discernment – Page 25 – Growing 4 Life

Arsenic-Laced Conscience

2 Comments / April 25, 2013 April 25, 2013

Do you remember those old stories of arsenic poisoning? For some reason, we don’t hear much of that anymore. I guess people have found more updated ways to murder someone.

But sometimes in old books or movies, the story will contain a case of arsenic poisoning. The angry maid or the jilted wife would put just a little of this deadly poison in their victim’s food. The victim would start with headaches and drowsiness, perhaps some confusion and stomach upset. But as time went on and they continued to, unknowingly, ingest the arsenic, they would grow sicker and sicker and eventually they would die.

Perhaps feeding the world to our consciences is a little like feeding arsenic to our bodies.

The cry today is so much about rights and freedom. No one has the right to tell me anything. Don’t tell me what to do, what to watch, what to read, or what bands to listen to. And, truly, the Christian life isn’t about rules (sometimes I think it would be a lot easier if it was) No, instead, the daily Christian life is about living wisely. The Christian life is about our loving response to the God who reconciled us to Himself.

God does tell us to avoid certain things, to do certain things, even to think on certain things (Galatians 5:16-25; Colossians 3; Philippians 4:8) And in His Word we are counseled to surround ourselves with godly friends and not to walk with the ungodly (Psalm 1; Proverbs 12:26) He tells us this because He desires that we live righteous lives. He calls us to live separate from the world (James 1:27; I John 2:15-17) It’s not a popular message. We want to be in the world but I wonder if we realize that one of the serious side effects of dabbling with the world and its entertainments is that it is slowly killing our conscience?

Think about it with me for a second. When we see two people having illicit sex on a giant movie screen for the first time, it makes us squirm a bit in discomfort. But in another time or two, we have grown so used to it that we no longer give any consideration to the fact that what we are seeing on the screen is a terrible offense before a holy God.

Or, as another example, how about the first time we realize that the lyrics that we are singing along to are talking about doing cruel, horrible things to women or maybe they are about abusing drugs. They could be filled with bad language we wouldn’t dream of speaking and so we laughingly sing out “bleep” when the bad word is sung by the artist. If we ignore our conscience at that point and let the song play out to the end–because we tell ourselves it’s just a song and doesn’t matter–well, it’s like feeding arsenic to our conscience. The next time it comes on it won’t bother us as much. And when an even worse song comes on, we get to the point we aren’t even thinking about it anymore, because we have swallowed so much of the world that our conscience is no longer working properly.

And, suddenly, the people who say “Hey, wait a minute! Are you sure that pleases God?” seem like absolute prudes and like their goal in life is to steal all the fun. But are they really prudes? Or could it be that they remind us of the time when we were more sensitive to sin? Could it be that their concerns make us feel just a little bit guilty?

Or have we allowed our conscience to become so hardened that we have stopped realizing what is even sin anymore?

Arsenic was (and still is) a quiet and unsuspecting way for someone to commit murder. Feeding the world to our minds has always been and will always be the surest way to kill our conscience. A steady diet of worldly music, movies, and books will slowly render our conscience completely ineffective.

It’s not about rules, it’s about wise choices and keeping ourselves spiritually healthy!

The good news is that this is reversible! While we will always have to live with memories and worldly desires, we can reverse this damage to our consciences.

The treatment for arsenic poisoning involves washing out the stomach and the prompt administration of dimercaprol.

The treatment for our hardened consciences is washing our minds (confession) and the prompt administration of God’s Word. First, we need to turn to the Lord in repentance and sincerely ask Him to help us–to show us what is sin according to scripture, not according to what my church or my friends or my family say. And then we need to administer the only remedy that can help us: God’ s Word. We need to start feeding our minds God’s Word instead of the world.

How much world can you consume before becoming deadened? I have no idea. We are probably each a little different in that aspect. But, just as any arsenic is unhealthy for you, so it is the same with the things of this world. So many of us try to figure out just how much world we can consume without it being detrimental, which seems like the opposite of what we should be doing. Shouldn’t we be trying to avoid poisoning ourselves?

But, honestly, when I think of God’s holiness and hatred of sin and then I think of how this modern world has been inundated with all of the things that God hates through the vehicles of television, books, and music, I realize we probably all have arsenic-laced consciences to a degree. Even those of us who are making great efforts to be pure.

But God’s Word is the anecdote for all of us. If we fill ourselves with it, He will be faithful and keep us sensitive to sin. How I thank Him for His Word, the only remedy for an arsenic-laced conscience.

