The Lukewarm Churchgoer...

"All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing." --Edmund Burke
"Do not be overcome with evil, but overcome evil with good" (Rom. 12:21, NIV).  
"The Lord says:  'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught'" (Isa. 29:13, NIV).
"He defended the cause of the poor and needy, and so all went well.  Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the LORD" (Jer. 22:16, NIV).
"For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth" (Mal. 2:7, NIV).  

But where there's a clear-cut command in Scripture we must fly our Christian colors and take our stand--only the coward stands aside according to James Russell Lowell:  "Once to every man and nation, Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of Truth with Falsehood, For the good or evil side, Then it is the brave man chooses, While the coward stands aside." 
"We must show our Christian colours, if we are to be true to Jesus Christ.  We cannot remain silent and concede everything away." --C. S. Lewis
"The bottom line is that at a certain point there is not only the right, but the duty, to disobey the State." --Francis A. Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto

By definition, you can hold opinions, but convictions hold you, according to Rick Warren: you may discuss an opinion, but you would be willing to suffer, even die for a conviction--Christ ought to be OUR conviction.  We ought never to be caught on both sides of the equation, straddling the fence as it were, unwilling to declare and our stand for or make known our convictions. Silence isn't always golden!  

CAVEAT:  DO NOT USE YOUR INFORMED CONVICTIONS AS TOOLS TO JUDGE OR CONDEMN A WEAKER BROTHER'S CONSCIENCE--WE ALL HAVE A RIGHT TO OUR OWN CONVICTIONS AND WILL BE JUDGED ACCORDINGLY.  AS AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO SAID CONCERNING THE CHURCH, "IN NONNEGOTIABLES, UNITY; IN NEGOTIABLES, LIBERTY; IN ALL THINGS CHARITY."  DON'T ARGUE OR CAUSE DIVISION ABOUT MERE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION!  AND NEVER BE CONTENTIONS, DIVISIVE, ARGUMENTATIVE, OR JUDGMENTAL IN SPIRIT!  NOTHING SO DESTROYS A CHURCH LIKE PARTY SPIRIT, WHEREAS SHEEP ARE TAKING SIDES BETWEEN LEADERS.  ALSO, WHEN SINCERE BELIEVERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ISSUE CONFESS CONTRADICTIONS, ONE OUGHT NOT TO BE JUDGEMENTAL OR AN ACTIVIST--CUT SOME SLACK AND GIVE THE UNINFORMED AND UNEDUCATED A BREAK!   THE WORLD LIES IN THE POWER OF THE EVIL ONE.  


Christ will spew the lukewarm or tepid believer or churchgoer (ones having a bogus profession), out of His mouth in disgust and judgment, writes John in Revelation 3:16.  But the debate goes on about just what this means.  I contend that it doesn't necessarily just mean low-energy believers, or lackadaisical ones, or even ones with little sentimentality or feeling--OR NO FEELINGS.  Because God is pleased with faith, not feeling anyway.  What kind of believer is repulsive and ignominious or odious to God?  The believer who won't apply what he knows and stand up for Jesus when a time to give testimony is at hand and someone is needed to stand for the truth.  You cannot remain neutral on everything to please everyone, that's the path to failure.

People pleasers are losers!  It has been said that there may not be a formula for success but the sure road to failure is to try to please everyone.  If we are following Christ we will have people who despise us, hate us, and misuse us and even harass and persecute us, to the point of mocking on occasion--we will have enemies!  We must be willing to lay down our life and be ready to give Christ our life in the ultimate sacrifice.  We are not saved by martyrdom, but we must hate our very own life and love Christ will all our being, as number one priority. We are not to get a martyr complex, though, thinking that the more we are persecuted, the better believer we are, either--persecution comes with the territory.

There comes a time and opportunity when we not only have the right to disobey the state and even all authority but the duty.  Martin Luther said, "I dissent, I disagree, I protest" and the Reformation was born.   We must obey God rather than man!  Taking stands is progressive and God tests us:  some believers have never stood for anything!  They have never been against anything, nor even for anything.  We should not just see the evil and say "Why?" but see the good and say, "Why not?"

On a personal level, a real friend will not desert you in time of trouble and will come to your aid, sticking up for you.  If someone bad-mouths or disses your friend, do you defend his honor or integrity or do you just let it slide and let someone cast a slur on your ally?  Lincoln pitied that man who couldn't feel the pain when the whip was on another man's back.

And so the lukewarm believer (I use this term loosely because unsaved people can have head belief) is a persona non grata and in limbo or no-man's-land (out of fellowship), and no one knows where he stands so they exclude him from fellowship by virtue of God's judgment.  He may have worldly friends, but he's no friend of God. Christ calls us to make informed stands for Him and to show or declare our Christian colors to the world at large as its salt and light.  Christians can be wrong politically and still be good Christians!  We are not to render Christ irrelevant to the marketplace of ideas and rule Him out of the equation and public dialogue though.  Being silent when we ought to speak up is a grave sin of omission!

In a sense, God does respect those who take stands more than those who refuse to take a stand and remain neutral, even if they are wrong because He knows where they are spiritually and God respects moral courage more than a timid spirit.  He has not given us a spirit of fear.  That doesn't mean they are saved, but God can work with them and they have hope.  Jesus said He'd rather have us hot or cold, but not lukewarm.  To say we ought not to take stands because we could be wrong is a cop-out and fails to understand the condition of the unsaved.

Newsflash:  we all could be wrong!  "Whatever is not of faith is sin," (cf. Rom. 14:23) period.  God doesn't expect righteous deeds from the unbeliever, period.  It's the same in war, God hates cowardice and there's a special place in hell for cowards, regardless of which side they were on God expects bravery to the bitter end.

Remember, God starts small and works the way up to greater responsibilities of moral courage, but one must have moral authority as the prerequisite.  We must pick our battles or quarrels, and realize that some are not worth the adrenalin and cause more heat than light, but not to get into the habit of being neutral--we must stand for something, or we stand for nothing.  Stronger believers need to grow in love and weaker ones in knowledge.

The adage that sincerity is what matters doesn't hold water, for our God is the God of truth and all truth meets at the top as God's truth.  In the final analysis, all of us will give account of ourselves to Christ at His Bema (tribunal or Judgement Seat) and we have no right to do evil in God's name, nor to hijack our faith and declare that our cause celebre is God-given or that we speak for Christ as some kind of vicar as the Pope does when he pontificates.

