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Unseen & Evil

Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 by Matthew Brake

The more I talk to friends who do not share my faith and who lean towards critical realism, empiricism, and logical positivism, the more I realize that there are two problems with my faith.

1. I can’t see God.

I can’t prove God exists. I can infer that God exists because of the grandeur of the universe, but an atheist looks at the vastness of the universe and sees a cold, harsh place that doesn’t seem to point to a personal God.

I can appeal perhaps to personal religious experiences which have been formative for me, but when I look at many of those experiences, while they were personally encouraging to me, they could be as open to interpretation as the ending ofPan’s Labyrinth. (Was she crazy or did she see something? Who knows).

I can appeal to the miracles that friends of mine claim to have performed/seen–but am I unspiritual to wonder if they’re exaggerating?

Even if they were, I can understand the incredulity of someone listening to a third person account of such an event.

The biblical writers seem to ponder the invisible nature of God (warnings against idolatry, Paul’s comments in 2 Corinthians 4:18, Hebrews 11:1, etc.), but is that enough when you’re trying to have meaningful conversation about God with friends who only trust the scientific method (which evaluates the physical seen world)?

 2. The universe is harsh.

Evil, pain, and suffering exist in the world, and if you buy into theistic evolution and an old earth (disclaimer: I do), then you’re left with the problem that for 100,000 years before Abraham, people were dying at 25 of hunger, disease, and brutality.

 Does this point to a loving and benevolent God?

The Hebrews had a couple of different ways of processing evil in the world.

One way was proverbial wisdom (if you do right things, life goes well. If you do bad things, not so much).

Another way of dealing with evil was contemplative wisdom.

Contemplative wisdom acknowledges life as it actually is.

It readily admits that sometimes, no matter how many right things you do, good people still suffer.

Ecclesiastes pretty much says, “None of this makes sense. Obey God anyway.”

Job concludes, “Good people suffer. If God’s real, then shut your mouth.”

This can help one to see that the Bible (thankfully) offers no pat answers to the problem of evil, but it can leave a person dissatisfied.

 Now What?

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The Cross

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012 by Diane Chandler

On January 3, 2007, a 50-year old construction worker from Harlem was waiting to catch the NYC subway.  As Wesley Autry waited on the subway platform with his two daughters, ages four and six, he noticed a young man beginning to go into convulsions from an apparent seizure.  Along with two other women, Autry attended to him.  After the 20-year old film student, Cameron Hollopeter, stood up, he wobbled dangerously close to the platform drop-off and then tumbled onto the subway tracks below.

Wesley Autrey

With the subway fast approaching, Autry left his two daughters on the platform and jumped onto the tracks, hoping to pull Hollopeter to safety. With the subway mere seconds away, Autry threw his body over Hollopeter’s frame, as it nested in the 12-inch depression between the tracks, in order to shield him from moving until the subway passed.

Although the subway conductor tried to stop the subway, he could not do so prior to passing over the two-tiered bodies.  In fact, five subway cars passed over them. Through bystanders’ frantic screams and screeching brakes, the subway finally came to a halt. Amazingly, both Autry and Hollopeter emerged from the tracks unscathed. The distance between the top of Autry’s cap and the subway above was less than the length of a subway ticket.

Calvary's Cross

Why would a complete stranger do something for someone else at such great risk to his own life?  Answer:  In that split second decision, Autry valued this young man’s life above his own.  As we think about Calvary’s cross, why would God send His only Son to die for us?  The Bible tells us that, “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  Paul wrote to the Roman church: “At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). Paul declared to the Galatian church: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law”  (Galatians 3:13). The reason God sent His Son to die for us is that in eternity past, God knew that all humanity would need to be restored into right relationship with God through forgiveness of their sins.  Jesus came to take upon Himself the sins of the entire world.  The One who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor 5:21). Although many were involved in Christ’s death (i.e., the betrayer Judas Iscariot, complicit Jewish leaders, the Roman soldiers, and Pilate), the Scriptures makes clear that Jesus voluntarily gave Himself to fulfill the Father’s will “so that by the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19b).

In his book The Cross of Christ, John Stott puts it simply (pp. 63-66). First, Christ died for us as the Good Shepherd laying down His life for the sheep. Second, Christ died for us that He might bring us to God through salvation, as we believe in Him. Third, Christ died for our sins (1 Cor 15:3), taking upon Himself the punishment for our sins.  And fourth, Christ died our death.  The Bible makes clear that the penalty of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The sinless Son of God died the death that we deserved.

