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When God says, “I got this”

March 23, 2015 4Comments

The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

I have to admit that I’m not well versed in the Old Testament. As a result, I miss some good stuff. I had actually never heard this verse until my friend, Paul, brought it to my attention. Here’s a little background information on it. During Exodus 14, Moses has led Israel out of Egypt. However, they are trapped between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army. Basically, the Israelites are freaking out, but then Moses tells them, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still”. The Red Sea is parted; the Israelites crossed; the Egyptians drowned.

Some interesting tidbits: God could have parted the sea all by Himself, but He used Moses to part the sea. Also, God didn’t simply teleport the whole nation of Israel across the sea. They had to pack up their belongings and cross themselves. Therefore, Moses and the Israelites had some responsibility to make the plan work.

There’s an old joke that goes like this: a man is drowning in the middle of the ocean. Another man comes by in a fishing boat and offers help, but the drowning man says, “No, my Lord will save me”. Then a man comes by in a yacht and offers help, but the drowning man says, “No, my Lord will save me”. Then a helicopter comes by and lowers a rope to the drowning man, but he says, “No thanks. My Lord will save me”. The man drowns. He goes to heaven, and he asks God, “Why didn’t you save me?” God responds, “I tried. I sent you two boats and a helicopter.”

So, yes, we have a responsibility to make the plans for our lives work. We have to prepare for the future. We have to save money for retirement. We have to love our spouses and raise our kids the best way we know how. But there’s a bigger lesson here-an opposite lesson. I think, as Americans, our “can do” spirit sometimes works against us. We drive ourselves crazy trying to control the plan. We become consumed saving money for retirement. We become consumed trying to control everything our spouses or kids do. We basically become consumed trying to control the plans for our lives, when we were never meant to have that much control. In Exodus 14:14, God pretty much says, “I GOT THIS”.

So, if you’re like me, and you’re starting to realize that God means it, when He says, “I got this”, one question remains….how do I know when I’ve met my responsibility? In other words, “How do I know when I’ve done all I can do and it’s time to sit back and let God do His thing?” It’s tough, and I don’t always get it right. But you have to pray and wait for God to tell you. If ask you God for an answer, He’ll respond. He may tell you in a quiet voice. He may tell you through close, Christian friend. He may tell you through a Bible verse. Or, He may tell you in some other way, but rest assured, He will tell you.

Therefore, in summary, do your part. Let God do the rest. He’s got this.

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Why does the word “Jesus” make people uncomfortable?

February 9, 2015 2Comments

Have you ever noticed that you rarely hear the word “Jesus” on regular TV? And by regular TV, I mean the major networks like NBC, ABC, and CBS. I would venture to say that we are more likely to hear profanity than the word “Jesus” on TV. Kurt Warner, former NFL and Super Bowl winning quarterback once said that he did an interview where he attributed his success to his relationship with Jesus. However, when the interview aired, all mention of Jesus had been cut out. Now, I am not a person who will try to ram Jesus down the throats of people. If I want to hear about him, I’ll just tune into one of the many Christian Networks. But this fundamental question remains: Why does the word “Jesus” make people uncomfortable?

Jesus actually predicted that his name would cause strife. Check out the two following verses:

Matthew 10:34-35Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Matthew 5:11 Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.

Neither of the preceding verses is particularly encouraging. Taken in the greater context, Jesus, the Prince of Peace, brought peace between mankind and God. He knew that his teachings would cause conflict among mankind or cause conflict between believers and non-believers. Hence, he would turn man against his father and so forth. And furthermore, people would be persecuted in his name.

So, it’s inevitable. Jesus will cause conflict. He will make people very uncomfortable. But why?

I think it goes back to rebellion. There’s a rebellious streak in all of us. We want to do whatever we want to do. And no one will tell us what to do…..not even God. While the hardcore American values of autonomy and independence “can” be good attributes, they can also further our rebellion.

Before my walk with Jesus, I remember hearing his name and cringing. Deep down in my soul, I knew that some things weren’t right in my life. And some things, I simply didn’t care if they were right. Either way, both examples were rebellion against God. Therefore, there is a part of everyone that is rebellious to God, but there is also a part of everyone that wants to reconcile with God. The uncomfortableness with Jesus’ name is our conscious pleading with us to “get right with God by accepting Jesus”.

