Is God Really Good All the Time?

An awful earthquake in Haiti has left thousands dead and thousands more displaced. People are wandering the streets in shock, others are wailing uncontrollably as the reality and magnitude of their personal losses have set in to their souls. The wounded lie sprawled in the streets, desperate children cry for their parents, and frantic parents search for any shred of hope that their children are alive and safe. The age-old question is the same after every disaster, “if God is really good, why this?” It was the same after 9-11, same story with hurricane Katrina in the gulf coast, ditto for the tsunami in Indonesia when more than 250,000 people, including children, were swept to their deaths by the giant waves of water. Is God angry? Is God getting even with us for our sin? Do we deserve this kind of treatment from God? Is God punishing the sinful behavior of a nation like Haiti by sending an earthquake and allowing buildings to fall and bury people alive, killing thousands of innocent people.

These kinds of questions are thousands of years old. Jesus was asked to explain two horrible disasters - one caused by human cruelty, and the other caused by natural disaster. Luke 13:1-5

1There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifice 2And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

You can hear in the passage this age-old question, “did God punish these people because they were sinners or worse sinners than anyone else”? Jesus did not confirm that God was punishing people for their sins. Instead, Jesus used this tragedy to remind people there is a fate worse than death.

Jesus is then confronted with the question again concerning the blind man in John chapter 9:2-3

2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

The religious leaders in Jesus day taught that sickness, disease, and particularly things like blindness were caused by the sins of the parents or due to the sin of the one who was suffering. It certainly made for a very self-righteous and judgmental religion. So how did Jesus respond to this question? Jesus took the opportunity to set the record straight concerning “is God good all the time”? His answer, neither this man nor his parent’s sin caused this man’s condition. Jesus is simply saying there is no correlation between someone’s sin and their suffering. He certainly could have said, “Yes.” We know that we all are sinners and all of us have fallen short of the glory of God, or His standard of good which is perfection. See Romans 3:23. Jesus could have said this is just and fair judgment on this man for his sins. Just as he could have said all of those who died when the tower fell had it coming as well. But Jesus said nothing of the sort. What is more, he healed the man of his blindness and revealed the power and love of God.

What can we learn from all this? Here are a few thoughts:

We don’t really ever get what we deserve. God is not keeping a ledger in Heaven and waiting for our evil deeds to out weigh our good deeds. God got even with us all at the cross where He poured out His wrath and anger for all sin upon His Son Jesus. He (Jesus) bore the sin of the world and died under the judgment of God. If we got what we deserved we would all be dead.

It rains on the just and the unjust. See Matthew 5:45. To the saints, as well as the sinners, there are equal amounts of sunshine and rain. I challenge you to watch the weather channel and find a forecast or weather report that separates the two. Can you imagine the weather person saying, “High winds and rain will be hitting all of those who are adulterers, covetous and thieves living in the southeast. Lighting and hail is forecasted for murders and whoremongers residing in the upper mid-west? And sunshine mixed with a 5mph trade winds for all of those who were in church this past Sunday living in the West.” You and I my friend do not control our own world by our own actions. That is simply superstitious like carrying a rabbit’s foot in your pocket.

In simple observation you can look around you and know that good things do happen to good people, but also, bad things happen to good people. Just as well as bad things happen to bad people. And then the hardest one of all, good things happening to bad people.

There is little justice in this life. Again, look around you. There is little justice in this life and much of life is lived with more questions of “why” than answers. We will not have all the answers until the Judgment Day. On that day we will understand, but until that day, I doubt we ever will. Those of us who live by faith are called to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not to trust our own beliefs or understanding about a matter. See Proverbs 3:5-6. One day, when this journey is over, we will understand the heart of God and His decisions. Until that time, we are to know that He is not only a just God but also a good God and we are not to fear because he is our refuge and strength even if the sky falls and the earth is removed and the mountains are carried into the midst of the sea. See Psalms 46:1-2

Disasters that bring human suffering also bring opportunity to demonstrate that God is good. When we respond to crisis and disasters in places like Haiti, it is a great opportunity for us to demonstrate God’s powerful message of love and for Him to manifest His presence, not only in the hearts of those who we reach out to, but also to those who are doing the reaching. When we give of our gifts of generosity, medical treatment, physically aiding a family or community, when we feed the hungry, comfort the feeble and clothe the naked; God’s love is demonstrated, healing begins and those who do the giving are also reminded that God is good! All the time!

