Man: One Of A Kind!

"Where is the one who makes us smarter than the animals..?" (Job 35:11, NLT).
"Do you think we are mere animals?  Do you think we are stupid?"  (Job 18:3, NLT).
"There is something about the way God is that is like the way we are."--J. P. Moreland, Scott Rae

It is vital to know that mankind is not some grown-up ape or descended from any species of the animal kingdom; he's the climax of creation and the special creation of God, in His image or imago Dei, i.e., he has a spirit, soul, mind, heart, and will to know God.   Mankind is the magnum opus of God's creation--His ultimate expression and woman is the finishing touch!  What makes us so unique though? Our DNA is actually closer to pigs though!   There are similarities with the apes on a superficial level, but most evolutionists are inclined to believe we're apes or animals because they don't want to be responsible and want to act like animals with no accountability (cf. Psalm 10:4).

Animals communicate on a limited level, but mankind knows that he communicates; e.g., dogs bark, but don't bark about barking; i.e., they don't argue, have conversations, or communicate with their barking!  We learn through dialogue.  Animals may be conscious, but we're self-conscious!  We alone have a developed language and are intelligent beings with the ability to reason.   We increase our knowledge and pass it on to the next generation; we don't start from scratch with each generation but have a legacy.  Mankind alone is conscious of God and has the volition to obey God, the heart to love God, and the intellect to know God--to communicate with God.  Animals are oblivious to God's presence and have no appreciation nor awareness of Him, while mankind has eternity in his heart and feels the tug towards God, and a yearning to know Him and have a relationship.

Mankind alone has meaning, purpose, dignity, and fulfillment in life beyond himself or his kin.  He lives for something bigger than himself, and something that will outlast him. Most live in light of eternity not for the here and now.   All the senses of mankind, hearing, taste, tactile, vision, olfactory, and even balance are at a much higher level of awareness than that of the animals.  We know that we taste, smell, see, hear, etc. We alone see all the colors and appreciate art that uses them.  We appreciate good tasting food with discrimination and are creative in our cooking beyond what is instinct, we appreciate with our vision fine art and beauty, we fall in and out of love, we have a love for music, we have a sense of humor, and the ability to laugh, we love to have conversations and dialogue, and we love to smell fine aromas and scents.

We know that we have these senses and can communicate about them and appreciate them with pleasure animals don't know.  For instance, we see all the colors and animals don't!  God made us so that we would see beauty and things from His perspective, appreciating the beauty!  We are highly discriminating in our tastes and know it.  Mankind also has the unique ability to fall in love and to stay in love, and even to fall out of love, romantic love is unique, even though some animals have a courtship, they aren't creative, but go by instinct.  It is said that elephants mourn their dead and eagles mate for life as similarities, but we know we do and get closure, resolution, meaning, or satisfaction!

Mankind is no animal!  God placed us as stewards of the earth and to rule over it and subdue it with responsibility  We are at the top of the food chain!  Mankind alone has a sense of time and a consciousness of past and present, but this is to his detriment when misused:  he tends to worry about the future and regret the past and anticipate the future while living in the past!  Animals clearly live for the here and now!  Mankind alone plans for the future, and not just storing nuts for the winter!  Indeed, man is so creative that God said that if He let us be, we could do anything (referring to the tower of Babel). Have you ever observed an animal building a chapel?

The reason we are in the image of God is so that we can communicate with God and relate to Him; there's something about us that God is like--everything a person is, except sin and evil, God is! God is more and not less than we are and our Creator, so he knows our needs and desires.  In fact, God is able to satisfy the desires of all creatures, and as creatures, and we have the inherent duty to obey God, whether rewarded or not.  Animals have no choice to obey God as creatures, but God gave us the choice to choose Him and to obey Him willingly, not of coercion from some outside force.

In the image of God, we are spiritual, rational, emotional, humorous, musical, communicative, and moral beings (according to scholar Mark Fackler). Mankind senses the moral code or compass of God, and has a conscience to guide behavior, knowing fair play, decency, good faith, unselfishness, justice, good works in progress, whereby we become conformed to His image from glory to glory.   Being in the image of God, we were made to know God (cf. John 17:3) and there is no greater thrill than sportsmanship, altruism, courage, bravery, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, fair play, straightforwardness, and all known fifty-two known virtues, (all biblical) that are from our image of God.  We have this image so we can bring praise to God in a meaningful relationship and enjoy Him to the max forever.   We alone are created for God's glory (cf. Isa. 43:7).  We wonder at the image of Christ becoming manifest in our lives as God finding us.  Per contra, animals don't build cathedrals!

God has searched us and knows us (cf. Psalm 139:1).  "He made [our] hearts, so he understands everything [we] do"  (Psalm 33:15, NLT).  We not only know God, but He knows us (cf. Gal. 4:9).  Not only do we relate to God, but He also relates to us and since Jesus became a man in the incarnation, God feels our pain and is in a position to understand us and what we go through (would you worship a God who knew nothing of pain and suffering?).  We are to find out about the Lord's goodness on our own ("Taste and see that the LORD is good..." cf. Psalm 34:8).  We wouldn't know what crooked was, unless we had an understanding of what straight is!   Soli Deo Gloria!

Anatomy Of Rejecting Christ

There is no such thing or category of Christian known as a disobedient believer, though Christians can disobey they are chastened of the Lord if they belong to Him.  John 3:36 in the ESV and NASB correlates unbelief with disobedience.  Hebrews 3:18-19 also equates the two--they were not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of their unbelief (disobedience).   Heb. 5:9 says God grants salvation to all who obey.  We must obey the gospel!  The Fourth Commandment to honor our parents is the first commandment to respect authority and show obedience to the Lord, so as not to harden our hearts.  "They were disobedient to the Word."  There is a curse on anyone who despises or rejects the Word of the LORD--we must always regard God's Word with respect and honor.

What the problem with most evangelists is that they fail to get the people lost before they try to save them.   Christ came to seek and to save that which is lost, and not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.  In order to be saved, one must realize how bad he is to God's standards; one doesn't really know just how bad he is till he has tried to be good--that's the paradox!  (i.e., the alcoholic doesn't realize his addiction and problem till he's tried to quit).  We need prepared soil to sow the seed of the Word of God.  Another problem in the church is that they don't present the gospel clear enough to be rejected!   We have become so seeker-sensitive that people feel right at home without even giving testimony or showing themselves disciples--there is to be a certain sense of acceptability, but privilege comes with membership, not mere attendance.  The order of faith is believing, belonging, and then becoming.

What takes place in the "hardened" heart (Rom. 11:7) of the unbeliever who rejects what light God has given him?  We are only responsible for the light given us; however, no one has an excuse and we are all culpable and held accountable before God's justice.  If we are sincere there is an expectation of more light that Christ, the light, will reflect on us.  The unbeliever walks in darkness and doesn't come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed (cf. John 3:19).  The problem with the blinded Pharisees is that they witnessed the miracles of Jesus, and "would not" not "could not" believe.  The didn't believe because they didn't want to believe.  No miracle can make a believer out of a skeptic, there has to be the will to believe.  It is not an intellectual thing (they feign intellectual problems), but a moral dilemma.

The heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart.  Sincerity is not everything, though God requires sincerity and looks for "sincere faith" (1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 1:5) and not perfect faith (unfeigned faith)--it isn't the amount but the direction and the object of the faith that is important.  You can have a lot of faith in the wrong direction and be sincerely wrong.  God opens the heart of the prepared heart like that of Lydia's in Acts 16:14.  Faith is granted according to Philippians 1:29 as well as repentance in Acts 11:18. Faith is our act but God's work.  We are incurably addicted to doing something for our salvation (they asked Jesus:  "What shall we do, to do the works of God? This is the work of God, to believe in Him..." in John 5:28.)

