As we discussed last week when I wrote about Judas Iscariot, the names Judas and Jude are basically used interchangeably, similar to a name with its nickname. That may be why this Jude that we’re looking at today also goes by another name as well since he wouldn’t want to be confused for the traitor Judas Iscariot.
In both Matthew 10:2-4 and Mark 3:16-19, he is listed as Thaddaeus. In Luke 6:13-16, he is listed as Judas the son of James. Some scholars also give him the name Lebbaeus, which may be like a last name for him, but Thaddaeus or Jude are definitely the most common names used for this man.
Jude is also mentioned in Acts 1:12-14: “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” We see here that he has stuck with the other apostles through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and this passage is just after Jesus ascended into heaven.
In Jesus’ long discourse on promising the Holy Spirit in John 14, this Jude is the one who speaks up and asks, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” (verse 22). Other than simply being listed along with the other apostles, that is Jude’s only specific mention in the whole of the gospels and the book of Acts.
This Jude is also believed to be the same one who wrote the letter of Jude. That letter starts out with the introduction of, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James” (verse 1a). The name Jude or Judas was very popular in New Testament times, as was the name James, so using these two very common names to try and figure out the author’s real identity is a bit of a challenge. But since this Jude was referred to as the brother of James elsewhere in the New Testament, it is likely that same person.
The question is, was this Jude the same one as the half brother of Jesus? Jesus also had a half brother named James, so it is a possibility. If so, it’s believed that Jude didn’t recognize Jesus as the Messiah until after the resurrection. Or was this Jude the one who was also known as James the Less? James the Less is commonly called the son of Alphaeus, but we only see Jude identified by his brother, not his father. Scholars disagree on who the author of the letter of Jude really is, though it is still considered to be inspired Scripture.
So even if we don’t know all that much about who Jude was, what can we learn about being a disciple of Jesus from him? One thing we can learn is that we don’t all need to stand out from the crowd in order to follow Jesus. Many of Jesus’ disciples are well-known, but not everyone has to be a Peter or a John. Some people are called to be leaders and be outspoken; others are not. Perhaps Jude was an introvert and wanted to keep to himself more, the opposite of the clearly extroverted Peter.
But even if Jude didn’t do much to stand out from the rest of the apostles, he still kept following Jesus. We know he stuck with the apostles after Jesus was no longer bodily on earth, and perhaps he even wrote the letter of Jude. According to tradition, Jude died as a martyr in 65 AD, so he clearly kept the faith and kept following Jesus, even if we don’t know a lot about him and his life.
The other discipleship lesson we can learn from Jude comes from his one specific question that’s recorded in John 14:22, mentioned earlier. He clearly didn’t understand Jesus’ mission, as he didn’t understand why Jesus would reveal so much of His identity to His apostles but not to the rest of the world at that time. Jesus’ answer to him is: “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me” (verses 23-24).
Jesus is essentially saying that He doesn’t need to reveal Himself to the whole world in a dramatic fashion; that will be done by those who love Him, His disciples. We who follow Jesus will reveal Him and His love to the whole world. When we obey the teachings of Jesus, that is how we show the world who He is. Jesus didn’t need to make a grand production of showing Himself as God because that’s what He was training His followers to do - including us.
We need to learn from Jude that we need to be Jesus’ example to the world. He does not need to reveal Himself directly to the world in some fantastic fashion, because He has all of us to follow His commands and show the world His love. How are you doing at that in your own life?
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Life often feels like a maze. Not one where you have a map and you can see and look ahead at where dead ends lie, but one you are inside. The best you know to do is try different routes and come up with a systematic way to try to figure out where to go, how to backtrack when you get it wrong, and eventually find the exit.
This actually isn’t my description. That is from the 11 authors of a book called The Grand Canyon: Monument to an Ancient Earth in describing how science works and operates. The scientists are in a maze, not knowing the map and working out a systematic process of trying out different routes until they find the exit. I found that statement very intriguing. Throughout the whole book, they authors boasted about their scientific knowledge and how they could easily refute the idea that Noah’s Flood could be a global event, let alone historical. Yet, on page 177 in this book, this description comes out. And I realized that in this statement, the authors unwittingly admitted that they actually don’t know what they are doing or where they are going. They literally are making it up as they go. That’s fine when you are navigating a maze for fun; it’s not fine when you are claiming to be an expert on reality and trying to teach anyone about how they should think or operate.