Ghost of Christmas Past

Most of you are aware of Dickens's classic story, 'The Christmas Carol', Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by three ghosts, one of them is the Ghost of Christmas Past. Oddly enough, I was recently visited by the ghost of Christmas past as well. I am not sure what exactly caused this ghost to visit me. Maybe it was because I drove back to my boyhood home and the community where I grew up, Shady Grove, located on top of Horse Shoe Mountain. This is a place where cows are still to be found in what could be a yard, houses are built in groves of trees and are referred to as home-places of certain families. In these parts you see more Game Wardens than Policemen. There is a smell in the air of wood burning fires from fireplaces. The winter landscape is mostly open fields and groves of trees that are barren this time of the year, except for the mistletoe that grows in their tops. Most people there drive pickups and have gun racks. Tail-gating and horn blowing better be for true emergencies or it is almost certain there will be altercation for such rude city behavior. To the contrary, everyone waves when you drive by. Maybe it was seeing the church that I attended as a boy and remembering the endless games played in its yard and hiding and being sought in its many hiding places. Maybe it was just thinking about all of the people I loved in that place. Seeing these familiar sights smelling familiar smells and seeing some familiar people may have caused the Ghost from Christmas Past to visit me.

Or it could have been sitting in my parent's home where childhood memories pour forth in my mind that the Ghost of Christmas Past began to haunt me. My memories of home as a child were the place where Dad's chair was located, a throne of sorts that no lowly surfs were allowed to sit. Mom's kitchen was decorated with the standard dècor of the late 60's early 70's with a large fork and spoon on the wall next to the Ten Commandments located over the statuary of the praying hands and the plaque of the Prayer of Serenity. An avocado colored fridge and matching sink were in our stylish kitchen as we were, of course, a modern family. Important pictures and letters were kept in Prince Albert cigar boxes. The smell of country cooking was always lingering in the house from the last meal. A slop bucket was kept for dogs, or hogs, whatever was appropriate at the time. These thoughts may have conjured up the Ghost of Christmas Past for me.

Maybe it was rather the thoughts of Christmases past that brought forth its ghosts. Thoughts like a real Christmas tree that was always cut from the family farm. After several cedars were cut and brought into the yard for my mother to inspect. The only one that was acceptable was one with no bird's nest, cob webs, not too tall, too short, not funny shaped or with a large hole. Finally, after much searching, our perfect tree was put in the living room and decorated with lights (multi colored of course), and then that silver icicle stuff was thrown all over it. Christmas time was a sweet time and most of the gifts given were in the realm of necessity. A crock-pot for Mom, Aqua Velva and Vitalis for Dad. Underwear, tube socks, a shirt and new blue jeans or corduroy pants, maybe a leisure suit for my brother and I. Then of course the real stuff, a new basketball or football, perhaps even a walkie-talkie, or a new GI Joe with a kung fu grip or something for hunting like a night-light or a hunting dog leash. Then the best gift of all one year... The Jr. Trooper 410 single shot shotgun, for with that gift I was officially in the club, the man club. I have been a card carrying member of the man club ever since that faithful day. I am not sure still what a metro-sexual is, but I am certain that he never received such a gift as the Jr. Trooper 410 single shot shotgun, or he would be nothing of the sort. The ghost of Christmas past was catching up to me then an event sent me over the edge.