Salvation is not by works lest we are able to boast (Eph. 2:8-9); hence, faith cannot be a meritorious work as Rome believes!  It is the gift of God according to 2 Pet. 1:1 where it says we "received a faith."  Rom. 12:3 says that we are responsible for the faith we have "received."  We are no more virtuous nor meritorious that we can boast or brag before God; Soli Deo Gloria (to God alone be the glory in Latin).

The unbeliever doesn't believe the gospel because his heart is not right--the soil is not good and the seed cannot grow.  He doesn't understand the gospel and is really rejecting something he doesn't fathom--"Who has known the mind of the Lord?"  It is only by grace that we come to perceive the gospel message that God has once and for all settled the sin problem by the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ on our behalf as a substitute.  The natural man cannot accept the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness unto him (cf. 1 Cor. 2:14).

The unbeliever starts out doubting and questioning, then he won't listen or pay attention ("To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams," says 1 Sam. 15:22), and  becomes hardened and hostile and finally he sees Christ as the enemy of himself and society (the enemy of God is also the enemy of the state).  He closes his mind because to arrive at the truth you have to admit you could be wrong and be open to all possibilities--and they have made up their minds and don't want to be confused with the facts!  Christ doesn't ask an unreasonable faith, but only one going in the direction the preponderance of the evidence leads.  You can believe without having all your questions answered, because it takes faith and only faith pleases God--however, it takes more faith to deny Christ and the gospel than to accept it ("I don't have enough faith to be an atheist, says Norman Geisler), due to all the proof cited by former atheists and skeptics who have examined the evidence and have become believers against their own wills.

You need an open mind, a willing spirit, and a needy heart to arrive at the truth: Jesus said, "If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of Myself," says John 7:17.   God doesn't force anyone to believe and the system is rigged such that anyone can willingly reject Christ and find a reason to do so.  We don't believe despite the evidence, because there is adequate evidence for anyone who is looking for it.  There is more evidence in the affirmative and more questions for the skeptic to answer than the believer would have to answer.

The surprising thing is that it is forgivable to reject Christ, though our hearts do become hardened.  The average believer has heard the gospel 7.6 times before actually accepting it.  The unforgivable sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and attributing the miracles of Jesus to the devil's doing.  It is deliberate and a state of impenitence is the result, and if you are afraid you have done it, it means you haven't. The good news is that the gospel is for as many as the Lord our God shall call (Acts 2:39) and all whom the Lord calls shall be justified, sanctified, and glorified!  [This is the inner call of God on the soul which is efficacious and not the outward or general call of the gospel message given by the Christian to the world at large.]     Soli Deo Gloria!

Seeking A Christian Worldview

"No nation has survived the loss of its gods" (George Bernard Shaw).

A worldview is a way of interpreting your world, such as purpose in living, where you came from, and where you are going--our role in the world-system--questions such as:  Is there right and wrong? Is there a God?  What is the meaning of life? How do you interpret reality?  There is a current war of ideas in the world:  Marxism (basically an economic understanding, but also totalitarian, aiming to establish a domination of the proletariat or working class and abolishing the bourgeoisie in class warfare), secular-humanism (basically that man is the measure of all things, up with man down with God, or deifying man and dethroning God, and reality starts from man), New Age (the idea of cosmic consciousness or superconsciousness, being in touch with the inner god), postmodernism (founded by Nietzsche as the patron saint,  saying that "God is dead" or irrelevant and we can live with Him), Islam (believing the future belongs to Islam and being bent on world hegemony), and  Christianity (Christ's kingdom is in the hearts of man and not of this world) itself--the first five have one thing in common in that they oppose Christianity.  Any viewpoint that doesn't start with God is evil!

We are to discern good and evil to be able to handle the meat of the Word (Heb. 5:14).  Once we get saved, the battle has just begun and we enter Satan's turf as the god of this age.  But the battle is the Lord's  and as John said in 1 John 4:4, "Greater is he who is in you, than he who is in the world."  Paul says in Rom. 8:31, "If God be for us, who can be against us?"  We have to know our enemy according to Sun Tzu in The Art of War, because he believes in dividing and conquering, and playing mind games, and waging psychological warfare.  "For we are not ignorant of his schemes."  Don't give him a beachhead, but arm yourself with a divine viewpoint to understand what he is doing.  Do not fight among yourselves as Lord Nelson noticed his troops doing when he said, "Gentlemen, remember, the enemy is over there!"  In Walt Kelly's cartoon Pogo, he says, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."   We can be our own worst enemy because the three enemies are the world-system itself, the devil and his minions, and our own flesh or old sin nature.  The government is not the enemy, for all the powers that be are established of God (Rom. 13: 1).

We are exhorted to "hate that which is evil and cling to that which is good" in Rom. 12:9 and in 1 Thess. 5:21-22 it says, "...hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil."  [which means that when evil appears, resist it.]  Only those who have their senses trained to "discern good and evil" can digest the meat of the word and the infants in Christ can only live on the milk of the Word according to Hebrews 5:14.  We need to love God with our whole minds and not be indolent or anti-intellectual--we are to use the minds God has given us (Mark 12:30).

 We are in the world, but not of it according to Scripture (John 15:19 says, "You are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world").  If we love the world-system or cosmos of Satan, the love of the Father is not in us--indeed he entices us with many delicacies of the world to compete with our spiritual appetites.  Beware of the pseudo-philosophies of this age as the admonishment in Col. 2:8 says, "Let no man spoil you through philosophy or vain deceit..."  We need to "contend for the faith" like Jude said in Jude 3 and that means taking stands for Jesus and sticking up for what is right in an evil world.  We are the salt and light as the children of God.

Paul's swan song was:  "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7).  We all have a conscience and can tell right from wrong (Rom. 2:15), and we are all responsible and don't have any excuses for knowing God (Rom. 1:18-20).  In 1 Chron. 12:32 it says that only a few people were able to interpret the times and knew what to do.  Daniel 11:32 says that the "people who knew their God "shall be strong and do exploits."  At the time of the end, the wise will understand and the wicked will not (Dan. 12:10).  When Nebuchadnezzar realized that God was sovereign he came to his senses (Dan. 4:35).

Today we seem to be doing what's right in our own eyes (similar to the Israelites in Judges 21:25--"They did what was right in their own eyes").  The culture says that there is no standard of right and wrong--it is all relative and you can't force your morality on another person.  It isn't that we can't legislate morality, it's whose morality we legislate.

In Allan Bloom's book The Closing of the American Mind, he says that people now believe "all truth is relative"--if that is true then that statement has no value because it is also relative. They say nothing is always wrong and nothing is always right; what matters is sincerity.  This goes back to Satan's lie:  "Hath God said?"   They seem to believe that the only truths that are relative are those that defend the Christian worldview!  One prof was reported as saying, "You can know nothing for certain." One astute student asked, "Are you sure?"  "Yes, I am!"

Jesus was the Truth itself, the incarnation of Truth with a capital T and came to bear witness of the truth--the Romans, including Pilate, doubted the existence of absolute truth (true no matter who believes it and whether anyone believes it).  They thought that "might made right."  This was the epitome of cynicism and an insult to Christ's veracity--he didn't even wait for an answer! The secret is to stay away from extremes:  "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil" (Prov. 4:27).

