by Chad Koons
Ever feel like the Lord just isn’t listening? Unanswered prayer can be frustrating, although the reasons why may not be as mysterious as we like to think. Here’s a “what, why, and how” short list on unanswered prayer. Disclaimer: the list below applies to those who are actively loving the Lord. If you are living a sinful lifestyle or harboring unforgiveness, fix those things first and then read today’s list. Now let’s get some prayers answered!
1. You are sincerely asking for the wrong thing. Your desire is the “what” of prayer.
If you don’t want what God wants, you’re sunk. What we consider to be the “good” things can be very different from the “God” things that we need. Although I’ve seen this happen with all ages, here’s a quick example. I was a youth minister for a lot of years. One of my long-time students was desperate for a girlfriend. Big surprise there! Anyhow, he would pray for the Lord to send him a girl. He was very lonely, and I felt for the poor kid. But, a girl was the last thing this young man needed, however. I could clearly see that a romantic relationship at this stage would destroy him. But would he listen to me? NOOO! To him, a girl was the right path. Well, guess what. He got the girl and it surely was not from God. It ruined him. He needed what we all need, to know the will of God for his situation and to set a course upon it.
Are we seeking after the right things? Climb above your current issue for a minute and spend some time seeing the bigger picture. Ask other people in your life who are able to see what you can’t see (we all have blind spots). Discover what the Bible has to say about your life. You might just realize that you were on the wrong track, and you may even get a glimpse of what you truly need to be praying about (and what you need to be doing, for that matter). Know what God wants and do it. When the “God” things are on your radar, you are positioned to win.
2. You are asking with the wrong motives. Your motives are the “why” of prayer.
Wrong motives go hand in hand with the wrong things, yet they may be worse. Why are you seeking what you’re seeking? When we allow our motivations to become askew, we find ourselves wrestling our lives away from the Lord and tragically into our own hands. Often hiding in plain sight, wrong motives are a surefire way to disappointment. Challenge your desires with probing questions. Why am I doing what I am doing? Do I feel that I need to vindicate myself? Am I doing this to look good to people? Is self-exaltation the root of it? Is greed my motivation? Am I striving to be something that I’m not? God will not honor these pursuits, and there is no blessing in them. Sometimes we run after one thing, not realizing that it may cost us everything else. Recognize when your desires are betraying you, attempting to veer you off course. Refuse to adopt a drive for something that will compromise Godly standards. Pause and consider, “Am I desiring after God’s own heart?” Search the Word of God and adjust your motives accordingly. The Lord will bless Godly motives.
3. You are not believing God. Faith is the “how” of prayer.
Here’s an interesting fact: reading the gospels, you will see only two times where Jesus “marveled,” where He stood in amazement over something. What was so important that it caused Jesus to stand in amazement? Faith! Either the lack of it or the abundance of it. Faith was a reality that Jesus was seriously dialed into. Immensely important to God, faith begins with knowing His Word. Be well acquainted with what the Bible has to say and build everything upon it.
Revisiting the subject of Jesus and faith, do you know how many times Jesus attributed faith to the outcome of life circumstances? Hint: it’s a lot. Read the gospels and you’ll see it jumping off of the pages. From healing to safety, Jesus mentioned faith (or a need for faith) while addressing various life issues. It’s not magic, nor is it a great mystery; faith is a gift from God which comes when we hear the Word of God. Remember when Peter walked on the water? He couldn’t stride the waves until the Living Word of God said, “Come.” Do you remember what made Peter sink? He was moved by the storm around him and he doubted. Don’t doubt, believe! Believe what God said and don’t be moved by anything else. How dare we doubt what God said?! I can’t even begin to write all that I’ve seen the Lord do when I stopped doubting and began believing. Miracles, small and large, it was naturally supernatural.
In summary:
Want what God wants.
Desire things for the right reasons.
Have faith.
There are many areas to discuss regarding prayer, these are but three of them. What have you learned regarding prayer? Please share with us below in the comments!
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As we’ve been looking into the psalms this year, we’ve seen many of them that are attributed to King David. Psalm 72, however, is attributed to King Solomon, David’s son. It is known as a “royal psalm” because it speaks of David’s kingship, as well as Jesus as the Messiah, and it expresses hope and prayers for the nation. The message of this psalm applies to the rule of David back in those days as well as the rule of Jesus that is to come.
