S.of the F. v. the G. R.

(Survival of the Fittest versus the Golden Rule)

Where does morality come from? How do humans decide how to behave? As a Christian, I would say that moral behavior is a product of my belief in a Creator God. But what if a person does not believe in God? What dictates his morality?

That’s a huge question. If people reject the Creatorship of God, then, if they’re honest with themselves, they also have to reject God’s pronouncement of what’s right and wrong. Some folks try to have it both ways by claiming that morality is a natural evolutionary step, but macro evolution, to my knowledge, says little about absolute rights and wrongs but quite abit about the importance of survival.

Terry Mattingly, senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, quotes from a sermon by Phillip E. Johnson called “Evolution and the Christian Faith.”

 “‘If there is no Creator who has a purpose for your life, then there is no such thing as sin, … ‘Sin would mean that you are in a wrong relationship to your Creator. Well, you can't be in the wrong relationship with the particles. They don't care. So you don't need a Savior to save you from the consequences of your wrong relationship with the particles.’”Mattingly then concludes, “When you give away creation, you have given away everything.”[1]

That’s a pretty harsh conclusion, isn’t it? But I don’t believe we can deny the truth of it when we look around at what has happened in society since the theory of evolution has become the popular way to explain the existence of our world.

Evolution teaches that only the strongest, healthiest, and smartest survive, a concept that is completely incompatible with the concept of the Golden Rule.

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12

Surprisingly, I’ve found that the Golden Rule is harder to teach than you might think. I mean, out of context, many people wouldn’t immediately assume that it was a text from the Bible. You could say it was just a good rule to live by. But in 20 plus years of teaching in one capacity or another, without the opportunity to back that statement up with a belief in God, it has little impact on individual behavior. The response I most often get when I try to explain the Golden Rule to one of my students is, “Why?” In fact, they often completely turn the whole concept around, “They’re not going to treat me the way I want to be treated, why should I be nice to them?”

You have to admit that by today’s standards, the Golden Rule is counter-intuitive.

The Golden Rule says, “Share.”

Survival of the Fittest says, “Take yours first and let the rest fend for themselves.

The Golden Rule says, “Lend a helping hand.”

Survival of the Fittest says, “If you can’t keep up, get out of the way.”

The Golden Rule says, “Look out for one another.”

Survival of the Fittest says, “Every man for himself.”

Counter-intuitive or not, our Creator has both told and demonstrated to us how we should behave as we represent Him.

“Your relation to God and your fellow men demands a change in your life. In the Sermon on the Mount the injunction of the world’s redeemer was: “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” These words are of the highest value to us, a golden rule given us by which to measure our conduct. This is the true rule of honesty. Very much is comprehended in these words. We are here required to deal with our neighbors as we would wish them to deal with us were we in their circumstances.” (E.G. White, Testimonies of the Church, Volume 4, p. 359)

But without God, there are no such requirements. Facing each day without the belief that each of us is a special creation of the God of the universe, leaves each of us to find meaning and truth in our own way. And that has led to moral relativism and situational ethics – the belief that there is no absolute truth, no right and wrong and no consequences for poor choices.

Where does that leave us?

Well, according to William Watkins, it leaves us with ten core beliefs that govern the lives of those people today who claim there are no absolutes. (Try to wrap your brain around that!)

Anyway, here are The New Absolutes.

“(1) Religion interferes with freedom and must be banished from the public square.(2) Human life is valuable only as long as it is wanted.(3) Marriage is a human contract made between any two people, and can be terminated for any reason.(4) Family is any grouping of two or more people.(5) Sexual intercourse is permissible regardless of marital status.(6) All forms of sexual activity are moral as long as they occur between consenting adults.(7) Women are oppressed by men and must liberate themselves.(8) People of color should receive preferential treatment.(9) Non-Western societies and other oppressed peoples and their heritage should be studied and valued above Western civilization.(10) Only viewpoints deemed politically correct should be tolerated and encouraged to prevail.”[2]

Call me old fashioned or simple minded, but I prefer God’s Absolutes. God absolutely created each of us, loves each of us and wants to spend eternity with each of us. You know where I’m going with this:

“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life. For God did not send the Son into the world in order to judge (to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on) the world, but that the world might find salvation and be made safe and sound through Him.” John 3:16-17

Now that’s an absolute, I can live with!

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[1] Terry Mattingly, senior fellow for journalism at the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, from his column "Phillip E. Johnson”

[2] William Watkins, The New Absolutes (Bethany House, 1996)

The Revisionist Bible

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson fr 1.19.13

Once upon a time, the world happened, possibly with the help of some Higher Being. Finally, men and women came along. They began to worship the Higher Being and to tell and to write down stories about It (the Higher Being). In some of the stories, the Higher Being was called God. One of the stories described how some of the people thought God created the world and all the animals and people in six days. Another story was about a flood that God sent when the people weren’t paying enough attention to Him.     After that the stories were about lots of people who tried to do the right things to make God happy but they kept messing up so He gave them a set of rules that they had to follow. There are stories about wars and people who were good and people who were not.  The people wrote some poems to God. Some people wrote about things they said God told them were going to happen in the future.

