them all.
Secondly, Nadab and Abihu had very specific commandments about what to offer. Exodus 30:34ff lays out very specific commands about how to make the incense; what will go into it, how much, and even that it should not be made by anyone else. Thus when we get to the story of Nadab and Abihu being killed, we are specifically told why they were killed - because they offered something that the Lord had not commanded them. Indeed, he had specifically commanded something different and made it very clear that there should be nothing else but what he commanded. There was no budging room, whatsoever. And if that wasn't enough, Nadab and Abihu had been consecrated before God, so they knew how vital their roles were, or at least they should have.
Now let's compare this situation with the idea of worshiping with instruments now, especially in relation to verses like Ephesians 5:19. To begin with, we are not in the same situation as Nadab or Abihu. I have not sat at the foot of God himself, seeing things that can only be described in very flashy, Revelation-esque language. I also am not under the law, which had no room for budging, because it was, after all, the law. Surely the law of grace is greater!
I think more particular to this point though is the comparison between God's commands about the type of incense to be burned and Paul writing about worship. I mentioned this to Dr. Edwards (my mentor for my graduate studies) at one point during my graduate work - I don't see how Ephesians 5:19 is a command in any way like God's words about the use of incense is a command. They are so very different in terminology. Dr. Edwards pulled out the Greek on me and attempted to prove via tense that this was a command, but to me that totally misses the point. Tense of a verb doesn't prove whether something is or is not a command - it's the way you use it. So for example, I might say "you have GOT to be kidding me." Well, examine the tense and you have a command - I am commanding you to not be joking with me. But the intent is clearly different. It is the same in other languages as well - in Japanese they have a phrase they often say - "ganbatte" - it is a phrase that means something like "do your best." The "te" form ending here is technically being a command - "do your best!" or "keep it up!" (incidentally, these are other English examples as well). To show that this is the case, consider another example: when a teacher at school tells a child to eat his food, she says ("tabete") - "eat your food!" (where in this sense it is a command). But obviously no one would confuse the meaning behind "ganbatte" for the meaning behind "tabete" just because they share the same grammatical ending! "Ganbatte" is not a command! Far from it - it's intended as an encouragement! I think the same thing could easily be said of Paul's words regarding singing. It's an encouragement, not a command (at least in the Nadab and Abihu sense).
I think that's the same with Eph. 5:19 and similar verses. The point is not "thy worship shalt be singing", in which case we would have a much greater reason to consider it as a command. Rather, Paul is simply referring to what they would already be doing. "Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs [btw, a study of those 3 words in the Greek also renders interesting results in relation to this topic], singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." To see Paul's words here as a command that we must follow like God's command about the incense just seems like a stretch.
And if that's not enough, surely we would have to take other verses to their logical conclusion and consider them just as seriously if we take this stance. Consider Paul's words to in 1 Thess. 5:26 - "Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss." This sounds even more like a command than Eph. 5:19, I would say. But as we rightly divide the Word, we come to the conclusion that of course we are not expected to go kissing people today. But if we play off of the grammar and apply Nadab and Abihu here, we certainly have no grounds for that. Indeed, we could make the same claim for verses like 1 Tim. 2:8ff, and other similar verses. But we don't apply the notion equally; for good reason, I think. But my point is, why apply it in one place and not in another? If it applies in Eph. 5:19, surely it applies in these places equally if not more so.
A couple of closing thoughts. Firstly, one thing is not at issue here - whether we should serve ourselves or God. Clearly, I believe we need to seek God's will and do it to the best of our ability and understanding. Secondly, I want to emphasize that I think there are other arguments against the instrument, but personally I think the significant ones are cultural - and incidentally, if you study the early church writings about instruments you will notice they are cultural as well. I know of no early church writer who stated that instruments were wrong because of Ephesians 5:19 or any other Bible verse like that. It was almost always because of a comparison to the way instruments were used in the culture around them. Unfortunately, people today tend to read the Bible in such a way that if the argument is not grounded in a blunt doctrine of "thou shalt" or "thou shalt not", it seems as if it has no force whatsoever in many cases. But that's a different topic for a different time.
Anyway, I would be interested in hearing responses to my Nadab and Abihu Argument rebuttal, so feel free to comment here, or respond with a blog post of your own and link to it!
Grace and peace!
