He said, "God is dead!"

William Hamilton died yesterday. You probably have not heard of him.  In 1966, he created a real furor by announcing the ‘death of God’ in an article published in Time magazine. He was, at that time, a teaching theology at a divinity school. Hamilton looked at life and found too many questions without answers. He concluded that either there was no God or that God was not involved in our lives. He said "The death of God is a metaphor. We needed to redefine Christianity as a possibility without the presence of God." There are a lot of people like Mr. Hamilton. Are you one of them?

My kids once thought their Dad was the smartest guy in the world, could fix anything, and always knew exactly what to do. As little children, they trusted me with their lives, literally.   It was my God-given responsibility (and privilege) to teach them about the world they lived in, how to interact with other people, the meaning of life, and even about God Himself.   Good thing I didn't spend too much time pondering that idea, for even writing it makes me feel overwhelmed!  With maturity, that Dad ‘died’ and they came to know me as an ordinary mortal.  They call for advice occasionally, loving me now understanding that I am limited in knowledge and speak from my own experience. They still trust me, but not in the same way they did when they were 5;  and that is a very good thing!

Christian, it is important that we ‘grow up’ in our faith, but I hope that does not mean that you or I out-grow our complete trust in God!  Mature faith is not “no faith.” It is faith more solidly grounded in the Person and Nature of God than in our childish concepts of who He is. Jesus once brought a little child to the center of the circle of friends He was teaching and told them, "Unless you become like a little child, you will not enter the Kingdom of God." (Mark 10:15) He invites to come to Him with the heart of child, trusting, yet with thought and prayer, we will find wisdom, hope, and wholeness in His love, shown to us in Christ Jesus. 

Obedience, a primary response of faith, allows us to live near His heart. This story, though grim, helps me to understand that. King David wanted to do a good thing and bring the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. (The Ark was the symbolic dwelling place of God among His people.) His enthusiasm for the task outran his knowledge. Instead of putting the Ark on poles, carried on the shoulders of priests, in the manner God had told Moses, David put the Ark in an ox cart. It seemed like the right thing to do, but it wasn't God's way.  When the cart shook on the bumpy road, Uzzah, a priest accompanying the Ark, reached out to steady it. When he touched it, God judged him and he died!   Take note of how David reacted to this tragedy - "Then David got angry because of God’s deadly outburst against Uzzah. . . .David became fearful of God that day and said, "This Chest is too hot to handle. How can I ever get it back to the City of David?" (2 Samuel 6:8-9, The Message)  

When God acts in ways I cannot understand and/or allows things to happen that do not make sense, apart from faith, I sometimes find myself angry and/or fearful like David.  Many times in my lifetime of faith, I have been tempted to rage at God for allowing situations that just don’t make sense, from my point of view! However, in maturity, I know that He is God and I am not! I can love Him, even as I know that on this side of Eternity, many of our 'why questions' will have no apparent answers.  In the most amazing part of His love, He voluntarily limits His power, letting me choose to love Him or reject Him. He could compel me to serve Him, take away my ability to question Him, but He won’t.

Let’s choose to live in faith. If we demand that God give us a reason for every disappointment, we will become frustrated by the apparent unfairness of it all! The next step will be fury at Him. And, finally, we will cut ourselves off from Him. In so doing, we only hurt ourselves for even "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself." (2 Timothy 2:13, NIV) The better choice is to ask for a child-like trust that accepts, wait, trusts, and holds on even the darkest night of the soul.  That reveals true spiritual maturity, real understanding of His majesty and greatness.  Do not confuse this deep faith with the slogan-based 'faith' talk that passes for trusting God in some circles!   Too often that is just a cover for great insecurity or is a perceived way to get God to do what we want Him to do by saying the right things, even those things we don't really believe.

Child-like faith admits anger and frustration with His ways, but steps over the barrier of 'why' and trusts Him anyway and shows that trust with total obedience! Do you trust Him today?   Really trust Him in a way that causes you to obey Him completely, even when the sinful nature screams to do things differently?  

I pray that this word from the Word will inform your faith and make it strong today.

"We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him.  They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, and he has always known who his chosen ones would be.  He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so that his Son would be the first of many children.  God then accepted the people he had already decided to choose, and he has shared his glory with them.  What can we say about all this?  If God is on our side, can anyone be against us?"
(Romans 8:28-31, CEV) Amen.

William Hamilton finally has his answers. I can only hope also found grace in the eyes of the One he declared dead so long ago.

Distinct or Separate?

How do Christians make a difference in the lives of people without being drawn into the godlessness of the culture? Some Christians decide that the only way to live in a way that pleases God is to be separate from ‘the world.’ The Amish sect is a radical example of that choice. They are marked by their refusal of all things modern in the name of belonging to God. Some Christians move to the opposite extreme, becoming so much involved in the culture where they live that their daily choices are indistinguishable from those of their neighbors who make no claim of faith in Jesus.

