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by Bill Seng

“When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords.” ~Judges 7:22

I'm going to take a moment to talk politics without talking politics. I find politics and politicians to be interesting creatures. They defy common sense in oh so many ways. This election season is no exception as two supposedly reviled candidates have secured their respective party's nomination. But what I find most fascinating is how establishment politicians are quick to throw each other overboard.

One side of the political spectrum is particularly notorious for doing this. They vet their candidates so thoroughly (or so they want you to think) that whenever a serious charge arises against a candidate, to the chagrin of their opponents, they will force that candidate to withdraw from a race or even resign from their current position. There are documented instances of this happening where the accused is 100% proven innocent… after the election has taken place or even 10 years later. Sometimes, allies can be one’s own worst enemies.

In Gideon's conquest against the oppressors of Israel, the battle takes a bizarre and unexpected twist. Gideon's 300 men blow trumpets and somehow that causes their enemies to attack each other. What on earth is going on here?

There are a couple of possibilities, but my honest opinion is that the Lord allowed for the wickedness dwelling within these people to get the better of them. There is an instance in Mark chapter 5 where Jesus commands evil spirits to leave from a demon possessed man. The demons did not want to be disembodied, so they asked to be sent into a herd of pigs. The pigs immediately, after being possessed, ran into a lake and drowned themselves. Under the influence of the demonic, they sought only to destroy themselves.

I can think of subtle instances today where the friends of certain groups of people actually turn out to be enemies. In 2014, a movie was released called The Interview. It was notorious for its ending that included the killing of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Apparently the North Korean government didn't find the ending too funny as they engaged in a cyber war against Sony (the company that produced the film). Studio execs are known to be good liberals – you know, social justice warriors that speak up for African Americans, homosexuals, and other minority groups in the name of multiculturalism. Well, the Koreans released some of the emails from one of the studio execs and lo and behold they were wrought with gay and racial slurs. In their secret thoughts, those who hate God hate others as well.

I would not doubt that the camp fighting Gideon's army wasn't much different. They were gathered to fight a common foe, but in their hearts they hated each other. Thus, the Lord merely turned them over to their inward desires to harm and kill those who they were fighting beside, allowing Gideon's victory to be a cake walk.

Do you harbor hatred against someone that you work alongside? The Bible tells us that "Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in darkness" (1 John 2:9). Hatred is likened to murder, and murder is of the devil. To harbor hatred is to become a subject of the devil, and hatred will surely lead to your own misfortune. Be unified in Spirit with those around you, particularly believers. It was the obedience of the camp of Gideon that unleashed the power of God against Israel's enemies and forced them to destroy each other. Though we don't desire those who hate us to face destruction, abiding in love tear down the barriers that the evil one sets up as we walk in faith, trusting the word of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

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by Katie Erickson

“Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, ‘A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!’ While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled to Beth Shittah toward Zererah as far as the border of Abel Meholah near Tabbath. Israelites from Naphtali, Asher and all Manasseh were called out, and they pursued the Midianites. Gideon sent messengers throughout the hill country of Ephraim, saying, ‘Come down against the Midianites and seize the waters of the Jordan ahead of them as far as Beth Barah.’
So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they seized the waters of the Jordan as far as Beth Barah. They also captured two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb at the winepress of Zeeb. They pursued the Midianites and brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon, who was by the Jordan.” (Judges 7:19-25)

For the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at how God was preparing Gideon and his army to go into battle against the Midianites. I encourage you to go back and read those posts (here, here, and here) to get the full story.

Gideon had just given his army the instructions to blow their trumpets and shout as their plan of attack, so that’s exactly what they did. The primary weapons they were using were noise and confusion - trumpets, the sudden light of the torches, and their battle cry. Seems like that wouldn’t be too effective, right? Especially when they were outnumbered well over 400 to 1. But with God on their side, the odds didn’t matter.

The Midianites were surprised and confused. They were suddenly afraid of this supposedly large army, and they panicked. They got confused and thought their enemies were already among them, so they started fighting against themselves and killing one another! The Israelites didn’t have to kill the Midianites; the Midianites took care of that for them.

What was left of the Midianite army fled away, so Gideon enlisted help from another Israelite tribe, Ephraim. His own army had gotten their courage back after seeing what God had done for them, so they pursued Midian as well.

There was no way this battle would have had the victorious outcome that it did except through God’s providence. Think about how silly this would look, to have a huge army turn on itself simply because you surprised them and were loud! This makes no sense to human ways of thinking, but that is exactly the point.

If Israel had won the battle on her own strength, Israel would have gotten the glory. Because the battle was won in such a unique and improbable way, God gets the glory.

What’s going on in your life that seems like a long shot? If it’s truly of God, you will be victorious if you’re obedient to what God is telling you, just like Gideon was.

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by Nathan Buck

There is nothing quite like that moment when you have clarity and confirmation on a big decision. I remember when my wife and I were praying through the invitation to start a new congregation in Findlay, OH. We didn't have any family near us, we were not well-connected in the community, and we had all sorts of concerns and questions about how everything would work - and I mean everything. We were just starting to have children, it would be our first time buying a home, our first time starting a new ministry, our first time being residents of Ohio, etc. Our list of questions and concerns for God filled two pages of a legal note pad.

Within in two weeks of starting to pray, God gave us a clear calling to start the new congregation in Findlay. He didn't answer every question on our list individually, but by giving us the clarity of our calling and location, He redirected every question toward His answer and trusting Him to provide.

In Judges 7:9-18, Gideon is standing on the edge of battle with the Midianites. They have literally overwhelming numbers of soldiers and camels. Gideon has the 300 soldiers God selected - by sending the 31,700 other people home. Now on the eve of battle, Gideon must be having doubts, and must be wondering if He heard God right. In fact, we know he's afraid because he does what God tells him to do in verses 10-11: "If you are afraid, take your servant and go down to the camp and listen to what they say, afterward your hands will be strengthened."

When Gideon goes to the camp he hears an amazing confirmation that God had already put the "W" in Israel's column, the victory was already set. Read verses 13-15 to see what Gideon heard and his response.

Let me encourage you. If you are standing on the edge of something big or something scary, God already knows the outcome, and He already knows where and how He wants you to engage. Trust Him. Seek His counsel. And let Him show you the confirmation.

As for our story, we did what God called us to. It was scary, exhausting, painful, and wonderful all mixed into one. The lives we connected with and the lessons learned along the way have been priceless to us. When we left that place, we again had His confirmation and guidance into another journey, and He lined up all our questions with His answer. Let Him do the same for you.

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by Charlie Wolcott

[This blog post is part of a series. The previous post is here, and the next post is here.]

One of the things the Bible makes clear is that if anything is to be successful, it must be initiated by God and completed by God. Anyone else is doing it in vain, and it will ultimately collapse. This goes with any plans we make, any project we do, and it also goes with any prayers we pray. Jesus said he could do NOTHING his Father was not doing. He also said, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus had a unique way of praying. He only prayed for that which God initiated. And that should be a model for us.

Many of us who strive to pray tend to have a list of our common prayer requests. We pray for our families, our friends, our church, our jobs, our neighbors, the persecuted church. We keep them on note cards that we go through every day or every week. We post them on our walls to keep track of them. I actually take time to go through my topic list for this series and pray about developing my prayer life. These are GOOD things to be doing so do not hear what I am not saying in this next paragraph. God, however, has been taking my prayer life a different direction.

