There's Something To Christianity

What is it about Christianity? I just bought a new truck on Wednesday and we sat down to fill out the paperwork with a brother in Christ. His name is John. I was struck by his enthusiasm and love for God. He spoke about Him with tremendous excitement and it was easy to see that he was quite familiar with the Holy Spirit in him.

This started me thinking. I go to work every day, come home, might go to church or hold a Bible study, and almost always read a little of the Bible. I attend church regularly, I pray very often, and I meditate on the things of God almost all the time. These are all good things, but I noticed my attitude through much of my day had its high points and low points. I can become discouraged about some things, automatically worry about problems, and sometimes speak using poorly chosen words.

Sometimes, I don't wake up looking forward to my day. I unenthusiastically go through the motions, I commonly allow for autopilot at work, and often just try to make it by. I don't work my hardest. I don't do my best. Have you recognized my problem yet?

When I talk to somebody at work about Jesus Christ, about the word, or about the purposes of life, I get very excited. My mind begins to come to life, my mouth becomes a tool for God, and my heart fills with... The word is "joy". Why don't I feel so great all the time?

I have learned through living my life these twenty-two years, that all it takes to be happy, wherever you are, is the right attitude. I just remain happy, refuse to focus on the bad of a situation or situations, and navigate into a carefree mindset. I roll with the punches, enjoy the good days, and bring all the good I can find to the forefront of my thoughts.

I write this knowing that I can write for hours on end and that you, the reader, may never grasp my own personal revelation, but I leave that to the Holy Spirit.

My original question was, "What is it about Christianity?" When a non-Christian person sees a Christian, what do they see? Do they see what appears to be just another person, or do they notice a city on a hill? A Christian can be seen both ways, but it might be a problem to be seen as just another person.

You see, as a Christian, we have a peace that transcends all understanding. We have joy that is always with us. A Christian can go through complete and utter turmoil. A Christian can endure what, to most, would be hopelessness. A Christian can lose his family, his friends, and all he owns. But a Christian will keep his joy despite it all.

How can a Christian keep joyful when he has nobody in his life? How can a Christian smile, though he lacks his health? Why does a Christian try, when there's nothing left to try for?

The Christian has Jesus.

It is our peace that transcends that keeps us going. It is our hope of eternal life. It is our encouragement of seeing our Savior. Our path is narrow and less traveled, but its end is the greatest reward anyone could have.

The trick is finding that joy when you feel wronged at work by your boss. The challenge is keeping a smile when you face the same thing you face each and every day. The identity is that of letting your joy shine in the areas of your life that you would otherwise lack joy.

Try waking up and looking forward to your day. Go to work and do your best. Continue doing your best. Work as unto God. Look to be an example in Christ.

Don't be a lukewarm Christian anywhere in your life. Grab onto and hold tight to God's joy. Be encouraged by Jesus' faithfulness to you. Pick yourself up quickly each time you fall. Never lose your joy, because having that joy is to embrace God.

Q: What evidence is there for the infallibility of scripture?

Steve's A: What grounds do we have to say that the Bible, though written by way of man, was actually written by God and is therefore infallible?
Steve’s A: The infallibility of scripture is reinforced through the following verses:

2 Peter 1:20-21
²⁰But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,
²¹for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
&
2 Timothy 3:16-17
¹⁶All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

But, the writers could have written that by their own will in order to gain more credibility for their writing. Isn’t that at least a possibility?

No. It is obvious, by looking at the tremendous amount of accuracy of prophetic writings, that the accounts are obvious acts of God. To gain the amount of accuracy that the Gospels had there had to be one coherent author and that was God. Each Gospel did carry with it its own details, but no inconsistencies are found between them. The consistency and flow is not just uninterrupted between the three Gospels, but throughout the entire Bible. Its message remains directed, focused, and continuous. It is the story of the redemption of man.

Each detail included in the Bible is significant. It is living and dynamic, causing the reader to continually render meaning from it. This is why a person can read the same verse twice and receive different application from each time.

The Bible has stood the test of time, the test of prophetic fulfillment, and the test of archeological findings. It remains free of contradiction, above all other religions for its truth, and the right choice through the millennia.

