About Me

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I am a born-again Christian, who is Reformed, but also charismatic, spiritually speaking. (I do not speak in tongues, but I believe glossalalia is a bona fide gift not given to all, and not as great as prophecy, for example.) I have several years of college education but only completed a two-year degree. I was raised Lutheran and confirmed, but I didn't "find Christ" until I was in the Army and responded to a Billy Graham crusade in 1973. I was mentored or discipled by the Navigators in the army and upon discharge joined several evangelical, Bible-teaching churches. I was baptized as an infant, but believe in believer baptism, of which I was a partaker after my conversion experience. I believe in the "5 Onlys" of the reformation: sola fide (faith alone); sola Scriptura (Scripture alone); soli Christo (Christ alone), sola gratia (grace alone), and soli Deo gloria (to God alone be the glory). I affirm TULIP as defended in the Reformation.. I affirm most of The Westminster Confession of Faith, especially pertaining to Providence.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Knowing Your God

"If man is not made for God, why is he happy only in God? If man is made for God, why is he opposed to God?" says Blaise Pascal, this is our "dilemma." If you've ever felt that God is keeping a low profile like the psalmist in Psalm 89:46, "How long, O LORD? Will You hide Yourself forever?" "...He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him": (Heb. 11:6). Francis Schaeffer said that Christianity is "about the God who is there." If you have wondered about this, read on.

Sometimes God seems MIA or missing in action; even Job replied, "Oh that I knew where I might find Him" (Job 23:3). Also in Job: "Where is God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night?" (Cf. Job 35:11) We all have sometimes wondered of the "whereabouts" of God, but James says, "Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto thee" (James 4:8). It is our fault if we don't find Him. Isaiah says that God conceals Himself, though He reveals Himself: "Truly You are a God who has been hiding Yourself" (Isaiah 45:15).

God will be found by those who are not even seeking Him too, according to Isaiah 65:1 which says, "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me: I was found by those who did not seek me." God doesn't take triflers seriously if you want to really know God. Your testimony must be: "I was lost, but now am found." We do not find God in reality, He finds us! No one can come close to God and remain unchanged! "Seek the LORD, and live..." (Amos 5:6).

I quote Daniel 11:32 as follows: "...but the people who know their God will display strength and take action [other translations render it: do exploits or firmly resist him, i.e., the opposition]." To know God is to love God and the highest calling we have is to know God: "...but let him who boasts, boast in this, that he understands and knows Me..." (Jeremiah. 9:24). God will authenticate Himself to you because God is no man's debtor. When we find God--and as Pascal said, "I would not have found Him, had He not first found me," We must be prepared for an encounter and reckoning. How can we know God? First, we must seek Him with our whole heart-- "Prepare to meet thy God," says Amos 4:12. This is always true; we never know when or how we will meet and confront our God.

Let us look at the wisdom of Job: "Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace!" (Job 22:21). It wasn't until Job actually acknowledged God that he was truly humbled and realized his self-righteousness. Hosea's theme is to know the Lord, even though we are backslidden: "Let us know the LORD, let us press on to know the LORD" (Hosea 6:3). God's main "pet peeve" against Israel was that there was "no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land" (Hosea 4:1). What is true worship? Read Hosea 6:6 which I quote: "For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings."

To know God, we must seek Him with our whole heart. Jeremiah 29:13 (cf. Deut. 4:29) verifies this: "You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart." Isaiah offers similar advice: "Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (Isaiah 55:6). Hosea says "...For it is time to seek the LORD..." (Hosea 10:12). In seeking God, He wants us to acknowledge Him and His presence. One of God's names is YHWH Shammah, or "the LORD who is there, (Ezek. 48:35). Paul says to the Corinthians: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells is in you?" (1 Cor. 3:16).

Some people think that everyone is on a mad quest to find God! In reality, they are trying to get the benefits without the Benefactor! God says that there "is none that seeks Him" (Rom. 3:11). The search for God begins at salvation, according to R. C. Sproul, not before salvation, because God finds us, who are lost sheep. Jonathan Edwards proclaimed seeking God as the main business of the Christian life.

The promise that He will be found is in Matthew 7:7 said by Jesus Himself: "....seek and you shall find...." "The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the person who seeks Him": (Lamentations 3:25). Here are two promises: "If you seek Him He will let you find Him." and "O LORD, You have not forsaken those who seek You" (Psalm 9:10b). A warning to the wise is sufficient: "He did evil because he did not set his heart on seeking the LORD" (2 Chron. 12:14). Even Hezekiah, the godliest king of Judah, sought the LORD in 2 Chronicles 20 when threatened by Assyria's armies.

If you put God in a box, you will not find Him; you are restricting Him, like saying: "I just like to think of God as the Great Spirit in the Sky or as the Heavenly Father, doting Grandfather, or the Man Upstairs--well do you see what I mean? We must be willing to acknowledge God for who He is and that means accepting the truth no matter where it leads--you will not ever find the truth if you are not willing to go where the facts lead and admit you could be wrong.

The highest calling we can have is to know God and the most rewarding relationship is our one with Him--if we pass this on to our children in passing the torch we have done our duty as a generation. Knowing God makes you strong in your faith and able "to do exploits" and not falter in faith. The ultimate goal of knowing God is to be like Him or to be sanctified. Jesus said, that He came "not to be served, but to serve" It is the same with us, in that we will have a servant's heart and realize that true greatness is not in how many people serve you, but in how many people you serve.

God is both transcendent and immanent (distant or removed and near): "'Am I a God who is near,' declares the LORD, 'And not a God far off?' 'Can a man hide himself in hiding places So I do not see him?' declares the LORD. 'Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?' declares the LORD." God is not bound by the time-space continuum and confined to our dimensions.

The only relationship that fully satisfies and fully rewarding is one with our Maker (we are made for Him and can only find happiness in Him); and we are like a vacuum that only God can fill, according to Blaise Pascal, and Augustine also said that our hearts have a need that only God can satisfy [paraphrased]. Paul said to the Philippians: "... that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection..." (Phil. 3:10). The ultimate questions are: "How big is your God?" not how big your faith.   The answer is that to know Him is to love Him! The biggest challenge you can give is to live for something bigger than yourself and your concept of God affects this--don't think small, but aim high with God on your side!
Soli Deo Gloria!