 As Christians we are to "submit [ourselves] to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors..." (1 Pet. 2:12-13)  Paul says something similar:  "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Rom. 13:1).  We are to "render unto Caesar" according to Matthew 22:21 and even be light and salt in the world, trying to make people see the light to get saved according to our gift.  With privilege there is the flip side of responsibility; they go hand in hand.  There is such a thing as "social justice." One only need refer to the prophets, Amos and Micah.  We assert that  God is the only legitimate legislator (positive law says that man can make any law he desires) and His character is the law of the universe. Isaiah said, "Woe unto them who decree unjust laws..." (Isa. 10:1-2).  It has been said, "If we have contempt for government, we get contemptible government."


God's providence works all things according to His divine decrees and He has no Plan B; He has no other plan, but to use us as His vessels of honor and to bring glory to him (cf. Isa. 43:7).  Everything is going according to plan as Isaiah says in Isa 37:26 and He is in control according to Isa. 14:24, 27 and 46:8-11. "Behold, the nations are as a drop of the bucket..." (Isa. 40:15).    "He's got the whole world in His hands."  Psalm 22:28 says that God is sovereign over the nations and we can be sure even over every molecule in the universe.  Eph. 1:11 says that God works out everything according to His will.  John Wesley used to read the paper to "see what God is doing in His world."  God is even in control of the toss of the die (Prov. 16:33) and in control of the whims of the king (Prov. 21:1).  He leaves nothing to chance:  Einstein said, "God doesn't play dice with the universe."

Christian worldview sees social injustice: "What do you mean by crushing My people and grinding the face of the poor...?" (Is. 3:15).  "Rescue the weak and the needy..." (Ps. 82:4).  The believer who knows the Lord is concerned about the plight of the poor (Ps. 41:1) and the evil in the world:  he doesn't just see evil and say, "Why?" He also sees good and says, "Why not?"  This is what it means to know the Lord according to Jeremiah 22:16--to be concerned about those less fortunate and defending those who can't defend themselves, the weak ("He pled the cause of the afflicted and needy; Then it was well. Is not that what it means to know Me?" declares the LORD [in Jer. 22:16]).

Amos and Micah are champions of the underdog and the underprivileged and deplore how "they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of sandals--those who trample the head of the poor into the dust of the earth and turn aside the way of the afflicted (cf. Amos 2:6-7).  "...Who oppress the poor, who crush the needy..." (Amos 4:1).  Malachi is appalled at those  "who oppress the hired worker in his wages..." (Mal. 3:5).  We are not to be partial to the poor nor to the rich but show justice to all (Deut. 19:15).  Charity and welfare were mandated in Israel according to Lev. 19:4, Deut. 15:4, and other passages--they were allowed to "glean the fields" of the landowners.  There was to be "no poor in Israel."

Now, what kind of values are Christians supposed to espouse? They should subscribe to the sanctity of the family unit as having preference over the government's authority, because it was established before it; it should believe in the inherent worth of the individual  (you have rights, but they end where mine begin--you can swing your fist but not hit my nose!) as being in the image and likeness of God (the imago Dei), and that means having a mind to know and communicate with God, a heart to love Him, and a will to obey Him.  These are called unalienable rights and our culture is based on it in the constitutional Bill of Rights.  We are merely stewards of God's riches ("The earth is the LORD's and the fullness thereof" says Ps. 24:10) and are responsible to Him to give an account at the judgment.  (There is a Protestant work ethic mentioned in 2 Thess. 3:10 that declares that those who are not willing to work shall not eat.  


All authority ultimately comes from God and we get our rights and dignity form Him; "unless you assume a God, the question  of man's purpose is meaningless," and without God, man is a "useless passion." (Bertrand Russell and Jean-Paul Sartre).  We believe the government has limited power derived from God--it is not a necessary evil, as Augustine said, but necessary because of evil.  We have a duty to this government since we owe them our security and protection of our property and our person from crime--justice and law and order are the primary functions.  Marriage is to be held in honor and a "man shall leave his mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh" and "God made them male and female and said that it was good."  No rights are absolute, such as you say it's your religion to be a cannibal or that you can yell fire in an auditorium!  Sometimes it may be our duty to disobey, which is termed civil disobedience--God's laws trump the government; shall we obey God or man? ("We must obey God rather than man," according to Acts 5:29).

I believe firmly that the Bible sanctions no certain type of government, as long as human rights are respected.  Government was first documented to be divided into three parts in Isa. 33:22 into the legislative, judicial, and executive branches (king, judge, lawgiver).  I refer to Lord Acton's adage  that is a cliche now:  "Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely."  We do not believe that our rights (note that the obverse of a right is responsibility necessitated) are derived from the government, but directly from God, who gives us dignity and worth as man in His image or the ikons of God, as it were.

In the final analysis, it is vital to know Scripture to combat the prevalent secular humanistic viewpoint (deifying man and denying God) in the world and not to fall into the devil's trap.  Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power."  And the Bible backs this up in Proverbs 10:14 saying, "The wise lay up knowledge..." And Proverbs 24:5 says, "And a man of knowledge enhances his might."  We must not remain silent and concede everything away.  They are trying to eradicate Christianity from the marketplace of ideas and the public square.

If God doesn't exist, everything is permissible.  Albert Camus said, "The absurd is sin without God."  But we believe in transcendent or natural law that everyone is able to know by nature apart from the government.  Law is designed for wrong-doers and should recognize and secure our rights.  People are in a state of rebellion against our so-called bourgeois values (which really is the Judeo-Christian heritage or Western civilization).  As the psalmist says, "What can the righteous do when the foundations are destroyed?" (Ps. 11:3).  For one thing, we should pray for our leaders, not condemn them [It is our God who put them there, as Paul said in Acts 23:5, "It's unlawful to speak evil of a ruler of your people?"]

Christians are not "Utopians" but are waiting for Christ to usher in His Millennial Kingdom at His second coming.  A word to the wise is sufficient: Christians have no geopolitical aspirations like the Muslim world bent on dominating the world with their hegemony, and they should not sound the alarm, but "occupy till He comes" (business as usual).  As Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world."

In conclusion, we have read the last page of the Bible and know how it all will turn out and are assured that we are on the winning side and victory is inevitable in the end.  NB:  Keep the faith!  "The LORD frustrates the counsel of the nations; He thwarts the plans of the peoples...Happy is the nation whose God is Yahweh!" (Ps. 33:10-12).  A word of encouragement--all is not lost:   God is able to heal our land if we confess our corporate sins and humble ourselves in repentance as His people (2 Chron. 7:14).    Soli Deo Gloria!

My Spiritual Pilgrimage Abridged

My Journey of Faith, by Karl W Broberg

This is a first-hand account of my spiritual pilgrimage without glorifying my sins.

I was baptized as an infant in a Lutheran church and the pastor was my sponsor, while friends of the family were my godparents--we corresponded for years (i.e., the pastor).  Some of my earliest memories are of listening to my grandmother telling Bible stories.  My parents made sure I was confirmed.  I can remember as a youth making a scrapbook of Jesus' life and the pastor showing it to the church, teaching vacation Bible school, and inquiring whether I should go into the ministry.  I also went to Summer camp and believed I knew the Lord because I was preoccupied with the book of Revelation and Billy Graham's book World Aflame

I recall no particular or sudden moment of surrender or spiritual awakening, but my faith was very important to me and I loved the Bible--I recall the habit of underlining favorite verses.