Prayer of Change

Lord, my prayer tonight would be that my heart would be open. I desire to know my dull edges. I don’t want to be stubborn and unchanging. It is not in our born again nature to cease to change. I always want to be better and never to accept that I simply can’t defeat my short comings. I will not reject the correction I receive, nor will I become content with myself. I have to keep moving forward, working on my temper, working on my moments of bitterness, and working on my very thoughts. These are not my traits; they are my anchors and my chains. I can break free with your help. I can become a better man, but I know that becoming a better man is to never stop trying to move toward you. Change me O God. Make me more like you.

Q: Is God Bound By Time?

Steve's A: Actually, the concept, as we all know, probably can't be fully grasped. As with Philippians 4:6-7
⁶Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

I like the word transcend. I am of the school of thought that God transcends time and space. His perfect plan is known from start to end and was known from our beginning and is known at our end. It would seem that God is interacting with every moment at his present. Like I said, we probably won't be able to fully grasp it.

On the other hand, I've heard it mentioned in serious debates over the subject that God has allowed himself to be subject to time. He interacts in our present and shares time with us. This is of course a self imposed limitation. A good analogy would be to observe how Jesus Christ, who is God, came and was subject to the human weaknesses. In the same way, God has allowed himself to be bound by time.

Some interesting text on God and time follow here:

Psalm 90:1-4
¹ Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
² Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

³ You turn men back to dust,
saying, "Return to dust, O sons of men."
⁴ For a thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.

2 Peter 3:7-9
⁷By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
⁸But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

It would seem however, that God set into motion the law of time so that he might interact with us on the plain of time. If God transcended all "time" and "time" has an "end" at the end of time and the beginning of eternity, do we then begin to transcend? It would seem that eternity is an unending span of time, but time nonetheless. Therefore, it can be said that the interaction God has with us through the life on earth and throughout eternity is on the plain of time. I'm confused, how about you?

Mike and I have been talking through it while sitting here. We read a little of William Lane Craig and our minds were stimulated into new areas of thought on the matter. Mike will weigh in on the topic as well. I must say however, that at the beginning of this post, I was pretty grounded in the transcending camp, but now I may have changed my mind. I'm sure that Mike will bring some intriguing items to the arena of thought as well.

I do want to take a look at the word transcend right now. To transcend is to pass beyond limits, to be outside of laws or guidelines. To transcend time is to be outside of it. To transcend time would imply that he could feasibly interact with the past at the same moment as now and the future. If God is this way, it boggles my mind to follow the logic all the way through. God transcends time, so he exists in a moment, in all places, knows all, and transcends every possible law available to make any sense of the whole thing. I believe in God's power enough that this idea, though impossible to comprehend, it entirely possible for God.

Now, if whatever I just said makes any sense to you, let me know.

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Mike's A: The ultimate answer in my viewpoint would technically be no. God is the creator of all that we see, know, and experience, except for Himself. So surely He does not have to be bound by one of His creations.

Now, I think it's important, in order to fully answer the question, to ask a different question. What IS bound by time? This will help to establish the purpose of time, and will help us understand what God's relationship to time is. The definition of the word "bound" is "Confined by bonds; tied" and "Being under legal or moral obligation" and "Predetermined; certain" and "Determined; resolved."

Clearly, everything we can see and touch and measure and observe is bound by time. My soul is bound to my body and this earth by time. Job 14:14 says: "If a man die, shall he live again? All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." We clearly have an appointment to die that we cannot accelerate, nor prevent or postpone. Our soul is inseperable from this world, until that time comes.

Now a good question would be, what is the purpose of time? The things we do during the days appointed to us are what decides what will happen to us once they have expired. Everyone's fate is bound by the choices we make while we are bound by time. Clearly the purpose for time is a chance. A chance given to see what we will do in the limited amount of time given to us.

So what is the right choice? The right choice would be to acknowledge God as the creator of the universe, the ultimate and sovereign being. And the right choice is to acknowledge Jesus Christ as His Son, who came to this earth as a man and lived a perfect life without sin, yet was crucified for the sins of us all. But He rose again on the third day, defeating death for those who have faith in Him.