The psalm opens in verse 1 saying, “Endow the king with your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness.” The psalmist, David’s son Solomon, is asking for God’s blessing on the reigning dynasty of Israel. He knows that one day, God’s promises will be fulfilled through his descendant, but he also knows that he has to live a righteous life and be a righteous king in order for that to take place. He expresses his need for God in his life to accomplish that. We too should ask God for His justice and righteousness to be present in our lives, so we can glorify Him in the way we live.
Verses 2-4 go on to express this hope for receiving God’s righteousness. In those days, the king would either bring prosperity or hardship on the nation. In these verses, Solomon is praying that the king, meaning both himself and future kings, would be righteous and bring prosperity to their land. These verses, and actually most of this psalm, contain “May he…” statements, expressing hope for what the leader would do.
All of these “May he…” statements point to earthly kings, but they also point to Jesus. One prophetic statement that stands out is at the end of verse 4: “may he crush the oppressor.” That is exactly what Jesus’ mission was - to crush the devil and his power, as was prophesied way back in Genesis 3:15.
In verses 5-7, the psalm continues with more statements expressing hope, particularly here for the king to live a long life. It’s not only expressing hope for an individual king to live a long time, but for the righteous rule over God’s people to be everlasting. We see this fulfilled in 1 Kings 2:45: “But King Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will remain secure before the Lord forever.” This applies also to Jesus, as we know He will reign forever one day when He comes again. Revelation 11:15 says, “The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever.’”
We see in verses 8-11 that this rule will not be limited by geography. While David’s kingdom did not cover all of the geographic area mentioned, the idea expressed is for righteous rule to be present everywhere in the world. This hasn’t happened with any earthly king, but we know it will happen with Jesus as King one day. When the Magi came to visit Jesus as a child and worshipped Him (Matthew 2:11), it represented the Gentiles (non-Jews) recognizing Jesus as ruler over all. One day, all the nations will submit to Jesus as Lord.
We see a desire for social justice in verses 12-14. The people desire a ruler who will deliver the needy and afflicted, take pity on them, and rescue them from their oppression. A righteous king should not only be concerned with those who are wealthy but those who have no material goods to offer him. All are part of his kingdom. The same applies with Jesus, that He cares for every single person and desires to deliver everyone one day from whatever oppression is in their lives. Verses 15-17 again express the desire for prosperity and longevity for the king and his kingdom. If their own nation is prosperous and blessed, then they can in turn bless other nations around them.
The psalm concludes in verses 18-19 with a blessing: “Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds. Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and Amen.” All of the longevity and prosperity in this psalm is impossible and pointless without God; He alone does marvelous deeds and is worthy of all our praise.
In our culture today, are we praying that our leaders would have the righteousness and justice of God in their lives? Are we desiring the longevity and prosperity of our leaders, and therefore our nation? Are we praying for the unity of our country, and for our leaders to follow God? I encourage you to think about these things this week as we celebrate the birthday of our nation here in the United States. Pray that God would be our true leader and guide, and that He would not only bless us as individuals but as a nation that seeks after Him.
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by Logan Ames
Whether you are knowledgeable regarding Old Testament wisdom literature or are a big fan of late ‘60s rock music, you are probably familiar with the saying, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens." If the Bible interests you, those words can be found in Ecclesiastes 3:1. Even if it does not interest you, just turn on your local oldies station on the radio and you may hear almost identical lyrics in the classic from The Byrds called “Turn! Turn! Turn! (To Everything There is a Season)." Both the song and the Scripture mention some of those specific activities for which there is a season, including “a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Ecclesiastes 3:4). It seems pretty clear that the writer sees laughter and dancing as the clear opposite of weeping and mourning.
In the New Testament, James sees things the same way and writes about a time when weeping and mourning is most appropriate. In James 4:6-10, he’s giving a step-by-step process of coming to the necessary position of humility before a holy and righteous God. After writing in the previous verses that some believers are allowing their selfish desires for whatever pleases them to affect how they treat one another and their relationship with God, he turns our focus toward what God does for us anyway. While we are enemies of God due to our spiritual adultery and evil deeds (James 4:4 and Colossians 1:21), God gives us grace. In fact, it says He gives MORE grace. Do you know why God gives us more grace when we are His enemies? It’s because we NEED more grace when we are His enemies!