After a long time, a baby named Jesus was born and he grew up and was a good man. He made some of the people who believed in God so angry that they killed him. But some people thought he was sent by God and they worshiped him and wrote about the things Jesus said and did while he was on Earth. Finally the people wrote a book about how God would get revenge on all the people who didn’t follow His rules. The End.

I just found out that Thomas Jefferson actually put together his own version of the Gospels. He called it, The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth. What he did was, he took six bibles – two in English, two in French and two that were in Greek and Latin. Then he actually cut passages out of the Gospels and pasted them back in another book, in chronological order. He put the same passages in English, French, Latin and Greek next to each other so he could compare them.

The final book, called The Jefferson Bible, is 86 pages long and is still around. The Smithsonian bought it from Jefferson’s great-granddaughter in 1895 for the huge sum of $400.

Pretty cool, right? Well, it was a good idea. But what Jefferson actually did while he was cutting and pasting was take out everything except 

“those parts that can be identified through reason and thought, … So out goes [sic] the miracles, out goes [sic] the resurrections and what remains is what he thinks is the life and morals of Jesus, the true teachings."
Jefferson even changed the grammar at one point. “On one page, he apparently didn't like the number of prepositions in a verse from Matthew that started, ‘For as in the days that were before the flood ...’ He cut out the word ‘as,’ changing the scripture to ‘For in the days that were before the flood ..."[1]

Here’s the whole text: 

“But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matthew 24:36-39

I don’t know, maybe leaving out a word here or there isn’t that big of a deal, but leaving out anything that can’t be “identified through reason and thought?” (Well, right off the bat, I object to the assertion that things that require faith exclude both reason and thought, but that’s a whole different article.)

What was Jefferson really trying to do though? The same thing people have been trying to do since just about right after the Fall. He was trying to take the “Godness” out of God.

If God is just a social construct (something that humans made up) and Jesus was just a really good guy, then we don’t have to believe in anything hard like a real six day creation, a catastrophic flood, a virgin birth, or a resurrection. If we can look at the Bible as a compilation of some really good stories that teach some good lessons, then we don’t have to believe anything that makes us uncomfortable like the Ten Commandments or a final accounting for the way we’ve lived our lives. We don’t have to be changed by a relationship with the God who made us … because, “if we admit that He made us,” as a friend of mine said, “we have to admit that He can tell us what to do – He has a right to be interested/involved in our lives.” That makes a whole lot of people really uncomfortable.

The truth is, whether we like it or not – whether we can understand it or not, the Bible is true. God created the world in six days and rested on the Sabbath. If we discount the Genesis account of Creation, then what’s to stop us from discounting any other part of the Bible that we can’t understand? And, once we start cutting and pasting only the parts we can understand, we’ll find that we’ve cut out God. After that, there’s nothing left.  

“God is the foundation of everything. All true science is in harmony with his works; all true education leads to obedience to his government. Science opens new wonders to our view; she soars high, and explores new depths; but she brings nothing from her research that conflicts with divine revelation. Ignorance may seek to support false views of God by appeals to science; but the book of nature and the written word shed light upon each other. We are thus led to adore the Creator, and to have an intelligent trust in his word.” E.G. White, Christian Education, p 196

"In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being. In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.  And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it]." John 1:1-5AMP

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[1] Sally Holland, “Saving Thomas Jefferson's scrapbook Bible,” CNN, http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/11/thomas-jeffersons-scrapbook-bible/

What are YOU wearing?

Do you think a fireman would run into a burning building without all of his safety gear on?  Would a SCUBA diver attempt a dive without wearing every single piece of his SCUBA equipment?  What about a soldier? A policeman? An astronaut?  No matter what we're doing, if it calls for some specialized safety equipment, we make sure we're properly attired before we start, right?  I mean, would any of us, intentionally, put even one hand into an oven without first protecting our hand?  Not on purpose anyway.

But when we face everyday trials and tribulations, we don't think twice about going forward virtually (or is it literally) unprotected – practically naked, in fact.  What's up with that?  

In Ephesians, Paul tells us how we should be clothed and prepared to face life in a sinful world:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.  Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.  And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:  Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;...”  Ephesians 6:10-18

I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking that putting on armor was all well and good for folks who lived when Paul did, but we'd look pretty odd walking down the street dressed like roman soldiers.  But let's think it through a little bit farther.  Our lives really aren't much like a nice walk in the park, are they?  We (or maybe just I) often forget that we're walking through an active battlefield where the angels of God and the angels of Satan are fighting for our souls, every minute of everyday.  

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:  Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.”  1Peter 5:8-9

The question is, would you step into a lion's cage naked?  Don't laugh because we're walking around in front of that hungry lion not just naked, but wearing raw meat perfume!  Who thought that was a good idea?