When that decision is made, it is a particular point. 2 Corinthians 5:15-19 says, "And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation." We become new creations. At that moment, God's Holy Spirit enters into us. The angels rejoice in heaven.

Clearly, many of God's actions are time specific actions. His spirit enters into us at a specific point, and at that same point, the angels who are in heaven with God, rejoice. Luke 15:10 says, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Going back to the original question, different definitions for bound will probably bring a different conclusion. God is definitely not "confined" by time, and I don't believe that He is "under legal or moral obligation" to it. But the ultimate progression of time is definitely predetermined by Him, and He is definitely determined to bring it about.

So I think the answer is this. God is not confined by time. But we are. And His purpose for creating us was to serve Him and to have fellowship with Him. Time was created as a way for God to interact with us. A parallel discussion is that, although God is not bound by humanity, for a time He was. When He came to this earth, He did not have to follow the laws of humanity, as the Devil reminded Him while tempting Jesus. But He chose to interact with the world the same way we do, in order to truly have a way to interact with us. In the same way, He does not have to follow the laws of time, but He does so in order to interact with us.

We do not have a choice in that matter. We have to follow the laws of this earth. Gravity binds us, time binds us, all the laws of this world bind us. God, however, does have the choice. Yet He chose to experience these things so that we might have a way to come to Him.

The Question of Suffering

One of the biggest obstacles for the faith is suffering.

The question is as follows: Why would a loving God allow such suffering in this world?

I’ve been reading a book called The Case for Faith by Lee Stroble and so far it’s impressed me intellectually and spiritually. Lee Stroble, who started out being an atheist, was faced with a struggle when his wife became a Christian. She dragged him to church at one point after many failed attempts and he walked out with a few questions on his mind. Being a journalist for the Chicago Tribune gave him the inquisitive edge that led him to write The Case for Christ, a powerful book that addressed the burning objections that the skeptics throw in the face of Christians, the same objections that Lee himself shared. His book was originally intended to disprove Christ’s existence. He assumed that this crutch for the weak, this springboard for indoctrination would fall apart under the microscope, but his search for the truth left him utterly beaten—and a believer.

In his second book The Case for Faith, Lee comes back with his skeptical edge and attacks leading Christian Philosophers with his deep cutting questions. He demands full and complete responses rather than simple generic answers. All too often Christian teachers and even some pastors are intimidated by the tough issues and discourage young Christians and skeptics from asking. Unfortunately this leads some to think that there are no answers, but there are.

I love the direction that Lee took when he asked the aforementioned question. He went to the once right-hand-man of the famed Billy Graham, Charles Templeton. Charles explained to him that he couldn’t understand how a loving God could allow starvation, drought, death of innocent children, and even Alzheimer’s disease. Templeton himself was suffering from Alzheimer’s. These things finally ripped Templeton’s faith away from him. This quickly personalized the debate and hit Lee hard. He wasn’t just speaking to a skeptic, but a suffering individual. This entire section is very touching and I sympathize with his struggle. I also have struggled with these concepts.

Lee finally sits down with Dr. Peter John Kreeft, a Catholic writer and philosophy professor. Here Kreeft argues his points magnificently and tactfully. His answers are not simple ones that leave the inquirer feeling short changed and unfulfilled, but instead were deeply insightful and colorful. His language was articulate and ultimately yielded a web of philosophical, logical, and understanding thoughts that tied up in the end to present a rock solid argument from the Christian perspective. I was stunned to read his responses and find his conclusions. They seemed familiar, but refreshingly new. His speech finally wound up pointing to suffering as having at least the potential for good. It would seem that suffering can lead to both atheism and strengthened faith. Those looking in from the outside often question why God would allow such suffering which leads them to close up and take up atheism, while those experiencing it are forced to place their trust in God and then realize that Jesus is there every step of the way with them. Of course my summation here leaves much to be explained, but I think the book does a fine job of that, and I’m not here to give you the whole story, but to share about something that is impacting in my life.

At any rate, I’ve come to the conclusion that God’s master plan is unknown to us, and why he allows such terrible things may not be fully understood, but the fact remains that God has a plan for this fallen world, and that will be done.

James 1:2-4 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

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