Throughout this book, the authors savagely attacked Biblical Creationists of having the idea of “starting with the answer.” Their premise of the arguments made by the young earth creationists, teaching a global flood, is that it is invalid science because they are “starting with the idea of a global flood and looking for evidence for it.” The ironic thing is that the very premise of the book does this same “evil.” The authors started with “there could not be a global flood” BEFORE they began their analysis. Though they tried to explain the Flood’s model and how their science showed how it would be impossible, they failed to realize that all the “science” they ever learned and used rejected the Flood as being a possibility a priori. Not only do these authors reject answers before they did their study, they ALSO start with their own answers, namely with dating methods. In this book, they pride themselves on the success of radiometric dating methods (find out more on that here), but how do they know they work? Well, that’s easy. Test them with another method. In this case, plate tectonic drift. And look there, the numbers match! Hmm, how do they know they should match? Because they themselves started with their answers (set up by the geologic column and the dating ranges associated with them PRIOR to the methods being established). There is a word for this: hypocrisy.
But there’s more to it. The authors described themselves in a maze without a map yet mocked and ridiculed those who use a map. Now an argument could be made if the map is right or wrong, but that’s not the argument being made (I just released a book on how our map, the Bible, is the correct map). The argument made was that “you cannot do science properly unless you don’t have your answer in advance.” If only they’d practice this themselves, they’d never be “old earthers.” There’s only partial truth to this, but that’s actually not how most science worked. Most scientists already knew the basics of how the physical universe operated. They lived their lives outside labs like the rest of us. All they had to do was determine exactly how to express it.
I teach AP Physics and I run “inquiry based labs.” In this, I showcase my students a physical phenomenon and then I have them set up an experiment to find out what is happening. The whole time, I as the instructor know what is going on, and my goal is to guide my students to finding the answer. Sometimes my students find factors other than the primary one being tested. Other times, they need me to spell it out for them. But using the maze analogy, the students are in the maze and I am the map. The students are allowed to use the map and the map knows where the exit lies and what it looks like.
That is what Biblical Creationists have over every other secular scientist (including those who profess to be Christians). We have the map to the maze. We have the record of what happened in the past. Now we can still explore a lot of stuff, but we actually can state that we know what the exit looks like and whether we’ve actually found the exit or not. The authors of this book cannot make that claim. They cannot say if they have found the exit because they don’t know what it looks like. Many mazes open up and you think you got through, but it’s another dead end. Many mountains have “false peaks.” You think you get to the top because that’s all you can see, but when you get there, you realize you have 2/3 of the mountain still to go.
What is wrong with “using the map” anyway? What is the problem these people have that we start with what God clearly described? I’ll tell you what the real problem is. It throws a wrench into their entire education and life’s work. It’s pride. They KNOW that if the Flood was indeed global, then all the time and effort they put into getting their PhDs and their life studies since is all a lie, and they will not let that go. That’s the real root of the issue. So instead of letting God say what He meant clearly, they twist and muddy Scripture to make it say something it doesn’t say, all because they simply believe their education more than they believe God.
This applies to more than just science but to EVERY area of life. What about our political situation? The election is coming up in less than two months. No one has a clue about what will happen, other than no matter who wins, it won’t be pretty. If Trump wins, the left is going to go into an even greater rage. If Biden wins, my opinion is that we can kiss what’s left of this country goodbye. But I’m not worried either way. Why? Because I have the map to the maze. I know how it all ends. News flash: the U.S. does NOT come out on top. Only Jesus does. This is why I separate my faith from my politics. I use my faith to direct my politics, but if politics goes against what I desire, my faith in Christ supersedes that. I’ve got the map. I still have to navigate it. I still run into dead ends. I still have to backtrack. But I’ve got the map. And because I have the map, I know what the exit is, I know what it looks like, and I know what is there when I get there.
