Do you believe that humans are inherently good, or inherently evil? While I’d like to believe we’re all inherently good, I know that humans are full of sin ever since the Fall. As Psalm 14:1-3 tells us (also quoted by Paul in Romans 3:10-12), there is no one good in this world. It is only through God working through our lives that we’re able to do good.
The Teacher of Ecclesiastes looks at this idea too in today’s passage of Ecclesiastes 8:11-17. In verse 11, we see the idea of being willing to commit crimes if we can get away with it, which clearly shows the sinful and rebellious nature of humankind. If we’re not punished for our crimes, why not just go ahead and commit them? Verse 12 continues that idea, with those who are of God knowing that the evil people in this world will often escape punishment - at least temporarily. We see in verses 12-13 how at that time, they compared long life to being blessed by God.
In verse 14, the Teacher says, “There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.” The opening and closing of this verse with the idea of meaninglessness places extra emphasis on it, and shows just how disturbed the Teacher is by this concept. It seems in life that bad things happen to good people, and good things happen to bad people. In spite of knowing that God is just, injustice clearly exists in this world.
It’s hard for our minds to reconcile this concept, of the just God allowing so much injustice in this world. Why are there so many people starving in this world? Why are so many struggling to survive? Why is there so much abuse that happens? Why are there natural disasters and diseases that kill so many? It all seems so unfair in light of a loving God. But the fact of the matter is that God is perfect, and this world (and all of us who live in it) are not. We are sinful human beings, and when the first humans sinned, all of creation was also thrown into sin. Our bad choices often cause evil in this world. When there seems to be no direct choice linked to something evil happening, it’s because all of creation is fallen. But, God is still just! Even if we don’t see His justice playing out in this world, we will see it on Judgment Day.
Fortunately for us, God’s justice also includes His grace. We often think in the context of someone who has wronged us deserving punishment and hoping that they get their just desserts. But have you thought about what it would be like if someone is thinking that about you? There could be someone who is hoping to see you get punished for a sin that you have committed. We like to think of God’s grace for ourselves, but we need to remember that God’s grace is available to all - even to someone who has sinned against you or who you wish would get punished for something they’ve done. Read the story of Jonah (especially the end) to see how God’s grace can play out, and how we often react to His grace being shown to others.
What should we do when we’re struggling to understand the injustice that exists in this world? Enjoy life! “So I commend the enjoyment of life, because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun” (verse 15). We should experience pleasure in the good things of life, like eating and drinking, but we should also experience pleasure in the work that we have been given to do, simply because that is what God has ordained for us. God has not created us to be depressed, bogged down by the heavy burdens of this life, but He has created us to experience joy in Him and in the good things He has created for us to enjoy.
Verses 16-17 go on to explain how we cannot understand the ways of God: “When I applied my mind to know wisdom and to observe the labor that is done on earth —people getting no sleep day or night— then I saw all that God has done. No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.” The Teacher is actively applying his mind to understand how things work in this world, even to the point of losing sleep over it. But, he comes to the conclusion that the human mind cannot understand the things of God. If anyone who claims to know the mind of God, we know they are not being truthful as no human can know God fully. If we could, then He wouldn’t be God anymore; we would be.
We will never be able to understand the things of God, except maybe when we get to heaven with Him. But even then, God will still be greater than us, and He will still deserve all of our worship and praise for all eternity. We humans may be inherently evil because of the sinful world we live in, but everything about God is good and just. That is one thing that we truly need to understand and take to heart. No matter what happens with people in this world, no matter what we can fully understand or not, God is good!
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The answer to this question is perhaps one of the most important questions we can ask ever in our lives. “Is Jesus the only way?” The Apostles got in trouble as they began to bring the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire in Asia Minor and into Europe. Why? It wasn’t because they proclaimed Jesus as God. It was primarily because they proclaimed Him as the ONLY God. If they proclaimed Jesus as just “a” god, the crowds would not have been enticed to riot in Ephesus. In Acts 19, so many people were turning to Christ, but in that process, they destroyed all the idols and ceased buying from the idol makers, fortune tellers, etc. Why? Because they realized all those idols were false and had no power or value. The Gospel was literally running the occult businesses out of business by removing their customers and the demand for their goods and services. Take note: when you preach the true Gospel and people repent, those who make money doing evil deeds will come after you and draw in as many as they can with them to take you out. Imagine the bars and sex clubs and drug/sex trafficking coming to a stop because the demand for those ‘services’ ceased. That’s what happens when the Gospel is preached and received on a wide scale.