For the last few weeks, I have asked God what he wants me to pray for in preparing for my quiet time. It’s been a very interesting exercise. A number of times, I’ve been rather weak and flabby about it (I’ll address that issue in two weeks). But other times, I’ve had some good prayer sessions with God, when I follow his lead. A while back, before this school year started, I spent a day at my church to just pray. I did not know what to pray for, but God brought up an issue in my life (which I will address near the very end of this series) that has been lacking, and I just poured out my heart to God on the matter. It was not sin, but bearing a frustration of wanting someone to teach me how to do this, and not having anyone other than Christ himself. Another issue God has been bringing to my attention is 2 Corinthians 10:5: “Take every thought captive to the will of Christ Jesus.” He keeps bringing that verse to my attention and I know I need to practice this. I need to learn how to take EVERY thought captive and make it submissive to the will of Jesus Christ. And my mind loves to go many different directions (distractions will be covered next week). But I’ve been practicing asking God what to pray for, before I start praying.

There is a really neat account my pastor gave about this topic. He was at a revival meeting leading worship, and the preacher that night was a healer. He was praying for people left and right and God was moving, healing people left and right. In the back of the tent was an older man who had stage 4 cancer. During this revival meeting, the Spirit of God had descended and filled the tent, miracles were taking place, and this man was in prime position to be the coup de gras, the cherry on top. The man approached the front, the preacher grabbed the man’s hands, and simply stood there for about five minutes doing nothing. My pastor, watching the whole incident from the piano, understood exactly what was going on. In the end, the pastor simply said, “God be with you,” and the man was not healed. He died a few weeks later.

Why did I say this was a neat story? The man did not get healed. What is neat about that? Here is the neat thing: the pastor was in position to follow the hype, to follow the crowd, and to follow what God had been doing the whole evening, but instead he was praying for each individual need and sought God’s will if this person or that person was to be healed. This pastor knew to only pray for healing with those God had said to pray for healing. I have a LOT of respect for this person because he knew to listen to God for each and every circumstance and to not make any assumptions before he moved. I can understand many would have their image and understanding of God be questioned by this account. Why would God not heal this man? Why did he let him die? Let us look at Jesus’ ministry. There were times where Jesus healed everyone. There were times where Jesus healed just one person. John 5 at the Pool of Bethsaida is a prime example. Many people went to the pool to get healed when the water stirred. Jesus was there. Why didn’t he heal everyone? He only healed one person: a cripple.

I cannot give the answer to why God only heals some and not all. But I can tell you that this pastor and Jesus were obedient to God’s will and only prayed what God told them to pray. This is what I am practicing. I am practicing asking God what he wants me to pray about so I can pray for it. I recall another prayer meeting my pastor spoke about. This one was at a home group.

They were praying for a particular need and they were just going and going. Finally, my pastor said they all had to stop praying. He told the group that they needed to quiet down and listen to God. Then God would tell one person to pray very specifically for the need. They waited about an hour and finally one woman spoke up and said, “I think I’m the one that is supposed to pray.”

So many times, we get straight to praying what we want to pray, and nine out of ten times it is about our wishes and our desires. They may be very good intentioned, such as the healing for a person or the financial rescue of another in crisis. Nothing wrong with wanting to see restoration in those circumstances. But how about we ask God what his will is in that situation, BEFORE we start praying. I am finding out more and more that our prayers will be far more effectual and powerful when we do this. Why? Because when we know God’s will on the matter, then we know exactly how to pray about the situation. We won’t have generic prayers that attempt to cover the bases. We won’t have to pray with contingency plans in the back of our minds. We will instead be praying with an engine that has power.

Seek God’s will in every situation. That’s one of the secrets to prayer that I am learning. When you know God’s will in the situation, when you are praying God’s prayers, not only can you guarantee that your prayer will be answers in the affirmative, you can pray in that pure, innocent faith that it will be done. God will never leave a prayer he initiates unanswered. He may not answer our own prayers as such, but if he initiates it, he will see it through to the end. Next week, I am going to write about distractions that keep us from praying or from praying effectively. I’ll be straight up with you here: I’m weak in this area. Then after that, I am going to write about praying with endurance, another issue I need to strengthen.

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by Steve Risner

This is part 2 in a series inspired by a conversation I had with an atheist that I graduated from high school with. You can visit part 1 of this conversation here. I hope you find this information helpful in your discussions with atheists or scoffers or anyone that may bring up similar sounding things. We'll begin today with this quote:

“After all, sooner or later, we all die, our awareness stops with our brain chemistry, and we all become compost, and no amount of praising a deity that isn’t there is going to change that.”

We do agree here with his first point. We do all die. That's a fact. But some of us will spend eternity in the presence of Almighty God and some of us will spend it in eternal torment. I would prefer eternal paradise with Christ. I've often heard it said, “I'd rather live like there was a God (or like Jesus is the truth) and find out I was wrong when I die, rather than living like there is no God (or like Jesus was not the truth) and find out I was wrong when I die.” I completely agree with this. But I don't think it's even that difficult of a choice. The evidence for the veracity of the claims of Scripture are confirmed by science, archeology, history, and logic as well as a variety of other means. Take a look at my blog post called “The Birth of the Way” for a conversation starter on that. Unfortunately, that's the only point we've found where the atheist and the Christian will agree thus far. Christians prefer evidence and logic, mixed with some observation and our experience with reality. Atheists dabble in fairy tales.

My friend quoted above claims that awareness is about brain chemistry. As I pointed out last week, there are leading researchers into consciousness that do not agree with this atheist's claims concerning our awareness stopping with our brain chemistry. Dr. Sam Parnia believes that the consciousness can live on beyond the physical body. Some scientists hypothesize that consciousness doesn’t arise from cell activity alone—potentially meaning our minds don’t always need a body to function. You can read more about that in last week's blog post as well. I alluded to his point about becoming “compost” last week as I mentioned the hopelessness of atheism represented by us becoming worm food in the end. This is only partially true. He's correct when he says we all die and become compost. He is, of course, not realizing he's relaying an idea found in the opening chapters of the book of Genesis. “...for you are dust and to dust you will return.” He believes this is the end, but we know that it's really the start of the next chapter—for some it will mean eternal joy and peace as we celebrate the God of all grace and love, while for others it will mean their suffering has only begun. This makes me sad.

He then goes on to say that praising God (who he further reminds us he does not believes exists) will not change this. He's correct to a degree, I suppose. Praise to God is not likely to stop you from passing from this world to the next. However, I believe he is implying that we will physically cease to exist and since there is nothing more to us than our physical bodies, everything we are will decay into nothingness, essentially. Even scientists who study the mind don't believe such rubbish. The mind and the body are two very different things and even how they interact or respond to each other is little understood. But what leading researchers believe is that the mind is independent of the body, meaning we are much more than a complex machine. I will go so far as to say we are made in the image of God, which means we are not just physical beings. We have a spirit which is far more important, in my opinion.

In the past I have presented what I believe are three very solid arguments for the existence of God. These are referred to as the Cosmological Argument, the Teleological Argument and the Moral Argument. There is a great deal of evidence that God exists. These three arguments are only three; there are many, many more. There is actually a great deal that cannot be explained otherwise. Denying this gives testament to the fact that the atheist isn't interested in logic and reason or in evidence. He's really only interested in denying God exists. This gives him the feeling of control and removes any notion of accountability. It has nothing to do with evidence. Keep this in mind when you're talking with an atheist. The evidence, according to God's Word and according to reality, is all around us.

This will wrap up this week's installment. Short and sweet. I know it's out of the ordinary for me, but I thought this was a good place to stop.