I’m ending all my posts with an invitation to accept Jesus. If you would like at accept Jesus simply pray the following prayer or one like it: “Dear Lord, I’m a sinner. I acknowledge that you sent your son, Jesus, to die for my sins. I humbly accept your son, Jesus, and I now further acknowledge that I am forgiven of my past sins, my present sins, and my future sins.” If you prayed that simple prayer, you are saved. Now, you need to follow Jesus. Start reading your Bible. I would suggest starting with Matthew, reading all of the New Testament, then reading the Old Testament. Also, find a good church. Christianity was never meant to be done alone. You need to be in community with other believers.

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My Friend Shawn

January 25, 2015 2Comments

I belong to a men’s group at my local church. There’s about 10 of us who meet at 0630 on Thursday mornings. As one would expect, we’ve grown very close to each other. We share our successes and our struggles. A few months ago, I gave my testimony during a morning meeting of my men’s group. Also, during that particular meeting, a new guy named Shawn Parker was present. After I gave my testimony, Shawn nearly broke down. He said that he had the same issues with anxiety that I once had. He also said that he absolutely knew that God wanted him to be at the church that morning to hear my testimony. I had actually been somewhat apprehensive to share what I had always considered to be an embarrassing part of my life. However, when I heard Shawn’s response to my testimony, I became more transparent. That day Jesus acted through Shawn to encourage me to be more transparent, to be more of a risk taker, and most importantly, to use my struggles to glorify God.

Later, we learned that Shawn was going through a nasty divorce (is there really any other kind?). Shawn was realizing how much he needed God. Although I never heard him say it directly, he knew that he had contributed greatly to his marriage’s demise. It was difficult for him, but he was trying to change his life for the better.

Well, earlier this week Shawn passed away. He was 41 years. He died of a heart attack.

There was shock, and there was mourning. Ecclesiastes 3 says that there is a time for everything, and it was a time of mourning. But for me, it was also a time of excitement. It’s hard for me to truly express it because I’m trying to be respectful and considerate of those who are still mourning. However, I’m having a difficult time containing my excitement.

You see, Shawn “finished the race”. He made it. He’s there. He’s in heaven… where everyone wants to be. He’s seeing things that I can’t even comprehend with my worldly frame of reference. He now knows more about God than anyone on Earth ever knew. He now knows the secrets to all those hard questions that humans ask, like “Why is there suffering?”, “Why do you let bad things happen to good people?”, or “Why don’t you make your presence known to everyone?”.

Presently, some people may be asking other hard questions, like “Why did God let Shawn die?” or “Why did he let Shawn die right now, especially when he was turning his life around?”. I don’t know the answers. I do know that Shawn’s death wasn’t some random act of the universe. I mean 41 year old men just don’t die of heart attacks regularly. Proverbs 3 says don’t lean on your own understanding. And really how can humans understand the workings of a being that created the universe out of nothing? Nevertheless, in the middle of my excitement for Shawn, I have questions like everyone else. I have questions that simply won’t be answered until I’m up there with my friend Shawn.

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Why We Do Need God: A Response to “Why You Don’t Need God” CNN.com

January 15, 2015 0Comment

On January 8, 2015 CNN.com published an article entitled “Why You Don’t Need God”. The article is written by Ryan Bell who was once a Seventh-day Adventist pastor. He is now an atheist. The entire article can be accessed via the following link: http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/08/opinion/bell-god-atheism/index.html

When I first read Bell’s article, I was angry. I write many blog posts for people who are “searching”, searching for purpose and meaning. My personal opinion is that purpose and meaning can only be found through God and Jesus. Bell’s article is basically the antithesis. Therefore, naturally I viewed him as an enemy. However, I remembered that I am supposed to love my enemies. See my previous post: http://rebuildandrestore.com/my-ultimate-challenge-loving-my-enemies/

I’m glad that I remembered to love my enemies because it helped me realize that Bell had just given me template to tell people “Why we DO need God”. While I don’t agree with his opinions, I appreciate Bell using a straight forward and reasoned approach. He brings up some very valid points that believers in God should be able to counter with a straight forward and reasoned approach. You see, I am not one of those people who believe or don’t believe simply because it “feels” right. I’m not a “blind faith” kind of person. I am simply not wired that way. Before I can make a decision on something, such as the existence of God, I need the argument broken down. I need to see the evidence on both sides, and the evidence undoubtedly points to the existence of God. I believe in God because of the evidence, not in spite of it.