God is always pursuing us, but what we receive from Him is directly related to our attitude. James quotes from Proverbs 3:34 and declares that God stands in opposition to those who are prideful but shows favor (that’s what grace is, by the way) to the humble (James 4:6). Think about why this would be. The humble heart recognizes its desperate need for God’s grace. The proud heart demands that God bless it on the basis of that person’s own merits, whether they are real or imagined. When James writes that God “opposes” the one who is proud, it literally means that He sets Himself in battle against that person. Picture “Lieutenant Dan” in the movie Forrest Gump when he is challenging God to a fight in the middle of the crazy storm, only it’s God who is calling YOU out if your attitude is proud. You don’t have to challenge Him because He is already prepared to let you have it.
There generally isn’t a better way than that to deal with pride. It has to be destroyed, and the proud person has to be knocked down a few notches. It’s what is often referred to as “eating a slice of humble pie," only God usually gives us a lot more than a slice. This is because pride is the natural enemy of grace. A proud person cannot receive the “more grace” no matter how much God wants to give it due to the inability to recognize his need. James explains that, in view of God’s stance toward the proud, we must submit ourselves to God and resist the devil (James 4:7). Charles Spurgeon had some interesting thoughts about this verse, recognizing that so many have it backwards - submitting to the devil while resisting God. Spurgeon said, “If he were a tyrant it might be courageous to resist, but since he is a Father it is ungrateful to rebel."
Those who don’t accept the Father’s free gift of grace or who use it as a license to keep sinning are like spoiled children who can no longer even recognize the precious gifts given by their parents and now act as if they are owed whatever they desire. Many of those people would argue that they submit to no one, but Spurgeon later said that even now, we are all submitting one way or another. He declared that if we refuse to submit to God, we are submitting to the devil. He added, “If you do not submit to God you will never resist the devil, and you will remain constantly under his tyrannical power. Which shall be your master, God or devil, for one of these must? No man is without a master” (Spurgeon).
Some of you feel like you are resisting the devil all the time and with all your might every day, yet you are still losing your battle. First, I want to remind you that even though James says the devil will flee from us if we resist him, that doesn’t mean he’ll never come back! The devil runs from the name of Jesus, but as soon as we start fading away from our Savior due to laziness or circumstances or whatever else drives us away, the devil comes back. Even Jesus didn’t get done with devil as soon as He resisted him the first time in the wilderness. Luke 4:13 says, “When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time." When was that “opportune time” when Satan came BACK to keep tempting Jesus? Was it every time a Pharisee mistreated Jesus or tried to plot his murder? Was it when he hung out with sinners and prostitutes who no doubt offered Jesus opportunities to engage in their depravity with them? Was it when all of his disciples left him? I’m sure the devil tried to tell Jesus how worthless He was and how nobody even cared if He lived or died. How about the Garden of Gethsemane? I’m almost certain Satan was there as Jesus perspired drops of blood, and he was probably at all of these other moments as well.
James gives us more instructions regarding our humility when he tells us to “come near to God” (4:8), but he also adds that God will come near to us when we seek Him. This is not a one-time thing. Every time we are struggling with resisting the devil, we must draw near to God. Again, this is a mark of humility. A prideful person believes he can just keep resisting sin. He has made his own willpower an idol. But a humble person recognizes the struggle and tell himself, “Unless I draw near to God, I stand no chance against the devil and his schemes." Then, based on that recognition, he gets up and seeks the Lord in prayer, worship, and the Word, just to name a few common ways to draw near to Him.
All of the above instructions from James are what separate the character of a humble man from that of a proud man. But, perhaps the most important mark of true humility comes in James 4:9: “Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom." When I used to read this, I’d wonder why James was such a downer. And if we take this one verse out of context, we’re left with those thoughts. That’s why we must read and understand the verse in context. James is writing about the humility we must have if we truly recognize the damaging impact of our sin and the amazing grace that God offers us. He wrote to people who seemed to be allergic to humility, people who claimed to follow Christ yet seemed joyful regarding their sin. It was like laughing in the face of God. His challenge to them was to humble themselves before Him, and to “grieve, mourn, and wail” over their sin and the offense it has been to the God who created them and loves them. In James’ view, this was truly the appropriate time for tears.
Friends, if the realization of your sin has never brought you to tears, I’d ask you if you ever truly realized your sin. I encourage you to appropriately humble yourself before God Almighty and repent of your sins to the point of tears that are not fake but come from a deep sense of the pain you’ve caused God, yourself, and others. As you humble yourself before Him, HE most certainly WILL lift you up in due time (1 Peter 5:6).