Like Cameron Hollopeter, I was laying helpless on the subway tracks with the subway fast approaching.  Jesus sacrificially jumped on the tracks of my life (leaving the 99 sheep to reach the one, who had gone astray), just as Autry left his two daughters on the subway platform to save Hollopeter.  Jesus shielded me from certain death. 

In preparing for Easter during this Lenten season, how do you respond when you think about Christ’s forgiveness of sin and His sacrifice on the cross for you personally?

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Posted in Church History, Evangelism, Theology, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

Arab Spring Movement and True Human Freedom

Monday, January 30th, 2012 by Diane Chandler

Genuine freedom involves more than viable democracies and economic stability.  Genuine freedom signifies the innate desire in the human soul to exercise choice in determining one’s future in all domains of life including the political, economic, educational, and spiritual arenas. 

The Arab Spring 2011, which has bled into over a year, has shown the world the fundamental desire of the human heart to exercise choice.  Paths have been burned to topple autocratic regimes which have consistently violated fundamental human rights (e.g., “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”).  For more on the Arab protest movement, view this interactive timeline.

What is the surest sign of true freedom in the Arab world?  How does the life and message of Jesus Christ inform such understanding?

While Arab regimes began to crumble, beginning with Tunisia on January 14, 2011, followed by Egypt, Libya, and Yemen, other nations such as Syria remain doggedly resistance to relinquishing power.  This domino-effect of opposition within Arab nations to longstanding autocratic governments that have violated human freedoms might be attributed to what Malcolm Gladwell refers to in his book, The Tipping Point, as (1) the law of the few, (2) the stickiness factor, and (3) the power of context.

As an educated 26-year old Tunisian and street vender, Mohamed Bouazizi catalyzed the revolution by setting himself ablaze after police confiscated his produce stand for not having a permit.  After his death, Bouazizi’s mother commented, “My son set himself on fire for dignity.”  With his dignity stripped and only source of income withdrawn, Bouaziz lost all hope.  The ultimate culprit was not only the police who confiscated his vendor permit but also the very system that drove him to utter despair.  Without opportunity, there is no freedom.  Without freedom, there is no life. Bouaziz’s death signified the law of the few in that it took a few people to light the fire of opposition.  In less than 30 days, the stickiness factor and the power of context (most Arab nations have dictators as presidents) contributed to revolution movements moving to Egypt and then Yemen, Libya, and Syria.

What is the surest sign of true freedom in the Arab world?  How does the life and message of Jesus Christ inform such understanding? The surest sign of true freedom in the Arab world will not come through political democracy, although this is certainly a start.  True freedom will come to the Arab world when Arabs can choose their own belief system, including their religion.  True freedom comes from knowing and responding to the truth.  And knowing the truth will set us free (John 8:32).  Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Muslims throughout the Arab world are having supernatural dreams and visions of Issa (Arabic: Jesus) who is showing them that He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).  For true stories of Jesus supernaturally appearing to Muslims in dreams and visions and how their lives have been radically transformed, see these video vignettes on the More than Dreams website.  Stories feature those from Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, Iran, and Turkey.

What is your perspective on the Arab freedom uprisings? 

Considering that Jesus never led by coercion, how might we view Jesus’ liberating message of spiritual freedom relative to the Arab world through Gladwell’s (1) the law of the few, (2) the stickiness factor, and (3) the power of context?

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Friendship

Saturday, November 26th, 2011 by Diane Chandler

I’m reminded of the power of healthy friendships and how they infuse life into our discouraged hearts.  With friends, life is invigorated with breath and hopeful in outlook. Without friends, life becomes suffocating, hopeless, and nondescript.  Friendship involves sharing privileged information and is like fuel added to an empty tank.  Friendship is also proven and enriched during times of crisis.  

In his book Franklin and Winston: An Intimate Portrait of an Epic Friendship, author Jon Meacham recounts the deep friendship that developed between U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II.  Interesting, Roosevelt had quite a negative impression of Churchill when they first met twenty-one years earlier.  Roosevelt was running for a state senate position and made a visit to London. He found Churchill brusque.  What brought them together years later as president and prime minister was Adolf Hitler.  However what kept them together was friendship. 

