What about Pentecost?

Q.  I was recently asked the question,`Did Jesus ever include the Holy Spirit when praying to God?` What would be an appropriate answer to this. ? This person believes the Spirit didn`t come till the day of Pentecost.

The Descending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost

A.  The recorded prayers we have of Jesus do not indicate that He prayed to the Holy Spirit.  Jesus’ prayers were always addressed to the Father (again, that we have recorded in the Gospels), much as we now pray to the Father through Jesus, our intercessor.

While it is true that the ministry of the Holy Spirit was vastly magnified on Pentecost, it would be fallacy to assume that the Holy Spirit did not involve Himself with the workings of earth until that day.  Instead, we see Him at work first in Genesis 1:2, “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters (ESV).“  The ministry of the Holy Spirit was not dissimilar in the Old Testament to the ministry described in the New Testament. Consider that the Holy Spirit gave wisdom and revelation (Deuteronomy 34:9, Micah 3:8, Nehemiah 9:20).  It is obvious from these and many other verses that, much as He gives us wisdom now and did in the New Testament (John 16:13), He did so as well in the Old Testament.

Also, much as the Holy Spirit indwells believers now, He did so as well in the Old Testament with men like Joshua, Jepthah, Samson, Samuel, Saul, David, Elijah, Jerubbabel, Jeshua, and countless others.  Also, the Holy Spirit was and is an agent to bring about inward renewal of the hearts of believers (Ezekiel 36:26-27, Jeremiah 31:33, Romans 8:9-16).

The question then, to be asked, is this:  What significance is Pentecost?  While the Holy Spirit had ministered on earth before Pentecost, there was a difference in the scope and reach of His ministry.  The Holy Spirit’s empowerment was not always permanent (see Saul, Samson, Balaam, and consider David’s heartfelt plea for the Holy Spirit not to leave him in Psalm 51:11), and He only empowered certain people and for certain missions (consider that Samson was empowered by the Holy Spirit for the destruction of the Philistines, or Saul being empowered to save the people of Jabesh-Gilead).  In contrast, Pentecost was the fulfillment of a powerful prophecy in Joel:

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions. Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. Joel 2:28-29 (ESV)”

At Pentecost, the Spirit empowered ALL believers, as such people of all ages and positions in life would be filled with the empowering Spirit of the Lord.  Pentecost was the beginning of this great prophecy of Joel that continues to be fulfilled today in the lives of believers on whom the Lord’s Spirit and favor rest.

provided to www.gotquestions.org

On Bart Ehrman and Silly Professor Tricks

Jesus, Interrupted, Bart Ehrman's latest shot at Orthodox Christianity

I can’t tell you how exciting it is to me to know that I live in the same state as Bart Ehrman, a distinguished member of the staff at the University of North Carolina.  Professor Ehrman has recently released a new book entitled Jesus, Interrupted. Now, to be perfectly fair, I haven’t sat down and read Mr. Ehrman’s “masterpiece of NT textual criticism.”  But that’s not my fault.  It’s not my fault, because Mr. Ehrman really isn’t much of a masterpiece maker.  In fact, my position, after viewing the evidence, is that Mr. Ehrman is basically puffed up on himself and is heavy on style, but utterly devoid of substance.

Because I haven’t read Mr. Ehrman’s work, I have included a video from his appearance with Steven Colbert on The Colbert Report.  I won’t go into the gory details, and I admittedly don’t even know much about Mr. Colbert, but after watching the video, I am much more impressed by his acumen than Mr. Ehrman’s.

One thing that amazes me is Mr. Ehrman’s incredibly wooden reading of the gospels.  For example, he compares the record of the gospels in Mark and Luke and concludes that they conflict because in Mark, Jesus seems to not understand why He was dying, while in Luke He was calm and concerned about all around Him.

Is Bart serious?  Is this really what passes for New Testament ship these days?  COME ON!  First of all, Jesus was quoting Psalm 22.  He knew what was going on.  He had just told the disciples a few days previously that He was going to die.  Would He now be mystified as to why He was being crucified?  NO, HE WOULDN’T.  Even beyond that, let’s think for a moment.  Jesus was comforting the women who were standing beside His path to Golgotha.  He wasn’t on the cross yet.  Also, consider this.  Jesus was on the cross for six hours.  SIX HOURS!  Do you really think a chapter out of each of the 4 gospels REALLY covered everything that happened?  I’m sure that a lot more went on, but the gospel writers recorded what they recorded for a specific purpose.  The combination of the 3 synoptics with the Gospel of John provides an incredibly full account of Christ’s death.  The sad thing is that surely, if all four gospels recorded the same thing, then Professor Ehrman would accuse the gospel writers of overcorroboration.