As I think of it, maybe I do know what summoned the Ghost of Christmas Past for a visit. There we were in my parents home this Christmas and out came the home videos. Not from my childhood but from my children's childhood. My mother made hundreds of hours of video of our girls when they were wee bits. There they stood in footy pajamas singing Christmas songs and talking about Christmas presents on the family TV. The TV that had previously showed things like ball games or reruns of Bonanza, Gunsmoke, or Hawaii Five O. There, instead, were my girls complete with hair-bows, big eyes and sweet little faces. And in one video April and I had been gone and upon the announcement of our arrival they jumped for joy in their footed pajamas and yelled 'yeah!' Running to the door to greet us as if we had been away for 6 months. That just did it. The old Ghost of Christmas Past was now fully haunting my life. Where had we been that night? Probably trying to make some people happy that we wouldnít even remember their names now. Perhaps it was on business that could have waited for another time. But in our absence we had missed a sweet concert of little girls in footed pajamas singing and dancing with all their might. There is something about watching home movies and seeing years of highlights of birthday parties and Christmases past, blow by in digital speed to make a man realize how much life just gets by so quickly.

I am a little melancholy over this visit from the Ghost of Christmas past, but I have determined to wake up and ask 'Is it Christmas Day Yet'? And if so, I am calling for the exorcist of the Ghost of Christmas Past. Today is a new day, it is a day that we are alive, and alive to love tenderly, talk softly, and care deeply and to make new memories, memories worthy of our best time to the ones we love the most. To speak the words our family and friends need to desperately hear. And finally a note of memory from my Grandfather, by way of my uncle who was leaving our house carrying someone a meal who was without family and in desperate medical need on Christmas. He said Dad always said, 'Do as much as you can for as many as you can, for as long as you can.' Now that is the Spirit of Christmas past, present and future. Go tell it on the Mountain!

A Monster or a Turtle?

A group from our church was recently in Scotland and mentioned to me that they drove out to the famous Loch Ness. Most of us are only familiar with this body of water in the Highlands area of Scotland due to the world famous folklore of what is called the Loch Ness Monster. The famous pictures and videos that most all of us have seen showing a prehistoric looking creature emerging from the fog covered waters and disappearing into its murky depths have captured thousands of imaginations.

As I was reminded of the Loch Ness Monster story it reminded me of another story from my youth. I grew up in the recently made famous, Conway, Arkansas, now famous for the new American Idol winner, Kris Allen. When I was a youth this now bustling town was pretty slow paced and lacked in the excitement category, unless you count eating at the Dandy Dog or playing putt putt at Frank’s Drive-In “exciting.” I recall a couple of people that I know who were fishing on Lake Conway, which is very similar to Loch Ness in that there is water in both locations. As the men were fishing one of them caught a very large snapping turtle and due to the lack of better things to do in those days their imagination got the best of them and an idea was hatched. I am not going to say who these men were to protect the guilty and I hesitate to say they were my relatives. But here goes -that same morning they had a calf to die on the farm and had put its body in the back of their truck to dispose of the carcass after they finished fishing. One said to the other, “I am going to skin the hide off that calf and take some of this fishing line and sow it on this big snapping turtle.” Before I go any further let me say that no turtles were harmed in this little scheme, just one was highly irritated from it. So the men meticulously sowed the calf hide on the turtle and released him back into the water.

The turtle went back to doing what turtles do. He crawled up on half sunken logs and sunned himself. He swam by other fishermen in their boats. He popped his head up occasionally to breath and to see his surroundings from the murky waters of Lake Conway. With just a little imagination you can picture what this poor creature must have looked like to unsuspecting fishermen. These folks began to see this strange creature crawling up on logs and witnessing this strange image swimming past their boats. It appeared to be turtle like but with a long tail. It was unlike anything anyone had ever seen and it quite frankly began to scare and trouble many of the local fishermen. As the fishermen would come back to the local watering holes and bait shops there began to be quite a story surrounding what was now called “The Lake Conway Monster.” Some had seen it but at a distance, others had heard about it and reported it to yet others with warning of the strange creature right out of the book of Revelation. It had hair like a woman, a long stinger like a scorpion and swam like a fish. It quite possibly could turn over a medium boat and eat a small child.
Now truly it was only a snapping turtle with a calf’s hide sown on him; a hide that would quickly rot off the turtle and life would be back to normal for the turtle but not before human imagination went running wild. I suppose there can be a lesson or two learned from this:

What you think you see is not always what you see. Things are not always what they appear to be. It is easy to see some thing, some person or to see some event and to have preexisting fears in your own life run wild with imagination.