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by Bill Seng

“If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.” ~Judges 7:10-11

A few months back, I watched a UFC fight featuring Brock Lesnar vs Mark Hunt as the main event. Brock Lesnar had been my favorite fighter in the UFC ever since he threw his hat into the ring because he has a background as a NCAA wrestling champion. On top of this, he was also a UFC champion at one time in his career until an illness debilitated him. I watched a fair amount of the prefight leading up to the event and I was surprised to hear, for the first time leading up to the fight, apprehension in Lesnar’s voice. Mark Hunt has a reputation for having massive punch force and, this being Lesnar’s comeback fight, he really did not know how he would fair against Hunt’s power. Looking at the two fighters, there should have been no doubt that Lesnar was going to win. But for some reason, Lesnar was not fully convinced of this reality before the fight.

God was proving himself to be among Gideon’s camp, but the army could not see the power that they had on their side. They were assured by God that they would be victorious, but after God trimmed their numbers down from 20,000 fighting men to only 300, they were a little nervous. This was not a good military strategy. Sensing there was fear in the camp, God told Gideon that he would permit him to sneak in among the camp of the enemy to hear what they were saying so that they would be encouraged.

Humans are strange when it comes to trusting God, but he fully understands our predicament. We aren’t always aware of the power that backs us up when we are walking in obedience to God’s commands. We see that, in this story, God is patient. He saw that doubts were rising in the minds of Gideon and his men and they needed some reassurance.

Remember, Gideon wasn’t used to the idea of submitting to the will of God. He hadn’t seen all of the miracles of past generations. His experience had mostly been with Israel’s humiliating defeats against her enemies. Who could blame him for still having a little apprehension? Nonetheless, we see that he was still willing to follow through with God’s command to fight the Midianites and Amalekites.

An advantage we have over Gideon is that we have an entire book to remind us of how faithful God has been to all who call on his name. We are able to read about Gideon’s victory. We can read about Moses, David, and Elijah. We can read about how God grew the church in the midst of intense persecution. God is always faithful. It is okay to have a little apprehensiveness when going out on a limb to do God’s will. But always remember God’s faithfulness and do not allow any factor to discourage you from following through with his commands.

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

 

by Katie Erickson

“During that night the Lord said to Gideon, 'Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.' So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp. The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.
Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. 'I had a dream,' he was saying. 'A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.'
His friend responded, 'This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.'
When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, 'Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.' Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside.
'Watch me,' he told them. 'Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’” (Judges 7:9-18)

Last week we read about how God took Gideon’s already outnumbered army from 32,000 men down to only 300, so they could fight the huge Midianite army.

Naturally, Gideon was afraid going into this battle. He had less than 1% of his original army left, and the odds were definitely not in his favor. God had a plan, however, and the huge difference in the size of the armies was to show His glory. Gideon was getting discouraged and desired another sign from God, so that he could be convinced that God really would make them victorious over the Midianites.

God gives Gideon a sign in the form of a dream, but not his own dream. In that culture, dreams were considered an important means of communication from the divine. Think back to Joseph (of the coat of many colors fame) and the dreams he had, foreshadowing how God would bless him by making his brothers and father bow down to him (Genesis 37:1-11). After sneaking into the enemy camp at God’s insistence, Gideon overhears one of the Midianites telling another about a dream he had. In that dream, it was clear even to the Midianites that God was going to make Israel victorious over them.

This eavesdropping was entirely not coincidence, so that was exactly the sign that Gideon needed. He worshipped God, then got Israel ready for a sneak attack battle.

The trumpets used in battle were more for noise-making and signaling to other parts of the army than for playing music. Normally only the leaders would have trumpets, so having 300 of them (one for each man) in this case made it sound like they were a much larger army than they were. That was part of the plan to surprise and confuse Midian’s army.

Gideon’s instructions to his army probably sounded weird to them. After all, who could win a battle simply by blowing trumpets and yelling? (Apparently they had forgotten about Jericho back in Joshua 6.) This sounded like a strange way to win a battle, but Gideon and his army needed to have confidence in God’s plan, as weird as it may sound to them. They knew that without God’s power, their puny army didn’t stand a chance against Midian’s large army.

Size doesn’t matter when you’re dealing with God’s plan. The little guy can win over the giant with God’s help (think David and Goliath). Do you feel weak, powerless, and insignificant? That’s the best time to have trust in God and let Him use you and your life to fulfill His purposes. How are you letting God use you?

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

by Ami Samuels

After one of our moves as a family, I found myself at a crossroads. I was a stay at home mom who no longer had children at home during the day. I remember waking up and putting on my “I have no purpose” sweatpants and my “I have no purpose” t-shirt and getting my husband off to work and my children to school. After they were all gone I would shuffle through my day repeating to myself in my head, “I have no purpose,” so imprisoned by this thought that I didn’t accomplish much of anything.

One evening my husband, Chuck, came home from work and cheerfully said, “How was your day dear?” To which I replied, “I have no purpose!”

He calmly said, “Honey, you are a housewife. Have you seen our house? YOU HAVE PURPOSE!!”

I find what he said to be funny now, but at the time it wasn’t what I wanted to hear, even if it was true.

Soon after my talk with my husband I read an article that encouraged me out of this dreadful “I have no purpose” season. The article said that if you are a Christian, you have purpose. Our purpose, even if we have no other, is to share the love, truth, and light of the gospel with others. I became more involved with my church and started volunteering there and in my children’s schools.

If you find yourself struggling with the thought “I have no purpose,” spend time prayerfully seeking God’s guidance on how and where you can serve Him and others. And live life with purpose!

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

by Nathan Buck

A persistent theme in human history is monumental change, brought through minimal resources - especially when that change is initiated by God. A persistent assumption, and doubt, in human history is that overwhelming circumstances cannot be changed without substantially massive resources.

Even as I write this blog post, I am wrestling with an opportunity in front of me that I do not feel I have the resources to engage, and yet I feel a relentlessness in God's calling toward it. I know the spiritual answer is to just trust God, because He has all the resources for it anyway. Knowing that only deepens the struggle, because any excuses are being mitigated, at the same time the challenges of the opportunity seem to be getting clearer - and bigger!

Take a moment and read Judges 7:1-8. Gideon must have felt the same way as he was asked by God to overthrow the oppression of the Midianites, and God started shrinking the number of soldiers he had. Later in the chapter we learn Midian's forces were so numerous they could not be counted - a seemingly limitless army of soldiers and camels in Midian's camp.

Now, 32,000 had rallied to the call and we're ready to go to battle against Midian. And by the time we reach the end of this passage, God has shrunk an already small army down to a very small squadron of 300. 300?? Seriously?? How are we going to change the balance of power and overthrow the oppressive and abusive domination of Midian with 300 people?

There is a theme in the Bible of God using the least and weakest to demonstrate His power in overthrowing the strongest of evil. Some scholars debate about these 300 remaining soldiers, as to whether they were the strongest or the weakest based on how they drank. I think there is good reason to believe these were the best and only true fighting men, but it is still in the context of God's statement that HE will be the one to deliver Israel, so that no one in Israel can say they did it in their own strength.

Look at what God does. He starts by eliminating those who are afraid and trembling. 22,000 are gone right away. There is tremendous compassion here on God's part, because anyone who is fearful of battle is likely to be consumed by the battle very quickly, if not first.

Then He says, "...there are still too many, send home whom I say should go..." based on a "drinking" test He was going to do. Those who drank kneeling versus those who drank lapping like dogs would be separated. The "lapping dogs" get to stay, and the other 9,700 are sent home.

Now what is it about these 300 that God selected them? We know God wants all Israel to know it was His power that delivered them. By the sheer contrast of numbers that seems obvious. Even the best soldiers could not withstand these odds. So are they the best or the worst? Part of that question is irrelevant because the emphasis is on God's provision, not the talent of the soldier.

But I believe they were the strongest, wisest, most alert, and battle-ready soldiers. It would be so like God to use those He has already equipped and designed for a purpose, but to do so in a way that shows it was His power that enabled them.