Trust the map God gave us. Scripture gives us the answers to every possible type of scenario we can face BEFORE we face it. That’s why we can run circles around the “experts” of this world. Let them run around like chickens with their heads cut off. They don’t know what they are doing, no matter what education they have. The only true knowledge is that which is derived from the Word of God, mirrors the Word of God, and showcases the Word of God. Anything else is foolishness. God has no respect for those wise in the world, even those who claim to be Christian and yet speak that which they know not about. The only thing of value I know is that which God has revealed through Scripture and in the practical applications of it. And as long I trust and depend upon the map, I’ll find the exit. I’ll find the treasure. If I ignore the map, I’ll be in a continual state of digging, searching, and backtracking, but I’ll never find the exit. I’ll never find the treasure. I’ll be “ever learning and never coming to the truth.” Instead, let God be the truth and every man a liar, even if they have letters after their name. But even better, if we completely yield to Christ and at every turn in this maze, if we ask Him for His guidance and direction, He will help us navigate the maze and we will never hit a dead end. We have a map to this maze called life. Let’s use it and follow it.
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Judas, also known as Judas Iscariot, is often singled out among Jesus’ twelve disciples. He is best known for being the one who betrayed Jesus so He could be crucified. But what else do we know about Judas?
Similar to the name James that we discussed previously, there are multiple men named Judas in the New Testament. Another is one of Jesus’ disciples who goes by the name of Jude that we’ll discuss soon. The names Judas and Jude are basically the same name, with Jude being similar to a nickname for Judas, which is likely why the Judas we’re talking about today goes by Judas Iscariot. Jesus had a half-brother named Judas (Matthew 13:55) who is also the writer of the book of Jude. In addition, there was a church leader and prophet named Jude in Acts 15:22-32.
Back in Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, and Luke 6:13-16 where the twelve apostles are listed, Judas is already called out as the one who betrays Jesus. Obviously, the disciples did not know that at the time, but since the gospel accounts were written after Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension, the writers thought it important to mention that when looking back - spoiler alert!
The question has been raised of why Jesus would choose a betrayer as one of his twelve disciples. We do not know this, as we cannot know the mind of God, but we do know that Jesus knew this was how everything would play out. In John 6:61-64, we see that “Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him” (verse 64b).
Why did Judas, who faithfully followed Jesus for the entire 3 years of His earthly ministry, feel the desire to betray Jesus? We could place the blame on greed, which is a very powerful emotion. Perhaps that was Judas’ purpose in God’s Kingdom: to play a part in bringing about Jesus’ death that would lead to the opportunity for the salvation of all mankind. It’s definitely not a glamorous part that he played and he’s not remembered well for it, but it was also necessary for those events to happen.
But what else do we know about this Judas other than his betrayal of Jesus? John 12:4-6 says, “But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, ‘Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.’ He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” Judas was the treasurer for the group of disciples, but clearly he wasn’t a very good one. It’s very likely that this fact of stealing the disciples’ money was lost on the disciples until after Judas’ death, which is another reason the authors of the gospel accounts wanted to constantly call him out as the betrayer when writing about Judas. Judas’ greed is very apparent in this passage, which is why that greed was a very likely motive for him to betray Jesus.
We read about Judas’ final downfall in John 13:27-30: “As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So Jesus told him, ‘What you are about to do, do quickly.’ But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.” Judas’ role as treasurer made it not unusual for him to leave to go do something, even while they were having this big meal to celebrate the Passover festival. Judas was not just greedy in this act, but we see that “Satan entered into him” as well. These events needed to happen so the Scriptures would be fulfilled, but that doesn’t mean they were good events.
Judas’ betrayal of Jesus was predicted even in the Old Testament, though not by his name of course. We see this in Psalm 41:9: “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has turned against me.” It is also alluded to in Zechariah 11:12-13: “I told them, ‘If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it.’ So they paid me thirty pieces of silver. And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’—the handsome price at which they valued me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the potter at the house of the Lord.”