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Miracles are always a fascinating topic. The Bible is full of them. Naturalism denies them. Scientists constantly search for a way to explain them. They are a reality but difficult to explain. Christians often say, “God did it,” but skeptics return with, “You can’t invoke God. That’s just an escape.” So, what is the deal with miracles? Today, I am going to explore what miracles are and use this post to launch a series on what types of miracles the Bible contains and how God has mastery over His creation.
What are miracles? One of the simplest definitions is: “An event that cannot be explain by normal means otherwise.” Others describe them in other ways. A popular one in Christian circles is “a violation of the natural order God created.” The first one is decent, however, it has a logical hole. The miracle is accredited only as a place-holder until a better explanation is found. Skeptics frequently accuse Christians of stopping searching for the truth because “God can do anything” and to them that shuts down the discussion. So while it’s an okay definition, it’s not great. The second one is another problem, because this insinuates that God could break the rules and order He established. A major argument used by Old Earth Creationists to support “billions of years” for creation is that God does not violate his laws, therefore since science tells us the earth is really old, the straightforward account of Scripture cannot be true. It must be non-historical.
To follow that, other old earth creationists like Frank Tipler in his book The Physics of Christianity suggest that because God cannot violate nature, when He does a miracle, He must utilize physics (it’s really the highly controversial multi-verse theory that itself really makes no sense in physics, let alone logic) to do it. It’s a terrible book in my opinion, trying to make God submit to His creation, and while trying to argue otherwise, it makes God a rather pantheistic deity than the One True God.
I have been chewing on a different description of miracles and for the most part so far, as I’ve analyzed the miracles of the Bible, this description still seems to hold. I currently describe miracles as God intervening through the creation. He does not violate nature, but He steps in and takes action, which has effects in the natural. God is a spiritual entity which is on a different dimension of reality than the physical universe we study. He can come into our universe, interact with it, and change a situation without actually breaking the natural laws He established.
An example of this is Elisha causing the axe head to float in 2 Kings 6. Naturally, iron doesn’t float. Elisha didn’t do anything fancy to the water to change water density to cause it to float. How I describe what happened was God reached down, picked up the axe head and cause it to “float” on the water by holding it up from underneath. It’s still a miracle. When God parted the waters of the Red Sea, He directed winds to hold the water back. It never would have happened naturally, but He (or His angels) held the waters from crashing back down like an invisible dam.
I am not completely sold on this description yet, as I am still chewing on it, but it seems to more accurately describe how God interacts with creation than the others. To use an analogy, the scientific process in physics requires that we define the system we are analyzing in order to account for everything in action. Once we define our system, if we do not consider any outside factors, then things like energy and momentum are conserved. This is a “closed system.” It means we don’t look at outside factors (though there is the aspect of work being added to or taking out of a system, but that’s too much physics to explain here). Naturalism puts the laws of nature as a closed system. Yet when God, who is an outside source, interferes, the system then becomes an open system. So, the laws are not violated, but rather influenced by an outside force.
To illustrate, a skateboard on a hill is going to roll down the hill. There are three objects in this system: the skateboard, the hill, and the earth. The earth pulls the skateboard down the hill because of gravity. The hill resists that pull with friction, yet because gravity is stronger than the friction, the skateboard rolls. But what if a person were to pick up that skateboard and walk it up the hill? Based on this system, this could be classified as a miracle, because the person is outside the system. Of course, this person is a natural being, however, if one did not know about the person, they would consider the skateboard going up the hill as a miracle, because nothing rolls uphill by themselves. This is not a perfect analogy, but I hope it gets the point across.
The skeptics will object to the “invoking of God” in such cases. There are legitimate cases where invoking God was not justifiable and what was called miraculous or supernatural was not. One of the best cases showcasing how this works was in Frank Peretti’s teen book Hangman’s Curse. (Warning: spoiler alert. Skip the rest of this paragraph if you wish to avoid them.) In this book, a high school is under a ‘curse’ as normally perfectly healthy students suddenly get deadly ill. With each case, the ghost of “Abel Fry” is cited. Twin teen agents Elijah and Elisha and their parents are sent to investigate. For much of the book, it looks like the source of the problems is spiritual, but as the kids investigate, they soon discover the curse is actually the results of an engineered spider bite. Peretti is known for writing supernatural thrillers so this twist was a nice surprise for me. The point here is that not all that is claimed to be miraculous is indeed miraculous.