To say a thing is a thing does not make a thing a thing. I know that is a very deep statement but stay with me. In my story you can say that you saw The Lake Conway Monster and you can tell others that you saw it. But it still would be just a snapping turtle with a calf’s hide sown on it. No matter how many times you say it, it will always and only be a turtle.

Be careful what you tell for fact because the next person who tells it will make it fiction. What was only a large snapping turtle could be a monster by the second helping of gossip. Things told twice are seldom things told accurate.

And finally there are truly two sides to every story. What was a horrible troubling sight in the eyes of several people was simply a funny joke to others. The Spiritual principle here is simple. When Satan fills us with fears, wicked imaginations, and hearsay gossip, he is the one that is laughing. Be careful little eyes what you see, be careful little ears what you hear and certainly be careful little tongues what you say. Satan would love to divide friendships, families, ministries and churches over what appears to be monsters, but are truly only turtles being turtles. Give it some thought.

I Pledge Allegiance

Our nation watched this past week as we inaugurated our 44^th President. The changing of power in a democracy is a wonder for much of the world to watch. No tanks surrounded the White House and soldiers were not deployed to the streets of our capitol because one power was not going to be threatened by the other. Two men, one incoming and one outgoing, enjoyed coffee that morning before the swearing in of a new president.

I was with a group of people this week who work in many places in the world. I heard a woman from Somali give her testimony and story of how she came to Christ. She has lived here in the US for many years. All of her family lives in Somali and she has not seen them for years. They are unable to leave and she is unable to return. I am a little over 40 years old and all of my lifetime that place has been a living hell. We can be glad to be a part of such a great democracy that has given us peace. We pledge allegiance to the flag of our great nation and we hold the principles of freedom dear.

As Christians we have another allegiance, an allegiance that is not in conflict with our nationality, because this allegiance is not pledged to a country, or a state, or a people. This kingdom does not have elections, and there is no transfer of power, for in this kingdom – The Kingdom of God, we have but one King and His kingdom is eternal. Jesus calls us to this kingdom and when we walk in that kingdom we represent His character on the earth and that is the way we bless others.

Now that our new president is in office the business of “politics as usual” will begin. The left and right are already swinging and most of the country is still unengaged in knowing anything about how government works. The average citizen does not know what it really means to be a contributor to their society. Too many Americans have become takers and beneficiaries of government and not contributors and participants in the freedoms our great nation provides. Too many are waiting on a check and not earning a check. Sadly, that is about the way many Christians go through life with one Christian group swinging at the other Christian group. Too many Christians are just content receiving the blessings and are not interested in being a blessing. The majority of all who name the name of Christ do not really understand what it means to be a part of His Kingdom. Jesus calls us to His Kingdom and goes to great lengths to describe it. Jesus, describing what His kingdom is like, used many pictures to help us understand. He said, It is like a sower who went forth to sow, it is like unto a mustard seed, it is like unto leaven, it is like unto a treasure hid in a field, it is like unto a pearl of great price, it is like unto a net cast into the sea, it is like unto a householder. There are some deep and great mysteries about this kingdom you and I are called to follow Jesus into.

We need to look again at what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ and to walk in His Kingdom. That is the only way we can bless the world and touch the world for God. We will never find true peace and enjoy real freedom in any other government on this earth no matter who or what party is elected. Our prayer “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” I pledge allegiance to the Lamb.

Economy Crisis or Spiritual Crisis?

At the time of this writing I have done something today that I have not done since the 70’s – waited in line to buy gas. However, I think the price then was under a buck a gallon even in short supply and great demand. Today I had the privilege of paying $4.19 per gallon. Also the news that dominates the TV networks, newspapers and talk radio programs is the failure of some of our Nations largest financial institutions and the $700 billion dollar bail out our Government is proposing. The blame game has begun and no matter where you try to put it there is plenty left over to go around; everything from corporate greed, fraudulent lending practices, lack of personal fiscal responsibility on the behalf of the borrowers, to blaming the free market itself and deregulation. The politicians are on every news outlet pointing fingers at each other crying foul. Yet I have not heard one person describe what is at the root of all these things. We as a nation are in an economic crisis because we are in a spiritual crisis. The root of all of this is simply stated – sin.