Judas meets his end by suicide as read about in Matthew 27:3-10. He realized how wrong his actions had been, he tried to return his payment of 30 pieces of silver (equivalent to around $600 today) to the chief priests and elders, then hanged himself. The chief priests and elders used the money to buy a potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners, just as was alluded to in Zechariah 11 above.
Later, in Acts 1:18 when the remaining 11 disciples were choosing who would replace Judas, we see, “With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.” That’s a bit of a different story than what was recorded in Matthew, but the main idea is still the same: Judas died a terrible death which he perceived as penance for this horrible act he had committed, and the betrayal money was used to buy a field.
So what can we learn from Judas to help us as disciples of Jesus today? First of all, don’t be greedy as it can lead you to bad things. (You can read a bit more on what the Bible says about greed here.) While greed is a sin in and of itself, greed often causes us to commit additional sinful actions because of it. Greed is generally the root of theft, embezzlement, and often even murder.
We can also learn from Judas that Jesus loves us no matter what. Jesus knew that Judas would be the one to betray him, for a lousy 30 pieces of silver, and yet Jesus still spent 3 years of His life teaching Judas along with the rest of the disciples. If Jesus still loved the man He knew would betray Him to a very gruesome death, He surely still loves us in spite of all the ways we sin!
Be encouraged by Judas’ example to live in Jesus’ love and forgiveness, and to not live a life of greed but to follow Jesus in His ways.
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“Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me.” ~Proverbs 1:28
I started reading through Proverbs again to start out September, doing a chapter a day, and the first chapter leapt out to me. It’s something I’ve read numerous times, but this time there was an emphasis there which I had not seen before. The above verse of Proverbs 1:28 and the surrounding verses fly in the face of so many teachings we hear today.
The average church today describes how God will give us so many chances because He is so full of love and mercy. After all, He is longsuffering, not willing that any would perish but all might come to repentance. There is a lot of truth to this, but it’s often out of balance. Proverbs is telling us here that there may come a time where we may call out of to God for help, to seek wisdom in time of trouble, and because we refused to seek Him for so long, He won’t answer. Yes, I am saying that there could come a time where no matter how much we cry for help that God will not hear us. It happened at least once: with Noah’s Flood. God said He would not strive with man forever. He wasn’t going to let them sin for the sake of “love” and “mercy” forever. Many people would have banged on the Ark when the floods finally came, and God did not answer them. That should frighten us.
Jesus warned against the blasphemy of the Holy Spirt as being the unpardonable sin. While many interpret that as “rejecting Jesus as your Savior,” John MacArthur put a different twist on it that I had only vaguely heard of in this sermon 51 years ago. He made the comment that because this verse directly follows the Pharisees calling the acts of Jesus as being of the devil, that Jesus was suggesting that if you could see all the works He did and the only conclusion you could come up with was it was of the devil, then you were beyond the possibility of being saved. It’s a rather bold statement, but he’s not alone either.
Adrian Rogers, in addressing how God handles those who have never heard to the Gospel, said this: “Light received gives more light. Light rejected increases darkness.” Here is his message. Every person will be held responsible for the “light” or the knowledge he has been given. If someone did not have a lot, he won’t be held responsible for that which he wasn’t not given. But as Scripture declares every person has been given at least some knowledge of God, every person has enough knowledge and evidence to damn them. What is this knowledge? Paul describes both creation and conscious in Romans 1. None have any excuses. Each must make an account for what they know and how they responded to it.
So, what about those jungle warriors who never heard the Gospel? Paris Reidhead got to see that firsthand. He went to Africa initially thinking they had such a poor existence on earth that he’d bring the Gospel to them to give them hope, yet when he got there, he learned that the heathen there already knew more about God than he dreamed they knew of, and they wanted nothing to do with it. Reidhead noticed they knew of God, but they loved their sin and wanted to stay in it. God’s message to Reidhead shook him up. The Holy Spirit impressed upon his spirit this concept: “I didn’t send you to Africa for the sake of the heathen. I sent you to Africa for my sake.” Reidhead learned he was sent to claim what Christ purchased on the cross. God wasn’t so concerned about their “souls” as He was about His glory and what His Kingdom stood for.