Arbeit Macht Frei
(Click to View)
It has finally gotten warmer here over the last couple of days, so today I was able to ride my bike to work. Riding my bike to work means a couple of great things for me. For one, I don't spend the extra money on the bus. But most importantly, I get home an hour earlier than I do taking the bus. This was perfect because it meant for the first time in several months, I was able to go with Cambria to the park. She has been in desperate need of getting out of the house and letting out some of that 2 year old energy, so this was a perfect opportunity to do that. Plus Daddy just happens to love playing with her there.
But of course I thought I might have a little time to get something done too. I've been behind on my daily Bible reading, for a variety of reasons, so I thought maybe I would be able to get caught up a little bit while Cambria ran around. I didn't plan to read the whole time, but I thought I might get a couple of chapters done at least. So I took the Bible I'm using, and rode to the park with her. When we got there I played with her for several minutes, and finally took a seat on a bench where I could be in a safe distance, and began to read some. Within a minute or two, Cambria was calling my name. I told her I was reading. So she promptly came over to me, and told me once again that she wanted my attention. I told her again that I was reading at the moment. This was not acceptable to her. She didn't fuss though, or throw a fit - she simply began to close the Bible on me. At this point I realized that she really wanted me to play with her, so I put it down and ran off and we had a lovely time together.
But this got me to thinking about the time that we spend with our children, and really just our family in general. This is really a worldwide problem; people just don't spend time together. For a lot of people, it is certainly for selfish reasons, but I don't think that's always the case. In many cases, the people are genuinely working hard, either to provide for their family, or just to give their all to the work they find themselves in. Take for example ministers - I use this example because it is the one with which I have the greatest connection. Ministers can put in a lot of hours per week. Between preparing sermons and classes, doing Bible studies, visiting the sick and widowed, counseling, etc., many ministers can easily put in over 70 hours a week. Once you subtract hours for sleep and other basic necessities of life, you wind up with very few hours of free time per week, if any. So what happens? Other important things get pushed to the side. And while my focus in this post is on family, it's not just family that takes the beating. Other important matters like health (both physical and mental) and spiritual well-being pay the price, too. The minister gets so caught up in the very good and important work that they are doing, that they forget about so many other matters that need to be attended to. So often their family is at the top of that list of forgotten concerns. And that's part of how we end up with all sorts of scandals involving ministers who seemed like they were working so hard at being a good minister. In some cases at least, they were working hard at being a good a minister, and that is part of the problem!
Was I wasting time reading the Bible out at the park? Of course not. It's not like I was playing a video game on my iPod or something. I was reading the Bible and trying to stick to a valuable commitment that I made for the year. But my daughter was not concerned about that. She wanted and needed some time with her daddy. She wanted me to run around and play with her. To goof off and just have some fun. That's what I did, and I'm so glad I did - I'm so glad she interrupted me and made it clear that I needed to focus on her - we made some memories that I otherwise would not have.
You may recognize the phrase "arbeit macht frei." I remember seeing it when I visited Dachau in 2003 during my semester abroad. It's a slogan the Nazis posted around their concentration camps. It was just one of the many ways they controlled the people there. It was a lie then, and it's a lie now. Work is important, don't misunderstand, but it won't set you free. Only Christ can do that. And Christ is the very one who points us to the importance of loving and caring for our family relationships.
I could quote you a bunch of Scripture to make my point, but I won't do that here - it's there for you to find if you so choose. I just wanted to remind you, as my daughter reminded me today, what is illustrated in the Calvin and Hobbes comic above. Sometimes, you just need to set some things aside, and make time for the things that are truly important. Sometimes you need to let a loved one interrupt you, no matter what you're doing, so you can nurture that relationship. That time will make all the difference in your life, and will vitally change the legacy you leave behind.
Crouching At Your Door
Thanks to the encouragement of my family in Wilkes, I am going to be doing a year-long read through the Bible. I'm going to be following a chronological Bible put together by F. LaGard Smith called The Daily Bible. I'm really excited to do this reading! In order to help keep myself up to date with it, and also to encourage myself to not only read, but to study and reflect upon what I read, I'm going to be adding something to my readings. Each day that I read I'm going to post something to my Twitter page about what I read. I will also link to something at the end of each tweet. It may be an article of some sort (as was the case with Day 1) or it may be an audio file like a sermon or lecture, or it might be a devotional thought of my own added here. And that latter option is the one I will be taking hold of today. So without further ado ...
Bible Reading Day 2: Gen. 4-5
Crouching At The Door
Today's reading holds to me a very meaningful passage of Scripture. Obviously all passages are meaningful, but this one always seems to hit home to me personally. It is found in Gen. 4:6-7 - "The LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." (ESV)
I love these verses so much! For one, they come directly from God. Not through a prophet or an inspired writer, but directly from God to Cain. That's not to say those other means are not significant, it's just to say - this is something recorded as direct communication with man, and I tend to think that is something special! But above that, it is something that I think hits directly at the heart of all man, not just Cain.