Also, it’s not the Jews of early Palestine that were confused on what the “Son of God” meant.  It’s Ehrman who doesn’t get it.  The “Son of Man,” as Jesus was apt to describe Himself, was a divine being, as evidenced in Daniel.  Also, there was enough prophecy surrounding the birth of Jesus that it should leave little doubt as to whether or not Jesus was divine.  The prophecy of Isaiah even went so far as to say that He would be called “Mighty God.”  Consider for a moment the implications if this was not what was meant by that prophecy.  You have a God who has previously stated there are no other gods but Him, stating through Isaiah, His chosen mouthpiece, that someone else would be called God.  How would that not be terribly wonky unless the being who would be called God was God, and shared in the divinity of the One who was God?  And you can’t argue from lack of authenticity of Isaiah, because we have scrolls from Qumran that predate the birth of Christ by 100 years.  Give me a break.

One more note to consider.  Ehrman claims that the divinity of Christ was a late addition to Christianity.  If that’s the case, explain why Corinthians, written assuredly before 68 AD (Paul had his head removed from his neck in 68), contains a creed that was expressed by early Christians that basically amounts to an expression of Christ’s resurrection, which should surely prove that He was divinity.  Why did Paul offer 500 eyewitnesses to Jesus’ resurrection, unless the witnesses were there to be asked?  It makes no sense.

People like Bart Ehrman are only as dangerous as we allow them to be.  With careful study and workmanship, we can refute the pitifully shallow arguments of men like him, Richard Dawkins, and Chris Hitchens.  My wish is that Christians would take the time to build their faith through a sound defense of said faith.

bart-ehrman

All Who Are Weary

Come to Me, all who are weary, and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

This, if any, is the invitation of a lifetime.  The freedom from striving to be good enough for God, the freedom from a lifetime of bondage to sin and suffering that threatens to overwhelm us and take us down to the depths of Sheol.  This is not just any invitation.

Jesus offers us, in this tiny passage, freedom from our struggles with our own sinful natures.  You see, His offer is this:  “Cease your striving, come to Me, and I will give you rest from trying to save yourself by the law.  My burden, believing in Me, and trusting in Me for your salvation, is light compared to the burden of trying to save yourselves.”

It is easy for us to see the strivings of the Pharisees when we read Matthew, but harder still for us to see our own strivings.  Often, we as Christians pride ourselves on our abilities to avoid trouble, avert temptation, or our own moral fortitude.  We forget that, while moral uprightness IS a virtue, it is a virtue not of ourselves, but bestowed by the LORD to us, that we would not continue to live in bondage to sin and suffering, but would instead be transformed by His great love for us and find rest for our souls in the sacrifice of Jesus.

Take a moment.  Are you striving?  Do you feel that your own holiness is important to your salvation?  Do you feel that your own spectacularly high standard is the standard by which God will judge others?  If so, take time to really take stock and realize a few things. First, to not see your own inherent sinfulness means that you are not being honest with yourself.  Second, since you are sinful, you have two options:  One is to try to save yourself with whatever good works you can achieve.  The other is to trust Jesus with your burden, and take His offer for rest.  If you do that, the final step is to realize that the freedom given to you by Christ is a gift that you can’t earn.  By doing so, you realize that the rest He gives you from the law is the same rest He gives everyone.  Therefore let no man boast of His sinlessness and blamelessness, for the rest of Christ Jesus is not to be bought by works, but rather, to be celebrated and praised in songs of thanksgiving.  Then, go out and do your good works empowered by the One who has brought true rest to your soul, knowing that your work is an outgrowing of the wonderful, matchless gift of grace from Christ, our Savior.

Psalm 22

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads;
“He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”
Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.
Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast;
my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet–
I can count all my bones– they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion! You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the LORD, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he has done it. “

The words of David, fulfilled in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, Son of David.  In Him is found all hope for our souls, the restoration of life with the LORD, and the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament, including the prophecies of Psalm 22.

Take a moment and consider the gravity of the LORD’s death commemorated today.  In His death do we find life everlasting and the defeat of the grave.

The Law and the Christian

Recently, the Bible has become a target of ridicule by politicians and persons of influence.  Most notably, the book of Leviticus has fallen under quite an attack by the liberal left, who want to spin the ancient laws of Israel so that the Bible is no longer relevant in today’s society.