Let's check back with Paul and figure out what we need to be wearing to keep from getting eaten up by the lion, shall we?  Paul tells us that the first thing we have to do is to wrap ourselves in the truth.  But how do we do that, you ask?  Check out John 14:6: 

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

  Ah-ha!  We wrap ourselves in the truth by surrounding ourselves with Jesus—He is our foundation.

“The Lord will be your helper, and if you trust Him, will bring you up to a noble, elevated standard, and will place your feet upon the platform of eternal truth. Through the grace of Christ, you can make a right use of your entrusted capabilities, and become an agent for good in winning souls to Christ.” E. G. White, Our High Calling, 1961.

Next, Paul tells us to cover our hearts with Christ’s righteousness so that when Satan tells us that God would never really love sinners and that we will never be good enough, we can defend ourselves with the righteousness of Christ. 

“Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” Philippians 3:8-9

Now comes one of the hardest of Paul’s directives:  "to walk in the footsteps of Jesus…” There will always be obstacles before us, but we are to follow our Leader, and meet our difficulties unitedly, hand in hand. There is only one way to heaven. We must walk in the footsteps of Jesus, doing His works, even as He did the works of His Father. We must study His ways, not man's ways; we must obey His will, not our own. Walk carefully. Do not go ahead of Christ. Make no move without consulting your Leader. Ask in humble prayer, and "ye shall receive." He is the Way, the Truth, the Life. …Our only hope of reaching heaven is to be one with Christ, and then, in and through Christ, we shall be one with one another. No one is called to walk alone. In Christ life and immortality are brought to light. He has opened the way to the kingdom of heaven to those who believe in Him, but He assigns to no one a path different to that which all must travel. He calls for unity, and unity we must have. God asks us to sink self in Christ. For the natural man this is not easy. But through the power of the incarnation of Christ, God manifest in the flesh, the strength of God is revealed in gentleness and beauty. To 

"as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." By this power we may overcome our evil tendencies and so modify our imperfect dispositions that the will of God may be fulfilled in us.” E.G. White, Letter 79, May 7, 1903, to J.A. Burden and wife.

We must always carry in our minds the reality of our own salvation, once we have given our lives to Jesus.  

“Many have confused ideas in regard to conversion. … They could not comprehend the plan of salvation. “Many have stumbled to ruin because of the erroneous doctrines taught by some ministers concerning the change that takes place at conversion. Some have lived in sadness for years, waiting for some marked evidence that they were accepted by God. …they dare not profess Christ, because they fear it would be presumption to say that they are children of God. They are waiting for that peculiar change that they have been led to believe is connected with conversion. “… God accepted them when they became weary of sin, and having lost their desire for worldly pleasures, resolved to seek God earnestly. But, failing to understand the simplicity of the plan of salvation, they lost many privileges and blessings which they might have claimed had they only believed, when they first turned to God, that He had accepted them. “…The evidences of a genuine work of grace on the heart are to be found not in feeling, but in the life.”  E.G. White, My Life Today, 1952.

Finally Paul tells us that the Word of God and prayer are our weapons against evil.  There is a difference here though.  So far Paul has told us to “put on” something, but these last two are things we must “pick up”, and practice with so that we will be able to use them effectively when the need arises. 

“Let them study the Scriptures. Let them commit text after text to memory, and acquire a knowledge of what the Lord has said. . . . And in trial … spread out the Word of God before them, and with humble hearts, and in faith, seek the Lord for wisdom to find out His way, and for strength to walk in it. . . . “Let them have stated seasons for prayer, never neglecting them if it can possibly be avoided. … armed with the Word of God, having it treasured in heart and mind, they will come forth unharmed by all the assaults of the foes of God or man. . . . “Satan is a wise general; but the humble, devoted soldier of Jesus Christ may overcome him.” E.G. White, My Life Today, 1952.

Drippingly Insincere

Thoughts on the Sabbath School Lesson for 8.27.11

I remember when my boys were little, they’d come show me something they’d drawn or written and without really looking at it or them, I’d mumble, “Great job, sweetie!”  Well, that only worked for a little while.  They got old enough to realize that I was not being sincere in my appreciation of their accomplishment.  In fact, one of the boys was only in about 3^rd grade when he figured out that most of his teachers’ “Awesome!” and “Great job!” didn’t carry much weight either.  He wanted to know why teachers always said stuff like that when everybody knew they didn’t mean it.  Ouch!  He got me on both counts.  But I did try to be more careful – both at school and at home.

The problem is, it really seems so harmless, doesn’t it, to tell a child that his (or her) scribbles are beautiful or that his “story” is great, right?  Is a compliment really a compliment if you don’t mean it, and/or if the compliment-ee didn’t really earn it?

David Brooks of The New York Times seems to believe that unearned compliments might be causing some misconceptions.