Jesus’ example is not one of separation, yet He remained distinct! The religious elite accused Him of being a ‘friend of sinners,’ which He was. But, it was Jesus who changed His world, not the world that changed Him.  He went to the house of Zacchaeus and sat down to eat with this man who was an outcast. At the end of that encounter, the sinner was made whole. In the house of Simon, a prostitute came into the room, to the horror of the respectable men gathered there. Jesus let her weep and touch Him, a scandalous choice, and she was transformed by the encounter. All this came at a great cost to Him!  Jesus Christ existed in eternity, in perfection, in beauty, in perfect harmonious union with God, the Father and the Spirit. He did not ‘need’ to make friends with crooks and prostitutes. He chose to – for love’s sake. But, He never left the fellowship of His Father! We cannot forget this part of His life: "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." (Luke 5:16, NIV) He knew that those times of prayer and worship were critically important.

Those Christians who think that they can live among those who reject God, who hate holiness, who live to serve themselves without the interaction having any effect on them are mistaken and unless we understand the nature of darkness, we risk being swallowed by it. Evil slimes the soul. Love drains a person. The only way to be ‘salt and light’ and retain the distinctively bright beauty of a holy life is to intentionally withdraw on a regular basis to renew our fellowship with our Father who empowers us and other Christians who encourage us.

The Word counsels us to love and get involved, but with a healthy respect for the power of temptation. "Brothers, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important." (Galatians 6:1-3, NLT)  We are called to get  involved, we are called to holiness. Both are part of discipleship.

Christian, is there a quality of faith and fellowship with the Spirit that makes you distinct from those who have yet to know Christ?  
Are you shining like a bright light in dark places?

"Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good." (Romans 12:21, NLT)

"You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world." (1 John 4:4, NIV)

God on the Mountain

A winding road leads to the top of Pike’s Peak, a summit towering 14,110 feet above sea level! My ‘climb’ involved a couple of hours driving and still I felt a sense of accomplishment! What must those who walk to the top feel? When I stood looking down at the plains to the east and turned to gaze at the Rocky Mountain peaks to the west, it felt like I was literally ‘on top of the world.’  I felt a natural ‘high,’ no pun intended!

Walking with Christ involves climbing mountains.  Peaks rise menacingly, filling the horizon; sometimes inviting us to adventure, other times almost daring us to start to climb.  People who are climbing those mountains wonder:

·         Will I ever complete this degree?

·         Can I keep going in this marriage?

·         Will this teenager I’m parenting ever grow out of his dysfunctional behavior?

·         Will I gain victory over that habit that seems to overpower me from time to time?  

·         Will I get better or should it be the end, will I face death with hope and faith?

Here’s what I know:  when the Lord leads us to a mountain, there are new perspectives to be gained, new understanding of ourselves, of our world, and of His grace. Do we always know what His purpose is? No, we don’t and so we push forward, singing, “Oh, for grace to trust Him more.”

God summoned Moses to the mountain. It was not see the sights or take a hike! There was a revelation waiting. "Moses climbed up the mountain, and the cloud covered it. And the glory of the Lord settled down on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day the Lord called to Moses from inside the cloud. To the Israelites at the foot of the mountain, the glory of the Lord appeared at the summit like a consuming fire. Then Moses disappeared into the cloud as he climbed higher up the mountain. He remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights." (Exodus 24:15-18, NLT) There, in God’s Presence, Moses received the Law, the plan for the Tabernacle which was the center of Israel’s worship, revelations great and wonderful. He was a changed man after his ascent to the top of Mt. Sinai.

John, too, found a whole new point of view on a mountain! "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal." (Revelation 21:10-11, NIV) From the height of his visionary mountain, John wrote of the disciple’s great hope, the promise of God’s victory over sin and suffering in a book that has encouraged and intrigued Christians for two millennia- The Revelation of Jesus Christ!

In the classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory about our journey to the Celestial City, John Bunyan wrote of the Delectable Mountains that afford the pilgrims, Christian and Hopeful, a view of their final destination. His insight is clear and instructs us well. From the heights of the mountains we have to climb along the way, we catch glimpses of God’s glory that draw us along.

Are you living in the shadows of the valley right now?
Does some peak stand ahead of you, daring you to scale its heights?
Or are you in the climb, feeling exhausted; seeing only more difficulty as you look ahead?

Keep climbing!  God gives strength to those who call on Him. Walk it out, faithful just for today, if that’s all you can do. There will be revelation waiting at the summit!  Here’s  a word from the Word. It’s a promise for those climbing life’s mountains.

"A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the Lord; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain.
And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 40:3-6, NIV)

Bloodied Knees Bring Greater Blessings?