I made the leap of faith, realizing my sin and Christ dying for me, and then dedicated my life to Christ during a Billy Graham crusade at age 15 and subsequently got involved in a Seventh-Day Adventist Church Bible study.  Being counseled by my pastor, he told me to study Martin Luther's Commentary on Galatians.  I then wrote a paper debunking the study and defending the faith.

Later, at Augsburg College, I was exposed to "liberal theology" and "textual criticism," and found out I didn't know all the answers!  Being disoriented in my faith, I dropped out, did some soul searching, and tried to "find myself" as they said back then.

I enlisted in the Army and heard another Billy Graham crusade.  The missing link--I needed to repent (my church never mentioned this!)  I was under grave conviction and rededicated my life--it was then that I felt I "found Christ."  I called my mom and told her she would like the "new me," but she said she liked the "old me."  It seemed like I had done this before, but this time it was for real.  I guess I had to get to the end of my rope!

Back at the base, I hooked up with the Navigators and was mentored or "discipled," as they term it. "Once you've experienced it, you want to pass it on," and so I got the bug to witness.  Gradually I matured doctrinally, and I got interested in eternal security or "Once saved, always saved"--even writing Billy Graham to get his stand.

Upon discharge I became convinced of "believer baptism," and was officially "dunked"--the pastor knew me personally and didn't give me a hard time--it was then that I first took my stand for Jesus in church.

Later I became concerned about my beliefs and "keeping the main thing the main thing."  I didn't want to "major on the minors."  I had to learn grace toward those I disagreed with, without splitting hairs.  I've learned when not to be dogmatic--and never to be divisive or quarrelsome--we can disagree without being disagreeable or contentious!  As Augustine's dictum says, "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity."

Now I have a rewarding relationship with the Lord that manifests itself in many ways, including having inner peace; a purpose for living; being on the same page as other believers; understanding the Word; seeing the Light; knowing God's will;  and assurance of salvation.

In conclusion, I am not what I ought to be, but thank God, I am not what I used to be!  I don't believe in perfectionism--God isn't finished with me yet!  When I see lost sinner, I say, uttering the words of George Whitefield, "There but for the grace of God, go I." And I echo Paul, "I am what I am by the grace of God."

My assurance is simply this:  "God said it in His Word, I believe it in my heart, and that settles it in my mind."

My favorite verse is Job 23:10:  "The LORD knows the way that I take, when He has tried me I shall come forth as gold."

[Note that part of my problem was that I was never exposed to sound doctrine in a church that answered all my problems,  I knew something was awry, so I heard I should repent, raise my hand, come forward,  receive Christ, commit my life to Christ, be baptized, or this or that, ad infinitum. You can be born again without assurance of salvation (it's not an automatic fruit of salvation--no one's faith is perfect, but it must be sincere) or have doubts and insecurities--my journey took me a long way to where I am now understanding the assurance of salvation and the eternal security of the believer in Christ as doctrines that are distinguished, but not separated.]  Soli Deo Gloria!

My Spiritual Journey

This is a first-hand account of my religious and/or spiritual pilgrimage, pitfalls and all, without glorifying the past--and sparing the details.   It's an example of a  believer who got his own way and ultimately learned to submit to God's will the hard way of "been there and done that."

I was baptized in California as an infant in a Lutheran church and the pastor was a friend of the family--we were corresponding for years.   I was also confirmed in childhood.  I can remember as a youth making a scrapbook of Jesus' life and my pastor showing it to the church, teaching vacation Bible school, and inquiring of my pastor whether I should go into the ministry.  I even went to Bible camp and believed I  knew the Lord mainly because I was fascinated with the book of Revelation (reading Billy Graham's book World Aflame), and then shared insights with my mom.

I recall no particular moment of surrender or spiritual awakening, but my faith was very important to me and I loved the Bible (I recall beginning the habit of underlining favorite verses).  I was a person of the Book as far as I can recall, even buying a children's Bible on my own.  My grandmother became very close to me and told me Bible stories.

I  made the big decision to dedicate my life to Christ in a Billy Graham crusade I heard on TV around my 15th birthday, and then got involved in a Seventh-Day Adventist Church Bible study.  Counseling with my pastor,  he told me to read  Martin Luther's Commentary on Galatians.   I then proceeded to write a paper debunking the sect and defending the Lutheran faith.  I also found out I am not Sabbatarian.   I don't believe in "forsaking the assembly together of ourselves, as is the manner of some." But to affirm that  there are no "hard-and-fast rules" for the Sabbath Day."

I went to Augsburg College (a so-called Lutheran Christian college), and was exposed to "higher criticism"  and liberal theology, finding out I didn't know all the answers. With no more motive to study and being confused in my beliefs, I dropped out to do some soul searching and to find myself--wondering if my experience was to no avail.

Joining the Army and looking for love in all the wrong places, I heard a Billy Graham crusade again, only this time it was from South Korea; it was translated into Korean, so he had to go very slow and not being a good listener, it sunk in that I needed to repent, the missing link in my walk ("Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord," Acts 3:19; "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, Luke 24:47").   I was under grave conviction of my sin and rededicated my life to Christ.   I called my mom and told her she will like the new me; she said she liked the old me!   It seemed like I had made this decision before, but this time it stuck. I had to get to the end of my rope before admitting my need.

Going back I hooked up with the Navigators and was mentored.  Once you've experienced it,  you want to pass it on; so I got the bug to witness.  Witnessing to a  friend, he got saved; we became bosom buddies and hung around together the rest of my stint--I could not have made it through without his companionship and fellowship.   I credit the Navigators for teaching me devotions, witnessing, Bible study, and the discipline of committing Scripture to memory.  Then I taught Sunday School while in Okinawa and made many Christian friends.

I matured in my doctrinal viewpoints and the first doctrine I became interested in was eternal security--I even wrote Billy Graham to ask him his stand.   I perceived that repentance is a continual attitude and not just a one-time event and that God grants it by grace.  I frown upon "cheap grace," which justifies the sin, and not the sinner, as it were; giving a license to sin.  I had thought you could sin as much as you want as long as you confess it!  Repentance is an about-face, in military terms, and "If we regard iniquity in our heart, the LORD will not hear us."  We must get a new attitude, change our mind about our sin.  We can be very bad sinners, but never too bad to be saved ("Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow....").

I became convinced of believer baptism and was officially dunked in the church--Dr. Johnson knew me and didn't give me a hard time.   I then shared my faith for the first time publically in the church, and had a personal revival and couldn't restrain myself--I had the "can't-help-it's" ( and I couldn't stop reading the Bible).  I was accused of living "under the influence.    And it was so strange that my mom committed me to the mental ward of the hospital for observation (they couldn't find anything wrong with me and released me).  I was accused of going overboard on my religion.   But I was scarred as a result and never got over it.  Afterward, I wandered the state of Texas flat broke, and went down to Mexico, and then committed myself to the VA.

Finally, I decided to move to Minnesota to live with my grandmother.  I gave my spiritual ambitions a rest and took up electronics and got a job at Honeywell troubleshooting torpedoes--I  wanted to pursue this as a career path.

Then I joined the Army again, but had issues with depression and wanted out,  and was given a medical discharge.  Later, I had many personal problems and found a girl who listened to me and fell in love--we were married for ten years.   During those years I was in and out of the mental hospital, being committed by my best friend, and then by my wife several times.  Once I spent 18 months in treatment, but, praise God,  have not had a relapse in over 20 years--but I do take medications,  and am under psychiatric observation, to be safe, considering my track record.