Wednesday Wisdom: Saved From What?

2 Comments / April 24, 2013 April 24, 2013

Wow. This is good. It seems like A.W. Pink should have written this yesterday, not many years ago. It shows me that what is going on now in Christianity has been going on for a very long time. This excerpt is from A.W. Pink’s Practical Christianity. I am not finished with it yet, but so far I have found it very interesting and thought-provoking. It makes me shudder to think of the many who believe they have obtained fire insurance from hell, but, unwilling to turn from their sins, will eventually learn the very sad truth that they were never saved in the first place. Here is why (in the words of A.W. Pink)–

Multitudes desire to be saved from hell (the natural instinct of self-preservation) who are quite unwilling to be saved from sin. Yes, there are tens of thousands who have been deluded into thinking that they have “accepted Christ as their Saviour,” whose lives show plainly that they reject Him as their Lord. For a sinner to obtain the pardon of God he must “forsake his way” (Isa. 55:7). No man can turn to God until he turns from idols (1 Thess. 1:9). Thus insisted the Lord Jesus, “Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:33). The terrible thing is that so many preachers today, under the pretence of magnifying the grace of God, have represented Christ as the Minister of sin; as One who has, through His atoning sacrifice, procured an indulgence for men to continue gratifying their fleshly and worldly lusts. Provided a man professes to believe in the virgin birth and vicarious death of Christ, and claims to be resting upon Him alone for salvation, he may pass for a real Christian almost anywhere today, even though his daily life may be no different from that of the moral worldling who makes no profession at all. The Devil is chloroforming thousands into hell by this very delusion. The Lord Jesus asks, “Why call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46); and insists, “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven” (Matt. 7:21). The hardest task before most of us is not to learn, but to unlearn. Many of God’s own children have drunk so deeply of the sweetened poison of Satan that it is by no means easy to get it out of their systems; and while it remains in them it stupefies their understanding. So much is this the case that the first time one of them reads an article like this it is apt to strike him as an open attack upon the sufficiency of Christ’s finished ‘work, as though we were here teaching that the atoning sacrifice of the Lamb needed to be plussed by something from the creature. Not so. Nothing but, the merits of Immanuel can ever give any sinner title to stand before the ineffably holy God. But what we are now contending for is, When does God impute to any sinner the righteousness of Christ? Certainly not while he is opposed to Him. Moreover, we do not honour the work of Christ until we correctly define what that work was designed to effect. The Lord of glory did not come here and die to procure the pardon of our sins, and take us to heaven while our hearts still remain cleaving to the earth. No, He came here to prepare a way to heaven (John 10:4; 14:4; Heb. 10:20-22; 1 Peter 2:21), to call men into that way, that by His precepts and promises, His example and spirit, He might form and fashion their souls to that glorious state, and make them willing to abandon all things for it. He lived and died so that His Spirit should come and quicken the dead sinners into newness of life, make them new creatures in Himself, and cause them to sojourn in this world as those who are not of it, as those whose hearts have already departed from it. Christ did not come here to render a change of heart, repentance, faith, personal holiness, loving God supremely and obeying Him unreservedly, as unnecessary, or salvation as possible without them. How passing strange that any suppose He did! “Many people think that when we preach salvation, we mean salvation from going to hell. We do mean that, but we mean a great deal more: we preach salvation from sin; we say that Christ is able to save a man; and we mean by that that He is able to save him from sin and to make him holy; to make him a new man. No person has any right to say ‘I am saved,’ while he continues in sin as he did before. How can you be saved from sin while you are living in it? A man that is drowning cannot say he is saved from the water while he is sinking in it; a man that is frostbitten cannot say, with any truth, that he is saved from the cold while he is stiffened in the wintry blast. No, man, Christ did not come to save thee in thy sins, but to save thee from thy sins, not to make the disease so that it should not kill thee, but to let it remain in itself mortal, and, nevertheless, to remove it from thee, and thee from it. Christ Jesus came then to heal us from the plague of sin, to touch us with His hand and say ‘I will, be thou clean’”(C. H. Spurgeon, on Matt. 9:12). They who do not yearn after holiness of heart and righteousness of life are only deceiving themselves when they suppose they desire to be saved by Christ. The plain fact is, all that is wanted by so many today is merely a soothing portion of their conscience, which will enable them to go on comfortably in a course of self-pleasing which will permit them to continue their worldly ways without the fear of eternal punishment. Human nature is the same the world over; that wretched instinct which causes multitudes to believe that paying a papist priest a few dollars procures forgiveness of all their past sins, and an “indulgence” for future ones, moves other multitudes to devour greedily the lie that, with an unbroken and impenitent heart, by a mere act of the will, they may “believe in Christ,” and thereby obtain not only God’s pardon for past sins but an “eternal security,” no matter what they do or do not do in the future.