In the towns I visited in Ecuador, I often saw people crawling across rough stone pavement, up stone steps, and across the splintery wooden floor to kneel at the church’s altar.  Their knees were often bloodied by the exercise. Somehow they felt that their suffering was pleasing to God, that it would bring them divine favor. What a tragic misunderstanding of the nature of our Heavenly Father. While you won’t find many Americans crawling to a church’s altar, they feel much the same about God, that He must be appeased, that His favor must be earned.

Do you feel that your prayers find a more ready answer when you can look back over a stretch of time in which there are no ‘major’ sins in memory?
In times of crisis, are you prone to play ‘let’s make a deal’ with God, offering Him more time, more service, or more money in return for a blessing?

The basis of our hope in God for daily care and eternal salvation rests on Christ and His work on our behalf. The Bible calls it an ‘imputed’ grace! It runs counter to the normal human experience in which greater effort produces greater reward. It can difficult to abandon our efforts to trust Him fully. Yet, that is what the Word teaches us to do. "Since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." (Hebrews 4:14-16, NIV)

Confidence in Christ is not to be confused with arrogance before our Father. The grace of God is no excuse for lack of reverence. There is a cheap pseudo-grace to which some cling who have misunderstood the Gospel as much as those with bloodied knees. The Word describes them "godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." (Jude 4, NIV)  Real faith only deepens awe. Awe takes away self-confidence and love grows which teaches us rely on God, to walk with Him, and to bring our lives into alignment with His purpose.

My earliest experience of Christianity was something like that of those who crawl to God. I thought that He was distant, angry, and bent on my destruction, restrained only by Jesus. In great brokenness, the Spirit caused me to re-examine the Scripture and what I saw in the Gospel of Christ was amazing, graceful, and liberating. For a while, I slipped into an extreme kind of liberty. I was a teenager who begins to realize that his Dad is just human and tries out treating him like a buddy. With time, the Lord brought maturity, restored proper awe without terror and let me discover the joy of holy living. This time, however, the holiness was not self-generated nor was it shaped around earning a blessing! It was an expression worshipful devotion to the One who loved me even when I was unlovely.

Disciple, do you somehow think that bloody knees bring greater blessing? Hear the challenge of the Word and trust the grace of God.

"Oh, foolish Galatians! Who has cast an evil spell on you? For the meaning of Jesus Christ’s death was made as clear to you as if you had seen a picture of his death on the cross. Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not!

You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it?

I ask you again, does God give you the Holy Spirit and work miracles among you because you obey the law? Of course not! It is because you believe the message you heard about Christ. In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.”
 (Galatians 3:1-6, NLT)

A Performance Worthy of an Oscar

The Academy Awards recognizes the best in the world of film. It’s a big night in Hollywood, appropriately full of glitz and glamour. Winners gush, “I want to thank my director, my producer, my loving wife …” while losers force a smile as the TV cameras zoom in. Their craft is about creating an illusion, playing a role, drawing us into a story for a couple of hours. In the end, however, it is a performance. The lights come on and we go back to the real world.

Is your practice of Christianity worthy of an Oscar, a great performance, but only that? Are you putting on a show, setting the stage with props, learning lines written by others? Or, are you living in the real world in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ?  He knows the craving for approval that is everyone of us, so He warns - “Be especially careful when you are trying to be good so that you don’t make a performance out of it. It might be good theater, but the God who made you won’t be applauding. “When you do something for someone else, don’t call attention to yourself. You’ve seen them in action, I’m sure—‘playactors’ I call them—treating prayer meeting and street corner alike as a stage, acting compassionate as long as someone is watching, playing to the crowds. They get applause, true, but that’s all they get." (Matthew 6:1-3, The Message)

Authentic disciples are the same when the whole world is looking on and when they are alone in their room. That’s integrity! Christians who are real sleep easily and fear nothing. To be sure, they may not gain the same kind of approval that those who wear masks enjoy for a time. It’s relatively easy to play the role of a devoted follower of Christ for a couple of hours on Sunday morning compared to walking in faith each day of the week. Real Christians don’t hide their failures or play up their successes. They don’t need makeup artists or image consultants. The only One they seek to please knows them inside out!

There will be an awards ceremony for all of us. Heaven’s awards won’t be for the best actors. They will be offered to each and every faithful disciple. "God’s applause! Depend on it, he’s an honest judge. He’ll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming." (2 Timothy 4:8, The Message) What a glorious Day around the Throne of God. What could compare to receiving the commendation of Christ?  Now, that’s an award worth living for!

Here is the word from the Word. This passage scares actors to death, but comforts those with integrity. I hope it’s a powerful promise for you that keeps you real.
"For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable." (Hebrews 4:12-13, NLT)