In sum, we shouldn't just memorize the Dance of the Pious, go simply through the motions, nor follow the crowd of least resistance (for narrow is the way to eternal life and few there be that find it); this means not just going with the flow (for something dead can go with the flow!) but this entails knowing Christ with first-hand experience and knowledge and desiring to live it out the faith in love. But don't be a believer who wants the benefits without the Benefactor or the perks and privileges without the responsibilities.

CAVEAT:  HE WHO KNOWS THE RIGHT THING TO DO AND FAILS TO REALIZE IT OR CAPITALIZE ON IT SINS: WE OUGHT NOT TO PRIVATIZE NOR FLAUNT OUR FAITH!   (cf. Js. 4:17).    Soli Deo Gloria!

Should We Raise Clones Of Ourselves?

"I have no greater joy than this:  to hear that my children are living according to the truth" (3 John v. 4, CEB).  

Some children grow up to be genuine chips off the old block and realize their parents wildest fantasies or dreams, even surpassing them.   It was said of Seth that he was in Adam's image, this may have been what was meant--someone to carry on the true family heritage and legacy.  We all leave a legacy, good or evil and will be remembered by more than a brief epitaph on our tombstone.  To be serious, parents are proud when their children are like them on a rare basis, because then they would be clones with all the flaws they have. Do they want them to make the same mistakes?  Where would we be if no one ever went out on a limb or took chances, but always played it safe, taking the road of least resistance and following the crowd? 

Kids are looking for role models, even Michael Jordan ("I want to be like Mike"), instead of looking to Jesus as the Exemplar and perfect man as well as perfect God, while parents are often remiss to be the role models their position of authority as in loco Dei (Latin for "in the place of God") implies. To make matters worse, our leaders are forsaking their role models and character seems to no longer matter.

We all have feet of clay or have faults not readily apparent to the public eye.  You could also say that we all have skeletons in the closet and are glad that only God knows the real us.  They say there are four personas we show:  one to the world; one to our friends; one to ourselves; and one that only God can see and know in reality--which is the real self and may not even be known by us, for we don't even know ourselves as well as God does.  All parents, in reality, want their kids to grow up to better themselves in the rat-race and the dog-eat-dog world and to even be better off financially and to find their dreams and realize the American dream as individuals.

No parent really wants their kids to make the same mistakes they did, or to have the same personality traits, flaws included or even illnesses and defects included--they want good parenting skills too.   If you are bipolar, for instance, you don't want that curse on anyone, and just because you have learned to manage it (you never overcome it, cure it, or defeat it), you wish for your kids to be normal, whatever that means, and in today's society the normative behavior standards are indeed questionable and social workers don't talk of being abnormal, but "deviant" (from the expected)--what's normal? is the new mantra.

Likewise, believers in a church body are not meant to be clones of each other, i.e., having the same spiritual gifting.  Some are eyes, some voices, some hands, some even hearts for the Lord, and we all need each other, no person has all the gifts and is self-sufficient, an island or rock, that is. The song is sung, "I am a rock, I am an island" is the world's philosophy, not biblical. Also, no one person has a monopoly on the truth, has cornered the market on knowledge, wisdom, and understanding, and knows it all, or can speak for Christendom or the even the church body at large, in which case they are really hijacking the faith and pontificating for Christ, as the Pope does when he speaks ex-cathedra as the Vicar of Christ.

However, Christians need to take stands for what they believe, noting that even a dead fish can go with the flow, but they can be wrong and are responsible to God, and that is why they should not be so presumptuous as to believe they can speak for Christ, we are all fallible, even the so-called infallible Pope. We are meant to work in harmony and unity, that doesn't mean uniformity and there will be disagreements (there are many so-called gray areas in which we must be tolerant and not dogmatic):  "In essentials, unity; in nonessentials (nonnegotiables), liberty; in all things, charity," as Saint Augustine of Hippo said.   But we ought never to become disagreeable and learn to agree to disagree; steering clear of ungodly controversy but not shying away from godly and necessary battles for the truth, fighting the war of polemics and contending for the faith.

We ought, therefore, to submit to one another and serve one another, looking out for each other, so to speak, not just taking an interest in how they're doing.  The church is a family, an organism, a fellowship, a ministry and mission in one, and a flock of God, but not an organization or a crowd to hide in--you must have an opportunity to serve, function, and grow in the faith according to your gifting, whether ministry to believer or mission to unbeliever.  In a body, as well in a family, we ought to celebrate diversity as a sign of strength and that God has given more opportunity to show His love for the brethren and ministry opportunity.

Note that life is about making choices and being responsible for them, no one can remain neutral, for taking no stand for Christ is one against Him. He who is not with Him is against Him.  The conclusion of the matter is that we don't want our children to be like us, imitating us, but individuals who want to be like Christ, and God will decide what gifting they receive and the amount of opportunity and ministry given to be faithful in.  (Remember Paul in chains preached that he wished Agrippa could be like he was, except for his chains!)  Soli Deo Gloria!

What Are We Fighting For?

"Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your families, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes" (Neh. 4:14, NIV). 

Famous quotes not in the Bible: 
"To cut off Law from its ethical sources is to strike a terrible blow at the rule of law." --Russell Kirk Kilpatrick
"The bottom line is that at a certain point there is not only the right but the duty, to disobey the State." --Francis Schaeffer  "... [B]ut as for me, give me liberty or give me death! " (Patrick Henry, 1775).  "I regret that I have but one life to give for my country."  (Attributed to John Paul Jones). 

Nehemiah was a great extrinsic and intrinsic motivator (he got results!) to get the people to work building the wall and to fight for the nation against any enemy.  All soldiers eventually wonder what they are fighting for and if it's a worthy cause or in vain.  Who wants to die for a lost cause?  Regardless, veterans serve the country by virtue of obeying orders and submitting to authority, which they vowed to do. 

In Alfred, Lord Tennyson's epic poem "The Charge of the Light Brigade," we see that it's not the job description of soldiers to second-guess their superiors, ("ours is not to reason why?"), but they must be willing to pay the ultimate sacrifice, of laying down one's life for one's friends (Jesus called this the greatest sacrifice and expression of love), the soldier must be willing to give their all ("ours is but to do and to die").  There would be utter chaos in battle if every soldier thought he had the moral authority to question orders (unless they are immoral or illegal).  The chain of command has earned moral authority and it should be respected and shown all due respect.  "The powers that be" are of God (cf. Rom. 13:1), even Jesus told Pilate his power was granted from above.

