"You will be hated by all people because of Me. But he who stays true to the end will be saved." (Matthew 10:22)
In a recent discussion with friends, the topic arose of one's faith being tested. All of us expressed similar thoughts on the matter - we hope that we would willingly profess our faith no matter what the circumstance or consequences of doing so, but there's a doubt in all of us if we could be that strong. We can all imagine the nightmare scenarios, can't we? "Do you believe in Jesus?" asks the robber as he holds a gun to our head, or to the head of our child. (It's hard for most of us in America to envision such a scenario outside of TV or movies, but similar scenarios are played out every day in parts of our world). Would I have the strength to answer that question truthfully, even if doing so meant certain death? My faith tells me yes, because I know that death is merely the beginning of eternal life, and to die because of faith in Christ is an honor. But faced with terrorizing circumstances, would I have the presence of mind to call upon the wisdom of my faith? Would my love for Christ outweigh my fear?
I am guilty of spending a great deal of my life being afraid of having my faith tested, perhaps because it has been tested and I have failed the test. When the going gets tough, I often turn to my faith for strength and comfort, but I admit that I haven't always reached for Jesus first. I've spent far too much time browsing Satan's storehouse of bitterness. How about you?
As time goes by, perhaps as a function of simple maturity, I realize that to have one's faith tested is not to be feared. Jesus promised that life would be hard, but that He would always be there for us. I hope that I will never have a gun pointed at my head, with my life or that of a loved one hanging on my response to a single question. But if I should be faced with that, or any other challenge (and I will), I hope I will calmly profess my love of Christ. If I'm unable to draw upon my own sense of strength, I can simply call upon the strength of the One who overcame the world. No robber, no illness, no circumstance in life can compete with that.
So friends, in order to pass the test, all we need to do is reach for our Bibles. God's Word is the ultimate study guide.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
No In-Between with Jesus
For it is impossible to be in the presence of Jesus and not be changed. ~ Joanna Weaver
I love apologetics - defending the Christian faith through reasoning and by comparison with other faiths and theories. I'll never forget reading Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ," a wonderful compilation of evidence and logic authored by a journalist who actually set out to disprove Jesus as Messiah. Instead, he was persuaded to faith in Christ by the tremendous amount of evidence he found supporting Jesus' claims. Lee Strobel has written other similar books about God in general, and other aspects of Christian faith.
When one considers the life and ministry of Jesus, there is irrefutable evidence that He did in fact live as a flesh-and-bone man on earth. Aside from what He did while on earth, there is plenty of anthropological and historical evidence of His existence here. Given that, most arguments against Jesus center not on His existence, but on His divinity. "Jesus was a prophet, a powerful teacher, but he was not the Messiah." In other words, He was a heck of a good guy, just not God's Son. That's the argument I hear most often. How about you?
There's one big, but simple problem with this argument. Jesus never tried to hide His divinity. Not only did He perform miracles, but He continually claimed to be God's Son, the Messiah, the long sought-after savior. His teachings flew in the face of conventional wisdom and tradition. If we ignore other facts, such as His resurrection, the claims that Jesus made were a big part of His ministry. If Jesus is not the Messiah, then He was nothing more than a lunatic or a pathalogical liar who died for good on the cross. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't consider someone who lies about being God to be a "good guy."
What it boils down to is that Jesus is either Messiah, the Christ that we know as our savior and redeemer, or He is a fraud. There is no in-between. Which side of the line one stands on means everything. I am forever grateful to be standing on the side of truth.
I love apologetics - defending the Christian faith through reasoning and by comparison with other faiths and theories. I'll never forget reading Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christ," a wonderful compilation of evidence and logic authored by a journalist who actually set out to disprove Jesus as Messiah. Instead, he was persuaded to faith in Christ by the tremendous amount of evidence he found supporting Jesus' claims. Lee Strobel has written other similar books about God in general, and other aspects of Christian faith.
When one considers the life and ministry of Jesus, there is irrefutable evidence that He did in fact live as a flesh-and-bone man on earth. Aside from what He did while on earth, there is plenty of anthropological and historical evidence of His existence here. Given that, most arguments against Jesus center not on His existence, but on His divinity. "Jesus was a prophet, a powerful teacher, but he was not the Messiah." In other words, He was a heck of a good guy, just not God's Son. That's the argument I hear most often. How about you?