“‘We're an overconfident species,’ … Brooks calls it a ‘magnification of the self,’ and he believes this glut of self-esteem is especially rampant in the United States. To back up these claims, Brooks cites an array of statistics, studies, and observations:
“When pollsters ask people from around the world to rate themselves on different traits, Americans usually supply the most positive self-ratings.
“Although American students do not perform well on global math tests, they are among the world leaders in having self-confidence about their math abilities.
“Compared to college students from 30 years ago, today's college students are much more likely to agree with statements such as ‘I am easy to like.’
“94 percent of college professors believe they have above-average teaching skills.
“70 percent of high school students surveyed claim they have above-average leadership skills, and only 2 percent are below average.
“Brooks observes that a few decades ago it would have been unthinkable for a baseball player to celebrate himself in the batter's box after hitting a home run. Today it is routine.
“Similarly, pop singers wouldn't have composed songs about their own greatness; now those songs dominate the charts.
“The number of high school seniors who believed that they were ‘a very important person’: in the 1950s—12 percent; in the 1990s—80 percent.
“According to Brooks, American men are especially susceptible to the perils of overconfidence. Men unintentionally drown twice as often as women (because men have great faith in their swimming ability, especially after drinking).
“‘In short,’ Brooks concludes, ‘there's abundant evidence to suggest that we have shifted a bit from a culture that emphasized self-effacement—I'm not better than anybody else, but nobody is better than me—to a culture that emphasizes self-expansion.’”[1]

Honestly though, would you rather know the truth even if it wasn’t pretty?  Or would you prefer to hear a lie that made you feel better?

“Imagine picking your car up from the shop after a routine tune-up, and the technician says, ‘This car is in great shape. Clearly you have an automotive genius to take great care of your car.’ Later that day, your brakes don't work. You find out you were out of brake fluid. You could have died.
“You go back to the shop, and you say, ‘Why didn't you tell me?’ The technician replies, ‘Well, I didn't want you to feel bad. Plus, to be honest, I was afraid you might get upset with me. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted,’ You'd be furious! You'd say, ‘I didn't come here for a little fantasy-based ego boost! When it comes to my car, I want the truth.’
“Or imagine going to the doctor's office for a check-up. The doctor says to you, ‘You are a magnificent physical specimen. You have the body of an Olympian. You are to be congratulated.’ Later that day while climbing the stairs, your heart gives out. You find out later your arteries were so clogged that you were, like, one jelly doughnut away from the grim reaper.
“You go back to the doctor and say, ‘Why didn't you tell me?’ The doctor says, ‘Well, I knew your body is in worse shape than the Pillsbury doughboy, but if I tell people stuff like that, they get offended. It's bad for business. They don't come back. I want this to be a safe place where you feel loved and accepted.’ You'd be furious! You'd say to the doctor, ‘When it comes to my body, I want the truth!’
“Obviously, when something matters to us, we do not want illusory comfort based on pain avoidance. We want truth.”[2]

And that’s all God wants too.  He wants our love and obedience, but only if we want to give it.  He doesn’t ask anybody to pretend.  In fact, He gets pretty angry with people who say one thing and do another.

“The multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?” says the Lord. I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.  When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you,    this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings!  Your incense is detestable to me.  New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—I cannot bear your worthless assemblies. Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.  When you spread out your hands in prayer, I hide my eyes from you; even when you offer many prayers, I am not listening.     Your hands are full of blood!”  Isaiah 1:11-15

Wow!  Those are some really strong words!  And the meaning is clear: “Don’t even bother to put on a show for Me.  If you don’t mean it, I don’t want it.” 

Going through the motions is just not good enough!  Matthew West’s song says it perfectly:  

“'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions / I don't wanna go one more day / without Your all consuming passion inside of me / I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, / ‘What if I had given everything, / instead of going through the motions?’”[3]

I want my worship, my whole relationship with God to be sincere; no more going through the motions.  What about you?

[1] David Brooks, "The Modesty Manifesto," The New York Times (3-21-11)

[2] John Ortberg, "Loving Enough to Speak the Truth," PreachingToday.com

[3] Jason Houser, Sam Mizell, Matthew West, “The Motions,” Something to Say, Cedar Sides; Songs for Lulu, Llc Word Music

You Can’t Handle the Truth

Do you remember that scene?  Jack Nicholson on the witness stand; Tom Cruise pushing his buttons.  It was a breath-taking moment, for sure. 

How often do we put God in the same situation Tom Cruise put Jack Nicholson in?  We keep asking and asking and begging Him to tell us what He wants us to do or how things are going to work out for us.  Then, finally, He has to say, “Look, I’ve already told you people, but you just don’t want to know the truth.”

OK, He probably wouldn’t say that…but He has told us exactly what He wants us to do; what’s going to happen in the future; and what He wants for us.  In fact, He’s told us His deepest heart’s desire!

“What?!” you say, “Did I miss a meeting?  When did He tell us that?”  Well, in almost every single verse of the Bible, right along with telling us how much He loves us.  

What does God want us to do with our lives?

“He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8 NKJV

How does He want us to live our lives?

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV

What does He want to give us?

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." John 10:10 NKJV

What will our future be like?

“…because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31 NKJV

“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3 NKJV

What is the desire of God’s heart?

