(Continued from June 19, 2010)
The euphoria of my new career began to fade when the real work began. First, I had to fire over 200 people. I don’t think that I could have won a popularity contest after that. I didn’t enjoy the process, but slowly I culled out the redundancy in the system, got rid of the double checkers who were checking the triple checkers and for the most part buttoned things down. I spent the majority of my off time lifting weights and sculpting my body. I fancied myself as an amateur body builder, but I never entered a contest. I enjoyed having kids, but I really didn’t spend much time with them. They were objects of pride, that allowed me to brag about and perfect foils used to focus attention on myself.
My wife denies it, but I distinctly remember saying that all I ever wanted to be was a billionaire. It’s amazing how God gives you what you need rather than what you want. Selfishness is a nasty monster. It eats everything in your life and after digestion, takes all of that time and emotional energy that it fed on and grows a little bit larger. The next time you try to feed it, it demands more. Pretty sick stuff, huh?
Time passed in the car business. My dad withdrew from most day to day operations, which allowed me to take over the general management with very little resistance. He was too busy trying to repair his life. He always bailed out when things got difficult. Unfortunately, I think he passed that trait down to the next generation.
With tears, many hours of hard labor and the good fortune of a reasonably good economy, I was able to drag the dealership out of the ditch and back on the road to “prosperity”. By that time, dad had found a new love of his life and was getting his confidence back. The 18 month deadline for him to relinquish control of the dealership to me had come and gone. “Things are a bit too dicey to sell the store right now.” I thought that made sense. I didn’t complain.
It was weird to see my dad with another woman. Dad had been doing the “other woman” thing since I was 14, maybe before, but I don’t know about that. This time the whole deal was in my face. He asked me to be his best man in the wedding. What was I supposed to do? Of course I said yes. I went over to meet his new family. Suddenly I had a couple of new step-brothers. They were nice boys, but a new family was not a pleasing thought. What was wrong with the old family?
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
The Root of Bitterness, Part 3
(Continued from 6/17/2010)
Have you ever gotten one of “those” phone calls? One day you are going through your routine and the next your whole world is different. This was one of those phone calls. I asked my dad to pick me up at the airport. He sent one of his employees. I walked in the room full of top dealership brass. I felt like a bumpkin. Here was the high power “elite” in the car business. These guys had taken a piece of dirt in north Phoenix and turned it into one of the highest volume stores in the United States in just 18 months. Why did they need me?
Dad dismissed the crew. He said, “We were supposed to sell 2,200 cars this year. We sold 10,000. Now the bank is calling me because we are overdrawn. What is going on?” I excused myself and made my way to the administrative office. It was humming along the way that you’d expect an office with over 30 “beaver” personalities to hum.
“Excuse me.” A few clerks looked up. “Can I take a look at the General Journal?” You’d think that I had asked for the pin number to their checking account. Reluctantly, the office manager retrieved the thick book with a ream of paper and thousands of meticulously entered numbers. I excused myself and began to rifle through hundreds of entries. After about an hour, I noticed a small two line entry on one clean sheet of accounting paper. $800,000 debit to cash and $800,000 credit to accounts receivable. It was the round number that caught my eye. What could this mean?
For the non-accounting types, let me explain. This entry meant that someone had taken it upon themselves to increase the amount of cash that the dealership had on hand and by the same amount reduced that amount of money that people owed the dealership. The entry was made out of whole cloth. It was a nice round number that made the bank account look fat and made the accounts receivable collection department look like heroes. The problem? It never happened. The bank account was just as empty as before the entry was made and the accounts receivable was just as uncollected. In business terms it was an unmitigated disaster.
I spent the next day rifling through thousands of entries and much to my amazement, if my calculations were correct, these champions of the auto industry had spent 18 months and $2 million giving away the store. I knocked on my dad’s door. “Have you spent any time looking at your books since the divorce?” “Sure!”, he replied. “We’ve been making lots of money. It’s just that we don’t seem to have anything in the bank.”
I could feel the blood filling the capillaries in my face and ears. “Dad, there are some disturbing entries in the books. You have over a million dollars out in receivables and most of it is old and probably not collectable.” He put his hands on the desk and gave me an unusual look. I had never seen him like this. “What are we going to do?” “Don’t worry. I have a plan. We can meet tomorrow and I’ll let you in on the details.”
I slipped out the door and headed for the desk that had been temporarily assigned to me as my “office”. Plan? Are you kidding me? I had no plan. I had no idea how this whole thing happened. I had no idea how to extricate this big business from utter incompetence and maybe even malfeasance.
The next day came. “Here’s my plan. We need to get an outside audit. We can figure out what we REALLY have here and what has evaporated. We also need to cut the payroll by 50%.” You could have heard a pin drop. It was awful. We had been asked to meet with the bank that afternoon. On the “come” Dad had scheduled a meeting so that he could unveil my big “plan”. It was a cordial meeting. I laid out the plan and somewhere in the conversation asked the bank representatives a simple question. “What happens if after this audit we should happen to discover that our liabilities are higher than our assets?” “Well, then you would have to declare bankruptcy.” Frank. To the point. No problem. “Thank you for coming.”
The one thing that I was sure of was even taking the most optimistic view of what I had discovered, this dealership was bankrupt. What now? “Son, I have a proposition that I would like to offer you. I would like you to sell your little store down south and use the proceeds to buy in with me. We can use the cash from your sale to make this deal whole and I will sell you this whole thing in 18 months.”
Are you kidding? I am going to be the MAN in Phoenix! All I have to do is sell my little store, come help this place and I will be the king. The king is dead. Long live the king! My ego was leaking out of my ears and my mouth. I called home. “Sell the house. I am going to sell the dealership to my uncle. He has wanted to get his hands on it for years. I am sure that he’ll jump at the chance.”
I never went home. My wife packed everything. I sold not only my dealership, but my house to my uncle. He was now the big man in small town Arizona and had the corner on the car market in Cochise County. It was a coup for everyone.
I tossed my polyester suit in the trash bin and promptly went down to a local tailor and bought five brand new Italian suits. I picked out a brand new 300ZX off the lot and rented a house in a nice neighborhood a few miles from MY new store. I had it all and now I was strutting. I had the world by the tail. I “saved” the dealership and made myself a rich man in the process. I had a hard time not breaking my arm off at the shoulder, trying to pat myself on the back. Everything was going my way, or so I thought.
(To be continued)
Have you ever gotten one of “those” phone calls? One day you are going through your routine and the next your whole world is different. This was one of those phone calls. I asked my dad to pick me up at the airport. He sent one of his employees. I walked in the room full of top dealership brass. I felt like a bumpkin. Here was the high power “elite” in the car business. These guys had taken a piece of dirt in north Phoenix and turned it into one of the highest volume stores in the United States in just 18 months. Why did they need me?
Dad dismissed the crew. He said, “We were supposed to sell 2,200 cars this year. We sold 10,000. Now the bank is calling me because we are overdrawn. What is going on?” I excused myself and made my way to the administrative office. It was humming along the way that you’d expect an office with over 30 “beaver” personalities to hum.
“Excuse me.” A few clerks looked up. “Can I take a look at the General Journal?” You’d think that I had asked for the pin number to their checking account. Reluctantly, the office manager retrieved the thick book with a ream of paper and thousands of meticulously entered numbers. I excused myself and began to rifle through hundreds of entries. After about an hour, I noticed a small two line entry on one clean sheet of accounting paper. $800,000 debit to cash and $800,000 credit to accounts receivable. It was the round number that caught my eye. What could this mean?
For the non-accounting types, let me explain. This entry meant that someone had taken it upon themselves to increase the amount of cash that the dealership had on hand and by the same amount reduced that amount of money that people owed the dealership. The entry was made out of whole cloth. It was a nice round number that made the bank account look fat and made the accounts receivable collection department look like heroes. The problem? It never happened. The bank account was just as empty as before the entry was made and the accounts receivable was just as uncollected. In business terms it was an unmitigated disaster.
I spent the next day rifling through thousands of entries and much to my amazement, if my calculations were correct, these champions of the auto industry had spent 18 months and $2 million giving away the store. I knocked on my dad’s door. “Have you spent any time looking at your books since the divorce?” “Sure!”, he replied. “We’ve been making lots of money. It’s just that we don’t seem to have anything in the bank.”
I could feel the blood filling the capillaries in my face and ears. “Dad, there are some disturbing entries in the books. You have over a million dollars out in receivables and most of it is old and probably not collectable.” He put his hands on the desk and gave me an unusual look. I had never seen him like this. “What are we going to do?” “Don’t worry. I have a plan. We can meet tomorrow and I’ll let you in on the details.”
I slipped out the door and headed for the desk that had been temporarily assigned to me as my “office”. Plan? Are you kidding me? I had no plan. I had no idea how this whole thing happened. I had no idea how to extricate this big business from utter incompetence and maybe even malfeasance.
The next day came. “Here’s my plan. We need to get an outside audit. We can figure out what we REALLY have here and what has evaporated. We also need to cut the payroll by 50%.” You could have heard a pin drop. It was awful. We had been asked to meet with the bank that afternoon. On the “come” Dad had scheduled a meeting so that he could unveil my big “plan”. It was a cordial meeting. I laid out the plan and somewhere in the conversation asked the bank representatives a simple question. “What happens if after this audit we should happen to discover that our liabilities are higher than our assets?” “Well, then you would have to declare bankruptcy.” Frank. To the point. No problem. “Thank you for coming.”
The one thing that I was sure of was even taking the most optimistic view of what I had discovered, this dealership was bankrupt. What now? “Son, I have a proposition that I would like to offer you. I would like you to sell your little store down south and use the proceeds to buy in with me. We can use the cash from your sale to make this deal whole and I will sell you this whole thing in 18 months.”
Are you kidding? I am going to be the MAN in Phoenix! All I have to do is sell my little store, come help this place and I will be the king. The king is dead. Long live the king! My ego was leaking out of my ears and my mouth. I called home. “Sell the house. I am going to sell the dealership to my uncle. He has wanted to get his hands on it for years. I am sure that he’ll jump at the chance.”
I never went home. My wife packed everything. I sold not only my dealership, but my house to my uncle. He was now the big man in small town Arizona and had the corner on the car market in Cochise County. It was a coup for everyone.
I tossed my polyester suit in the trash bin and promptly went down to a local tailor and bought five brand new Italian suits. I picked out a brand new 300ZX off the lot and rented a house in a nice neighborhood a few miles from MY new store. I had it all and now I was strutting. I had the world by the tail. I “saved” the dealership and made myself a rich man in the process. I had a hard time not breaking my arm off at the shoulder, trying to pat myself on the back. Everything was going my way, or so I thought.
(To be continued)
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Root of Bitterness (Part 2)
(Continued from 6/16/2010)
One day soon thereafter Dad sent a process server to the house and presented my mom with divorce papers. It was a really weird realization. My parents were big fat liars. They had told us from the time that we were little, that they loved us and that the wanted the best for us. Frankly, that was nothing but a load of propaganda. Some people want to do the right thing. For others it’s enough to want to WANT to do the right thing. Those folks can easily find excuses for anything they decide to do.
My mom was devastated. She cried, but she caught herself quickly and found the deep, dark strength that her family had bequeathed her. In the short run, bitterness can seem to be an asset. For many years in became her focus and her desire to burn my father’s house down, with him, my sisters and me in it. Hard lines were drawn. If you so much as tip your hat in Dad’s direction, you are a traitor. Traitors must all be shot at dawn.
My dad acted a bit more casually. He hired the best divorce attorney in the state and set out to take whatever he deemed to be his, especially his new “metro” car dealership. The first place Mom’s attorney attacked was the dealership. Was it true that there was a moral obligation for Dad to give half of the winnings from his entrepreneurial endeavors to a mere housewife? Millions to the milkmaid?
Sickeningly, I was dragged into the proceedings at this point. Dad called me up and invited me to a meeting with his attorney. I figured that no harm would be done. What could he ask me? Was my dad a jerk? Did he have a violent temper at times? Did he like to drink a little? Was Mom angry often? Did she have the worst case of PMS in the universe? I could easily answer “yes” to all of those questions and be done with it, right?
Not so fast. Even though I was only 25, I could see where the attorney was going. “Did your Dad and Mom actually SELL you a piece of their business or was it a GIFT?” Hmmm… It was an easy thing to do. The attorney was so crafty and I was so willing. “You know, if your mom can prove that this was a gift, then she will be able to financially destroy the company. Where will you work then?”
I was convinced. Whatever that honorable barrister asked me to say, I would say it. Self preservation, right? I had a wife and kids, right? I needed to say whatever I needed to say to make it all go away. Go away it did. My dad ended up giving my mom several million dollars just to settle, but I could feel the tips of the bitter rootlets pierce my soul. But just a little.
Needless to say, my mom was livid. I saw my grandfather for the last time outside the attorney’s office. Now he was glowering at me. It’s amazing how alliances can be made and broken. “Many are defiled.” For the next almost six years I never talked to my mom. By 1990, I had four kids and I was deeply involved in my work and my Christian apologetics ministry. I had an ache to do the “right thing” with my mom. With the encouragement of a Christian friend, I called her on the phone and apologized. “Oh yeah? We’ll see.”
For the next three years, I saw Mom occasionally. We did Christmas. (Christmas was eerily reminiscent of the Christmas Eve’s of my youth!) We did a few Easters and an occasional dinner. She saw my kids, but wasn’t too interested. What she was interested in was for me to do my penance. Like a good Catholic, temporal punishment is necessary to absolve one of one’s sins. She wanted me to pay for my sin from the divorce.
My personality is such that I don’t really like to call people up just to chat. I am more of a substance and conflict kind of guy. I usually leave the social calendar up to my wife. As married folks do, some duties are always relegated to one spouse or the other. In the case of invitations and appointments in our family, my wife is the go-to girl. My mom would have none of it. If I didn’t call her personally and find a new way to apologize for my lack of loyalty from years earlier, then she wanted nothing to do with me. In fact, she said so in a letter. She was done with me . . . again. She has never seen my youngest son. He is now 15.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my dad’s business dealings were getting dicier and dicier. After draining the last of the cash from the car dealership, he decided to start dating seriously. This was a new affront to my sensibilities. It’s strange thing to hear your own father saying things to young girls that would embarrass Pee Wee Herman. “If you were wearing cowboy boots, I’d marry you!” to perfect strangers in public places and with ME in earshot! My level of tolerance was thinning. If it wasn’t the banging headboard from the hotel room next door on a business trip, (he was entertaining his “date”), it was seeing a 21 year old hottie driving a brand new 300 ZX fresh off the lot, (with his permission of course).
Who cares about cash flow when you have love? Dad spent much of his time entertaining the girls and spending money like he had it. The dealership was in trouble and he needed help. Just after the divorce I occasionally visited the “big store” in Phoenix. I had my own deal down south. (Remember the “gift”?) So I was only exposed to his new libertine life once in awhile. It never really sunk in until later that year. Dad called.
“Hey son? Would you mind coming up to Phoenix for a few days? We’ve been selling cars in record numbers, but there is something wrong with the bank. It seems like we don’t have any cash.”
(To be continued)
One day soon thereafter Dad sent a process server to the house and presented my mom with divorce papers. It was a really weird realization. My parents were big fat liars. They had told us from the time that we were little, that they loved us and that the wanted the best for us. Frankly, that was nothing but a load of propaganda. Some people want to do the right thing. For others it’s enough to want to WANT to do the right thing. Those folks can easily find excuses for anything they decide to do.
My mom was devastated. She cried, but she caught herself quickly and found the deep, dark strength that her family had bequeathed her. In the short run, bitterness can seem to be an asset. For many years in became her focus and her desire to burn my father’s house down, with him, my sisters and me in it. Hard lines were drawn. If you so much as tip your hat in Dad’s direction, you are a traitor. Traitors must all be shot at dawn.
My dad acted a bit more casually. He hired the best divorce attorney in the state and set out to take whatever he deemed to be his, especially his new “metro” car dealership. The first place Mom’s attorney attacked was the dealership. Was it true that there was a moral obligation for Dad to give half of the winnings from his entrepreneurial endeavors to a mere housewife? Millions to the milkmaid?
Sickeningly, I was dragged into the proceedings at this point. Dad called me up and invited me to a meeting with his attorney. I figured that no harm would be done. What could he ask me? Was my dad a jerk? Did he have a violent temper at times? Did he like to drink a little? Was Mom angry often? Did she have the worst case of PMS in the universe? I could easily answer “yes” to all of those questions and be done with it, right?
Not so fast. Even though I was only 25, I could see where the attorney was going. “Did your Dad and Mom actually SELL you a piece of their business or was it a GIFT?” Hmmm… It was an easy thing to do. The attorney was so crafty and I was so willing. “You know, if your mom can prove that this was a gift, then she will be able to financially destroy the company. Where will you work then?”
