NowTHINK!AboutIt

Avoiding Hackneyed...Making Sense

God’s Place In Your Life

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Spiritual growth, people say, is evidenced when an individual puts God in their life but what does that mean, really?

According to Scripture, God is everywhere already (omnipresent). There is no door we can open through which He hasn’t been. There is no place He doesn’t inhabit by nature, constantly.

Therefore, God is already “in” every person’s life and the Bible leads us to understand He knows everything about each one (omniscient). Even your heart isn’t off limits to Him. He knows what’s on your mind and in your heart.

  • The Psalmist said God knows the secrets of the heart (Psalms 44:21)
  • David confessed that God knew his thoughts from afar (Psalm 139:2)
  • David also said God observed him in his mother’s womb (Psalm 139:15-16)
  • Solomon said “the eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good” (Prov. 15:3)
  • The writer of 2 Chronicles said “the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (16:9).

That last reference implies that God is sufficiently knowledgeable about each heart to determine which are blameless and which are not. That’s more than proximity, its personal. [Read more…] about God’s Place In Your Life

Observe The Handiwork Believe In The Hands

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On a recent flight from London to New York – 7 1/2 hours – I saw something that made me think of God’s relationship to the universe.

A lady sitting one row in front of me and one seat to the right was knitting.  I could see her hands through the space between the seats and to keep my mind off flying I watched the needles and tried to figure out exactly what she was doing.

No luck.  She went so fast and the patterns changed so frequently I could never quite get the movements right.

But, the outcome was amazing.  At the end of the flight – she knitted for seven hours straight – the finished product was beautiful yet complex. I couldn’t understand the finished product either – it would take a lot of time and investigation to figure it out – but I couldn’t deny the intelligence and precision that went into producing it.

I never really understood what she was doing with her hands and a brief look at the knitted results couldn’t help me understand how the strands were woven together but it really made me think. [Read more…] about Observe The Handiwork Believe In The Hands

Evangelism – Nation to Nation

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Answering An Atheist

Original arguments are found in the post “Top Ten Worst Bible Stories”
On the web site “Not A Potted Plant” (NAPP)
Author – Transplanted Lawyer (TL)

This post is number four in a continuing discussion on the conflict between Israel and Moab/Midian as recorded in the Book of Numbers, chapters 22-25 and 31. The original observations – complaints – regarding this event are made by TL which can be read here (number one on his list of ten). My first response is here and his first counter is here.

Because TL is widely read and has an exceptionally quick mind I consider it a privilege to have him as a sparring partner. No doubt his abilities will suit him well for the bench should his aspirations in that regard be realized. His quick thinking has made me sharpen my game.

The discussion with him is incisive without insult and firm but in a respectful way. I know you will enjoy the read also.

Suffice it to say that the event under discussion seems particularly gruesome. It was war and war is never nice even under the best of circumstances. As TL and countless others have pointed out, a certain number of deaths are expected but in the case of Midian it seems a bit extreme. The entire community was destroyed, even young boys, with the exception of virgin girls. I can’t imagine anyone not being disturbed by it.

Obviously, because God was involved in this situation – He ordered the counter attack in the first place – it is easy to assume that everything Moses ordered was exactly God’s plan. I don’t presume to understand everything God does but I do believe there are reasons He should not be implicated every time difficulties arise. He is a third party, sometimes silently so, and we must at least try to see where the fault lines lay before assuming His guilt. Previously I have suggested that Moses acted in the extreme and went beyond God’s original intent.

My primary arguments are:

  • Israel was not the aggressor.
  • The intentions of Moab/Midian were clearly violent but their strategy was cleverly deceptive. They tried to divine a curse on Israel and when that failed they used wile, enticing them with their sexually oriented religion, to demoralize them. The second plan worked but not sufficiently enough to destroy Israel’s or God’s resolve.
  • God ordered the attack on Midian but did not specify the extent to which it should be executed.
  • The women who were destroyed were frontline soldiers or spies, not collateral damage or the subjects of a genocidal frenzy. Without them the ruse would not have been effective. His order to execute them, therefore, is not completely without justification.
  • I have argued that the order to destroy every male came from Moses not God. This is the real issue.

Everyone is very quick to take the Midianite side and speak of their anguish but not fair minded enough to spread that love around, ascribing to Israel (and God) a venomous nature. The truth is, Israelites were just as human as any and “rising above” was sometimes out of reach for them as well. Israel had very good reason to be hurting from this event and it doesn’t take a degree in psychology to figure it out.

It was only because Midianites were distant relatives of Moses and because Israel’s first encounter with a Midianite (Jethro – Moses’ father-in-law) was positive that the ruse was as effective as it was.

It is not unreasonable to see this was personal for Moses and it isn’t strange that his response would be so vengeful.

As mentioned previously, his worst characteristic was his anger and it had gotten him into trouble on more than one occasion. He also had a tendency to take action impulsively and God pronounced a final judgment on Moses as recent as Numbers 20. He was to die before entering the promised land and Joshua would take his place.

Even as God gave the order to counter Midian aggression He reminded Moses that he would be removed from the scene following the battle. I’m sure that reminder laid heavily on his mind. It doesn’t justify his actions but it does explain it.

In his rebuttal TL makes additional suggestions which I would like to answer here: [Read more…] about Evangelism – Nation to Nation

What Is The Purpose of Bible Study?

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Bible study is one of the cardinal practices of today’s churches.  It happens at least once and often multiple times weekly in most Bible believing churches.  It is so heavily featured that most pastors aspire to be great teachers of the Bible and work hard at honing their teaching skills as if there are no other significant activities to ministry.  To be recognized as “knowledgeable” or “clever” is considered a great honor.  Unfortunately, style and originality don’t vary that much between churches.  If you’ve heard one you’ve heard most of the others as well.

And for the church member, attending these studies in addition to regular Sunday services is the gauge of their spiritual vibrancy.  When they miss too many they are treated condescendingly at arms length as if they have contracted a communicable disease.  Having this rule in place, of course, keeps people coming back even when the teaching is less than compelling.  In many cases it is far less. [Read more…] about What Is The Purpose of Bible Study?

Church: Building, Crowd or Team?

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“Church” as defined in the Bible is not a complex organization. The leadership are few (elders and deacons), its purposes are defined very broadly (preach the gospel, disciple believers, minister to the poor) and the executive processes are abbreviated (whatever you agree to on earth, God agrees to in heaven).

Under these general guidelines many different “versions” of church have developed none of which represent the New Testament pattern exactly. I wouldn’t accuse any particular “church” of being completely wrong but it might be fair to suggest that we have all missed the point to some degree.

If we are going to get “church” right we must consider carefully the words and actions of Jesus. He introduced the idea so He sets all the precedents. Understanding “church” from His perspective should be our primary objective. So, the question is, what did Jesus say and do? [Read more…] about Church: Building, Crowd or Team?