Jesus declared Himself to be the only way. He was the only option to save mankind. His statements on the matter include: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through Me.” When Jesus addresses the Jewish crowds, He made several statements: “I am the Bread of Life.” “Unless you eat of My flesh and drink of My blood, you can have no part of Me.” What is He saying? He is saying the only way we can have hope and sustenance is to make Jesus our actual diet. Jesus’ very life has to be taken in and become the very source of life for us. And He made this statement to the people who had the strictest food diets in the world. The entire purpose was that the people of God were to only get their source of life from God. And believe me when I say that this is the most difficult thing for any person to do. This is why the True Gospel is so offensive to most people, especially those who are nominal Christians, wearing the label but were never born again.
The knee-jerk reaction to this kind of claim is: “Who are you to say that?” “How cruel!” “What about those who don’t believe Jesus?” “Why should I serve a God like that?” “How can you be so dogmatic?” “How can you be so sure that your interpretation is right?” What is interesting is that I get these kinds of reactions from other Christians, not just the unbelievers. What are they really saying with these questions and statements? “Why can’t I believe what I want to believe and still get in?” “Why can’t I get to heaven and still enjoy the things I enjoy doing?” That’s really what they are asking.
Now I am going to open up a can of worms that I am certain will get some very difficult reactions. But I ask those who will give that reaction to hear out the argument BEFORE you react. Respond to that. The questions that are being asked about Jesus being the only way are the same questions being asked about whether God created the heavens and the earth in 6 days with only about 6000 years passing since He finished. Before you tune me out, hear why I say this and for the clarification about what I mean by this.
The Young Earth Creationists believe that their “interpretation,” if you can call it that, is the only possible correct model of origins because that is what the Bible describes. That is the claim YEC’s make. The Bible does not describe anything resembling any of the models that call for “millions of years” to be involved. The typical response I get when I proclaim such origins model is along these lines: “What makes sure you are right?” “Do you have to believe that to be saved?” “That’s just your interpretation.” It’s the same argument on origins as it is with Jesus.
Now, I am not putting one’s position on origins on the same level of “requirements” for salvation as belief in the resurrection of Jesus. But if you are going to claim belief in the resurrection, you need more than just the fact that Jesus rose. You need all that comes with it. When Jesus said, “Follow Me,” He also said, “Count the cost.” If you want to claim the name of Jesus, you need to take what comes with it. It includes forsaking of self, denying self of your rights and your dreams and your wishes, and laying them at the feet of Jesus, for Him to direct and guide and dictate. What comes with the cross and the resurrection? The need for the cross and the resurrection which is laid out in Genesis 1-3. You cannot separate the solution from the problem, or the treasure from the map, and yet most people want the treasure with no cost to themselves, no the key to the chest or no map to follow.
I am not declaring here that the Young Earth position cannot be questioned, but I am saying that if the argument against the Young Earth position is “Is that really the only possible option?” then would not the same person ask the same question about Jesus himself? Behind the argument is: “I still want to believe what I want to believe.” If this is the argument, and the person making it claims to be a Christian, that person is inconsistent. You either believe Jesus is the only way or you don’t. You either believe the ENTIRE Scripture is inspired and God-breathed and sufficient, or you don’t. You don’t get to pick and choose which parts you need to believe or you don’t. If someone does not believe that salvation does not depend upon origins, they need to ask a different question than this. Because it reeks of, “I want to do this my way.”
If salvation itself cannot be done any other way besides what God said, why should origins be any different? Why should any area of life be any different? Jesus didn’t die for you so you can get to heaven and live your life however you want and think however you want to think. He died and His resurrection is in part to save you FROM yourself. There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it leads to death. The only way that leads to life is through Christ, and that way starts out in Genesis. It will end through the events described in Revelation. Jesus is the only way. The origins that the Bible describes is the only correct origins model. The requirements of the Gospel – repentance and faith – are the only response acceptable to God. And the world is going to end as God described in the Bible. It’s the ONLY way. Call it dogmatic if you want; truth is dogmatic and exclusive. I only seek to speak it, and while it sounds harsh and while it sounds exclusive, it is liberating. I’ve noticed that people who used to believe in God and left it tend to describe their account in terms of education and enlightenment. I can see a fog coming over their heads, blinding them to the truth. But those who escaped from that don’t come to God in terms of education or enlightenment, but in terms of deliverance. Know the truth and the truth will set you free. It is the only way to be free. Let us surrender ALL of ourselves so that Christ might reign actively today, instead of living in rebellion against His rule. His rule is sovereign over everything, and anything not submitting to it will be judged as sin. Anything submitting to His rule will be judged as righteous. Which one are you? The one who does things God’s way, or does things your own way?