I have to say, if you want to bash Leviticus for the difficulty of reading it, then fine.  Okay.  I have speed read through the book three or four times just so that I can read it without falling asleep.  However, that being said, let us analyze Leviticus for what it is.  It is the priestly portion of the torah, or the pentateuch, or whatever you want to call the five books of Moses.  Combined with Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, these books comprise what is commonly known as “The Law” (By the way, torah is Hebrew for law…you learn something new every day).  At any rate, these laws form the basis of God’s covenant with Israel.  What Mr. Obama, Jack Black, and a host of others who make fun of the Old Testament’s seeming ridiculous laws don’t get is that these laws are part of a land-ownership covenant between the LORD and the people of Israel.  In short, the covenant between these two parties was this:  If Israel obeyed God, they could keep the land.  If they didn’t, He would kick them off.  In the end, they didn’t keep it, and He kicked them off (technically, they were deported because they had not honored the sabbath of the land rule for 490 years, thus resulting in being kicked out for 70 years, one for every land sabbath not kept).  I don’t think God is going to burn anyone with fire or brimstone now for sowing two different kinds of crops.  However, He also isn’t promising you a spot in Canaan.  So, there you have it.

Does this mean, then, that for us the laws are no longer valid?  Certainly not!  Jesus affirmed the law in Matthew 5, and He also affirmed the power of the law when He said that the greatest commandments were to love God and love your neighbor.  The morality of the law is still the same, the need for holiness is still the same.  Moral issues raised in the Old Testament, then reiterated in the New Testament, should obviously be considered to be sinful in the eyes of God.

I say this because I read that President Obama’s choice to head up the Faith organization committee is a self-proclaimed gay Christian who says that the New Testament teachings against homosexuality are wrong.  I would challenge Mr. Harry Knox to provide reasons why scripture that has stood the test of time for 2,000 years can now be wrong.  I don’t really have the time to devote much more to this, but if it is a topic that people are interested in, I would be surely happy to build a more cohesive case for the legitimacy of Scripture.

Craig and Hitchens

Bill Craig and Chris Hitchens debated at Biola University on Saturday night.  For those who don’t know the two men, Bill Craig is a Christian apologist, and Chris Hitchens is an atheist and editor for Vanity Fair magazine.  Hitchens is representative of the new breed of atheist, who are militant against religion in general and claim that religion is nothing more than a great source of evil.  Craig is one of the foremost Christian philosophers on the planet.

I regret that I haven’t been able to review the debate in full, but I was browsing through www.christianpost.com where I was able to read the review.  As usual, the same thing surfaced.  Mr. Craig offered his argument for the veracity of Christianity, while Chris Hitchens offered nothing solid for atheism.  As is typical, Mr. Hitchens spent his time attacking Christianity, attacking God, the cross, etc. and etc.  In the end, you are left with the same thing as usual:  atheists typically offer any kind of attack possible while refusing to understand that you can’t play skeptic without having anything concrete to offer on the contrary.  Typically, it goes like this:  “I am the atheist, I don’t have to prove anything, and its all up to you to prove God.  Otherwise, I can stick my fingers in my ears and sing and stay in my little atheist bubble!”

I challenge atheists to at least be intellectually honest:  in order to prove that there is decidedly not a God, you would have to be everywhere and know everything.  Guess what?  Then, YOU’RE GOD!  So you see, the only way to argue intellectually is to at least say you are agnostic and do not know whether or not there is a God.

Hitchens, Bill Maher, Richard Dawkins, and a host of others are out and about spreading vitriol towards religion in general, and Christianity in particular.  Their arguments are, for the most part, incoherent, illogical, and devoid of any philosophical and/or theological training.  Christians need to equip themselves to know the truth.  If you look at the site links on the right of my site, you can find any number of resources that can direct you to rational arguments against atheism.  One in particular, www.equip.org, offers several items to read in order to not fall for the new modes of atheism.  It’s called Confronting the New Village Atheists, and it is really a great resource.

On Vermont and Gay Marriage

I was made aware at work that Vermont and Iowa had become the latest two states to okay gay marriage.  I pondered that for most of the rest of the day, thinking about what to say from the standpoint of a follower of Christ.

Let me first say this:  Those who are homosexuals should NOT be the subject of ridicule, hate, or vitriol.  To need to say this to the Christian community is a tragedy of the highest order, and to think that some of those who most need the mercy and grace of Christ receive only judgment and scorn from those who are most supposed to represent it is ridiculous.  This kind of behavior is precisely what the LORD would NOT appreciate.

As for my own personal beliefs on homosexuality, I believe that it is, in fact, prohibited by the bible, having been condemned as sinful both in the Old Testament (Leviticus 18:22) and the New Testament (1st Corinthians 6:9 and 1st Timothy 1:10).  Also, there are several verses in the bible that indicate homosexuality as a condition of depravity.  I realize that there are scientists who propose that homosexuality is a genetic condition, but I also know that the evidence is by no means conclusive.  In fact, there is evidence that this is not the case.  Intellectual honesty would require a statement of inconclusiveness.