In watching my dog drink, and many other dogs over the years, they often stand or crouch on their feet while drinking. They are alert and aware of everything around them. So much so that they are often distracted from drinking by some stimulus, and then come back when they are reminded of their thirst. To me, these 300 soldiers were the ones whose eyes were still scanning the area for activity, alert and aware of their mission, and concerned about being ready for the next moment MORE than being relaxed and sitting down in a moment to satisfy themselves. The mission was first, their alertness was focused, and their awareness was piqued for whatever would happen next.

I believe God used the men He designed for this battle in a supernatural way - exceedingly beyond their own ability, yet empowered in the strength and design they already had. So, what does that mean for us? Do you think we can trust God to put us where He wants us? Do we trust Him to be the one to accomplish His plan, especially when we know it is way bigger than what we can do on our own?

I don't think it would be tempting to do things on our own if we didn't believe at some level we could accomplish some imitation of God's plan. In our areas of giftedness and calling, we often put our hand to things in our own strength only. And while we may be doing the right thing (remember: Gideon was called to go and do this in the strength he already had), we may begin to believe that it's our responsibility to make it all happen. God didn't ask Gideon to figure out the military strategy; He asked Him to go. And as he went, God provided the strategy, strength, and power.

Are you staring at something big God is calling you to? Are you terrified that it's too big? Are you tempted to do what seems possible for you, instead of trusting God to bring the WHOLE victory?

Go in the strength you have, and let God lead the strategy, provide the strength, and show His power. If you are unsure of whether you are trusting like Gideon, ask this simple question: "Who is getting the glory from what I am currently doing?"

This forum is meant to foster discussion and allow for differing viewpoints to be explored with equal and respectful consideration.  All comments are moderated and any foul language or threatening/abusive comments will not be approved.  Users who engage in threatening or abusive comments which are physically harmful in nature will be reported to the authorities.

by Charlie Wolcott

[This post is part of a series. The previous post is here, and the next post is here.]

One of the most common tag-lines we add to our prayers, besides “amen,” is “If it be your will…” Do we really understand what we are saying when we say this? I would suggest many of us do not because we have said it so many times. Let us dig into what this really means.

The bulk of us add this to our prayers because we want to appear humble. Not necessarily to others but to ourselves. We would love for God to do this particular thing we are asking for, but in our humility we are willing to go another way. There is truth to this, but at the same time, we actually do not use this phrase in seeking obedience to God’s will, but rather as a cop-out. Countless times, we will pray, “Lord allow this to happen, if it be your will.” Countless times we want that thing to happen, but we actually do not expect it will come through. I wrote about expectations and specific prayers last week and this is a particular nuance to that subject.

When we pray, “Lord, allow this to happen if it be your will,” we tend to actually be praying for Plan A, but we have Plan B in mind. How often do we pray with a contingency plan? How often do we have a back-up plan in case God does not show up? Or more realistically, how often do we know God’s will and we do not want to do it?

There is a difference between those who seek God’s will and want confirmation, and those who knows God’s will and want out of it. Both will say the same prayer, “If it be your will”. Last week, I wrote about Gideon and Abraham’s servant. They knew what God’s will was. Gideon knew he was being called to defeat Midian. Abraham’s servant knew he was to get a bride for Isaac. Both asked God for signs, very specific signs that would not happen in the natural, to confirm it. They wanted to obey but they wanted to be absolutely sure they were making the right choice. So they asked for a sign without a Plan B in mind.

But many times, that is not what we do. We pray rather ho-hum about it, saying “If it be your will” as though we actually do not want to hear it. I remember during an Intervarsity Chapter Camp retreat about 10 years ago, the speaker related an event where he was on the mission field and God told him to go play with the kids there. But he did not want to do it so he had his quiet time, reading the Bible and praying. It is good to read the Bible and pray, however it is not good to do that when God told you to be doing something else. This speaker’s incident relates to what I am addressing. He knew God’s will but he was saying, “If it be your will…” as a cop out. He went to seek God’s will… for the purpose of avoiding God’s will.

How often do we pray for an alternative option other than what God told us to do? Moses did that at the burning bush. Five times, he prayed for an out. Moses finally agreed when he realized he had no out without being outright rebellious against God. But Jesus also prayed for an alternative. Three times in the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed for any other way to deliver man from sin. But Jesus did not pray, “If it be your will.” He prayed, “Not my will, but your will be done.” Jesus KNEW what God’s will was and he was obedient to it in the full. This prayer revealed Jesus’ humanity, but it also showed he would not doubt God’s will and his plan.

When we pray with “If it be your will,” we tend to make our prayers wishy-washy. We tend to have no confidence that God will come through when we pray this way. We tend to have Plan B in mind. I’ve learned over 22 years on the mission field that if you pray for Plan A and you have Plan B as your contingency plan, you are most likely going to be settled with Plan B. Why? Because God does not honor prayers we really don’t want to see through. God never has a Plan B.

Many say we need to have a back-up plan in case Plan A falls through. How about we learn how to trust and depend upon God so we have no need for Plan B? That’s a very bold move to make. While there are times where I make contingency plans, for most of my life the last 10-15 years, I have not had one. I only know my core, general direction to be involved with youth, and my current step, where I am at. I do not have plans on going this direction and if that does not work, I will go back and try that direction. It is difficult for me to make future plans because all I know is core direction and current step. So as long as I stay in tune with what God wants me to be doing, I will not have to pray, “If it be your will.” I can instead pray, “Let your will be done.”

Let us stop praying with “If it be your will.” Let us stop praying with cop out prayers that require minimal, if any, faith. Let us stop resorting to contingency plans that depend on our own skills and planning, and start depending more wholly upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us start praying real prayers of true faith and stop with this half-hearted wishy-washy prayers of cowardice. Yes, I said that. We have so lost what true praying is like that we settle for just a shadow of what it should be. What if we were to start seeing true, Biblical prayer again in our lives and in our churches? I have had no models to show me what real praying is like. But I am in the process of learning. I have started reading books about prayer from the likes of Eric Ludy, E.M Bounds, Leonard Ravenhill, Reece Howells, Hudson Taylor, Andrew Murray, Charles Spurgeon, Richard Wurmbrant, George Mueller, John Hyde, and others. Most of these books are still on my to-read list and some I will need to purchase soon. A couple I have already read or have started reading. I have also been listening to sermons about prayer by Paul Washer, Leonard Ravenhill, A.W. Tozer, and David Wilkerson that I’ve found on You Tube. These preachers and missionaries knew what prayer was and what it took. I can say that by the time I am done with them, I am likely to be a different person if I seek to apply what they have learned. I can also say that these men did not pray the way we generally pray here in America today. They did not pray with “If it be your will.” They prayed with, “Bring your will and do it.” I want to learn the kind of prayers that turn the world upside down. I want to have the kinds of prayer that can take what God has shown me intellectually and carry it out in my daily life. I no longer want to know about prayer. I want to live it. And I cannot do that if my prayers are weak, wishy-washy, full of doubt, and with no real confidence of it coming through.

Next week, I am going to introduce a type of prayer the majority of us do not think about: Praying God’s prayers. Getting a word from God about what to pray for, before you start praying.