There are other cases of popular TV preachers who perform “miracles” on a regular basis. I’d be skeptical of that, because the so-called miracles really are not miracles. Those who get “healed” have to be pre-screened, and none of them really have any major problems. The “miracle” is mostly out of emotional hype and the excessive “slaying in the Spirit” is simply to the point of ridiculousness. That’s not how the Holy Spirit moves. Those aren’t miracles.
False miracles are certainly out there, but don’t let them cause you to toss out the baby with the bath water. There are real and legitimate miracles still taking place today. I personally believe that no one “performs” them in the same way that the prophets or apostles did in Biblical times. But God does answer prayers and does miracles today. The accounts from the Bible were not myths and legends the authors put together. They were historical records given by eye-witnesses of the events. And those events were not only things of the past either; they still happen today. I have too many stories to share here, but as I go through this series, I will share some of them. In this series, I will address how God has mastery over time, distance, weather, quantity, physical health, spiritual forces, life and death, animals, plants, celestial objects, and I may come up with some more between now and when I finish as well. It’s going to be a fun series, so please join me for the ride.
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 Steve Risner
“Who is in authority here?”
-Kyle Reese, father of John Conner (from The Terminator)
When discussing creation and the Biblical worldview, quite frequently a number of side issues are brought up. These most often are concerned with the age of the earth, evolution, the global Flood of Noah’s time, death before sin and a few others. These questions are answered differently, I think, when we're talking with unbelievers rather than talking with believers who do not hold a view that is derived from Scripture. Today, my focus is with believers who do not accept what the plain teaching of the Bible on creation is. For the atheist or unbelievers, I believe the primary concern is their need for a Savior. For a believer who just has details about creation and various other related topics wrong, they have found their Savior, so the conversation is a little different. I hope that makes sense.
One major difference in the conversation would be the Bible. I firmly believe we should use the Bible whenever possible, but the atheist will not accept its teachings no matter how obvious or clear the truth is. A believer, however, should view the Scriptures with more respect and hold the Bible up as the absolute highest authority there is, period. Because of this, there is literally no leg for the old earth creationist or theistic evolutionist to stand on—at least no Biblical leg. This is a difference in the labels attached to these groups. Old earth creationists focus on the age of the earth, claiming it's really old. Theistic evolutionists focus on evolution. But the group most often hated (or at least disliked immensely) is misnamed “young earth creationists.” You see, what is often called by others a “young earth creationist” isn't so. I'm often called this, but I don't care about the age of the earth beyond what Scripture tells us. So, the name is incorrect, and I don't accept it at all. I'm concerned with the Bible—the Word of God. That's it, really. I find other sources of information interesting and even helpful at times, but ultimately, the Bible shapes my worldview and I can show anyone how this is done if they'd like. My point is, the name “Biblical creationist” is exactly right because I and so many others are concerned with upholding the teachings of the Bible. Creationist tales that don't reflect the teachings of the Bible are not Biblical, hence, they cannot claim to be derived from the Bible. They are anti-biblical.
In reality, it only makes sense for an atheist to accept or even want to believe that the earth is billions of years old (although no amount of time will allow for what they claim happened—the evolution of the universe and life on earth). It's truly a major tenet of atheism. I understand why they believe in and likely want desperately to be true the Big Bang that they claim happened some 14 billion years ago or so. But, again, this is a major cornerstone of the atheist faith. But how could anyone who accepts the Bible's teachings about Jesus Christ accept such major tenets of atheism and incorporate it into their faith? What's at the foundation here? How could atheism have more truth found in its origins myth than the Bible—the long-standing, overwhelmingly held belief in a 6 day creation some 6000 or so years ago?
Many mistakenly believe that the age of the earth is settled. Science has proven the earth is billions of years old and the universe is several times older than this. But the truth is that science cannot tell us the age of any fossil or rock. It cannot tell us about one time past events no one was around for or understands the conditions of. It's simply not possible. What is commonly reported and held up as fact is someone’s beliefs on the subject. There just happen to be many more who believe the atheists' interpretation of the data than that of the Biblical creationist. Of course, this has no bearing on the truth whatsoever. But it's a fact. Many (often without question or thought) have accepted what atheism claims is the origin of the universe and earth as well as life on earth. This should not be for more reasons than one.
