Do sinful and bad health habits cloud the mind and interfere with ones ability to make good decisions and understand spiritual things? Theoretically the answer is yes, however, real life often demonstrates that spiritual perceptions and cognitive ability are seemingly unaffected. So how does this work?
I will posit that this question is directly linked to the foundational problem of conscious disobedience to God and/or His revealed will.
In many instances this type of disobedience is more harmful than the associated bad habit a person may be active in or addicted to. To him who know's to do right and does not do it—this is sin (James 4:17). Check out this comparison. While alcohol directly alters ones ability to make good decisions, a person who is active in or addicted to pornography and knows better is altering their mind with disobedience one image and one engagement at a time. While this alteration is not perceptible immediately over time the mind will become noticeably retarded—disobedience of any kind, as minor as it may be, is a most perilous course.
The problem with disobedience is rooted in the question, who is king of your life?
Disobedience to God says, "self is king". Obedience to God says, "He is King"! Someone once said, "he who is self taught has a fool for a teacher", thus it could also be said, "he who serves self as king has a tyrant for a ruler". When we follow self, we respond to the depraved inclinations of the soul and are a slave to our passions and desires which lead only to emptiness.
A.W. Tozer in his book "The Pursuit of God, chapter 2 - The Blessedness of Possessing Nothing, shows us the struggle of the human heart and that the only way to a deeply unrestricted walk with God is—total surrender!
"The way to deeper knowledge of God is through the lonely valleys of soul-poverty and abnegation of all things....Let me exhort you to take this seriously. It is not to be understood as mere Bible teaching to be stored away in the mind along with an inert mass of other doctrines. It is a marker on the road to greener pastures, a path chiseled against the steep sides of the mount of God. We dare not try to bypass it if we would follow on in this holy pursuit. We must ascend a step at a time. If we refuse one step we bring our progress to an end.
As is frequently true, this New Testament principle of spiritual life finds its best illustration in the Old Testament. In the story of Abraham and Isaac we have a dramatic picture of the surrendered life as well as an excellent commentary on the first Beatitude.
God let the suffering old man go through with it up to the point where He knew there would be no retreat, and then forbade him to lay a hand upon the boy. To the wondering patriarch He now says in effect, “It’s all right, Abraham. I never intended that you should actually slay the lad. I only wanted to remove him from the temple of your heart that I might reign unchallenged there. I wanted to correct the perversion that existed in your love. Now you may have the boy, sound and well. Take him and go back to your tent. Now I know that thou fearest God, seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me.”
One of the foremost components of fearing God and total surrender is obedience.
In a sermon that David Asscherick preached titled, "Why Not Tomorrow?" He amply demonstrates that the person we are tomorrow maybe in capable of make right and good decisions (if faced with the same decisions again) because we will no longer be the same person. This is logically true because the decisions we make today create the person we will be tomorrow and it is foolish and risky to believe that if we wait a day, week, month, or even longer that this new person will have the moral integrity and fortitude to make better decisions at this later time.
This should help us to see how significant obedience to God is, even little things should not be neglected. Essentially true obedience is surrender! Are we preparing now through obedience and surrender to face the ultimate test like Abraham? Or is our mind being imperceptibly altered to the point of no return—to the point where we couldn't be obedient to God even if we wanted to?
This is only a short synopsis of what could be shared on this topic. Many verses could be cited like Proverbs 2:10-22, but I challenge you to wrestle with these thoughts and see if they are true Biblically and experientially.
=D
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Why so much blood?
(1:24pm) - The context and question of this post refers to all the killing recorded in the Old Testament. Why did God kill so many nations if He is a God of love and restoration.
I was asked this question in church yesterday. It's a good question. Much thinking and writing has been done regarding this question because it challenges us to the very core. It's implications are vast, thus finding good answers becomes necessary. I would like to share an insight that I believe God revealed to me. It's a simple thought and while I believe it is a good one, perhaps even profound, I don't believe for a moment that it's complete by it's self, but I do believe it is a foundational corner stone in this discussion.
When asking questions about death it's always important to remember that sin/the sin problem is the larger context. The reason we live in a death saturated world is because Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and sin. How is God dealing with the sin problem and how will He terminate it forever?
Once again keeping it simple, we know that God sent His Son to die for our sins, "because the wages of sin death" (Romans 6:23), and that one day God will destroy sin forever with fire (Revelation 20:7-10, 14; Malachi 4:1 - many more verses could be cited showing that God will one day eradicate sin from the world and the manner in which He will carry this out).