Pink, A.W. (2010-07-26). Practical Christianity. Kindle Edition.

The Real Deal

Leave a Comment / April 8, 2013 April 8, 2013

We were sitting in Friendly’s waiting for our ice cream. Normally we don’t get dessert with dinner, but who can skip dessert at Friendly’s? As we waited, a waitress brought out some luscious-looking sundaes to a booth across the restaurant, one of them being a mint chip sundae with hot fudge. And suddenly, the air was filled with the aroma of mint chocolate! “Wow! Can I smell that from here?” said my husband in disbelief.

Unbeknownst to him, I had pulled out my mint chocolate hand sanitizer to remove the stickiness from my hands at just the same moment the waitress had brought out the yummy looking sundaes. We all started laughing because the timing was so impeccable. Of course, we couldn’t smell the ice cream from across the store. But my hand sanitizer gave us the illusion that we could.

Many churches are becoming a little like this. They smell like the church. They look like the church. But when you walk in the doors, they aren’t really functioning like a biblical church.

While church is a great place to feel loved and to fellowship and perhaps sometimes to even win the lost, there are some other really important functions that get totally ignored or are done rather as an afterthought.

The first and most important job of a church is to teach doctrine. Paul mentions this word in several of his letters. I Timothy 1:3 and Titus 2:1 are two of them. Doctrine has become a bit of a “bad” word in most churches. That is because people aren’t interested in learning biblical doctrine. The word makes many cringe. But doctrine simply means “something that is taught; teachings collectively” according to dictionary.com. Paul urges ministers to teach their flocks about what the Bible says. That is the most important priority.

I Timothy 4 shows us another important duty of a church: Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.

Church leaders have a responsibility to help their flocks discern. There are a lot of false teachings floating around out there. But because the world’s philosophy of “if you believe it, it’s true for you” has crept into the church, church leaders have become afraid of confrontations. And I can see why, as most times accusations start flying immediately and the leaders are branded narrow-minded and old-fashioned and stuck in tradition and too uptight. But Paul expressly commands ministers to teach discernment. Churches need to be willing to do this.

And, finally, one other important job of a church is to discipline. One of the passages that talks about this is I Timothy 5:20 where Paul urges elders to rebuke those who are sinning in the presence of all, that the rest may fear. Most churches ignore any passage on church discipline. And, honestly, I can understand why. In this day and age, you are considered judgmental and narrow-minded if you stand against any sin. But does this excuse the church from doing it?

These are three important jobs of a biblical church: teach doctrine, protect from false doctrine, and discipline wayward believers.

We have been sold the lie that churches only exist to save the lost but that isn’t biblical. While many have been drawn to a church service and been saved there, that is not its main purpose. We have been sold the lie that church is about experiencing love and community. While many of us have made wonderful friends and enjoy being part of a community, that is not its main purpose.

I have no idea what type of church you attend. And finding a good, solid, biblical church is getting harder every day. But there are still some good ones around. I hope you are in one of them.

Fill ‘Er Up

Leave a Comment / March 28, 2013 March 28, 2013

I heard a little ding. My eyes went to the dash. Great. I was on empty. Really empty. I had just left the house to pick up my daughter from basketball practice and remembered that this low fuel light had been on for quite awhile. I was probably not going to even make it to the school.

Does God care about that stuff? I am pretty sure He does, as I have had so many “inconsequential” prayers answered that it defies coincidence. But, at any rate, I pictured that precious gas station just a few blocks away from the school and put in my petition, “Lord, if there is any way I can just make it to that gas station…but, of course, if I don’t, it’s not the end of the world…”

This was the closest I had come to running out of gas in a long time. I don’t like to cut things that close. I grabbed on to the steering wheel and coaxed the car along, “you can make it!” Yes, I think…if I remember correctly…I was talking to my car. Good thing I was alone.

Imagine my delight when I pulled up by that gas pump. I sighed with relief. I had made it. I reached for my purse…

You have got to be kidding me.

