Truth Talks

Gay Rights Activists Trample Cross

There are a few things that render me speechless. However, when I saw the video last week of a gay rights activist snatch a cross from an older woman and stomp on it…my jaw dropped and all I could do was groan.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Rom 1: 18

Please take time to read the rest of Romans 1. It is like reading today’s newspaper, from God’s vantage point. Men are suppressing the truth of a knowledge of God.

25If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. … 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay, "and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Heb 10:25-31

The audience in Hebrews is believers but serves as a reminder that God will avenge and repay those who trample the Son of God. No, the Styrofoam cross the woman held was not Jesus, but it represents all that he stands for.

Please pray during these times of ungodliness. All of those who are protesting for all the wrong reasons have eternal souls just like you and me. Pray that they will hear the truth and listen. Pray for our new president-elect that he will not suppress the truth of these and other crucial issues.

What will you do with the truth you have heard?

Trifecta, Tricycle, Trilemma.

Trifecta, tricycle, trilemma. An interesting trio, don’t you think? Most of us are familiar with the first two, but the third may not be so familiar.

C.S. Lewis uses the idea of this “trilemma” to describe what you will have as you wrestle with three vary different conclusions concerning Jesus Christ. Once an agnostic Lewis writes, “I am trying to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: ‘I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.’”

Jesus claimed to be God, if he was not, he wouldn’t be a great teacher, he’d be a liar. However, “someone who lived as Jesus lived, taught as Jesus taught, and died as Jesus died could not have been merely a liar. What alternatives are there?”

He’d be a lunatic. If he were crazy enough to think he was God, that might also explain why he spoke words that eventually got him crucified. But, historians and psychologists report his teachings were those spoken by a man with mental clarity. Now what?

He must be as he claimed, the Christ, the Son of God—Lord.

All three choices of the trilemma are possible, but which is most probable? Who you decide Jesus Christ cannot be determined by some “idle intellectual exercise. You cannot put him on the shelf as a great moral teacher. That is not a valid option. He is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord and God.”[1] You must make a choice.

I’d love to hear from you. What do you think? What will you do with this trilemma?

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[1] Adapted from Josh McDowell’s More Than a Carpenter

See also McDowell’s Evidence that Demand’s a Verdict and Mere Chrisitanity by CS Lewis.

Using Messianic Prophecy as Proof

As Christians communicating to unbelieving skeptics in our postmodern world today, it is more important than ever to have facts to back up our beliefs.   The next generation is skeptical of anything said to represent absolute truth.  However, the Bible in itself has enough detail to provide a compelling argument for its accuracy as anything else around.  We just need to know where to look.

Prophecy is one of the best ways to prove the authenticity of the Bible.  Scores of events are foretold and fulfilled throughout its pages.  Dozens of them are about Jesus were written hundreds of years before Jesus was even born.  All were fulfilled.  How many supermarket tabloid “prophets” can attest to that kind of accuracy?

Following are some of the most significant Messianic prophecies from the Old Testament, along with the New Testament verse showing the fulfillment of the prophecy (see note below).  Try them out on some of your skeptic friends.  The Bible is no ordinary book.

1. Born of a woman (Gen 3:14; Gal 4:4)
2. Born of a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:21)
3. He would be "cut off" 483 years after the declaration to reconstruct the  temple in 444 B.C. (Dan 9:24)
4. Of the seed of Abraham (Gen 12:1-3; 22:18; Math 1:1; Gal 3:16)
5. Of the tribe of Judah(Gen 49:10); Luke 3:23, 33; Heb 7:14)
6. Of the house of David (2 Sam 7:12; Matt 1:1)
7. Born in Bethlehem(Micah 5:2; Matt 2:1; Luke 2:4-7)
8. Anointed by the Holy Spirit (Isa 11:2; Mat t3:16-17)
9. Heralded by the messenger of the Lord (John the Baptist) (Isa 40:3; mal 3:1; Matt 3:1-2)
10. Would perform miracles (Isa 35:5-6; Matt 9:35)
11. Would cleanse the temple (Mal 3:1; Matt 21:12)
12. Rejected by Jews (Ps 118:22; 1 Pe 2:7)
13. Die a humiliating death (Ps 22; Isa 53) involving:

a. rejection (Isa 53:3; John 1:10-11; 7:5, 48)
b. silence before His accusers (Isa. 53:7; Matt. 27:12-19)
c. being mocked (Ps 22:7-8; Matt. 27:31)
d. piercing His hands and feet (Ps 22:16; Luke 23:33)
e. being crucified with thieves (Isa. 53:12; Matt. 27:38)
f. praying for His persecutors (Isa 53:12; Luke 23:43)
g. piercing His side (Zech 12:10; John 19:34)
h. buried in a rich man's tomb (Isa 53:9; Matt 27:57-60)
i. casting lots for His garments (Ps 22:18; John 19:23-24)

14. Would rise from the dead (Ps 16:10; Mark 16:6; Acts 2:31)
15. Ascend into heaven (Ps 68:18; Acts 1:9)
16. Would sit down a the right hand of God (Ps 110:1; Heb 1:3)

Note:  The above list was taken from the book When Skeptics Ask by Geisler/Brooks, p. 114-115.

Where Does Wisdom Come From?

According to my recent Costco magazine wisdom comes from Kirkland® children’s vitamins. Their sales pitch suggests young minds should be fed multivitamins because they need these essential nutrients. As a nutritionist, I agree that certain supplemental nutrients are essential for good brain development. However, I don’t see the connection between healthy gray-matter and wisdom, at least not as the Bible describes wisdom.

The concept of wisdom is an important one especially in our technological society, where we place a strong emphasis on knowledge. The Scriptures do not make the mistake of confusing wisdom with other mental capacities.

Over 300 times in the Old Testament a basic word group (hāķam, hoķmâh and hāķām) is used to mean understanding. These terms refer to wisdom to master life’s challenges in light of our relationship with God. Take a look at these verses from Proverbs 2:

6 For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding. 9 Then you will understand what is right and just and fair—every good path. 10For wisdom will enter your heart and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. 11Discretion will protect you, understanding will guard you. 12Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse.

In the New Testament the concept of wisdom is expressed with the Greek word sophia representing an unusual mental ability, a philosophical or speculative knowledge. However, Paul referred to this concept as “human wisdom” in 1 Corinthians 1–3. This type of wisdom is prevalent today as people try to use their human wisdom and knowledge to reach God. God calls these attempts foolish. Ironically, sinful mankind sees God’s solution of Jesus Christ dying for their sins foolish. Who is right?

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. (1 Corinthians 1:25)

Although multi-vitamins are good supplements to add to any diet, they will not provide wisdom. Only when we abandon what seems wise by human standards and accept without hesitation the divine viewpoint as reveled in Scripture can we claim true wisdom. Wisdom comes from God.

What will you do with what you know?

The Jesus of Christianity

Foundational to our Christian worldview is a knowledge of God.  Having an understanding of God’s nature also involves Jesus, God’s son and second member of the triune Godhead. The significance of Jesus in our knowledge of God must not be underestimated because if Jesus is redefined, so is God and so is the Gospel.  Without a biblical Jesus, His work on the cross is negated and Christianity is dead.   

There are many modern day religious cults that portray a non-biblical Jesus in their teachings.  While they profess the name of Jesus, they do not profess the Jesus of the Bible. 

“The Jesus of the Christian Scientists, the Mormons, the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and of all of the cult systems, is but a subtle caricature of the Christ of divine revelation.  In cult theology, He becomes an abstraction (Christian Science, Unity, Metaphysics, New Thought), a second god (Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormonism, Theosophy, Rosacrucianism, Baha’ism), or a pantheistic manifestation of deity (Spiritism, The Great I Am); but He is still incontrovertibly “another Jesus,” who represents another gospel and imparts another spirit, which by no conceivable stretch of the imagination could be called holy.”[1]

We need to be diligent in defending our Jesus and recognizing false teachings so we can lead people to the one true God. The best way to recognize a counterfeit is to know the real thing.  Following are some key attributes of the real Jesus from a biblical perspective commonly perverted by some of the aforementioned cults of our day:

                1.  Jesus is God in the flesh (1 John 2:22, Mt 16:17) – not an abstract spirit.

                2.  Jesus is God, the second Person of the Holy Trinity (John 8:58, John 5:18) – not an angel who later became a god or one of many gods.