There's one big, but simple problem with this argument. Jesus never tried to hide His divinity. Not only did He perform miracles, but He continually claimed to be God's Son, the Messiah, the long sought-after savior. His teachings flew in the face of conventional wisdom and tradition. If we ignore other facts, such as His resurrection, the claims that Jesus made were a big part of His ministry. If Jesus is not the Messiah, then He was nothing more than a lunatic or a pathalogical liar who died for good on the cross. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't consider someone who lies about being God to be a "good guy."
What it boils down to is that Jesus is either Messiah, the Christ that we know as our savior and redeemer, or He is a fraud. There is no in-between. Which side of the line one stands on means everything. I am forever grateful to be standing on the side of truth.
End-Times Obsession
There has been a great deal of speculation recently about the end-times, or more specifically, predicting when the end-times will come. From misguided mathmeticians to Mayan historians, theories abound regarding eschatology - the study of end-times. What are we to think or believe?
It's understandable for human beings to want to be able to predict major events, to plan for all things that will impact our lives. Technological advances have helped us to do that in a lot of ways, from weather forecasting to genetic testing. This technology tells us what is most likely to happen, but not when. It's not knowing the "when" that most challenges our fruitless need to control everything. Similar to modern technology, the Bible tells us how Jesus will return to earth and what will happen when He does, but it does not tell us exactly when this will occur. In a recent Beth Moore study of Daniel, I was fascinated by the idea that since only God knows when the end is coming, then that means Satan does not know. As such, Satan has a candidate for the Antichrist in every generation. Interesting indeed.
Despite our best efforts, there is no way to predict exactly when Jesus will return to us. Scripture tells us that. Because of this, there are many folks out there who are utterly obsessed with the thought that the second coming of Christ could happen tonight, tomorrow, or a month from now. They are so obsessed with this that they forget to live their lives. Indeed, it is important to have your spiritual house in order. You must know what you believe and why, not just because Jesus could return tomorrow, but also because none of us knows how long we have to live on this earth. I could live to be 100 or I could die today. We don't know the "when," so we need to be prepared to meet our maker no matter when that meeting occurs.
There is one fundamental problem with obsessing endlessly about the end-times: Jesus has not yet returned, so that must mean that God isn't done with earthly life in its current state. There must still be good works to be done, still time to impact the world for Christ through our talents and our love. If we spend all our time agonizing over what is yet to come, we will miss what God is expecting us to do for Him and His children today.
Perhaps a man named Richard Bach said it best: "Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't."
It's understandable for human beings to want to be able to predict major events, to plan for all things that will impact our lives. Technological advances have helped us to do that in a lot of ways, from weather forecasting to genetic testing. This technology tells us what is most likely to happen, but not when. It's not knowing the "when" that most challenges our fruitless need to control everything. Similar to modern technology, the Bible tells us how Jesus will return to earth and what will happen when He does, but it does not tell us exactly when this will occur. In a recent Beth Moore study of Daniel, I was fascinated by the idea that since only God knows when the end is coming, then that means Satan does not know. As such, Satan has a candidate for the Antichrist in every generation. Interesting indeed.
Despite our best efforts, there is no way to predict exactly when Jesus will return to us. Scripture tells us that. Because of this, there are many folks out there who are utterly obsessed with the thought that the second coming of Christ could happen tonight, tomorrow, or a month from now. They are so obsessed with this that they forget to live their lives. Indeed, it is important to have your spiritual house in order. You must know what you believe and why, not just because Jesus could return tomorrow, but also because none of us knows how long we have to live on this earth. I could live to be 100 or I could die today. We don't know the "when," so we need to be prepared to meet our maker no matter when that meeting occurs.
There is one fundamental problem with obsessing endlessly about the end-times: Jesus has not yet returned, so that must mean that God isn't done with earthly life in its current state. There must still be good works to be done, still time to impact the world for Christ through our talents and our love. If we spend all our time agonizing over what is yet to come, we will miss what God is expecting us to do for Him and His children today.
Perhaps a man named Richard Bach said it best: "Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished: If you're alive, it isn't."