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As I sit down to write this post, I can’t help but think how radically changed my life has become through the years for Christ. As a child, I wanted to live for me and me alone. I was a very selfish person and didn’t realize how much that was not only hurting me as a person but hurting others around me. At the same time, many people approved of my actions because they would benefit from what I was doing as well. Some were selfish too, and others were just wanting to live life trying to help others.
As I lived my life, from childhood into manhood, I became even more selfish. I completely believed in the evolutionary fairy tale taught to me as a child, and I started taking that mindset on and eventually living out the secular worldview in my life. I mean, if we are all just descended from animals we might as well act like it, right? My mindset was very much, “Let’s do what feels good and fornicate as much as we can because all that exists is here and now.” Yeah, that was pretty much my mindset. The selfish mindset of the so-called pro-choice movement made sense to me, because I should get mine while I am here and if someone dies before they get here, what’s the big deal? These children aren’t here yet so let’s save the planet for those that are here and for future generations because they need a place to live too. (See, how loving I was? – This is my attempt at sarcasm – I was thinking of future generations as long as they didn’t impact me and my life or make me adjust my plans.) What a crock of fecal matter!
I have not only Christ to thank for getting me out of my mindset of death and destruction but two amazing parents that loved me more than I even realized. I love my mother and father so much for not only loving me but not wavering in what they taught me as a child. They were both uncompromising, and I can assure you their steadiness impacted me as a man more than one could ever know. Thank you, Mom and Dad.
It wasn’t until the Creator of the Universe got a hold of my life and I actually started listening to absolute truth, found in His Word, that I started to change. You see, one morning in January 1995, God made Himself very real to me, and since that day I have been radically changed to serve Him in all I do. “I’ll live my life no other way, till the day I die.”
That day was the day I chose to get closer to God Almighty. It was the day I realized this all wasn’t just about me and what I wanted. However, I knew I needed to grow, learn, and become mature in Christ. I struggled with what that looked like. Once I started following Christ, my life didn’t become perfect. I wish I could tell you it did, but it didn’t. One thing that seriously helped me to mature in Christ was being discipled by a pastor, that I am so thankful for, who discipled me once a week for over a year at a greasy spoon in Minnesota at 5:00a.m. We met on Wednesday mornings and his dedication, faith, and belief not only in Christ but in me as a man helped me to grow more than I realized back then. Thank you, Pastor Chris, for taking a chance on a young, wet behind the ears “rebel” and sowing “seeds” into my life, not knowing what would happen. I truly love you as one of my friends and mentors.
I still have to choose every single day to follow Christ with my mouth and my actions. It is a very tough choice to make. My carnal man rears his ugly head daily and I need to basically say “not today” and lean on and learn from the Holy Spirit every single day, listening to the Holy Spirit’s council.
Friends, it is a choice to follow God or to not follow God Almighty. The Kingdom of God is not a place. It is as spiritual awakening. It is a mindset. It is a lifestyle, and we can live it in the here and now on planet earth. If you don’t think we can do this, I encourage you to consider the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus Christ told his followers to pray in this way:
“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” (Matthew 6:9-10)
Did you see it?
Jesus Himself told His followers to pray that the Kingdom of God would be here on earth as it is in Heaven. Isn’t that just super encouraging? I encourage each one of us who follow Christ to not just pray for this to happen, but let’s actually live it out here on earth.
Yes, we can choose to live out God’s Kingdom mindset here on earth. Choose for yourselves this day to actually live out Christ’s ways here on earth to be a good witness, helping people to see what God’s Kingdom really looks like. Please don’t forget, though, that Jesus warned us that we would be hated for following Him and doing His ways on earth. Matthew 5:11 says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” Remember you are blessed when this happens. Make certain though you are following Christ
Here’s a song I greatly hope you will consider, to encourage you in your walk with God. Even if you don’t like this sort of music, please listen to the message of this song. Are you willing to be “Radical” for Christ? I can assure you, I have made my choice. I am as ready as I can be. Are you?