Reformed Theology On The Defensive...

Most Arminians (i.e., Wesleyans, Methodists, and those of the opposite persuasion) are not aware of the fact that their patron saint (Jacob Hermann or Jacobus Arminius in Latin) was once a Reformed theologian at a Dutch university who was expelled from his post in disgrace. Reformed theology is the orthodox position, (going back to Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo's, debate with the British monk Pelagius in the 5th century), though we are all born semi-Pelagians or Arminians (they are actually in the majority, even among Evangelical churches) and Martin Luther, formerly an Augustinian monk, wrote a book, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church. Luther claimed we are all natural-born semi-Pelagians and we should consequently understand their viewpoint.

Many are in a fog about what Reformed theology is, it is sometimes referred to as Covenant theology, (people call it this to avoid the derogatory term "Calvinist" with its negative connotations). Anglican theologian J. I. Packer says that is more than a set of doctrines to subscribe to, but a "hermeneutic"--a way of seeing and interpreting Scripture in the light of grace, and having a viewpoint from above. I see it as a "mindset" and even a "worldview" because we can see everything in the light of God's grace. Let the Holy Spirit's illuminating ministry open your eyes and I hope you "get it"--a new orientation.

The pill that's hard for some to swallow is that our ultimate destiny is in God's hands (cf. John 6:44, 65; Romans 9:15-16) and we are not in control (Yes, we are at the complete mercy of God who will have mercy on whom He will have mercy) and so they make erroneous conclusions based on their bias. "It is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy" (Rom. 9:16). It is written in John 15:16: "I chose you, and you didn't choose me." Ephesians 1:5 says "according to the good pleasure of His will...." Being the elect refers to God's election, not ours! The common belief of prescience is that God conditioned our election on our contingent faith on our belief and thus we did it and are better than the lost, rather than electing us "unto faith." 

The Golden Chain of Redemption in Rom. 8:29-30 militates against prescience if you exegete it. He elected those He foreknew (means to have a personal love-relationship with, not knowing facts about someone). Calvinists adhere to unconditional election based on His purpose and grace and nothing in us is found worthy of it. God doesn't owe us a measure of grace, or it would be justice, not grace! Do you really think you responded to the gospel because you were more virtuous or moral than the unbeliever? Arminians admit they cannot explain why some respond to His wooing and others don't, other than positing that some desire to be saved and others don't (actually the Greek word for wooing is elko and it really means to "drag" someone like into court!). God didn't owe us--He didn't have to save anyone; He'd still be just and holy without doing it!

It seems most people have preconceived notions of Calvinism (which really are "hyper-Calvinism" ideas of "double-predestination" and "reprobation" that they object to or even the doctrine of "election," and for this cause Calvinism gets a bad rap). Calvinism per se is not what John Calvin taught (his teachings about predestination, for example, were sparse), and it was first delineated by the Synod of Dort in 1618 to answer John Preston, John Ball, Caspar Olevianus, Robert Rollock, Zacharias Ursinus, Henry Bullinger, Huldreich Zwingli, John Calvin and Martin Luther with Phillip Melancthon ahead of the game or before the fact, so to speak).

Calvinists are not preoccupied with one doctrine and are not on a mission to convert people to their way of thinking. It only seems that way since they've had a "grace awakening" and become "grace-oriented." It's a wonderful way to see God and our relationship with Him--they get the "can't-help-its" and want to share their faith ("For we can not but speak of what we have heard and seen," cf. Acts 4:20) and open their brother's eyes. Case in point: When I personally became aware of "eternal security" it opened my eyes to a whole new way of interpreting Scripture.

C. H. Spurgeon said that Calvinism (also known commonly by the nomenclature of Reformed theology and Covenant theology, though these terms are not identical) is simply acknowledging that "Salvation is of the Lord" as Jonah testified in the belly of the great fish. Faith is God's gift, but our act (God doesn't believe for us!).  Some believe that faith is a meritorious work and we all know that we are not saved by works in Ephesians 2:8-9. It is easier to see that we owe our faith to our election and not our election to our faith. We are not elected because of our faith, but unto faith (this means the election results in regeneration and faith/repentance and is not caused by it--see 2 Thess. 2:13, Acts 13:48; and 1 John 5:1 in ESV), and this election is, according to the Calvinists, vital to know, as we don't merit our election in any way.   If we could believe apart from regeneration or prior to it, what good is it?  A condition of salvation is to realize we are not worthy.

If we have to do anything for our salvation we will fail, and miserably. The other possibilities are logical "of us alone" and "of us and God together in a joint, cooperative venture (synergism).   If you think about it, the former one is religion, and the latter is legalism. The only way of grace is by God alone and we can be sure this way (no human element involved to vary): Man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation according to Chuck Swindoll! We just receive it by faith and that faith is God's gift. If we have to do a work for salvation we will fail, and at that miserably. What's the joy in not knowing you are saved or that you have to do something to be accepted in the Beloved? Nehemiah 8:10 says: "The joy of the LORD is your strength." This is because there is a difference between the conjecture of the Arminian versus the certitude of the Calvinist--viva la difference!

John Newton says that he believes in an unconditional election before he was born because he certainly didn't do anything in his life to merit it! The Reformed doctrines (known also as "doctrines that divide" by some) are known as TULIP or by five so-called points in this acrostic. The misunderstanding comes from the unfortunate nomenclature in describing the points. They should be better known as radical corruption, sovereign choice, efficacious or quickening grace, particular redemption, and God's preservation of the saints, just to give examples (R. C. Sproul, among others, use these terms).