What inspires troops to die?  It certainly isn't for a tax cut, political agenda, or factory job!  They got inspired by Thomas Paine's Common Sense during the Revolutionary War about the ideals of constitutional democracy--our grand experiment.  All veterans who fought for our nation ultimately believed in the rule of law, the bill of rights including free speech, freedom of religion and the freedom of the press, and equal justice under the law, that no one should be above the law, for the law is the king as Samuel Rutherford wrote in Lex Rex (the rule of law) under the Supreme Law of the land, the US Constitution, as we are a nation of laws, not of men.  They swore allegiance to the US Constitution and all enemies domestic and foreign. 

Do I need to remind Americans that both Democrats and Republicans have given their lives for our freedom?  Freedom isn't free, it has been bought in blood sacrifices.  We don't have a Republican Guard like Saddam Hussein did, or a Gestapo like Hitler, we have Americans of all political persuasions giving some and some gave all for our country.  We all need to fight for something bigger than ourselves, that will outlast us, and show our Christian colors, not standing cowardly on the sidelines, but undauntedly engaged in everyday mundane realities and exigencies.

There is more that unites us than divides us and servicemen find this out in the military.  "United we stand, divided we fall!"   We need not wonder how brothers in arms unite in the time of need and learn that their buddy may be of a different political persuasion, but it doesn't matter in the foxhole!  We need to have unity without uniformity and keep our nation "one nation under God."   We don't have to agree on everything but can find commonality and common ground to come together in our common fight against all enemies of our constitutional democracy.

".... But they refuse to stand up for the truth...." (cf. Jer. 9:3).  Cowards don't have anything worth fighting much less dying for (they won't take a stand or be counted for Jesus), and we all need to reexamine our priorities and live on purpose, knowing that life and principle is something of value and worth it all.  If you have nothing worth dying for, you haven't yet begun to live. To sum up:  the primary purpose of government is to curtail evil and keep it at bay, and when obstruction of justice occurs, it's the greatest of evil: government overreach and interventionism.   But God hates the perversion of justice (cf. Deut. 16:19). And Augustine said that an unjust law is no law at all!  

CAVEATS: "You twist justice making it a bitter pill for oppressed.  You treat the righteous like dirt .. How you hate honest judges.  How you despise people who tell the truth." (cf. Amos 5:7,10).  "Truth forever on the scaffold; wrong forever on the throne." (James Russell Lowell).   Soli Deo Gloria!

God's Crucible Of Adversity...

"But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold" (Job 23:10, NIV).  
"Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty" (Job 5:17, NIV).
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze" (Isa. 43:2, NIV).
"... All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come" (Job 14:14, NIV).
"Though he slay me, yet I will hope in him" (Job 13:15, NIV
"If we are to enter God's kingdom, we must pass through many troubles" (Acts 14:22, CEB).
"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings..." (Rom. 5:3, NIV).
"No matter how deep our darkness, he is deeper still." --Corrie ten Boom

Reality 101 is about adjusting to the curve balls thrown at us by our adversary Satan, as we adjust to the real world with all its pitfalls, known as OJT of real life.  "He speaks to [us] in [our] affliction," (cf. Job 36:15).  As part of the divine curriculum, it has been granted unto us to suffer for His sake.  We have no right to ask God "Why?" because "He is too deep to explain Himself, too wise to make a mistake, and too kind to be cruel"--we must accept it all on faith that God knows what's best.  People are always suing for pain and suffering, but Christians must grin and bear it as a given in life (not that we are Stoics who see it as fate from an impersonal force), but making the most of it and learning from the experiences; then we can proudly say, "Been there, done that!"

We all must go through some kind of school of hard knocks and learn from our mistakes. If you haven't made a mistake, it's been said, you haven't made anything!   The best way to learn is through adversity, which is the only way to build character. So lay out the welcome mat and apply your experience to comfort others in their affliction.  As a consolation, remember that Christ Himself learned obedience by what He suffered (cf. Heb. 5:8)!

What is going on as we progress in our sanctification?  God will indeed finish what He has started and isn't finished with us yet, as we are always "works in progress" (cf. Phil. 1:6).   The defining characteristic of Christianity that makes its practice unique is that we find meaning in suffering--it's all done through the Father-filtered hands of God and has a purpose.  In psychology and religion, there is no meaning to suffering--it's seen as a distraction and unnecessary element of life, and ideally should be eliminated. (Note that Buddha said that "life is suffering"). 

But there is good stress as well as negative stress (and no one escapes life stress-free!) and it builds character; we shouldn't pray for a life that's stress-free and easy then, but a character that can withstand anything God can throw at us by way of trial and tribulation, this is the stress that no one can avoid and is part of life--can we expect good from God only and not evil?  But whatever evil happens, God means it for our good (cf. Gen. 50:20; Rom. 8:28)!

For Christ didn't even exempt Himself from trials and was honest enough to warn us we'd have them, and our crosses pale in comparison to His, who doesn't ask us to do anything He didn't do.  Trials, temptations, tribulations, suffering, troubles, and adversity, and discipline are inevitable.  It has been said that experience is not what you've been through or what has happened to you, but in you and what you do with it!  As an illustration of what God is doing in our lives picture a sculptor who sees a piece of marble and starts work on it and is asked how he can fashion a horse out of it: just by chipping away everything that doesn't look like a horse!  God must take away everything that doesn't look like Jesus because we're the icons of God!

We signed up for a crucible when we got saved and it comes with the territory as we enrolled in the school of Christ.  But the comforting factor in our suffering is that it's done in love and is not meaningless; in fact, we'll thank God someday for His wisdom.  God reserves the right to micromanage our lives at will and does so without our consultation.  Every day of our lives has been mapped out by God in Providence and He does so with the motive of love and His glory--for we exist to bring glory to Him (cf, Psalm 31:15; 139:16; Isaiah 43:7).

As a word of encouragement, we should bear in mind that God is always with us, so we are never alone; God is on our side so we cannot lose, and God believes in us so we have purpose and meaning, for God has a purpose for everything!   It was proven by Dr. Viktor Frankl, a Viennese Jewish psychiatrist who spent years in a Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, that when we see purpose and meaning in our suffering that we can endure nearly anything, even a POW, or concentration camp (because God is with us)!  We don't have to thank God for these troubles, but should praise Him for the opportunities they bring to glorify Him, always remembering that no cross means no crown!

In short, crucibles are necessary because the same sun melts the butter hardens the clay (we either become bitter or better); we must never wonder why bad things happen to good people because no one is good--we should wonder why good things happen to bad people!

CAVEAT:  DON'T GET A MARTYR COMPLEX, (WE AREN'T SAVED BY MARTYRDOM!) AND THINK THAT THE MORE YOU SUFFER, THE HOLIER OR MORE RIGHTEOUS YOU ARE, CHRIST WANTS US TO LIVE FOR HIM AS "LIVING SACRIFICES' (CF. ROM. 12:1)!

