Got Fruit ?

For the reader not up on the JW beliefs; without a doubt the biggest doctrinal divide between Orthodox Christianity and the JW is that of Christ’s divinity, Jesus concurrently fully divine and fully man.  I had a conversation with a Jehovah’s Witness (JW) going back probably 18 or so months.   Remembering only snippets of that conversation, one of the points that did stick with me from the JW’s presentation/interpretation of Scripture was their rhetorical question of "Who do you think God was talking to?", referring to Genesis 1:26.  If I recall correctly,the JW’s argument was that if God (The Father) was talking to Jesus (The Son), "…"logic" dictates that Christ couldn’t possibly be God; how could a "person" be two people that are separate yet the same? ".  It’s my understanding that the error in this line of "reasoning" is that the JW or whomever else would subscribe to this thought process misses seeing Christ’s divine nature throughout God’s Word because they try to approach understanding God from their own knowledge vs letting the wisdom of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit open their heart, mind and eyes.

For the Bible believing Orthodox Christian John 1:1-2 is probably the most popular verse that we reach for in explaining or defending the Trinitarian doctrine and beliefs.

Beginning with the beginning literally.  Genesis 1:1 establishes that it was God that "…created the heavens and the earth.".  We can’t however have tunnel vision and dismiss John 1:1-3 "…3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.".  God declares in Isaiah that there is no other God, which would also negate then some other supernatural agent separate from God, having any authority nor ability to create anything. Yet in Colossians 2:9-10 Christ Jesus is established as "… the head over every power and authority.".

Genesis 1:1
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

John 1:1-3
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Isaiah 44:8
8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
       Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
       You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
       No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."

Colossians 2:9-10
9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

The previous examples from Scripture were used to illustrate and correlate sovereignty and divinity between God the Father and Christ Jesus the Son.  The following two verses are presented as additional food for thought for the skeptic to consider in lieu of accepting that the only  "logical" explanation is that contradictions exist amongst the verses above.

Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
       and he will make your paths straight.

1 Corinthians 2:14
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Grace and peace be with you.

The title is an objection I’ve "heard"; (meaning I’ve actually read similar lines of reasoning on apologetic blogs etc), and I’ve actually had that same objection bought up in a conversation or two.  Maybe it’s the past 4 or 5 months of having my nose in the book: "20 Compelling Evidences that God Exists" (20 CETGE) that has caused me to be a bit more critical in my thinking when it comes to issues of witnessing and dealing with objections.  By "critical" I mean mentally digesting the objection and trying to find a Biblical response to the objection versus firing back with "Well, you’re going to hell then." Not certain how well that latter response is really taken as a legitimate response to the unbeliever.  "Hmm?  I suppose I could ask the fundy-religious-psuedo-christian-nutbags-confused (aka Westboro Baptist "church") that push their "gospel" propaganda, how many conversions they’ve had in the last 3-5 years.".

Before I get back to answering the  question, I’d like to share a revelation I’ve had…  Wait!  I think that was a line by Agent Smith from the Matrix.  Seriously, something that’s been impressed upon my heart over the years is that as much as one professing to be a Christian wants friends, family, co-workers etc; to come to know the LORD, the fact remains that when it comes to sharing our faith with someone that is skeptical, they, the skeptic can and will find every reason to not believe the claims of the Bible if they don’t want to believe.  This is where we get to that part about man being totally depraved because of his terminal heart condition known as sin (my stab at wit and sarcasm).  I think that a natural tendency on the part of the Christian may be to forget that the heart must be turned first.  In our zeal to witness, especially to family and friends, maybe faith, patience but firstly relying and waiting for God’s Holy Spirit to convict a man’s sinful heart is bypassed.  No pun intended, really… the one dealing with the biological heart is bi-pass. 

Anyhow… in Romans 3 the Apostle Paul is explaining how one comes to be righteous in the eyes of God.  Paul begins Romans 3 by telling the folks that there’s a new way of being righteous, and it’s not by the law.  Paul lets the listeners in on some news,not just any old news though, but the best news possible…  it’s God that made this new way of righteousness possible… and it’s not the law.  Paul then says that this "new way of righteousness" is a free gift from God, called grace.

Romans 3: 21-22
21 But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,

In Romans 6 Paul goes on to address the believers and what I assume as misunderstandings about being sanctified by Christ.  It seems that some of the believers may have been claiming Christianity in name, but still living their lives according to the pagan influences around them and, or, just having a rough time with that pesky old carnal nature that tends to trip us up from time to time.  At the end of Romans 6 Paul reminds the believers (recipients of God’s free gift) about the wages already paid by Jesus Christ for their transgression against God.  For the sake of clarity, Paul’s not suggesting in his summary of Romans 6 that the believers make a mockery of Christ’s sacrifice and suffering on the cross by going back to their former lifestyles of sin, I believe He’s merely reiterating what’s already been done on their behalf, and is pointing to the reward (eternal life) of living by The Spirit versus The Law.

Romans 6: 23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Obviously, one needs to know that they are a sinner before God in order to begin to comprehend how their sinful nature condemns them.  The point here though is to share a final verse or two from Romans 3 that stuck out the other night and caused me to think about, handling objections during an opportunity to witness/share our faith with others. 