Faith is a gift per Acts 18:27 ("You have believed through grace") among other passages. He opens our hearts like He did to Lydia in Acts 16:14. Note also that repentance is the flip side of faith and is also the gift of God per Acts 5:31 among other passages like Acts 14:27. The terms faith and repentance are linked and used almost interchangeably in the gospels and epistles and there is no saving faith without genuine repentance; you can distinguish them, but not separate them--they go hand in hand and are seen together as the gift of God as a work of grace in the individual to change his character and quicken his spirit to salvation (cf. Acts 20:21). The point is that God grants repentance just as faith: Acts 5:31; 11:18; 2 Tim. 2:25; Rom. 2:4; 2 Cor. 7:9, et al. We have to see what Jesus meant in John 6:44, 65 and that we cannot come to the Father on our own, without grace and it is "granted," according to Philippians 1:29. 

All believers need to know the basics of this theology and not be ignorant. This is not the place to elaborate or defend these doctrines here, as we will miss the point: What is the point? Simply what the reformers' battle cry was: The "Five Only's": Sola Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory--i.e., we get no credit!), sola fide (by faith alone--i.e., not of works we do), soli Christo (through Christ alone--i.e., we don't help Jesus out!), sola gratia (by grace alone--i.e., it is freely given and not earned or deserved!) and Sola Scriptura (They see Scripture alone as authority--i.e., not the Papists, Romanists, or the "Church."). As Martin Luther said, "I dissent, I disagree, I protest." Namely, that God gets all the glory and credit and we have naught to brag or boast of in His presence. Grace alone means we don't work at all in our salvation; it's a done deal land a free undeserved, unearned gift.!

They should be known as the "doctrines of grace, not doctrines that divide." Arminians don't accept the fact that grace is the sine qua non of faith (in other words it is not only necessary, but all-sufficient, and regeneration precedes faith per 2 Thess. 2:13 and 1 John 5:1 in the ESV). Romanists affirm that grace is necessary but we must add at least some congruous merit to it since it is not sufficient. We don't add to God's work in us--that gives us some of the credit.

Christians of the Reformed persuasion are not fanatics on a mission to convert believers to their school of thought but have a new spiritual fervor because of this awakening, and once you've experienced it, you want to pass it along! Just as Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). God turns our hearts of stone into hearts of flesh by grace (cf. Ezek. 36:26)--He makes believers out of us and works in us according to His will per Philippians 2:13et alia! The conclusion of the matter is this: God doesn't enable us to save ourselves or even just offer to save us--He saves us! We must first quit trying to save ourselves and learn to trust and obey. Soli Deo Gloria!
















N.B. Faith and faithfulness are the same words in the OT and Hab. 2:4 (and Rom. 1:17) implies that a righteous man lives by his faith (faithfulness, i.e., it is a continual action, not a one-time event that is saving faith, bringing about good deed as fruit). Martin Luther made it clear in his first of Ninety-Five Theses that repentance was also a continual event that never ceased in the believer's walk and not a one-time event either.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Does Time Matter?...

"[M]aking the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16, NKV).
"Time is the thing we have least of." --Ernest Hemingway
Do you have the time?  It's a gift from God! What you do with it should be your gift to God!
Carpe diem (seize the day)!  

By definition, time is a corollary of space and matter (not a measurement between two events because sometimes nothing happens) which both began ostensibly at the so-called Big Bang, which was the result of God's decree and the so-called energy clock began ticking. The Bible says that time began (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; Titus 1:2). According to the kalam cosmological proof of God, everything that begins to exist has a cause; the universe began to exist and therefore has a cause.  Thus it follows that everything in (subject to) time and space also had a beginning or a cause; God is eternal, not the effect of anything and needs no one or nothing (cf. Acts 17:25), and therefore, has no cause.

The law of causality corollary (kalam argument) states that everything that begins to exist has a cause.   He alone can manipulate the space-time continuum that runs according to His laws and rules.  "When the fullness of time had come..." Jesus was incarnated into the space-time continuum!   Time captivity implies that things happen in sequence and you cannot go back or skip to the future, but it is not an independent force or power, just a way of relating.  (We define time as a corollary of space and matter and is not absolute).

God created the space-time continuum and exists prior to and above it, not limited nor defined by it.  He has the power to defy its rules as its Creator; however, we are captive to time and cannot remove ourselves from its slavery.  We live in the present, not the past nor the future!  But with the Lord, a thousand years is as one day and vice versa.  Time is not of the essence.  God is the ultimate "multi-tasker," being able to do everything simultaneously.   (Everything that begins to exist has a cause, therefore, God has no cause or limits being eternal.)   He alone can manipulate the space-time continuum that runs according to His laws and rules.  "When the fullness of time had come..."  (cf. Gal. 4:4).  Jesus was incarnated into the space-time continuum!   Time captivity implies that things happen in sequence and you cannot go back or skip to the future, but it is not an independent force or power, just a way of relating.

God created the space-time continuum and exists prior to and above it, not limited nor defined by it.  infinite numbers of tasks at a time--all equally efficient and uncompromised.  When He spends time with us personally, it doesn't mean any less time for others.  Time is even comprehended differently among creatures:  a mushroom grows up overnight, while an oak tree takes decades.  A dog year is as seven of ours in comparison.  We all see time relatively, but with God, there is the absolute present and ever or always  NOW.  He is outside its framework and boundaries, not captive and understood by it.

Time matters for us as we are allotted only a certain amount of it and must give an account of our stewardship.  God has forever!  He existed in eternity past and eternity future is in His hands.  He is the Alpha and Omega or the beginning and the end of all things, including history and time as we know it.  We can do several things with our time as stewards:  use it; give it; find it; borrow it; make it; invest it; redeem it; spend it; buy it; steal it; waste it; save it; kill it, and even share it! Love can be spelled T I M E!  We all value quality time with our loved ones.  It must have some intrinsic value!  We all have 168 hours per week allotted and have the same responsibility as stewards to use it the best we can because we will give an account.  We all have a God-ordained right to set aside a certain amount of it for worship and rest as a Sabbath.

