What motivated Jesus #1

I was at Starbucks today grabbing a short coffee and doing some work. And I have the Starbucks app on my phone. You can buy gift cards and send them to friends and of those cards, you get to choose from some 25 options. One of those cards says, "Thanks for serving."

When someone joins the military, rarely does someone say, "If you do that you'll never be able to do what you want to do." Instead we find it quite honorable when someone gives themselves to something beyond themselves. In fact, we are repulsed when someone has a goal to make lots of money or attain power and are willing to do whatever it takes even if it means the exploitation of others.

When we say Jesus lived to do the Father's will, we can respond in two ways. First, we might think, "What a churchy way to live. What small vision. Live for something bigger." Of course, if we understand just who the Father is, we realize there is actually nothing bigger to live for. Within the Father's will is the salvation of all people, caring for the poor and the orphan and the downtrodden, loving our neighbor, doing right, and causing justice. The second response, then, when we say Jesus lived to do the Father's will, should be, "Wow! There is nothing greater! How noble! How honorable! What a calling!"

The Scope of Explanation

The Internal Combustion Engine

One thing that struck me from the talk by Prof. John Lennox at the University of South Carolina the other week was the scope of God and science to explain things. He gave the example of explaining an automobile engine in terms of the laws of internal combustion verses explaining an automobile engine in terms of Henry Ford. Science explains how things work and function. But the laws of internal combustion would not be able to explain why things came to be or even the purpose behind the engine.

Lennox pointed out the point of tension for most people lies in their worldview. He noted the current winner of the Nobel Prize in physics is an atheist while the year prior’s award in physics went to a Christian. Both were really smart people. One believes there is a God. One does not. The issue is not with science. The issue is with worldview.

Henry Ford

In the illustration of the car above, a scientific view of the engine does not negate explaining a car in terms of Henry Ford. In fact, they compliment each other. I am an unashamed Christian. My worldview is that Almighty God created everything out of nothing. His creating us means that we have phenomenal purpose. But it is in reference to Him. Science gives a much different explanation, but not one that negates God. They compliment explaining different facets of creation. And that is my worldview.

I am fully convinced you can be a Christian without putting your brain on the shelf. The 2012 Nobel Prize winner in physics proves that, as do many other scientists. But Lennox encouraged dialogue and friendship with those of other world views. I’d love to get the conversation started.

God of the Gaps

I had the privilege to lunch with Professor John Lennox. He shared a view of God called "God of the gaps" that helps identify a problem in our current conversation about God. And this blog post will help me sort out the ideas in my head about this. 

Greek mythology had different gods to explain different unexplainable events like thunder, storms, and good weather. Gaps in knowledge were attributed to God. Why does such and such happen? God is mysterious is able to do that particular such and such. Basically, God could be credited with everything unknowable about the universe. As experimentation and science has made much of these unknowable things knowable, the gaps have closed. 

Stephen Hawkins said you have to either choose God or science. If your concept of God is the God behind the gaps, then you do, in fact, have to choose between God and science. However, the view of God behind the gaps is nothing close to the Christian view of God.

Jeremiah says not to boast in wisdom, strength, or riches but to boast in the God who can be known. There are things that can be known about God. He created everything out of nothing. He is behind the times and flow of history. He is in the process of redeeming the bad choices made by mankind and is doing this through Jesus. 

Newton, who discovered Calculus, and Copernicus, who made famous the sun being at the center of our solar system, both had vibrant relationships with God and were fascinated by the God behind it all. 

The God of the gaps God is a very small picture of God. The God of the Bible champions the Almighty God of all creation, both seen and unseen. Science then becomes a discovery of His handiwork. Here are some pics of God's handiwork:

Our universe:

Our galaxy:

Our world:

Our body:

The Problem of Evil

I've often heard people say, "If God were so powerful or loving, why is there evil in the world," or "A loving God would not allow the kind of sickness and suffering in the world that exists."

Before I make an attempt to answer these statements, often there is a strong emotional hurt behind these statements. I have lost those very close to me. While I might not be able to understand your particular circumstances, I get it that you hurt and wonder in all this why particular pain landed in your lap. For those who are hurting like that, I wish I could give you a hug and sit with you.

Typically in the problem of evil the accusation and blame fall on God.

I think this question actually points to the culpability of mankind, though, not God. Here's how it was supposed to be:
 - God made man and woman in His image - Genesis 1:27.
 - He gave them power and authority and the command to rule over everything.
We are image-bearers of God who are to rule over everything on the earth. The book of Proverbs says, "When the king is righteous, the people rejoice" - Proverbs 29:2.