We have got to learn that while God does take interest in us, we are not His first priority. His first priority is His Kingdom and His glory. That means when we choose to get in His way, things don’t go well for us. When we reject God and when we reject His wisdom, God is going to let us suffer the consequences. If we continue in that sin, then God will continue to let that sin boil and fester. Eventually the time will come when God will simply hand us over to a reprobate mind.
Several clichés come to mind. “If you made the bed, lay in it.” “Many people like to sow wild oats and pray for a crop failure.” Look, God is full of love and He is full of mercy. I am not questioning or challenging this. But we cannot use that as an excuse to take sin as flippantly as I’ve seen, including in my own life. I hate the fact that I don’t take God as seriously as I should. I know what I am, and I know what I can be apart from Christ. If God doesn’t apply His grace and mercy to me every day, even when I don’t ask for it, I know how evil I can become. And don’t think you are any different. You know who you are, too, and what you would be capable of doing if the guards and checks in your heart and mind were removed. Some of you may think you don’t do something because society says, “Don’t do it.” That’s fine. But if society didn’t check up on you about it, what would stop you? Don’t blame God when we choose to sin against Him and He lets us experience the consequences.
God gives grace and mercy when we disobey out of childish foolishness. Jesus prayed for His Father to forgive those crucifying Him because they knew not what they were doing. Paul affirmed that. If they did know what they were doing, they would not have crucified Christ. But when that childish foolishness becomes and grows into intentional defiance, then God will lay down the hammer of justice. And if it continues after repeated cases of mercy and grace being offered, there will come a point where God says, “It’s over. You are lost forever.”
Ahab was one such case. God revealed Himself to Ahab through a 3 ½ year drought, through fire from heaven, through an old prophet outrunning his best horses, through two battles against Syria, and even a final chance after getting Naboth murdered for a vineyard. In every case, God offered Ahab a chance to repent, but in each case a woman named Jezebel got in the way and kept him reeled in. Eventually God had enough and asked a lying spirit to convince Ahab to go to war to be killed in battle. Ahab rejected wisdom and rejected God. It cost him his life and to be forever marked as the evilest king of all the rulers, a king who refused to hear God despite the numerous attempts God made to draw him. Did God fail? No. He let Ahab make his choices. Ahab’s loss was Ahab’s loss, not God’s. Let us remember that. When we disobey God, we are the ones who lose, not God.
There is only one escape to this judgment. Accept the light while we can. What has God shown you? What truth do you know God has given you? Start with that. My pastor gives very solid advice: when you don’t know what to do, go back to the last thing you know for sure God told you to do and do it. You may not get further or clearer instructions until you do. Seek wisdom. Seek God’s knowledge. Only by obeying it can we get more, and the mine of God’s wisdom is inexhaustible. If we reject God’s wisdom, we truly become stupid, but if we receive it and search after it, we’ll keep getting more and more. And this treasure is simply invaluable. It’s beyond comprehension of how valuable it is. We are to pursue it, and if we get God, we get all that comes with Him. No words can describe that prize. Go after it and don’t scorn it.
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As I wrote previously when writing about Jesus’ disciple James, there are multiple men named James associated with Jesus and the New Testament. Today, we’re going to look at the other James who was part of the Twelve Disciples.
This James was the son of Alphaeus, whereas the other was brother to John and son of Zebedee. He is often referred to as James the Less, not because he was less important but likely because he was of smaller stature. He is mentioned in all of the lists of the Twelve in Matthew 10:2-4, Mark 3:16-19, Luke 6:14-16.
It is believed that James was related to Jesus. The Apostle Paul writes in Galatians 1:18-19, “Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.” Some scholars believe this was Jesus’ actual half brother (biological son of Mary and Joseph), whereas other scholars believe he was actually a cousin or other relative of Jesus. Early Christian men often called each other “brother” even if they were not actually biological brothers, so there is some ambiguity in Paul’s statement.