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:14-17 NKJV

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Timothy 2:3-4 NKJV

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9 NKJV

Is it really that simple?  Is that all there is to being a Christian?  Then why should I go to church and listen to sermons and study my Bible and my Sabbath School lesson?  Am I missing something?

I think, for myself anyway, a couple of things are going on.  One is that I tend to think that I already know what the texts say and what they mean, so when I see them written on the page, I only read the first couple of words and then move on. 

I also believe that, since I was raised a Christian that I take a lot of stuff for granted.  People who have just given their hearts to the Lord are excited and learning new things all of the time, but I figure I know it and I don’t get as excited as I should.

Another issue that I think effects a lot of us is an issue of degree.  I think we all are convinced that the Bible will tell us everything we need to know about salvation.  And we read Micah 6:8 and we figure we’re pretty good.  We are fair in our dealings with others, we like people to be kind to us and we try to be nice to other folks and we don’t go around tooting our own horn.  We figure we’re on the right track.  We know what the commandments say; we haven’t killed anybody lately and we, mostly, keep the Sabbath, so we’re making it, right?

I read this example this week, maybe shows where the problems is:

A musician was working on a piece of music by a modern composer.  He described the music as being “more black than white on the page.”  That was his way of saying that the page was covered with lots of really fast notes.  Anyway, he and the other three members of the quartet worked for several weeks on the music trying to make sure every note was perfect.  Just before they were going to perform, the composer of the music came to hear them practice.
“’WHAT are you doing?’ he demanded as they played the composition for him.
“’What do you mean?’ they asked.
“’Why are you playing all those notes?’
“’That’s what’s on the page,’ they said.”
Then the composer looked disgusted and said, “’I didn’t put those notes down because I wanted you to play every single one of them – they were just to give you a general idea of what to play.’”

I don’t know about you but I would have been very frustrated after spending so much time trying to get the music just the way he’d written it.  Now think of it the other way around.  What if the same quartet had decided that what was written was just kind of an outline and they could fill in with whatever they thought best? 

First of all, I believe it would sound pretty awful because all four musicians would be playing his (or her) own interpretation of what the composer was trying to say.  But then, think of the composer!  Would he figure it was no big deal, everybody has the right to play music however they think best?  Or would he be hurt? angry? 

How do you think God feels when we, not necessarily misinterpret or skip His words, but interpret them very loosely and casually.  Is He like that composer who didn’t mean for the quartet to play every single note?

Mrs. White, in Christ’s Object Lessons, page 133 explains it this way:

“Why is it that we do not realize the value of this knowledge?  Why are not these glorious truths glowing in our hearts, trembling upon our lips, and pervading our whole being?
“In giving us His word, God has put us in possession of every truth essential for our salvation…Thousands have set the Lord before them, and by beholding have been changed into the same image…Thousands more may engage in the work of searching out the mysteries of salvation…Each fresh search will reveal something more deeply interesting than has yet been unfolded. …
“In eternity we shall learn that which, had we received the enlightenment it was possible to obtain here, would have opened our understanding.  The themes of redemption will employ the hearts and minds and tongues of the redeemed through the everlasting ages.  They will understand the truths which Christ longed to open to His disciples, but which they did not have faith to grasp.”

Can you handle the truth of salvation?  Am we ready to quit just scratching the surface and dig into the words that God, Himself has given us?

Indiana Jones and the… What?

Do you remember the last Indiana Jones movie, The Last Crusade?  Indiana and his dad find “the Holy Grail”, that was the supposed to be the cup that Jesus and the disciples used at the last supper.  In the first Indiana Jones movie he finds the Ark of the Covenant.  Those are both archeological finds that would lend some real believability to the Bible wouldn’t it?  Nobody could say that it’s just a bunch of fables and myths if we found those could he?  Or could he?

Would truly convincing physical or written articles make any difference to us when it comes to whether or not we believe that the Bible is true?  Should it?

Think about Jesus said to Thomas when He appeared to His disciples.

“And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace, be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” (John 20:26-29 KJVR)

It’s great to have confirmation, but according to Jesus, Himself, it’s even greater when we take His word for it.  Even so, God has given us so much proof that the Bible is reliable.

You know, not too long ago, most “experts” said that there was no historical proof of the things in the Bible, but in the mid-19^th century, an interest in archeology changed all that.  I went hunting on the internet and found some amazing things! Now a lot of this new information has to do with wordings and names of tribes and things that most people up, until that time, felt were either made up or experts thought were proof that the Bible was written later than it claimed to be.  There are also more concrete examples of archeology adding credence to the Bible.