As a little background to the story, Cain is upset because God is paying attention to Abel's sacrifice, but is disregarding his own. Now it might seem at first that God's regard is in relation to the type of offering - Abel is offering the life of the sheep (certainly a shadow of things to come, even this early in the story), while Cain is simply offering plants. But it seems there is more to the story here, because of the emphasis not on the type of sacrifice (the life of the animal), but rather on the quality of the sacrifice - Abel does not simply offer of his flock, but offers the firstborn and even their fat portions. In other words, Abel is offering the best he has to God! He's holding nothing back!
So when God comes to Cain, he isn't saying that he needs to offer something different; he's actually making a higher calling! God is telling Cain he needs to give the very best, to be fully, unconditionally dedicated to bringing his best to his Creator! But the calling comes with a warning. If Cain will do this, God will approve, but if Cain will not, sin is crouching at the door (1 Pet. 5:8 anyone?). I think that word should really strike us - "crouching." Sin isn't just waiting at the door, like someone who just rang the doorbell, patiently waiting for you. It makes me think of Calvin and Hobbes - Hobbes always waiting at the door for Calvin to arrive home, and promptly greeting him with a high speed mauling as soon as he opens the door. Sin is crouching - it is plotting, preparing to attack and to rule your life. It is fully prepared to take control and make you its slave! But, God says, "you must rule over it."
There are two thoughts that come to me from this statement of God. For one, there is a part that man must play in overcoming sin. It would seem very odd indeed for God to tell Cain to rule over sin despite knowing full well that Cain were completely and utterly incapable of doing so. However, it should be noted that unlike Cain, Christians today can take joy in a relationship through Jesus Christ, and thus enjoy the work of the Spirit in their life. Notice the words of Philippians 2:12-13 - "...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." Certainly, there is a degree to which we must be active in serving God and ruling over sin, but we must never forget the important part - that it is God's work in us that empowers us! We are not alone! So often we can lose sight of this idea - for Christians we have God on our side, fighting for us and with us. For the Christian, God works in us, not only helping us complete his will, but even giving us the will to do it!
Now Cain might have been able to seek out this help too. I don't know how Cain reacted to this reply from God, but given the character we see described of Cain, one could surmise that he didn't say much of anything, simply continuing on in his negative attitude, blaming everyone but himself for his troubles. But I think it is fairly evident that he didn't do one thing - he did not say to God, "please, help me to do this! I do not want sin to rule over me, and I need your help!" Instead, he did the opposite. He freely allowed sin to rule in his life, and in so doing, became a murderer, and was dealt harsh consequences for this decision.
May we never fall into this trap! May those who put on the name of Christ never be given to same error of Cain. And may we never been fooled into thinking that sin no longer crouches at our door. It is always there, waiting to pounce - but through the grace of Christ, and the power of God working in us, we will be victors through Him!
Grace and peace!
Les
Confrontational, not Contentious
One of the things I often see people do from an interpersonal communication perspective is avoid conflict. I think the reason for this is that most people feel like being confrontational is the same as being contentious. Even when it's something that needs to be addressed, people are so concerned about hurting feelings or seeming like a jerk that they never say anything. And I'm sure we can all think of times where bitterness builds up from this kind of thing and causes a much bigger problem down the road.
What's odd to me is that Christians often feel this way, despite having Christ's example set plainly before us. Just a cursory glance through the book of John revealed the following verses where we can see Jesus being confrontational in some way:
John 1:51; 2:4, 13-22; 3:1-15; 4:7-26; 5:8, 17ff; 6:41-59; 7:14-24; 8:1-11; 9:3; 10:25-33; 11:1ff; 12:7; 13:4ff, 21ff.....
That's just a basic glimpse, but notice something - starting in chapter 1, there is something confrontational from Jesus in every chapter in which he speaks. The gospel of John alone is laden with confrontation from Jesus. He speaks things that cause conflict in people. He directly confronts people who he knows hate him. He says and does things that are going to make people want to kill him! Jesus is the most confrontational character in the entire Bible!
At the same time, Jesus does not seem to be to be contentious. And here is where I wish Christians would make a distinction. There is a difference between being confrontational and being contentious. A contentious person, to me, is someone who seeks conflict for their own glory. They like to stir up trouble just to be a part of it. They like to make themselves look good. It's a pride thing. They like to argue and try to make others look stupid. They are haughty and careless.