There is additional support for the theory of James being Jesus’ brother from 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 says, “For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” There in verse 7, this is the James who is mentioned. Jesus may have singled James out among the rest of the apostles in this appearance because of their biological relation.
But, the fact that James the Less is also called James son of Alphaeus indicates that he was not Jesus’ half brother, or else he would have been James son of Joseph. Acts 1:12-14 says, “Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” This was right Jesus’ ascension into heaven and before the day of Pentecost, so we see that James son of Alphaeus was present there, still very much a part of the Twelve.
In Acts 12:1-19, we see the story of Peter’s miraculous escape from prison. Verse 17 records, “Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. ‘Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,’ he said, and then he left for another place.” This is believed to be James the Less that Peter spoke of.
We see in Acts 15 that James presided at the council held to consider what to do with the Gentiles in the church. He is specifically mentioned in verses 13-21 where he quotes the prophet Amos in saying that God intended for the Gentiles to be included in His church. We see James as head of the church in Jerusalem when Paul comes to visit, as recorded in Acts 21:17-26. Specifically, verse 18 says, “The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.”
But was this the James who wrote the letter of James included in our New Testament? James was a common name in that era, just as it is today, and they didn’t use last names then like we do today. It is believed by many scholars that the same James who was head of the church in Jerusalem is the same James who wrote this letter, as its tone matches what we see in Acts 15 and 21 referenced above, but there is still some uncertainty there.
All that is great for historical knowledge, but what can we learn from James the Less for us as disciples of Jesus today? Our culture today, and even the Church today, is very divided on a number of issues. It is so easy for us to put ourselves and others into different groups based on all sorts of factors. We often separate between Christians and non-Christians, and even among our faith, we divide ourselves into different denominations, different congregations, and even different groups within congregations. With all that division, it’s difficult for those who are outside of our faith to see how we are all unified, and this could be a stumbling block to those who want to have faith in Jesus but don’t want to deal with the confusion of all that division.
So, I believe the most important lesson we today can learn from James is from the speech he gave in Acts 15. In particular, verse 19 says, “It is my judgment, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God.” The big division in that time was between Jews and Gentiles. Once the early church decided that Jesus’ gospel message was for Gentiles too, they then struggled with how to incorporate both into one Church that followed Jesus.
While there are certain commands of God that we all are called to follow, we who are in the faith should not make it difficult for anyone else who wants to be a part of our community, whether just our overall community of brothers and sisters in the faith or for joining a particular local congregation. Yes, need to help our fellow believers to follow the commands God has given us, but we primarily are called to build one another up in love (1 Thessalonians 5:11) rather than making it difficult for others to be a part of “our club.”
We are not all called to be leaders over a congregation like James the Less was, but we can still learn from him that we need to be leaders in encouraging all who want to be a part of our faith.
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A few weeks ago, I wrote about preparing to suffer. The context was getting ready for persecution. As I am writing about an objection against God asking why God doesn’t heal amputees, I am going to look at suffering from a different angle: a necessity for growth.
We in America are such spoiled brats, it’s rather embarrassing. In 2011, El Paso, TX was slammed with the harshest winter storm we’d ever seen. Not much for snow and wind, but for the first time in recorded history, El Paso was below freezing for over 72 hours, much of it below 15°F. Now I know most people who are from up north are laughing about this. I grew up in Colorado, so I know cold, but the northern mid-west still has me beat on that one, too. But El Paso is not built for cold. While we do often see temps fall into the teens, it’s only for a few hours and the daytime is above freezing. We had never experienced 2-3 straight days where the high never got above freezing. What happened?
The pipes froze and burst in many homes and buildings. City water pipes also burst, forcing us to be on a one-week “boil water” order, because dirt had leaked into the main water lines. The generators also froze which meant they could not pump water. The city lost 90% of its water, and we had to maintain rolling black outs because we couldn’t produce enough electricity because everything was frozen over. But how did the people respond?