While I will not debate the sinfulness of homosexuality (I believe that it is a sin, much as I believe that lying, heterosexual sex before marriage, drunkenness, and other assorted deeds are sins), I will vigorously debate the legitimacy of homosexual marriage.

Let me begin by saying this:  I am unequivocably opposed to homosexual relations (again, just as I am to heterosexual sex before marriage).  That being said, let us look at the origins of marriage to discern why the Christ follower should take issue with homosexual marriage.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24, NKJV).”

This passage has set the tone for male-female relationships for all time.  In fact, several thousand years later, as Jesus was being questioned about marriage, He responded by quoting this exact verse.  I realize that for this to be universally accepted as proof that marriage was meant to be the union of one man and woman would require a person to accept the word of Christ as the very Word of God, but as Christ followers, my assumption would be that one would do just that.  Therefore, from a Christian perspective, marriage is indeed meant to be between one man and one woman, a permanent covenant between opposite sexes before the LORD our God.  For the Christian, there is really no other point to arrive at than the point that lines itself with the words of our LORD, which is the reaffirmation of marriage between a man and a woman.

Even from a logical perspective, it would stand to reason that man and woman are designed to be placed in tandem with one another in matrimony.  One look at the completeness of our LORD, the nurturing side of the Blessed One, the ruggedness and power in the voice of Messiah, and we see that completion is in fact, a union of the man and woman.  When God created Eve, He did so according to the notion that “it is not good for man to be alone.”  The implication is that indeed, it is the union of man and woman that is considered a place of completeness.  I am by no means iterating that an unmarried person is incomplete.  Far from it, for those who remain unmarried have the LORD as their companion just as the married couple, thereby offering them the same level of fulfillment in life in the Spirit.  I am saying this only to deny that a marriage between two men or two women could possibly be the image of completeness in the eyes of the LORD who has created us.

Again, I would love to expound further upon the relevancy of scripture in defining homosexuality as sin, for I believe that it is imperative for those who are Christ followers to set the standard of Grace and Truth on earth.  It would be a tragedy and hate crime of the highest order if we were to spare the ears of homosexuals from the truth out of lack of desire to offend.  We are the hands and feet of the LORD, yet we are also the voice of the LORD here on earth.  It is a biblical mandate for Christians to stand for truth, and sometimes that will call for speaking things that will create discomfort.  We are called to love, we are called to minister, we are called to stand for truth and righteousness.

The union of man and woman was the original design of God.  This was His decision, His choice, and this was how He designed us to work.  I do not, and I cannot stress this enough, condone homosexuality.  Quite the opposite, rather.  I also, however, feel that as Christians, we are to show grace and mercy, all the while living out the ideals of truth and righteousness, and speaking truth in the areas where it need be said.

“For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ; (Ephesians 4:12-15, KJV)”

The God Question and Suffering

One of the most disastrous questions for a Christian to encounter, even moreso than the questions of evolution, biblical inerrancy, and various other difficulties of the faith, is the question of suffering.  Why do people suffer?  Why does a good God allow bad things to happen to those who are His faithful?  Why, for that matter, does God allow atrocities every day that shatter the hopes and dreams even of those who are not His by word and commitment, but are still His by creation?  When the sobs of the heartbroken and painful mourning of those who weep reach the heights of Heaven seemingly unanswered or uncared for, where is this God who “neither slumbers nor sleeps?”

This question stops more Christians in their tracks, leaves more skeptics continually scoffing at the “love of God” and eats the faith of more people than any other question.  Why do we suffer?  Buddhists and other adherents to eastern religious philosophies maintain that suffering is but an illusion and only once we get past that illusion will we reach peace.  Legalists in the Judeo-Christian background of faith can sometimes point at suffering as the result of something we have done.  Stoics believed that suffering was “our fate” and only by letting go of our feelings can we reach peace.

What are Christians to make of suffering?  How do we answer that question?  Well, first and foremost, one way to counteract the idea that evil disproves the existence of a loving God is this fact:  In order to evaluate something as “evil,” there must be some standard by which we evaluate what is “good.”  By this I mean that without a standard, we can’t really evaluate evil as evil.  How would we know what evil is if there was no good.  There has to be some objective standard by which we measure “good” and “evil”.  Hence, the argument can work equally well in reverse:  Suffering proves the existence of God because if there is evil, there is good.  Therefore, the presence of good in the world is evidence for the existence of God.