Keep these preliminary thoughts in mind while we look at Genesis 6:11-14. Why did God choose to destroy the world? Why will God choose to destroy the earth a second time? The answer is the same. This is how God wipes out sin.
The world had become so corrupt and sinful during the time of Noah that the best way for God to clean things up was total destruction (with the exception of Noah's family and the animals that God protected in the ark with Noah). The first time God destroyed the world He used water, the next time He will use fire.
In fact God made a covenant in Genesis 9 (see verses 13-15), with Noah, every living creature, and the earth that He would never again destroy the world with a flood.
The rainbow gives us assurance that between now and the end of the world (when it will be destroyed with fire), there will never again be a world-wide flood that will destroy the world by water. Does that mean between the flood and the fire God has no right to deal with wickedness and sin? If God has the right to step in and deal with sin when the world or certain nations become overly wicked how would He do this? What medium would He use? We know He can't use a world-wide flood anymore because He has made a covenant with us that He must and will keep.
I believe that the story of Jonah (see chapter 3) demonstrates one of the main ways in which God sought to deal with the sin problem in the Old Testament. Simply put God would destroy nations who were totally corrupt and a threat to surrounding nations. But as the story of Jonah notes, God would only overthrow nations (Jonah 3:4), after He did everything He could do to persuade them to turn from their wicked ways.
Had Nineveh chosen not to repent they would have been destroyed. In the Old Testament most of the blood shed by God can be attributed to God judging and sentencing a nation only after they had past a certain point (see Deuteronomy 9:4; note: God would also sentence His own people if they rebelled against Him, Deuteronomy 28:15-68; these are only two references many more could be cited). It would be non-sensical for the Bible to record every single detail of every single story in order to explain to us God's fairness and justice. We must always interpret every story in context of the entire Bible and sometimes there will be stories, events, and ideas difficult to understand, but we can be assured that God is doing everything and anything to save everyone (2 Peter 3:9). Thus, when God is responsible for the death of people or nations it is only after He has given them every chance to repent. Those who choose not to repent choose to die. I know this sounds harsh, but it's true. Sodom & Gomorah is another fitting example.
Isaiah 28:21-22 explains that whenever God rises up or stands up to judge and destroy it is a strange, unusual, and alien task. This is not normal. God's desire is to redeem humanity not destroy them (Matthew 23:37-39). The God of the New Testament is the same God of the Old Testament. When the time comes for God to destroy the world with fire there will be more blood shed and loss of life than was ever recorded in the Old Testament, but this does not make God happy. Judgement coupled with eventual and total destruction of those who refuse to let go of sin and cling to God will be a STRANGE ACT for God.
I look forward to comments, questions, and feedback. This is a starting point for my recent thoughts and I will update this post as I learn and realize more.
=D
I was asked this question in church yesterday. It's a good question. Much thinking and writing has been done regarding this question because it challenges us to the very core. It's implications are vast, thus finding good answers becomes necessary. I would like to share an insight that I believe God revealed to me. It's a simple thought and while I believe it is a good one, perhaps even profound, I don't believe for a moment that it's complete by it's self, but I do believe it is a foundational corner stone in this discussion.
When asking questions about death it's always important to remember that sin/the sin problem is the larger context. The reason we live in a death saturated world is because Adam and Eve decided to disobey God and sin. How is God dealing with the sin problem and how will He terminate it forever?
Once again keeping it simple, we know that God sent His Son to die for our sins, "because the wages of sin death" (Romans 6:23), and that one day God will destroy sin forever with fire (Revelation 20:7-10, 14; Malachi 4:1 - many more verses could be cited showing that God will one day eradicate sin from the world and the manner in which He will carry this out).
Keep these preliminary thoughts in mind while we look at Genesis 6:11-14. Why did God choose to destroy the world? Why will God choose to destroy the earth a second time? The answer is the same. This is how God wipes out sin.
The world had become so corrupt and sinful during the time of Noah that the best way for God to clean things up was total destruction (with the exception of Noah's family and the animals that God protected in the ark with Noah). The first time God destroyed the world He used water, the next time He will use fire.
In fact God made a covenant in Genesis 9 (see verses 13-15), with Noah, every living creature, and the earth that He would never again destroy the world with a flood.
The rainbow gives us assurance that between now and the end of the world (when it will be destroyed with fire), there will never again be a world-wide flood that will destroy the world by water. Does that mean between the flood and the fire God has no right to deal with wickedness and sin? If God has the right to step in and deal with sin when the world or certain nations become overly wicked how would He do this? What medium would He use? We know He can't use a world-wide flood anymore because He has made a covenant with us that He must and will keep.