Till the day I die
Till the day I die
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
It's easy to find one that will compromise
But it's not easy to find one that's willing to stand
The road to hell is wide
But to heaven it's a one way, one truth, one life
That's why we're not ashamed of the name of Jesus
And we don't care if the whole world sees us
From our chains he has set us free
And I could never repay what he has given to me
I've been radically loved
I've been radically changed
By his grace I have been radically saved
And I'll live my life no other way
Till the day I die!
With my heart with my soul
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
With my blood with my bones
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
It's easy to find someone that's willing to die
But it's not easy find someone that's willing to live
I want to walk in his footsteps even if the world hates me
Be ready to love and not afraid to forgive
Never ashamed of the name of Jesus
And we want the whole world to see us
See He's alive burning in our hearts
Offering mercy with outstretched arms
I've been radically loved
I've been radically changed
By his grace I have been radically saved
And I'll live my life no other way
Till the day I die!
With my heart with my soul
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
With my blood with my bones
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
To my friends, to my foes
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
With my heart, with my soul
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
Not just my mouth but let my hands speak the glory of God
Not just my mouth but let my hands speak the glory of God
Not just my mouth but let my hands speak the glory of God
Not just my mouth but let my hands speak the glory of God
Till the day I die!
With my heart with my soul
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
With my blood, with my bones
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
To my friends, to my foes
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
With my heart, with my soul
Till the day I die I'll be a Radical
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.
When I came to this section of Ecclesiastes with the title in my Bible of “Obey the King,” my first thought was that this doesn’t really apply to us today; we don’t live under a monarchy with a king. But many of the principles in this section do apply to our leaders in general, so let’s take a look.
Verse 2 starts out by showing us that we should obey the authorities over us because we desire to honor and obey God. As a follower of Jesus, we have pledged ourselves to follow Him, which means we should also follow those in authority over us because that honors God. You can read more about this idea here or here.
Verse 3 tells us that we should obey our authorities even when it’s something we don’t want to do. We shouldn’t rush to leave their presence, but stay to make sure we are following their orders and ready to do everything they ask of us. We are serving for the authority’s pleasure, not our own. Verse 4 echoes that idea, reminding us that the authorities over us don’t have to answer to us. They may respect us enough to hear our opinion, but it is ultimately up to them and not us.
Verses 5-7 tell us that we would be wise to do what the authority wants, at the right timing, and in the right way. We don’t necessarily know the whole picture, so we cannot know the full purpose of what we may be asked to do. Sure, I could question the actions of the President of the United States, but I don’t know a lot about what’s going on in our government, so I don’t have the full picture of the situation.
Verse 8 reminds us that as humans, none of us are really in control, even those in authority positions. Just like we can’t contain the wind, we can’t know when someone will die.
This analogy of obeying the king also shows us how to obey God. We do not know anywhere near the whole picture that God knows - His knowledge is infinite, and He knows the entire past, present, and future of our time, and even beyond time! There’s no way we can compare with that. Even the smartest among us have zero knowledge of the future, and we only know what has been recorded for the past. We cannot even know everything that is happening in the present time when we live. But God knows all of that.
Because of God’s vast knowledge, we should always obey Him as our supreme authority. We may think we know better than Him at times, but we never really do. He ultimately knows what will happen in the future, so we should trust His guidance. He may tell us to do things that we don’t want to do, but because He is a loving God, we should trust that He does have our best interests in mind at all times.
Verse 9 continues, “All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.” When someone lords it over others and exercises his authority to the detriment of others, that will ultimately hurt himself. If you are in any kind of authority over others, acting wrongly toward them will end up hurting yourself. If you don’t trust in and follow the ultimate authority of God, then you will likely end up acting selfishly, which will come back and bite you in some way. The only way to fully rule in a just manner is to follow God’s ways.
Verse 10 concludes our section, “Then too, I saw the wicked buried — those who used to come and go from the holy place and receive praise in the city where they did this. This too is meaningless.” Even wicked and oppressive rulers would often receive lavish funerals, even being honored in their death. This does not give a good example to the people, however, as it shows them that they may still be honored and praised even for wicked actions.