It wasn’t there. In my hurry to leave, I had forgotten my purse and all forms of payment. All forms. “Okay, stop, breathe. You can figure this out. Check your emergency money fund.”

Normally, I keep at least a few dollars in emergency money. But, alas, (and of course!) it was empty. The time I need it most, the only thing available to me was a handful of change.

So now what?

I called my son, “can you bring me my purse?”

“Aw, mom. Go to the school and see if you can borrow ten bucks from someone. If you can’t, I’ll come rescue you.”

I had doubts I would even make it to the school, much less back to the gas station. But, what choice did I have? And, at least by this point, I had a back-up plan in place, thanks to my son. That made me feel a whole lot better.

And so I tentatively set off for the school. There I found a Good Samaritan in the form of one of my daughter’s friend’s Dad. He graciously lent me a twenty with a smile. I gathered my daughter and headed off for my third uncertain journey of the day.

As I pulled up beside that pump for the second time that day and filled the car with the precious liquid it needs to get me anywhere, I slumped in the driver’s seat, thanking the Lord.

This wasn’t do or die. I had a rescuer if I needed it. It was just one of those annoying things in life. And the worst thing about it: it was totally my fault. I had let it get too close to empty. I had left the house without my purse. My emergency fund was dry.

I was reminded of this incident a few weeks ago, when I heard one of my dear friends talk about remaining godly during illness. She has suffered greatly this past year with a strange illness that came by surprise and continues to hold a grip on her life. She gave a wonderful presentation, but one thing she said especially stuck with me.

Be prepared.

Before anything rocks your world to its core, make sure you are prepared.

How do we do that?

Know God (Philippians 3:10); Fill our minds with the right things (Philippians 4:8); Study His Word (2 Timothy 3:16); Memorize passages of Scripture (Psalm 119:11); Walk with Him daily (John 15:4). Grow as a believer (I Corinthians 3:2); Care for those in need and hate the world (James 1:27).

Sometimes I think we get so caught up in this busy and very warped world, that we forget what is really important…until it is too late.

But I see very threatening clouds on the horizon of this country. I don’t mean to sound like I am predicting doom, but I guess you would have to have your head buried in the sand to not realize that it is probably going to get a lot tougher for us Christians. Are you going to be ready? Will you be able to stand boldly for Christ? Will I?

What about just the normal stuff? Will we be ready for the inevitable trials and tragedies that come at one time or later to all of us?

Only time will tell. But I want to be ready! I don’t want to be stuck with an empty tank of gas beside a gas pump without any form of payment. Now that would be stupid.

Wednesday Wisdom: Is Belief Enough?

Leave a Comment / March 27, 2013 March 27, 2013

Sometimes I feel a little like a broken record. If there is a theme for this blog, it would be this: True Christianity is not simply a decision; it’s your life. Yes, it starts with belief, but scripture makes it clear: saving faith yields good fruit (Galatians 5:22-23), a love for truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10), love for others (I John 2:9), and hatred for the world and the things of the world (I John 2:15). Saving faith changes us.

I am reading a book right now called “Practical Christianity” by A.W. Pink. It is taking me a long time, because I find it so deep and–if I am honest–convicting. This is what A.W. Pink has to say in this book about belief:

Love of sin is the immediate cause of unbelief: “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19). “The light of the Gospel is brought unto a place or people: they come so near it as to discover its end or tendency; but as soon as they find that it aims to part them and their sins, they will have no more to do with it. They like not the terms of the Gospel, and so perish in and for their iniquities” (John Owen). If the Gospel were more clearly and faithfully preached, fewer would profess to believe it!

Saving faith, then, is the opposite of damning belief. Both issue from the heart that is alienated from God, which is in a state of rebellion against Him; saving faith from a heart which is reconciled to Him and so has ceased to fight against Him. Thus an essential element or ingredient in saving faith is a yielding to the authority of God, a submitting of myself to His rule. It is very much more than my understanding assenting and my will consenting to the fact that Christ is a Saviour for sinners, and that He stands ready to receive all who trust Him. To be received by Christ I must not only come to Him renouncing all my own righteousness (Romans 10:3), as an empty-handed beggar (Matt. 19:21), but I must also forsake my self-will and rebellion against Him (Ps. 12:11, 12; Prov. 28:13). Should an insurrectionist and seditionist come to an earthly king seeking his sovereign favour and pardon, then, obviously, the very law of his coming to him for forgiveness requires that he should come on his knees, laying aside his hostility. So it is with a sinner who really comes savingly to Christ for pardon; it is against the law of faith to do otherwise.