I thought my hope had perished from the Lord, and  I was destined for mediocrity.   I found a church  where I  could continue to grow  (I learned that one must keep the main thing the main thing and that the purpose of the universal, as well as the local church, is to evangelize and fulfill the Great Commission), and this church had a place for me to serve; however, I wasn't that dogmatic anymore.

Later, after a lot of studies, I started to be concerned about my beliefs  (I became cognizant of the deity of Christ in a real way, and realized the Proverb "without a vision, the people perish"). I knew I had to exercise grace toward those I disagree with, and not be judgmental;   putting Augustine's dictum into practice:   "In essentials unity; in nonessentials, liberty; in all things, charity."

Since then I've had a meaningful relationship and friendship with my mom, who is not ignorant of doctrine, either--neither of us believes ignorance is bliss, and know our way around the block, theologically speaking.  We talk every day and usually have mutually edifying and lengthy fellowship; we are on the same page so we can bounce ideas off each other.

I am not a success in the world's eyes and haven't achieved the American dream:  But I believe what Mother Teresa of Calcutta says, "The Lord calls us to faithfulness, not success."  God isn't interested in our achievements; He's interested in us and our obedience--Isaiah says, "All that we have done [God] has accomplished for us," and Paul says, "I venture not to speak, but of what Christ has accomplished through me"  (Rom. 15:18).

Doctrinally speaking, I am a Calvinist who believes in the gifts of the Spirit--an oddity.  Sometimes we must agree to disagree, and not be disagreeable, contentious, divisive, or argumentative.   Even Paul and Barnabas disagreed and had to go their separate ways:  There are more important things than being right all the time--relationships--our faith is a relationship with a person, not a creed.  We must accept one another in love because we are "accepted in the Beloved" and always "speak the truth in love."

As far as doctrine goes, a good frame of reference for soteriology, the doctrine of salvation,  is important for witnessing and assurance of salvation.  Like they say,  "God said it in His Word, I believe it in my heart, that settles it in my mind."  I'm not what I ought to be, but thank God I'm not what I used to be! I now live an abundant life with a capital L and am seeking God's Kingdom first.

In summation, I am what I am by the grace of God, and am blooming where God has planted me.  My mission is to the vets, my ministry is my Bible study, and my avocation is blogging to the glory of God--I thank God for my church home!

My favorite Bible verses are as follows:

"Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep thy word" (Psa. 119: 67).
"He brought me out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps"   (Psa. 40: 2).  "Therefore, the LORD longs to have mercy on you, and He waits on high to have compassion on you" (Isa. 30:18).   "I know the plans that I have for you, says the LORD, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" (Jer. 29:11).  "If thy Word had not been my delight, I would have perished in the way"  (Psa. 119:92).
"The LORD has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death"  (Psa. 118:18).

Most importantly:  "The LORD knows the way that I take, when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Dissertation On Salvation

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men"  (Titus 2:11, NKJV).

"Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your heart, as in the rebellion" (cf. Heb. 3:15).  God authored a plan of salvation:  "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?"  (cf. Heb. 2:3).  "Behold now is the day of salvation" (cf. 2 Cor. 6:2).   God has a future for His people and offers them abundant life.  "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope"  (cf. Jer. 29:11).  "...I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly"  (cf. John 10:10).   God's kindness and goodness toward you is not leniency but meant to give you space to change.  "...Not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance"  (cf. Rom. 2:4).

But we are in a predicament and cannot realize God's plan.  We are totally, but not utterly depraved, which means you are as bad off as you can be and that every part of you is corrupt, even though you are not as bad as you can be. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?"  (cf. Jer. 17:9).  We are a "sinner by birth, by nature, and by choice", according to  Chuck Swindoll.   "Indeed it is the straightedge of the law that shows us how crooked we are"  (cf. Rom. 3:20, Phil.).  We are "free but not freed," says Augustine, of Hippo.  We are free agents who are culpable and blameworthy and guilty, and all we can do is sin --we're guilty as charged ("non-posse non peccare," says Augustine [literally, "unable not to sin"]) period, case closed.

We cannot please God:  "We are like an unclean thing, and all our righteousness is like filthy rags"  (cf. Isa. 64:6).  We are in a no-win situation and cannot gain the approbation or approval of God no matter what we do--we cannot clean up our act or prepare ourselves for salvation, except admit we are unqualified.   "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).  There is a great chasm, rift, or cleavage between us and God.  "But your iniquities have separated you from your God..."  (cf. Isa. 64:6).  Jonathan Edwards preached back during the Great Awakening in 1741 that we are  "sinners in the hands of an angry God" (cf. Deut. 32:35).   Furthermore, God doesn't hear our prayers as unbelievers:  "...Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear" (cf. Isa. 59:2).  We are even blind to the truth of the gospel:  "Whose minds the god of this age has blinded..."  (cf. 2 Cor. 4:4).

We cannot clean up our act or get it together--don't get me wrong; we can come as we are to Christ, we just can't stay that way.  We are "by nature a child of wrath" and cannot reform ourselves enough to please God.   "Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?  Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil?" (cf. Jer. 13:23).   "Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?"  (cf. Prov. 20:9).

There is an exit strategy:  Jesus comes to the rescue and shows a way out of our dilemma.  This is no "do-it-yourself" proposition, but God taking the initiative and paying the price we couldn't pay on our behalf.  "But God demonstrates His love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (cf. Rom. 5:8).  "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, all we like sheep have gone astray, and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all"  (cf. Isa. 53:5-6).  "Having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us, and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross" (Col. 2:14). "For Christ suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God" (cf. 1 Pet. 3:18).  "For He made Him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us..."  (cf. 2 Cor. 5:21).   This is called the propitiation, atonement, and reconciliation and is what God did for us on the cross through His Son Jesus Christ, and what was needed for our forgiveness (sort of like paying the price with His blood per Lev. 17:11).

Christ died for "whosoever will" (cf. John 3:16) and no one who will do His will be left out (God calls everyone to hear the outward call of the gospel via preachers per Titus 2:11 noted above.  However, the offer of the inner call is to ""all whom the Lord our God will call"  (cf. Acts 2:39).  God does the wooing and actually compels us to come to Him with irresistible grace and an effectual call and we refer to as efficacious in its result.  "No one can come to Him unless the Father who sent Me draws him ..."  (cf. John 6:44).  This is called one of Christ's "hard sayings."  "No one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father"  (cf. John 6:65).  I am not offering religion to you, but a relationship and way of life. It is not "do" but "done."  "The just shall live by faith"  (cf. Hab. 2:4). It's a "done deal" and we cannot add to God's work, because Jesus said, "It is finished."

But the prerequisite to salvation is repentance by the grace of God or His unmerited and undeserved favor.  "... [God[ commands all men everywhere to repent" (cf. Acts 17:30).  Repentance is an about-face, a 180-degree turn, a turnaround, a change of mind and heart and action, a turning from sin toward God.  "Repent, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, and times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord"  (cf. Acts 3:19).  "For godly sorrow leads to repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted..."  (cf. 2 Cor. 7:10).  God gives space and time to repent and is patient:  "The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (cf. 2 Pet. 3:9).  God is being good for a reason--He wants repentance.