In conclusion, William Kirk Kilpatrick, psychologist, and educator, said the test of a philosophy is not what it says about the pains it can handle, but the ones it cannot.    Soli Deo Gloria!

The Post-ethical Society

"Nothing good ever came from Christianity." --Madalyn Murray O'Hair, atheist activist
"Morality is a nebulous thing; listen to the God within." (New Age philosophy)
"The summation of Christian ethics:  "Follow Me," Jesus
"The test of an idea is not whether it's true, but whether it works." --John Dewey, father of American public education and philosopher-author of A Common Faith
"Ethics is about not getting caught."  --Author unknown
"Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Prov. 14:34, NIV). 
"Morality is merely an extension of self-interest." --Karl Marx
"The Law of God is engraved in man." --John Calvin
"...[T]he propitious smile of Heaven" that fall only on that nation that does not "disregard the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained." --George Washington from Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville as quoted by David Noebel.  
"If we are not governed by God, then we will be ruled by tyrants." --William Penn
"Morality is not based on private opinion, but transcendent truth.  Morality is merely responsible decision-making [to the secularist]" --Charles Colson
"There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is death" (Prov. 14:12; 16:25, NIV). 
"All a mans' ways are right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart" (Prov. 21:2, NIV). 
"... Hate what is evil; cling to what is good" (Rom. 12:9, NIV). 
"Let all things be done decently and in order" (cf. 1 Cor. 14:40).
"A person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart" (Prov. 21:2, NIV).  
"Who stands fast?  ..., not the man whose final standard is his reason, his principles, conscience, virtue but God." --Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a martyr in his own right during Nazi regime who opposed Hitlerism

By way of intro, Kant's moral argument for God is as follows: ethics exist, to be possible, justice must exist, because it must occur in the afterlife; therefore a Judge must exist; the one who is capable to render it must be all-powerful and all-knowing.

READ ON TO SEE HOW OUR MORAL LAXITY HAS DEVOLVED INTO MORAL PARALYSIS AND MORAL DEPRAVITY, DUE TO LOSS OF BIBLICAL VALUES AS OUR ANCHOR.


We have inherited a post-ethical world that doubts the very existence of any objective, absolute, and universal morals and ethics, but that they are only relative to society, culture, time, person, and situation.  This is called moral relativism and the ethics of situation-ethics.  Kant pondered the very existence of ethics too and concluded that they don't exist if one rules out God from the equation--they both necessitate the other. Kant reasoned that God must exist for ethics to be possible.   "If God does not exist," goes Dostoevsky's dictum, "then all things are permissible."  But we know ethics do exist and guilt is real, whether psychologists can explain it away or not.  We are responsible, moral creatures that will have to give an account of ourselves to God at Judgment Day.


Secular Humanism has ruled God out and will not let a Divine Foot in the door to interfere with their personal mores and standards of behavior, which allows them to live like animals because they believe they are, in essence, animals. You can rise no higher than your image of yourself!  And what you think about God, according to A. W. Tozer is the most important thing about you.  The thing about ethics to realize is that where you begin determines where you'll end up.  Doctors still take the Hippocratic Oath, but their interpretation of it is purely humanistic.  The basic command is: "First, do no harm!"  Christianity is the only worldview that gives dignity to man and thus purpose, meaning, understanding, and legitimate goals.


We are not headed toward a utopia and man is not perfectible, contrary to modern thought.  They reason that if a man is perfectible and always evolving then so is society.  The truth is that we now have more knowledge but less wisdom and that is a dangerous combo. Most people today believe they have a right to make up their own code as they go along and whatever "feels right" to them is the right thing to do.  This all started going into a downward spiral after the teaching of Dr. Timothy Leary, who said, "Turn on, tune in, drop out!"  A whole generation was lost in the quest to find themselves and gave no credence to religious feelings or interest.


The formula of Secular Humanism was "down with God, up with man!"  We deify man and dethrone God.  This kind of thinking goes back to Protagoras saying, "man is the measure of all things" or Homo mensura in Latin, WHEREBY WE BEGIN WITH MAN TO MAKE OUR CONCLUSIONS. NOTE THAT ATHANASIUS, FATHER OF ORTHODOXY, SAID, "The only system of thought Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point."  The conclusion of the matter is that without God there is no anchor to weigh in on and to tie everything together with, no grounds for commonality and unit and no common thread or unifying factor.  If there is no God, then there are no moral absolutes and all values, principles, ethics, and standards are relative.  In essence, this is to say that if we let ethics be the result of personal decision and whim, it's the same as denying any ethics at all--if there is no universal standard, there is no standard; this will lead to utter chaos and destruction of society, for no society has survived the loss of its gods, according to George Bernard Shaw.


There are many ethical systems and most people seem to think the ends justify the means, which is pure pragmatism and what communists embrace.  The New Morality says all that matters is the motive of love or good intent, not the results.  In reality, the motive and the end result must be righteous and pure in God's eyes for it to be ethical. Politics without principle is one of the Seven Deadly Sins named by Gandhi--that is our present reality, in which pragmatism and expediency rule.  And to most people, the Golden Rule has degenerated into the phrases:  He who has the gold, rules! Might makes right! Do unto them before they do unto you!  It is a proven fact that Americans follow the Brazen Rule, which says treat unto others the way they treat you!  They certainly don't go high when others go low, but stoop to their level and are a no better example of righteousness. Our contemporary intelligentsia believes ethics evolve with time and are suitable only for the age they are in, but morals are timeless: what was right in Moses' day, is still valid today--God's principles and laws don't waver, because God is immutable and never whimsical, arbitrary, nor capricious.


The whole premise of having ethics is that we are in God's image and are obliged to act like He would, just as Plato observed:  If I want to know how to live in reality, I must know what God is really like!  The good news is that Jesus came to explain God to us and to show us the Way!  We have no excuse not to know the highest ethic achievable:  The Sermon on the Mount highlighted in the Golden Rule.  But this can only be realized by believers living in the Spirit.  The Christian life has not been found unworkable and failed, but found difficult and not attempted.  Christianity is not the first choice of many because it demands so much--denying yourself, giving up all, and following Christ no matter the cost.  In religion, you can be good without God, and are already considered good by nature.


We have a president with no moral compass, it's alleged, is it any wonder that our nation is becoming numb to ethical dilemmas and growing apathetic and calloused toward ethical issues, with a gradual normalization of wrong?  When you have everyone doing their own thing, chaos results and it turns out like Israel before it had a king:  "Everyone did what was right in their own eyes" (cf. Jdg. 21:25). Our nation is in moral paralysis and it has little or no sense of "ought" to judge our laws by, which are only the vested interest of those with the most money, loudest voice, and most influence with the rich and powerful and/or ruling class.


