Giving and Providence

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

In World Magazine we find an brief article on the decrease in giving during our present economic struggles.

Ministries are still completing the final tally of gifts received at the end of 2009, but Calvin Edwards, who leads a philanthropic advisory firm based in Atlanta, Ga., believes donations for many ministries could fall by 10 percent to 15 percent for the year.

via WORLD Magazine | Less to give | Rusty Leonard | Jan 30, 10.

Like many churches, ours is also experiencing slight decreases in regular donations.  Yet, we can testify to God’s providence.  In the midst of all this, we are able to afford a new, long needed ministry facility!  Not by our wisdom, our strength or our sacrificial hearts–but by the unmerited grace of God.

a great question

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

By Cal Thomas, in World Magazine:

What makes the ruling and the march ironic is that the 1973 court, in essence, downgraded a human fetus to the level of nonperson, while the modern court has invested “personhood” in corporations. Does anyone else see a contradiction or at least a moral inconsistency in these two rulings?

via WORLD Magazine | Personhood | Cal Thomas | Jan 26, 10.

I hadn’t really thought of this inconsistency.  While I’m not sure it really is a new inconsistency, it is inconsistent.  Why ascribe rights to corporations as legal persons while denying rights to the unborn, who are actual persons?

Can you think of any reasons, outside the Bible, to be Pro-Life?

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

I can think of many, such as unique DNA.  Within moments of conception the new baby is blessed with his own DNA.  This DNA tells us 1) the baby is human and 2) she is not the mom or the dad.  In other words, from moments after conception the DNA tells us it is a distinct human individual.

Also, being anti-life subjects human dignity and value to a cost/benefit analysis.  For example, only 7% of abortions are performed for tough cases such as rape, incest or serious health problems.  That means the overwhelming majority of abortions aren’t done out of medical necessity (in fact, fully 50% of women having abortions admit to using it as a form of contraception).  So if, in the mother’s eyes, the costs of bearing the child are greater than the benefit, then she aborts the child.  Doing so devalues that child and it devalues all of us.

We find the similar logic used to argue for euthanasia and assisted suicide.  Where the cost of life is higher than the perceived benefit, Doctor’s should be able to help end life early, we are told.  Again, connecting the value of someone’s life to the costs of keeping them alive devalues all of us.  Once we connect the dignity of human life to some cost/benefit analysis, we are only as valuable as we are perceived to be.  The big question then becomes who gets to make that determination.

While my Pro-Life views are primarily religious, they are solidly supported by science and logic.

One takeaway

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

As I wrote earlier, we cannot expect to understand every instance of suffering in our world.  Yet, with each tragedy there is one clear take away.

Luke 13:1-5

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Here Jesus deals with a similar tragedy–two in fact.  He uses both cases to make the same points.  The first point is simple:  those who experience calamity are not worse sinners than those who don’t.  To apply it to Haiti, we cannot say that Haitians are worse sinners than Dominicans, or even than us.

One point often overlooked in tragedies is our common guilt.  ‘All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,’ Romans 3:23 reminds.  So, not one of us is innocent in God’s eyes.  Romans 6:23 adds, ‘The wages of sin is death.’  So, everyone who sins deserves nothing but death.  Now we understand Jesus.  His audience was just as deserving of calamity as those at Siloam.

The better question for tragedy is why God would ever prevent any tragedy or suffering?  Why, if we all deserve His just condemnation, would He not dish it out upon all?  The answer, of course, is grace.  Each moment we live is a moment of grace, a moment where we are not getting what we deserve, but receiving a wonderful gift.

Jesus second point is the real take away–repent.  Never one to miss an opportunity, Jesus seems to understand the frailty of life.  One moment you are going to work, the next you’re involved in a car accident and clinging to life, or worse.

Since this life is short, and there is much more to come, we are wise to reflect upon Jesus words.  Are you repenting from the sin for which God could justly condemn you?  Are you trusting in Christ’s perfect sacrifice as the only ground for God’s forgiveness?  Are you ready, right now, to face His Holy Judgment, if calamity should befall you?