Saving faith is a genuine coming to Christ (Matt. 11:28;John 6:37, etc.). But let us take care that we do not miss the clear and inevitable implication of this term. If I say “I come to the U.S.A.” then I necessarily indicate that I left some other country to get here. Thus it is in “coming” to Christ; something has to be left. Coming to Christ not only involves the abandoning of every false object of confidence, it also includes and entails the forsaking of all other competitors for my heart. “For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls (1 Peter 2:25). And what is meant by “ye were [note the past tense—they are no longer doing so] as sheep going astray”? Isaiah 53:6, tells us: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to His own way.” Ah, that is what must be forsaken before we can truly “come” to Christ—that course of self-will must be abandoned. The prodigal son could not come to his Father while he remained in the far country. Dear reader, if you are still following a course of self-pleasing, you are only deceiving yourself if you think you have come to Christ.

Pink, A.W. (2010-07-26). Practical Christianity. Kindle Edition.

My journey with CQTS

1 Comment / March 25, 2013 March 31, 2017

It all started over a year ago. Maybe it even goes further back than that. When you find out you have a condition, it is hard to know when it really started.

I think it started when I purchased my iPhone and downloaded a dictionary.

Suddenly, my iPhone seemed a necessary study tool to have by me during quiet time.

And then my iPhone was joined by the very helpful iPad with all of its wonderful Bible Study tools. How amazing to have maps and commentaries and Bible dictionaries at my finger tips all for a few dollars.

And, so, I settled into a nice little pattern of having these tools beside me.

Until one day I realized: I had a classic case of CQTS:

Compromised Quiet Time Syndrome

While these two little gadgets did help me with Bible study, the disadvantages were many. You see, each time I would hear a little ding that I had a text, I would click it…immediately. If I saw a little notification number, I would feel the need to check it…immediately. Until one day, I realized that these helpful little gadgets had become very large hindrances in my walk with God.

Basically, I was telling God to hold because I had something more important to do.

I had spent at least the last five years telling my kids not to text while studying –it’s too distracting. I knew the danger of having a phone nearby. And, yet, here I was, doing what I had told my kids not to do. But instead of studying science or math, I was studying God’s Word. How pathetic was that??

And so I knew I had to find the cure for this condition. And guess what? The cure is quite simple, really–

Leave my iPhone and iPad on silent and far away from me during quiet time.

That’s it.

And so my healing from this syndrome continues. Some days, I forget to put my phone on silent and I can’t resist checking it. And some days, it is more difficult than others not to compulsively check what’s going on in the rest of the world and I fail. But I am definitely moving the right direction.

I know there are many who can’t relate AT ALL to this, but I am quite certain there are at least a few out there who CAN. I have seen the phones that barely leave the hand or the pocket, even in forty-somethings. We have become a culture that has put our texting and internet life before face-to-face relationships. I had become a person who had put those things even before God. I am quite ashamed to admit that.

But, thankfully, my God forgives me (over and over and over again) and I am healing. I am glad to say I am better today than I was a few months ago.

And I realize: iPhones and iPads can be wonderful tools–but they are tools, not gods. It’s time many of us stop idolizing our gadgets and start making our relationships with God and people our top priority.

Just how big is our God, anyway?

4 Comments / March 21, 2013 March 21, 2013

By now, most of us are aware of Rob Bell’s fall off the deep end of theology in the last six months or so. This was made clear this past week when he promoted gay marriage. No longer can he be called an evangelical. And, while I find his position on gay marriage alarming, it’s what he said about God and His Word that is most disturbing. Check out a few of these quotes —

“I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs — I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are.”*

“I think we are witnessing the death of a particular subculture that doesn’t work,” he asserted. “I think there is a very narrow, politically intertwined, culturally ghettoized, evangelical subculture that was told ‘we’re gonna change the thing’ and they haven’t. And they actually have turned away lots of people.”*

Do you see his focus here? It is people and what they want. It is not God.

But wait a minute.

Isn’t this the logical conclusion to where the church has been headed for a long time? Several decades ago, we started believing the lie that we need to be more like the world so that we could “relate better.” I mean how can we witness to those around us if we aren’t watching the same movies, going to the bars with them, or hanging out at poker night? And so worldliness entered the church under the guise of “witnessing”.

And then, in a matter of a few short years, this philosophy had entered the church.