God grants repentance, so we should ask Him (cf. 2 Tim. 2:25).  "Then God also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life" (cf. Acts 11:18; cf. 5:31).  "...If perhaps, God will grant them repentance..." (cf. 2 Tim. 2:25).   True repentance always accompanies saving faith as the flip side. The combo is called believing repentance or penitent faith.  They are seen in juxtaposition in certain passages like Acts 20:21 and used interchangeably in others like Luke 24:47.    God puts a new man in the suit, not a new suit on the man!  We're changed from the inside out!

We must be regenerated or born again, or born from above.  Irresistible grace makes us willing on the day of salvation (cf. Phil. 2:13).  "Salvation is of the Lord' (cf. Jonah 2:9).  The Spirit regenerates like the wind blows where it wills (cf. John 3:8).  "Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh"  (cf. Ezek. 11:19, cf. Jer. 24:8).

We are at the mercy of God:  "...so then, it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy" (cf. Rom. 9:16).  Our destiny is ultimately in God's hands and we are not the masters of our fate or captain of our souls, God is in control.   We are born "...not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (cf. John 1:13).

You must have faith to be saved, for only faith pleases God, (cf. Heb. 11:6) and it is impossible to please Him without it.  Everyone has faith, they just have to exercise what they have; everyone has faith in something or someone.  We must have a  "heart belief" and not just a "head belief" or mere assent or agreement; it must involve the intellect, knowing the fact;, the will,  being obedient;  and the heart or emotions.  Real saving faith produces good works and if no fruit is present there is no faith.  The Reformers taught that we are "saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone."  Acts 26:20 says that we must bring forth the fruits of repentance (cf. Luke 3:8).

Faith is quickened within us and comes by the hearing and by the hearing of the Word of God (cf. Rom. 10:17).  "For by grace are you saved through faith [the instrumental means], and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."  "God has dealt to each a measure of faith" (cf. Rom. 12:3).  Peters epistle was directed "to those who have obtained like precious faith" (cf. 2 Pet. 1:1).  "This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom He has sent" (cf. John 6:29; cf. Acts 14:27).

Doubt is a human problem, not just a Christian problem.  There is a doubt-faith continuum we all reside on.   Doubt is an element of faith, not its opposite and often resides with faith because no one knows all the answers or it would be knowledge.  "I believe, help thou mine unbelief." Perfect faith is nonexistent.   If left to ourselves, none of us would believe, and we are no more virtuous because we do:  "There but for the grace of God, go I," (George Whitefield).  God has poured out grace on His chosen ones:  "...as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed' (cf. Acts 13:48).  "He greatly helped those who believed through grace" (cf. Acts 18:27).

The general call is to all but God gives His invitation to whosoever will:  the poor, imprisoned, blind, and oppressed, according to Isa. 61:1.   The offer is not "swimming instructions for a drowning man, but a reprieve to a man on death row, who is guilt," ( Paul Little).  The invitation is as follows:  "Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat.  Yes, come buy wine and milk, without price" (cf. Isa. 55:1). "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness, I have drawn you" (cf. Jer. 31:3).  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life" (cf. John 3:16).

We must respond to the good news about Christ.  That He died for sinners (they must know this), that He was buried, and that He rose again (for us personally--to know He died is history; to know for us is salvation).   There is no place for cheap grace or peace or easy-believism that thinks we can be saved without surrendering to His ownership of our lives and lordship over us and live in the flesh after its desires. We must trust in Christ as Savior and submit to Him as Lord.  We must count the cost of following Him as Lord of our life.  "Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision" (cf. Joel 3:14).

The search for God begins at salvation and we cannot find Him but that He found us:  

 "Sow for yourselves in righteousness; reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, till He comes and rains righteousness on you"  (cf. Hos. 10:12).   "But you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart" (cf. Jer. 29:13).  "Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near" (cf. Isa. 55:6).

The three things we must do are as follows:

(1)   Admit our need that we are a lost sinner in need of salvation and alienated, estranged, or separated from God.

(2)  Believe in the gospel message that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and rose again all on our behalf as a substitute.  This implies that He is God in the flesh or the incarnate God of the same essence as the Father--His Deity.

(3)  Confess Him openly before men as Lord, not being ashamed of Him, that He is the Lord and your personal Lord.  "That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved"  (cf. Rom. 10:9).

Man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation, according to Charles Swindoll, but in a works religion you can never be sure and have the assurance of heaven.  Here is a simple sinner's prayer you might want to echo: 


Lord Jesus, I believe that you rose from the dead and died on my behalf as a lost and condemned sinner.  Come into my heart and reign as Lord of my life, as I commit to following You as a disciple in the fellowship of Your church.  I hereby repent of all known sin and desire to be changed by Your power and not to look back.  Amen [So be it! Let it be!].    This is not some magic formula to say but the condition and sincerity of the heart is paramount--only God sees this.

Now, a transaction has taken place and we should not confuse fact and feeling or works and grace.  God says it in His Word, I believe it in my heart, that settles it in my mind.  There are several verses of comfort and assurance: 

"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red as crimson, they shall be as wool|" (cf. Isa. 1:18).

"But as many as received Him to them gave He the right to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name"  (cf. John 1:12).

If you have honestly (God doesn't ask for perfect, but unfeigned or sincere faith) trusted Christ for your salvation and have stopped trying to save yourself, you have accepted the gift of life eternal that begins now and goes on forever, forgiving your sins, past, present, and future.  Your salvation began in eternity, was realized in time, and is going to be consummated or fulfilled in heaven.  God erased the tape, as it were, gave you a clean slate, and doesn't recall your sins--they are deleted permanently. Look at the following verses:


Our position before Christ:
"As far as the East is from the West, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (cf. Psa. 103:12).  "I am He who blots out your transgressions and will not remember your sins" (cf. Isa. 43:25).   "I have blotted out like a thick cloud your transgressions, and like a cloud your sins"  (cf. Isa. 44:22).  "....You have cast all my sins behind Your back" (cf. Isa. 38:17). "If You, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared (cf.Psa. 130:3-4).  "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more;'  (Heb. 8:12).

Assurance is up to the Holy Spirit:
 "The Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the sons of God" (cf. Rom. 8:16).   But reassurance is found in Scripture, and we should stand on the promises of God and take Him at His Word.  "He fills us with all joy and peace in believing, that we may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (cf. Rom. 15:13).  Simply find a verse that means something to you and gives you what you need to hear and cling to it as a spiritual birth certificate.  My favorite is John 6:37 saying, "The one who comes to Me I will in no way cast out [permanent salvation or eternal redemption]."The Word of God coupled with the testimony of the Spirit is our assurance (cf. Rom. 8:16). 

Some others are as follows:  "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand..."  (cf. John 10:27).  "And this is the testimony: That this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life... These things I have written to you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life:  (cf. 1 John 5:11,13).  My favorite is what Michael Faraday quoted when he died:  "For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day"  (cf. 2 Tim. 1:12).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Indebted To Jesus!

Do you know that you owe
It all to the Lord Jesus!
When your goal loses your soul,
And you want a way out,
Remember He's near and saves ev'ry tear,
And your woes won't overflow His bowl.

When the fight is lonely as the night,
And you wonder where He is,
Remember all the same to praise His name.
So thank Him anyway,
For you He'll win, so don't lose by sin.
And if you pray, claim His fame.

The joy you'll share, knowing He's there,
Treading those paths ahead.
But let it glow, and you will grow,
To lighten the paths of sin;
But love is the way to make His day,
And loving the Lord will make them know.

Our God Of Love

"[And] to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God"  (Ephesians 3:19, ESV).

"This is how we know what love is:  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us..." (1 John 3:16, NIV).