We have no excuse in saying we do not have the time for God's will, for procrastination is no excuse.  Time is definitely of the essence!  There will be downtime, spare time, quiet time, quitting time, spare time, free time, and busy or occupied time, but we must learn to be creative with what God gives us by grace and be accountable.  There are some things that deserve our full attention and others that don't!  Sir Walter Scott, the Scottish historical novelist, quipped, "Time and tide wait for no man!"  We all need to be wise and make time work for us and we do this by prioritizing and putting Christ first.  David said in Psalm 31:15 said, "My times are in Your hands."  We entrust our stewardship to God for prioritizing and He always provides the means to do His will; i.e., there's always time for that.  And redeem the time for the days are evil.... Eph.  5:16. 

Time spent with God in prayer, worship, or service is always an investment of time and the busier we are, the more it pays off in dividends. "Time flies" (tempis fugit in Latin) because we are stewards.  In other words, it's not as much as finding the time, as making the time.  Eternity has been put into the heart of man (cf. Eccl. 3:11), and we cannot understand nor explain it fully, even how God is not its slave but Creator, but we don't have to understand it to accept it and believe it; the true test of reason is that some things are beyond reason.  Jesus is even Lord of time, not its servant. 

We cannot control time and we are subject to its constraints and boundaries, but we can manage it to our benefit.  Having time to spare or to do what you want can be a gift and one should use it wisely, not as a given to take advantage of or take for granted., while the exhortation to take one's time controverts biblical advice; on the contrary, it's a resource to be used to the glory of God. In the final analysis, we're all on borrowed time!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Sunday, August 19, 2018

Does Truth Matter?...

"Truth does not change according to my ability to stomach it." --Flannery O'Connor
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (cf. Prov. 1:7).  
"Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice" (cf.  John 18:37, NKJV).
"... We hold these truths to be self-evident..." (The Declaration of Independence).  
"Refusing to acknowledge and defend the revealed truth of God is a particularly stubborn, pernicious kind of unbelief.  Clouding the truth nurtures unbelief."  --John MacArthur, The Truth War
"Truth forever on the scaffold, wrong forever on the throne."  James Russell Lowell, The Present Crisis
BY DEFINITION:  "Truth is what corresponds to reality," (John Locke) --actually, God's reality! 

Today we wonder: are different versions of the truth?  Is truth really relative?   This controverts the Bible, which claims to be the exclusive truth, and Jesus Christ its very personification, who was asked by Pilate, "What is truth?" There is no universal belief, but reality is founded upon universal and transcendent truth.  Yes, the very notion of truth is in question, and some doubt the ability to be certain on anything, and this means the Bible's integrity is in jeopardy because we claim to know the truth, just as Jesus promised truth would set us free.  Not knowing the truth is a kind of cynicism and shows a lack of faith. Doubt can be healthy, but cynicism as a mindset is wrong.  Postmodernists claim that there is no truth with a capital T as a consequence and all truth is relative except their truths. 

All knowledge is contingent and takes a leap of faith starting with some unproven presupposition.  When the postmodernists say that it's just our interpretation or that truth doesn't matter, they are contravening God who alone delimits what is truth as its final arbiter.  Truth has power and when they claim that your truth has no power over them, they are lying and do not know the truth.  The catchphrase that it may be "true for you but not for them" is nonsensical--is that statement true for all and for whom?  The Bible claims all knowledge begins in faith and the fear of the Lord--if there is no God, then truth is irrelevant at best.  The sign of a believer is that he has a love for the truth and has been set free by it! Unbelievers reject the truth at their peril (cf. Romans 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:10ff). 

This has a lot to do with our faith since a lot of believers don't know what they believe and cannot even defend their faith or explain why they have it; this is a form of unbelief.  The church is the pillar and ground of the truth (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15) and we are witnesses of it.  Christians are dedicated to defending the truth and taking their stand for it and should make no unnecessary concessions.  Augustine said that we believe in order to understand, and this proves faith is the starting point and skepticism leads to confusion and contradiction.  We're not talking about subjectivity:  Differences of opinion, values, and tastes. But we're fighting for what God decrees, His expression, and what corresponds with reality.  Objective truth exists whether believed or not and never changes or adapts to situations, known as relativism--a denial of all absolutes. 

The stakes have never been higher and it's not only our duty to defend the truth, but also to combat error and heresy. This so-called "truth war" is worth fighting as we "contend earnestly for the faith," (cf. Jude 3) and the faithful will take up arms and prepare themselves for this war against the devil and his minions and cohorts who are bent on destroying any vestige of the truth, and of reality as a consequence.  The church needs to prepare members in what they believe and realize like Augustine that there are negotiable as well as nonnegotiable teachings (Heb. 13:9 says to beware of "strange teachings"), but need to be dogmatic on the essentials, showing liberty on the gray areas and charitable toward all believers who disagree in order to maintain a witness and unity of the body (cf. Eph. 4:3).

In short, we shouldn't just compromise our faith in the name of collegiality and sing kumbaya at the campfire celebrating unity when we are denying the notion of dogmatic truth and taking a stand.  Augustine said that "all truth is God's truth" and Aquinas added that "all truth meets at the top."  The truth is an antiseptic, but you must be willing to go where it leads to become changed and convicted.  CAVEAT:  NO ONE HAS CORNERED THE MARKET ON TRUTH OR HAS MONOPOLIZED IT!   NB:  The Greeks of antiquity nobly sought the true, the good, and the beautiful.    Soli Deo Gloria!

Building A Firm Foundation For Life

We are not meant to be spiritual Lone Rangers or hermits but to edify one another with the ministry of our spiritual gifts.  No one is a rock or an island!  The only foundation for living is the one established in Christ as our Rock (cf. Psalm 18:31).  In fact, "the only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point,' according to Athanasius.  We all tend to have false hopes for our security and meaning in life, including money, fame, power, political involvement, or social activism, but God's Word says not to trust in princes or in our own strength.  "Not by strength, nor by might, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts..." (cf. Zech. 4:6).  Martin Luther's hymn goes:  "Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing."  All that we do is by God's strength and through the Lord--we can do nothing apart from Christ! (cf. John 15:5). 

There is a relative hymn that goes:  "My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness."  We all are inclined to erect false empires and kingdoms of our own achievements, but God doesn't want those, He wants our obedience.  He wants us to trust His accomplishment in Christ. It is a common error today to put one's faith in the government and to hope that some politician will save us from all our ills in society.  The government is not the problem, and certainly not the solution either. God is the one who can work all things together for our good and well-being. The safest place to be is in the will of God, not in having a nest egg.