According to one internet author, Mark McGee,

 “A century ago such familiar Biblical cities as Jericho, Samaria, Bethel, Shiloh, Bethshan, Gezer, Nineveh, Babylon, Ur and many otheres were shapeless mounds.  Critics scoffed at the Biblical record.  Within the last 100 years, all of these cities have been uncovered.  The importance of the discoveries is that the excavation has produced material which confirms the Scriptures point after point” Mark McGee

When archeologists, historians and scientists talked about Jericho a before, they described the account in Joshua 6 as mythical and impossible because Joshua said they walls collapsed outward making it possible for the Israelites to walk up and over the rubble into the city.  Now, according to some law of physics that I don’t understand, “walls of towns always fall inwards!”  I had no idea.  Anyway, archeologists have now proved that Joshua was absolutely right and could only have known that detail because he was there.   Bryant Wood is considered an authority on the archaeology of Jericho.  He writes about the details found in the ruins of Jericho that confirm the Bible account of the destruction of the city.  One of the most exciting is from a

 “German excavation of 1907-1909 found that on the north a short stretch of the lower city wall did not fall as everywhere else.  A portion of that mudbrick wall was still standing to a height of over two meters (eight feet).  What is more, there were houses built against the wall!  It is quite possible that this is where Rahab’s house was.” 

Isn’t that exciting?  I mean, I didn’t know that two days ago and I still believed that what the Bible said happened really happened, but it’s very, very cool to hear that the proof is there!

According to Bryant Wood,

“Jericho was once thought to be a ‘Bible problem’ because of the seeming disagreement between archaeology and the Bible.  When the archaeology is correctly interpreted, however, just the opposite is the case.  The archeology evidence supports the historical accuracy of the biblical account in every detail.  Every aspect of the story that could possibly be verified by the findings of archaeology is, in fact, verified.”

Fascinating, right?  Look what else archeologists have found:

And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem: And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king's house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made. (1Kings 14:25-26 KJVR)

Well, that campaign is recorded on the walls of the Temple of Amun in Thebes, Egypt.  Other previously questioned occurrences that have now been confirmed through ancient tablets or palace walls include:  Moab’s revolt against Israel in 2 Kings 1:1; 3:4-27; the fall of Samaria to Assyria in 2 Kings 17:3-6,24; 18:9-11; Sargon II’s defeat of Ashdod in Isaiah 20:1; Sennacherib’s campaign against Judah found in 2 Kings 18:13-16; Sennacherib’s siege of Lachish (2 Kings 18:14,17); Sennacheribs’s assassination by his own sons (2 Kings 19:37); the fall of Nineveh predicted in Zephaniah 2:13-15; the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:10-14;  King Jehoiachin’s captivity in Babylon (2 Kings 24:15-16);  the Fall of Babylon to the Medes and Persians found in Daniel 5:30-31; the freeing of the Babylonian captives by Cyrus the Great (Ezra 1:1-4; 6:3-4); the Jews being forced out of Rome by Claudius in 41-54 AD (Acts 18:2)  and, of course, the existence of Jesus Christ.

Did you know that we now have archeological proof that Abraham lived in Palestine?  Some historians thought for a while that he lived in Arabia or that he was a completely fictitious character.  But, in 918 B.C., Pharaoh Shishak (they think this was Ramses II) wrote Abraham’s name on the walls of his temple in Karnack.

Did you know that archeologists have found a tomb in Shechem that holds a mummy and an Egyptian official’s sword…could it be Joseph?  Or is it just a coincidence?

Check this out:

“Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion: the same is the city of David. And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and smiteth the Jebusites,…” (2Sa 5:7-8 KJVR)

Well, historians believe that Joab climbing up those drain pipes to get into Jerusalem was just part of a legend about a great soldier, king and army.  BUT! A team of archeologists has excavated the area and has found the water pipes that Joab climbed!  Very, very cool.

And then there’s this:

a British Egyptologist named David Rohl in A Test of Time (I’m not sure whether this is an article or a book) has managed to identify the “abandoned city of the Israelite slaves (called Avaris), the death pits from the tenth plague and Joseph’s original tomb and home.”

You know, since I didn’t know that all of this proof existed before this week, I’ll go on taking these events as having really happened like I always have.  But, at the same time, it’s very exciting to have such a complete, extra-Biblical (as the writers of these articles say) historical record.  It’s kind of like a, “See, I told you so” kind of moment.  Archeologists, themselves have quite a lot to say about the evidence that they have found.  Put very simply by Nelson Gluek, a Jewish scholar and archeologist:

“To date no archeological discovery has ever controverted a single, properly understood biblical statement.”  

Hmmm.

Nice as that is, though, what if something looks like it contradicts the Bible?  Does our belief in the Bible and God crumble?  We can’t pin our entire belief system on those extra-Biblical proofs.  And, to be honest, I’m pretty sure that’s not the reason God gave us the Bible.  Ellen White reminds us that:

“These things were not written merely that we might read and wonder, but that the same faith which wrought in God's servants of old might work in us. In no less marked a manner than He wrought then will He work now wherever there are hearts of faith to be channels of His power. Read…the story of the four Hebrew children, and… [realize] …the influence for good that was exerted in Daniel's time because of strict adherence to principle.”{CG 43}

We can get all wrapped up in authenticity, history, reliability and whatever else, but when it comes right down to it – if you don’t want to believe in God, then you won’t believe no matter how much proof someone shows you.  And, if you choose to believe in God, then all the proof in the world doesn’t matter.