Q: "How could a loving God condemn someone to hell?"

A: "God doesn’t condemn anyone to hell.  Hell is the consequence (Romans 6:23) of making a conscious choice to either accept or reject the means (accepting Jesus Christ) that God has provided (Romans 3: 21-22) for escaping condemnation to hell. God’s grace is available to any and all (John 3:16) through His son, Jesus Christ."

Not necessarily the only answer here to that particular objection, but one that was swimming around the ‘ole noodle a day or so ago.  Like I said earlier, just doing a little more critical thinking, with the Bible at the forefront versus considering answers based off of personal reactions or experiences that lack Biblical weight.

Romans 3:25-26
25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement,through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

 

Grace and peace be with you.

For the past month and a half I’ve been trying to read a chapter of Psalm each day along with whatever other specific book of the Bible I’m at the moment engaged in (or is it with?).  Sorry mental detour .. anywho.  I was reading Psalm 39 last night which had a passage that reminded me of some similar thoughts portrayed in Ecclesiastes 1.  In Psalm 39:4-6 David it seems, has turned from focusing directly on his sins against God, and their immediate consequences, to a deeper introspective position.  David seems to be not only fixated on the vanity and folly of going about life by his own devices, but has come to the realization that when compared to God, his life is nothing, inconsequential to God, The Creator of all that was, is, and shall be.  David is not saying that we are not cherished by God our Creator (John 3:16), rather I think that his realization and at least one line of thought in Psalm 39 has bought him to conclude in his heart that outside of God’s parameters, our lives are meaningless; as he’s already felt the sting of death literally (death of son born to Bathsheba) and consequentially in the demise of his reign.

Psalm 39:4-6
4 "Show me, O LORD, my life’s end
       and the number of my days;
       let me know how fleeting is my life.

5 You have made my days a mere handbreadth;
       the span of my years is as nothing before you.
       Each man’s life is but a breath.

Selah

6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro:
       He bustles about, but only in vain;
       he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it. 

In a somewhat similar train of thought from Ecclesiastes 1:, the author whom some Bible scholars have penned as the works of King Solomon (son of David) is lamenting (crying out in grief) about the meaningless toils of man. 

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3
2 "Meaningless! Meaningless!"
       says the Teacher.
       "Utterly meaningless!
       Everything is meaningless."

3 What does man gain from all his labor
       at which he toils under the sun?

I think that an idea to take from both referenced passages is, not to give up on life; nor necessarily the pursuit of a comfortable life while still in this thing called life (1 Timothy 6: 6-8), in spite of the "meaningless" of our actions while temporarily occupying this little patch of the universe that God crafted for us.  Instead, like David there needs to be that realization, an epiphany(?); that nothing we fabricate by our own means in the pursuit of happiness will in fact bring eternal peace and happiness.  That honor is  reserved for Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior (John 14:6).

Fellow blogger, Steeler fan, & someone I consider a friend, E. Barrett (aka E.B. of R3 fame) has a post from the day after Christmas titled: "A Chistmas Lesson" where he shares another page from his personal journey in "learning to live as a Christian".  E.B. and I have shared thoughts on our respective walks with Christ, perspectives on where God is moving the believer, and how he moves us all closer to knowing and doing his will.  A thought shared with E.B. back in September that somehow seems to be coming full circle, or at least fits with the flow of this post from my quirky minded perspective:

(2 September 2008)
I think that for starters, anytime a Christian acknowledges that they’re deficient in an area of their walk with Christ; that acknowledgment is sort of like the precursor to that deficiency becoming “fixed” by the Lord. A spin on how the Law makes us aware of sin, I suppose. I used to never speak out openly about God because of fear of ridicule. Nowadays, that’s not a problem, and I would say it’s because over time (as your relationship grows), Jesus does transform the committed believer.

My point? Yesterday was a day that you walked behind Christ, today you might be walking a little closer to Him; and tomorrow is the day that you walk side by side, step for step with Him.

Maturation by nature takes time, some folks perhaps do go through a radical and quick process of transformation, while others don’t. Scripture an my own personal experiences tell me that it all starts with the condition of the heart, sometimes we have deeper issues that the Lord must work on before we get to that spot where we become the “Super Christian” we aspire to be.

Cue the lights and fade in final thoughts…

Ephesians 2:10
10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Grace and peace be with you

Job would probably be the epitome of one placing his trust totally in the LORD.  Despite his afflictions, his loss of property and prosperity, Job trusted and remained faithful to God.  From the very beginning, man’s ability or inability to trust God is written about in the Bible.  Starting in Genesis, disobedience and a lack of trust by Adam and Eve caused them to sin against God (Genesis 3:1-7).  Instead of trusting God and in God’s wisdom as concern for their welfare, Adam and Eve; coaxed by the serpent, took matters into their own hands. 

In spite of the daunting task; approximately 100 years to complete the construction of the ark before the great flood, and being surrounded by wicked people throughout, Noah and his family trusted in the LORD and were ultimately saved from the flood that destroyed the rest of humanity (Genesis 5:32-7:12).