But that's not the picture of Jesus we get. Jesus is humble, though direct. He doesn't go into things seeking to make himself look good. In fact, most of what he does he knows is going to make himself look bad! People said he had demons, after all. They called him a blasphemer and many other things. So why did he make confrontation? So that God could be glorified. He knew the Pharisees and those like them needed to be dealt with. They needed to be confronted. And so he did what he needed to do. He didn't shy away from it, afraid people might think he was conceited or a trouble maker. That was going to happen, but it still needed to be dealt with.
And this is, incidentally, the same attitude we see from Paul in Galatians 2:11ff. When he sees how Peter is behaving, does he shirk the responsibility, afraid that he might cause some conflict? On the contrary, in front of everyone he confronts Peter with his sin. But was he contentious about it? I don't see any reason to believe that. It wasn't about Paul being so awesome, but rather about the people around them being persuaded to more closely follow Christ.
I guess here's my point - sometimes things need to be confronted, and sometimes, it's going to be a bit dirty. But just because something isn't pretty doesn't mean it doesn't need to be done. Surgery isn't pretty, but it saves lives when done properly. In fact, I think that's the analogous difference between confrontational and contentious. Being confrontational is like doing surgery. It can be painful, a bit nasty, and may even take a bit to heal up. But in the end you're better for it. Being contentious, on the other hand, is nothing more than slicing people open wildly with a knife, all the while claiming that you are trying to help. It's going to be bloody, painful, and nothing short of damaging to everyone involved.
So just a thought of encouragement - let's learn not to be afraid of confrontation! But as we are admonished in Proverbs, we need to involve wisdom in our decisions. Perhaps that is one of the key differences between confrontation and contention - wisdom. Even Jesus knew there were times to avoid confrontation and times to take it head-on (cf. John 7:1ff). Of course, this is going to take wisdom from all sides. Imagine you're Peter, being confronted by Paul - what's your first reaction? Mine is going to be defensiveness. I'm going to do whatever I can to not face the facts. So from the side of the confronted, we've got to be more willing to take the criticism that may be involved.
Regardless, just because something can be difficult doesn't mean it needs to be avoided. It takes years and years of training to become a skilled surgeon. So too it will take time to be skilled in confronting people without being contentious. Nevertheless, it needs to happen! We need more confrontation and less acquiescence. I'm not saying we need confrontation all the time, but we certainly need to stop worrying so much about avoiding it that we never say some hard things that need to be said. Maybe this plays out among our brothers and sisters in Christ, where we address and discuss problems openly, even when they may lead to a great deal of tension. Or maybe it plays out in evangelism, when we frankly talk to people about their need for Christ. Maybe it plays out in a more practical way, as we deal with our families or co-workers. Regardless, I think if we can be more like Christ - a character who is meek, humble, and confrontational - we will be better off.
I would like to pose a final question to any of you reading. How do we accomplish this? How can we go about being confrontational without being contentious? What was it that made Christ a character who is both without blame, yet blatantly confrontational in his communication with the people around him? What can we learn from his life in this way, and how can we apply it to our own lives? I look forward to your thoughts here, because the practical application of this idea is, without a doubt, the hardest part about it!
Polluting the Drinking Water
Do the names Prairie Home Companion or Garrison Keillor ring a bell? If they don't, they should. Keillor is the voice for the radio show which airs each Saturday on NPR. I discovered it when driving to and from Freed and have loved it since. One year for Christmas Sara bought me a set of CDs from the show, and there was a particularly interesting section that I'd like to share and discuss.
One of the more popular parts of the show is a section called "Letters from Lake Wobegon" - a fictional town with amusing stories told by Keillor. But one letter was not from Lake Wobegon really, but a friend. The episode is entitled "Letter from Jim." If you can find this episode and listen, I strongly encourage it. In it, Jim is writing Keillor about growing older. He had come to a point in his life where he felt fairly useless to his family, other than to put the food on the table. And along came a young attractive lady at his workplace who made him feel more useful and important. When the opportunity came to go on a weekend trip for work he jumped at it, with adultery on the heart.
But as he is waiting for her to pick him up, he gets to thinking about adultery. He calls it horse trading. It seems as though he's just going to the highest bidder. But what happens when this new girl grows tired of him, or vice versa? The day will come when there will be no bidders and then what?