"This is real love--not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins" (1 John 4:10, NLT).

God expressed His love in giving us His Son to die on our behalf--there isn't any greater love than to lay down your life for another.--God did it for us while we were His enemies!  Muslims, on the other hand, deny that God is a God of love, or specifically, that God is love, meaning that the essence of God is love, i.e., His defining attribute.  What do you say to someone who doesn't believe in love? The Word says that he who loves another has fulfilled the law, and we ought to love the brethren like Jesus loved us--sacrificially and faithfully.  Muslims believe that it's okay to hate people and even to murder in the name of Allah--the concept of love being the gift of God is foreign to them and their dogma.

This is how we know we are believers: by the love, we have toward one another, and the New Commandment Jesus gave was to love another like He loved us (cf. John 13:35).  As it is written:  "Herein in love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us!" (Cf. 1 John 4:10).   We cannot limit this love, for Jesus' love is beyond comprehension.--the finite cannot contain the infinite!  The love God showed to us can never be repaid, and we don't deserve it and didn't earn it--that's grace or love that condescends to our level.

This is how we know that we belong to Christ: by love, we have for one another.  Spread the word; the word is love!  Mother Teresa was right:  It doesn't matter what you do, but how much love you put into it!  Even Bertrand Russell, the famed British atheist philosopher-mathematician said,  "... What the world needs is more Christian love."  "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19, NIV).  In fact, we only know what love is because God chose to reveal it in the giving of His Son, who laid down His life for us! (Cf. 1 John 3:16).  What expression of love in the Father calling us His children (cf. 1 John 3:1)!  It's not that we loved God, but that He loved us!

What we know from Scripture is that he who loves knows God--and love is the fruit of the Spirit--in fact the fruit (the other eight winsome graces of Gal. 5:22-23 are just manifestations of love in action).  Once you've experienced the love of God, you want to pass it on!  Just like you cannot disprove God, because it's irrational to prove a universal negative, you cannot prove there is no love in the universe, even if you say you don't believe in love!  Poor souls who've never experienced love and are therefore skeptics!  Love still objectively exists, regardless of whether one agrees with it or not--it just exists! The soul to be pitied is the one that is unloved by his fellow man or who never finds true love in life!  This is the ultimate sign that we are born again:  We have experienced love and know what love is on a personal level, not just second-hand.   The bottom line is that the worst insult one can receive is that the love of the Father does not dwell in him.

God, nevertheless, exists whether we affirm His existence or deny it as unbelievers.  The infidel has blind faith, not the believer because the believer has sound reasons to believe, and not knowing why you don't believe, or having no legitimate reason is blind faith.  There is ample evidence for those willing to do God's will, while there's never enough evidence for the hardened heart and stubborn skeptic. God and love can be distinguished, but not separated, since God is a God of love and God is love.  As Paul says in Gal. 5:6, NIV, "... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Beloved, as John says, "... [Let] us not love [merely] with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth" (1 John 2:18, NIV).  In conclusion, I cannot but recall the cherished song by The Beatles:  "All You Need Is Love."    Soli Deo Gloria!

Proof For The Resurrection?

As John Stott so appropriately said, "We cannot pander to a man's intellectual arrogance, but we must cater to his intellectual integrity."

"God promised this Good News long ago through his prophets in the holy Scriptures.  The Good News is about his Son.  In his earthly life he was born into King David's family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit"  (Romans 1:2-4, NLT).  

The skeptic may be surprised that there is abundant, cumulative, circumstantial, and historical evidence to support the resurrection (let it make its total impact!), unless one has already made up his mind and doesn't want to be confused with the facts.  The Pharisees had  closed their minds already:  "This impostor said He would rise again!"  Jesus even predicted the event at least five times.   This is like the eggheads on Mars Hill in Acts 17:32, ESV:  "Now when they heard of  the resurrection of the dead, some mocked..."  Whether there is a resurrection, or whether Christ rose, is a matter of faith; out of the realm of public opinion, science, or philosophy.

The event in question is more variously supported by direct and indirect evidence than any other event in antiquity.  There is so much evidence that it demands a verdict!  Too many questions can't be answered by the skeptic.  There is never enough evidence for them--they don't want to believe and think it would upset their lifestyle or security.  Seekers and believers need to study the facts as any legitimate court of law would pronounce:  Jesus did indeed rise from the dead!  The historicity is well-established both circumstantially and in documents as written evidence.  You must realize that Christianity is the only faith-based on history and facts!

I invite you to venture out of your comfort zone and pay attention to the facts of the case point by point.  You are not required to have blind faith at all (not having reasons for it), but only to make a leap of faith based on the preponderance of the evidence and where it's going.  "Taste and see that the Lord is good!"  I hope you will see that you are not committing intellectual suicide by believing--but either way you decide, it takes faith (God is only pleased with faith per Heb. 11:6, NIV, which says, "And  without faith it is impossible to please God..."), but it takes more faith to deny it than to accept it!  I personally, don't have, enough faith to deny it!  I am glad that "his cruel death was not the end of Him," as John Stott has said.  He does live in my heart but that is highly subjective and based on my personal experience, and not hard objective evidence, but only personal testimony (which is still admissible in a court of law). 

The evidence is most compelling but no one fact is conclusive--it must be taken cumulatively, and there are answers to all the skeptics' questions, except where there is a God--there's no smoking-gun evidence either for or against it, and one must decide on one's own. This is the paramount question:  Have you considered the evidence?  God is no man's' debtor and will authenticate Himself if you consider the evidence.  The evidence is most compelling but no one fact is conclusive--it must be taken cumulatively, and there are answers to all the skeptics' questions, except where there is a God--there's no smoking-gun evidence either for or against this, and one must decide on one's own.  God is no man's debtor and will authenticate Himself if you consider the evidence.  This is the paramount question:  Have you considered the evidence?  The evidence is most compelling but no one fact is conclusive--it must be taken cumulatively, and there are answers to all the skeptics' questions, except where there is a God--there's no smoking-gun evidence either for or against this, and one must personally decide on one's own. 

If someone ever challenges you to prove the resurrection, you can cite manifold evidence that is well known: like the several alleged appearances of Christ over a period of 40 days (this cannot be explained by hallucinations, which are highly subjective and individualized); the change of behavior in the apostles (who had become disbanded, demoralized, and suddenly went from being cowards to roaring lions of the faith); the undisturbed grave clothes which show the body wasn't hastily stolen and Christ must have "passed" through them as John believed the moment he saw it and put two and two together, realizing no one would steel a body naked; the guarded tomb which was as secure as they knew how, because they were aware that He claimed to rise again on the third day (who moved the stone and the sepulcher was sealed and had a guard;  the early rise of the faith; why they changed the day of worship from the Sabbath to the Lord's Day;  how they turned the world upside-down; and most vital of all: the test of the veracity of the witness is that the were all martyred except John (one usually tells the truth and confesses on his deathbed)--they were all willing to go to their deaths rather than admit a conspiracy.  Lying would not be consistent with their character and witness, nor worthy of their Lord.  This was no idle tale" told by "consummate liars and deluded madmen" but supported by "many infallible ["convincing" in NIV] proofs" according to Luke cited in Acts 1:3, KJV.  