“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”(Joshua 24:15 KJVR)

Fool Me Twice…

Have you ever thought about what you would have done?  From here it looks so easy!  I mean, how could the Jews of Jesus’ time have missed it?  They had all the prophecies, like 450 of them, pointing straight to Jesus as the Messiah, right?   So, how could they have made such a huge mistake?  I mean, not only did they not recognize Jesus as the Messiah; they killed Him for saying so.

We like to look back and feel kind of smug.  We would have picked up on the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies right away, right?  I did a little research this week to see if I could find out what things might have looked like to the Jews of Jesus’ day, to see if maybe I could figure out what was going on in their minds that made things a bit foggier for them than for us with our 20/20 hindsight.  Because I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but Jesus is coming again and I’d really hate to miss Him!  Amen?

OK, so why did so many people miss the signs of the first coming of Jesus?  Well, one of the reasons seems to be that most of the folks were just living.  They were going to work and coming home, raising their kids, going to school, getting married, all that kind of day-to-day stuff that just happens.  Well, we don’t have any problems with that, because we’re focused!  We know what’s going to happen so we won’t forget to look for it.

Another thing that seems to have confused a lot of people was that there were tons of interpretations of the prophecies, not to mention lots of branch off prophecies from questionable sources.  There were even some folks that said that it was all made up and there were no prophecies to interpret!  Another puzzle was that there were disagreements about exactly what kind of Messiah they were looking for.  Some said He would be a King, some said a prophet and some said a priest…hmmm.  Some folks felt the prophecies pointed to an immortal and some said it would be a mortal man.  So, who were the Jews looking for—did they know?

Well that’s no problem for us, right?  We know exactly who we’re looking for don’t we? Plus, we know exactly how He’s coming.  There isn’t any disagreement for people today about how Jesus will come back this time, is there?  Not like the Jews who couldn’t agree on how the Messiah would arrive.

And then there were the guys who claimed they were the Messiah, but weren’t.  That never happens these days does it?  We won’t have any problem at all with that part.

Think about this, what if some new inspiration tells us that we’ve been looking at this thing the all wrong.  Would we have the courage to stand out and admit that we had misinterpreted the signs?  Or would our pride hold us back—keep us from telling people about the additional truth we had found?  I think that was a big problem with the priests, the Sadducees and the Pharisees of Jesus’ time.  The Messiah didn’t make the impression they had hoped for and so they held onto their misinterpretations rather than admit the truth.

There was also the issue of political/ religious power.  One sect of Judaism quit preaching about the coming Messiah altogether, because they wanted people to believe that the prophecies were pointing to them, as kind of a master race. 

Unfortunately, when we compare the Jews of Jesus’ time with ourselves here at the end of time, we see all the same issues that plagued them.  We’re distracted by everyday life; we don’t always agree on what the prophecies are telling us; there are lots of prophecies floating around that have nothing to do with the truth (but look pretty convincing); there are folks who say it’s all made up (and can supposedly prove it); there’s the secret rapture, post-pre-mid tribulation theories, the earth will become heaven theories…

HOW DO WE KEEP FROM BEING FOOLED?

Excellent question!  Well, I did some more research, in sources I trust more than anonymous internet sites and came up with some helpful information.

First of all, the Bible:

“And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. …And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”  (Luk 21:7-11,27-28 KJVR)

Then, I checked out Mrs. White.  Of course she has lots of details on what to watch out for and what the deceptions might look like when they come.  She also has some practical information about who the most likely to be deceived will be.  For example,

“Those who can so easily be led by a false spirit show that they have been following the wrong captain form some time,--so long that they do not discern that they are departing from the faith, or that they are not building upon the true foundation.  We need to urge all to put on their spiritual eye-glasses, to have their eyes anointed that they may see clearly and discern the tru pillars of the faith.  Then they will know that ‘the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.’” The Southern Watchman/April 5, 1904 “Present Truth”

I love that – “spiritual eye-glasses” – wouldn’t it be great if we could buy those at Wal-Mart?

“So closely will the counterfeit resemble the true that it will be impossible to distinguish between them except by the Holy Scriptures.  By their testimony every statement and every miracle must be tested. … and the few who are aithful to God’s requirements are the only ones who can ever withstand him,… ” Last Day Events, Chapter 11—“Satan’s Last Day Deceptions” p.170

“The only safe position for any of us to take is to consider ourselves sinners, daily needing divine grace.  Mercy through the atoning blood of Christ is our only plea.  “…But [Satan] presents before men not the meekness and humily of the Christian religion, but their own good deeds and wonderful impressions.  We can meet his specious temptations only with the word of God.  Those who have the truth as it is revealed in that holy word, must stand fast on the platform, relying on, ‘It is written.’” The Signs of the Times/Feb.26,1885 “Sanctification—The True and the False”

In God’s Hands

“For all this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous, and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either love or hatred by all that is before them.”  Ecclesiastes 9:1

“In the hands of God” is one of those Christian clichés that we hear all the time, but have you ever thought about what it really means?