How do you relate to the authority figures in your life? Authorities in your life may be your parents, teachers, work supervisor, or those holding government offices. Do you honor God by honoring the authorities in your life? Do you respect authorities, realizing that they know more of the big picture than you do? Give God glory and honor by honoring His authority most of all, and also by honoring the people who He has placed in authority over your life.
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Science is one of the core subjects in most if not all high school curriculum, along with English, Math, and Social Studies. Every student (at least in Texas) needs to take four years of science classes: biology, chemistry, physics, and a 4th science of a student’s choice (from what the school offers). Assuming that the student comes out of these courses actually having learned about the inside of cells, chemical reactions, Newton’s Laws, DNA, stoichiometry, electricity and so on, there is a legitimate question that needs to be asked. In all this: are they really leaning what “science” as a field of study actually is?
As a physics teacher, we have so much material we have to cover that generally, the basic nature of the scientific method and the process of scientific investigation is really just skimmed over. By the time the kids are done with their first quarter, that knowledge is gone. That is something I want to be addressing more in my own classes as I start preparing for the next school year.
In my discussions on Facebook about science with people from laymen to PhDs, I am greatly disturbed by what is being taught overall about what “science” is. There is hardly any mention of the scientific method in scientific papers (like less than 1% of them). Some of the PhDs I talk with demonstrate they really don’t even understand the scientific method, because they run away at the call for “experimentation” when addressing things like origins.
But another aspect that I’ve seen pop up over the last couple years is this phrase “methodological naturalism.” That is what they say “science” is. Now science basically is the “study of the natural world,” but “methodological naturalism” is NOT a study of the natural world; it is the practice of “philosophical naturalism.” Let me explain.
When I teach physics, we keep things at a very basic level. When we cover the Law of Conversation of Energy, we typically ignore factors like friction, air resistance, etc. in the examination of a roller coaster. We can specifically rule out certain factors for the purpose of our analysis. The study of nature can be likened to that. You can zoom in and specifically examine how certain things operate under normal circumstances, while setting aside how the fuller, bigger picture actually works. Similarly, a Christian can carry out the scientific process and still believe in God and in miracles because that is part of a much bigger picture.
“Methodological naturalism” does not allow for this. This thinking only allows the factors that the analyst wants considered and does not look at the potential bigger picture. This comes from the philosophy that God cannot be considered in any scientific study because He is not testable, nor can miracles be put under a scientist’s microscope for “testable predictions.” I would suggest those making these arguments really don’t understand how to use science properly, because they are using it to make claims it cannot make. The same person that says, “God is outside the realm of science” to reject the claims of the Bible is the same person that demands that God and his work be held to the same “scientific standards.” I call that a contradiction, trying to have their cake and eat it too. If God is outside the realm of science, then science is not the right tool for analyzing the things of God.
Science has effectively been made into a “god” of our day. What all the pagan societies in the Ancient Near East worshipped can be effectively condensed into one deity today that is called “science,” which Creationists have accurately dubbed “Scientism.” It’s the worship of nature. It’s the same lie. It’s not even really “methodological naturalism.” It’s actually a form of pantheism, giving the creation the creative attributes of God and the worship of nature. I’ll go into greater detail on this later on in another post. I’ve been connecting some dots between these ideas and the Gnostics and the pagan societies of the ANE because they have the same recycled core ideas.
Methodological naturalism does not allow for any consideration outside its box, and thus the separation from this and “philosophical naturalism” is simply playing word games to avoid having to account for denying God His place as the Creator and as the Master of this Universe. The fact is we cannot truly understand science without understanding God. We may get a good idea for how some things generally work, but as science history has shown, we could be so dead wrong that 10, 20, or 30 years from now, the whole thing could be revamped.
God is the Creator. He didn’t just create the heavens and the earth; He made every being on this planet and wrote the laws by which our universe operates in the natural. But God didn’t merely set up the physical universe to operate on its own while sitting back and letting it go. Colossians tells us that He is the one who upholds the universe. God is the one maintaining and sustaining these laws we have only just begun to understand. To this day, there is no explanation for how the “laws of science” came about other than “God made them.” Those who deny God His place here will fumble, bumble, and dance but never actually give a clear, coherent answer.