Another way to look at suffering is that, in some ways, humans ARE responsible for human suffering.  Galatians 6:7 states that “God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.”  Very logically, there are actions that we partake in that lead to our suffering.  The unfaithful husband who is finally left lonely by his wife, love long dead from stupidity and selfishness, has rightfully reaped from the seeds which he has sown.  The young unwed mother now contemplating the future that she has carved for herself and now a child through her irresponsibility in tandem with the irresponsibility of her young lover has reached this point due to her own actions.  Indeed, some of the suffering we feel is due to our own behavior.

What do we do then, with suffering that is through no fault of our own?  What do we do with the pains that people feel that they never brought upon themselves?  The tragedy of starvation in Africa, the pain of the young mother holding a dying child in her arms, the grief stricken wife burying her husband, all her hopes and dreams dying along with the youthful man?  What then?  Where possibly can God be in that?  Who do we lift our hands to in anger?  Who do we scream to in the midst of all of this?

The easiest answer for the Christian to give and indeed, to hold onto in answer for their own faith is this:  God took the question of suffering, laid it upon Himself on the blood-stained nails of the old rugged cross, and dashed suffering to the ground in defeat.  You see, those who cry can know that Christ Himself, the living Lord and the God of Tears Himself stands waiting there.  He meets you in your suffering, this God of pain, this one and only Messiah.  Our suffering here, the death and despair, the agony and tears, are felt full force by that God-Man that lives for us, interceding moment by moment in front of our Father.  He assures us daily that in the midst of our failings and tragedies He is there, weaping with us, waiting for the time of divine restoration right along beside us.  Mother Teresa, the suffering saint of Calcutta, equated the awful sufferings of this world to no more than “a stay in an inconvenient hotel” when compared to the joys God’s saints will experience in heaven.  It is for the reason that we have this hope in Christ, the suffering messiah, for resurrection and restoration, that Paul says that “you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.”

God created a perfect world.  He created mankind in His own image of rationale, judgment, and the ability to choose for himself.  Mankind chose to bring evil into the world.  Despite our culpability in the problem of pain and suffering, God chose to insert Himself into this world, take all of the pain, suffering, and tears of our lives, take them upon Himself, and die with arms wide open.  If nothing else comes out of pain and suffering, there is the loving God who offered Himself as a balm for our pain.  How can you not love this God?

I don’t offer this as a pat answer.  As Christians, it is our call to be the hands and feet of the living God here on earth to salve the pain and hurt of others.  It is our responsibility to do the godly thing when it comes time to intervene in the lives of others.  God has already done has job by accepting our suffering upon himself.  That, I believe, is the only real answer necessary for the question of suffering.

Ask, Seek, Knock

With the economy being as difficult as it is today, it is not a stretch to see the stress in the faces of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.  As pressures mount from job stress, the concerns of a weakened economy that shows no signs of recovery have begun to take their toll in the church.  Men and women are feeling the pressures of possible job loss, and it is creating an increasingly difficult environment for us to show love as Christian brothers and sisters.

I would like to take an opportunity to offer encouragement to those who are in this position.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?   Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him?”

God is good.  If God is good, then He can be counted on to provide the needs that you have and that which will keep you going for His mission and purpose.  It is not you providing your paycheck through your job, it is God providing you your means to keep yourself up.

I have been on the bad end of unemployment, I was there for six months.  It was really difficult, but through it all, I saw God provide for me and my family of six in ways that I never could have imagined.  I could not have been more amazed by the timing of His providence in those times of need, and I actually treasure some of those moments in that I was able to see Him work.

It is difficult to give encouraging words to those in this situation.  There is nothing that I can say other than God is the provider of your sustenance and protection.  Pray to God, ask for His peace, grace, and providence.  Seek His face, His love, and His heart, and knock on the door to His will.  You may see that His purpose for you far outweighs the previously lofty purpose you had for yourself.

American Idols

What is it about America that makes it so easy for us to fall into idol worship?  Now, I know that you may think that is hilarious, because America does not have a high concentration of golden calves, or Molech worship, or child sacrifice, all of which are commonly associated with idol worship.  However, to say that idol worship does not occur in America would be folly.

Turn on your television.  Read the newspaper.  We have television shows that are specifically designed in order to create new pop icons for American youth.  We have television shows that are designed to place us in the middle of the lives of washed up celebrities clammering for a grasp of their once potent fame.  America is obsessed with idols.

What is your idol?  Is it yourself?  Do you find yourself placing you above God?  How about success?  Is success your idol?  Search your life.  Idols are anything you place above God and value more than your relationship with Him.  I have had them.  You have had them.  Idols are everywhere, and we have to have the wherewithall to avoid them at all cost.