I was convinced. Whatever that honorable barrister asked me to say, I would say it. Self preservation, right? I had a wife and kids, right? I needed to say whatever I needed to say to make it all go away. Go away it did. My dad ended up giving my mom several million dollars just to settle, but I could feel the tips of the bitter rootlets pierce my soul. But just a little.
Needless to say, my mom was livid. I saw my grandfather for the last time outside the attorney’s office. Now he was glowering at me. It’s amazing how alliances can be made and broken. “Many are defiled.” For the next almost six years I never talked to my mom. By 1990, I had four kids and I was deeply involved in my work and my Christian apologetics ministry. I had an ache to do the “right thing” with my mom. With the encouragement of a Christian friend, I called her on the phone and apologized. “Oh yeah? We’ll see.”
For the next three years, I saw Mom occasionally. We did Christmas. (Christmas was eerily reminiscent of the Christmas Eve’s of my youth!) We did a few Easters and an occasional dinner. She saw my kids, but wasn’t too interested. What she was interested in was for me to do my penance. Like a good Catholic, temporal punishment is necessary to absolve one of one’s sins. She wanted me to pay for my sin from the divorce.
My personality is such that I don’t really like to call people up just to chat. I am more of a substance and conflict kind of guy. I usually leave the social calendar up to my wife. As married folks do, some duties are always relegated to one spouse or the other. In the case of invitations and appointments in our family, my wife is the go-to girl. My mom would have none of it. If I didn’t call her personally and find a new way to apologize for my lack of loyalty from years earlier, then she wanted nothing to do with me. In fact, she said so in a letter. She was done with me . . . again. She has never seen my youngest son. He is now 15.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, my dad’s business dealings were getting dicier and dicier. After draining the last of the cash from the car dealership, he decided to start dating seriously. This was a new affront to my sensibilities. It’s strange thing to hear your own father saying things to young girls that would embarrass Pee Wee Herman. “If you were wearing cowboy boots, I’d marry you!” to perfect strangers in public places and with ME in earshot! My level of tolerance was thinning. If it wasn’t the banging headboard from the hotel room next door on a business trip, (he was entertaining his “date”), it was seeing a 21 year old hottie driving a brand new 300 ZX fresh off the lot, (with his permission of course).
Who cares about cash flow when you have love? Dad spent much of his time entertaining the girls and spending money like he had it. The dealership was in trouble and he needed help. Just after the divorce I occasionally visited the “big store” in Phoenix. I had my own deal down south. (Remember the “gift”?) So I was only exposed to his new libertine life once in awhile. It never really sunk in until later that year. Dad called.
“Hey son? Would you mind coming up to Phoenix for a few days? We’ve been selling cars in record numbers, but there is something wrong with the bank. It seems like we don’t have any cash.”
(To be continued)
Inbreeding Trouble?
Hello, Mr. Culiver, Laurel here.
I have a science question for you. I was talking to one of my friends in Music Man rehearsal last night and we were discussing various Biblical and philosophical topics. He asked me to give an explanation for how one excuses the problems of inbreeding if the earth was populated from only two people (Adam and Eve). I was wondering how I am to answer this question. He argued that because inbreeding eventually causes the recessive genes to appear, people would become dumber and dumber because they were coming from a gene pool of only two people. Thus, making the theory of Adam and Eve implausible. I am not sure where to find an answer, but I told him I would get him one. Any help?
Thanks,
Laurel
Thanks for the question, Laurel. First, even if you didn’t believe in the Bible, the entire human race MUST have come from only two humans, unless you posit that humans “evolved” into humans in different locations, happened to pair up and procreate and their respective progeny found each other. Thereby birthing the human race from two independently evolved “human” lines. Even THEN, you would eventually come back to a unique pair of ancestors, even if you claim that it was the first pair of APES that procreated.
In the beginning Adam and Eve were perfect. Adam lived for 950 years, even though the earth was cursed. His body, though cursed was able to survive for a long time because, by starting from perfection, it took a relatively long time to degenerate and die. Adam and Eve passed their slightly imperfect genes to Cain, Abel, (did he live long enough to procreate?), Seth and presumably a few daughters. If you look at the ages that the patriarchs died, they are truly multi-centenarians. You also notice a general trend for them to die at younger and younger ages. Even when you get to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, men were routinely living well into their second century. By the time you get to David, (3000 years ago), who lived to the age of seventy, the Bible describes seventy years as, “Then he died in a ripe old age, full of days, riches and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place.” (1 Chronicles 29:28)
Even with a lack of modern medicine, Bible characters lived into their 80’s fairly routinely. If we roll the clock forward to modern times, 80 years old was considered a freakishly long time to live. Benjamin Franklin lived into his 80’s and he was renowned for his extraordinarily long life. So what about today? Yes, men do live longer than they did in Franklin’s time, but only through technological means. At the turn of the 19th century the average American died at 50.
My point? I am convinced that since the Fall, man, like the rest of creation has steadily degenerated. The age that a human body can live has slowly but surely decreased. Entropy has taken its toll. The number of possible, horrible mutations that can be created from inbreeding have logarithmically increased over time. For Adam and Eve, the answer is simple. Virtually perfect people have nearly zero negative traits to pass on to their progeny. As for the “dumber and dumber” argument, maybe your friend has a point there!
I have a science question for you. I was talking to one of my friends in Music Man rehearsal last night and we were discussing various Biblical and philosophical topics. He asked me to give an explanation for how one excuses the problems of inbreeding if the earth was populated from only two people (Adam and Eve). I was wondering how I am to answer this question. He argued that because inbreeding eventually causes the recessive genes to appear, people would become dumber and dumber because they were coming from a gene pool of only two people. Thus, making the theory of Adam and Eve implausible. I am not sure where to find an answer, but I told him I would get him one. Any help?
Thanks,
Laurel
Thanks for the question, Laurel. First, even if you didn’t believe in the Bible, the entire human race MUST have come from only two humans, unless you posit that humans “evolved” into humans in different locations, happened to pair up and procreate and their respective progeny found each other. Thereby birthing the human race from two independently evolved “human” lines. Even THEN, you would eventually come back to a unique pair of ancestors, even if you claim that it was the first pair of APES that procreated.
In the beginning Adam and Eve were perfect. Adam lived for 950 years, even though the earth was cursed. His body, though cursed was able to survive for a long time because, by starting from perfection, it took a relatively long time to degenerate and die. Adam and Eve passed their slightly imperfect genes to Cain, Abel, (did he live long enough to procreate?), Seth and presumably a few daughters. If you look at the ages that the patriarchs died, they are truly multi-centenarians. You also notice a general trend for them to die at younger and younger ages. Even when you get to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, men were routinely living well into their second century. By the time you get to David, (3000 years ago), who lived to the age of seventy, the Bible describes seventy years as, “Then he died in a ripe old age, full of days, riches and honor; and his son Solomon reigned in his place.” (1 Chronicles 29:28)
Even with a lack of modern medicine, Bible characters lived into their 80’s fairly routinely. If we roll the clock forward to modern times, 80 years old was considered a freakishly long time to live. Benjamin Franklin lived into his 80’s and he was renowned for his extraordinarily long life. So what about today? Yes, men do live longer than they did in Franklin’s time, but only through technological means. At the turn of the 19th century the average American died at 50.
My point? I am convinced that since the Fall, man, like the rest of creation has steadily degenerated. The age that a human body can live has slowly but surely decreased. Entropy has taken its toll. The number of possible, horrible mutations that can be created from inbreeding have logarithmically increased over time. For Adam and Eve, the answer is simple. Virtually perfect people have nearly zero negative traits to pass on to their progeny. As for the “dumber and dumber” argument, maybe your friend has a point there!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Root of Bitterness
Hebrews 12:15 talks about a “root of bitterness” defiling many. For most people, this verse is a pretty obscure corner of the Bible, but not for me. My whole life has been lived in the tangle and taproots of bitterness. I come by it honestly though. My family taught me the practical implications of this principle and I have fear that somehow I may not have learned its lesson.
My earliest recollections are of uncomfortable Christmas Eve’s spent at my maternal grandparents’ house. I could feel the stress emanating from my parents as we drove to Tucson to do our Yuletide duty. As horrible as it seems, I hated my time at Grandma and Grandpa’s. My dad’s quick admonition as we drove into their driveway, “We’re getting out of here as soon as possible. Do you understand?” Two hours of hell, watching my Grandfather sip on his highball and glower as he looked at my mom and dad was almost too much for a little kid to handle.
Somewhere in my youth the pressure stopped. I never saw my grandfather for another ten years. I really didn’t understand until much later what was going on. My mom was the third oldest in a family of six. She lived in a traditional Roman Catholic home, with a good dose of ritual and dark realities. My mom was raped by her oldest brother when she was just a little girl. It seems that my granddad didn’t react properly to the situation, because my mom escaped at her first opportunity.
Her escape route was marrying my dad when she was only seventeen. It seems like both my mom and dad used each other to avoid unpleasant situations at home. Dad, it seems was a ne’er-do-well student that wanted his father’s approval. He was the middle child in a family with an over-achieving father and an athletic little brother. He spent much of his time alone, riding his horse and never made any close friends.
If you asked either of my parents about their place in this world and what reality is, I am sure you would get very different conclusions from those I am drawing. I think that must be the insidious nature of bitterness. Part of the defilement is to cloud your mind and obscure your view of what is really happening.
In May of 1984 my parents divorced after 27 years. My mom would never have divorced my dad. Her Catholic upbringing would never have allowed for that. She would have been miserable and made my dad’s life even more miserable. She would have kept her marriage vows until everyone involved welcomed the death that those vows contractually terminated.
My dad had bigger fish to fry. He had climbed on Mom’s back until he could see daylight. He was a small car dealer in a small town in southern Arizona. He lived life in the light green haze of envy every time he visited the big city. He wanted to be a BIG city dealer. Once when my cousin was doing a report for his Harvard MBA, he interviewed my dad. “What do you consider to be the measure of success?” “RESPECT!” My dad would have traded his life, money and family for respect. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what he did. In 1984 Dad finally got his BIG dealership in Phoenix. . .
(TO BE CONTINUED)
My earliest recollections are of uncomfortable Christmas Eve’s spent at my maternal grandparents’ house. I could feel the stress emanating from my parents as we drove to Tucson to do our Yuletide duty. As horrible as it seems, I hated my time at Grandma and Grandpa’s. My dad’s quick admonition as we drove into their driveway, “We’re getting out of here as soon as possible. Do you understand?” Two hours of hell, watching my Grandfather sip on his highball and glower as he looked at my mom and dad was almost too much for a little kid to handle.
Somewhere in my youth the pressure stopped. I never saw my grandfather for another ten years. I really didn’t understand until much later what was going on. My mom was the third oldest in a family of six. She lived in a traditional Roman Catholic home, with a good dose of ritual and dark realities. My mom was raped by her oldest brother when she was just a little girl. It seems that my granddad didn’t react properly to the situation, because my mom escaped at her first opportunity.
Her escape route was marrying my dad when she was only seventeen. It seems like both my mom and dad used each other to avoid unpleasant situations at home. Dad, it seems was a ne’er-do-well student that wanted his father’s approval. He was the middle child in a family with an over-achieving father and an athletic little brother. He spent much of his time alone, riding his horse and never made any close friends.
If you asked either of my parents about their place in this world and what reality is, I am sure you would get very different conclusions from those I am drawing. I think that must be the insidious nature of bitterness. Part of the defilement is to cloud your mind and obscure your view of what is really happening.
In May of 1984 my parents divorced after 27 years. My mom would never have divorced my dad. Her Catholic upbringing would never have allowed for that. She would have been miserable and made my dad’s life even more miserable. She would have kept her marriage vows until everyone involved welcomed the death that those vows contractually terminated.
My dad had bigger fish to fry. He had climbed on Mom’s back until he could see daylight. He was a small car dealer in a small town in southern Arizona. He lived life in the light green haze of envy every time he visited the big city. He wanted to be a BIG city dealer. Once when my cousin was doing a report for his Harvard MBA, he interviewed my dad. “What do you consider to be the measure of success?” “RESPECT!” My dad would have traded his life, money and family for respect. As a matter of fact, that’s exactly what he did. In 1984 Dad finally got his BIG dealership in Phoenix. . .
(TO BE CONTINUED)
1929 Revisited?
I have been really concerned lately. I know of so many families that are losing their homes. Many people have been laid off by struggling employers. Many have lost most of their nest eggs in the ebb and flow of this awful economy. Along with these tragic stories, I have also noticed a very disturbing trend. There are able-bodied men out there that are losing everything that they have because they are unwilling to work in any station that they perceive as “beneath” them.
Without batting an eyelash, I can think of three families that are out in the street, completely because dad lost his high paying management position and just can’t replace it. It would be one thing if the equivalent of his old job were the only gainful work that was out there, but I’m here to tell you. It’s just not the case.
I have spoken to a few of these men as a counselor and begged them to at least go out and take a look at some lower paying jobs, at least until the economy comes roaring back. I haven’t had much luck. There seems to be an employment paralysis out there.
One fellow was an attorney. He won’t even put in an application. When I ask him, he just shrugs and says, “I’m praying about it.” Oh yeah? The Bible is very clear that we are called to work. We are called to work hard! 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
It’s amazing how much things have changed in the last couple of generations. Back in 1929 there were many men, many able-bodied, skilled men that lined up for jobs that today’s crop of men would never consider. How many men worked in the blazing sun in 1931 in the depths of the great depression to build Hoover Dam? They left homes and families, endured 120 degree heat, exhaustion and poor living conditions, just to keep paying the bills. The new crop of “men” would rather ditch their debts, break their contracts and shame their families than break a nail working in a restaurant, on a construction site or cleaning pools.
I am sad, but I think it may be one more sign that Jesus is coming soon!
Without batting an eyelash, I can think of three families that are out in the street, completely because dad lost his high paying management position and just can’t replace it. It would be one thing if the equivalent of his old job were the only gainful work that was out there, but I’m here to tell you. It’s just not the case.
I have spoken to a few of these men as a counselor and begged them to at least go out and take a look at some lower paying jobs, at least until the economy comes roaring back. I haven’t had much luck. There seems to be an employment paralysis out there.
One fellow was an attorney. He won’t even put in an application. When I ask him, he just shrugs and says, “I’m praying about it.” Oh yeah? The Bible is very clear that we are called to work. We are called to work hard! 1 Thessalonians 4:11 and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you,
It’s amazing how much things have changed in the last couple of generations. Back in 1929 there were many men, many able-bodied, skilled men that lined up for jobs that today’s crop of men would never consider. How many men worked in the blazing sun in 1931 in the depths of the great depression to build Hoover Dam? They left homes and families, endured 120 degree heat, exhaustion and poor living conditions, just to keep paying the bills. The new crop of “men” would rather ditch their debts, break their contracts and shame their families than break a nail working in a restaurant, on a construction site or cleaning pools.
I am sad, but I think it may be one more sign that Jesus is coming soon!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
The UN Finally Gets Tough!
First, we have been treated to the rantings of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week. Then came the untimely discovery of a new and hidden nuclear facility hidden underground in the bowels of the Iranian country side. At last, the evil that has been planned by the Iranian leadership has been revealed for all the world to see!
The United Nations finally has the proof necessary to take definitive action. On most matters, even the clearest violations of human rights, genocide and international aggression seem to get lost in the diplomatic fog that seems to envelop the world’s foremost center of savoir faire. But this time, bare naked for the universe to see, we have unambiguous proof that Iran is up to no good.
Since there is no doubt about this issue and since we know that the wheels of diplomacy turn slowly, I have taken the liberty of proposing a resolution that the UN might issue the unruly Iranian nation:
Be it resolved, this 26th day of the month of September, in the year of the Christian Lord 2009, that we, the members of the United Nations Security Council do hereby condemn the actions of the nation-state of Iran. (Not that we couldn’t use another calendar, like the Babylonian, or the Chinese calendar, but for expediency we used the Christian calendar, even though we do not endorse any particular religion. Also, by not endorsing any particular religion, we do not wish to offend Muslims or any of their affiliates, who we would like to commend and applaud, but cannot officially endorse.)
We the Council have been made aware that the nation of Iran has an additional fissile materials plant. We are also aware of the claim by Iran that said fissile material is being produced for the peaceful purpose of power generation. Even though it is possible that you forgot to mention the existence of the plant to the International Atomic Energy Agency, we are very concerned that something untoward may be happening.
We fear that the existence of this additional plant may greatly increase the likelihood of the most severe threat known to humankind, global warming. We believe that the construction equipment used to dig such a subterranean site might be emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment. It is also possible that the construction of such a plant might interfere with the ecosystem surrounding the area. It has been rumored that the construction of your plant might endanger a relative of the “Delta Smelt” in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Like the US Government, one of our members, it is recommended that you shut down any and all industries associated with the construction and operation of your plant, because there is a possibility that the reproductive cycle of the “Persian Smelt” might be interrupted. Though there is no proof at this time, we suggest a 10 year study be commissioned by the UN to determine the existence, life-cycle and threat level of human activity on this precious world resource.