Man, I thought this would be easy.  I figured I’d just do a quick word search and grab a couple of texts to illustrate what I thought “in God’s hands” meant to me.  Was I in for a huge surprise! Nearly 2,000 texts with the word “hand” in them.  I had no idea there could be so many contexts for a single word.  Now I’m really confused!  In some of the texts, having God’s hand on you was not a good place to be.  “Your right hand, O LORD, shattered the enemy.” Exodus 15:6 for example.  Or “The Lord's hand was against them until he had completely eliminated them from the camp.” Deuteronomy 2:15.  Then we read about Job, who talks about the Lord’s hand being against him.  That was definitely NOT where I thought this search would take me!  Pretty unsettling, …so I kept looking.

Then I found Ezra and Nehemiah who report a more positive experience with the hand of God:

“And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.” Nehemiah 2:8 and “The hand of our God was on us, and he protected us from enemies and bandits along the way.”  Ezra 8:31. 

Ok, I liked those much better.

 

Then we get to the Psalms where the psalmists talk a lot about being in or touched by God’s hand. Just a couple of examples are:

"My times are in your hands; deliver me from my enemies and from those who pursue me.” Psalm 31:15

”…though he stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand.” Psalm 37:24

”Like your name, O God, your praise reaches to the ends of the earth; your right hand is filled with righteousness.” Psalm 48:10

I was definitely on the right track now, but I still want to know, “What does it mean?”  Clearly, it’s not always a good thing.  In fact, if we asked Job, I think he would say that sometimes it’s pretty awful.

I think the most obvious meaning is ownership.  Right?  When something is in someone’s hand, that person owns whatever it is.  So, if we are in God’s hands, we are owned by God.  Many times in the Old Testament God tells a commander of the Jewish army that He would deliver a certain city or people into the commander’s hand.  That pretty much meant that they were going to own that city when the battle was over.  And to go one step further, ownership means control.  So “in God’s hands” could be interpreted as being under His control.  Is that someplace we want to be?

Well, I also read this from something called The Upward Look by Ellen White:

True faith consists in doing just what God has enjoined, not manufacturing things He has not enjoined. Justice, truth, mercy, are the fruit of faith. We need to walk in the light of God’s law; then good works will be the fruit of our faith, the proceeds of a heart renewed every day.
We must not in any way make self our god. God has given Himself to die for us, that He might purify us from all iniquity. The Lord will carry on this work of perfection for us if we will allow ourselves to be controlled by Him. . . .
The work of righteousness cannot be carried forward unless we exercise implicit faith. Move every day under God’s mighty working power. The fruit of righteousness is quietness and assurance forever. If we had exercised more faith in God and had trusted less to our own ideas and wisdom, God would have manifested His power in a marked manner on human hearts. By a union with Him, by living faith, we are privileged to enjoy the virtue and efficacy of His mediation. Hence we are crucified with Christ, dead with Christ, risen with Christ, to walk in newness of life with Him.
We are not to hold ourselves in our own hands. We are to drop self into the hands of God. . . . Our lack of faith is the reason that we have not seen more of the power of God. We exercise more faith in our own working than in God’s working for us. God designs that everything possible shall be done to enable us to stand heart to heart, mind to mind, shoulder to shoulder. This lack of love and confidence in one another weakens our faith in God.
We need to pray as we never have prayed before for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, for if there was ever a time when we needed this baptism, it is now. There is nothing the Lord has more frequently told us He would bestow upon us, and nothing by which His name would be more glorified in bestowing, than the Holy Spirit. When we partake of this Spirit, men and women will be born again. . . . Souls once lost will be found, and brought back.--Letter 105, Nov. 28, 1898, to Elder and Mrs. S. N. Haskell.

I know that’s a really long quote, but it is so clear about what we need to do.  I love the way Mrs. White says that we should “drop self into the hands of God.”

The question is, do we trust God enough to give Him complete control over our lives?  Are we really ready to surrender everything of ourselves to God no matter where He takes us or what happens to us?  We have no assurance that just because we’re in God’s hands, that we’ll always have sunshine, rainbows, and butterflies, in fact, we’re promised some pretty unpleasant/ uncomfortable experiences if we stay with Him.

“In his dying agony, as he yields up his precious life, he has by faith alone to trust in Him whom it has ever been his joy to obey. He is not cheered with clear, bright rays of hope on the right hand nor on the left. All is enshrouded in oppressive gloom. Amid the awful darkness which is felt even by sympathizing nature, the Redeemer drains the mysterious cup even to its dregs. Denied even bright hope and confidence in the triumph which will be his in the near future, he cries with a loud voice, "Lord into thy hands I commit my spirit." He is acquainted with the character of his Father, his justice, his mercy, and great love. In submission he drops into the hands of his Father. Amid the convulsions of nature are heard by the amazed spectators the dying words of the Man of Calvary, ‘It is finished.’” The Love of Christ, Signs of the Times, February 15, 1883

Once again, Ellen White says it all.  Jesus knows that even though the sins of the world have separated Him from His Father, He knows that God is still there, still loves Him and will hold Him in His hands.