I'm sayin', but I'm not sayin'

I have been receiving some really good, thoughtful, comments from my blog entry the other day, titled 'The Objective and the subjective'. But I think I am being mis-understood. In regards to God changing His mind. Did God really change His mind regarding Sodom and Gomorah, or was He teaching Abraham to be concerned with the welfare of others? Was it God saying, "maybe I shouldn't destroy these cities", or was it God shaping Abraham to teach him that He can interact with God regarding such things? I mean, in the end the cities were still destroyed. Only Lot and his daughters were saved. In the end, our input is heard by God, and I firmly believe if we "ask not", we will not see any changes. God desires our interaction that is for sure. His Word is clear in that we are to seek Him, petition Him, and ask Him for things. This is one of those things that we will enjoy getting to know about God as we walk with Him. The second item brought up was regarding 1 Corinthians 9:20-23. There is definetly no one right way to preach the Gospel. I fully believe Pastor Orsteen is sincere in his efforts to reach the lost for the sake of Christ. And I fully believe that he is doing that. But, if we allow those who are brought through the doors to remain in such a state they will at best remain ignorant of exactly what God has accomplished with Christ going to the cross, and at worst they will remain connected to the church because it is so welcoming - but remain seperated from God, never having seen the need to accept His work on the cross. America is full of people professing to be Christians, but having a schewed view of what exactly being a Christian means. And they are from all points of view. Some that are incredibly legalistic (*), while others are the exact opposite (God's grace in all things, no matter what I do). We have churches that are failing to grow spiritually, or even worse they misrepresent God. God is unchanging (Malachi), His ways are perfect (2 Samuel), He cannot lie (Numbers), and He cannot contradict Himself, thus my concern for what I perceive as a misrepresentation of God. Especially when it is in the context of we being able to change God's mind when it comes to 'difficulties' or 'hardships'. And when the message is consistantly leaning towards how good and gracious He is, without any mention of why God is so good and gracious to us, then I am concerned. I never debated that the situation changed for the King in 2 Kings, and I never said that Pastor Osteen was preaching a false gospel (if he ever mentions it at all) or that he is not bringing people to Christ. What I am trying to say is that - I feel - that it is a weakened presentation, and that it does not fully represent the God to whom he is calling people to. "And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3, ESV) "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him." (John 3:17, ESV) Some people when they come to Christ are not ready to hear what they have been saved from, others cannot be saved without knowing it. Some people come to Christ in an instant and/or when they are very young. Others after many years of faithful witness and/or when they are older. Some people are never ready to hear the "whistle of the train coming". No matter how we are brought to Him can we ever adequetly justify a complacency, an "I have arrived" type attitude if you were? And what about looking to ourselves for change? If you've ever heard "The Message" this is exactly what is being presented. When we constantly look to ourselves, we eventually fail. We "work out our own salvation" (Phillipians 2:12), but we never achieve the ultimate goal on our own - our salvation, without God's gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8-10). It is one thing to presnt a "feel good message" in order to draw people to Christ, it is another thing entirely to present a false image of God. When that happens we are creating idols, and I think we know how God deals with idols. Before I "close out" this blog entry I think I need to also say that, when I stand before the throne of God, and my life is reviewed, I am confident that there are a great number of things (I dare say - most) that I will be mistaken on. I know that my views are not perfect. But I feel compelled to share these concerns - and thus I have prayed, I rely, and I trust that the Holy Spirit will use these imperfect words as He sees fit, and ultimately for His glory. If what we "know" contradicts what His Word says, we must carefully examine our own heart and mind, and ask for Him to reveal it to us - because ultimately we are subjective, and He is objective. Verse for today: Numbers 23:18-19, ESV “Rise, Balak, and hear; give ear to me, O son of Zippor: God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it? * the definition I find most helpful was summarized by CJ Mahaney (in one place in his book "The Cross Centered Life", by Multinomah books, 2002, pg 25, para. 2), he summarizes it like this, "Legalism is seeking to achieve forgiveness from God and acceptance by God, through obedience to God."