And the cry was heard all ’round America! The church is dying! We have to save her! The only way is by making unbelievers more comfortable. Let’s make unbelievers want to come to church.

And so we changed everything.

We changed how long the service is, we changed the style of music, we changed the seats, and we changed the purpose.

And then, a few years after that, we still weren’t convinced that we were drawing enough people, and so we brought poker games, yoga classes, and secular entertainment into the church.

And we forgot.

We forgot that it is God who changes hearts and draws them to himself. It isn’t us.

John 6:44 makes this clear: No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.

So you, see, I am not that surprised at Rob Bell’s departure from adhering to God’s Word. After all, God’s Word is going to sound harsh, unloving, and ridiculous to rebellious sinners. They aren’t going to like it. If it is preached without apology, they are going to squirm uncomfortably. But his departure is just the natural progression of a church that has made attracting these rebellious sinners their top priority.

No, change isn’t all bad. There isn’t anything intrinsically wrong with new music or a shorter service. The error comes when these changes are what we think we have to do in order to draw a dying world.

Yes, we need to evangelize. It is one of our top priorities to share the gospel. But how dare we corrupt it by changing it, and skewing it, and tainting it with the world?

The world’s salvation isn’t dependent upon our methods.

God is bigger than our methods. He is bigger than our ideas and our plans.

We are to glorify Him and magnify Him and to share His plan of salvation. This can be –this has to be– done without contaminating ourselves with the ways of the world.

And so, Mr. Bell, I am not surprised with your departure from biblical doctrine. I expect many more will follow after you.

Philippians 1:9-11

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

*http://christiannews.net/2013/03/18/no-hell-bell-comes-out-in-support-of-homosexuality-tells-narrow-christians-to-repent/

Lindy’s Headaches

Leave a Comment / March 14, 2013 December 13, 2018

Lindy remembers the day of that first headache. The bright sun was shining through the bedroom curtains, gently waking her. Before she opened her eyes, she felt the pain. It coursed through her head like waves. What a beautiful day to have such a bad headache. She tried to get up to get some things done, but she was useless and by 11am she was lying on the sofa with an ice pack on her head.

Over the course of the next few weeks the headaches came several times each week. Each one a little worse and lasting a little longer than the last one.

Finally her husband, Tom, told her to go to the doctor.

Lindy dialed the number of her family physician, Dr. Slater. Dr. Slater was a female physician who took great personal interest in her patients. Over the course of the fifteen years that Lindy had been in her care, they had become friends.

Lindy secured an appointment for the following day and then went to lie back down with the ice pack that seemed to be her constant companion.

The next day, she arrived at Dr. Slater’s at her appointed time. The doctor welcomed her to the office and they had a few minutes of personal conversation. And then it was time to turn professional.

“So what can I help you with today, Lindy?”

“Well, I have been having these terrible debilitating headaches over the last few weeks. I don’t know what is causing them. They are different than any I have ever had.”

“How long is the last few weeks? Two? A month? Longer?” Dr. Slater was busily writing notes in Lindy’s chart.

“Probably around a month.”

“On a scale from one to ten, with one representing very mild pain and ten being the worst pain you have ever felt, how would you rate your pain?”

She continued to write as Lindy rated the pain and then offered a few sentences of further explanation.

She then asked Lindy about any recent changes to her diet or her routine.

After she had gotten all of the details she could, Dr. Slater put down her pen and rubbed her eyes. And then she began to speak.

“So from what you are describing, your headaches could be caused by a number of different things. They could be adult onset migraines. I have seen this before and it is possible. They could also be caused by a reaction to some kind of food you are eating. It could also be an allergic reaction to a certain type of pollen or dust in the air,” she sighed before continuing, “of course, there are a few other options. It could be a deadly brain tumor or you could be in danger of having a blood vessel burst–an aneurysm– at any time. It could also be the sign of an upcoming stroke.”

Lindy’s eyes had grown big with fear, “So what is the next step?”

“Well…which diagnosis do you prefer?”

Lindy didn’t think she heard correctly, “What?”

“Which of these do you prefer? Which one do you like the most?”

Lindy laughed nervously, uncertain at why Dr. Slater was using humor at such an inappropriate time, but she decided to play along with her, “Well, it would be nice if it would be an allergic reaction to food or pollen. That would seem to be the easiest thing to treat.”

“Okay. Then let’s go with that. So over the course of the next few days, why don’t you record what you eat and…”

“But what if it’s a brain tumor?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter. You just choose to believe that it’s an allergic reaction. What you believe to be true will be truth for you.”