Once we build our secure foundation of faith we are in a position to be blessed by God--but we must seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness!  Some people are too busy with their own kingdoms and pursuing wealth that they neglect the task of the kingdom of God as the first priority.  There's nothing wrong with wealth per se, but only when it is our priority and interferes with our spiritual growth and the kingdom of God.  If we have a false foundation or one built on false hope, it is liable to falling down and collapsing on us.  Jesus made it clear that the only firm foundation is obedience to Him as our cornerstone!  We need to worry about nothing, trust God for everything, pray about anything and thank about everything to have peace with God, as suggested by Phil. 4:6-7.

When we live in light of eternity our problems and trials seem to be seen in perspective and we are more able to trust in the Lord. Focus on eternity, not the here and now!  Jesus said that where our heart is, there will be our treasure also (cf. Matt. 6:20) and we are citizens of heaven  (cf. Phil. 3:20) and our conversation should be heavenly.   Soli Deo Gloria!

Sunday, August 12, 2018

Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus

"I pray that the eyes of our heart may be enlightened..." (Eph. 1:18, NIV).
"Open my eyes that I may see..." (Psalm 119:18, NIV).

The Greeks came to the disciples inquiring:  But we would see Jesus!  It's not a matter of having some religious or spiritual encounter that lets you behold Christ clearly and meaningfully, but a life of obedience, not ecstasy, vision, or experience!  Remember what Jesus told Thomas:  Blessed are those who haven't seen!  The point is that Jesus opens the eyes of the blind.  But Christians all have the ability to see Christ at work in the world, the church, their brethren, and even themselves if they persist in growing in the faith. It is vital to know that Satan will trip us up with a temptation to test us at our weak points and vulnerabilities.  And we must realize that he is like a devouring lion, seeking whom he may devour (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8)!

As Christians with the Spirit within, we have an advantage over those who actually did see Jesus in the flesh and may have become biased, calloused, or blinded to the Spirit.  We don't have to go to and fro seeking Jesus' teaching and presence but have the power at work within--which is a much greater blessing and comfort.  We are exhorted to walk by faith and not by sight, and if we do we'll see Christ by faith!  To be a person who thinks clearly with our thinking straightened out, we must see (Christ) clearly (i.e., by faith).  As the Christian sees Jesus from page to page throughout the Bible like a scarlet thread of His theme in action, that the whole of Scripture is about Him.

Peter walked on water as long as he kept his focus on Jesus, but the second he was overcome with the situation at hand and got his eyes off Jesus he began to sink.  Suddenly he realized he needed the intervention of his Savior and uttered the simple words of salvation:  Lord, save me!  We all need to realize that we are in over our head in this life and need Jesus in order to cope with the mundane.  The distracted mind is no fertile territory for the seed of the Word of God to germinate.

It has been said that the faith the grain of a mustard seed can move mountains; likewise, we can have faith to move mountains in Christ, figuratively speaking.  William Carey said that we ought to "Expect Great Things from God; Attempt Great Things for God!'   It's not how big our faith, in other words, but the size of our God, who can work the impossible on our behalf.  The clearer our perception of Jesus, the closer we can walk with the Lord and be of benefit to the kingdom.  Too often the cares of this world smother our spiritual life and we lose focus from keeping the main thing the main thing.  We don't want to major on minors, or become legalists!  Each of us has a part to do in the Great Commission and can learn from each other doing their part.

The more we learn of Jesus and see Him spiritually at work, the more proficient we are at accomplishing His work.  The Great Commission will one day be the Great Completion (by the corporate body of Christ working in unity).  Yes, they say that we can walk on water if we have faith, or that someone has the faith to walk on water.  This applies to everyone and not just to a spiritual elite, for there is no room for a class system in Christ--we are all one in Christ.

I read a book once called The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey that was just a description of the Bible's doctrine of Christ.  The point:  one can never adequately describe Jesus, but you can know Him personally!  And we must learn to focus on Christ in the mundane and everyday and down to earth, not just in a book.  Each of us is a gospel in shoe leather and has a story to tell or a gift to give.  We don't want Jesus to be just in our head or what's called story faith or head knowledge but have first-hand experience one-on-one with our Lord that we have something to share and pass along to others of our encounter with the Lord. 

We are to walk hand in hand with our Lord through all the ups and downs, through thick and thin, to realize the presence of our Lord and being able to see Him more clearly, know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, and to love Him more dearly  (cf. Richard of Chichester).  If a brother needs a book to know Jesus, he's missed the boat!  Jesus is as close as the mention of His name!  However, the temptation is to get enamored with the intellectual aspect of the faith and not to apply what we know.  And the Bible wasn't written to describe Jesus, but to make Him known.

Our faith is not a creed to believe or even song to sing, but a relationship and person to know in the here and now with vibrations throughout eternity.  We don't need to get informed, but transformed, and to know our Lord, if we are to walk with Him.  We get to know the Spirit at work in our hearts and grow in the faith as we increase in our experiential knowledge of Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  "But we do see Jesus..." (cf. Heb. 2:9). God is with us through the indwelling Spirit.  The disciples longed to see the Father, thinking it would suffice, but Jesus reassured them He is all they need.

We are not boasting of visions and dreams or visitations, but we see Christ at work in the world in the here and now through each other.  Do you see just evil in the world, or do you see the good overcoming evil?  Paul said that it was "Christ in you, the hope of glory..." (cf. Col. 1:27), meaning that we live an inhabited life, not just an imitating one.  Our walk is a substituted, transforming, relinquished, and surrendered one--"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me..." (cf. Gal. 2:20).