Be it resolved that this Council condemns the reckless acts of the leadership of Iran. In the same way that we warned your neighbor, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, we warn you. (Even though we warned him 18 times by issuing similar tough resolutions, we still think that George Bush rushed to war.) The consequences of ignoring this warning could be dire. The next warning is probably going to be in mostly capital letters and maybe even colored ink!
The United Nations finally has the proof necessary to take definitive action. On most matters, even the clearest violations of human rights, genocide and international aggression seem to get lost in the diplomatic fog that seems to envelop the world’s foremost center of savoir faire. But this time, bare naked for the universe to see, we have unambiguous proof that Iran is up to no good.
Since there is no doubt about this issue and since we know that the wheels of diplomacy turn slowly, I have taken the liberty of proposing a resolution that the UN might issue the unruly Iranian nation:
Be it resolved, this 26th day of the month of September, in the year of the Christian Lord 2009, that we, the members of the United Nations Security Council do hereby condemn the actions of the nation-state of Iran. (Not that we couldn’t use another calendar, like the Babylonian, or the Chinese calendar, but for expediency we used the Christian calendar, even though we do not endorse any particular religion. Also, by not endorsing any particular religion, we do not wish to offend Muslims or any of their affiliates, who we would like to commend and applaud, but cannot officially endorse.)
We the Council have been made aware that the nation of Iran has an additional fissile materials plant. We are also aware of the claim by Iran that said fissile material is being produced for the peaceful purpose of power generation. Even though it is possible that you forgot to mention the existence of the plant to the International Atomic Energy Agency, we are very concerned that something untoward may be happening.
We fear that the existence of this additional plant may greatly increase the likelihood of the most severe threat known to humankind, global warming. We believe that the construction equipment used to dig such a subterranean site might be emitting large amounts of carbon dioxide into the environment. It is also possible that the construction of such a plant might interfere with the ecosystem surrounding the area. It has been rumored that the construction of your plant might endanger a relative of the “Delta Smelt” in California’s San Joaquin Valley. Like the US Government, one of our members, it is recommended that you shut down any and all industries associated with the construction and operation of your plant, because there is a possibility that the reproductive cycle of the “Persian Smelt” might be interrupted. Though there is no proof at this time, we suggest a 10 year study be commissioned by the UN to determine the existence, life-cycle and threat level of human activity on this precious world resource.
Be it resolved that this Council condemns the reckless acts of the leadership of Iran. In the same way that we warned your neighbor, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, we warn you. (Even though we warned him 18 times by issuing similar tough resolutions, we still think that George Bush rushed to war.) The consequences of ignoring this warning could be dire. The next warning is probably going to be in mostly capital letters and maybe even colored ink!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
One More Nail: TV Driving the Culture
Wednesday, September 23rd marks another watershed day in America, as we are introduced to a new "prime time", "family oriented" program by the mainstream media. On the 23rd, ABC will unveil the pride of its new fall lineup, a new show called "Modern Family". I was doing my usual "plop on my butt in front of the TV" thing with my kids on Saturday, watching ABC Family, hoping for the best when a trailer for the show came on. Not paying full attention, I was awakened from my stupor when the commercial touting this masterpiece was almost over. Did they say what I THINK they said?
My curiosity was piqued so I headed for the Internet for confirmation. A three and a half minute video later and my fears were indeed realized. I believe that "Modern Family" may be a barometer reading for America's cultural weather. There's a storm coming.
"Modern Family" is a sitcom that focuses on the lives of three "families". The first is a nuclear family with a mom, dad and kids. Ahhh, but Ozzy and Harriet this family is not! Homer and Marge Simpson are a closer match. From just the 210 second intro, it is obvious that in this family, the parents are incompetent boobs and the kids are generally in charge. Modern pressures and the business of life has left this family leaderless and comically indecisive.
The second family is a marriage between two divorcees. He is in his late middle age and she is a thirty something from Columbia. The only indication we have about what family life is like is a reference she makes about her ex-husband. It seems that the only marital activities that they participated in were fighting and sex. Pretty funny, huh?
The last so-called family is a couple of homosexual males that have adopted a baby. I am sick to my stomach. When wickedness becomes common and evil is celebrated in art, something is definitely wrong. Unfortunately, the writers of this tripe may have just created a hit.
Our country may have slipped past the point of no return in the last few years. It may have happened long ago and I just didn't notice it. There is no doubt about one thing, evil is assaulting our country and the family, the REAL God sanctioned family is the unlocked door. The strongman is sleeping while the thief is stealing the minds of his children.
I pray that we beg God as a nation for forgiveness and that genuine revival and repentance become our obsession. If not the nation, then at least for me and my family!
My curiosity was piqued so I headed for the Internet for confirmation. A three and a half minute video later and my fears were indeed realized. I believe that "Modern Family" may be a barometer reading for America's cultural weather. There's a storm coming.
"Modern Family" is a sitcom that focuses on the lives of three "families". The first is a nuclear family with a mom, dad and kids. Ahhh, but Ozzy and Harriet this family is not! Homer and Marge Simpson are a closer match. From just the 210 second intro, it is obvious that in this family, the parents are incompetent boobs and the kids are generally in charge. Modern pressures and the business of life has left this family leaderless and comically indecisive.
The second family is a marriage between two divorcees. He is in his late middle age and she is a thirty something from Columbia. The only indication we have about what family life is like is a reference she makes about her ex-husband. It seems that the only marital activities that they participated in were fighting and sex. Pretty funny, huh?
The last so-called family is a couple of homosexual males that have adopted a baby. I am sick to my stomach. When wickedness becomes common and evil is celebrated in art, something is definitely wrong. Unfortunately, the writers of this tripe may have just created a hit.
Our country may have slipped past the point of no return in the last few years. It may have happened long ago and I just didn't notice it. There is no doubt about one thing, evil is assaulting our country and the family, the REAL God sanctioned family is the unlocked door. The strongman is sleeping while the thief is stealing the minds of his children.
I pray that we beg God as a nation for forgiveness and that genuine revival and repentance become our obsession. If not the nation, then at least for me and my family!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
American Exceptionalism and President Obama
It is a really strange time in history. I know that I'm naive, but I never thought that I would see a time when our country would take such a dramatic turn; dramatic politically, ethically, economically and dramatic in our inability to read our moral compass. There are many, like political and pop cultural commentator Michael Medved, recent author of "The Ten Big Lies About America", who believe that America on the whole, is on a good trajectory and that any negative trends are not permanent and catastrophic. He writes that America has not fallen off the moral cliff and cites hard statistics to make his point. In spite of this optimistic view, I still disagree.
What is happening? First, is American Exceptionalism real or is it just a conservative myth? President Obama was asked by a French reporter if he believed in American Exceptionalism. He responded, "I believe in American Exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." I quote from the movie "The Incredibles" from a scene where the antagonist jealously aspires to sell everyone super powers, "When everyone is super then no one will be." Well, if everyone is exceptional then no one is.
The President may be speaking truth. Not that America hasn't been exceptional in the past, because I believe we were, but if we follow the President's vision we certainly will not be. The idea of American Exceptionalism began with the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville. He spoke of America's greatness, but warned, "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
What made America "good"? I submit that the Founding Fathers, however imperfect, made a good stab at creating our government using a Biblical model. The current struggles in our country can be directly connected with our departure from God and His word. For instance, God made fathers responsible for educating their children. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Fathers have passed this mandate off to teachers, schools and school boards. Now we have kids with truly substandard educations. Recently, the Goldwater Institute asked Arizona high school seniors ten civics questions. 9.2% of the kids got this question right: "How many justices are on the Supreme Court?" How about 26.5% know: "Who was the first President of the United States?" Kids are not only ignorant when it comes to civics, but also areas like economics, religion and history. The modern student is well versed however, when it comes to pseudo-sciences, (or so-called inductive science), like global warming ecology and evolution. (These inductive sciences are more strongly related to philosophy than to actual science.)
Another crisis area is the economy. Paul was very clear in 2 Thessalonians when he said, "if you don't work, you don't eat." Now, our new President is selling free healthcare, free food, (food stamps), and free mortgage money as a "right". As you might expect, as we continue to drift away from the Bible, we continue to warp reality, and right and wrong get more and more fuzzy.
Our military is the greatest in the world, technologically, but we have imposed strange moral laws on war that supercede Biblical principles governing war. Now we are fighting war as though we are a police force, always keeping in mind the "rights" of the "criminals" that we are pursuing. Boys die, families cry and we don't really win anything with our blood. It only takes a few minutes to scan the Bible to discover what is God's view of war. Unfortunately, we are drifting farther from even the way we faught the Revolutionary War.
Yes, we USED to be exceptional as a nation, but now we are relinquishing our superiority, superiority established by our adherence to Biblical principles, in order to follow a worldly, naturalistic philosphy that will eventually result in the United States becoming another footnote in world history. Internal moral collapse, loss of moral direction and then by some means the loss of our country as we knew it. Please pray for our President and this nation.
What is happening? First, is American Exceptionalism real or is it just a conservative myth? President Obama was asked by a French reporter if he believed in American Exceptionalism. He responded, "I believe in American Exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism." I quote from the movie "The Incredibles" from a scene where the antagonist jealously aspires to sell everyone super powers, "When everyone is super then no one will be." Well, if everyone is exceptional then no one is.
The President may be speaking truth. Not that America hasn't been exceptional in the past, because I believe we were, but if we follow the President's vision we certainly will not be. The idea of American Exceptionalism began with the writings of Alexis de Tocqueville. He spoke of America's greatness, but warned, "America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great."
What made America "good"? I submit that the Founding Fathers, however imperfect, made a good stab at creating our government using a Biblical model. The current struggles in our country can be directly connected with our departure from God and His word. For instance, God made fathers responsible for educating their children. (Deuteronomy 6:6-9) Fathers have passed this mandate off to teachers, schools and school boards. Now we have kids with truly substandard educations. Recently, the Goldwater Institute asked Arizona high school seniors ten civics questions. 9.2% of the kids got this question right: "How many justices are on the Supreme Court?" How about 26.5% know: "Who was the first President of the United States?" Kids are not only ignorant when it comes to civics, but also areas like economics, religion and history. The modern student is well versed however, when it comes to pseudo-sciences, (or so-called inductive science), like global warming ecology and evolution. (These inductive sciences are more strongly related to philosophy than to actual science.)
Another crisis area is the economy. Paul was very clear in 2 Thessalonians when he said, "if you don't work, you don't eat." Now, our new President is selling free healthcare, free food, (food stamps), and free mortgage money as a "right". As you might expect, as we continue to drift away from the Bible, we continue to warp reality, and right and wrong get more and more fuzzy.
Our military is the greatest in the world, technologically, but we have imposed strange moral laws on war that supercede Biblical principles governing war. Now we are fighting war as though we are a police force, always keeping in mind the "rights" of the "criminals" that we are pursuing. Boys die, families cry and we don't really win anything with our blood. It only takes a few minutes to scan the Bible to discover what is God's view of war. Unfortunately, we are drifting farther from even the way we faught the Revolutionary War.
Yes, we USED to be exceptional as a nation, but now we are relinquishing our superiority, superiority established by our adherence to Biblical principles, in order to follow a worldly, naturalistic philosphy that will eventually result in the United States becoming another footnote in world history. Internal moral collapse, loss of moral direction and then by some means the loss of our country as we knew it. Please pray for our President and this nation.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
BTT Back! (Marriage Amendment)
Dear Readers,
It has been about 16 months since I last wrote on this blog! I know, I know! It's been too long to keep my audience engaged. This time around, I am changing my approach. Last time, I was thinking about pleasing my readers with my posts. Not that there's anything wrong with keeping y'all happy, but it got to be too canned and too much work. This time I am going to focus more on the things that are burning in my soul and not so much on teaching lessons!
Since I last wrote, the presidential race has developed and heated up. (That may be the understatement of the year!) The economy has taken a severe downward plunge. My personal financial situation has tracked with the rest of the economy and I am days away from turning 50!
On the plus side, I have a new grandson. Peyton Cole Flood was born on February 27, 2008! He is HUGE, has red hair, blue eyes and has the happiest disposition that our family has seen in at least three generations.
All in all I'd say it's been a great year.
While I'm at it, I want to make a comment about what is happening in our country today. For anyone that has read my old posts, I am sure that it is evident that I am not very happy about the direction that things are going. It seems that the further in time that we move away from the age of the founding fathers, the more we move toward a society that loves all things anti-biblical.
First, since it is heavy on the minds of many, I want to comment on the "Marriage Amendment" that will be voted on in Arizona, California and Florida. The fact that such an amendment is even necessary speaks volumes about where things are headed. I am amazed that we are trying to protect an institution that absolutely no one would have dreamed needed protecting only 20 years ago. I remember when Billy Crystal played a homosexual character on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and many people were horrified. Now, you can scarcely find a movie or a TV series that doesn't at least tip its hat to the sodomite lifestyle. My wife loves the TV show "House". This week the show ended with a preview of the next episode, featuring a lesbian couple engaged in some sort of physical encounter. The show comes on at 8 PM here, the time slot that used to be called "family time".
I am convinced that this garbage on TV is just a barometer indicating what direction our whole society is heading. This week, the Connecticut Supreme Court legalized "gay marriage". I have no doubt that the rest of the states are only a few years behind. The most alarming thing is that the so-called Christian right is ridiculously ill-equipped to argue with the secular-progressive world about why "gay marriage" is wrong and foolish and threatens to take our society over the cliff.
Do I sound like an alarmist? Heck, yes! I am alarmed. The so-called moderate Republicans would like us to believe that their conservatism on economic issues can and should be entirely dissociated from social issues. I submit that the entire basis for our economic prosperity can be directly linked to our society's mores.
Let's take this economic meltdown as an example. The government's attempt to make risky loans to unqualified applicants has resulted in an economic poison that threatens the fiscal health of the entire world. This ill-conceived idea is based upon a faulty presupposition: Since man is basically GOOD, if you give him opportunity, he will pull himself up by his own bootstraps and by doing so will benefit the rest of society. As I have stated in previous blogs, the Bible clearly says that "there is NONE who does good. . . not even one". The founding fathers recognized this when drafting the Constitution and came up with the idea of the three branches of government, even citing Jeremiah 17:9 in their personal writings. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? They realized that a centralized government like that in a monarchy was an invitation for evil behavior.
Some people would disagree with my premise here, saying that the greed of politicians for power, enticed them to pander to their constituents, providing them with mortgages in exchange for votes, or in the case of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, campaign contributions. They would be right, but on a more basic level, this makes my point again. Man is NOT good. In spite of the economically motivated statements made by TV commentators about the "good people in America", we are corrupt and but for the restraining hand of God, we would eat our own children.
(Outrageous! Really? Obama voted four times against a bill that would require abortionists to provide comfort and care to children that survived the attempt on their lives by their mother and her physician. We are only a half step behind the folks in the Old Testament that offered their children as a sacrifice or ate them in times of famine. According the the latest polls, more than half of the electorate is going to vote for him!)
When we call man "good" we speak directly against God's word.
Next time I'd like to address the actual arguments for the preservation of traditional marriage.
Yours in Christ,
D. L. Culiver
It has been about 16 months since I last wrote on this blog! I know, I know! It's been too long to keep my audience engaged. This time around, I am changing my approach. Last time, I was thinking about pleasing my readers with my posts. Not that there's anything wrong with keeping y'all happy, but it got to be too canned and too much work. This time I am going to focus more on the things that are burning in my soul and not so much on teaching lessons!
Since I last wrote, the presidential race has developed and heated up. (That may be the understatement of the year!) The economy has taken a severe downward plunge. My personal financial situation has tracked with the rest of the economy and I am days away from turning 50!
On the plus side, I have a new grandson. Peyton Cole Flood was born on February 27, 2008! He is HUGE, has red hair, blue eyes and has the happiest disposition that our family has seen in at least three generations.
All in all I'd say it's been a great year.
While I'm at it, I want to make a comment about what is happening in our country today. For anyone that has read my old posts, I am sure that it is evident that I am not very happy about the direction that things are going. It seems that the further in time that we move away from the age of the founding fathers, the more we move toward a society that loves all things anti-biblical.
First, since it is heavy on the minds of many, I want to comment on the "Marriage Amendment" that will be voted on in Arizona, California and Florida. The fact that such an amendment is even necessary speaks volumes about where things are headed. I am amazed that we are trying to protect an institution that absolutely no one would have dreamed needed protecting only 20 years ago. I remember when Billy Crystal played a homosexual character on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman and many people were horrified. Now, you can scarcely find a movie or a TV series that doesn't at least tip its hat to the sodomite lifestyle. My wife loves the TV show "House". This week the show ended with a preview of the next episode, featuring a lesbian couple engaged in some sort of physical encounter. The show comes on at 8 PM here, the time slot that used to be called "family time".