Understanding Suffering

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

From Newsweek:

I just got to a point where I couldn’t explain how something like this could happen, if there’s a powerful and loving God in charge of the world. It’s a very old problem, and there are a lot of answers, but I don’t think any of them work.

The suffering in Haiti has reminded us of an age-old question:  If God is loving and all-powerful, why does He allow tragedy and suffering?  Like the article points out, there are myriad ways we answer this question.  I, like Job, don’t have a complete answer, but I do have some questions about how we view God.

In the article quoted above we find a typical description of God–loving and powerful.  That’s all.  But, is that all God is?  Is He only a heavenly Santa supposed to use His power to prevent any form of suffering and pain?  And, if so, then shouldn’t we all be living in some form of Eden, right now?

Perhaps, while God is love, He is also much more.  Perhaps He is also just, righteous, holy, pure, jealous and wrathful.  Perhaps He is also all-knowing, able to see each event as it connects to all other events.  Perhaps, in His perfect knowledge and wisdom, He is able to see good, righteous reasons to allow calamity to occur.  Thus, while He might hate suffering and calamity, He might be inclined to allow it because of the bigger, eternal picture.

Let me give you an example.  Earlier I wrote:

The second is a young girl, dying from cancer.  This little girl didn’t just want prayer she also wanted answers.  I tried my best to answer her questions, and we prayed for her and her family.  Now, this little girl was not healed.  However, something even more amazing happened.  Before cancer claimed her, Christ claimed her.  This little girl accepted Christ, and even asked to be buried with one of the letters I wrote—so she could show it to God!  The peace with which she died, and this request led her parents—non-Christians—to ask their own questions.  Even though they lived two states away (they were in our area for her treatment) we prayed for them and put them in touch with a good church.

A few months later I received a letter from that little girl’s mom.  In it was a picture, which still sits on my desk, and a note.  That note shared how she and her husband came to know Christ, and how they could see God’s mercy.  She understood that her little girl died so that the girl, the mom and the dad could find eternal life.  She believed that it was a part of God’s plan, and though painful, worth it.

While God never promises to tell us what good end He achieved through allowing suffering, we can know He does not allow anything without a good, perfect and pleasing purpose.  The story of that dear little girl is evidence that God does not bring calamity where God does not send grace.

Perhaps God is not 2D after all.

More Unseriousness

~ brandon ~ Leave a comment

On the fan forum site “Avatar Forums,” a topic thread entitled “Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible,” has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope.

via Audiences experience Avatar blues – CNN.com.

So, now people are depressed and suicidal because the beauty and wonder of Pandora is not real.  What’s next, being upset because you’ll never spin webs like Spiderman?

Seriously, though, this underlines the fact that we are not built for this world.  We were created for more, for something far greater.  And we will find something to try and fill that void.  For these folks, an impossible fantasy is their void-filler.  Others turn to utopian ideals, and other, more pragmatic folks, turn to sensual pleasure.  But whatever your kick, you will look for something else, something greater.

Perhaps this is because we are fallen creatures.  Within us is an innate realization that we were made for more than this fallen world.  But we don’t want to accept the simplest conclusion:  we were made for God.  You see, if I accept this conclusion it means I am no longer master of my domain.  It means I am servant, creature and beholden to the God who made me.  It means He calls the shots, not I.  It means I must live according to His plan.

For many this is simply unthinkable, and so they reject the concept of God.  They turn, then, to the Creation and fellow creatures to try and find what they are looking for.  For me, I turn to God.  I figure if I was created by Him and for Him, then I can never realize the fulness of all that I was created for apart from Him.  Thus, satisfaction, peace, joy and all those desires of my heart can only be finally and fully found in Him.

So, why would I trade lesser pleasures in the Creation when I am offered the superior pleasures from the Creator?

“my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord,” Jeremiah 31:14 (ESV)