I believe that the story of Jonah (see chapter 3) demonstrates one of the main ways in which God sought to deal with the sin problem in the Old Testament. Simply put God would destroy nations who were totally corrupt and a threat to surrounding nations. But as the story of Jonah notes, God would only overthrow nations (Jonah 3:4), after He did everything He could do to persuade them to turn from their wicked ways.
Had Nineveh chosen not to repent they would have been destroyed. In the Old Testament most of the blood shed by God can be attributed to God judging and sentencing a nation only after they had past a certain point (see Deuteronomy 9:4; note: God would also sentence His own people if they rebelled against Him, Deuteronomy 28:15-68; these are only two references many more could be cited). It would be non-sensical for the Bible to record every single detail of every single story in order to explain to us God's fairness and justice. We must always interpret every story in context of the entire Bible and sometimes there will be stories, events, and ideas difficult to understand, but we can be assured that God is doing everything and anything to save everyone (2 Peter 3:9). Thus, when God is responsible for the death of people or nations it is only after He has given them every chance to repent. Those who choose not to repent choose to die. I know this sounds harsh, but it's true. Sodom & Gomorah is another fitting example.
Isaiah 28:21-22 explains that whenever God rises up or stands up to judge and destroy it is a strange, unusual, and alien task. This is not normal. God's desire is to redeem humanity not destroy them (Matthew 23:37-39). The God of the New Testament is the same God of the Old Testament. When the time comes for God to destroy the world with fire there will be more blood shed and loss of life than was ever recorded in the Old Testament, but this does not make God happy. Judgement coupled with eventual and total destruction of those who refuse to let go of sin and cling to God will be a STRANGE ACT for God.
I look forward to comments, questions, and feedback. This is a starting point for my recent thoughts and I will update this post as I learn and realize more.
=D
Monday, December 7, 2009
Why is Europe so secular?
(9:46 AM PST) - This morning while working out at the gym I was listening to chapter 12 of The Great Controversy by Ellen G. White. This chapter was recounting part of the Reformation history that sweep Europe. The Reformation impacted every country and everyone even little countries like Sweden were specifically mentioned. This got me thinking. As I continued listening I couldn't help but wonder, why is Europe so secular today?
I think it is safe to say that Europe is the mother of modern day western Christianity. Whether this is positive or negative, good or bad those who espouse Christianity today must necessarily trace their faith heritage through the world of European Christian culture (this is not to say that it started or stops there).
So why is Europe so secular today? Why have they lost their religious Christian faith heritage? Is it because Christianity doesn't work? Is it because they have found something better? What factors played a role in the dismantling of Christianity in Europe?
What can we or should we learn from this historical record? Has modern day Christianity been attacked and weakened by similar factors that caused Christianity to crumble in Europe? What were the obvious factors? Were some factors more philosophical and subtle than others?
I recently attended a lecture at Regent College in Vancouver, BC on the Campus of the University of British Columbia dealing with Secularism & Postmodernism. The presentation by Prof. John Stackhouse was very provocative and overall very good. At the beginning of his presentation he carefully defined secularism and it's various derivatives as follows:
- Secular: something common “of the world”
- Secularization: a process of something sacred becoming profane (or ordinary)
- Secularity: a condition (no concern or care for religious things---this condition does not have to infer negativity
towards Christians)
- Secularism: an ideology (this term by definition includes a negativity towards Christianity)
In partial response to my own question, why is Europe so secular? I wonder if it "secularization" played a role. It had to of in some capacity or another, but maybe it played a significant role in a more subtle way.
And maybe as followers of Christ today we are faced with this same subtle attack of secularization. I don't know I'm just thinking out loud...and the thinking continues.
(10:45 PM - PST)
I think it is safe to say that Europe is the mother of modern day western Christianity. Whether this is positive or negative, good or bad those who espouse Christianity today must necessarily trace their faith heritage through the world of European Christian culture (this is not to say that it started or stops there).
So why is Europe so secular today? Why have they lost their religious Christian faith heritage? Is it because Christianity doesn't work? Is it because they have found something better? What factors played a role in the dismantling of Christianity in Europe?
What can we or should we learn from this historical record? Has modern day Christianity been attacked and weakened by similar factors that caused Christianity to crumble in Europe? What were the obvious factors? Were some factors more philosophical and subtle than others?