“But what if it actually is a brain tumor?” Lindy asked again, puzzled by Dr. Slater’s reaction.

“Honey, it only matters what you believe to be true. Now let’s go with your diagnosis and get to the bottom of this.”

Needless to say, Lindy walked out of the doctor’s office with plans to see another doctor.

If doctors responded like this when we went to them we would say they are a terrible doctor. We want to know the truth about our physical bodies. And we know that the truth exists about our condition, no matter what we choose to believe.

So can someone please tell me–if we won’t accept this nonsense for our physical diagnosis, why do we accept it for our spiritual diagnosis and our eternal destiny?

Have you heard this as often as I have? –“Oh, you can believe what you want. That is Truth for you.” This is the philosophy of truth that has pervaded the society.

But is truth subjective and personal? By its very nature, it cannot be. It cannot be twisted and turned and personalized, for then it becomes a lie.

Just because someone believes something doesn’t make it true. What if Lindy’s bad headaches were caused by a stage 4 cancerous brain tumor but she had played along with Dr. Slater and said she genuinely believed the headaches were caused by an allergic reaction? Would that change the facts?

Of course not.

The world will try to tell us that God’s Word is not truth and that we can determine truth for ourselves–that we can choose whatever we want to believe and we will all end up in Heaven together.

Of course, we can see why it is so very appealing to believe this. Lindy would much rather have her headaches be caused by an allergic reaction than a deadly brain tumor. Of course, we would prefer to believe in a world where no one goes to hell or a faith that doesn’t require us to be separate from the world or to deny ourselves. But if we choose to believe that, does that make it TRUE?

Of course not.

But don’t take my word for it. All of nature cries out against this relative view of truth–

Two plus two is always four, even if we choose to believe it is five.

Brain scans show brain tumors, even if we choose to believe it will be clear.

Winter is cold in the North, even if we choose to believe it will be warm.

Lions eat gazelles, even if we choose to believe that they eat grass.

You see, we don’t get to choose what truth is. What we believe just doesn’t really matter.

So how do we know what is truth? How do we know if we are believing in the right thing and not in a lie?

The only thing I stand on is God’s Word. It alone contains Truth. It has stood the test of time through storms and fire. There we can find solid ground and refuge in a world that is tilting wildly in relativism and craziness.

What we believe is irrelevant to what is true. Just like Lindy could not choose a diagnosis, so we cannot choose what to believe about our eternal destinies.

And, let’s face it, believing in the truth is a matter of eternal life or eternal damnation.

Wednesday Wisdom: The Pledge

Leave a Comment / March 13, 2013 March 13, 2013

What are our rights as Christians? Do we have the right to a beautiful home and two cars? Do we have the right to have a healthy family? Do we have the right to be happy?

Perhaps most of Christians’ heartaches, contentions, and worries are born because of this thinking that we have special rights.

I came across this pledge the other day, written by a Sunday School teacher named Russell Kelfer. He was a Bible teacher at Wayside Chapel in San Antonio, Texas for over 20 years and has left us many lessons, poems, and stories. But perhaps nothing he wrote is so convicting as this Christian Pledge. Could you sign this?

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Having been born into the kingdom of God, I do hereby acknowledge that God’s purchase of my life included all the rights and control of that life for all eternity.

I do further acknowledge that He has not guaranteed me to be free from pain or to have success or prosperity. He has not guaranteed me perfect health. He has not guaranteed me perfect parents. He has not guaranteed me perfect children. He has not guaranteed me the absence of pressures, trials, misunderstandings, or persecution.

What He has promised me is eternal life. What He has promised me is abundant life. What He has promised me is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, meekness, and self-control. He has given me all of Himself in exchange for the rights to my life.

Therefore I acknowledge this day the relinquishment of all my rights and expectations, and humbly ask Him by His grace to replace these with a grateful spirit, for whatever in His wisdom He deems to allow for my life.

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Your signature here

Would I be ready for this?

3 Comments / March 11, 2013 March 11, 2013

What do the following people have in common:

Timothy, Symphorosa, Germanicus, Blandina, Ponticus, Felicitas, Perpetua, Cecilia, Julian, Denisa, Alexander, Epimachus, and Agatha?

Any ideas? Are these names ringing a bell, somewhere from the deep recesses of your mind?