God also doesn’t want us trying to figure out universe on our own. He wants us to explore what He created with Him. Every time we find a new discovery of fact like a new plant species or a new galaxy, God is saying, “Hey, I’ve got more. You want to see it?” The truly best scientists who actually discovered and found out how things operate knew that God had to be the Mind behind it all. Isaac Newton was one of them. He is attributed to saying that science is “thinking God’s thoughts after Him.” If you practice science and come to the conclusion that God is not involved in any of this, you haven’t done your job right, if at all.
Another person, to whom nearly every person in modern society is forever indebted to knew that he could not have done what he did without God’s wisdom, is George Washington Carver. He literally saved the South of the U.S. from an economic disaster because of over dependence upon the cotton crop. He knew that the solution was the peanut, at which was not even on the Farmer’s Almanac as a potential crop at the time. So, he went to his lab and prayed, “God, you made this plant. I know this can help my people. Show me why you made it and what I can do with it.” Carver did not practice “methodological naturalism” in investigating the peanut plant. He practiced science as it should be practiced: taking dominion over the earth and submitting it to and for God’s purposes. He came up with over 300 uses for the peanut from food to cosmetics to more, and he said he had only scratched the surface for what this plant could do. And if he did not seek the advice of the Creator, he very likely would have only come up with a fraction of that.
Now where do miracles play a role in science? That’s really outside the scope of this post, however, let me quickly address it: miracles are one-time events that cannot be investigated scientifically, but they can be investigated for authenticity via the “evidentiary method.” Miracles are not a “violation” of scientific principles as some are wont to describe them, but rather God intervening when natural means alone cannot explain it. God did not change the laws of buoyancy and density when both Jesus and Peter walked on water. He simply held both Jesus and Peter up. Methodological naturalism denies even the prospect of miracles or outside influences, thus they can never give a truly accurate picture.
What is science? Science is a tool that helps us understand the universe God created. It is not a philosophy. It is not a god. It has no creative power. It has no decision-making ability. It is a tool, a tool that has limits and cannot be used for every application. It is very useful and very practical, however it is not the end of all statements on any matter. God is. Any study of science we do must submit to God’s plan and God’s purposes. But if we step away from doing proper science and step into methodological naturalism, we steal from God his glory and deny Him what He deserves. He is a jealous God and He will not share His glory with another, let alone a “natural process.” Let us do our science properly, and it can only be done properly when it is an act of worship of the One True God, as a searching for His mind on what He did when He created everything. And when we are done, let us worship Him in awe of the great Mind that put all this together and makes it all work, even under the curse. I love science, but I love God even more. And I love how all science when fully investigated and properly analyzed will always and only reveal the Creator and the record He gave. As we study our world, let’s never forget our Creator nor fail to give Him His due glory.
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 Chad Koons
1985 was a great year. I was a carefree 10-year-old who absolutely loved G.I. Joe, the Transformers, and He-Man! I would embody the various characters from those shows and battle the imagined enemy with ferocious abandon. Many a villainous tree fell victim to my plastic swords, cap guns, and sling shot blasts! Of all the characters in those fantastic cartoons, my favorites were the NINJA. The mid-80’s were the era of the ninja: ninja toys, weapons, and movies were everywhere during that time, and we simply could not get enough of them.
Oh, how I ached to be a real-life ninja. My buddy Pete and I would drool over the catalogs that sold all of that super-secret ninja stuff. Those old catalogs had the katanas (ninja swords), sais (ninja stabbers), shurikens (throwing stars), nunchucks (swingy pieces of wood), even those hoods and weird shoes that ninjas wore! How did they get all that cool stuff?! Since we were just poor kids who couldn’t drop $300 to buy it all, we had to rely on the next best thing: flea Markets. Yep, for $5 or less, a kid could buy real ninja weapons all the way from Japan (or was it Taiwan…). So we did what any self-respecting 80’s boys would do: from nunchucks to throwing stars to grappling hooks, we thoroughly armed ourselves.
All of this boded well for Halloween of that year, which was just around the corner. This Trick or Treat would be the best ever, I thought. No more stupid kiddie masks and dumb costumes, not for me! This year I would unleash my inner warrior upon the unsuspecting neighborhood. Donning my brother’s ill-fitting black sweatshirt, a black hood that Mom got me, and old black sweatpants, my transformation was complete. I was finally a NINJA, although it would only be for one night. I felt like a new man, my destiny was being fulfilled, young grasshoppah.