I am convinced that this garbage on TV is just a barometer indicating what direction our whole society is heading. This week, the Connecticut Supreme Court legalized "gay marriage". I have no doubt that the rest of the states are only a few years behind. The most alarming thing is that the so-called Christian right is ridiculously ill-equipped to argue with the secular-progressive world about why "gay marriage" is wrong and foolish and threatens to take our society over the cliff.
Do I sound like an alarmist? Heck, yes! I am alarmed. The so-called moderate Republicans would like us to believe that their conservatism on economic issues can and should be entirely dissociated from social issues. I submit that the entire basis for our economic prosperity can be directly linked to our society's mores.
Let's take this economic meltdown as an example. The government's attempt to make risky loans to unqualified applicants has resulted in an economic poison that threatens the fiscal health of the entire world. This ill-conceived idea is based upon a faulty presupposition: Since man is basically GOOD, if you give him opportunity, he will pull himself up by his own bootstraps and by doing so will benefit the rest of society. As I have stated in previous blogs, the Bible clearly says that "there is NONE who does good. . . not even one". The founding fathers recognized this when drafting the Constitution and came up with the idea of the three branches of government, even citing Jeremiah 17:9 in their personal writings. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? They realized that a centralized government like that in a monarchy was an invitation for evil behavior.
Some people would disagree with my premise here, saying that the greed of politicians for power, enticed them to pander to their constituents, providing them with mortgages in exchange for votes, or in the case of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac, campaign contributions. They would be right, but on a more basic level, this makes my point again. Man is NOT good. In spite of the economically motivated statements made by TV commentators about the "good people in America", we are corrupt and but for the restraining hand of God, we would eat our own children.
(Outrageous! Really? Obama voted four times against a bill that would require abortionists to provide comfort and care to children that survived the attempt on their lives by their mother and her physician. We are only a half step behind the folks in the Old Testament that offered their children as a sacrifice or ate them in times of famine. According the the latest polls, more than half of the electorate is going to vote for him!)
When we call man "good" we speak directly against God's word.
Next time I'd like to address the actual arguments for the preservation of traditional marriage.
Yours in Christ,
D. L. Culiver
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Homosexuality: The Hot Topic
Today I was reading an article on the Fox News website by journalist Lauren Green. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290776,00.html She is obviously somewhat versed in the Bible and seems interested in how it plays itself out in "real life". After reading her post, I felt compelled to respond. The following email was sent to her at Fox News at 9 AM on Sunday, July 29th:
Dear Lauren,
I appreciate your thoughtful article. Respectfully, I submit that the question that you ask is really only ancillary to the main question. Is the Bible really the Word of God? There is simply no question that the Bible deems homosexual behavior to be sinful. You’ve read it twice, so you know of what I speak. The schism in the Episcopal Church isn’t over any “interpretation” of Scripture; it’s over the infallibility of Scripture. If it is truly God’s Word, then homosexuality SHOULD be roundly condemned.
In your article, you mentioned “scientific evidence and anecdotal testimonies” from those who say that some people have not CHOSEN to be gay or lesbian. Refer back to Genesis. After the sin of Adam and Eve, creation itself, (including man himself), was cursed. Every human being has sin PROGRAMMED in his or her DNA. Romans 3:10-12 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. (By the way, King David is not speaking of some sin in his MOTHER, rather he is referring to his own sin.) ALL human beings are born with the propensity to sin, and all human beings are still responsible for those sins. EVERYONE has their own areas of struggle. For some, that sin happens to be homosexuality. For you and me, it is some other pet sin, no less offensive to God. If perchance they should happen upon some genetic link to homosexuality, that should be no surprise to a true Bible scholar. I wonder how much money the government would fork out to research if there are any genetic links to materialism, greed, or gossip.
Lastly, you posed the “greatest philosophical” question, “What is truth and whose truth should we live by?” John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (Italics mine) There is no truth other than Jesus, who is synonymous with the Word of God. John 1:1-2, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
I could not impose my view on anyone else even if I wanted to, (Romans 8:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so), but regardless, the Bible is clear as to my mission. Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Respectfully yours,
D. L. Culiver
Dear Lauren,
I appreciate your thoughtful article. Respectfully, I submit that the question that you ask is really only ancillary to the main question. Is the Bible really the Word of God? There is simply no question that the Bible deems homosexual behavior to be sinful. You’ve read it twice, so you know of what I speak. The schism in the Episcopal Church isn’t over any “interpretation” of Scripture; it’s over the infallibility of Scripture. If it is truly God’s Word, then homosexuality SHOULD be roundly condemned.
In your article, you mentioned “scientific evidence and anecdotal testimonies” from those who say that some people have not CHOSEN to be gay or lesbian. Refer back to Genesis. After the sin of Adam and Eve, creation itself, (including man himself), was cursed. Every human being has sin PROGRAMMED in his or her DNA. Romans 3:10-12 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.” Psalm 51:5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. (By the way, King David is not speaking of some sin in his MOTHER, rather he is referring to his own sin.) ALL human beings are born with the propensity to sin, and all human beings are still responsible for those sins. EVERYONE has their own areas of struggle. For some, that sin happens to be homosexuality. For you and me, it is some other pet sin, no less offensive to God. If perchance they should happen upon some genetic link to homosexuality, that should be no surprise to a true Bible scholar. I wonder how much money the government would fork out to research if there are any genetic links to materialism, greed, or gossip.
Lastly, you posed the “greatest philosophical” question, “What is truth and whose truth should we live by?” John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. (Italics mine) There is no truth other than Jesus, who is synonymous with the Word of God. John 1:1-2, 14 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
I could not impose my view on anyone else even if I wanted to, (Romans 8:7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so), but regardless, the Bible is clear as to my mission. Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Respectfully yours,
D. L. Culiver
Friday, July 20, 2007
What Does it Take to be a Disciple?
I would like to start by asking for the indulgence of my readers. I have been spending the last few days studying for a test related to my day job. I have missed my writing. It is amazing how much more difficult it is to learn than to teach! I would also like to thank those folks that have been so loyal to my Monday morning Bible study. I appreciate their dedication. Perhaps some day in the near future, we can start another one that doesn't conflict with work.
______________________________
Are you really His disciple? I have been thinking about that a lot lately. A common answer given by most long-time Christians is, as the old song says, "I surrender all". Do you? I have come to the conclusion that there is no way to know if indeed we have surrendered all until God asks for it.
Jesus is pretty straight forward when he makes these statements in Luke 14: verse 26 says , “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." Verse 27 states, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." Lastly verse 33 says, “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." I know that in an age of easy-believism, that these verses can be pretty disturbing. They are to me.
First, I need to make clear that the term "disciple" is not a synonym for "Apostle". Some might allege that Jesus is talking about a second level of commitment that is only reserved for those chosen few that were to walk with Him on this earth. This is certainly not the case. We can be certain of this, because of the antecedent verse, verse 25, "Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them. . ." It is obvious here that he is speaking to a large nondescript group that includes you and me!
So what is Jesus REALLY asking from us? Does He really want us to hate our relatives? YES, if we compare our COMMITMENT to our loved ones to our COMMITMENT to the Lord Jesus the contrast should be strong enough that it LOOKS LIKE we hate our family vis-Ã -vis our love for Jesus. In other words, if we are ever put in a position that we have to make a choice between Jesus and our families, we must choose Him. If we don't, we are in danger of being those "Lord, Lord" people described in Matthew 7, to whom God declares, "I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness."
What does it mean when Jesus declares that we must carry our "own cross" in order to be His disciple? This is a little more cryptic. The best way to interpret the Bible is to let the Bible interpret itself. Earlier, Dr. Luke recorded another statement from Jesus regarding the cross: Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Obviously, taking up one's cross is associated with denial of one's desires. I would go as far as to say that if one truly wishes to be a disciple of Christ, he must use the instrument of death, the cross, to supplant all of his hopes, dreams, ambitions and desires. The question cannot be, "God, would you please endorse the plans I have for my life?" The attitude of a true disciple must be, 2 Corinthians 5:9 "Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him."
The last declaration of Jesus may be the hardest, especially in America in the 21st Century. If you don't give up all of your possessions, you aren't His. I have known many Christians that will say, "It all belongs to the Lord." There have been many business deals made in the name of making more money so that more can be given to ministry. It is a fine line between working "as unto the Lord" and tossing God a bit of the excess profit.
I have come to this conclusion. I do not believe that anyone really knows how they will react when God actually asks them to make a choice between something that they dearly love and Him. Sometimes it will be a choice between a human relationship that is emotionally satisfying and Jesus. Other times it may be a choice between a big salary and Jesus. He doesn't always ask us to make these choices in every situation, but invariably a Christian will end up facing a crossroads.
For me, the biggest decision that I've had to make was whether I should take up my cross and do what HE wanted me to do regarding my career, or to continue to try to do it my way. As I said in my last article, I had to come to the end of myself and make the decision to unseat myself as KING of my life, and understand that the Lord has a different plan for me. I have gone for over ten years working on replacing the seven figure income that I had in my old career. God has gradually and if I may say so, lovingly worn me out. I have finally said, "Jesus, WHATEVER you want me to do, I will do it." I think that for the first time, I actually mean it.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
______________________________
Are you really His disciple? I have been thinking about that a lot lately. A common answer given by most long-time Christians is, as the old song says, "I surrender all". Do you? I have come to the conclusion that there is no way to know if indeed we have surrendered all until God asks for it.
Jesus is pretty straight forward when he makes these statements in Luke 14: verse 26 says , “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple." Verse 27 states, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." Lastly verse 33 says, “So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." I know that in an age of easy-believism, that these verses can be pretty disturbing. They are to me.
First, I need to make clear that the term "disciple" is not a synonym for "Apostle". Some might allege that Jesus is talking about a second level of commitment that is only reserved for those chosen few that were to walk with Him on this earth. This is certainly not the case. We can be certain of this, because of the antecedent verse, verse 25, "Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them. . ." It is obvious here that he is speaking to a large nondescript group that includes you and me!
So what is Jesus REALLY asking from us? Does He really want us to hate our relatives? YES, if we compare our COMMITMENT to our loved ones to our COMMITMENT to the Lord Jesus the contrast should be strong enough that it LOOKS LIKE we hate our family vis-Ã -vis our love for Jesus. In other words, if we are ever put in a position that we have to make a choice between Jesus and our families, we must choose Him. If we don't, we are in danger of being those "Lord, Lord" people described in Matthew 7, to whom God declares, "I never knew you. Depart from me you who practice lawlessness."
What does it mean when Jesus declares that we must carry our "own cross" in order to be His disciple? This is a little more cryptic. The best way to interpret the Bible is to let the Bible interpret itself. Earlier, Dr. Luke recorded another statement from Jesus regarding the cross: Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me." Obviously, taking up one's cross is associated with denial of one's desires. I would go as far as to say that if one truly wishes to be a disciple of Christ, he must use the instrument of death, the cross, to supplant all of his hopes, dreams, ambitions and desires. The question cannot be, "God, would you please endorse the plans I have for my life?" The attitude of a true disciple must be, 2 Corinthians 5:9 "Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him."
The last declaration of Jesus may be the hardest, especially in America in the 21st Century. If you don't give up all of your possessions, you aren't His. I have known many Christians that will say, "It all belongs to the Lord." There have been many business deals made in the name of making more money so that more can be given to ministry. It is a fine line between working "as unto the Lord" and tossing God a bit of the excess profit.
I have come to this conclusion. I do not believe that anyone really knows how they will react when God actually asks them to make a choice between something that they dearly love and Him. Sometimes it will be a choice between a human relationship that is emotionally satisfying and Jesus. Other times it may be a choice between a big salary and Jesus. He doesn't always ask us to make these choices in every situation, but invariably a Christian will end up facing a crossroads.
For me, the biggest decision that I've had to make was whether I should take up my cross and do what HE wanted me to do regarding my career, or to continue to try to do it my way. As I said in my last article, I had to come to the end of myself and make the decision to unseat myself as KING of my life, and understand that the Lord has a different plan for me. I have gone for over ten years working on replacing the seven figure income that I had in my old career. God has gradually and if I may say so, lovingly worn me out. I have finally said, "Jesus, WHATEVER you want me to do, I will do it." I think that for the first time, I actually mean it.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Thursday, July 19, 2007
How Does God Speak?
How does God speak to people today? Does He speak? It has been a burning question in my mind. The goal of the Christian life is to become more Christ-like. Remember what Jesus said in John 5:30 30 “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. " If I desire to do what Jesus did, then necessarily I should do nothing on my own initiative, but listen for the voice of God. Wow! That seems like a pretty tall order.
Since those are my marching orders, I should find out how God has chosen to speak to me. The first hint comes from Hebrews 1:1-2 "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." That is some comfort. At least I know that I am not waiting for God to speak through the Urim and Thummim, ("lights and perfections", Exodus 28:30, Leviticus 8:8, Numbers 27:21, Deuteronomy 33:8, 1 Samuel 28:6, Nehemiah 7:65), or from a burning bush. It is small comfort however, because now I need to figure out how to hear the voice of God's son. I have another hint in John 1:1-5, 14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Who or what is the Word? It is obvious from the context of the passage that Jesus Himself is the Word, or the λόγος (logos). It is an interesting and difficult thing to contemplate. Jesus is the savior, the Son of God, the Lord and the WORD. The word λόγος is also used to designate the Scriptures themselves. 2 Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."
There is an intimate connection between Jesus and the Word of God, the Bible. I submit that in order to hear God's voice, we must not only hear, but obey the Word. John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” 1 John 2:5 5 "but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him."
I made the connection between faith and obedience in an earlier post. That is not my intention today. This topic is heavy on my mind because of recent circumstances in my personal life. I have been working with my company for almost three years and have made very little income for my efforts. In another post I explained that the chief partner in my company wanted to renegotiate my pay plan on the exact day that I was due my first substantial paycheck. I balked and he countered with "my proposal is off the table" and "our business relationship is over". I haven't seen a cent. This has put my family and me in a pretty precarious position. I have to say that God has orchestrated the circumstances in my life in such a way as to drive me to my knees and to force me to ask the question: What do I do now? The corollary question MUST be asked: How can I hear your voice?
I am sure that almost every Bible loving Christian will agree with me, when I say that following the PRINCIPLES of Scripture could certainly be construed as hearing God's voice. Practically speaking, loving your neighbor, living with your wife in an understanding way and turning the other cheek are principles from the Bible that could be considered as "God's voice". Since we are to do NOTHING, except that which God tells us to do, however, there MUST be something more in the Bible than just principles.
God must speak from His Word in more than just principles, parables and proverbs. I believe that when we are walking with Him and living in the center of His will, He really does speak in more than just an academic way. Remember in the Old Testament, that King David was asking God for SPECIFIC answers to SPECIFIC questions, and God answered him SPECIFICALLY. Jesus asked God the Father for specific answers and He answered in a specific way. I was reading 1 Thessalonians 4:11 "and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you", and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I believe that I have sinfully attempted to push God into a corner as far as my career choice is concerned. I have told Him that He needs to afford me a career that "fits into my lifestyle" and then I will be happy to follow His commands. Hogwash! Here was this verse, His λόγος slapping me in my face. On Monday, I will start my new job with an excavation company.
God is speaking. I am listening. I feel better already!
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Since those are my marching orders, I should find out how God has chosen to speak to me. The first hint comes from Hebrews 1:1-2 "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world." That is some comfort. At least I know that I am not waiting for God to speak through the Urim and Thummim, ("lights and perfections", Exodus 28:30, Leviticus 8:8, Numbers 27:21, Deuteronomy 33:8, 1 Samuel 28:6, Nehemiah 7:65), or from a burning bush. It is small comfort however, because now I need to figure out how to hear the voice of God's son. I have another hint in John 1:1-5, 14 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. . . And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." Who or what is the Word? It is obvious from the context of the passage that Jesus Himself is the Word, or the λόγος (logos). It is an interesting and difficult thing to contemplate. Jesus is the savior, the Son of God, the Lord and the WORD. The word λόγος is also used to designate the Scriptures themselves. 2 Timothy 2:15 "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth."
There is an intimate connection between Jesus and the Word of God, the Bible. I submit that in order to hear God's voice, we must not only hear, but obey the Word. John 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” 1 John 2:5 5 "but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him."
I made the connection between faith and obedience in an earlier post. That is not my intention today. This topic is heavy on my mind because of recent circumstances in my personal life. I have been working with my company for almost three years and have made very little income for my efforts. In another post I explained that the chief partner in my company wanted to renegotiate my pay plan on the exact day that I was due my first substantial paycheck. I balked and he countered with "my proposal is off the table" and "our business relationship is over". I haven't seen a cent. This has put my family and me in a pretty precarious position. I have to say that God has orchestrated the circumstances in my life in such a way as to drive me to my knees and to force me to ask the question: What do I do now? The corollary question MUST be asked: How can I hear your voice?