We ought to be so preoccupied with our Lord in all we do that he is the center of our life and our treasure is in Him that it shows to the point of being a testimony and a light in the dark if we are Jesus freaks or fanatics to some or even "out of our mind"  (cf. 2 Cor. 5:13) it's for Christ's sake, that would be a compliment, as long as we don't live in ignorance of sound doctrine, having a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (cf. Rom. 10:2, Prov. 19:2)   Colossians 3:2, NIV, says: "For you died., and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

We are the hands to do Christ's work, the heart to show Christ's love, and the voices through which Christ speaks to a lost world that doesn't realize He's for real and works in us. We shouldn't be saying that we see the devil at work in the world and ask "why?" but Jesus at work through the church and ask "why not?"   As the hymn by William Cowper goes:  "God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform."(Cf. Isa. 45:15, NLT).  

The faith we have is the faith we show--we must learn to become contagious Christians because of our fixation on the Lord, though we are not fanatics who have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, because the clearer our vision of Christ, the more useful in the mission to the world and ministry in the church, as it becomes obvious that we have been in the presence of Jesus!

Bear in mind that to see Jesus with our physical eyes may not do any good spiritually, we must behold him with our spiritual eyes and not only with our intellect but with our whole heart.  We need a real-life personal encounter with God that will change us from the inside out so that we can walk with Christ through faith.  To see Jesus is to know Him and to know Him is to love Him.

In sum, let's follow on to know the Lord (cf. Hos. 6:3) as Richard of Chichester said, "To know Him more clearly, to follow Him more nearly, to love Him more dearly."

CAVEAT:  TO THE PERSON WHO DOES NOT SEE, HE SHOULD ASK HIMSELF: WHERE IS HIS HEART?    Jesus Himself said that the person who is really blind is the person who thinks he sees and doesn't.      Soli Deo Gloria!

Tuesday, August 7, 2018

A Reason For Suffering...

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." --C. S. Lewis
"For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone" (Lam. 3:33, NIV). 
"... Who dares to ask, 'What are you doing?'" (Job 9:12, NLT).  
"...He speaks to them in their affliction," (cf. Job 36:15, NIV). 
"We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God," (cf. Acts 14:22, NIV). 
"Don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through. ... Instead, be very glad--for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering" (1 Peter 4:12-13, NLT).
"Now I rejoice i what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ's affliction, for the sake of his body, which is the church" (Col. 1:24, NIV).
"For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him" (Phil. 1:29, NIV).

NOTE: NO RELIGION OR PERSON HAS THE FULL ANSWER TO SUFFERING, BUT CHRIST GIVES MEANING IT BECAUSE HE SUFFERED AND WAS STILL VICTORIOUS AND CAN RELATE TO US IN OUR SUFFERING BECAUSE OF IT; HE LEARNED OBEDIENCE BY WHAT HE SUFFERED (CF. HEB. 5:8).  TRUE FAITH ENDURES EVEN WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WHY.  WHAT A RELIGION SAYS ABOUT SUFFERING IT CANNOT EXPLAIN IS WORTH BELIEVING. 

Christianity, as a religion, alone offers a reason for suffering besides it being karma or deserved from sin or wrongdoing. We see temporal events in light of eternity and everything strikes a chord to vibrate into the next life.  No religion offers a complete and definitive reason for it though, but Christianity helps us endure it; if man has a reason for his suffering, he is able to while it away.  Realistically speaking, God has His reasons we cannot fully know, for His thoughts are infinitely higher than ours.  God is too deep to explain Himself, too kind to be cruel, and too wise to make a mistake.  The challenge is to keep the faith in spite of our suffering and trial and to learn from it, as we chalk it up to experience in the school of hard knocks.  As Paul said in his swan song, 2 Timothy, v. 4:7, KJV, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."  In our suffering, we must never ask where God is, but where He isn't.  "He is there, and He is not silent,"  according to Francis Schaeffer.

In part, our suffering's purpose is so that we can "console" others in their affliction and suffering and relate to them (cf. 2 Cor. 1:4). We are not called to be stoics who think that the ultimate purpose in life is to endure (literally grin and bear it) and accept the bad times and our so-called fate, not doing anything about it.  God can help us live above and beyond our circumstances.  We are not to be defined by them or limited in our ability to do God's will and achieve our calling.  Instead, we ought to be unfazed like Paul and say, "But none of these things move me" (cf. Acts 20:24).

We must acknowledge though, that all trials are Father-filtered and God has allowed them, even if Satan is doing the harm, and God will bring about His glory in the end--behind every cloud, there's a silver lining.  There is a chance to sympathize and with and encourage the bereaved or tested, when we can say that we've been there and done that.  This is the open door to sympathizing with our fellow man and not turning a deaf ear to his predicament, for it could happen to us--no one is immune from suffering and it comes with the territory of being saved.  Job's comforters made the mistake of having the presupposition that all suffering is caused by sin and they thought he was only getting half of what he deserved and ought to repent.  God didn't apologize nor offer reasons for his suffering, but showed His face to him, and instead of answering "why?" God answered "who?"  Who are we to question God?  God doesn't owe us an explanation!

In the final analysis, God never promised us a bed of roses and we signed up for this upon salvation.  Reality 101 is realizing that character comes from affliction!  No believer gets to skate through life trouble-free.  Even Christ didn't exempt Himself from suffering and suffered more than we will; our crosses to bear pale in comparison!   Sometimes we aren't aware of just how hard-of-hearing we can become and need a spiritual wake-up call.  Times like these are times to make a spiritual inventory and see where we get our strength from.  And we must expect trials, tribulations, affliction, suffering, loss, and even defeat.  God is on our side, but there is no guarantee of coming out on top all the time; however, all in all, we are more than conquerors in Christ and winners in a win-win situation because Christ won and we are identified with His victory at Calvary.         Soli Deo Gloria!

Living In The Old Testament

THE OLD TESTAMENT IS SUMMED UP IN LEV. 17:11 WHILE THE NEW TESTAMENT IN ROM. 3:25.  
"WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS OF SIN."  "PROPITIATION THROUGH FAITH IN HIS BLOOD."