First and foremost, it contradicts the very clear and consistently taught history presented in the Bible. I don't mean only Genesis; I mean the whole Bible. Every New Testament author references Genesis in some way. Every last one. If the creation of everything that is was important to every single author—most if not all knew Christ personally in the flesh—then it seems reasonable that creation is an important topic to the Lord. The Bible teaches that God created the heavens, earth, sea and all that is in them in 6 days and rested on the seventh. This must mean 6 normal, 24-hour earth days because it's the basis for our week. This is stated in Exodus 20:11 and Exodus 31:17. Obviously, the timeline in which He created everything is of great value to God because He included it not only in the written Word of God but He Himself inscribed it with His own finger in stone for the Hebrews to know, including it in the 10 Commandments. Then, using the timelines that we are given in Genesis and through the Old Testament to the Exile (which has a well-accepted date of 586 BC), we find that Adam was created on the 6th day which happens to be about 4150 BC. You can read a more detailed explanation of that here.
There is little wiggle room here and since nearly every major Christian doctrine is founded in a natural reading of Scripture, there is no excuse for simultaneously accepting what the Bible says about man's condition and his need for a Savior and believing in the foundational tenets of the atheists' origins myth. They do not work together. The Bible's narrative on creation as well as on the Flood and the history it contains contradict the origins myth of atheism. The Bible doesn't just give us a children's tale about creation in Genesis, but the narrative is confirmed throughout the Old and New Testaments, even mentioned by Jesus Christ Himself. He confirmed the people mentioned in the lineages found in Genesis 5 were real people. The line of Jesus seemed important to the New Testament authors as well since two of them included as historically significant many of the people mentioned in Genesis 5.
There's no way around the fact that this timeline was intended to be taken literally and the years noted with each person can only be so we can account for the years since Adam's creation. Why else would they be included? Why would years be included not just in the lineages but also relating to the Exodus, when Jacob went to Egypt, etc.? The timeline of creation mattered to these authors. The reality of sin and when it first occurred mattered. The blood sacrifice, as described in Genesis first, mattered to them. Sin bringing death to the creation mattered—in fact it was a major idea presented in great detail by Paul. The reality of the Flood and its global nature as a consequence for sin seemed to be noteworthy to Jesus and Peter.
So, creation isn't a side issue, although it's true that understanding it or accepting it are not necessary for salvation. But the reality here is that many—including formerly well-known evangelists like Charles Templeton—lose their faith or reject the Bible or Jesus Christ simply because the humanist origins myth has been explained to them as something it's not—a proven fact. Once this presentation has infiltrated a person's belief system, the first victim is the Bible. “If we know the earth is 4.5 billion years old and that it developed over a very long period of time before life evolved, then the Bible must not actually mean what it says.” This is the problem. When confronted with evidence that seems to contradict a very clear teaching (and a teaching widely accepted for thousands of years) found in the Bible, the first questions I would ask is, “Does the data actually contradict the Bible? Do we know for certain this data has been interpreted correctly? Are there alternative explanations that can easily align with the Bible's historical account?” The truth of it is, there is no evidence that contradicts the Bible's account of creation, and I mean none. There are many different interpretations of the data and only some of them contradict Scripture.
For the unbeliever, it makes sense that they would willingly choose interpretations that don't jive with Scripture. They don't want the Bible to be true. However, for a believer, would it not be the more consistent and honest approach if we were to accept first and foremost what the Bible says, and then see how the world reflects that? Some may suggest this is biased and not the way we search for knowledge, but those people are not followers of Christ and don't believe His Word. The truth is, no one views evidence without bias. It's very difficult to do and hardly anyone has done it. So if a believer who claims to respect the Bible—they will claim they hold it in high regard—chooses to accept an interpretation of the data that contradicts the Bible thereby forcing them to reinterpret very plain, very clear, and very obvious portions of Scripture, what they've done is place an authority over that of Scripture. They've decided they can know things outside of God's Word and, in fact, in place of God's Word.
If you think this is not true, please tell me how I've erred. The tired argument of, “Well, that's your interpretation” is nonsense. We're not talking about something obscure or hard to draw conclusions on. We're not talking about things eluded to but not solidly spoken of in the Bible. We're talking about an exceptionally clear narrative on something that happened that is spoken of in detail throughout Scripture. Let's be honest about it and call it like it is: the old earth creationist and theistic evolutionist has determined that “science” has said one thing and that thing is not in line with the Bible, so the Bible must be wrong. He or she may not say it like that or even disagree with that statement as I've written it, but the truth is it is exactly what they've done. You cannot come up with deep time or evolution or anything like either of those things from the Bible. Not at all. Again, if I'm incorrect, show me from the Bible. Show me how the old earth or theistic evolution worldview is drawn from Scripture and I'll happily show you how my worldview—the Biblical worldview—is drawn from it.