The resurrection is the Rock of Gibraltar or the crux of Christianity:  You must disprove it to make Christianity tumble, "And if Christ be not raised, your faith is futile..." says 1 Cor. 15:17.  The event doesn't prove Christ's deity, but is consistent or congruous with it, and only what we'd expect of a supernatural person who also had a supernatural entrance into the world via a virgin birth.  If the resurrection is true, it is the "most sensational event" in history, and if it is a conspiracy of deluded followers, it is the "biggest hoax" ever perpetrated on mankind, according to apologist Josh MacDowell.  The most challenging evidence is that the body was gone and the authorities and Jews could not produce it to nip the new faith in the bud.  The Jews believed that the disciples stole the body while the guards were asleep.  [There is no precedent in jurisprudence that allows the testimony of what transpired s during one's sleep!]  In spreading this rumor it both showed their ignorance and proved the fact that the body was gone! 

Now, this is the clincher:  the evidence against the resurrection is hard to come by:  there is none!  What evidence is there that He didn't rise from the dead--did anyone see the dead body?  There are no conflicting testimonies!  Only the presupposition that one cannot rise from the dead and bias in the first place would prevent belief.  Just saying, "I don't believe one can rise from the dead (not even God?)" is not evidence per se.  Science can say that in the normal activity of man this doesn't happen, but science cannot "forbid" this miracle or any other miracle or unusual event caused by God--this would be personifying science and going beyond its turf.  This is really "scientism," not science!  This is outside the scope or parameters of the scientific method and empiricism:  science relies upon the repetition of events and laboratory conditions with controls and variables to experiment with and measure and observe results to hypothesize and theorize.  History, by its very nature, is unrepeatable and it is a matter of the reliability of the documents.  If this happened normally we'd call them "regulars!'  Don't people often say, "There's a first time for everything?"

If Christ was God, it is no surprise that He rose from the dead--anyone with His character and credentials and made the claims He did is either a lunatic, a deliberate liar (and the disciples would've figured this out), or He was who He claimed to be--the Lord--The Resurrection and the Life in the flesh!  If someone lived like Jesus did and said what He said and claimed deity, I am inclined to believe it--or who did say those things?  NO psychiatrist would label Him unstable, but His claims would not escape the attention of the authorities either.  It is obvious, for instance, that His teachings are not the rantings and ravings of a madman either!  Lord Byron said,:  "If ever a man were God or God-man, Jesus Christ was both."

It is a matter of philosophy and history, not science or opinion: "For nothing is impossible with God [and one must decide whether he admits to there being a God in the first place] (cf. Luke 1:37, NIV)."  In order to be the judge and jury, in this case, you must weigh the evidence pro and con and go in the direction the evidence is leading:  Where does the preponderance of the evidence point to?  You don't need to know all the answers to decide, juries rarely have all the evidence or facts, but only sufficient evidence to render a verdict up or down.  To the hardened skeptic, there is never enough evidence, but to the willing believer who wants to believe and is willing to do God 's will there is ample evidence;  one cannot say he has an excuse due to lack of evidence.  He may have reason to doubt, but no excuse!  The skeptic has more questions to answer than the believer!

It is not a matter of the intellect because it is a moral matter and only those willing to obey God can believe (John 7:17, NIV, says, "If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God...").  It doesn't take brains to figure it out, because a child can believe; the heart of the matter is that it's a matter of the heart.  Your conclusion shows more what kind of person you are, not what kind of person Christ is. 

Let me conclude:  It is not a matter of the intellect because it is a moral matter and only those willing to obey God can believe (cf. John 7:1 says, "If any man wills to do His will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God...").  It doesn't take brains to figure it out, because a child can believe.  The big question is where one's heart is and if it's in the right place.  You cannot disprove the resurrection by merely citing people fact that people don't normally rise from the dead; Jesus is not your typical person, but the Son of God with all the necessary credentials and witnesses. Every theory posited to explain it away has been proved beyond credence and unacceptable, because God can raise the dead: for with God, all things are possible, by definition (cf. Matt. 19:26; Luke 1:37; Gen. 18:14).  

Note and remember this point in fact:  science can not make value judgments or judgments of historical nature, because they are not observable, measurable, nor repeatable--have you ever seen five pounds of love or three feet of faith?    Soli Deo Gloria!

Spiritual Downward Spiral

   "'I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, For My anger has turned away from him"  (Hosea 14:4, NKJV).
"... Your sins have been your downfall"  (Hosea 14:1, NIV).  
"'... But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it" (Gen. 4:7, NKJV). 
"Indeed, the LORD will give justice to his people, and he will change his mind about his servants, when he sees their strength is gone"  (Deut. 32:36, NLT).

Christians don't turn on God and rebel suddenly, but slowly drift:  "So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it," (cf. Heb. 2:1, NLT)> 

Some believers don't march forward in their faith, nor even tread water, but go back as so-called backsliders. A walk with the Lord implies you are going forward and going someplace!  God can heal this phenomenon as He promises above in Hosea 14:4.  What happens to initiate such spiritual degeneration or descent?  Instead of progressing from degeneration to regeneration, some lose spiritual ground or territory by conceding it to Satan and giving him the opportunity and open the door to his mischief, and degenerate again, even becoming worse than they were at the beginning before they learn their lesson.  Like Jesus told of the unclean spirit that returned with seven other spirits eviler than itself!   One might ask himself:  how low can I go?

It all begins with a "disconnect" from God, whereby we aren't abiding in the Word and become spiritually slack and our laxity affects every area of our walk as we try to go it alone apart from the body that we are members one of another. There is always the danger of spiritual complacency, getting cocky spiritually, and thinking one has "arrived," and Satan may then catch him on a spiritual high, so to speak.  Everyone is vulnerable to the wiles of Satan and we must not be ignorant of them, for he specializes in mind-games and psychological warfare, and plays with our ego and pride.

When the Word has lost its pizzazz or we get so-called Bible fatigue, we must heed the spiritual wakeup call and seek the presence of the Lord and not become derelict of our spiritual calling to deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him--discipleship can be demanding and we must not become lax!  This comes with the territory and we signed up for it.  This is why repentance and submission to God's will are not one-time spiritual events, but progressive as we go from faith to faith and grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ as Lord.

Faith does seem to begin by waning or deteriorating and this will happen if it isn't fed by the Word of God. Growth needs nourishment!  What happens next is a doubting of God's goodness like Job and the believer asks why and when no answer is forthcoming he loses faith or breaks faith with God (however God is always faithful to us), but he never loses faith entirely or goes into utter despair--there's always a seed or minutiae of faith hanging on for life support.  

If the backslider persists in his rebellion he may become defiant and get angry at God and even throw a temper tantrum or have a fit to take it out on God Himself--when he should be angry at himself!  The reason he cannot recover so easily is that he may have spiritual inertia and cannot make the first move--God must make the overture and He will!  This is because of man's natural inclination to sloth or acedia and he is slack spiritually when he is estranged from God or out of fellowship--it takes a work of grace to restore him.

But backsliders have a tendency to commit spiritual suicide and sabotage their own spiritual health by having an aversion to the Word of God and balking at learning the things of God in depth, therefore they are wholly unprepared for the schemes of Satan.  The milk of the Word will not be sufficient to feed a seasoned believer through this so-called Anfectung (Martin Luther penned this word--German for "attack").   And he may find himself using yesterday's day-old food and leftovers for tomorrows meal, so to speak, and not realize he needs the unadulterated Word from the Lord to feed his soul, giving daily and timely growth and nourishment meant for that day (our daily bread)/   If he has not developed good devotion habits he may starve himself spiritually and die of spiritual malnutrition, as it were.  This is where the body of Christ comes in and acts like an organism, not an organization, to bring healing to those who confess (cf. James 5:16).    Soli Deo Gloria!