Monday, July 18, 2011
Mother Teresa's Secret
We've all heard of Mother Teresa and the wonderful work she did with the poor in Calcutta, India. She was truly the embodiment of Christ's love in a broken world. Most people don't realize, however, that Mother Teresa carried a secret that often consumed her with pain.
She first received her mission call when Jesus spoke to her directly. He said, "Come be my light." As she was pondering this call, Jesus added a question, "Will you do this for me?" She had all the information she needed to start her mission work - Christ Himself had called her to it! In the process of setting up her ministry in Calcutta, she was in near-constant communication with God. The Holy Spirit filled her and she had never felt closer to God. Then, when her ministry was established, the communication abruptly stopped. Not only was God's voice and the fire of the Holy Spirit suddenly absent, but this absence persisted for the rest of her life. Imagine how awful this must have felt to one so committed to God's call on her life. Consider Mother Teresa's own words, written down in a prayer to God:
"Lord, my God, who am I that You should forsake me? The child of your love, and now become the one you have thrown away as unwanted - unloved. I call, I cling, I want - and there is no One to answer - no One on Whom I can cling. Alone. The darkness is so dark - and I am alone. The loneliness of the heart that wants love is unbearable. Where is my faith? When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul. What are you doing, My God, to one so small?"
Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt like a God that you refuse to stop believing in is unable or unwilling to hear you? I think we sometimes carry the false notion that the most pious among us - our mentors, church leaders, even Mother Teresa - could never struggle as we do in communicating with God. Surely they have it all figured out, right? They must have God on speed-dial, while we're left fumbling just to dial the number. Not so, friends. We all struggle in our faith at times, but the key is in maintaining that faith as Mother Teresa did. Remember that Jesus promised never to leave us or forsake us. Even if all we feel is emptiness, expressing that loneliness to God will not fall on deaf ears. If we remain faithful, the emptiness we feel will not be in vain. All things - even answer to prayer - are perfected in God's time.
I think it is wonderfully appropriate that Mother Teresa died in the midst of an electrical outage. Even backup electrical supplies went out, something that had never happened before. When earthly life left the one who had answered Jesus' call to "come be My light," all of Calcutta was plunged into darkness. How poetic and wonderful is our God?
She first received her mission call when Jesus spoke to her directly. He said, "Come be my light." As she was pondering this call, Jesus added a question, "Will you do this for me?" She had all the information she needed to start her mission work - Christ Himself had called her to it! In the process of setting up her ministry in Calcutta, she was in near-constant communication with God. The Holy Spirit filled her and she had never felt closer to God. Then, when her ministry was established, the communication abruptly stopped. Not only was God's voice and the fire of the Holy Spirit suddenly absent, but this absence persisted for the rest of her life. Imagine how awful this must have felt to one so committed to God's call on her life. Consider Mother Teresa's own words, written down in a prayer to God:
"Lord, my God, who am I that You should forsake me? The child of your love, and now become the one you have thrown away as unwanted - unloved. I call, I cling, I want - and there is no One to answer - no One on Whom I can cling. Alone. The darkness is so dark - and I am alone. The loneliness of the heart that wants love is unbearable. Where is my faith? When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven, there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives and hurt my very soul. What are you doing, My God, to one so small?"
Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever felt like a God that you refuse to stop believing in is unable or unwilling to hear you? I think we sometimes carry the false notion that the most pious among us - our mentors, church leaders, even Mother Teresa - could never struggle as we do in communicating with God. Surely they have it all figured out, right? They must have God on speed-dial, while we're left fumbling just to dial the number. Not so, friends. We all struggle in our faith at times, but the key is in maintaining that faith as Mother Teresa did. Remember that Jesus promised never to leave us or forsake us. Even if all we feel is emptiness, expressing that loneliness to God will not fall on deaf ears. If we remain faithful, the emptiness we feel will not be in vain. All things - even answer to prayer - are perfected in God's time.
I think it is wonderfully appropriate that Mother Teresa died in the midst of an electrical outage. Even backup electrical supplies went out, something that had never happened before. When earthly life left the one who had answered Jesus' call to "come be My light," all of Calcutta was plunged into darkness. How poetic and wonderful is our God?
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