The issue is whether you are living in the OT or the NT.  The OT is the Law and the NT is the Spirit (OF GRACE).   We are not bound to the letter of the Law, which kills, but to the Spirit, which is life.  Christ fulfilled the Law to the letter and set us free to live according to the Spirit of life in Christ (cf. Rom. 10:2).  In fact, the day we were set free from the Law was a day of rejoicing, and the day we realized it was heaven on earth as well as music to God's ears.  Nowhere in the NT are we admonished to live according to the Law!  Actually, "love is the fulfillment of the Law" (cf. Rom. 13:10).  We serve in the new way of the Spirit, not in the old way of the letter of the Law (cf. Romans 7:6). 

The yoke of following Jesus is the light and easy burden (cf. Matt. 11:30).  As many as are relying on the Law are under a curse (cf. Gal. 3:10).  God didn't give us the Law to keep, but to break, in order to show us we cannot keep it and look for salvation.  The Law merely measures us and shows our guilt, but doesn't save, but shows our need and doesn't exculpate.  NB:  NOWHERE IN THE NT ARE WE COMMANDED TO OBSERVE THE LAW NOR TO BECOME SOMEWHAT JEWISH TO BE SAVED OR SANCTIFIED.  

We have the yoke of God's will and following on to know the Lord.  That is why we live on purpose, and not just according to some externalism standard like the Pharisees did  (EXTERNALISM):  circumcision, hand washing, sacrifice, tithing, fasting, Sabbath and holy day observance, and following the kosher restrictions on diet (anything avoiding the condition of the heart or thought life).  Instead, we are exhorted to be filled with the Spirit, which wasn't given yet in the OT.  Christians all have a ministry and mission, and are priests for the Lord, not needing the priesthood any longer.  In fact, we are a "kingdom of priests." (cf. 2 Pet. 2:9).    We all have a spiritual gift to use for God's glory and to help function in the church's commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission.

There are still so-called Judaizers who add law to grace, and works to faith, and put a yoke on us, spying out our freedom in Christ and hinder us from being free and doing the will of God.  They put us back into bondage, not realizing that "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom"  (cf. 2 Cor. 3:17).  Our faith is not performance-based, but relationship-based.  But we are still prone to spiritual tyranny.  This is nothing but slavery to the Law.  We need to be set free and if the Son shall set us free, we shall be free indeed (cf. John 8:36).  God doesn't need people keeping someone's rules, but people who know Him.

To know Him is to love Him; however, it would all be in vain if we not only knew Him but didn't make Him known.   The mature believer is Spirit-filled and knows that as many as are led by the Spirit are the sons of God (cf. Rom. 8:14).  And now, "love is the fulfillment of the Law" (cf. Rom. 13:10; Gal. 5:14); Matt. 22:40).  And so, let us not just progress from faith to faith, but follow on to know the Lord, confessing Him, serving Him, and worshipping Him.  This entails spreading the Word and doing our part as we fit into the body with our unique gift or gifts.

Our marching orders are to fulfill the Great Commission and to occupy and stand our ground till He comes again--bloom where we are planted.  Our goal: to follow Christ more nearly, to know Him more clearly, and to love Him more dearly (according to Richard of Chichester). The keyword in our faith to us is to KNOW!  We know Jesus as God, Savior, and Lord; we know ourselves as totally depraved and in need of salvation; we know our enemies as the flesh, the devil, and ourselves as our worst enemy; we know our purpose, gifts, and calling to serve the Lord, we know God's will in order to fulfill our mission to the unsaved and ministry to our brethren; we also know the Word as we study, read, obey, and share it; and use all this knowledge to apply it first to ourselves, and to not only know the Lord but make Him known.       Soli Deo Gloria!

Sunday, July 29, 2018

The Law Of Causality And God

By definition, an effect has a cause or is caused by something, while a cause produces an effect; there can be no uncaused effects or causes that don't have effects.  There can be uncaused causes, but not uncaused effects; nothing can cause itself! This is not being guilty of worshiping at the shrine of Aristotle, but apologetics is linked to logic and teleology, as a result, known as the cosmological proof of God.  
"Every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of all things," (cf. Heb. 3:4). 

The law of causality (of causal links), also known as the law of cause and effect is the second law of knowledge after the law of noncontradiction. With these two laws predicated, all knowledge becomes possible. Without them, no knowledge is possible. As Augustine said, "I believe in order to understand," so also all knowledge begins in faith (is contingent), assuming something you cannot prove, even in the sciences--both applied and pure--belief causes understanding! The law of causality states simply that for every effect there's a cause; it doesn't state that everything has a cause--that would lead to absurdity and nothingness or infinite regress--and logicians argue for the impossibility of crossing infinity. You must begin somewhere, with some presupposition you cannot prove.

Secularists have faith in science as the ultimate source of truth and bet the farm on this fact--which precludes philosophy or religion as sources of enlightenment. In the final analysis of causality, nothing can be its own cause! Then it would be both a cause and an effect simultaneously or violate the law of noncontradiction. Aristotle saw God as the unmoved mover or uncaused cause. Going back to the beginning of all time, there has to be a First Cause or primary mover of the cosmos. This being, we call the necessary being. Everything is contingent by definition except God! Because if everything is dependent then nothing is necessary in itself.

God, as theologians see it, is the Causa Prima or the First Cause and primary mover of all. He got the ball rolling and fired the big bang, even programming it with some 50 universal constants, including the weak and strong nuclear forces, the force of gravity, the charge of the electron, the atomic weight of the proton, the speed of light, and the freezing point of water, and so forth, which are all constants throughout the cosmos.

Truth, according to the correspondence theory of truth, is that which corresponds with reality! Reality is not an infinite series of efficacious, finite causes, but a limited chain of effects tracing their root to God Himself. Everything in the universe (the time-space continuum) has a beginning; for everything that begins to exist is an effect and has a cause. The Big Bang (it didn't just happen out of the blue!) and the universe began to exist and, therefore, it has a cause--I venture to posit that God is that cause.  Nothing just happens by itself! 

When you say that Z was caused by Y and Y by X ... you realize infinite regress is impossible that the chain of events isn't eternal and must end somewhere (you run out of letters).  This type of evidence for God is called cosmological the law of cause and effect), for Heb. 3:4 says that everything is built by someone, but God is the builder of all, being the First Cause, or origin of all things--"In the beginning God...." God had no beginning and is eternal, therefore has no cause! I posit that everything in the time-space continuum had a beginning for Scripture declares that time itself began (Titus 1:2; 2 Tim. 1:9). God is the uncaused being, which doesn't violate any principle of logic or reason.