You have to realize everything was set up to be amazing, beautiful, and glorious. But as soon as choice was introduced into the equation, something happened. Adam and Eve ate from the tree from which they were commanded not to eat. With the curse of sin, death came to everything. We often overlook this, but everything dies and decays. There were no earthquakes, hurricanes, or tsunamis before the Fall. Things break down. Even in our sophisticated technology we find thorns and thistles. It's everywhere. So while there are straight up evil choices, everything we do, use, and experience breaks down.

Before I go on, you might wonder why did God gave man choice in the first place. Think of a surgeon with a scalpel. With skill and precision, he can work wonders. Of course, a scalpel could also be used to hold a plane hostage. We could demand all scalpels removed to remove the possibility of an evil choice with a scalpel. But if we start with scalpels, where do we end? Do we limit everything? Or do we remove the ability to make a choice at all? Evidently, God designed us to be more than a cog in a machine.

So we know two things:
1. Given choice, mankind chooses evil. We can blame it on the devil, but just like Adam, we make evil choices. And if we manage to hold them back, we at least think them not only in our heads but also in our hearts.
2. God is merciful. Think about it. If you are working on a project that keeps screwing up, you scrap it and start over. God could have scraped the entire human race and been fully justified in doing so. In fact, He just about did through the flood. And God was fully justified.

There are a few disturbing realities about point #1. Our choices often lead to frustration more than anything else. I mentioned above that everything breaks down. If we define evil as opposition to God, then everything is linked back to the evil in our hearts - if not from our own, then from our forefathers. And before we blame the earlier generations or even Adam, rest assured others will be the recipients of your choices.

Even when you do your best, there are still accidents. Some are quite benign, even funny, while others lead to the death of those in the other car. We understand when someone make a dumb choice and merely hurts themselves. In fact, when that happens we feel they are getting what they deserved. But when others make bad choices and we or someone we deem innocent are affected, we are repulsed. But we must remember evil is a direct result of our choices. We will say it is not fair, but we also really want out. The way out is to acknowledge we are the problem - and not we, collectively, but each person individually. You must realize you are the problem. I acknowledged I was the problem some time ago.

We can blame our co-workers, our government, our weird neighbor, or God for the evil in the world, but the real problem of evil is within each of us. The world is perfectly situated to make us realize this. However, we don't really like the buck stopping with us. But when we let the buck stop with us, we experience #2 above in wild and profound ways. In the midst of receiving our due rewards for evil, those who bask in God's mercy find life, hope, even peace in places where there should be bitterness and rage.

There is no intended result from this article where you think you will not feel the effects of evil. A follower of God or not, we all receive pain, hurt, and frustration. But those who have acknowledged they are the problem for introducing evil into the world in the first place have the promise of God's abiding presence with them. Jesus suffered every conceivable type of pain and is able to sympathize with us. He will be with you. Just ask.

But I merely scratch the surface. For a fuller - and better - explanation, see Peter Kreeft's article on the subject http://www.peterkreeft.com/topics/evil.htm

History of the Faith

So I just learned recently that the Universal Church was Orthodox for 1000 years after Christ. Then the Catholic Church split off. Then 500 years later the Protestant Reformation took place. I'm on a journey to learn from the Church Fathers and see how we've ended up where we are. Giorgios Mantzarides, an Orthodox Christian theologian, says, "those who are intolerant cannot be Orthodox, however orthodox might be the words which they use." (Pg 3, Orthodox Spiritual Life).

My questions:

1)What is the core of belief, life, and doctrine for Christians that transcends Catholics, Protestants, and Orthodox by which we can champion what God is doing through our brothers?

2)Is it possible for Christians in the world to link arms and get the job done of making disicples of every nation?

How does hell affect us in heaven?

Life can be a funny thing. You work so hard to try to do things and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. What exactly is the problem? Could it be that if we had the proper perspective that everything would be fine? What might life look like from God’s perspective? How does God view life? How does God view me is an easier question?

According to the scriptures, God knows what is going on. He is quite in control of all things. In fact, all things will acknowledge that He is God over all. He is creator. He is in charge. He is in control. He is all-powerful. He knows the way to wisdom as the book of Job says. That is why Job says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

How does God view life, though? Is He satisfied? Does He look on all things with pleasure? Is He excited with where life is going? He must be. There is deep love between the father and the son. If fact, it is perfect. It is intense and alive. Could it be that all His satisfaction comes from this interaction between the Father and the Son? How intense is the love between them? The same love is talked of being toward us.

Could the love between the Father and us be so overwhelming that the satisfaction of life exists? Can satisfaction exist when the story turns out incredibly happy and exactly perfect, but completely horrendous for the rest. We all deserve wrath and are offered a chance at complete salvation and complete forgiveness of all that we have ever done. It all makes sense that those that don’t receive the gift of salvation are quite like a group of people who have the opportunity to hop on a bus. Those that don’t obviously face the consequences of not being on the bus.