The residents of El Paso whined and complained. They demanded of the mayor and city government to fix the issues immediately, and they put the blame on them for not being prepared. Who living in El Paso would ever think that kind of cold would hit us? How could they be prepared? El Paso citizens were comfortable in our comforts, and when those comforts were taken away even for a couple of days, sin rose up in the forms of selfishness and pride. Just on the other side of the river, Juarez, Mexico had the exact same problems but they had a very different response.
In Juarez, most people were used to suffering so when their pipes burst, they simply went about their business and fixed it. They didn’t whine or complain. No riots. No public protests against the short comings of the government. They just went about their business, dealt with the situation, didn’t whine about it, and basically treated it as just a new obstacle for that day. After all, when you live in homes built with pallets and your doors and walls are blankets and curtains, and the cold wind of winter or the searing sun scorches you anyway, what’s a lack of water for a day or two in which you really only have a barrel of water for everything anyway going to do? The people of Mexico, living in the colonias in third-world settings didn’t bother whining about the cold temps. They were used to being in it anyway. They had been hardened by suffering and so this Deep Freeze event didn’t even bother them.
The same issue applies to us as Christians. There is a satanic doctrine in many American churches that says that “suffering cannot be from God.” The notion of “brokenness” is virtually anathema in many Christian circles (check out this sermon by Voddie Baucham on the value of brokenness). They teach that if we are suffering, it must be because we have sinned or don’t have an enough faith. (Perhaps these people need to read and study the book of Job, because that book specifically refutes such a notion.) So, when people pray for a miracle to answer the suffering and then whine to God because the pain didn’t go away, that’s a problem. Now, no one likes suffering. I’m not suggesting that we should like it. However, our response to suffering should not be “God, please remove this.” Our response should be, “God, what do you need to teach me through this?”
A man caught cancer and asked his pastor to come pray for him to heal him of the cancer. The pastor said, “I will not pray for God to heal your cancer, because this cancer has brought you closer to God than 40 years of my preaching. But I will pray that this cancer cannot take another cell of your body without express permission from God.” What was happening? When we suffer, the natural instinct is to turn to God to appeal to His grace and mercy to get us through it. Nowadays, many people have so seared their conscious that they no longer seek after God but after whatever drug they have found that can dull the pain. Russel Berger was a spokesperson for CrossFit and both he and his wife were exceptional athletes. Yet his wife had a genetic disorder that completely sapped her strength and has forced her to live on oxygen, among other issues. But she came to know Christ through the suffering and gladly suffers as long as she gets to be with Christ. Their story can be found on the “American Gospel: Christ Alone” documentary.
Many of us love a good story of a hero rising up to face a great evil and overcoming that evil. We love to watch in the distance from our armchairs because the hero goes through immense suffering, and it is in that suffering that he gains the character and strength needed to face his nemesis and gain victory. Those of us who want to be like the heroes tend to go for the admirable qualities and the action but are not willing to face the suffering from the training or the losses that are required to go there. Eric Ludy preached on Richard Wurmbrand one time and said he admired and wanted the love Wurmbrand had for the Communists who tortured him. God reminded him, “Do you want to go through what he did to get that (14 years of brutal torture in prison)?” Ludy had second thoughts. I greatly admire Ray Comfort for his genuine love for the lost, but what has he had to go through to get that love? He became known as the “Banana Man” and is the center of ridicule for many atheists. Yet through that suffering, he has had the opportunity to witness to so many people including Lawrence Krauss and Penn Jillette. But it took suffering to reach that point.
Suffering is really the only way God can work sin out of our lives without destroying us in the process. When we suffer, it forces us to depend upon God, because we naturally will not do it on our own when we are comfortable. God never calls for His people to be comfortable, because only when we are not comfortable do we actually depend upon His strength instead of our own.
But we must also remember that the suffering we must face in this world is only temporary. Our lives in our sin-cursed bodies will end, and for those of us who are born again, we will be resurrected with a new body, one that is not cursed of sin but rather one that is glorified. Revelation describes how there will be no more pain, no more tears, no more death when God brings it all to a close. We will instead truly have that “they lived happily ever after” ending. The suffering we face is temporary. Let us keep that in mind as we pray and as we address the answer to why God allows suffering in this world.
