Have you ever seen Jesus? Most of us have to be content with the apostolic witness of the New Testament, and by most I mean everybody who has been alive since Jesus’ first coming. As Jesus once told Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed.” Peter reaffirms this here. One day we will ultimately be saved to heaven and meet Him personally. This is not to say that we aren’t already saved through faith in Christ in the present. But our salvation will be made complete when “we shall see Him as He is.” I’m looking forward to that day, aren’t you?
Author: merittmusings
I've been in ministry in the Christian Churches/ Churches of Christ for 20+ years. Finished my doctorate in Biblical Studies in 2015. Serve today as a Hospital Chaplain.
So What Are We Learning?
“Formal education is about learning more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing” – Daniel Lucas, Better Life Church
So I am taking in the Pastor’s Conference at the Creation Museum this week. I heard Ken Ham and Dr. John MacArthur this morning, with a couple of AiG’s other staff personalities this afternoon. Ham and the others stated that our education system has become a target for secular humanism (duh!) and is basically an indoctrination center. Our kids are being targeted so that in just a few generations, our country will exit the church. If you compare the number of hours kids spend in school versus what they spend in church, the math is pretty easy. Add to this the number of hours the kids are exposed to media, and the case is closed.
So what to do? Their solution is to restore Bible education to the kids, restore the foundation of the church to Young Earth Creationism, and we will be on our way to restoring Christianity in America. Sounds good, right?
So why does this bother me?
They made the statement this morning that once upon a time, the schools taught Bible and morality and ethics, while the churches concentrated on teaching their theology. Somewhere, probably in the early sixties, the schools stopped teaching the Bible, stopped teaching morality, and starting teaching the kids they are descended from animals instead of created by God. In the meantime, the churches have continued to stay within their narrow theologies while their congregations are beginning to wander off and wonder, “who cares?”
But do I want my government teaching me what to believe?
I suppose government already teaches me what to believe about mathematics and the rules of English (which are arbitrary by the way). Government teaches me about history, but usually with an agenda, never a bare recitation of historical fact. It teaches me science, and I would be content with that if it left off trying to convince that science can also prove the un-provable.
Science in its essence is the formulation of a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and either changing your hypothesis to meet the facts or using your data to prove your hypothesis. When science tries to tell me that the universe exploded, stars formed after a particular fashion, and planets came into being by a peculiar process, it is making a hypothesis it cannot prove. No one had ever run an experiment lasting millions of years to prove that you can in fact make a universe given the right conditions over millions of years. It is not an observable process. You cannot prove it, so stop trying to tell me that you can. When you say you know its true without the scientific method, you are expressing a belief, a faith in something, and you are no better in your reasoning that the people you say are “unscientific”.
I suppose we are deceiving ourselves if we believe we can teach anything without a certain point of view. We all have an agenda, a bias, so that when we share information, we also share a perspective. It doesn’t matter if its math, science, or language; you cannot help but share your perspective about it. If you teach history or social studies, you share your bias, what you think is important.
So back to my original question. If the Bible returns to school, whose bias and perspective gets shared along with it? The America that taught the Bible in the classroom was predominantly Christian. Everyone shared the same values and morality, and even though churches disagreed on specifics, they agreed on the general points of theology. But could your Jewish or Muslim teacher teach the Bible in the same way? What about the Hindi or the Taoist? What about the Atheist who is told she has to teach the Bible to her students? How do you think her perspective will affect her teaching?
So many Christian parents have resorted to pulling their kids out of the public schools and putting them in home schools or private schools. Fair enough. That is their right. What happens to the public schools? What happens the Christian influence? It’s like a premature rapture. Suddenly all the Christians are gone, and all that’s left is the heathen. Is that what we want in the public school system?
I guess what I’m saying is that I have no easy answers. My kids are in the public schools, because I can’t afford to put my kids in private school. They have to be salt and light. They have to learn how to get along with people who don’t share their faith. We have open and honest discussion at home about stuff at school. I teach my kids about young earth creationism, because I believe it best fits the text of Scripture. That’s my solution for the present. If you find something better, pursue it.
God bless.
Free Living
it would be really easy to take this out of context. Here’s the whole verse.
Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
Both a command and a warning. How interesting. This is how most heresies get started. People see a snippet of a verse like the picture above, and totally forget that the passage has a context, a particular meaning colored by the text it is found in. Peter is saying that because we are Christ’s we are not bound by this world, however, we are bound to Christ, and we are to live for Him, and not use our freedom as license to do whatever we want, which is the implication of the picture.
Never take one of these verse pics for granted. Please take the time to consider the verse in its context.
God bless you on this Wednesday.
The Unluckiest Ram
In Genesis 22 is the story of the sacrifice of Isaac. It is a heartbreaking story of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his own son because God said so. As we walk that path with Abraham, we note his cringing grief when Isaac asks, “Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?” Truer than Abraham himself realized, he says, “God Himself will provide the lamb.”
Rewind to several years earlier. Somewhere in the holy land, a lamb was born in an unknown place to an unknown sire. This lamb was raised in its family of mountain sheep, becoming a young adult. But a notable fact of this animal was its horns. It had a long and curly set of horns that circled its head as ram’s horns often do, giving it the advantage over other rams and making it the envy of other males. These horns attracted good ewe lambs and made him a king.
But one day, this king of rams wandered off on his own, perhaps to admire himself in some pool or seek worthy challenges from other rams. As he wandered, he moved from grassy patch to grassy patch, moving ever higher on this particular mountain.
As he moved closer to the top, he noticed some commotion near the summit. People, two of the them, one tied and laid upon a pile of rock. The other brandishing shiny metal, but much distressed. The ram knew this was not a place he wanted to be. Dueling rams was one thing, but he stayed away from people.
But something caught his eye. Under a set of bushes, hidden from view, was a wondrous patch of green, so inviting, so delicious. The ram could not help himself. He had to have some of that tender green. While the people were distracted, he crept over to the bushes and tasted the green. It was the most delightful, most wonderful patch of grass he had ever eaten. He must have more. He was fully consumed by his desire for this wonderful food.
And then suddenly, a powerful voice broke the air. “Abraham! Abraham!” The ram was startled, even scared, and raised his head to assess the threat. Was it the people? A lion? He looked up and saw nothing. The voice made a few more sounds, and the man dropped the shiny metal and unbound the other one. Then they embraced. People are weird.
As he bent down again to eat more of that wonderful grass, he stopped short. His horns, his big, luxuriant, beautiful horns that had been his best allies all his life, granting him the best grazing, the best ewes, suddenly betrayed him. They were tangled in the bush he had been feeding under. He pulled, pushed and pulled again. His fear turned to anger, and anger to rage. He would pull this bush out by the roots! But the more he struggled, the tighter the branches held him. Within a few moments, he was hopelessly stuck. That’s when the man saw him.
“Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son.”
Sometimes you have been extraordinarily blessed, not simply to glorify you. Sometimes God has laid enormous advantage upon you, maybe even privilege that others do not share. But God gives His gifts in wisdom. Sometimes God blesses you so that through you someone else might receive the blessing.
There Can Be Only One
How many ways to heaven? Each man may declare a way unto himself, but each way must go through the cross if it is to lead to heaven.
The Power of Liberty
What is it that keeps liberty pure? Because we have seen liberty go awry in many contexts. When liberty is used as a reason for wantonness, vice, even the freedom to commit evil acts, it is no liberty, but misery.
What keeps liberty pure and desirable is truth. It is the difference between the American Revolution and the French Revolution. Without truth, liberty is an excuse for excess and selfish deeds. Truth brings to liberty our need to help our fellows, to realize that we are not alone, that we live in community with others. Liberty with truth demands a heed to the fact of our creation and special place as images of the Almighty God; that we are eternally responsible for our actions in this life.
Liberty that is sought and bought by this truth will truly set us free. We would not be set free again to bondage, especially to sin and vice, but to be truly free, free even from our fleshly desires. We would be free from the sin that so easily entangles us. That is truly freedom.
Would you seek freedom today? Seek truth. Desire it. Claim it. Pursue it. Let truth dwell in your richly. It is the Gospel. God bless you today.
Bad Day?