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by Steve Risner

I would like to begin a series today that was inspired by a conversation I had with a “Catholic atheist” that I graduated high school with. He was very excited to comment on a thread I was following about this terrible thing we call Christianity and how intellectually superior he was to all of that. In fact, it seems like he frequently likes to make comments, sometimes that are not even connected with the thread, with the specific purpose of mocking God or followers of Christ. I saved a few of his comments so I could respond when I had the time. It later occurred to me that many atheists make similar comments, and others may benefit from seeing what I believe are reasonable responses to such things. During this series, I may specifically answer his statements but I retain the option to expand on his statements or, if it seems appropriate, I may restate his remarks to fit with a more universal atheist comment. I plan to never misrepresent his statements and will likely include his statements verbatim in each installment of this series. We'll start at the top and work our way down. I hope this series turns out to be useful for you.

"I believe our individual consciousnesses and existences are finite, and instead of basking in an afterlife that, without evidence, likely does not exist, I do not want to waste more time on theological ranting and raving than is necessary." This is ironic. He's preparing to give me a very long response to a few statements I made concerning my faith but wants me to believe that he's not concerned with the topic because his time is short. He claims that there is no evidence for the afterlife, which in my opinion is not true at all. Most often when an atheist makes a claim about evidence, they are doing two things: 1) they are saying they don't believe in something because there is no evidence, even when they believe a great deal of other things without evidence. The difference is they want to believe in their atheism, so they will toss aside their need for evidence so they can believe in that while mocking or scorning the believer because they don't have evidence; 2) they really are saying that there is no evidence they are willing to accept. Most often, when the claim is made that there is no evidence for this or that, what is really being said is that although they may be presented with a large amount of evidence, they reject it all or will ignore it.

I have chosen to use what I believe would be more in line with the atheist's beliefs concerning evidence and science in this discussion for the most part. We’ll move on to what the Bible says later in this blog post. I don't want to put any more weight on this evidence than is necessary. My only goal here to expose the fact that the atheist is not correct—that there are several different lines of evidence for an afterlife. Veridical experiences are interesting and actually have a great deal of scientific research behind them. These are experiences where a person has an out of body experience and sees themselves from above. They can recall very specific things happening that they couldn't possibly know about while they lay dead on a table. There are many cases of this happening—far more than you'd think. There is enough support for these happenings that there is currently a study known as the AWARE study that is investigating these events. It's an interesting topic.

There are also Peak-in-Darien experiences. This is when someone claims to have a vision of those who have passed on before them. What is compelling evidence is that sometimes a person that is believed by everyone involved to be living is seen. This is often troubling to those in attendance. The thing that is interesting is there are a great number of cases where the person seen, who is thought to be living, had actually recently died and no one had yet been informed. That seems very curious to me.

There are also other cases involving mediums and the like. To be perfectly honest, I believe quite strongly that any such activity is directed by demons that are imposters. They are feeding information that will give the medium credibility and nothing more. What this does support, however, is that there is certainly evidence for a spirit world so to speak. Dr. Sam Parnia is an expert in the field of after death experiences. His contention is that it is "ludicrous" to believe that visions reported by those who have died and been resuscitated could be low level brain activity. It's true that Dr. Parnia does not support any supernatural explanation for these events, but it does open the possibility for the afterlife. He does believe that the consciousness can live on beyond the physical body. Some scientists hypothesize consciousness doesn’t arise from cell activity alone—potentially meaning our minds don’t always need a body to function. That's interesting, isn't it? Dr. Steven Laureys, who does not believe in the afterlife at all, has found some interesting evidence to support Dr. Parnia's contention that these visions and so forth are not hallucinations or low level brain activity. Generally, a vision such as a hallucination will fade quickly over time. Unanimously, in every case Dr. Laurey studied, he found that regardless of the length of time that had passed since the near death experience, the memory was sharp and fresh like it had happened yesterday. This stands as evidence that these experiences were not made up by misfiring neurons. It's actually difficult to believe that a brain that is deprived of oxygen for an extended period and is reported often times to have no activity whatsoever could retain vivid memories. Perhaps people do have hallucinations while they are laying dead on a hospital bed. But to think their inactive brain could recall what those hallucinations were is laughable, really.

Please keep in mind that I am not pushing for any of these experiences to be accepted as anything beyond curious things concerning an afterlife. They are what we would call circumstantial evidences. I am only offering these things up as a stark contrast to the claim that there is no evidence for an afterlife. On the contrary, there is ample evidence. How we interpret it is up for debate, sure, and I'm not suggesting anyone should take these things at face value or to their grave (see what I did there?).

Something else that this skeptic says is one of the pitiful things we often hear from atheists is that life is hopeless, pointless, and when we die we turn into worm food. There is nothing else. What a terrible way to view the world and to view your own existence. The Bible offers us so much more than that. Christianity's response to death is to fight its tyranny with a message of hope and purpose. In fact, the Bible is truly a love story that shows us the victory we can have as created beings over death and destruction. It's the story of life's victory over death and the destruction of death through the cross of Christ. According to God's Word, death was not meant to be part of life but is proof positive that something is really wrong here. Death is the result of rebellion against God. Christ has won the victory for us over death.

The Bible speaks quite clearly of life after death. In fact, we are told that all human beings—whether a believer in Christ Jesus or not—are eternal beings. This means that once we are conceived, we never cease to exist. We may die on this planet physically, but our essence—our spirit, the stuff that makes us "us"—lives on. There are only two destinations, according to the Bible, for that departed spirit to exist. It can exist in eternal paradise where we forever will bask in the presence and glory of the Almighty God. Or it can exist in eternal separation from God in a place of eternal torment. There is no other alternative the Bible offers up. Jesus frequently talks about life after death, as does much of the Bible. And since it's insane to even consider that life and the universe miraculously birthed itself we must believe in some sort of Designer. That Designer is a spirit and has created us—mankind—in His image. We carry the image of God with us and, therefore, have a spirit as well. That spirit is truly what makes us who we are and is what will live either in eternal paradise or in eternal damnation. This atheist is choosing to exist in eternity in a place meant for eternal destruction and this is an extremely foolish decision, in my opinion.

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by Bill Seng

The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all others go home.” ~Judges 7:7

First of all, okay, maybe I over embellished things with the title… a little bit. You remember the battle of Thermopylae and the 300 Spartans that battled an infinitely larger Persian army to a standstill at a narrow pass, right? If you don’t, that’s because that was embellished a little bit too in the movie that immortalized the 300 Spartans (actually a movie title as well) in the movie 300. In the movie, we are made to believe that 300 Spartans blocked off a narrow pass for three whole days against an incredibly massive Persian force. At times it was mentioned that there were others involved, but they were few in number and unskilled.

The truth of the matter was that King Leonidas led an alliance of what is approximated to have been 7,000 soldiers (Greek and non-Greek). The Persians did vastly outnumber them, nonetheless, but the legendary stand by the 300 Spartans came after the Persian army discovered a path that would allow them to flank the Greek army. The Spartans stayed behind with a contingent of 300 men to fight to the death. It was brutal and the Spartans lost.

But there is a story about another 300 soldiers that has a happy ending. Gideon was commanded by God to go to war against the Midianites who were camped in a valley near a hill. Gideon’s force was enormous, but God did not like that. He wanted to whittle the army down so that it would be known that the Israelites did not conquer the Midianites on their own power. It had to be obvious that the only reason why they were victorious was because of God’s divine help. So, God immediately weeded out 22,000 soldiers from the force. And after eliminating 22,000 from them, God told Gideon that he still had too many soldiers. He then filtered down Gideon’s men again until only 300 remained in the force. The Midianites would greatly outnumber the 300 Israelites, but that was exactly the point.

Sometimes we get frustrated when something doesn’t go our way that undoubtedly should. If you’ve ever watched the first round of the NCAA Basketball Tournament in March, you will see a top-ranked team get defeated by a team who has no business competing on the same court. In those instances, the underdog could boast. On the other hand, it would be silly for a team like Duke to boast about defeating a team like Bowling Green. That should happen every time they play. One of the fascinating things about the little teams, like Butler, is that they often do give glory to God for their victories against legacy teams. And why not? They probably would have lost to them on any other day. But to beat them at the NCAA Tournament draws more attention to the small team and is a perfect opportunity to honor God.