The suffering we face in this world will end. Those who have put their faith in Christ will receive glorified bodies that will have their full function, without pain or suffering. Yet, those who think the suffering is bad in this world now and don’t receive the free gift of Christ, this is as good as you will get. We deal with the cards we are given and many of us have been dealt a difficult hand. We can whine about it, or we can make the best of it. But if you haven’t noticed in my posts lately, there is a common message: those who know how to handle suffering well tend to be the happiest and most content people alive. Trouble comes their way and it’s just water off a duck’s back. That doesn’t make it any less painful or real, but it doesn’t bring them down. It just makes them stronger. We as Christians in America need to learn how to suffer well, because the end result will be more of Christ and a greater longing to spend eternity with Him. I look forward to that day. Nineteen years ago today, 9/11 happened. We suffered. Only a few people learned from it. We are far worse today than we were 20 years ago. What’s it going to take?
So to wrap up my study on why God doesn’t heal amputees, I’m not going to defend God before a scoffer. I’m not going to put God through a “test.” I’m going to expose what the real issue is, and the real issue is not about not having prayers answered or not having evidence of the supernatural. The real issue is about a sinful heart that is looking for a reason to reject God. We are to give a defense for why we believe what we believe, but God can defend himself just fine. I will say that God is God, and we are not. He is in charge. We are not. He is the standard; we are not. We answer to Him; He doesn’t answer to us. Some will call Him cruel. I’d tell them to look in the mirror first. God’s grace is sufficient for us. Be grateful you get any at all.
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We’ve almost all heard the phrase, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Most reading this probably even think that this is not only true, but you’re probably thinking it’s a great and encouraging saying. Friends, please bear with me as I tell you: not so much.
Years ago, I was discipled and mentored by a pastor for almost 15 months who seriously challenged me in my thinking with this phrase. He allowed me to not only make the claim to defend this phrase, but then he allowed me to give him what I perceived as a good argument for it. My discipler looked at me, put up his hands and said, “Ahhhh!” in frustration. I was like, “What?”
He asked me, “Do you know where that phrase came from?” I said, “From Hillary Clinton.” (The first time I personally heard this phrase was in the 1990’s when Hillary Clinton was the first lady to then President Bill Clinton.)
My mentor went on to tell me about how his daughter had been a missionary in Africa and how she has seen this African proverb in action. He told me that this phrase came from the fact that men and women were choosing not to marry. They were having sex with each other with no lifelong commitment. So, when a child was born, no one knew who the father of the child was because the men and the women had been having sex with multiple partners. So, the men were relinquishing their God-given responsibility to raise and care for their child. This is why this African proverb, “It takes a village to raise a child” exists and where it came from.
This is a huge issue with this phrase. In that context, this phrase goes directly against the Word of God and the institution of marriage between one man and one woman that God Almighty set up from almost the beginning of time (Genesis 2:21-25).
As time moves on and generation after generation continues, we can now see the very fruit of this phrase and its abhorrent mindset. Not only are we seeing children being raised without fathers, but women are without a husband to help raise these children and even be there for their grandchildren. It is a vicious cycle that tends to be repeated over, and over, and over again.
Now, I am almost certain there are some reading this who are probably upset and more than likely are saying something like, “Well, I’m a teacher and I can help teach someone else’s child,” or “I don’t have children, so are you saying it’s bad to help someone with their child or that I can’t help someone with their child?” Not at all. I am saying that ultimately, the God-given responsibility to raise children has been given to the parents of those children.
Unless a person has been living under a rock, or just flat out is ignoring reality, we can all see the dangerous fruit of this mindset taking over our nation, not just in casual sex but now in the rearing and teaching of children in our society. Getting away from the Biblical principle and God-ordained institution of one man and one woman marriage certainly hasn’t done our society any favors. Not only mothers but fathers, you are extremely important.
#TheWayForwardIsBack
For more study on this subject please consider digging into the following passages:
Ephesians 6:1-9
Colossians 3:15-25
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.