Secondly, as I've indicated above, the data can easily be interpreted to fit the Biblical model. We are talking about history. It's historical facts that are in contention here, not science. Science cannot tell us the age of fossils or the earth or rocks. It simply can't. Our worldview can interpret the data based on the belief that the earth is billions of years old or closer to 6000 (or whatever we decide, really), but the science cannot confirm it because that's not how science works. One time past events no one was around for and no one understands the conditions of cannot be confirmed scientifically.
This will be a first in a series of posts concerning anti-Biblical ideas of creation and the Bible.
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“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us—so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.
May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.
May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you rule the peoples with equity and guide the nations of the earth.
May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you.
The land yields its harvest; God, our God, blesses us.
May God bless us still, so that all the ends of the earth will fear him.” (Psalm 67)
Similar to the praise psalms we’ve been studying lately, this psalm is all about blessing. It starts out reminiscent of the priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24-26:
“The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”
This priestly blessing provides three different aspects of blessing: protection, favor/grace, and peace. Just the reference to it at the beginning of this psalm would have been enough to remind the people of the whole of God’s blessings in every aspect of their lives. We see in verse 1 that God is clearly the source of all our blessings because of His grace for us. We don’t deserve to be favored or blessed by God, but that’s what His grace is all about.
What is the purpose of God blessing us? Verse 2 tells us that it’s not for our own selfish enjoyment but rather that His ways may be known on the earth. The Hebrew word used here for “known” is the most intimate type of knowing there is. It’s not just knowing that God exists, but truly knowing Him and being in a relationship with Him so He can provide us salvation. That’s what God desires for all the nations of the earth.
Verse 3 and verse 5 are identical and full of praise. When we receive blessings from God, our natural response should be to praise Him. When we receive something good from another person, we usually thank them, right? The same should be true for God, and even more so because we really don’t deserve the blessings He gives us anyway. Israel praises God for delivering them, and the expectation is that when other nations are saved as well, they too will join in praising God.
While Israel was God’s chosen nation before Jesus came to earth, that doesn’t mean God ignored the rest of the nations during that time. Verse 4 shows us that He rules all peoples with His goodness. God is still their God and rules over the universe, even if they don’t acknowledge Him as such. The prayer of this psalm is that all peoples of the earth would praise God for who He is.
Verse 6 indicates that we can see God’s blessings even in how the land yields its harvest. While today we know all the modern science behind how plants grow, the Israelites back then attributed it to the blessing of God. Even today it’s still the blessing of God that allows crops to grow to feed us. This past spring, we had significantly more rain than normal in the midwest, which delayed the corn planting pretty significantly. We don’t know yet what this may do to the economy, but many industries could be negatively affected by this - ethanol (made from corn) is in our gasoline, many livestock animals get fed with corn, etc. The ability to plant and grow food to keep humanity surviving and thriving is still related to God’s provision in our lives and for our nation.
The final verse of this psalm wraps up with reminding us of why God blesses us: “so that all the ends of the earth will fear Him.” It’s not about making us happy, though that is a nice temporal benefit of God’s blessings in our lives. It’s really all about making God known to all the people on earth, so that they will come to a saving faith in Him.
How do you respond to God’s blessings in your life? Do you remember to thank and praise Him for them? Do you use God’s blessings to share about Him to others around you? Today, consider the many ways that God has blessed you and what you’re doing in response to that.
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by Logan Ames
There are certain television commercials that will always be remembered. You probably have your favorite that comes to mind right now. For me, I’ll never forget one that came out right around the Super Bowl way back in 1996. It was an ad for Pepsi and you can find it here. A man who is obviously employed by Coca-Cola goes into a store to fill the fridge with the product. There is a hidden camera on him the entire time and Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin Heart” is playing in the background of the commercial. While doing his job, the Coca-Cola employee notices a fridge stocked full of Pepsi cans. Fearing he will be caught “cheating” on his current employer, he looks around several times to see if anyone can see him before choosing to grab a can of Pepsi from the fridge. As soon as he removes it, hundreds of other Pepsi cans come crashing out of the fridge and onto the floor. The avalanche causes shoppers in the store to come running to see what the commotion is all about. The man then places the Pepsi can back on the rack in the fridge in an effort to hide what was already out in the open - his infidelity toward Coca-Cola.