So those on the bus go onto absolute paradise and intimacy with the Almighty while those outside the bus go onto absolute judgment. I guess that those who choose not to be on the bus are quite aware of what they are doing. Perhaps they don’t want to turn over control to anyone else, least of all God. They refuse to repent. They refuse to accept the gift. And simple humbleness results in unbelievable exalting by God. Heir with Christ. Relationship with God. Complete freedom. A life of hope. Purpose.

Perhaps we all really receive what we want. Okay, let’s go with that. We all receive what we want. Of course, what you receive is a bit more than you expected, that’s for sure. God’s way is so unbelievably amazing. Not God’s way is so unbelievably bad and horrific.

The point of all this is that how do you not feel quite bad for those who choose not to get on the bus? How do you let them go and deal with the loss of letting them go? How do you properly mourn for them? Oh, this brings me back to our original question of God’s satisfaction and our satisfaction. How is God satisfied with this situation? How am I satisfied with this situation?

It’s like eating at a feast. Huge tables of food. Lots of family. Plenty of those pies and desserts. Lots of meats. Tons of sides. Also, there are starving people outside who refuse to come inside to be satisfied. They are eating scraps or dirt or poison. They are shriveled from lack of food. Their faces are empty. No amount of pleading or persuading will convince them to come inside. It’s also quite impossible in the economy of things to pick them up and carry them inside. And now the admonition is to go inside and enjoy the marvelous feast. Is that possible to do while people outside waste away moments from being exposed to the worst kind of wrath possible?

Hell cannot control heaven like that. Somehow it is impossible. Misery can’t enter God’s domain to pour out misery on those there.

A rich man came up to Jesus and asked to follow Him. Keep all the commandments. I have. Sell everything and follow me. The man leaves sad because he was rich and was unwilling to sell all. How does Jesus deal with this? Does He stop His ministry? What are Jesus’ emotions to all this? Well, what are they? In Luke 18, the writer notes that Jesus was looking at him with sadness. Matthew, Mark, and Luke all note that those around ask who then can be saved. Then they compare themselves saying that they have left everything.

Paul talks of those who are coming against him in Romans 3 and concludes that their condemnation is just. In another place, though, he says that he wishes that he was accursed that all the Jews might receive Christ.

So, we know that judgment comes on all who oppose Jesus. Do we like it? Does God like it? It says in Romans 9, “What if God, desiring to show His wrath and to make known His power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of His glory for vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory – even us whom He has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles.”

There seems to be a picture of God’s righteous standard and having to carry out the sentence quite aside from emotion or desire. Discipline of a child must be like this. Only in this case, the discipline is absolute judgment.

But here is the truth. Jesus loves all and wills that none should perish. He desires all to be saved – so much so that He came and died on a cross and is the way. He is among those that need Him most and beckons me to join Him in the saving of many. My life is not my own. This horrendous situation cannot thwart me from the task of loving God, making disciples, and being a witness. The truth is that not all will be on the bus, but Jesus would like them on. Many will perish in the ocean of sin and destruction, but Jesus is in the heart of that ocean showing the way to salvation. He desires that I join Him in the ocean. Let’s save many. Let’s join Him in the work.

Some of this comes back to the question of methods. How do we save those in the water? We must identify ourselves with the truth. Those that are saved easily forget about the struggle that of those in that sea, and we tell them about it. Many in the ocean are quite unaware of their plight. To some, the message of salvation becomes the very point of judgment and results in really bad news for them. But there are those out there who are begging for help. Jesus, that we may join You in this quest to save souls.

Calvinism and the 3rd Wave

Last night I received a phone call from a friend venting about Calvinism. He said that Calvinism highlights how bad God is instead of focusing on how good God is.

Generally, from my work on a campus, people who need Christ could care less about some of these issues that receive a lot of heat on different web forums (look up names like Ken Silva, Jack Deere, Rob Bell to investigate some of the issues in controversy). For instance, while in college, eschatology was our big thing. We were stanch pre-tribulation pre-millennialists and were quite against anyone who believed otherwise. I'm familiar now with the pre, post, and a-millennial views, but the average guy in the frat house could care less about the issue. However, they think it is important that Jesus will return.

But there are some issues that should garner little debate from those that hold a high view of scripture - like the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. In reference to my friend who called last night, my first thought is to not get too hung up on these issues, but rather to help those around you walk with Jesus - that these issues can consume too much time.

After spending an hour or so myself this morning reading articles and listening to some web casts, I realize that I'm quite ignorant of these hot issues. So here are some of my questions:
- Does Calvinism remove any free thought or will from man?
- Why is the Emergent Church a threat?
- If I'm constantly around guys who have no spiritual background, what is vital for them to do or know in order to be on the path of walking with Jesus all the days of their life?

I know more questions will arise, but that should be enough to get us going. Thanks for input.