When we struggle with the dilemmas of our lives, we often resort to padding our security blanket more and more in hopes that we won’t be harmed. We resort to trusting ourselves so much that there becomes no reason to glorify God if we are victorious. Instead of keeping one foot in the door and the other foot out, it is often the best idea to go all-in and trust God with the results. David refused King Saul’s armor when he prepared to battle Goliath because it would weigh him down because of its size (1 Samuel 17:38-39). Too often, we choose to wear the worldly armor instead of trusting in God’s armor.

Do you have the courage to take 300 soldiers, selected by God, against an army of 100,000 plus skilled fighting men? That might not be your obstacle, but it is easy to shy away from less intimidating tasks. Remember, when you are on God’s team you have nothing to fear. When he calls you to do something amazing, it will get done if you are available for him to use you. If you make yourself available to God, maybe one day we will be reflecting upon your great act of faith and praising God for how he empowered you to beat the odds.

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by Katie Erickson

“Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The Lord said to Gideon, 'You have too many men. I cannot deliver Midian into their hands, or Israel would boast against me, ‘My own strength has saved me.’ Now announce to the army, “Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained.
But the Lord said to Gideon, 'There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, “This one shall go with you,” he shall go; but if I say, “This one shall not go with you,” he shall not go.'
So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, 'Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.' Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
The Lord said to Gideon, 'With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.' So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.
Now the camp of Midian lay below him in the valley.” (Judges 7:1-8)

Just before this, Gideon had tested God and was now confident that God would give them victory over Midian. Read last week’s post for more detail on this context.

Gideon’s army was already outnumbered 4:1 by the Midianite army. The numbers were against them, but Gideon had confidence in God that he would take care of them. Things looked a little improbable, but God can handle 4:1 odds, right? So when God tells Gideon that he has too many men, that had to be quite a surprise to Gideon! But even with 4:1 odds against him, having a large army could cause Israel to take credit for their win, rather than giving the glory to God.

The elimination round was to essentially let the cowards go home. This was not a new or unusual thing for Israel, in fact we see it referenced in Deuteronomy 20:8. The idea behind it was that fear spreads easily. If some of the men were afraid, that fear could become contagious and more and more men would become too afraid to fight, thus limiting the army’s power and courage. This sent 22,000 men back home - more than 2/3 of the army! If the odds were slim before, now they’re even worse. Now, the odds are more like 13:1.

But leaving Gideon with just 10,000 men (against around 128,000 men for the Midianites) was still too many in God’s eyes, so they moved on to the second elimination round. If a man drank from the river with his cupped hands, he stayed; if not, he went home. That eliminated another 9,700 men - Gideon’s army was now down to only 300 men! The odds were definitely not in their favor, at over 426:1.

The way the men drank water seems like an odd factor for their qualification to fight in the army, but we can’t always understand God’s ways. God knew what He was doing with this, and Gideon had to trust that. Gideon had to trust that God was still going to use the situation for his glory, even though it seemed like a total long shot and nearly impossible from a human perspective.

Previously, Gideon had tested God a number of times to make sure he could trust Him. Now, the tables were turned and God was testing Gideon’s faith. Going up against the huge Midianite army with his now itty bitty army seemed crazy, but Gideon knew that this was what God wanted him to do, so he was obedient in moving forward with that.

Has God ever asked you to do something that seemed strange at the time? How did He later use that situation for His glory? If you haven’t seen that part of it yet, perhaps it’s still on the horizon. The important thing is that when God tells us to do something, however strange it sounds, we must trust God and obey, so we can give Him the glory when it all works out according to God’s plan in the future.

What happens next with Gideon’s army? Tune in next week to find out!

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by Nathan Buck

The more publicly you live, the more scrutiny you are under. The more influence your words and actions have, the more push-back you are going to have. It is a simple principle that the more we are seen, the more others will have an opinion about who we are and what we do. And the more our presence has an impact on others' experiences and expectations, the more they will want to correct, control, or eliminate our influence.

So, what do we do? If we stand up and do what is right, if we become a public spectacle, do we have any hope of withstanding the public backlash to follow? Gideon had this choice to make when God called him to be a judge of Israel. He chose not to hide, and he could have died for it, but he had someone standing in the gap for him. Read Judges 6:28-40.

Not only did Gideon's dad Joash stand up for him, he used the most powerful weapon possible: truth. An enraged, fearful, and infuriated crowd is wanting Gideon's head for destroying the Baal and Asherah idols of worship. Gideon obeyed God almighty and showed these false gods for what they were. And when the crowd demands that Joash turn Gideon over, Joash does something simple and incredible. He simply speaks the truth. "Whoever pleads for Baal will be put to death in the morning. If Baal is a god, let him contend for himself..."

What a powerful statement! Joash first affirms that God almighty will hold anyone accountable for going against Gideon, and then he invites the people to consider the simple truth that gods should be able to fend for themselves. If not, are they really gods? What power do they have?

The simplicity of truth is amazing, and its ability to guard us from the delusions of others is absolute. Think about it; even if they killed Gideon and Joash, the rightness of their actions would have been proved. The delusion would have been exposed by the 'need' for the people to harm them.

As it turned out, the people gave Gideon a new name in honor of what he did, and then the Spirit of God came upon Gideon in a way that rallied 32,000 people to his side to fight for freedom from Midian.

  When we stand for what is true and let our lives be led by God, we are guarded by truth because people must consider what is true before taking action on what they feel or want. Truth always runs interference for us, and when we surround ourselves with people of truth, they too will stand guard to defend us.

The power of Gideon's boldness and obedience was strengthened and preserved by his father's use of truth. And the mission God had for Gideon began with all the people seeing the Truth of God's mission for Gideon.

If living for God is hard for you, or if you feel like you can't live a Jesus centered life because of how people treat you, consider Gideon. The mission God has for you cannot happen if God's work in your life is obscured by masks and lies. Seek to live truthfully in every circumstance, and surround yourself with wise people who are truth tellers. You will be amazed how truth will help you to stand firm and live boldly by God's Spirit in situations you never thought you could.

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by Charlie Wolcott

[This blog post is part of a series. The previous post is here, and the next post is here.]

As I continue this series on prayer, one thing that tends to make people uncomfortable is prayer with expectations. Do we actually expect God to come through? Do we have the audacity to make specific requests of God with the expectation that he will come through? Or do we settle with casual, generic prayers that cover the bases, but do not actually require any real faith? When I started this series, I did not want to merely talk about prayer on a casual level. I wanted to dig deep, VERY deep… and I wanted to start living a true, praying life.

Charles Spurgeon wrote, "There is a general kind of praying which fails for lack of precision. It is as if a regiment of soldiers should all fire off their guns anywhere. Possible somebody would be killed, but the majority of the enemy would be missed."

How many of us pray “shotgun” prayers? We try to hit all the bases, but aren’t aiming at anything, or really expecting to hit anything. Why? I would suggest part of it is false humility. We don’t want to appear cocky before God so we try to pray “humble” prayers. How many of us have come across the mindset of “Who are you to ask God for that?” The problem is God does not care for that. He would prefer the bold, honest, raw prayers over the cheap, generic, casual prayers, especially in the name of humility. There are two characters in the Bible that asked for very specific results that most of us today would consider it to be “presumptuous.”