In preparation, I tirelessly practiced my moves in the front yard for at least a whole week, honing every kick, chop, roll, and nunchuck swing to near perfection. In my mind I was Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris (all hail Chuck Norris), and Storm Shadow all rolled up into one awesome, prepubescent package. I was probably the most fearsome 4-and-a-half-foot-tall obese ninja that the world had ever seen! Homeowners handing out candy would fear the wrath of my foam-padded plastic nunchucks, and fellow trick or treaters would respect me.
Trick or treat night had arrived and I took to the streets. The evening had begun perfectly – the kids on the streets were watching me! I met their gaze with steely determination, sometimes going into a crouch to creep past them, other times feigning to fight. I thought I was big stuff! When I got the first house, I shouted, “trick or treat” and threw a high kick as my neighbor opened her door. I nearly fell over from my effort. The homeowner laughed at me. Eh, what did she know anyhow. Moving along to the next house, I rang the doorbell and greeted the homeowner with a furious spinning nunchuck routine! I had a hard time with it though, the mask must have obscured my vision? He laughed at me, too. Hmmm. Maybe I needed to step up my game, so I changed my strategy, I probably just needed more fury or something? So I unleashed the beast upon the next house! That lady never saw such a storm, I kicked, chopped, and delivered piercing ninja screams! She was impressed! “Oh!” she exclaimed with a smile, “We have a little ninja out here!” Wait, WHAT?! A “little ninja”?! I’m a fearsome killing machine, lady! What is wrong with these people?!
The kids weren’t treating me any better either. Do you remember that group of big kids who went around during trick or treat to harass the little kids? Well, they ran into me at the unofficial trick or treat rest stop, the church parking lot. “You’re too fat to be a ninja, kid,” they scolded sarcastically. “Show us what you got, tubby!” Maybe they just needed to see how fast this fat kid could move? I quickly assessed the situation and envisioned what I could do. I decided that I would put on the best martial arts display they’d ever seen, delivering a flurry of impossible kicks and devastating chops before launching myself into an unexpected roll… then popping back up on my feet with nunchucks whirling wildly. Oh, what a great idea! It looked very impressive in my head, anyway. They’d love it!
The reality was something altogether different, however. I came alive before my accusers, my hands and feet went flying, every fat roll jiggling uncontrollably while I fumbled through an embarrassing array of awkward gyrations and jabs before a botched attempt at my ninja roll, which wound up being a crude hurling of my pear-shaped body headlong upon the pavement, tucking my head underneath as I flung forward, something akin to a forward roll being performed by a small hippo. My portly frame was not cut out for such gymnastics, as my rather large stomach proceeded to bring my momentum to a screeching halt, just as my legs had folded up over my head. I laid there stunned upon the parking lot, bent completely in half with my head and shoulders pinned under the remainder of my considerable girth, butt to the open night sky as the weight of my lower body slowly crushed the breath from my lungs. The silence was broken by a merciless peal of laughter from the acne-laden crowd of big kids, who probably still tell stories about it to this day. Oh well, at least I didn’t hit myself in the face with my nunchucks (which happened a lot during ninja practice). Turns out being a ninja requires more than just halfway looking like one.
I’ve done the same thing as an adult Christian. Not dressing up like a ninja (thank you, Jesus), but playing a role that I could not live up to. How many times have I overestimated my current state of affairs as a Christian? How often have I thought too much of myself, only to be found lacking? Have I thought more than I should of my maturity? My knowledge? My relevance? My faith? My ability to reach the lost? My ability to counsel someone in need? My appearance to the world around me? How many regrets have I endured because I had deceived myself?
I’ve thought of myself more highly than I ought. Have you?
Beloved, it’s not time to get ready. It’s time to BE ready. “God opportunities” and divine encounters will come my way. The tests will come, also. They will come whether I am prepared for them or not. How will they find me? We need to be on our game, having studied well, possessing a powerful readiness to answer those who ask.
People don’t need to see another casual Christian. They’ll sniff you out in a heartbeat and move on with yet another bitter taste in their mouth. But when somebody encounters the real thing, a true son or daughter of God who has a deep relationship with Jesus and truly knows the Word of God, you know what I’m saying; the world is starving to experience the real thing!