I recently attended a lecture at Regent College in Vancouver, BC on the Campus of the University of British Columbia dealing with Secularism & Postmodernism. The presentation by Prof. John Stackhouse was very provocative and overall very good. At the beginning of his presentation he carefully defined secularism and it's various derivatives as follows:
- Secular: something common “of the world”
- Secularization: a process of something sacred becoming profane (or ordinary)
- Secularity: a condition (no concern or care for religious things---this condition does not have to infer negativity
towards Christians)
- Secularism: an ideology (this term by definition includes a negativity towards Christianity)
In partial response to my own question, why is Europe so secular? I wonder if it "secularization" played a role. It had to of in some capacity or another, but maybe it played a significant role in a more subtle way.
And maybe as followers of Christ today we are faced with this same subtle attack of secularization. I don't know I'm just thinking out loud...and the thinking continues.
(10:45 PM - PST)
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Rescue...
(9:14 PM PST) - Last night I dreamt that I was visiting (maybe living in) a coastal city. The details are becoming more foggy because I am some 18+ hours removed from the dream. I think it was a tropical region and the specific location in the city was a resort like area right on the beach. Once again I don't remember much regarding the entire context, but the scene involved a major storm that was ravaging the resort and everywhere up and down the coast. Hundreds of people were being swept out to sea.
It was a dramatic scene and very terrifying. In the dream I felt compelled to do something. I couldn't just stand there and watch people die. I had to try and help. Now the truth is in real life it would have been 100% IMPOSSIBLE for me to help without professional equipment. Because the waves crashing the shoreline were way to powerful and the wind was exhaustively destructive, but in the dream it was a different story and I was able to rescue a number of people.
The reason I share this dream is because it was a very moving scene and when I woke up the only thing I could think about is our responsibility as followers of Jesus to rescue people from the destructiveness of sin. Ultimately we cannot rescue or save anyone. Jesus is our only Saviour, but we can help people accept salvation—we can facilitate in that process.
It would be a tragedy for anyone of us to stand idly by and watch people suffer and die without a hope, without THE hope of Jesus! I remember in the dream thinking two things: 1) I had to try, and 2) I did not know who I could help—I remember attempting a rescue but was unsuccessful, yet other attempts were successful, because in the attempt to rescue one person who missed my reach I was able save another.
In the salvation of humanity we must do our part, we must try. We don't know what will work when or with who? But we do know our efforts will not be unsuccessful. Ecclesiastes 11:1 tells us to cast our bread upon many waters and after many days you will find it. This is imagery teaches us that we must do our best to share the love of Jesus with as many people as we can. Because when we share Jesus the living water and the bread of life far and wide we will find it again after many days. Our efforts will yield a rich harvest. We don't know what will produce a harvest or where, so we must cast the bread of life everywhere and to everyone.
Let's be active in sharing the love of Jesus, let's be active in getting to know Jesus and then we will have something to share with everyone we meet.
(10:15 PM PST - the next day)
It was a dramatic scene and very terrifying. In the dream I felt compelled to do something. I couldn't just stand there and watch people die. I had to try and help. Now the truth is in real life it would have been 100% IMPOSSIBLE for me to help without professional equipment. Because the waves crashing the shoreline were way to powerful and the wind was exhaustively destructive, but in the dream it was a different story and I was able to rescue a number of people.
The reason I share this dream is because it was a very moving scene and when I woke up the only thing I could think about is our responsibility as followers of Jesus to rescue people from the destructiveness of sin. Ultimately we cannot rescue or save anyone. Jesus is our only Saviour, but we can help people accept salvation—we can facilitate in that process.
It would be a tragedy for anyone of us to stand idly by and watch people suffer and die without a hope, without THE hope of Jesus! I remember in the dream thinking two things: 1) I had to try, and 2) I did not know who I could help—I remember attempting a rescue but was unsuccessful, yet other attempts were successful, because in the attempt to rescue one person who missed my reach I was able save another.
In the salvation of humanity we must do our part, we must try. We don't know what will work when or with who? But we do know our efforts will not be unsuccessful. Ecclesiastes 11:1 tells us to cast our bread upon many waters and after many days you will find it. This is imagery teaches us that we must do our best to share the love of Jesus with as many people as we can. Because when we share Jesus the living water and the bread of life far and wide we will find it again after many days. Our efforts will yield a rich harvest. We don't know what will produce a harvest or where, so we must cast the bread of life everywhere and to everyone.
Let's be active in sharing the love of Jesus, let's be active in getting to know Jesus and then we will have something to share with everyone we meet.
(10:15 PM PST - the next day)
Monday, July 27, 2009
Security...the greatest need!
(6:40 AM PST) - This morning I read a beautiful devotional thought by Dr. Charles Stanley (I am just getting to know Dr. Stanley through his writings. I have been blessed by much of what he says but I do not agree with everything he teaches).