But more poignant than that to me is what Jim says about the effects of his decision:
"As I sat on the lawn looking down the street, I saw that we all depend on each other. I saw that although I thought my sins could be secret, that they are no more secret than an earthquake. All these houses and all these families—my infidelity would somehow shake them. It will pollute the drinking water. It will make noxious gases come out of the ventilators in the elementary school. When we scream in senseless anger, blocks away a little girl we do not know spills a bowl of gravy all over a white tablecloth. If I go to Chicago with this woman who is not my wife, somehow the school patrol will forget to guard the intersection and someone’s child will be injured. A sixth grade teacher will think, “What the hell,” and eliminate South America from geography. Our minister will decide, “What the hell—I’m not going to give that sermon on the poor.” Somehow my adultery will cause the man in the grocery store to say, “To hell with the Health Department. This sausage was good yesterday—it certainly can’t be any worse today.”
Obviously there's some humor here, but there is something so very true, not just about adultery, but sin in general. Sin pollutes. And it's never really just us - it's those around us. We think it's in secret, but it doesn't work that way. When I lie, or lust, or become prideful, or whatever sins we humans have a propensity to do ... it's not just about me. This is the great lie our world tells us - it's okay as long as it doesn't hurt anyone. But sin always hurts people, even if the effects are not immediate or obvious. My lustful thought hurts my relationship with my wife, and thus hurts my children, and so on and so forth. The same goes for lies, cheating, drug and alcohol abuse, etc. It's never really just me. My sin pollutes the drinking water of those around me and even of those not around me in many cases, because it spreads like disease.
So just remember that. Your sin is never going to be just about you. It always affects others in serious ways. And in thinking of this, to those whom my sin has hurt, I apologize and ask forgiveness. I too am selfish too often, and I am confident I have polluted someone's water before.
Thank God for the Healer, the One who cleans the water ... who purifies even me, the sinner. Know that for this problem of sin, he is the only cure. And only when we are the method of spreading the cure instead of the disease will we ever have hope.
A Question for Believers
This is a question for believers. Nothing against my skeptic friends, but I think your answer to the question would be (generally) evident. So for those of you who are followers of Christ - I ask for your thoughts.
To what degree do we determine our future and to what extent do we need to seek God's favor for our endeavors? Let me explain further with an example. Imagine a person who wants a particular career. Maybe they want to be a designer, or a professor, or whatever you might think of. To what degree does that person need to seek God's guidance? Do they need to pray about their choice before they go any direction, making sure they have some kind of particular answer or guidance? Or should they simply pray about it and then make a decision and go with it, trusting that God will provide? Or perhaps some other option?
I suppose it's part of a bigger question - to what extent is God involved in the path our lives take and to what extent do we determine how things go? If I make it a goal to be successful in some particular career and down the road reach that goal, should I only thank God for it, or should I thank God but also take pride in the fact that I worked hard and had an active part in how things turned out? This of course has implications for how we deal with failure. Is it always part of God's plan when we fail, or is failure sometimes just our fault or perhaps a stroke of bad luck?
Thanks again to my fellow believers for your thoughts - I have one final request though. I prefer thoughts that are grounded in Scripture. While it's nice to know what you think or what experiences you have had personally, those things tend to be rather subjective. I'm hoping for a more objective answer, and since it's a theological question, it seems Scripture is the best place to look.
I look forward to your responses and the interactions they give birth to!
Apologetics Class 1: Introduction
For the next several weeks I'm going to be teaching a class on apologetics at my congregation in North Carolina. The class is intended to be a basic introduction to apologetics, but with the intent of covering things at an intermediate level. I'm really excited to get to do this, but one of the things that excites me most is the opportunity to put these classes online.
I'll be teaching these classes every Wed. night, and I will try to get the material, including a recording of the class, up every Thursday after the class is taught. That way if anyone missed it from this congregation, or if anyone out there is just interested in following along, you will be able to. I will also be putting up all of my materials along with the recording - power point slides, handout, and my outline as well. If anyone likes them and wishes to use them in some form for a class of their own, feel free!
Also, if you ever have any comments you'd like to add about the class or material, feel free to let me know here via a comment, or email me at 
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By the way, I must apologize for some of the fillers I used in this particular lesson - a lot of "um" and "okay" ... it's been a while since I've taught anyone but teenagers, so I'm going to have to work on cutting that out during these lectures and discussions. I hope next week there will already be a drastic improvement. Regardless, I hope the class and materials are beneficial to you! Just click on the link to open, or right click and choose "save as" to download it to your computer. Enjoy!