Every single one of these listed above (and thousands and thousands more) were martyred under the Roman government at one time or another. Here’s a quick rundown of how they entered heaven:

Timothy – reproved the idolatry of the people and was beaten with clubs so badly that he died from the bruises within 2 days.

Symphorosa – refused to sacrifice to heathen deities, along with her seven sons. She was scourged and then hung up by the hair of her head; after a time a large stone was thrown around her neck and she was thrown in the river. All seven sons were fastened to seven posts with pullies and torn asunder, all their limbs dislocated; they were all eventually stabbed, except for the youngest who was sawed in half.

Germanicus – a young man, delivered to the wild beasts; he handled his death with such astonishing courage, several pagans were converted.

Blandina – Attached to a pole on the ground and exposed to the wild beasts for food; during this time her earnest prayers encouraged others; The wild beasts wouldn’t touch her. She was sent back to prison and forced to endure all kinds of torture, and then was eventually slain.

Ponticus – A 15 year old boy, who was in prison with Blandina and partook of the same sufferings and torture, eventually dying by the sword, as well.

Felicitas – A very pregnant young woman who, along with another lady named Perpetua, were forced to run between hunters of wild beasts and they were severely lashed; they were then stripped and thrown to a wild bull, where they were gored dreadfully, and then finally perished by the sword.

Cecilia – a young lady of good family, who converted her husband and brother, who were beheaded, and also the officer who led them to their execution, who was also beheaded; she was forced naked into a scalding bath for a considerable time; eventually she was beheaded with a sword.

Julian – He was put into a bag with serpents and scorpions and thrown into the sea.

Denisa – a 16 year old girl who was beheaded for her faith.

Alexander & Epimachus – beat with staves (plural of staffs), torn with hooks, and, at length, burned with fire.

Agatha – a godly and very beautiful Sicilian woman who caught the eye of the Sicilian governor. When put into a position to compromise her faith, she refused, and therefore she was “scourged, burnt with red hot irons, and torn with sharp hooks. Having borne these torments with admirable fortitude, she was next laid naked upon live coals, intermingled with glass, and then being carried back to prison, she there expired on the 5th of Feb, 251.”

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Perhaps I should have not written so many of these stories. I couldn’t decide which ones to use and which ones not to. There are dozens more and I am only a few pages in the book Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.

Here’s the thing — these were all REAL people. So, yes, they lived a long time ago but that doesn’t make them any less real. A 15 year old boy, a 16 year old girl, a pregnant woman, wealthy people, poor slaves, bishops, and beautiful women. All perished at the hands of evil men and women, whom Satan used in his efforts to douse the light of Christianity.

But it didn’t work! Here’s what it says regarding one of the persecutions: “but though the persecuting malice raged, yet the gospel shone with resplendent brightness; and, firm as an impregnable rock, withstood the attacks of its boisterous enemies with success.”

Fast forward 2000 years. Most of us have no clue what it means to suffer for Christ. Many of us wonder if we would choose to do so, if it really came to that.

I can’t help wondering if it will. Soon. Each year brings more and more persecution to those who stand firm on biblical Christianity. The persecution is nothing like those our persecuted brothers and sisters faced all those years ago, or even what many of our Christian brothers and sisters face in foreign lands. But if it comes, will we be ready?

I think it comes down to this: If you are a true believer in Jesus Christ, Christianity isn’t a religion, it is your whole life. There is no part that remains untouched by God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s conviction. We know that we are condemned to hell without Jesus’s death and resurrection and we won’t trade anything — not worldly reputation, material wealth, nor our very life– for it.

As I write this, I feel very weak as I read the sufferings of those mentioned above. I imagine my body being torn by hooks or burnt by scalding water or hot coals and I shudder and cringe. Lord, am I strong enough to withstand that?

But it’s not my strength that will see me through that day, should it come. It’s HIS.

The men and women who have died and continue to die for their faith in Jesus Christ do not do so on their own strength. They can’t sing and pray while being tortured on their human strength. Only God can supernaturally supply that strength. We are so far from needing that kind of strength in our own lives that it is a completely foreign thought to us.

Is it coming? I don’t know. I tend to think it is. We’d like to think that man could never become so evil again, but if we read recent history –of Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot– or we follow current events–Sudan, Eritrea, and Iran, for example–we can see that men are still coming up with horrible ways to torture their fellow man.

Will I be strong enough to stand if that day comes to America? Only if I rest in God and draw on the strength that He will supply only to those who are truly His.

Find Foxe’s Book of Martyrs here.