People have traded morals for practicality and we live in a market-driven and results-oriented society that is not truth-centered or oriented.  According to pragmatism, the value of an idea is its result, not its truth, which cannot be ascertained.  They say we must be results-oriented.  The rich and powerful have succeeded, by and large, in eradicating God from the public arena and common marketplace of ideas, and the Christian voice has been muffled and nearly silenced, and even fallen for Satan's lies, as the Evangelical Right turns a deaf ear to political mischief.


Alas, the day when our nation decides that anything goes and we are answerable to no one and there's no Higher Power we are held accountable to--a day when God is dead in our nation, or no longer relevant and believable. We are approaching that day now when all we get is lip service and an occasional nod to God to satisfy the so-called Evangelical Right, who believe they represent God but have hijacked the faith. In the final analysis, morality matters simply because God is the moral center of the universe--He is our judge, we are not His judge.


The ultimate questions we must inquire concerning are:  Does man have a purpose?  Can man live without God?  Has man forgotten God?  The idea of Secular Humanism is being good without God, a religion without God in the picture.  We must rise to the occasion and fly our Christian colors and vociferously proclaim and spread the Word of our Great Commission. CAVEAT:  God is the only reliable anchor of society, the glue that holds it together via His divine institutions family, church, government--all meant to curtail and keep evil at bay.


A word to the wise is sufficient from Saint Aurelius Augustine, Bishop of Hippo: "Government is not a necessary evil, but necessary because of evil."  But then again, as an afterthought, I daresay our Bohemian and iconoclastic president has defied all norms of expectation and seems to be more of a Teflon president than Reagan, getting by with his unconventional M.O. without losing any of his loyal, devoted "base."      Soli Deo Gloria!

Answering The Ultimate Questions

All worldviews attempt to answer the ultimate questions of life:  where did we come from? how did we get here? why are we here? where will we end up? what makes life worth living?  Mankind has always asked these challenging questions.  This is where religion came on the scene, for God has put eternity in our hearts from the beginning and man has always wondered about life after death, as the ultimate issues and the big question.  All religions and worldviews attempt to give satisfying answers to these questions and to "save" mankind.  Some people think religion is just escapism or a crutch, but secular people have crutches too and just put their faith in science that it has the answer or can find them.





Everyone is a person of faith!  It just depends on what your presupposition is, i.e., it's not a matter of faith versus reason, but what you are willing to accept as truth, to begin with.  We must begin with God and explain our worldview, not start with some interpretative framework and explain away God--for where you begin usually determines where you will end up; even Darwin pondered, "Would you trust the convictions of a monkey's mind?" It has been said that if you teach a man he's an animal that he'll act like one; some men want to believe they are animals so they can have the morals of one.





Man is not an animal in the sense that he seeks the reason for being, meaning, purpose, and understanding in life--we wonder "why" and contemplate ourselves.  We not only know things but know that we know and ponder why we know it and what we can know even how we know things.  In other words, man is a natural philosopher, while animals don't wonder or think about the bigger issues in life besides their basic needs.  Even having an education, a higher standard of living, and freedom, man can be empty inside.  Man needs fulfillment and relationships, for we are a social, spiritual, moral, rational creature and have personalities that relate to others on a  personal level, giving man the unique ability to know and relate to one another.





Science can indeed give us the "know-how," but it cannot help us with the "know-why" of life, it cannot give us purpose in life and hope for the future, nor satisfy our longings for truth, identity, impact, importance, guidance, and meaning in life--animals have no such need. Do animals wonder who they are and try to find themselves or get in touch with themselves? Only man wastes time by worrying about the future and regretting the past.  Man is by nature a religious being too, and if he doesn't worship God he'll worship something or someone else; on the other hand, no one has ever observed a monkey building a chapel outside of The Planet of the Apes!




It is my premise that Christianity answers these questions better and fuller than any religion or secular worldview.  There is a harmony, coherence, and unity in the Christian worldview that lines up with the Bible as the authority.  Christianity outshines all other worldviews in reasonableness, personal experience, and foundation in fact and history. The Bible is the foundation upon which the faith stands.  Every worldview must have some authority or "scripture," and the Bible is the highest standard attained by man and it's self-attesting.  It appeals to no authority higher than itself for proof and proves itself.  This is not circular reasoning to say we believe the Bible is the highest authority because it claims to be, because God has the authority to speak through His Word and if He appealed to anything else or we did, like science or history, God would be taking a backseat to them and not be the ultimate authority figure.





Secularism believes that everything has a natural cause and can be explained naturally--there's no place nor need for miracles!  The supernatural is ruled out from the get-go and doesn't enter the equation.  Only the strong survive in this dog-eat-dog world of survival of the fittest and the law of the jungle--the real rat race.  We are just all lucky to be here due to some great cosmic accident eons ago.  They offer no explanation for life and their origin-of-life experiments (Miller-Urey experiments of 1952) fail to come off, and they must see the cosmos and life as mere givens, and incapable of being explained as common or natural phenomena.




In their view, everything is an infinite series of finite, efficient causes and there was no First Cause, which they refuse to accept as possible and necessary because it sounds too much like God.  But students of logic, science, philosophy, and mathematics know that an infinite series of causes is impossible--there must be a first cause!  This is called the impossibility of crossing infinity.  But they have no room for God in their equation and will not let a Divine Foot in the door, thinking that religion is a neurosis or delusion, a crutch for the weak.  


Much more they refuse to accept the spiritual dimension of life--everything is material and made up of matter and energy, without any spirit or Ultimate Mind behind it.  For instance, the brain is just a cog of machines, made up of electronic circuits, and the mind doesn't exist independently of it, just another name for the brain.  We have, therefore, no soul and no spirit worth saving.





The meaning of the cosmos hangs on which came first and which has precedence:  mind or matter.  Either one or the other preceded:  In the beginning ultimate mind; in the beginning ultimate matter.  The Bible starts out: "In the beginning God..." John elaborates as "In the beginning was the Word..." The Logos here referred to is the "expressed thought of God."  Either mind created matter or mind evolved from matter--there's no other option.  It's impossible for there to be nothing in the beginning, for "out of nothing, nothing comes." goes the axiom:  ex nihilo, nihil fit.