I can’t even imagine what kind of life the Apostle Paul led. We read about his exploits in the book of Acts, and are appropriately awed by all the things he said and did. I know I am amazed at his evangelical prowess, his ability to argue from the Old Testament and from his experience as an Apostle proving that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. But then there are verses like this that prove being an Apostle is not an easy job. In fact it is physically and emotionally challenging. Yet He speaks of his physical trials not as detriments but as encouragements. He takes on the attitude that the bad stuff that happens to him is actually working out for good, and is working out for a good end. I just don’t know if I can be that positive. I mean, I had oncall last Sunday.
I was called in three times to deal with patient issues. I was ok with the first and managed the second, but by the time I had my third call-in, I was upset. I had had enough and didn’t want to have to deal with another emotionally and spiritually troubled person that day. Lord forgive me. I went in angry, only to run in to an awful tragedy. And I repented. God needed me in this situation too. Paul would probably have been delighted to have another opportunity to minister the gospel. I wasn’t Paul.
Even though I was tired and done with the day, God still needed me. I was weak and tired, but God strengthened me to do ministry. Are you having a bad day? Are you suffering from circumstances beyond your control? Remember this verse. When I am weak, then am I strong. His power is made perfect in weakness, because it is His glory, not our own, that shines through. It is when we stop depending on our own strength and rely on His, His hope and promises, that we truly shine for Him. I hope you are having a good day, but if not, remember He still loves you.
What Do I Need to Know to Enter the Ballot Box?
“The Most Important Election of our Time!” Seems like we hear these words every four years around October. Strangely enough, they may be true this time. It is a decision about the values of America, and whose definition of those values you accept. It is a question that hopefully we won’t wait to ponder until we get to the voting booth. But more to the point, as Christians, how the Bible the Word of God inform our vote?
America is a grand experiment. It is the first nation on earth founded on the principle that men have the wisdom to make their own decisions, and collectively, to make the right decisions for the nation. Unlike all nations before her, America was never ruled by a single person, but by the people, and on behalf of the people. The decisions for leadership and values in this country have been decided by popular vote for over 200 years, rather than a small ruling class, or a king. We have believed that men, guided by the Word of God and a desire for the common good, will make wise decisions regarding her representatives and holders of public office. Yet, decisions about prayer in school, abortion, and homosexual marriage, haven’t been decisions by the American people, but by a small group of people in the Supreme Court. The Constitution allowed for this, but the decisions and activities of the Supreme Court have gone beyond interpreting the Law of the Land, to simply making it by fiat.
Some of the best and worst decisions that affect us all have been determined by men and women handpicked by the President. Sadly, enough Democrat votes have been cast in recent elections to ensure that liberal-minded Judges with lip service paid to the Constitution, have voted and ruled on issues the Founders would be appalled with. These same men and women will hold their positions of power for years to come. Thus, the ethics and moral values of a President affect, far beyond his time in office, the ethics and values of a nation. Ethics and values are the basis for God’s judgment of a nation. A decision this November isn’t merely for the success of a nation over the next four years, but her standing before God for the next forty! Does it matter who you vote for? Listen for the next couple of weeks. The Bible has much to say on this topic.
Can’t Get Away
Have you ever tried to run away from God? Jonah tried it once, ended up in a huge fish. He remembered something David had said, “even though I make my bed in Sheol, you are there” and prayed to the Lord. Guess what, God heard him. You are never too far from God that He cannot bear you. You cannot run so far that He isn’t there. And God is always attentive to the prayers of those who earnestly seek Him. Do you feel like you are far from God this morning? Open your lips and speak His name, “Jesus, I need you today.” He says, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Magna Cum Laude
I didn’t graduate with anything like the honors above. Oh I had a couple of things back in High School, but in college and grad school, I was glad to graduate. But there is something funny about that special honor, because it sounds like “come Lordy” as in, get back here Lord before I really get myself in trouble. But of all the honors and degrees we can receive, there is none better than, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” That degree doesn’t come from a piece or paper or a stack credits to your name, papers written or classes taken. It comes from the wisdom from above, not granted by colleges, but by the Lord, through the grandest textbook of all time, God’s Holy Word. Of all the books in the world one could ever own, let his hands be laid upon this one. For in it are the words of eternal life.
Have a blessed Sunday. Read His Word. Worship well and often. For these mean more than a whole stack of degrees.
Meritt Musings 