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.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
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-à-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-à-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
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