Cosmologists now reckon a beginning to time, as the Bible has always predicated (cf. 2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2).  Time, being the corollary of space and matter, didn't always exist, and God must be outside of the time/space continuum to be the First Cause and get the ball rolling (something timeless created time!).  What or who fired the shot of the Big Bang, who banged the Bang?  We conclude that there must be someone behind the cosmos who is responsible and intelligent and programmed the universal constants, called the Anthropic Principle or the fine-tuning of the universe.



All worldviews aim to save the world too and to make a brighter future for posterity.  Christians don't believe we can save society and do not attempt to save man through politics.  Most secularists are highly Utopian and believe man is capable of perfection and therefore so is society.  But this kind of dreaming is pie in the sky and gives false hopes, like believing someday man will know how to become immortal.  There are those who freeze their bodies in hope of man someday figuring out how to thaw it out and revive it. 



In the meantime, all members of the worldviews attempt to better themselves and their world and make it better for succeeding generations. "But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare" (Jer. 29:7, ESV).   Doing good works is a part of every worldview, it's the motivation that differs:  Christians do it out of gratitude and love for God and others, while other worldviews want to earn their way to salvation or just make themselves feel good, because of their unresolved guilt.  Soli Deo Gloria!

The Evil Question, What About It?...

"... [B]ut I want you to be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil" (Rom. 16:19, NIV).
"The LORD saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time" (Gen. 6:5, NIV). 
"In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults" (1 Cor. 14:20, NIV).
"Don't ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee." --John Donne
"If there is no God, all things are permissible." --Fyodor Dostoevsky

Do we need to apologize for evil in the world? No!   We live in "the best of all possible worlds," according to Leibniz, and this means God has a purpose for everything and allows evil to exist for the greater good (cf. Gen. 50:20; Prov. 16:4; Psalm 76:10).  God is able to turn evil into good and to overrule it for His glory, even making the wrath of man to praise Him (cf. Psalm 76:10).  Whenever men intend it for evil, God intends it for good (cf. Gen. 50:20).  There is a silver lining behind every gray cloud.  

Jesus said that the man was born blind that the goodness of God would be manifest in him. God sees the big picture, we are near-sighted.  Eph. 1:11 says God supervises all events according to His will.  John Milton wrote Paradise Lost to explain and defend the ways of God to man--this has been an issue from the beginning of all sin, even back to the Garden of Eden where Satan accused God of holding back on Adam and Eve.  Remember:  Hindsight is always 20/20!

We must be ever vigilant against evil and show our colors whenever possible--not standing on the sidelines--for we may all be called "for such a time as this" (cf. Esther 4:14).  We would not appreciate good, if not for the existence of evil!   Good is contrasted with evil and evil cannot exist apart from good, for it's merely a corruption of it or absence of it. Good and evil are not coequals in some cosmic battle like the yin/yang of Oriental philosophy, but evil is already defeated by good in Christ at the cross and we live in a mop-up effort between D-day and V-day so to speak.  

We need not apologize for its existence, for Wycliffe's tenet says "that all things come to pass of necessity."  Fear not though:  God did do something about evil--He made you!  You must ask yourself:  "What's wrong? Start with you.   The evil questioned has been solved by the death of Christ and its resolution is only a matter of time.

Many skeptics see evil everywhere and say why, rather than seeing the good possibilities and say why not.  Do you see possibilities in every difficulty or difficulties in every possibility?  It's not: if there is so much evil, where's God, but if there's so much good, where isn't He?  The force of God's good will eventually overcome evil!  We want to be part of the answer, not part of the problem.  That is our M.O. to take the high road and defeat Satan by the power of the Spirit in us.  We may look at the world and may even doubt God and wonder where He is; however, we really should say, "Where isn't He?"  The real issue is where the church is, not where God is.  God uses His church and has commissioned it as His ambassadors of goodwill, for God is the moral center of the universe.

If God were to stamp out evil where would you and I be?  Would we escape judgment ourselves? We are not without evil.  Let's indeed start with us and repent of our own evils.  Don't blame God for evil--He didn't create it nor direct it but allowed its entree by virtue of the gift of Adam's free will in eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil--the opportunity to decide for or against Him and thus creating the possibility of evil's existence. Remember: It's impossible to have free will without both good and evil and the power to choose between the two.  We can be grateful for the patience of God in extending the day of grace so that we all have space to repent.

The world is filled with evil and no one escapes blame. There seems to be a lot of evil turning into good because there's a lot more of it.  Remember, it's only in contrast to evil that we see good!  But people react differently to the same evils: some become bitter; some become better!  As they say, "The same sun hardens the clay, melts the butter."  Here's one quotable remark:  In response to the article, "What's wrong with the world?  I am, sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton."   If we yielded fully to God's will to accomplished His work we could usher in the kingdom of God a lot sooner, for we are to speed His return (cf. 2 Pet. 3:12); i.e., fulfilling the Great Commission, which is Job One.   Soli Deo Gloria! 

Refraining From Lottery Tickets And Legalism

"Accept the one whose faith is weak without quarreling over disputable matters" (Rom. 14:1, NIV).
"I have the freedom to do anything, but I won't be controlled by anything" (1 Cor. 6:12, CEB).
"Everything is permitted, but everything isn't beneficial.  Everything is permitted, but everything doesn't build others up" (1 Cor. 10:23, CEB). 
"So, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, you should do it all for God's glory" (CEB).
"The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD" (Prov. 16:33, NIV).

Some believers may feel holier-than-thou (cf. Isa. 65:5) and by restraining from what they define as gambling--the lottery, they get a spiritual high.  They may even have told them that God told them so!  This is hogwash and mysticism, for God doesn't reveal truths to a certain elite group of privileged believers so that only they are in the know. They may feel this is their weakness, to gamble, but this is a personal choice, not something the Bible forbids directly nor indirectly by implying.  First, Christianity isn't a list of dos and don'ts as if we are better Christians if we don't do this or that: e.g., watching the hemlines, ticket lines, and hairlines to legalists.  Christianity isn't about what you don't do, but a relationship with Christ in knowing Him.  There is so little stated in Scripture about gambling that you just can't make any anti-gambling case on it.  When the Bible does forbid something and you do it, that's sin, not legalism.  We don't need a longer to-do list or what-not-to-do list.

The Bible does state that the faith you have, keep to yourself and don't be a stumbling block.  We are not to go "beyond that which is written" (cf. 1 Cor. 4:6).  When our conscience is clear, we see right and wrong clearly and it can be a guide, but if the conscience isn't enlightened by Scripture it is a hindrance to spirituality.  He that is spiritual must make the Bible his ultimate, final rule of faith.  We question authority when it contravenes Scripture. Caveat:  Don't focus on the sin of others and apply the Word to them, apply it to yourself--we all tend to see other people's sins.  (As a rule of thumb the Bible nowhere prohibits the casting of lots, which was common, and by the argument from silence one could reason that it's up to the individual person, situation, or conscience.)