I am sure that almost every Bible loving Christian will agree with me, when I say that following the PRINCIPLES of Scripture could certainly be construed as hearing God's voice. Practically speaking, loving your neighbor, living with your wife in an understanding way and turning the other cheek are principles from the Bible that could be considered as "God's voice". Since we are to do NOTHING, except that which God tells us to do, however, there MUST be something more in the Bible than just principles.
God must speak from His Word in more than just principles, parables and proverbs. I believe that when we are walking with Him and living in the center of His will, He really does speak in more than just an academic way. Remember in the Old Testament, that King David was asking God for SPECIFIC answers to SPECIFIC questions, and God answered him SPECIFICALLY. Jesus asked God the Father for specific answers and He answered in a specific way. I was reading 1 Thessalonians 4:11 "and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you", and it hit me like a ton of bricks. I believe that I have sinfully attempted to push God into a corner as far as my career choice is concerned. I have told Him that He needs to afford me a career that "fits into my lifestyle" and then I will be happy to follow His commands. Hogwash! Here was this verse, His λόγος slapping me in my face. On Monday, I will start my new job with an excavation company.
God is speaking. I am listening. I feel better already!
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Selfish Religion vs. Christianity
My weekly Bible study is a constant source of great questions. The folks that attend are a unique blend of inquiring minds. I am constantly astounded how deeply one can delve into the truths of the Bible and still not plumb its depths. The big question: What are the true differences between Christians and devotees of other religions?
We discussed many possibilities. One idea was that a relationship to Jesus was a sincere faith. Indeed, it can be alleged that Christian faith is the only true faith and therefore, since other faiths are based on faulty premises, perhaps the other faiths could not be truly sincere. I don't believe that to be the case. Their faith is misdirected, but I cannot agree with the view that believers of different faiths are any less sincere than a true disciple of Christ. There are thousands of young men and women wearing white dress shirts and ties, (young men!), that are spending a good chunk of their family's fortune riding their bicycles door to door spreading their version of the truth. I am sure that they are sincere. There are many men, women and children that are required to spend at least four hours per week passing out literature from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to any and all who do not slam the door in their faces. The level of sincerity of these folks would have to be sky-high to trudge through that misery. In my opinion, the most obvious example of sincerity that we see in our world today are the suicide bombers that are dying for Allah. Surely sincerity is not where the difference lies.
Another thought was the so-called "changed life". In Christian-speak, the changed life means the noticeable difference that a true believer must experience in their life that demonstrates that conversion really happened. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." While this is absolutely true, one could easily argue that other faiths experience a "changed life". Believers in Christ know that the the changed life of which they speak is a supernatural event that involves the invasion of God's Holy Spirit into one's life, but to a non-believer that explanation may be clear as mud. He might argue that other faiths certainly exhibit some form of changed life. The followers of Jim Jones certainly experienced a HUGE change in their lives when they chose to follow him to Guyana. The Muslims that blow themselves up are changing their lives in a profound way! Even though true Christian believers can make a case here, I don't believe that the "changed life" is really the hallmark that sets us apart, unless we can better explain what that changed life looks like, and how UTTERLY UNIQUE it is.
I believe that the outward demonstration of the difference between true Christian faith and other faiths is the sacrificial life that is NOT a QUID PRO QUO. What do I mean by that? ALL other faiths involve sacrifice, but their sacrifice is a BUSINESS PROPOSITION. If I do this, then I get that. If I perform these sacraments then I can enter Heaven. If I live a good life then I will earn eternal life. If I blow myself up, I am rewarded with seventy virgins. All other religions are a quid pro quo, or an exchange of one thing for another.
OK, now here's where my argument gets a bit sticky. Some people will allege that the Christian life is the same kind of DEAL. If I "ask Jesus into my heart", then I get to go to Heaven. This for that. I disagree completely.
First, I would take issue with the phrase "ask Jesus into my heart", since the Bible nowhere speaks of such a concept, but I'll save that argument for another day. Second, I would allege that the faith that one exercises is a GIFT of God. Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (For those of you that might insist that the "it" in the italicized phrase is referring to "grace" rather than "faith", I would refer you to James White's article on the technical proof of the meaning of this verse in Greek - http://aomin.org/index.php?itemid=630 ) Philippians 1:29 "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." (italics mine) Third, I would assert that from a HUMAN standpoint, Heaven is NOT the TV portrayal that most people believe in. It is not that great golf course in the sky. It is not the great entertainment center. It is NOT ABOUT US! It is about God, HIS glory and how WE give it to Him. If we look at the eternity that Christians will spend in Heaven, it would repulse the unregenerate mind. From a selfish HUMAN standpoint, who would WANT to worship God and give Him glory for eternity? Wouldn't that be like going to a boring church service 24/7/365? The Christian "quid pro quo" is dying to ourselves daily in gratitude for the opportunity to worship God forever. In Luke 14 we find three warnings. Jesus said that we cannot be His disciples unless we sacrifice of our earthly relationships. (verse 26) He said that we cannot be His disciples unless we sacrifice our hopes, dreams and all of our earthly desires. (verse 27) Lastly, He said that we cannot be His disciples unless we sacrifice all of our earthly possessions. (verse 33)
If we examine the Christian life in comparison to the life of other faiths, the difference is obvious. The Christian is supernaturally driven to sacrifice all that he has, and all that he is for God and others, and he does so out of pure gratitude for a the gift of an eternal relationship with God, that he already received in full, in the past. In other words the believer in Christ will sacrifice all today with nothing to "gain"in the future. God will not love the believer one bit more if he gives $1 million to the church, or goes on a 3 year mission to Irian Jaya, or if he sacrifices his life for a stranger. (God will not love the true believer one bit LESS if he treats his wife poorly, or blows off Sunday services to play golf, or if he swears loudly at his TV when his favorite team loses!) God's love is INFINITE for His children. Those acts all affect the believer's RELATIONSHIP to God at that moment, but not God's LOVE for him.
As a final "proof", look at the "Hall of Fame of Faith" in Hebrews chapter 11. Here we see the DEMONSTRATION, or the PROOF of the faith of true believers. Notice that these acts all have one thing in common. They are all humanly COUNTER-INTUITIVE. They are certainly NOT an exchange of one thing for another. All of these people are walking with God and are guaranteed to have eternal fellowship with Him in His Heaven. In spite of this guarantee, these people do things like building a boat in the middle of nowhere, miles from any water because God told them to. They sacrifice the son that they waited 100 years to have, just because God asked them to. They were sawn in two, just to follow their savior.
The changed life that makes NO SENSE in human terms is the real demonstration of the difference between Christians and followers of man-made, man-centered religions.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
We discussed many possibilities. One idea was that a relationship to Jesus was a sincere faith. Indeed, it can be alleged that Christian faith is the only true faith and therefore, since other faiths are based on faulty premises, perhaps the other faiths could not be truly sincere. I don't believe that to be the case. Their faith is misdirected, but I cannot agree with the view that believers of different faiths are any less sincere than a true disciple of Christ. There are thousands of young men and women wearing white dress shirts and ties, (young men!), that are spending a good chunk of their family's fortune riding their bicycles door to door spreading their version of the truth. I am sure that they are sincere. There are many men, women and children that are required to spend at least four hours per week passing out literature from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society to any and all who do not slam the door in their faces. The level of sincerity of these folks would have to be sky-high to trudge through that misery. In my opinion, the most obvious example of sincerity that we see in our world today are the suicide bombers that are dying for Allah. Surely sincerity is not where the difference lies.
Another thought was the so-called "changed life". In Christian-speak, the changed life means the noticeable difference that a true believer must experience in their life that demonstrates that conversion really happened. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." While this is absolutely true, one could easily argue that other faiths experience a "changed life". Believers in Christ know that the the changed life of which they speak is a supernatural event that involves the invasion of God's Holy Spirit into one's life, but to a non-believer that explanation may be clear as mud. He might argue that other faiths certainly exhibit some form of changed life. The followers of Jim Jones certainly experienced a HUGE change in their lives when they chose to follow him to Guyana. The Muslims that blow themselves up are changing their lives in a profound way! Even though true Christian believers can make a case here, I don't believe that the "changed life" is really the hallmark that sets us apart, unless we can better explain what that changed life looks like, and how UTTERLY UNIQUE it is.
I believe that the outward demonstration of the difference between true Christian faith and other faiths is the sacrificial life that is NOT a QUID PRO QUO. What do I mean by that? ALL other faiths involve sacrifice, but their sacrifice is a BUSINESS PROPOSITION. If I do this, then I get that. If I perform these sacraments then I can enter Heaven. If I live a good life then I will earn eternal life. If I blow myself up, I am rewarded with seventy virgins. All other religions are a quid pro quo, or an exchange of one thing for another.
OK, now here's where my argument gets a bit sticky. Some people will allege that the Christian life is the same kind of DEAL. If I "ask Jesus into my heart", then I get to go to Heaven. This for that. I disagree completely.
First, I would take issue with the phrase "ask Jesus into my heart", since the Bible nowhere speaks of such a concept, but I'll save that argument for another day. Second, I would allege that the faith that one exercises is a GIFT of God. Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast." (For those of you that might insist that the "it" in the italicized phrase is referring to "grace" rather than "faith", I would refer you to James White's article on the technical proof of the meaning of this verse in Greek - http://aomin.org/index.php?itemid=630 ) Philippians 1:29 "For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake." (italics mine) Third, I would assert that from a HUMAN standpoint, Heaven is NOT the TV portrayal that most people believe in. It is not that great golf course in the sky. It is not the great entertainment center. It is NOT ABOUT US! It is about God, HIS glory and how WE give it to Him. If we look at the eternity that Christians will spend in Heaven, it would repulse the unregenerate mind. From a selfish HUMAN standpoint, who would WANT to worship God and give Him glory for eternity? Wouldn't that be like going to a boring church service 24/7/365? The Christian "quid pro quo" is dying to ourselves daily in gratitude for the opportunity to worship God forever. In Luke 14 we find three warnings. Jesus said that we cannot be His disciples unless we sacrifice of our earthly relationships. (verse 26) He said that we cannot be His disciples unless we sacrifice our hopes, dreams and all of our earthly desires. (verse 27) Lastly, He said that we cannot be His disciples unless we sacrifice all of our earthly possessions. (verse 33)
If we examine the Christian life in comparison to the life of other faiths, the difference is obvious. The Christian is supernaturally driven to sacrifice all that he has, and all that he is for God and others, and he does so out of pure gratitude for a the gift of an eternal relationship with God, that he already received in full, in the past. In other words the believer in Christ will sacrifice all today with nothing to "gain"in the future. God will not love the believer one bit more if he gives $1 million to the church, or goes on a 3 year mission to Irian Jaya, or if he sacrifices his life for a stranger. (God will not love the true believer one bit LESS if he treats his wife poorly, or blows off Sunday services to play golf, or if he swears loudly at his TV when his favorite team loses!) God's love is INFINITE for His children. Those acts all affect the believer's RELATIONSHIP to God at that moment, but not God's LOVE for him.
As a final "proof", look at the "Hall of Fame of Faith" in Hebrews chapter 11. Here we see the DEMONSTRATION, or the PROOF of the faith of true believers. Notice that these acts all have one thing in common. They are all humanly COUNTER-INTUITIVE. They are certainly NOT an exchange of one thing for another. All of these people are walking with God and are guaranteed to have eternal fellowship with Him in His Heaven. In spite of this guarantee, these people do things like building a boat in the middle of nowhere, miles from any water because God told them to. They sacrifice the son that they waited 100 years to have, just because God asked them to. They were sawn in two, just to follow their savior.
The changed life that makes NO SENSE in human terms is the real demonstration of the difference between Christians and followers of man-made, man-centered religions.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Would a Loving God Put Anyone in Hell? Part 2
Why would a loving God send people to Hell? This is one of most difficult questions in the Bible. Yesterday, I hopefully established that for Bible believers, there is no doubt about it. Yes, there is a Hell and the reprobate will eventually spend eternity there. Today, I would like to explore several theories as to why God created creatures that will live in eternal separation from Him and how this is consistent with His other attributes, including His love.
First, as in yesterday's article, the fastest way to eliminate the seeming contradiction is to deny that Hell exists at all. The pastor from the 20/20 broadcast retreated to this position as his only way of handling the paradox. The horrible problem that he created for himself was to diminish the Scriptures, and relegate them to a collection of men's thoughts about God. Unwittingly, he took the very foundation of the Christianity that he supposedly espouses and shattered it. On what basis can he be certain that Jesus even existed? Which passages does he believe are true and which are merely ruminations of mortal men? Frankly, like many liberal theologians before him, he has set himself up as the final arbiter of truth. He and he alone has the wisdom to decide what is truth, based his current fancy at the biblical smorgasbord.
Another strategy to handle the seeming contradiction between God's love and his wrath is universalism. This is a common view among not only liberals, but with the general public. God will only send people like Adolph Hitler and Charles Manson to Hell. "Good" people like me, will obviously go to Heaven! Look at the popular song by the Verve Pipe entitled "The Freshman". "For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins. We were merely freshmen." If you were to ask most folks where they thought that they would spend eternity, they would seldom say Hell. If asked why, they would justify their entry into Heaven based on personal righteousness. "I live a pretty good life", or "I'm a good person." (For you movie goers, in the most recent Harry Potter movie, Sirius Black told Harry, "You’re not a bad person. You’re a very good person, who bad things have happened to.") This view, though sentimental and widely accepted is completely false. Romans 3:10-12 ". . .There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
Many who don't want to believe in the Biblical Hell embrace another final strategy, annihilationism. For those few people that actually deserve Hell, God simply wipes them out of existence. For the average schmo, there is little incentive to seek God or fear Him, because if I happen to really mess up in this life, I will simply stop being. This is another soothing and convenient idea. Unfortunately, there is no biblical rationale for annihilationism. Hebrews 9:27 "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." Also, as I mentioned yesterday, there are many passages that talk about ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, not eternal SLEEP!
Does all of this mean that God never loved the people that He is going to throw into Hell? Maybe. There are several very well respected theologians, like Arthur Pink, that believe that God's hatred of the reprobate is consistent with His character. They believe that God's hatred for them and His love are mutually exclusive concepts. There are others, like John F. MacArthur Jr. that believe that God has a love-hate relationship with His reprobate creatures. Men like R. C. Sproul believe that God possesses different WILLS. He has a will of disposition that is analogous to human emotion. He has a preceptive will that consists of his law, and he has a declarative will that is irresistible, mainly in regard to His choice of His children and the thoughts and affairs of humanity.
I would like to visit these possibilities more fully in a future blog.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
First, as in yesterday's article, the fastest way to eliminate the seeming contradiction is to deny that Hell exists at all. The pastor from the 20/20 broadcast retreated to this position as his only way of handling the paradox. The horrible problem that he created for himself was to diminish the Scriptures, and relegate them to a collection of men's thoughts about God. Unwittingly, he took the very foundation of the Christianity that he supposedly espouses and shattered it. On what basis can he be certain that Jesus even existed? Which passages does he believe are true and which are merely ruminations of mortal men? Frankly, like many liberal theologians before him, he has set himself up as the final arbiter of truth. He and he alone has the wisdom to decide what is truth, based his current fancy at the biblical smorgasbord.
Another strategy to handle the seeming contradiction between God's love and his wrath is universalism. This is a common view among not only liberals, but with the general public. God will only send people like Adolph Hitler and Charles Manson to Hell. "Good" people like me, will obviously go to Heaven! Look at the popular song by the Verve Pipe entitled "The Freshman". "For the life of me I cannot believe we'd ever die for these sins. We were merely freshmen." If you were to ask most folks where they thought that they would spend eternity, they would seldom say Hell. If asked why, they would justify their entry into Heaven based on personal righteousness. "I live a pretty good life", or "I'm a good person." (For you movie goers, in the most recent Harry Potter movie, Sirius Black told Harry, "You’re not a bad person. You’re a very good person, who bad things have happened to.") This view, though sentimental and widely accepted is completely false. Romans 3:10-12 ". . .There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
Many who don't want to believe in the Biblical Hell embrace another final strategy, annihilationism. For those few people that actually deserve Hell, God simply wipes them out of existence. For the average schmo, there is little incentive to seek God or fear Him, because if I happen to really mess up in this life, I will simply stop being. This is another soothing and convenient idea. Unfortunately, there is no biblical rationale for annihilationism. Hebrews 9:27 "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment." Also, as I mentioned yesterday, there are many passages that talk about ETERNAL PUNISHMENT, not eternal SLEEP!