The first is Gideon. Gideon had been charged to deliver Israel from the Midianites and in obedience, he went through his town and destroyed the idols to Baal and Asherah. But before he aroused the army, he wanted validation of his charge. He asked for a fleece to be wet with dew but all the ground to be dry. Then he asked for the fleece to be dry and all the ground to be wet. This could not happen in the natural realm; it required a miracle.

Was Gideon being prideful in asking for this? Was he being presumptuous? No. He was seeking a confirmation. He wanted to be absolutely sure that this charge was from God. One thing I have learned is this: God never turns down an honest seeker. Let me say that again. God never turns down an honest seeker. If you are striving to find the truth and are willing to lay it all down until you find it, you will find it. God will not hide himself from those who seek him. But he may ask you to leave it all behind and do nothing but pursue him with everything you have. He does not like causal, half-hearted seeking. He does not care for, “I want to know God, but if I don’t hear from him, no big deal.” No, he wants those who dig their feet into the ground, and they wrestle with him and pursue and hunt him down until they find him. Do we have expectations of finding God? Do we believe he will come through? Gideon did.

The other person who asked for a very specific request was Abraham’s servant when he went to get a wife for Isaac. The servant asked God that the bride would not only get him water, but also water all his camels (ten camels and each camel could easily drink 60 gallons of water). He had a very specific request that would tell him what he needed to know in order to obey. There are many other examples of people in the Bible giving very specific requests and had expectations that God would come through on it.

God does not want us to pray loose, generic, shotgun prayers. There is no faith to these. The prophecies in the Bible are very specific and detailed to the point where you could not have just about anything fulfill them, especially when put together. Our prayers should be like the Bible’s prophecies: detailed and specific. Now, there are times where we have to pray generically simply because we do not know the situation or when we do not know how to pray. In two weeks, I’m going to address this particular aspect in greater detail. Another issue is that we tend to pray with a Plan B in mind. I’ll address that next week.

Let us get specific in our prayer requests. Do we even know what we want to pray for? Allow me to give you a hint to practice on this. What is your deepest desire in life? What is it that you truly want more than anything else? For some people, it is the approval of their father. For others, it is restoration of their family. For others, it may be freedom from pornography. For others, it may be to become a parent of a God-fearing child. What is that deep, deep desire that only you know about, that you have not told anyone? Some of you may be thinking right now: “NO WAY, am I asking God for that.” Ask God for that. Ask God to give you an answer about that situation. God often answers not in the way we expect but in a much bigger and better way than we expect. And do not stop asking until the answer comes.

Look at the Gospels. Jesus asked two blind men, “What do you want me to do?” He is asking us that now. “What do you want me to do?” Those whom Jesus asked this question to were desperate. They wanted healing. They wanted a solution. They were not greedy. They were not presumptuous. They wanted answers. They were honest seekers. And because they put their faith in Jesus, he gave them what they asked for. Could we ask amiss on this? Absolutely. The Israelites did in Numbers 11. They wanted meat instead of manna, so God gave them meat, and cursed them for it. But they did not seek the Lord for their provision. They complained about what he did provide. If we seek to pursue the Lord and leave it all behind to get to him, we can ask God for whatever we want and he will give it to us. If we do this, we won’t be asking for selfish reasons because we are going to be asking for what God wants to give us anyway. If you do not know what to pray for, ask God to tell you what to pray for. If you want confirmation, ask for confirmation. If you want peace in your situation, ask Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to fill you with his peace. Be bold, be courageous in your asking and in all cases, set your heart to seek the Lord.

Next week, I am going to address a very specific prayer we all tend to pray: “Lord, if it be your will…”

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by Steve Risner

This week, I plan to expand on a little information I gave in my last blog post about redshift and the evidence that seems to indicate we are very near the center of the universe. The atheist knows this information is destructive to their worldview and their origins myth, so they've invented something called the cosmological principle. This principle states that regardless of where you are in the universe, it would appear you are in the center. Why? Because then they don't have to explain all the evidence that indicates we are at or near the center of the universe. It's quite remarkable, really, and very convenient for them.

Redshift, as I explained in my last couple of blog posts here and here, is the shifting of light from objects in space that are far from us towards the red portion of the light spectrum. This means that the light is actually stretched a little. Why this happens is a total mystery, although some will tell you we know exactly what's happening. Be leery of accepting much at all from those people, as they're heaped in assumptions and unsupportable or unprovable assertions. There are a host of different reasons that have been put forward to explain redshift. Some are liked a lot (because they support the Big Bang theory) and some are not (although they're just as viable as explanations).

Something that is really interesting to me is that the amount of redshift is different depending on the object. We assume this means the objects are different distances from us. There is an issue with this, however. Some objects that orbit each other (binary stars) can have very different redshifts. This is strange because although they may be moving in different directions in relation to each other, they are really moving through space together, so they're very close to each other. There are galaxies that actually are touching each other that have vastly different redshifts. This seems odd, right? If they're close enough to be in contact with each other, why would their redshifts tell us they're very different distances from us? Astronomers have noted that some objects with redshift appear to have a decreasing redshift over time, as well. That's interesting. There are also some objects that are not redshifted at all but have a blueshift. This means the opposite—that the objects are moving towards us. M31 (aka the Andromeda Galaxy), a galaxy relatively close by, is apparently moving towards us and is blueshifted. Barnard's Star is also moving towards us, apparently, at about 110-140 km/s. I'm not sure why anything is moving towards is when the universe is allegedly expanding so quickly and has been doing so for so long. But they paint nice pictures about it to explain some of the evidence and hand wave the rest with made up ideas like the cosmological principle. Truthfully, I'm not saying any of their ideas are incorrect. I'm just saying we don't know if they are and really have no way of testing if they are correct.

I believe one of the greatest evidences for the earth (or at least the Milky Way) being near the center of the universe is the quantization of redshifts. This means that rather than the smooth increase in redshift we'd expect if the Big Bang is true, we see a sort of stair stepping of the redshift. This means that these objects (generally galaxies) are arranged in shells around us, clearly placing us at or near the center of the universe. This is like if we are in the center of an onion and each layer of the onion marks a band of galaxies around us. To suggest this would be the case regardless of where we are in space seems to defy common sense and our experience with reality. These findings, by the way, support creationist cosmologies like the one suggested by Dr. Russell Humphreys. Speaking of Dr. Humphreys, he says, “The technical literature of astronomy almost completely ignores a galactocentric [our galaxy is near the center of the universe] cosmos as a possible explanation for redshift quantization. Instead, secular astronomers appear to prefer some as-yet-unexplained microscopic phenomenon affecting the light itself, either in its emission from atoms or its transmission through space… Thus secular astronomers have avoided the simple explanation, most not even mentioning it as a possibility. Instead, they have grasped at a straw they would normally disdain, by invoking mysterious unknown physics. I suggest that they are avoiding the obvious because galactocentricity brings into question their deepest worldviews. This issue cuts right to the heart of the big bang theory—its naturalistic evolutionist presuppositions.”

Perhaps you're wondering if the quantization is real. Have they really confirmed it's there? Yes. Many times over. It was first discovered by Tifft and later confirmed by Napier and Guthrie as well as others. Dr. Humphreys remarks, “It appears that redshift quantization—the phenomenon itself, not the theories trying to explain it—has survived a quarter-century of peer review.” That says something, I guess. It is rather telling that they won't even consider the obvious reason for the evidence—that it means what it appears to mean. They need to essentially ignore the findings or sit back and wait for some miraculous find that will explain the numbers.

Why does it matter if we are in the center of the universe (or near it)? Well, let's compare Carl Sagan's ideas about our position in the universe with a Biblical perspective. Sagan says, “The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena … Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light [an image of Earth taken by Voyager I]. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.” This is the despair and hopelessness that abounds in atheism. What a torturous way to view life and the cosmos. He believes we are nothing special in this universe at all.