One might argue that God will supply all their needs and you don't need to gamble, but that doesn't mean God won't give a little extra blessing from time to time, something going above and beyond the mere essentials.  CAVEAT:  When believers start quoting God and claiming God spoke to them to grant them special revelation so that they know something others don't, this is mysticism.  A believer must never feel condemned or judged by another believer nor let him be put under any nonbiblical criticism: The Scripture plainly says in Rom. 8:1 that there is "no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," period!  Who is he who condemns but the devil and accuser of the brethren? (Cf. Rom. 8:34).  Who wants to play the role of adversary to the believer?

The problem inherent in legalism is seeing sins, not sin.  Going by the letter of the law, not the Spirit.  It is said that the old nature knows no law, while the new nature needs no law.  We must refrain from ignoring major sins and focusing scrupulously on minor points or sins (cf. Matt. 23:23-24).  Some sins are indeed more serious and deserve more attention.  The only cure for legalism and its influence is a thorough study of the Word and to become grace-oriented. We must not bind people with legalistic demands but set them free; however, we are not ever free to live as we want, but as we ought.  We ought to impose no restraint on the believer that is unbiblical, or that which goes beyond that which is written (cf. 1 Cor. 4:4).

What is important is that we overcome the sin which so easily entangles us (cf. Heb. 12:1), and from our private sin.  We don't want any certain sin to dominate us (cf. Psa. 119:133):  "...let no sin rule over me."  We are overcomers when we have our own sins under control, and not what others define as sin; for some things may be sin for one person and not another--"whatever is not of faith is sin" (cf. Rom. 14:23).

Weaker brothers who object should grow in knowledge, while stronger believers ought to grow in love.  At any rate, both ought to respect the faith of the other in dubious or questionable areas.  In fact, the faith you have, you are to keep to yourself between you and God as much as possible; this means don't parade your freedom or flaunt it before others!  In sum, the legalistic believer is living in paralysis, a parody of the real thing--not realizing his real freedom in Christ.      Soli Deo Gloria!

The Art Of Bible Study Approach And Technique

"[A]nd there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word" (1 Sam. 3:21, NIV).
"[T]ill what he foretold came to pass, till the word of the LORD proved him true [tested him]" (Psa. 105:19, NIV).  
"For I have not shunned to declare unto you the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27, NKJV).
"Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law" (Psa. 119:18, NKJV).
"It's not the parts of the Bible I don't understand that bother me, it's the parts I do understand." --Mark Twain

NB: It is one thing to know the Scriptures, and quite another to know the Author, as the Bible doesn't so much as describe God as to make Him known.  

We all need to address a problem with a plan of attack and studying the Bible is no easy one for the novice.  Basically, all the rules that apply to any literature also do apply to Scripture, only more so.  The Bible, for instance, is to be taken literally, at face value, but not everything is meant to be literal but as plays on words and figures of speech.  Poetry is usually figurative and not to be taken literally all the time, which is a common mistake; likewise, citing Proverbs as promises you can take to the bank or divine directives is mistaken--all genres must be treated accordingly.  One common error is to interpret the Bible according to our experience; the flip side is correct, though--interpret experience according to the light of the Scripture.  The Bible makes sense and common sense is a basic concept--if common sense makes sense, seek no other sense, or you'll have nonsense, it is said.

The Bible is a library with a coherent theme that forms a complete picture taken as a whole, and to see the big picture one must recognize the storyline, the revelation of Jesus everywhere, and main message, which even a child can comprehend.  Normally, we interpret it as it's written and let Scripture be its own interpreter or Supreme Court.  This means understanding poetry as poetry and narrative as narrative, history as history, etc; i.e., distinguishing genres.  Be careful not to read into the Bible what you already believe and are just looking for proof texts to validate yourself.  We must search for the intended meaning to the recipients and what the author meant, not what it means to us when we see some far-fetched idea from some isolated passage.  Don't look for far-out truths, but try to see the obvious ones first.  Caveat for mysticism:  Note that "no prophecy is of any private interpretation" (cf. 2 Pet. 1:20), and God isn't going to show you unique, or personal truths that no one else knows as some special revelation--He reveals truth to the body of Christ and the church in particular to confirm it.  "For it is no empty word for you, but your very life..." (cf. Deut. 32:47, ESV).

The Bible is meant to change our lives, not increase our knowledge and it will keep us from sin, or sin will keep us from it.  We must apply ourselves to the study of the Word, and be in the right spirit, frame of mind, having an open, willing, and obedient attitude. We need to be like Ezra, who "prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD," (cf. Ezra 7:10).  God's Word will test you and it's what sanctifies us as Jesus called it truth (cf. Psalm 105:19; John 17:17).  Don't think it needs to be rewritten, it just needs to be reread, for you don't read it once and put it on the shelf. Even Lincoln said he was profitably engaged in reading the Bible!  We need to be like Paul said, "The Word is very near you...."  Paul urged Timothy to give himself wholly to the Scriptures (cf. 1 Tim. 4:15).

Remember, when reading, that the entirety of God's Word is truth (cf. Psalm 119:160), and this means the sum of it, and you cannot divorce or isolate Scripture to suit your private interpretations.  What would the reader have understood? That means don't try to apply ex-post facto standards or laws to Bible times, but interpret according to the time written and don't fit it into politically correct norms.  The whole purpose of reading is to see the world through the spectacle of God's Word and get a Christian worldview, experiencing the mind of Christ and thus be sanctified by the Truth.  It is said the Bible is our beacon, our celestial fix, our heavenly GPS, and our guidance system for life; however, it's much more than a rule book or set of instructions or code to live by--we experience God in the Word and find that He speaks through it.

One key to reading, as with all reading, is to do it with purpose and have the right attitude:  a needy heart, a willing spirit, and an open mind.  God will show us "Aha!" moments in the Word if we do this. We learn to experience the living God in the living Word!  No need to get Bible fatigue, or boredom from overuse of familiar versions, try new ones!  When we learn to see Jesus in the Word, we can rightly divide the Word of Truth (cf. 2 Tim. 2:15), as exhorted; the whole of Scripture is about Him in some fashion.

The most common mistake is to take texts out of context and get a pretext, even when using it as a proof text. As is the case with all reading, common sense, grammar, logic, diction, syntax, and the rules of inference and allusion or quotation apply.  Don't read into the text (eisegesis) with preconceived notions and opinions just looking for verifications!  You must be willing to go where the Truth leads and be willing to admit you could be wrong!  There is no such thing as total or perfect objectivity but this is no excuse not to have sound study technique and habits.