Throughout WWII, they exchanged nearly 2000 letters, spent over 100 days together, and celebrated holidays with one another.  They encouraged each other in the midst of dark times.  In the last 24 hours of Roosevelt’s life, he penned these words for a speech that he would never deliver: “Today we are faced with the pre-eminent fact that, if civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships.” [I’ll resist the temptation to discuss the lack of friendship and collegiality, which characterizes the political atmosphere in Congress at present.  However, I do wonder if friendship is one of the missing ingredients in solving our nation’s problems.]

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Must Evangelicals Support Israel?

Tuesday, October 4th, 2011 by Marc Santom

As you probably know, President Obama has found himself dealing with a volatile issue lately—and I’m not talking about the economy.  I’m referring to his proposal to re-imagine and re-draw the Israeli-Palestinian border along the 1967 armistice lines with mutually agreed upon land swaps. Given the loaded and tenuous history of these “peace and land talks” in the Middle East, I don’t envy the president for one second—especially after seeing how House Democrats and Republicans applauded Benjamin Netanyahu’s address to Congress which unabashedly spurned the president’s plan.

Needless to say, many evangelicals have since derided the president’s peace proposal as well. Why? For starters, many evangelicals are Republicans who voted for McCain and probably would have a difficult time praising Obama for anything he does right. (I even know some Christians who are covertly upset at the timing of Osama bin Laden’s demise because it means that President Obama will get the credit for it.)  Second, American evangelicals, by in large, adore Israel and love its people. As a result, any policy that disadvantages Israel must have its origins in a dark place with fire and lost souls.

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Posted in Biblical Studies, Faith & Culture, Theology, Uncategorized, Worldview | 6 Comments »

Remembering 9/11 (10th Anniversary)

Saturday, September 10th, 2011 by Diane Chandler

We will never forget the moment we learned of the 9/11 terrorist attacks ten years ago.  The destruction of the four hijacked US airliners carved out an indelibly memory in our minds – the two burning infernos prior to the collapse of the Twin Towers in NYC, the section of the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. ablaze, and the mammoth hole left by the fractured airplane of United Flight #93, after it dove into the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania at over 500 m.p.h..  Unadulterated evil crashed into our doorstep.

During the time of the attack, I was driving to a meeting to discuss my upcoming publication related to strengthening Christian leaders in their mission to share the love of Jesus around the world.  What complete irony, considering that destructive leadership had invaded my homeland.

As I was stopped at a traffic light, news on my car radio announced the collapse of the South Tower (2).  After arriving at my destination, I learned that the attacks were likely attributed to terrorists.  My host and I questioned if we should postpone our meeting.  Considering the nature of our discussion, we decided to shorten the meeting in our feeble attempt to fight evil with good, and then spent considerable time in prayer.  

Within 72 hours, all of the 19 hijackers had been identified as being associated with Al-Qaeda, the militant group founded by Osama bin-Laden; and since that time we have learned their stories.  Their worldview, contorted into religious knots of extremist Muslim ideology, deception, and hatred, so contrasted with the scores of people who sacrificed their lives for others on that 9/11 morning.  The psyche of the American spirit, as well as the conscious of the world, was forever shaped by their terror.  But it has not been overcome by it.

The true heroes who risked and sacrificed their lives include the valiant flight attendants and passengers of United Flight 93, who knew that this fourth plane was headed for the Capital or the White House. Also included were the hundreds of fire fighters, police personnel, and everyday people who ran into harm’s way to save others, not destroy them.  Notable among them, were the brave firefighters from NYC’s Ladder 6 who risked their lives to save 60-year old Josephine Harris.  Their story is told on this week’s Dateline NBC special, America Remembers.

A few days ago, the Washington Post featured the untold story of Maj. Heather “Lucky” Penney, one of two pilots flying unarmed F-16 fighter jets dispatched to down United Flight 93.  Given the 60-minutes needed to equip the jets with weapons, both she and her colleague, Col. Marc Sasseville, made the snap decision to enter a suicide mission of a different nature – to ultimately save lives.  They never had to complete that mission.

With September 11, 2011 being tomorrow, I am reminded of Jesus’ words: “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) and prayer after being crucified on the cross for the sins of the world, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:20).

The heart of being followers of Jesus Christ is infused in these verses.  Last evening, for the first time in 10 years, I forgave those 19 terrorists.  Have you?

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