But the Bible tells us something very different. You see, the earth being near the center of the universe wasn't man's idea as Sagan seems to think. It was God's idea. We're just observing that position in the vastness of space. To further quote Humphreys: “It is very encouraging to see evidence for the centrality of humans to the plan of God. It was a sin on this planet that subjected the entire universe to groaning and travailing (Romans 8:22). Ours is the planet where the Second Person of the Trinity took on the (human) nature of one of His creatures to redeem not only us, but also the entire cosmos (Romans 8:21). This knowledge that God gave minuscule mankind prime real estate in a vast cosmos astounds and awes us, as Psalm 8:3-4 says: ‘When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; What is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you visit him?’”

How different could those worldviews be displayed? One is heaped in darkness and meaninglessness and despair, while the other is full of hope and life and purpose. Which seems to make the most sense? The evidence, if we can believe what we observe, is fairly clear. The “scientists” are the group of people who refuse to follow the evidence. Once again, we see that the Biblical worldview is supported by the evidence while the humanist worldview requires special pleading and a great deal of assumption. Don't worry: your faith is confirmed by solid evidence.

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by Bill Seng

“But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, ‘Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.’” ~Judges 6:31

I love stories about attempted crimes that go wrong. In Findlay, just a few months back, someone tried to rob a Speedway gas station. The criminal did not notice the other people in the store with him and got mugged by the other customers. On YouTube, there is a video of a young man who attempted to rob a bank, but the security doors to the teller slammed in his face preventing him from being successful. He assumed that since the security system was activated, he was locked in the bank. He rammed the door with his shoulder until the glass door broke and he escaped. His escape would have been easier, had he read the sign on the door that said “Pull.”

But one of my favorite stories of a failed bank robbery I heard about when I was about 10 years old. A bank robber had devised a brilliant scheme to break into a bank through its skylight and rappel down into the bank. He successfully broke into the areas with the money and was ready to escape. One problem: the rope was no longer secured to the anchor point at the top of the skylight. The bank doors were locked and the robber was trapped inside. So, he decided to call the police to come and let him out of the bank. It really stinks when what we think the solution to our problem is actually ends up causing us more trouble.

Take the people of Ophrah in Judges. The people of Ophrah really missed the mark. First, they departed from God’s favor by honoring the pagan gods of the land. Next they set up altars, memorials, and other structures to honor the pagan gods. These two things alone resulted in the true God removing his favor from them and delivering them into the hands of their enemies. Then, after Gideon destroyed the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole that stood beside it, they wanted to kill Gideon. When they told Gideon’s father that they wanted to kill his son, he basically said, “You want to kill him because he tore down altars dedicated to false gods? You know that, according to our Law, you should be killed for even having them, right? And what do you think God thinks about this? Maybe you should ask your false god, Baal, to plead his own case.” I bet the deer in the headlights look existed long before headlights existed, because their only response could be a deer in the headlights look.

Some time ago, my family had a fairly good reason to miss church on a particular Sunday. I could tell that my wife, however, still wanted to go and it was possible that we could still make it work. There was only one problem – I didn’t want to go that Sunday! But my wife asked me, “What do you think we should do?” I was kind of hoping we would just stay home without her asking me that question. Instead, I grumbled out my response, “It’s my responsibility, as a man, to make sure my family goes to church.” Then my wife asked, “You are saying you don’t want to go?” I said, “Oh yeah.” We went, but it was a gut check moment. What’s more important? Putting up with a minor inconvenience for a short while so that we could go to church, or succumb to the minor inconvenience entirely and miss an opportunity to worship with other believers? I think the right choice was obvious. The Ophrahites knew what the right choice was, as well. That’s why they spared Gideon.

Let’s be honest, none of us are perfect all of the time. We put things, stupid things, before God way too often. It’s moments like the one the people of Ophrah faced where they were confronted with what they had been doing and forced to make a decision: “Do we honor God or do we continue to play make-believe?” Are you playing make-believe in your life? Is there an area that you have not fully surrendered to God? If so, pray about it and share your struggle with a friend who will hear you out. I’m not guaranteeing that you will not have a deer in the headlights moment, but sometimes we need those.

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by Katie Erickson

“In the morning when the people of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar!
They asked each other, 'Who did this?'
When they carefully investigated, they were told, 'Gideon son of Joash did it.'
The people of the town demanded of Joash, 'Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.'
But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, 'Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.' So because Gideon broke down Baal’s altar, they gave him the name Jerub-Baal that day, saying, 'Let Baal contend with him.'
Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.
Gideon said to God, 'If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised—look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.' And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
Then Gideon said to God, 'Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.' That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.” (Judges 6:28-40)

If you remember the passage from Judges 6 that we read last week, at the end of that passage Gideon was commanded to tear down his community’s altar to Baal and the Asherah pole. This was a pretty big deal, because Gideon was sure the people would get mad at him for it - and at the start of today’s passage, we see that’s exactly what happened. Gideon had taken away what they considered to be sacred.

The people were mad at Joash, Gideon’s father, since Joash was the one responsible for the town’s Baal altar and Asherah pole. After their investigation and discovering that Gideon had torn down their “sacred” places, they asked Joash to get Gideon so they could properly punish him. But it’s interesting in verse 31 that even Joash doesn’t fully believe in Baal as a God. Notice how he says “IF Baal really is a god…” Even though Joash apparently doubted Baal’s status as a god, that didn’t stop him from being tolerant and having the altar anyway.

Fortunately, because of his dad’s help, Gideon does not receive the death penalty, but he does get a new nickname - Jerub-Baal. This was supposed to be a derogatory name meant to show the punishment that the people thought Gideon would face. But instead, it became a good reminder of God’s victory over Baal, and how God is the only one who should be worshipped.

The bigger picture here is what had happened to Israel as a people. Back in Deuteronomy 13:6-10, Moses commanded that even close relatives be stoned for idolatry. Obviously, idolatry was a pretty big deal, with it being deserving of death as a punishment! Yet, here was not just one or two people but an entire town practicing it. The people had started to believe the lies of the surrounding peoples and they had started worshipping their gods. The lies had crept in and become “truth” to the people of Israel, so much so that they no longer saw it as sin. They believed they could worship Baal and Asherah right along with God. Instead of putting someone to death for worshipping a god other than the one true God, the people were ready to put Gideon to death for not worshipping their gods!

All this local-level drama about the false god worship was then eclipsed by an invasion of the Midianites. Israel wasn’t going to go down without a fight, so Gideon gathered the troops. Verse 34 says how Gideon summoned the Abiezrites. They were like Gideon’s clan, his tribe or very extended family so to speak. For extra reinforcement, he also called in the Israelite tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali. But even with all that, Gideon lacked faith and confidence in God’s promises. He needed multiple signs of reassurance. That’s where the fleece comes in; Gideon tests God not once but twice to make sure that His promises are true. Both times God comes through and assures Gideon that He will take care of them, as promised.

Gideon appears to make arbitrary demands on God, simply to receive a sign. This is not necessarily recommended for Christ followers today, as it can be seen as testing God (which is forbidden in Deuteronomy 6:16 and reaffirmed by Jesus in Matthew 4:7, by the way). What we should do is to carefully observe what God is doing in our circumstances, pray, and read His Word to have the assurance and confidence that we need.

But in spite of Gideon’s apparent lack of faith, God still chose to prove himself to Gideon and to use him for His purposes. How are you doing with that? Are you allowing God to speak into your life and use you for whatever He needs to accomplish in His Kingdom? Or are you mad because someone tore down your “altars” and the things that distract you from God? Think about that this week.

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