As silly as it sounds that a person who works for Coca-Cola would be fraternizing with the product of its biggest rival while on duty, Christians are guilty of cheating that is a million times more egregious. Once we come to know Jesus as our Savior and Lord and understand the extent to which He went to proclaim His love for us, we willfully enter into a relationship with Him. The New Testament identifies the church as “the bride” of Christ in multiple places, Ephesians 5:25-27 and Revelation 19:7 just to name a couple. Yet, we still seem to always have our eyes on whatever other “partners” are flaunting themselves in front of us. We cheat on the Lord with money, sex, popularity, fun, food, alcohol, and many other things. These things tempt us and tell us we can have a better life with them. We often fall for the deception even when we know that nothing and no one ever has or ever will love us like God does.
This problem that all believers have is why James had to use strong language when addressing it in James 4:4-5. He addresses the believers in the early church to whom he is writing by saying, “You adulterous people." This moniker may seem shocking to us and it is certainly intended to get the attention of not only those to whom James wrote, but also those who read it. That being said, most of the believers in the early church, which was comprised of mainly Jews, would’ve understood the reference fully. They were certainly familiar with Old Testament passages that identified the nation of Israel as an adulteress. In Jeremiah 3:6-9, the Lord speaks to the prophet and mentions the adultery of Israel and Judah (they were still split into two kingdoms at that point) three different times, also declaring that they “had no fear” of the Lord and that “immorality mattered so little to her." The nation of God’s chosen people committed this adultery by worshiping “stone and wood."
The prophet Hosea was probably most known for exposing Israel’s adultery. He recorded in Hosea 3:1, “The Lord said to me, ‘Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another man and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes.’" Now, I have no clue what the “sacred raisin cakes” are and that was always a source of laughter for my friends and I in high school youth group when we would read that passage. We’d wonder what was wrong with those dopes. How could they cheat on God with SACRED RAISIN CAKES of all things? But, for those who truly love the Lord with all their heart, our spiritual adultery is probably just as deserving of ridicule. They’d look at us and wonder how we could exchange our relationship with God for the pursuit of the almighty dollar, or for ideas that are popular but don’t align with His Word.
Hosea would’ve been considered a fool by many for continuing to love his wife who cheated on him over and over again. The kind of love that is foolish in the world’s eyes is exactly what God offers us over and over despite our adulteries. In fact, our continued spiritual infidelity shows that we either don’t care or don’t understand how much it hurts God. We are so used to offending Him and still receiving His unconditional love that it’s almost like we don’t even realize we’re doing it. The early church had the same issue, so James called it out. He asks a rhetorical question to remind them that we cannot be friends with both God and the world. Yet again, James is echoing his older brother, Jesus, who said that “no one can serve two masters” and that we “cannot love both God and money” (Matthew 6:24). In James 4:4, the Greek word for friendship is philia, which comes from the same root word as one of the ancient Greek words for “love." So, what James is describing is not simply having friends that are worldly or enjoying some secular things. He’s talking about believers who long for that which is worldly and has nothing to do with eternal life. Just a bit earlier in his letter, he talked about the difference between wisdom that focuses solely on earthly and unspiritual things and that which comes from heaven (James 3:13-17). What we long for and value in life will be directly related to the type of wisdom we possess.
James adds that if we long for the things of this fallen world, the end result will be enmity between us and God. The word “enmity” is a strong word that can also be translated “hostility” or “hatred." In other words, it’s impossible to be neutral or indifferent towards God. That would be like trying to be neutral or indifferent towards your spouse, while occasionally pursuing other love interests. It doesn’t work for a marriage and cannot work in our relationship with the God who “jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us” (James 4:5). God is not a big fan of being spurned or having His unconditional love rejected by those who have claimed to know and love Him back.
Friends, you’ll never find anything more satisfying in life than entering into a relationship with the living God who created the entire universe but decided He wanted one of YOU here so that He could lavish His love on you (1 John 3:1). God is certainly more like a gentleman and will not force you to love Him back, but He doesn’t hide His longing for you or His intense pain when you reject Him in favor of something that He knows cannot fulfill you. I urge you to take a look at your life and be honest with yourself about the ways you have been cheating on God. He will let you come back to Him and will not hold your past sins against you if you’re truly repentant. But, there will come a day when you no longer have the opportunity to repent because your time has run out. For that reason, it makes sense to turn back to Him now, before the consequences of your infidelity catch up to 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.