Does all of this mean that God never loved the people that He is going to throw into Hell? Maybe. There are several very well respected theologians, like Arthur Pink, that believe that God's hatred of the reprobate is consistent with His character. They believe that God's hatred for them and His love are mutually exclusive concepts. There are others, like John F. MacArthur Jr. that believe that God has a love-hate relationship with His reprobate creatures. Men like R. C. Sproul believe that God possesses different WILLS. He has a will of disposition that is analogous to human emotion. He has a preceptive will that consists of his law, and he has a declarative will that is irresistible, mainly in regard to His choice of His children and the thoughts and affairs of humanity.
I would like to visit these possibilities more fully in a future blog.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Friday, July 13, 2007
Would a Loving God Put Anyone in Hell?
I could barely contain myself. Instead of watching the Science Channel, or the History Channel, or watching the local news, I found myself watching the ABC news magazine 20/20. After only about three minutes I could tell that I was going to be upset. On their website they were advertising a story subtitled "One Minister Challenges the Idea of Hell and Loses His Congregation". The headline was 'Nobody Goes to Hell': Minister Labeled a Heretic'.
I know what happens every time I allow myself to watch network TV. I get overwhelmed with the THEOLOGY that is preached by almost every program. When I say "theology", normally I am referring to the underlying worldview that drives almost every program. "Reality TV" is another word for voyeurism. Network TV "worships" a different god than the God of the Bible. Sitcoms are based on anti-Biblical ideas. TV husbands are rarely respectable and seldom accorded the respect that the Bible demands for husbands and fathers. Sex is cheap and tawdry. Even on so-called "family" entertainment, sex is depicted in anti-Biblical ways. (As an example, our family was watching a movie that was touted as one of the most family oriented of family shows that has recently been produced by Hollywood, "Cheaper by the Dozen". How could this show, about a family with 12 children, manage to contaminate such a wholesome theme? They made sure that the parents reacted in an entirely ungodly way toward their oldest daughter that was shacking up with her boyfriend.) In the case of the 20/20 broadcast, the worldview proffered wasn't even "underlying". They presented the modern, open-minded, "loving", liberated and enlightened view that a well-trained, scholarly, courageous pastor should be teaching. The "truth" about Hell is that there isn't one!
Holy cow! I listened to this fellow tout his credentials. He attended Oral Roberts University. He had studied Greek and Hebrew. From his own lips, I heard him say that he was familiar with every verse in the Bible, and he couldn't believe that a loving God would ever send anyone to Hell. He told the reporter that after extensive study of the Scriptures, he had come down with the conclusion that the Bible was a collection of writings that man had made about God, but that the Bible couldn't be the actual, literal Word of God.
The program went on to describe how his friends had abandoned him and kicked him out of the church and how most of his congregation of 6,000 and left him. It was so sad, I almost cried! But not quite. According to 20/20 he is now building a NEW congregation of more enlightened people, people that are willing to submit to the more hopeful and loving teaching that there are no consequences for sin. Can you imagine how intellectually astute one must be to embrace such a "high" view of God? The implication in the article is that the church can't keep the collection plate full unless they are preaching Hell.
Before I go berserk, I had better state my thesis for this article. Yes, God is love, but God does not love everyone in the same way. Yep. There I said it. If I make such a bold statement then I had better be able to back it up! Since we live in the United States of America in the 21st century, there are certain things that one cannot say unless he wants to be labeled unloving, unenlightened or just plain stupid. For instance, if one were to challenge the American maxim that the ultimate virtues are individualism and tolerance, that person would barely be given a chance to say another word.
I know I sound like a broken record, but if we don't allow the Bible to speak for itself and if we continue to use eisegesis, (forcing our preconceived ideas into the interpretation of Scripture), instead of exegesis, (allowing the Scriptures to speak for themselves), to determine truth, then we will continue to have a crisis in Christianity. In a recent Bible study, one of the attendees stated plainly, "My pastor says one thing, my Bible study teacher says another. Who am I to believe?"
Last year I asked my then 11 year old son if he thought that God loved everyone. He shocked me when he responded, "Well . . . not salvifically!" I almost fell out of my chair. He was right. I have always been astounded by the fact that certain passages in the Bible have become so popular that even unchurched, non-Christian people become familiar with them, while other passages seem to shock even old-time believers. For instance, what passage is by far the most well known, and most oft quoted amongst non-Christian people? Matthew 7:1 of course! "Judge not, lest ye be judged." While passages like Matthew 15:24-26 "But He, (Jesus), answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she, (the Canaanite woman), came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ", are strangely unfamiliar. When was the last time you heard that passage quoted in a sermon? It is pretty easy to see why people can get a distorted view of the Scriptures, because most people are only exposed to select passages and most do not study the Bible for themselves.
Probably one of the most distorted and complex concepts in Scripture is that of God's love. First, the Scripture clearly teaches that God is love. 1 John 4:8 "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." There are 711 mentions of the word "love" or "lovingkindness" in the Bible. Obviously love is an important concept. There are some who impose their favorite preconceptions on the Scripture in order to solve difficult problems that arise from God's love and how it works itself out vis-Ã -vis other concepts such as eternal punishment in Hell. One of the most common of these devices is to deny the existence of Hell itself. This strategy does great damage to the integrity of Scripture and logically results, as was asserted by the 20/20 pastor, in the necessity of relegating the Bible to a collection of man-authored books about God and not God's literal word.
Other strategies that some have used to reconcile God's wrath with His love is to adopt a form of hyper-dispensationalism. This view holds that God revealed Himself progressively from the incomplete Old Testament view of God as wrathful, to the more complete New Testament view of God, manifested in the person of Jesus, as loving. This is a fantasy. First, in the Old Testament, we see 183 mentions of God's lovingkindness. He has ALWAYS demonstrated His love for His children. Second, the New Testament is full of wrathful decrees from the mouth of Jesus Himself! John 9:39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
There is another popular view that God hates the sin, but loves the sinner. Again, we must allow the Bible to speak for itself. Romans 9:13 "Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” " Psalm 5:5 "The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. " Psalm 11:5 "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates." Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” God clearly hates people. How does this square with God's love?
Hopefully, I can demonstrate a view of God's love that takes the entirety of Scripture into account. Does God love everyone? Yes, but not in the way that most people think. God demonstrates His love for everyone, even those that hate Him. Matthew 5:45b ". . . for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’" God's love for the reprobate does not, however, negate His justice. Those who reject Christ will be relegated to an eternity in Hell. Mark 9:47-48 “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."
To try to put this concept into human terms, think about your neighbor in relationship to your your family. As a Christian, I am commanded to love my neighbor. I do. I also love my family, but the quality of the love that I have for my family is clearly different from the love that I have for my neighbor. God has a special and unique love for the people that are part of His family, people that He chose from before the beginning of time. Ephesians 1:3-6 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." He demonstrates that love to us for His purposes.
Today, I hope that I was able to demonstrate the FACTS that God does love everyone, but He loves His children in a different way than He loves others. I also hope that my readers come away with the understanding that God's justice still demands that those without a relationship to Jesus will still suffer for eternity in Hell, despite God's love for them.
Tomorrow, I hope to address the "whys" that inevitably MUST be asked, regarding this seeming incompatibility in God's character.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
I know what happens every time I allow myself to watch network TV. I get overwhelmed with the THEOLOGY that is preached by almost every program. When I say "theology", normally I am referring to the underlying worldview that drives almost every program. "Reality TV" is another word for voyeurism. Network TV "worships" a different god than the God of the Bible. Sitcoms are based on anti-Biblical ideas. TV husbands are rarely respectable and seldom accorded the respect that the Bible demands for husbands and fathers. Sex is cheap and tawdry. Even on so-called "family" entertainment, sex is depicted in anti-Biblical ways. (As an example, our family was watching a movie that was touted as one of the most family oriented of family shows that has recently been produced by Hollywood, "Cheaper by the Dozen". How could this show, about a family with 12 children, manage to contaminate such a wholesome theme? They made sure that the parents reacted in an entirely ungodly way toward their oldest daughter that was shacking up with her boyfriend.) In the case of the 20/20 broadcast, the worldview proffered wasn't even "underlying". They presented the modern, open-minded, "loving", liberated and enlightened view that a well-trained, scholarly, courageous pastor should be teaching. The "truth" about Hell is that there isn't one!
Holy cow! I listened to this fellow tout his credentials. He attended Oral Roberts University. He had studied Greek and Hebrew. From his own lips, I heard him say that he was familiar with every verse in the Bible, and he couldn't believe that a loving God would ever send anyone to Hell. He told the reporter that after extensive study of the Scriptures, he had come down with the conclusion that the Bible was a collection of writings that man had made about God, but that the Bible couldn't be the actual, literal Word of God.
The program went on to describe how his friends had abandoned him and kicked him out of the church and how most of his congregation of 6,000 and left him. It was so sad, I almost cried! But not quite. According to 20/20 he is now building a NEW congregation of more enlightened people, people that are willing to submit to the more hopeful and loving teaching that there are no consequences for sin. Can you imagine how intellectually astute one must be to embrace such a "high" view of God? The implication in the article is that the church can't keep the collection plate full unless they are preaching Hell.
Before I go berserk, I had better state my thesis for this article. Yes, God is love, but God does not love everyone in the same way. Yep. There I said it. If I make such a bold statement then I had better be able to back it up! Since we live in the United States of America in the 21st century, there are certain things that one cannot say unless he wants to be labeled unloving, unenlightened or just plain stupid. For instance, if one were to challenge the American maxim that the ultimate virtues are individualism and tolerance, that person would barely be given a chance to say another word.
I know I sound like a broken record, but if we don't allow the Bible to speak for itself and if we continue to use eisegesis, (forcing our preconceived ideas into the interpretation of Scripture), instead of exegesis, (allowing the Scriptures to speak for themselves), to determine truth, then we will continue to have a crisis in Christianity. In a recent Bible study, one of the attendees stated plainly, "My pastor says one thing, my Bible study teacher says another. Who am I to believe?"
Last year I asked my then 11 year old son if he thought that God loved everyone. He shocked me when he responded, "Well . . . not salvifically!" I almost fell out of my chair. He was right. I have always been astounded by the fact that certain passages in the Bible have become so popular that even unchurched, non-Christian people become familiar with them, while other passages seem to shock even old-time believers. For instance, what passage is by far the most well known, and most oft quoted amongst non-Christian people? Matthew 7:1 of course! "Judge not, lest ye be judged." While passages like Matthew 15:24-26 "But He, (Jesus), answered and said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she, (the Canaanite woman), came and began to bow down before Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” And He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ", are strangely unfamiliar. When was the last time you heard that passage quoted in a sermon? It is pretty easy to see why people can get a distorted view of the Scriptures, because most people are only exposed to select passages and most do not study the Bible for themselves.
Probably one of the most distorted and complex concepts in Scripture is that of God's love. First, the Scripture clearly teaches that God is love. 1 John 4:8 "The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love." There are 711 mentions of the word "love" or "lovingkindness" in the Bible. Obviously love is an important concept. There are some who impose their favorite preconceptions on the Scripture in order to solve difficult problems that arise from God's love and how it works itself out vis-Ã -vis other concepts such as eternal punishment in Hell. One of the most common of these devices is to deny the existence of Hell itself. This strategy does great damage to the integrity of Scripture and logically results, as was asserted by the 20/20 pastor, in the necessity of relegating the Bible to a collection of man-authored books about God and not God's literal word.
Other strategies that some have used to reconcile God's wrath with His love is to adopt a form of hyper-dispensationalism. This view holds that God revealed Himself progressively from the incomplete Old Testament view of God as wrathful, to the more complete New Testament view of God, manifested in the person of Jesus, as loving. This is a fantasy. First, in the Old Testament, we see 183 mentions of God's lovingkindness. He has ALWAYS demonstrated His love for His children. Second, the New Testament is full of wrathful decrees from the mouth of Jesus Himself! John 9:39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind.”
There is another popular view that God hates the sin, but loves the sinner. Again, we must allow the Bible to speak for itself. Romans 9:13 "Just as it is written, “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.” " Psalm 5:5 "The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do iniquity. " Psalm 11:5 "The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates." Malachi 1:2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord. But you say, “How have You loved us?” “Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the Lord. “Yet I have loved Jacob; but I have hated Esau, and I have made his mountains a desolation and appointed his inheritance for the jackals of the wilderness.” God clearly hates people. How does this square with God's love?
Hopefully, I can demonstrate a view of God's love that takes the entirety of Scripture into account. Does God love everyone? Yes, but not in the way that most people think. God demonstrates His love for everyone, even those that hate Him. Matthew 5:45b ". . . for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord God, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’" God's love for the reprobate does not, however, negate His justice. Those who reject Christ will be relegated to an eternity in Hell. Mark 9:47-48 “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched."
To try to put this concept into human terms, think about your neighbor in relationship to your your family. As a Christian, I am commanded to love my neighbor. I do. I also love my family, but the quality of the love that I have for my family is clearly different from the love that I have for my neighbor. God has a special and unique love for the people that are part of His family, people that He chose from before the beginning of time. Ephesians 1:3-6 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved." He demonstrates that love to us for His purposes.
Today, I hope that I was able to demonstrate the FACTS that God does love everyone, but He loves His children in a different way than He loves others. I also hope that my readers come away with the understanding that God's justice still demands that those without a relationship to Jesus will still suffer for eternity in Hell, despite God's love for them.
Tomorrow, I hope to address the "whys" that inevitably MUST be asked, regarding this seeming incompatibility in God's character.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Security vs. Assurance
When I was a young person I encountered some Bible teachers that insisted that I remember my "spiritual birthday". They insisted that someday I would feel unsure about my salvation and I would need to recall that day in order to "tell the truth and shame the Devil". That sounded like a pretty good piece of advice. I used that strategy a few times when I was in college. Occasionally, while in mid-debauch and my conscience began to ache a bit, I would shut it down by recalling "April 1970". I was taught that once you "prayed the prayer" you were safe from Hell and it was only the work of Satan if anyone challenged your salvation experience.
It's really amazing how much garbage I have been taught about the Bible that just flat didn't turn out to be true. I once met an elderly Jewish business man who said, "Trust everybody, but cut the cards!" That certainly applies to Biblical truth. I would love to spend all of my time teaching people the things that God has revealed to me in the Bible, but unfortunately I spend most of my teaching time helping people unlearn myths and faulty preconceptions that they have picked up over the years. Most of these distorted ideas either arise because these folks only want to believe what makes them comfortable or because they have been exposed to careless teaching. The Bible speaks to this in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."
When it comes to security and assurance there are many divergent views, but most of these can be cleared up with a simple definition. It is very important to distinguish the difference. Security is the work of God. The doctrine of security holds that once you are saved you can never lose your salvation. Assurance is human confidence in one's salvation. There is an enormous difference!
The juxtaposition of these concepts automatically creates four groups of people. There are those that are saved by the regenerating work of God and are also certain of that salvation. There are people that are saved, but they are not really sure if they will be in Heaven when they die. There are some people that know they aren't saved and indeed they aren't. Unfortunately, one of the largest, if not THE largest group is that mass of people that are convinced that they are saved, but they aren't.
First, we need to talk about God's role in the security of the believer. If my salvation was dependent on my behavior from moment to moment, or on whether or not I could access a priest or a prophet to grant me some form of absolution from time to time, I am in big trouble. Only a very small view of God would allow me to be audacious enough to believe that I only sin "little sins", so that very few of them would cause me to lose my salvation. God's standard is PERFECTION. Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." God makes it very clear that ONE sin is too much and that it only takes that ONE sin to doom me to an eternity in Hell. Romans 3:23, 6:23a "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . . For the wages of sin is death."
Let's be straight forward about this, a human can barely make it five minutes without sin. I fall short of His standard every day in almost every way. In Matthew 5, Jesus made it clear to "good" people that they didn't really understand how impossibly high the standard actually was. He told them that if they had ever been angry, they were murderers. If they had ever looked at anyone with lust, then they were guilty of adultery. He told them that they really didn't love unless they loved their enemies. Have you refused to love your enemies today? Did you get angry or feel that someone insulted you or violated your "rights"? Have you thought any nasty or covetous thoughts about anyone? Me too. If you have lived a perfect life up until this point and have just slipped up ONE time, you are done. You are condemned to an eternity in Hell. (My wife just walked in and interrupted my writing and I was short with her. I didn't even make it through this paragraph without sinning!)
All this being said, if it were up to my good behavior to maintain my salvation, I have no hope. It is all God and His work. John 6:37-39 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." The moment that God declares the unrighteous sinner "not guilty", it is done. Nothing can separate us from God. Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
OK, that is all well and good, but all of us know people that have made professions of faith in Christ and later they have walked away. What about them? These are people that have the appearance of being believers but they NEVER WERE. Does this group actually exist? 1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."