To some Psalm 35 might at first glance read as though King David is crying out to the LORD with selfish motives; praying for God’s supernatural intervention and vindication of David against his enemies.  Consider though that Nathan rebuked David for his transgressions against God (2nd Samuel 12:1-14).  King David had committed adultery with Bathsheba (wife of Uriah).  Hoping that Uriah would be struck down in battle, King David premeditated the murder of Uriah by placing him into a precarious spot on the battlefield.

In Psalm 35 however, David appears not to be a bitter man due to the consequences of his sins but rather a broken man.  David’s son Absalom had rebelled against him and later died, the child that Bathsheba carried would go on to die as Nathan prophesied; a consequence of David’s sins.

Where it may have seemed the easy road for David to become bitter or even angry at God because of the consequences "to be paid" for his sins, David instead lifts up his heart to God in trust despite his trials and troubles.  Unfortunately our own understanding too, of the depth and scope of trusting in the Lord sometimes comes only after bearing the consequences of our sinful nature.  In desperation we cry out to God. 

We’re fortunate however, that God being merciful and forgiving does restore the humbled and trusting heart. (James 4:6-10)

Psalm 35
Of David.

1 Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;
       fight against those who fight against me.

2 Take up shield and buckler;
       arise and come to my aid.

3 Brandish spear and javelin [a]
       against those who pursue me.
       Say to my soul,
       "I am your salvation."

4 May those who seek my life
       be disgraced and put to shame;
       may those who plot my ruin
       be turned back in dismay.

5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
       with the angel of the LORD driving them away;

6 may their path be dark and slippery,
       with the angel of the LORD pursuing them.

7 Since they hid their net for me without cause
       and without cause dug a pit for me,

8 may ruin overtake them by surprise—
       may the net they hid entangle them,
       may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.

9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD
       and delight in his salvation.

10 My whole being will exclaim,
       "Who is like you, O LORD ?
       You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
       the poor and needy from those who rob them."

11 Ruthless witnesses come forward;
       they question me on things I know nothing about.

12 They repay me evil for good
       and leave my soul forlorn.

13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
       and humbled myself with fasting.
       When my prayers returned to me unanswered,

14 I went about mourning
       as though for my friend or brother.
       I bowed my head in grief
       as though weeping for my mother.

15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
       attackers gathered against me when I was unaware.
       They slandered me without ceasing.

16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked [b] ;
       they gnashed their teeth at me.

17 O Lord, how long will you look on?
       Rescue my life from their ravages,
       my precious life from these lions.

18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
       among throngs of people I will praise you.

19 Let not those gloat over me
       who are my enemies without cause;
       let not those who hate me without reason
       maliciously wink the eye.

20 They do not speak peaceably,
       but devise false accusations
       against those who live quietly in the land.

21 They gape at me and say, "Aha! Aha!
       With our own eyes we have seen it."

22 O LORD, you have seen this; be not silent.
       Do not be far from me, O Lord.

23 Awake, and rise to my defense!
       Contend for me, my God and Lord.

24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, O LORD my God;
       do not let them gloat over me.

25 Do not let them think, "Aha, just what we wanted!"
       or say, "We have swallowed him up."

26 May all who gloat over my distress
       be put to shame and confusion;
       may all who exalt themselves over me
       be clothed with shame and disgrace.

27 May those who delight in my vindication
       shout for joy and gladness;
       may they always say, "The LORD be exalted,
       who delights in the well-being of his servant."

28 My tongue will speak of your righteousness
       and of your praises all day long.

Grace and peace be with you.

I’ve worked within the multimedia field over the years as a developer of web and computer based training material.  One of the things  learned is that there has to be a deliberate effort to maintain focus on the objective while in the development process.  Without a deliberate approach to meeting the criteria for the learning/training objective, the development process can quickly be compromised as the presentation of the product takes precedence over the product’s content. The message gets lost, something that can and does takes place even within the church today as technology is embraced.

I think that P.T. Barnum definitely knew a little something about the human psyche and it’s desire for "signs & wonders".  Presenting the latest amazing gadget,curiosity, or event with an excited tone is one tactic for creating a sense of desire along with urgency for a particular object.    Another tactic used in sales promotions, campaigns, PSAs, or activism spots is the calculated use of a selected piece of music that evokes an emotional response sympathetic to the one selling their wares or ideas.

In the west we’re "trained" via television, radio, newspapers,magazines,movies or the Internet to expect to receive "information" via a BIG production. Again, the church has in some instances adopted similar approaches as an effort to evangelize to more unsaved souls.  Notice however in the following verses from 1st Kings 19 that though Elijah was looking for God to appear to him amongst the chaos and excitement of all of the the BIG productions going on as God made His presence known.  As God spoke the universe and all of it’s elements into existence back in Genesis, so too did the LORD choose this method, to make His presence known to Elijah.

1st Kings 19:11-12
11 The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by."
      Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
      Then a voice said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

Are you looking for God to show up in a BIG way?  Maybe He is looking for you first to hear Him.

"Shhhh".

Grace and peace be with you