1) Bell says ” ….I couldn’t find any other way to find peace and clarity. I encountered major theological differences with my denomination and evangelical Christianity in general, including the way it marginalizes women and LGBT people.”

Response: I concede that churches and church leaders have sometimes marginalized women and LGBT. However, that is an issue with the followers of Christianity and not a problem with Christianity, itself. Christians believe that Jesus was part of God put on earth in the human form. Jesus never marginalized anyone. In fact, Jesus made it a priority to socialize with everyone. One of the greatest contemporary criticisms of Jesus was that he made a habit of socializing with sinners and social outcasts, such as tax collectors and Samaritans. Jesus may have been the first women’s rights advocate as well. See my previous post: http://rebuildandrestore.com/paul-liked-women-but-jesus-was-a-ladies-man/

2) Bell says, “I questioned the problem of evils and God’s general silence and inactivity”.

Response: I concede that there is evil in the world. Because humans are separated from God, we live in a fallen world. Hence, humans have a “mean streak”. The real issue for me is why God lets evil happen. Nevertheless, I want to focus on the second part of Bell’s statement: God’s general silence and inactivity. Conversely, I think God is very active. God is running the universe. You see, science tells us “how” things work: the Big Bang, the human body, quantum physics, etc. But science doesn’t tell us “why” things work. For example, we have laws of science. They tell us how things work, but “why” do we have laws of science in the first place???God???

3) Bell says, “I was struck by how unlikely my existence is.” and “But my experience is that acknowledging the absence of God has helped me refocus on the wonderful and unlikely life I do have.”

Response: I concede that the human existence is unlikely. However, it is this very “unlikeliness” that is actually evidence of God’s existence. Generally, when something odd or unusual happens, people say it is either coincidence or divine intervention. Well, the human existence is odd, unusual, and unlikely. For life to evolve, several factors must be in play: distance of the planet from the sun, the presence of an atmosphere, the presence of water, etc. While there is a little variability, all of the factors must work in the right combinations to support life. So, what are the chances that we could be born on a planet that has all of the factors for life to not only exist, but also to flourish? What are the chances that we could be born on a planet where life flourishes enough to produce intelligent life, such as humans? It “could” be a coincidence. I mean someone has to win the lottery, but what are the chances of you or me winning the lottery? Similarly, is our existence the equivalent of winning a cosmic lottery? Or is it more likely to be divinely inspired? My money is on the latter.

4) Bell says, “Ironically, my Christian upbringing taught me that this life ultimately doesn’t matter, which tends to make believers apathetic about suffering.” and “Without dependency on a cosmic savior who is coming to rescue us, we are free to recognize that we are the ones we’re waiting for. If we don’t make the world a fair and habitable place, no one else is going to do it for us.”.

Response: Life matters. If it didn’t, Jesus’ death wouldn’t have atoned for our sins. Additionally, I have come to accept that there will be suffering on the Earth. However, I am not apathetic towards it. Furthermore, I don’t think other Christians are apathetic about suffering either. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have organizations like the Salvation Army and Compassion International.

I concede that Christians sometimes wait for God to fix something, when God actually wants to use Christians to fix something. It’s like the Matthew West song goes: we shake our fist at God and ask him why he doesn’t do something. Then God replies, I did. I created you. We were created to serve God and do his work. Furthermore, even if Christians were apathetic towards suffering, that’s an issue with Christians, not God. God has given us the directive to do his work. We simply struggle to carry out that directive.

In summary, it appears that many, but not all of Bell’s issues with God come from his experiences with Christians. In my very first blog post, I explained the shortcomings of Christians. See http://rebuildandrestore.com/three-things-that-ticked-me-off-or-why-churches-fail-to-reach-people/

However, God set the bar pretty high, when he sent Jesus as an example. One of the basic tenets of Christianity is that we have failed to live up to God’s expectations, and we need a savior. So, while disheartening, the struggle of Christians is not only understandable, but it is also expected. However, is it unfair to doubt the existence of God simply because his followers can’t get it right.

For more on the existence of God, and more specifically the existence of Jesus, see: http://www.leestrobel.com/channels/CFChrist.php and http://coldcasechristianity.com/ .

When God says, “I got this”

Why does the word “Jesus” make people uncomfortable?

My Friend Shawn

Why We Do Need God: A Response to “Why You Don’t Need God” CNN.com

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