Next is assurance. How do you KNOW that you are saved? I touched on this in an article last month, but in a nutshell, the tests of salvation are nicely summarized in the little epistle of 1 John. There are 13 tests that help us to discern whether or not we are really in the faith. These tests can be boiled down to two basic things, a theological test and a practical test. The theological test is simple. Do you have a relationship with the Jesus of the Bible? If someone dedicates their life to helping orphans and widows, reforming the government, giving to the Cancer Society and Jerry's Kids, and they don't know the God of the Bible, they are not saved. On the other hand, the practical test is love. Do you love God and love others sacrificially? If you have intellectually apprehended all of the facts of the Bible and know everything that there is to know about Jesus and you don't love other people, you aren't saved. It is amazing to me how at every non-Christian funeral that I've attended, there are always mourners that are quick to create their own theology and give the poor deceased person a pass. "I am sure that so-and-so is looking down on us from Heaven." Oh, yeah?
That brings me to the difficult topic of that group of people that believe that they are saved but in reality they are not. First, I need to answer those teachers that insist on using a "spiritual birthday" to avoid confronting this topic: 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?" Paul himself directed us to check ourselves against the standard. It is implicit in the directive that some people that examine themselves will FAIL the test. The worst situation, and the one that plagues the church and society at large, is that MOST people don't take the test and if they did, MOST people would fail it. Simply put, most people believe that they are saved, but they really aren't. How can I make that over-the-top kind of statement?
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (italics mine) There are many teachers that would have you believe that this is a reference to Christians entering through the narrow gate and pagan folks entering through the wide gate. That is simply not true. The group entering through the wide gate are people that THINK that they are Christians and that the wide gate is leading to Heaven. It is unfortunate that many English translations set verses 13 and 14 apart from the rest of the text, but that is poor editing. The discussion following verse 14 is about false "prophets". This is not people that are prophets in the Old Testament sense, but simply people that profess faith in Christ. In verses 21 and 22 they call God "Lord, Lord". That is certainly not the cry of the pagans! The same MANY mentioned in verses 13 and 14 are again mentioned in verse 22. Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ " To me, these are the scariest verses in the Bible. This passage is speaking of people that are standing before God on Judgement Day and pleading their case. Lord! I did all kinds of wonderful works in your name, (obviously NOT pagans!), and I DESERVE to get in to your Heaven! God answers, "You have no relationship with Me. Go away!"
For those of you who love Jesus and belong to him, do not fret. Nothing you can do can separate you from God. For those of you who made a commitment to Christ and really are not sure whether or not you are a true believer, please test yourself. Read 1 John and examine your life! For those of you that know you aren't a Christian. Fall on you face and beg Jesus for forgiveness, and ask Him to take over the lordship of your life. For those of you that have made a commitment to Christ in the past, and have never thought about it since, I would beg you to read the Bible for yourself and don't let some human opinion that you have adopted as "truth" endanger your soul.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
It's really amazing how much garbage I have been taught about the Bible that just flat didn't turn out to be true. I once met an elderly Jewish business man who said, "Trust everybody, but cut the cards!" That certainly applies to Biblical truth. I would love to spend all of my time teaching people the things that God has revealed to me in the Bible, but unfortunately I spend most of my teaching time helping people unlearn myths and faulty preconceptions that they have picked up over the years. Most of these distorted ideas either arise because these folks only want to believe what makes them comfortable or because they have been exposed to careless teaching. The Bible speaks to this in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."
When it comes to security and assurance there are many divergent views, but most of these can be cleared up with a simple definition. It is very important to distinguish the difference. Security is the work of God. The doctrine of security holds that once you are saved you can never lose your salvation. Assurance is human confidence in one's salvation. There is an enormous difference!
The juxtaposition of these concepts automatically creates four groups of people. There are those that are saved by the regenerating work of God and are also certain of that salvation. There are people that are saved, but they are not really sure if they will be in Heaven when they die. There are some people that know they aren't saved and indeed they aren't. Unfortunately, one of the largest, if not THE largest group is that mass of people that are convinced that they are saved, but they aren't.
First, we need to talk about God's role in the security of the believer. If my salvation was dependent on my behavior from moment to moment, or on whether or not I could access a priest or a prophet to grant me some form of absolution from time to time, I am in big trouble. Only a very small view of God would allow me to be audacious enough to believe that I only sin "little sins", so that very few of them would cause me to lose my salvation. God's standard is PERFECTION. Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect." God makes it very clear that ONE sin is too much and that it only takes that ONE sin to doom me to an eternity in Hell. Romans 3:23, 6:23a "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . . For the wages of sin is death."
Let's be straight forward about this, a human can barely make it five minutes without sin. I fall short of His standard every day in almost every way. In Matthew 5, Jesus made it clear to "good" people that they didn't really understand how impossibly high the standard actually was. He told them that if they had ever been angry, they were murderers. If they had ever looked at anyone with lust, then they were guilty of adultery. He told them that they really didn't love unless they loved their enemies. Have you refused to love your enemies today? Did you get angry or feel that someone insulted you or violated your "rights"? Have you thought any nasty or covetous thoughts about anyone? Me too. If you have lived a perfect life up until this point and have just slipped up ONE time, you are done. You are condemned to an eternity in Hell. (My wife just walked in and interrupted my writing and I was short with her. I didn't even make it through this paragraph without sinning!)
All this being said, if it were up to my good behavior to maintain my salvation, I have no hope. It is all God and His work. John 6:37-39 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." The moment that God declares the unrighteous sinner "not guilty", it is done. Nothing can separate us from God. Romans 8:38-39 "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
OK, that is all well and good, but all of us know people that have made professions of faith in Christ and later they have walked away. What about them? These are people that have the appearance of being believers but they NEVER WERE. Does this group actually exist? 1 John 2:19 "They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us."
Next is assurance. How do you KNOW that you are saved? I touched on this in an article last month, but in a nutshell, the tests of salvation are nicely summarized in the little epistle of 1 John. There are 13 tests that help us to discern whether or not we are really in the faith. These tests can be boiled down to two basic things, a theological test and a practical test. The theological test is simple. Do you have a relationship with the Jesus of the Bible? If someone dedicates their life to helping orphans and widows, reforming the government, giving to the Cancer Society and Jerry's Kids, and they don't know the God of the Bible, they are not saved. On the other hand, the practical test is love. Do you love God and love others sacrificially? If you have intellectually apprehended all of the facts of the Bible and know everything that there is to know about Jesus and you don't love other people, you aren't saved. It is amazing to me how at every non-Christian funeral that I've attended, there are always mourners that are quick to create their own theology and give the poor deceased person a pass. "I am sure that so-and-so is looking down on us from Heaven." Oh, yeah?
That brings me to the difficult topic of that group of people that believe that they are saved but in reality they are not. First, I need to answer those teachers that insist on using a "spiritual birthday" to avoid confronting this topic: 2 Corinthians 13:5 "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?" Paul himself directed us to check ourselves against the standard. It is implicit in the directive that some people that examine themselves will FAIL the test. The worst situation, and the one that plagues the church and society at large, is that MOST people don't take the test and if they did, MOST people would fail it. Simply put, most people believe that they are saved, but they really aren't. How can I make that over-the-top kind of statement?
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." (italics mine) There are many teachers that would have you believe that this is a reference to Christians entering through the narrow gate and pagan folks entering through the wide gate. That is simply not true. The group entering through the wide gate are people that THINK that they are Christians and that the wide gate is leading to Heaven. It is unfortunate that many English translations set verses 13 and 14 apart from the rest of the text, but that is poor editing. The discussion following verse 14 is about false "prophets". This is not people that are prophets in the Old Testament sense, but simply people that profess faith in Christ. In verses 21 and 22 they call God "Lord, Lord". That is certainly not the cry of the pagans! The same MANY mentioned in verses 13 and 14 are again mentioned in verse 22. Matthew 7:22-23 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’ " To me, these are the scariest verses in the Bible. This passage is speaking of people that are standing before God on Judgement Day and pleading their case. Lord! I did all kinds of wonderful works in your name, (obviously NOT pagans!), and I DESERVE to get in to your Heaven! God answers, "You have no relationship with Me. Go away!"
For those of you who love Jesus and belong to him, do not fret. Nothing you can do can separate you from God. For those of you who made a commitment to Christ and really are not sure whether or not you are a true believer, please test yourself. Read 1 John and examine your life! For those of you that know you aren't a Christian. Fall on you face and beg Jesus for forgiveness, and ask Him to take over the lordship of your life. For those of you that have made a commitment to Christ in the past, and have never thought about it since, I would beg you to read the Bible for yourself and don't let some human opinion that you have adopted as "truth" endanger your soul.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Don't Waste Your Life! Part 2
Yes, 28 years wasted and now it would be perfect bliss, right? I was a Christian, I was earning a big income, I had an incredible, healthy family and I was living on top of a hill overlooking the city in my new house! What a deal! God was prospering me. That's what many of those TV preachers said was going to happen. Story over.
Well, not quite. As I mentioned yesterday, I was 28, a baby Christian and still full of ME. Yes, when you become a Christian, your life as you knew it is over, and now you are a new creation. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me." Obviously, since Christians still sin and struggle with sin, there must be something about me that wasn't crucified with Christ. Paul recognized it in Romans 7:15-24 "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?"
Paul recognized the problem, and it wasn't long after I came into a relationship with Jesus that I did too. I spent the next few weeks telling people about my experience and inevitably my business partner, the majority stock holder, called me in to talk to me about my "strange" behavior. "What is this I'm hearing about you?" I wasn't really sure what he was talking about, but he went on. "We are all Christians here, but you need to 'separate church and state'. Don't talk to people about Jesus. That's what Sunday is for." I didn't know it then, but that chat was the beginning of the end. I remained in the company for another ten years, but the seeds of destruction were sown that day.
During that ten years, I prospered financially, fathered another four children, (six altogether), joined a church and even started teaching a little Sunday School. I memorized scripture, went on short term missions trips and even taught a parenting class. I was sure that God was pleased with my work. In 1990 my business partner almost bankrupted the company by taking cash to pay off one of his wives in a divorce settlement. God responded by MIRACULOUSLY granting the company a huge chunk of debt forgiveness. Again, I was sure that this was what the Christian life was all about. God wanted me to be happy, prosperous and comfortable.
In 1997, it all came crashing down. The tension had been building for over ten years. My business partners, (now there were two of them), had some very different ideas about what were right and wrong business practices than I did. I would not be truthful if I said that I resigned for purely Godly reasons, but that was surely one of my motivations. I tendered my resignation in October of 1996 and the next day my partners sold the company. I instantly went from a seven figure income to zero.
What happened to God? Where was He now? I had some money socked away so I built a house in a nice part of town and decided at 37 years of age that I would live the "good life" and retire. Let's face it. God had given me everything I had ever wanted and more. I was sure that He would buy in to my new plan. I made up my mind that I would play golf and race my bicycle until the end of my days. This "Christian thing" really was a good deal!
I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was half way through a 110 mile training ride on my bicycle, out in the middle of nowhere. It was two weeks into my "retirement" and I was instantly struck with a terrible feeling. I had achieved the "American Dream" at the young age of 37 and I was out doing EXACTLY what I wanted to do, but I was miserable.
I couldn't explain the feeling, but I thought that the best way to salve the pain was to get busy with some other pursuit. I took a hammer to the "humble meter" in my life and decided to run for State Treasurer. I could see myself skipping past this relatively minor office and moving on to Governor and then, I was sure that the Presidency HAD to be next. My greatest confidant and counselor was the fellow I met with in the bathroom mirror every day and he told me that this was a great plan.
My ego was in charge and I thought that there was no pleasure or whim that I should deny myself. I was surrounded by sycophants that I hired for my campaign and they told me how great I really was. It was a time of self-deceit and self-indulgence. I had forgotten about my family, my friends, and worst of all, I had forgotten about God. God, however, had not forgotten about me. I lost the election in a landslide. I spent a giant chunk of my retirement money on the election, and soon afterward, the stock market "dip" robbed me of an even larger chunk of the rest.
OK, I experienced a minor setback and I was humbled a little, but God had always come through for me, hadn't He? I got back to church and tried to make up for lost time. I figured that I would start another business or two and then God would surely prosper them and ME. Isn't that the deal? I tip my hat to God and he sends me comfort and prosperity, doesn't He?
In the ensuing nine years, I started two businesses that when combined with my superior business acumen and the sure-fire formulas that I applied, were certain to signal the prosperity train back to the station. The first business exploded when I discovered that my business partner was using fake graduate degrees to market our product. It was another five years and another huge chunk of money swept down the drain. Where was God? I was reading my Bible every day and praying fairly often, so why wasn't He holding up His end of the log? Maybe He wanted me to go on another missions trip or two. Maybe not.
The next business debacle is chronicled to some degree in previous articles on Bible Truth Today. Suffice it to say, I worked for two and a half years with a company that is looking for a reason to avoid paying me. In retrospect, I would have made more money harvesting broccoli with the illegal immigrants in our area than I am likely to collect from this deal.
Have I wasted ANOTHER 20 years of my life? I would hope not. If I have LEARNED anything from the last 48, and I apply what I have learned, then it won't be. Statistically, I am almost 2/3 of the way through my time on this earth. God is clear in his word, that regardless of how significant I am to ME, I barely make a hole in the atmosphere. Psalm 103:14-16 "For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer."
Here are some lessons that I've learned:
1) Fall on your face before God in repentance today. Beg Jesus to come take control of your life now and don't waste ONE MORE SECOND. Anything that you "accomplish" prior to this first step is a complete and total waste. Isaiah 64:6 "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
2) STOP listening to the man in the mirror. He will talk you into attempting to control your own world. That is an illusion that can only be maintained for a short while. He is a deceiver and can never be trusted, regardless of what the TV tells you about "trusting in your heart". Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is DESPERATELY wicked. . ." Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding."
3) Understand that it's NOT ABOUT YOU. That being said, let me rephrase it. It's NOT ABOUT YOU. One more time, it's NOT ABOUT YOU! Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."
4) Avoid foolish ambitions. They are a trap and a snare. Fame, power, wealth, sex, control and pleasure are fleeting and worse, they leave you bitter and empty. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 ". . . make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you."
5) Know the MISSION and do whatever it takes to accomplish it. It does NOT matter what vocations or avocations that you pursue. They are absolutely incidental to the REAL reason you are here on this earth. God can use them as a platform to accomplish the mission, but make no mistake, the one and ONLY priority is the MISSION. Matthew 28:19-20a "As you go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you."
6) Avail yourself to honest accountability. If you think that you have the ability to monitor your own affairs or you have the audacity to believe that you are the final arbiter of truth in your life, you are lying to yourself. Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death." James 5:16a "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed."
7) Love others sacrificially. Modern day love means, "I will maintain my emotional attachment to you as long as you make me feel good about myself." God's love means, "I will sacrifice myself for your benefit no matter what you do to me, or what you do for me." John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
King Solomon walked a similar road to mine. He experienced many of the pleasures that this world has to offer and found all of them wanting. In the end, he said in Ecclesiastes 12:13 "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person." He commanded us to acknowledge Him as Lord and savior, to avoid trusting in our own wisdom, to regard others as more important than ourselves, to avoid selfish ambition, to make disciples and to love others sacrificially.
As I said in my last post. I have wasted a good portion of my life up to this point. PLEASE don't waste yours. Please pray for me. I will pray for you.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Well, not quite. As I mentioned yesterday, I was 28, a baby Christian and still full of ME. Yes, when you become a Christian, your life as you knew it is over, and now you are a new creation. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me." Obviously, since Christians still sin and struggle with sin, there must be something about me that wasn't crucified with Christ. Paul recognized it in Romans 7:15-24 "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?"
Paul recognized the problem, and it wasn't long after I came into a relationship with Jesus that I did too. I spent the next few weeks telling people about my experience and inevitably my business partner, the majority stock holder, called me in to talk to me about my "strange" behavior. "What is this I'm hearing about you?" I wasn't really sure what he was talking about, but he went on. "We are all Christians here, but you need to 'separate church and state'. Don't talk to people about Jesus. That's what Sunday is for." I didn't know it then, but that chat was the beginning of the end. I remained in the company for another ten years, but the seeds of destruction were sown that day.
During that ten years, I prospered financially, fathered another four children, (six altogether), joined a church and even started teaching a little Sunday School. I memorized scripture, went on short term missions trips and even taught a parenting class. I was sure that God was pleased with my work. In 1990 my business partner almost bankrupted the company by taking cash to pay off one of his wives in a divorce settlement. God responded by MIRACULOUSLY granting the company a huge chunk of debt forgiveness. Again, I was sure that this was what the Christian life was all about. God wanted me to be happy, prosperous and comfortable.
In 1997, it all came crashing down. The tension had been building for over ten years. My business partners, (now there were two of them), had some very different ideas about what were right and wrong business practices than I did. I would not be truthful if I said that I resigned for purely Godly reasons, but that was surely one of my motivations. I tendered my resignation in October of 1996 and the next day my partners sold the company. I instantly went from a seven figure income to zero.
What happened to God? Where was He now? I had some money socked away so I built a house in a nice part of town and decided at 37 years of age that I would live the "good life" and retire. Let's face it. God had given me everything I had ever wanted and more. I was sure that He would buy in to my new plan. I made up my mind that I would play golf and race my bicycle until the end of my days. This "Christian thing" really was a good deal!