In his devotional email titled, In Touch Dr. Stanley talked about insecurity. He said, “Many people, including believers...have become so crippled with insecurity that they've surrendered practically every ounce of usefulness in the kingdom of God. This is one of the deadliest dangers in the Christian life, and it can creep into our hearts and minds without our knowing--until it's too late.”
I could not agree with him more. I have seen insecurities’ ravenous ways in others, I have experienced it within me, and I know that there is a better way. There must be victory in Jesus. Check out this Bible passage.
John 15:18-20 - "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.
This got me thinking about Jesus and the rejection and hate He was faced with. What gave Him confidence? What gave Him security? After all He experienced lots of rejection.
From this passage we can learn two things: 1) we should not base our confidence/security on what others think, but rather 2) what God thinks. The passage says that Jesus has chosen us, we must internalize this, it must become the foundation of who we are.
God loves and accepts us just as we are!
Royce, we have heard this and understand this, it’s nothing new. Okay, your right. Up till now this was just a reminder. The new thought is this: Jesus had every reason in the world to be insecure, but He wasn’t, why?
Jesus suffered every temptation and struggle you and I have ever faced and more. In spite of severe rejection He had an unshakeable confidence because He knew God loved and accepted Him unconditionally and that God would never leave Him or forsake Him. Let’s learn from Jesus. Let’s remember that we are chosen and deeply loved by Jesus and God.
(7:49 AM PST)
Friday, July 17, 2009
Free Parking!
(1:35 PM PST) - Vancouver, BC is an amazing place to live and work. I moved here 1 year, 2 months, and 10 days ago and I instantly became attached to the city’s---almost endless beauty, abundant conveniences, and vast diversity. To begin listing each of the incredible attributes of Vancouver would be overwhelming for me and pointless for you because this is not a travel or tourism website. However one of the downsides of downtown Vancouver is parking.
Free parking and Vancouver are not normally found in the same sentence or paragraph because almost everywhere downtown you find parking meters patrolling every street and parking lot. It’s not uncommon to pay $1.50/half hour. Today I was headed downtown to study at the library, I was expecting to pay but was pleasantly surprised to find “free parking”.
Was it really free? I didn’t pay anything, but someone did and I benefitted, receiving almost 5 hours of free parking. I was ecstatic! The story goes like this someone was leaving when I was arriving and they rolled down their window and handed me their parking pass which was valid until 6PM.
All I can say is that Jesus is offering us eternal life free of charge. This gift cost Him lots, way more than you or I could ever afford, but it was free to us, we didn’t have to pay anything. Jesus paid it all! He ransomed us back from Satan for the cost of His life. There’s no such thing as a free lunch, free parking, or free salvation.
But there is such thing as a free gift. Jesus is offering it to you and me. Are you interested?
(1:57 PM PST)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Stocks Huge Revenues...
10:43 PM (PST) - My colleague Stevan asked me a question tonight before going to bed, something like, “how is the ‘latter rain’ going to be more/different than it was in Jesus’ life?” To further clarify the Holy Spirit (a divine being in the God head) was promised by Jesus to be a part of our life (John 14:15-21). The Bible teaches that followers of Jesus are to serve God will all their heart, body, and mind. We are to hold nothing back. We are to empty ourselves of self (I apologize this is all Christian-speak and this time I may leave some of you in the dark---if you want more information please email me). The more fully surrendered we are to God and emptied of self, the more we can be filled with the Holy Spirit.
So if Jesus was 100% filled with the Holy Spirit (and He was), then how can we be more filled? How can we receive more of the Holy Spirit during the “latter rain”? That’s the question Stevan was asking as I understand it.
Let me use to illustrations to explain my current musings. First, when it rain’s this can happen in two main ways: amount, and coverage. Let me explain, it can pour or sprinkle. That language explains the amount of rain (or density). Then it can also rain all over town, or a region, or it can rain in only one spot (i.e. a field, parking lot, or any distinct area). This would be coverage (or how wide spread the rain stretched or expanded).
We could also talk about the stock market. You can buy a stock for $10 in Nike and I can buy a stock for $10 in Apple iPhone. The we wait a year and sell our stocks. You sell yours for $50 and I sell mine for $1000. We both spent the same amount of money but we each got a different return.
I believe it is this sort of phenomenon that will make the “latter rain” different. Jesus was filled 100% with the Holy Spirit, we understand that on the day of Pentecost every believe who was in the house was totally filled with the Holy Spirt (Acts 2:1-4), and before Jesus comes again His people will be totally filled, but things will look different. We aren’t better, but we see a much greater manifestation than has ever been seen. The return will be higher (tell me if you get my pun).
11:17 PM (PST).
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