It’s time to lay aside who we think we are and come to terms with who we really are. If we need to repent of sin, then let us repent with flowing tears. If we need to build our knowledge, then let us study and grow deep roots. If we need to work on our attitude, then let’s pull out the mirror and allow the Lord to change us. If we need to develop our prayer life, then let’s make time to seek God for our very lives. Who are you right now? What has God called you to? Are you where you need to be? It’s time to prepare; don’t wait one minute longer! Do you have what it takes or are you just dressing the part?
This is a call to drop the pretense and get real. Growth is available, but only when we get real with ourselves. The big kids are watching; go show them the real thing.
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Have you ever had an experience where you feel like you’re surrounded by people who aren’t as smart as you are? Perhaps you feel like you’re the only one who can do the job well and your coworkers keep messing up. Or perhaps you feel like you’re the only person who is holding your household together. In today’s passage to finish up Ecclesiastes 7, we see that the Teacher clearly feels that way.
If the Teacher is King Solomon as many believe, this is somewhat true. In 1 Kings 3:1-15, God appears to Solomon in a dream and says he can ask for whatever he wants. Solomon asks for great wisdom to govern God’s people well, and because of that wise and unselfish answer, God grants his request and gives him so much more. God tells Solomon, “I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be” (1 Kings 3:12). So in Solomon’s case, he really was always surrounded by people not as wise as him.
In today’s section of Ecclesiastes, the Teacher is frustrated with people in general. In verses 23-24, he implies that people really do want to be wise, but wisdom appears to be hard for them to come by. People often do not act in wisdom, and that makes it appear that they are not wise at all.
Verse 25 says, “So I turned my mind to understand, to investigate and to search out wisdom and the scheme of things and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the madness of folly.” If he is the wisest man to ever live, surely he can figure out this problem, right? He’s trying to seek wisdom, which he can do in part by trying to understand the opposite of that. If he can understand why people are wicked and foolish, perhaps he can help guide them toward wisdom.
In verse 26, he turns toward the lack of wisdom in relationships. He specifically calls out women who are not truthful and try to ensnare or trap men. He states that men who are seeking God will escape women like that, but sinful men will be caught in their traps. While our culture today is definitely different than in Solomon’s day when women were treated more like property, this is still true of both genders - our sinfulness and lack of wisdom does cause people to try and ensnare each other in traps, and to play games with relationships rather than being honest and loving.
In verses 27-28, the Teacher seems to say that wisdom among men is quite rare (1 in 1000) but he has yet to find a wise woman. Again we see a cultural difference between today and back then. Women were not permitted to be educated back then, and they were considered “less than” men. Their thoughts, feelings, and opinions were not often taken into consideration in any situation, so of course, women would not generally be considered as wise. While our culture may still be somewhat male-dominated, as an educated woman I am personally thankful that we women have basically the same opportunities today for wisdom as men do.
But why is humankind so lacking in wisdom? In verse 29, the Teacher does not blame this on God who created us but on humankind for making foolish choices. He writes, “This only have I found: God created mankind upright, but they have gone in search of many schemes.” We know from Genesis 1:26-27 that God created us in His own image and likeness, which would include a measure of wisdom. But humans desired to have more wisdom (Genesis 3:6) and thus fell into sin. Since then, we have all proven that we’re great at making choices that are foolish and do not honor God. It’s our fault that we lack wisdom, not God’s.
This section ends in Ecclesiastes 8:1 which says, “Who is like the wise? Who knows the explanation of things? A person’s wisdom brightens their face and changes its hard appearance.” After the pessimism about the lack of wisdom at the end of chapter 7, this verse starts to give some hope. There are some people who are wise! While we need to be realistic that true wisdom can be hard to come by, this thought does not need to make us depressed, but we can have joy when we do find it.
We may easily get frustrated with those around us when they don’t act with the wisdom we feel they should have. But take a look at yourself; I’m sure every one of us can call out times when we didn’t act wisely either, and other people would be frustrated with us. We cannot change others and make them wiser, but we can seek out more wisdom for ourselves to live out in our own lives.
How do we do that? Go to the source of all wisdom: God. He has given us His Word that includes much “wisdom literature,” including Proverbs and Ecclesiastes. All of the Bible is “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). We have the Bible and it is so accessible; we just need to use it by reading it, studying it, and applying it to our lives.
We don’t need to be the person who frustrates others with our foolishness; instead, strive to be the one who lives out wisdom and shares that wisdom with others for the benefit of humankind and for the glory of God.
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.