We must learn to think teleologically, or that everything has a purpose--it is only natural for children to wonder "why" because they naturally think along these lines. This type of proof of God is known as teleological, or that design, art, beauty, order, harmony, and purpose exist naturally in nature. God, being eternal, doesn't change and is therefore not an effect or has no cause. And it is important to note that where we start determines where we will end up; we must begin with God to come to any logical conclusion and not contradict ourselves or commit intellectual suicide.

All in all, there is ample, practical reason to understand the interrelationship of cause and effect: ideas have consequences and to troubleshoot problems we need to understand this relationship. We assign ultimate causation to God: In the beginning God! Finding the "culprit" is the aim, whether mundane or spiritual, whenever we encounter dilemmas or issues. Ultimately, God is the cause of all and works all things to His glory (cf. Eph. 1:11). As Wycliffe's tenet says, "All things come to pass of necessity." In sum, nothing just happens by itself and it's only natural to wonder why things happen as they do. Soli Deo Gloria!

What If You Wonder Where God Is?

"If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling!" (Job 23:3, NIV).
"Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself, ..." (Isa. 45:15, NIV).
"Let all the world be silent--the Lord is present" (Hab. 2:20, CEV).
"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go..." (Gen. 28:15, NKJV).
"...And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him" (Deut. 4:29, CEV).  "He is there, and He is not silent." --Francis A. Schaeffer, apologist
"I believe in God, and if I woke up in hell, I'd still believe in God." --Robert Louis Stevenson
"What can be seen on earth indicates neither the total absence of God nor his manifest presence, but rather the presence of a hidden God." --Blaise Pascal, the renowned French scientist, philosopher  "You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you." --Augustine, Confessions  

This is a hypothetical premise since it only appears this way, but in reality, it's quite another circumstance.  Sometimes God seems MIA (missing in action)!  Or we may ponder where God is when it hurts.  The psalmist can relate:  "Why are you far away, Lord?  Why do you hide yourself when I am in trouble?" (Psalm 10:1, CEV).  Given: upon salvation, which is not to be forfeited, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit with the specific gifts and the inception of the fruit of the Spirit. 

NB:  gifts are given and may become manifest without spiritual maturity, but fruits are grown and relative to maturity.  All things being equal, the Spirit-filled believer never loses the indwelling presence of the Spirit, but the Bible does admonish us from quenching (putting out its fire and effect) and grieving (making sad by consistent sin).

However, the believer needs to constantly seek the filling (the exhortation in Eph. 5:18 means to "keep on being filled").  There is also something else to reckon with:  the anointing for ministry.  God specially anoints believers to do a certain task or assignment (1 John 2:20).  We are to be constantly filled and refilled with the Spirit--it's not a one-time event.  We are always filled to enable us to do His will and to preach the Word (cf. Col. 1:29; Heb. 13:21), or do what we are gifted for and called to fulfill.

The Spirit never leaves us, in fact, if one wonders that, it only shows that he does possess the Spirit and is a Christian. We shouldn't ask, "Where's God?" but "Where isn't God?"  And more appropriately, "Where's the church?"  But God can feel distant and disengaged:  God asked Adam the convicting question:  "Where are you?"  His shame was his fault. God didn't move, Adam did!   We need to take a spiritual inventory and get a checkup at church to measure ourselves and participate and belong to the body of Christ in an active manner.  Jesus said explicitly in Heb. 13:5 that He will never leave us nor forsake us! And again in the Great Commission:  "And lo I am with you always!" (Cf. Matt. 28:20).

But the problem arises when we go by feeling, instead of by faith.  The just shall walk by faith and not by sight--empirically (cf. 2 Cor. 5:7; Rom. 1:17; Hab. 2:4). And in the final analysis, it's a good sign to ask this question, because it shows that the person is thinking and wondering about spiritual matters (an unbeliever couldn't ask this): Note, that the Christian life is not about walking about on some perpetual religious high or on "cloud nine."

NB:  2 Chron.32:31 that says;  "...God left [Hezekiah] and discover[ed] what was in his heart."  But the Spirit wasn't yet given--our case is different ever since that gifting at Pentecost!  God may want to know if we are just going by feelings that shift like a weathervane. The correct order is that we know the truth, believe it in our heart, obey it, and the feelings will follow naturally.  We all have to grow in this respect and some say the formula is this:  fact, faith, feeling.  Or you could say:  know right, think right, act right, feel right!   Sometimes the believer needs to learn to wait on the Lord and seek His face, and he will then find out that God was there all the time.  Our faith must be "tested by fire" (cf. 1 Pet. 1:7).

The next time you wonder where God is, He didn't go anywhere, you did; however, the problem is in being restored to fellowship by confessing known sins and in getting back into doing the will of God, for which you will be filled and anointed according to your calling.  The most frequent culprit is our own sins which grieve the Holy Spirit and then we lose our joy which is a fruit of the Spirit and being filled (cf. Gal. 5:22). Sin hides God's face from us (cf. Isaiah 59:2).  Sometimes, though, someone else may quench the Spirit, and He doesn't feel welcome in our midst.  "Therefore, come out for among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them ... and I will welcome you" (cf. 2 Cor. 6:17).  Come out from among them and be ye separate, which means sanctified or holy!

Note that David felt discouraged too: "...but David strengthened himself in the LORD his God" (cf. 1 Sam. 30:6).  Is it any wonder that Jonathan Edwards said that seeking God is the main business of the Christian life? And that R. C. Sproul said that the search for God begins at salvation?    Let's all aspire to what Psalm 73:28, NIV, says: "But as for me, how good it is to be near God!"  In the final analysis, it's stated categorically that Christianity is not about believing there's a God, but believing in the God who is there!     NB:  SAMSON "WIST NOT THAT THE SPIRIT HAD LEFT HIM!"   Soli Deo Gloria!