               

If another person's Jesus does not have these qualities, their Jesus is not biblical. It may be up to you to help them understand.

Be diligent.  Be aware.  Be ready.  Lead others to the Truth.  Their lives depend on it.

What will you do with what you know?

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[1] Walter Martin, Kingdom of the Cults (1985), p. 380

Truth Talk about Hell, Part Two

As a Christian, what difference does it make what we believe about Hell? Consider this analogy.

Think of someone you love, perhaps a child, parent, or sibling. If your loved one did not believe in gravity, a physical law you know to be true, would you allow them to attempt to jump off a building? If you were uncertain if law of gravity existed, would you check it out before letting them jump? Likewise, I encourage you to consider the reality of this eternal separation from God called Hell.

However, in all fairness, it is important to consider how you interpret the Bible. Just as faulty interpretation of the law of gravity can have devastating consequences, so can faulty biblical interpretation.

Jesus speaks very clearly in Matthew 8:12; 13:42–50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; of a place of darkness where there will be weeping and “gnashing of teeth.” The Greek usage of the verb “gnash” means to grate ones teeth in pain or rage. Mark quoted the prophet Isaiah in reference to a place for people who rebel against God experiencing a fire that is not quenched or extinguished (Isa 66:23–24; Mark 9:43–49).

Do you see how we interpret these Scriptures becomes crucial to how we apply the principles to our lives or the lives of others?

Recent commenters to this blog could be assuming a spiritual or allegorical interpretation of the subject of Hell. Personally, I promote a literal view, which stresses grammatical and historical interpretation. Lots of big words to say, I take the Bible at face value and in context. I take all of the verses in the Bible that talk about Hell, eternal torment, souls perishing forever, punishment, death, etc., and see a picture.

The picture I see supports the Good News, the Gospel. Jesus Christ is the Savior that came to save people. From what? From Hell.

Consider today:

1. Do you interpret the Scriptures consistently?
2. How do you know?
3. From what does Jesus save?

(Here is a helpful resource for your library: Basic Bible Interpretation, A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth, by Roy B. Zuck.)

Truth Talk About Hell

If, as Janna wrote on her post earlier this week, “Keeping the end in mind [heaven] helps us endure through the hard times, [then] understanding the alternative to heaven… might also influence our actions.” The alternative in which she speaks is the place called Hell.

There are many teachings inside the church on the doctrine of Hell. The Way of the Master Radio recently interviewed a pastor of a large church in Minneapolis. This is but one pastor who, while trying to make church attractive and culturally relevant, is misinterpreting Scriptures on Hell. He is teaching that it is not a real place.

However, the Bible says:

1. The destiny of the unsaved is “the eternal fire prepared for the devil” (Matthew 25:41).
2. “And these [that ignored Jesus] will go away into eternal punishment, but the saved [those that followed Jesus] into eternal life” (Mathew 25:46).
3. It is a place “where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:47-48).
4. It is a place “for those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus… [a place] away from the presence of the Lord” (one of punishment and eternal destruction) (2 Thes 1:5–9).
5. “And the devil…was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur… [to] be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

While we must be careful in our judgment of others, the biblical interpretation that Hell is not a real place is based on figurative interpretation of the Scriptures. Jesus and Paul were speaking literally when they discussed life after death. The truth about physical death is that no one escapes. The mortality rate of humans is still 100%.

Last month, my father-in-law passed from this earthly life into eternity. Because he knew Jesus, he will spend eternity in the presence of the Lord in a place called heaven. So, with only one chance to die and after this face forever, with or apart from God, the alternative to humanity’s heavenly destination becomes vital to those who don’t know Jesus as their Savior.

Talking about Hell may seem unpleasant. However, not talking about it doesn’t make it any less of a reality for those who die without Christ.

What will you do with what you know?