I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was half way through a 110 mile training ride on my bicycle, out in the middle of nowhere. It was two weeks into my "retirement" and I was instantly struck with a terrible feeling. I had achieved the "American Dream" at the young age of 37 and I was out doing EXACTLY what I wanted to do, but I was miserable.
I couldn't explain the feeling, but I thought that the best way to salve the pain was to get busy with some other pursuit. I took a hammer to the "humble meter" in my life and decided to run for State Treasurer. I could see myself skipping past this relatively minor office and moving on to Governor and then, I was sure that the Presidency HAD to be next. My greatest confidant and counselor was the fellow I met with in the bathroom mirror every day and he told me that this was a great plan.
My ego was in charge and I thought that there was no pleasure or whim that I should deny myself. I was surrounded by sycophants that I hired for my campaign and they told me how great I really was. It was a time of self-deceit and self-indulgence. I had forgotten about my family, my friends, and worst of all, I had forgotten about God. God, however, had not forgotten about me. I lost the election in a landslide. I spent a giant chunk of my retirement money on the election, and soon afterward, the stock market "dip" robbed me of an even larger chunk of the rest.
OK, I experienced a minor setback and I was humbled a little, but God had always come through for me, hadn't He? I got back to church and tried to make up for lost time. I figured that I would start another business or two and then God would surely prosper them and ME. Isn't that the deal? I tip my hat to God and he sends me comfort and prosperity, doesn't He?
In the ensuing nine years, I started two businesses that when combined with my superior business acumen and the sure-fire formulas that I applied, were certain to signal the prosperity train back to the station. The first business exploded when I discovered that my business partner was using fake graduate degrees to market our product. It was another five years and another huge chunk of money swept down the drain. Where was God? I was reading my Bible every day and praying fairly often, so why wasn't He holding up His end of the log? Maybe He wanted me to go on another missions trip or two. Maybe not.
The next business debacle is chronicled to some degree in previous articles on Bible Truth Today. Suffice it to say, I worked for two and a half years with a company that is looking for a reason to avoid paying me. In retrospect, I would have made more money harvesting broccoli with the illegal immigrants in our area than I am likely to collect from this deal.
Have I wasted ANOTHER 20 years of my life? I would hope not. If I have LEARNED anything from the last 48, and I apply what I have learned, then it won't be. Statistically, I am almost 2/3 of the way through my time on this earth. God is clear in his word, that regardless of how significant I am to ME, I barely make a hole in the atmosphere. Psalm 103:14-16 "For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust. As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. When the wind has passed over it, it is no more, And its place acknowledges it no longer."
Here are some lessons that I've learned:
1) Fall on your face before God in repentance today. Beg Jesus to come take control of your life now and don't waste ONE MORE SECOND. Anything that you "accomplish" prior to this first step is a complete and total waste. Isaiah 64:6 "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, And all our righteous deeds are like a menstrual rag; And all of us wither like a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
2) STOP listening to the man in the mirror. He will talk you into attempting to control your own world. That is an illusion that can only be maintained for a short while. He is a deceiver and can never be trusted, regardless of what the TV tells you about "trusting in your heart". Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is DESPERATELY wicked. . ." Proverbs 3:5 "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and do not lean on your own understanding."
3) Understand that it's NOT ABOUT YOU. That being said, let me rephrase it. It's NOT ABOUT YOU. One more time, it's NOT ABOUT YOU! Philippians 2:3-4 "Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others."
4) Avoid foolish ambitions. They are a trap and a snare. Fame, power, wealth, sex, control and pleasure are fleeting and worse, they leave you bitter and empty. 1 Thessalonians 4:11 ". . . make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you."
5) Know the MISSION and do whatever it takes to accomplish it. It does NOT matter what vocations or avocations that you pursue. They are absolutely incidental to the REAL reason you are here on this earth. God can use them as a platform to accomplish the mission, but make no mistake, the one and ONLY priority is the MISSION. Matthew 28:19-20a "As you go, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you."
6) Avail yourself to honest accountability. If you think that you have the ability to monitor your own affairs or you have the audacity to believe that you are the final arbiter of truth in your life, you are lying to yourself. Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death." James 5:16a "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed."
7) Love others sacrificially. Modern day love means, "I will maintain my emotional attachment to you as long as you make me feel good about myself." God's love means, "I will sacrifice myself for your benefit no matter what you do to me, or what you do for me." John 13:34 "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
King Solomon walked a similar road to mine. He experienced many of the pleasures that this world has to offer and found all of them wanting. In the end, he said in Ecclesiastes 12:13 "The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person." He commanded us to acknowledge Him as Lord and savior, to avoid trusting in our own wisdom, to regard others as more important than ourselves, to avoid selfish ambition, to make disciples and to love others sacrificially.
As I said in my last post. I have wasted a good portion of my life up to this point. PLEASE don't waste yours. Please pray for me. I will pray for you.
His servant,
D. L. Culiver
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Don't Waste Your Life! Part 1
Don't waste your life. I am ashamed to admit that I have wasted a good portion of my life up to this point. I don't mean that it was wasted from God's perspective. In His economy, I have walked a path that He foreordained. I have experienced the trials and the successes that He has used to "sandpaper" me, in order to bring me to this moment. From a human standpoint, however, I have wasted a lot of time. I am writing this article to help others avoid the same traps.
_____________________________
When I was in the eighth grade, I "walked an aisle", prayed a special prayer and "asked Jesus into my heart". In the twenty or so times that I've read the New Testament, I have yet to find any mention of walking an aisle or asking Jesus into my heart, but more on that later. In retrospect, I was upset about the demise of my parents' marriage and I was looking for something to give me a feeling of security. I thought that it was a great side benefit that this prayer would buy some "fire insurance" for me. I really didn't savor the thought of going to hell, and this seemed like a great solution. With the quick recitation of the prayer and all the sincerity that an eighth grader can muster, I took care of eternity. At least that's what I thought.
Life continued as usual. I did well in school and attended a little Baptist church in my hometown. I went to Sunday School, learned some facts about God, and made sure to participate in all of the social events that the church offered. When I went to college the bloom fell off of the Christianity flower and I dabbled in other religions and some less than savory activities. After messing around for awhile in school, I made up my mind that I was going to go into business with the goal of becoming a billionaire before I turned 30. I met my future wife while in college and three weeks after I graduated, we were married. I spent the first two and half years of our married life, pouring myself into my work and spending every evening lifting weights. I was making money, I was physically fit, I saw a bright future and life was good. What more could I ask for?
In 1984 my oldest daughter came into the world and she stunned me. Before she was born, I regarded kids as a little project that would keep my wife busy. She was going to breast feed the baby and wash the CLOTH DIAPERS that I so generously purchased for her. That should have taken care of that problem, don't you think? When our oldest girl came into the world, my wife needed general anesthesia because of an emergency cesarean section, so it was just my daughter and me. I wept. For the first time in my life, I realized that if life begins, then life also ends. I experienced waves of emotion that day. Elation, relief, exhaustion, joy and fear all served to knock me out of my comfort zone. Was it possible that there was more to life than pleasing myself?
Within weeks I was able to squeeze those thoughts out of my mind. I had more important fish to fry. I was moving up in my company and started making a lot more money. In fact, I was given part ownership in the business and promoted to general manager. I found myself working many seven day weeks, but I found time to take my little family to a local church because I knew that my daughter would need to be exposed to some "Christian stuff", so she could grow up with a proper worldview.
The church thing blew up. This particular church practiced "outreach night" and the gentleman that visited my house turned out to be a disgruntled customer of mine. After I threw him out of the house, I swore that we would never go back. I kept my promise.
In 1986 I sold my business and used to proceeds to buy minority shares in a much larger business in another city. I packed up my family and moved away from my childhood home. The money was big, the new house was bigger, my biceps were enormous and my head was far and away the biggest thing of all. I had another daughter on the way and things couldn't have been better.
In 1987 I had a visitor from out of town. I had met him the year before at a business conference, and he had mentioned that he might stop by when he was in town. This was a perfect opportunity for me to brag about all of my accomplishments and to show off the new house that I was building. While he was in my office, he asked me a strange question. "Are you a Christian?" Of course I was a Christian. Isn't everyone? He made me a little uncomfortable when he asked me to recount my "conversion experience". I told him about eighth grade and the special prayer. I was sure that answer would satisfy him, but undaunted he insisted on inviting me to a Navigator's conference that evening. I thought that I would turn this situation to my advantage. I would attend this little meeting and then I would drive him over to my new home and bask in the glory! Perfect.
That night it was a typical Navigator's meeting. The speaker was probably interesting to someone in the room, but not to me. My recollection was that he talked about personal discipleship and memorizing scripture, but honestly he could have been talking about NASCAR and I don't think that I would have noticed. Finally, the meeting broke up and I was ready to execute my plan. Unfortunately, my friend was swept away by several conference attendees who suggested that we take a few minutes to attend an impromptu prayer meeting. This was really cramping my style, but I agreed to take a few minutes to "pray".
The hotel suite was full of men sitting along the walls and on anything with a flat surface. There were about 20 people crammed in the small room and I didn't know anyone other than my friend. Since this was obviously going to be a sell-out I had to sit in the midst of several strangers. As the room quieted, the leader suggested that we ask the fellow sitting next to us for any "prayer requests". Frankly, my only request was to get out of there!
The guy sitting to my left was from New York. He told me about his sick mother and some other stuff that I needed to memorize for the prayer. Blah, blah, blah! Someone across the room began to pray out loud. I really don't remember being in a less comfortable situation than this, with the sole exception being the time I wet my pants during the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in first grade. I had been asked to do public speaking many times in my life, but this was a new and strange feeling. They actually wanted me to "talk to God" out loud, and not only that, they wanted me to speak about someone I didn't know and about something I didn't CARE about!
The prayer was moving around the room and I was madly rehearsing my speech. Let's see. . . New York, mom, sick. . . I didn't want to look like an idiot, so I put together a nice, tight little sermonette. I wanted to use a few thous and thees with a generous helping of "Oh, Lord!" When it came to my turn I began to speak. "Dear God, I don't remember the last time I prayed to you. In fact, I don't think that I've EVER prayed to you." WHAT?? This was NOT the speech that I had rehearsed. I was going on about asking Jesus to take away my sin and about begging Him to redirect my life. All of this was spilling out of my mouth and NO ONE in the room was more surprised than me.
After the meeting I raced home to tell my wife about what had happened. As you might have guessed, she looked at me with that incredulous look that only a wife can have. "D. L., is this another one of your "things"?" Track records are difficult things to overcome! Only time would tell if this was a D. L. thing or a real epiphany that would change my life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (One thing must be clear from this story. If nothing changes in your life after your commitment to Christ, you AREN'T a Christian.)
I was 28, a baby Christian and still full of ME. I was convinced that the best approach to my new Christian life was to use the same techniques that I had used in business and weight lifting. I would work hard, memorize scripture and jam the Bible down anyone's throat that would give me the time. 28 years down and how many more would I waste?
Tomorrow Part 2.
His Servant,
D. L. Culiver
_____________________________
When I was in the eighth grade, I "walked an aisle", prayed a special prayer and "asked Jesus into my heart". In the twenty or so times that I've read the New Testament, I have yet to find any mention of walking an aisle or asking Jesus into my heart, but more on that later. In retrospect, I was upset about the demise of my parents' marriage and I was looking for something to give me a feeling of security. I thought that it was a great side benefit that this prayer would buy some "fire insurance" for me. I really didn't savor the thought of going to hell, and this seemed like a great solution. With the quick recitation of the prayer and all the sincerity that an eighth grader can muster, I took care of eternity. At least that's what I thought.
Life continued as usual. I did well in school and attended a little Baptist church in my hometown. I went to Sunday School, learned some facts about God, and made sure to participate in all of the social events that the church offered. When I went to college the bloom fell off of the Christianity flower and I dabbled in other religions and some less than savory activities. After messing around for awhile in school, I made up my mind that I was going to go into business with the goal of becoming a billionaire before I turned 30. I met my future wife while in college and three weeks after I graduated, we were married. I spent the first two and half years of our married life, pouring myself into my work and spending every evening lifting weights. I was making money, I was physically fit, I saw a bright future and life was good. What more could I ask for?
In 1984 my oldest daughter came into the world and she stunned me. Before she was born, I regarded kids as a little project that would keep my wife busy. She was going to breast feed the baby and wash the CLOTH DIAPERS that I so generously purchased for her. That should have taken care of that problem, don't you think? When our oldest girl came into the world, my wife needed general anesthesia because of an emergency cesarean section, so it was just my daughter and me. I wept. For the first time in my life, I realized that if life begins, then life also ends. I experienced waves of emotion that day. Elation, relief, exhaustion, joy and fear all served to knock me out of my comfort zone. Was it possible that there was more to life than pleasing myself?
Within weeks I was able to squeeze those thoughts out of my mind. I had more important fish to fry. I was moving up in my company and started making a lot more money. In fact, I was given part ownership in the business and promoted to general manager. I found myself working many seven day weeks, but I found time to take my little family to a local church because I knew that my daughter would need to be exposed to some "Christian stuff", so she could grow up with a proper worldview.
The church thing blew up. This particular church practiced "outreach night" and the gentleman that visited my house turned out to be a disgruntled customer of mine. After I threw him out of the house, I swore that we would never go back. I kept my promise.
In 1986 I sold my business and used to proceeds to buy minority shares in a much larger business in another city. I packed up my family and moved away from my childhood home. The money was big, the new house was bigger, my biceps were enormous and my head was far and away the biggest thing of all. I had another daughter on the way and things couldn't have been better.
In 1987 I had a visitor from out of town. I had met him the year before at a business conference, and he had mentioned that he might stop by when he was in town. This was a perfect opportunity for me to brag about all of my accomplishments and to show off the new house that I was building. While he was in my office, he asked me a strange question. "Are you a Christian?" Of course I was a Christian. Isn't everyone? He made me a little uncomfortable when he asked me to recount my "conversion experience". I told him about eighth grade and the special prayer. I was sure that answer would satisfy him, but undaunted he insisted on inviting me to a Navigator's conference that evening. I thought that I would turn this situation to my advantage. I would attend this little meeting and then I would drive him over to my new home and bask in the glory! Perfect.
That night it was a typical Navigator's meeting. The speaker was probably interesting to someone in the room, but not to me. My recollection was that he talked about personal discipleship and memorizing scripture, but honestly he could have been talking about NASCAR and I don't think that I would have noticed. Finally, the meeting broke up and I was ready to execute my plan. Unfortunately, my friend was swept away by several conference attendees who suggested that we take a few minutes to attend an impromptu prayer meeting. This was really cramping my style, but I agreed to take a few minutes to "pray".
The hotel suite was full of men sitting along the walls and on anything with a flat surface. There were about 20 people crammed in the small room and I didn't know anyone other than my friend. Since this was obviously going to be a sell-out I had to sit in the midst of several strangers. As the room quieted, the leader suggested that we ask the fellow sitting next to us for any "prayer requests". Frankly, my only request was to get out of there!
The guy sitting to my left was from New York. He told me about his sick mother and some other stuff that I needed to memorize for the prayer. Blah, blah, blah! Someone across the room began to pray out loud. I really don't remember being in a less comfortable situation than this, with the sole exception being the time I wet my pants during the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance in first grade. I had been asked to do public speaking many times in my life, but this was a new and strange feeling. They actually wanted me to "talk to God" out loud, and not only that, they wanted me to speak about someone I didn't know and about something I didn't CARE about!
The prayer was moving around the room and I was madly rehearsing my speech. Let's see. . . New York, mom, sick. . . I didn't want to look like an idiot, so I put together a nice, tight little sermonette. I wanted to use a few thous and thees with a generous helping of "Oh, Lord!" When it came to my turn I began to speak. "Dear God, I don't remember the last time I prayed to you. In fact, I don't think that I've EVER prayed to you." WHAT?? This was NOT the speech that I had rehearsed. I was going on about asking Jesus to take away my sin and about begging Him to redirect my life. All of this was spilling out of my mouth and NO ONE in the room was more surprised than me.
After the meeting I raced home to tell my wife about what had happened. As you might have guessed, she looked at me with that incredulous look that only a wife can have. "D. L., is this another one of your "things"?" Track records are difficult things to overcome! Only time would tell if this was a D. L. thing or a real epiphany that would change my life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (One thing must be clear from this story. If nothing changes in your life after your commitment to Christ, you AREN'T a Christian.)
I was 28, a baby Christian and still full of ME. I was convinced that the best approach to my new Christian life was to use the same techniques that I had used in business and weight lifting. I would work hard, memorize scripture and jam the Bible down anyone's throat that would give me the time. 28 years down and how many more would I waste?
Tomorrow Part 2.
His Servant,
D. L. Culiver
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