Two thousand years ago John The Baptist came on a similar scene. The politicians of his day were Caesar, Herod and Herod’s sons, and Pontius Pilate all of whom were wicked and cruel and corrupt men. The religious leaders of his day were for the most part corrupted too as our Lord Jesus would later reveal. No wonder John The Baptist came preaching “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand…” and don’t miss this part – “the ax is laid at the root of the trees…” John was not wasting his breath dealing with the rotten fruit of his time. The rotten fruit is evidence of a deeper (root) problem. He simply pointed out that the tree needed to change (repent means to have a change of mind and direction) and he was bringing the ax to lay it at the root of the problem. We as Christians need to pray more and complain less about the economy. We need to get involved in the process of bringing about a real change; one that comes from Heaven, not the empty political promises of our day. Our hope should never be found in a political party nor should it be found in the economy but rather we should look unto the Mountain from which our help comes. Our hope should be in Christ who is our strength, our supply, our provider, our salvation, He is our everything and when a person has Him they have all they need.

To borrow from the overused political line of our day – The Wall Street crisis affects Main Street America. We understand that one crisis creates another. The rising cost of gas means rising food costs, higher airline tickets, higher costs beget higher costs. Natural disasters beget higher insurance premiums, higher taxes could be coming, etc. There is another spill- over I want to mention here - the effect on the church. Too many Christians allow economic crisis to change our giving patterns. The reason is simply put we have been giving to God out of our abundance or what we could call leftovers. Now many people do not have the leftovers anymore and they have never learned to give to the Lord from the “First fruits of all their increase as planned giving.” Many people in our society have gotten too much, too fast, too easy and have acted very irresponsibly with their gains. Now that they need to make adjustments to cut their losses, sadly, the first thing to go is their giving to the work of the Lord. The extra money (leftovers) they once had laying around in their checking accounts is now being used to pay for the rising costs of living. God’s work has never been put into their lives as a priority in their financial planning.

Things are not bad in and of themselves but when the purchase of things is a replacement of our investments in God’s work we have misplaced priorities. And, misplaced priorities lead to greed and pride, and is that not what we pointed out is the root of our Nation’s problems? Allow the Spirit of God to lay the ax at the root of this problem in your heart and change your mind about your investments to the Lord. Christian families who say they have nothing to give to the Lord’s work still have cable or satellite TV’s, cell phones for every member of the family, the latest gadgets and latest fashions, they dine out more than they dine in and still go on several vacations a year. But if there is something that must be cut it will most often be their giving to the Lord’s work.

Then there are those who really have been hit hard. They are behind in their bills, and they are struggling to make ends meet. They have more month than money for the month. My heart goes out to many of the people in our church family right now. I know personally what it is like to have to make adjustments in lifestyle to survive and make ends meet. But let me encourage both groups I have just mentioned. Keep the Lord and His work at the top of the priority list. He does not need our money but we surely need His blessing that comes from giving. And more than the blessing that is promised there is still a world that is lost without Him. I am reminded that is real poverty, no matter how much they have or do not have materially. And real wealth is only found in knowing Him no matter how much or how little we have materially. So do not let the economic crisis put you in a spiritual crisis. Keep looking to the One who is our everything!

Let the Games Begin

The Summer Olympics 2008 are underway for what will be one of the largest sporting spectaculars of all time. The world’s best athletes are in Beijing, China and the world is tuned in through almost every imaginable media outlet. Beijing has proved to be a controversial sight to host the event at best. We already have witnessed an unprecedented number of protestors and demonstrations leading up to the start of the Olympics. The Olympic torch relay had to continually be rerouted and much of its journey had to be somewhat covert to avoid the protests. Olympic committees have tried to hush and silence many of the athletes and coaches who would like to take the opportunity to speak out against China and its political and Human Rights policies. Visas have been revoked, some athletes have already been threatened and a few sent packing. Most of the athletes just simply want the opportunity to compete against the World’s best competition in the events for which they have trained for so many years. Many of these Olympians have gold medal aspirations. Others are not so much gold medal hopeful, as they just are proud to represent their Nation in such a way that will make their homeland proud.