In studying it, be sure to interpret narratives or history in light of didactic or teaching passages, implicit in light of explicit, obscure and unclear in light of the clear, and also don't forget that we interpret the New Testament in light of the Old Testament and vice versa--never dividing what God has progressively revealed and joined (cf. Mark 10:9). A caveat for Gnosticism or mysticism:  Don't individualize it or think it applies especially to you and no others or there is some secret message or knowledge to be had.  It is easy to take a mere academic approach or to over-spiritualize, allegorize (see it merely as a tall tale and only a practical lesson to be learned), or be guilty of subjectivism (inserting personal opinion and feelings).

For example, seeing the story of Job as merely a grin and bear it, or David and Goliath as standing up to your foes; or the feeding of the multitude as being prepared.  Even though some passages are allegorical, such as Sarah and Isaac and Ishmael, but we must see the deeper meaning of what is intended, that which only the Holy Spirit can illuminate.  Thus, there is grave danger in negligence of the author's intent and concentrating on your immediate impression.  In other words, we don't read it like we would Aesop's Fables for the moral of the story, that we could learn from any fictional source.  We can expect "the day to dawn and the morning star to arise in [our] hearts" (cf. 2 Pet. 1:19).

There's more than one way to skin a cat:  Do word studies traced through the Word; look for the big picture and see the main message gradually revealed from book to book; take on a subject and see the entire Word develop the doctrine, known as topical study; trace the development of a doctrine; study one book at a time or certain genres of books; study by genre, such as poetry, proverb, history, prophecy, law, and gospel; do an exegesis of one text and analyze it critically, in context, to decipher its message in detail, or do expository studies to reveal and expose truths needed to be discovered,  broadcast, or disseminated.

In sum, we take Scripture at face value (the Bible does engage in symbolism and Jesus didn't always beat around the bush though) and take it according to the whole analogy of the Word and we cannot fabricate our own truths; we have a right to our own opinions and applications, but not our own truths. 

CAVEAT:  We need to steer clear of being mystical and interpreting passages with private meanings that others don't see; i.e., wondering what it means to us, not what the writer intended and what the recipient understood--the Bible isn't a fairy tale or bedtime story.    Soli Deo Gloria!

When No Man Can Work

"But I said, 'I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing at all.  Yet what is due me is in the LORD's hand, and my reward is with my God'" (Isa. 49:4, NIV).  "The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me..." (Psalm 138:8, ESV).  "I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave me to do" (John 17:4, ESV).

The night will come when labor ceases and no man can work (cf. John 9:4), and evaluation or judgment takes place, the reward according to our deeds.  Some people of great faith made good on it and produced labors worthy of their God-given faith, which was God's gift to them, not their gift to God, just like our righteousness is by grace.  We are all here for a purpose to fulfill and if the bugle doesn't give a distinct call, no one will be ready for battle (cf. 1 Cor. 14:8). The psalmist said that the LORD will fulfill His purpose for him (cf. Pss. 138:8; 57:2).  We are all here for a reason and we must find our calling to be fulfilled persons in the will of God.

The only happy people, according to Albert Schweitzer, are those who've learned to serve.  It is in serving that we find our mission; only those who've never ventured out of their comfort zones and tried to serve don't know of any spiritual gift or grace from God.  We must even serve if we don't think it's our gift and make ourselves available, for availability is the greatest ability.  God does indeed call us to faithfulness in what He does bestow and not to success, which is up to Him to make the seed grow and provide life.

Paul was aware that he must suffer many things for the sake of the cross.  The more God blesses us, the more is expected from us, for to whom much is given, much is required (cf. Luke 12:48).  Paul said, "The most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me" (Acts 20:24, NCV).  It may seem that our work is in vain, but Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:58 that no work done in the name of the Lord is in vain.

Sometimes we don't comprehend the purpose of our efforts or the seeming fruitlessness, and it all seems in vain, as Isaiah said in Isa. 49:4 that his work seemed "useless."  This is merely a test of faith to see what our true motives and intentions are, just as God withdrew from Hezekiah to see what was on his heart (cf. 2 Chron. 32:21).  It has been proven that a person can endure nearly any trial if he sees purpose in it; Job was put on trial for no fault of his own and shows us the ultimate in patience in testing and the lesson that God is always just in the end and will reward us for the year the locust has eaten (cf. Joel 2:25) or make it up to us for the bad years with good ones (cf. Psalm 90:15.  We are never in a no-win situation with God and it always pays to trust in the Lord and lean not unto our own understanding (cf. Prov. 3:5).

The most rewarding epitaph we can have is "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!"  To know that the Lord will be pleased with our labors and that we will be deemed good and faithful servants of what He entrusted us with is an intrinsic reward in itself.  True holiness, according to Mother Teresa of Calcutta, is doing the will of God with a smile!  We are formed to serve God and can only find fulfillment in doing that; a "non-serving Christian is a contradiction in terms," according to Rick Warren.  When we leave to our reward let us be like Jesus, who said, "I have finished the work You have given me to do" (cf. John 17:4).

We were created to be servants and will only find fulfillment in finding service!  Even Jesus came not to be served, but to serve (cf. Mark 10:45).  We don't serve to be noticed or to make a name for ourselves, but to bring glory to God and to do it in His name!   Many people are willing to serve, but for the wrong motive--we must be pure before God and do it by the power of the Spirit, as Zechariah 4:6 says, "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit."

We must be willing to keep a low profile and not draw attention to ourselves when the real glory belongs to God.  Some people are merely people-pleasers or work with eye service to gain the approbation of man, like to curry favoritism, but we must focus on the eternal goal and serve in light of eternity, where we will be rewarded--for some, their reward and portion is in this life (cf. Psa. 17:14).   See yourself as a special agent of God on special assignment or in the secret service!  Remember we are created unto good works and are expected to fulfill the mission assigned us faithfully, which was even foreordained for us and planned out by God (cf. Eph. 2:10).

The right mental attitude is one of excellence and of doing our best for the Lord, for there is a curse on one who does the Lord's work with slackness (cf. Jer. 48:10).   We ought to have the frame of mind to do our utmost for His Highest.  It's all right to have godly ambition, but "selfish ambition" is forbidden and worldly, not spiritual (cf. Jer. 45:5; Phil. 2:3).  In other words, do not "seek great things" for yourself, but look out for the Lord's interests and expect big things from Him as you attempt big things [plans or projects] for Him, as William Carey said.   Soli Deo Gloria!