I am competitive in my very nature and I love to watch particularly the track and field competition. No offence to you synchronized swimming fans. I have a track and field background and I find the track and field competition inspiring. I was reading an article on an airplane as I was returning from a mission trip to Africa. The article was in the Hemispheres magazine on United Airlines by Maria Johnson entitled “Running Strong.” It was about the 1964 Gold Medalist Billy Mills a Native American who was an unheard of athlete on the world’s scene. He seemingly came from out of nowhere to win the 10,000 meter race. Something no American had done before or since. A retired insurance agent and now a motivational speaker he shared his story in the article and I want to share a couple of thoughts with you. He grew up immersed in poverty on a reservation in South Dakota. His mother died when he was 8 years old and his father died when he was 12. He experienced a great deal of discrimination in his youth which added to an already difficult life. Mills shared this part of his life in the article and I quote,

Shortly after my mom died, my dad and I went fishing, but I was in another world. My dad hugged me and simply said, “Son, you have broken wings.” I started crying, and he said, “I’ll share something with you, and if you follow it, someday you’ll have the wings of an eagle. …Close your eyes and look inside your heart. What do you find?” Well, I was too young to understand, but he said, “I’ll tell you what you find: anger, because you lost your mom; hate because people have expressed hatred toward us; jealousy, because we don’t have anything of value; self pity. All of those emotions destroy you.” He said, “look down deeper, where the dreams lie. Find your dream, son. Pursue your dream. It’s the pursuit of a dream that heals you.

Somewhere in that conversation he suggested that he try sports and running became his passion.

Later in the article Mills described the last turn in his Olympic event quote again:

Coming off the curve, we were lapping a runner from Germany. He looked back and saw me coming and opened up the fourth lane for me. If he had stayed where he was, I don’t know if I could have done it. As I went by him, I thought we were going to bump, so I glanced back at him. At the center of his jersey was an EAGLE, the German insignia. It was so powerful. I went back to what my dad said- the wings of an eagle. With 30 yards to go, I’m lifting my knees, I’m doing the sprinting I’d been practicing. My thoughts were “I won, I won, I won, I won.” Then I broke the tape. It was an incredibly powerful feeling.

I considered this past Olympian’s dad’s words that inspired him achieve the gold medal. Look in your heart. Do you have broken wings that come from broken dreams? Are you consumed with anger, hatred, bitter feelings, do you carry unforgiveness, self pity and other emotional baggage? These things will destroy us and keep us out of the race we are called to run. We need to look to the One who promises to bare us up on eagle’s wings. The One who gives power to the faint and increases their strength. The One who promises to those who wait on Him, “…shall renew their strength; they shall count up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:31 We have more than the hopes of gold medals at stake. We have the reputation of our God whose banner we carry and whose name we bare. There is a crown to receive for His glory. A great cloud of witnesses from our homeland is cheering us on and for us to make proud. Let’s join the race as the World’s attention and focus is drawn to one place, Beijing. Let’s focus our attention on THE RACE and His Kingdom we represent.

As Christians what should be our response to these Olympic Games? Here are some practical ways we can enter the competition for the glory of God:

1. Pray for the Christian athletes to have boldness to share their faith during these games.

2. Pray for those who are handing out tracts and other Gospel literature in and around these games.

3. Pray for the underground and persecuted Church in China during these games.

4. Let each athlete that stands on a platform receiving a medal be a reminder to pray for that people group that they represent.

Let’s not just be couch potatoes during these Olympic Games or pew potatoes; but let us run the race through prayer for the King of kings and Lord of lords. He is worthy of our best efforts. Let the Games Begin!