The Objective and the subjective

A week or so back (I'm pretty sure it was on the 7th) I was getting ready for church. I had the TV on (I use it to sometimes help me pull out of my slumber) and Pastor Joel Osteen was on. As I've mentioned in the past, I am not a reall big 'fan' of Pastor Osteen's message, but his broadcast is so much better than say news or even sports (gasp!) when I am trying to wake up and get myself and my family ready for church. Anyway, I was still fairly groggy when I heard, "...and he changed God's mind". That pretty much snapped me out of my half-asleep state. "What do you mean he changed God's mind?" I thought to myself. I couldn't have heard a Pastor say that a man, any man, changed God's mind, did I? I grabbed the remote, scrolled through the listings and saw that Pastor Orsteen's broadcast was going to be played on a different station during the next half hour. I quickly jumped in the shower so I could catch the sermon from its beginning, and I could then hear the entire message in context. Meanwhile all kinds of thoughts are jamming through my mind. To be totally honest, I was distracted as I "monitored" Pastor Osteen's broadcast the second time, and time has faded the 'edges' from my memory, but the item that I had concern with was his use of a passage from 2 Kings. God's prophet was told to go to the king and inform him that he would die. When the prophet confronts the king with this terrible news, the king pleads with the prophet (and thus with God indirectly), citing all that he had done to tear down the idols left behind by his father. How he had turned himself, and Isreal, back to the one true God. And that is when I heard it again, "...and He changed God's mind." I want to be perfectly clear in my next point... how is it possible for a man to change God's mind?!? We are finite, He is infinite, we are mortal, He is immortal, we are limited in what we know, He knows all things from all times, we are subjective, He is objective. I went back and read throught this account (2 Kings 20). I do not see God's mind changing, I see a king changing. I see a message being recorded for those whom come after. The story of Jonah - the whole purpose of Jonah going to Ninivah was not to destroy those people, but to bring a message of hope. The angels that went into Sodom and Gemorah were sent there to see if they could be redeemed. I feel that such messages, that man can change anything about God, are dangerous. It says that God can be molded into what we want. That He can be formed into a God who serves the creation instead of creation serving the Creator. If such a thing where possible how could we ever trust a God who changes at the whims of others - especially if there are two of us who may disagree on something. God's Word is clear: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8, ESV) God has known each of us, not just those called to His Son, but all of His creation. He knows all of our days... "in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them." (Psalm 139:16, ESV). Therefor He is not surprised when the king of Isreal weaps and repents, God is not surprised when the people of Ninavah put on sack cloth and throw ashes on their heads - nor is God surprised when we are convicted of our sin and fall on our knees to beg forgiveness at His alter. I don't think Pastor Osteen's intent is in anyway to distort or mislead God's people. I really believe his intent is not to paint a misleading image of the Lord. I fully believe his intent is to have people believe in themselves, to pull themselves up by their boot straps (so to speak), and take a proactive role (from their subjective point of view) in their relationship with God. But what I think would have served Pastor Orsteen's congregatin better, and those who are in the audience of his weekly broadcasts, is to preach that it was not God who changed, but the king's heart and his view of God. The message of sin, and the terrible consequenses of them, is not to drag a person down into the mud to wallow in self pity - but it is to shed light on what Christ has actually accomplished on the cross. The gospel is not about what we accomplish, but what He accomplished. God knows it all. He knew it all before He even formed the earth. He does not change, but He uses our circumstances to change us (Romans 8:28-30). So when the Holy Spirit speaks to you (either through a 'prophet', or His Word, or just a 'gut feeling'), and you see the circumstances changing after you have reacted, remember it is not because God has changed - but it's because God was using something to change you, and He is revealing the change through external means. Verse for today: 2 Kings 20:1-6, ESV In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die; you shall not recover.’” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, saying, “Now, O Lord, please remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4 And before Isaiah had gone out of the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him: “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add fifteen years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for my own sake and for my servant David's sake.”

Communication is Key

Everyone has teachers that they remember from school. It doesn't matter if they are 18 or 81. I have several myself, but the one I thinking of today was my 9th grade English teacher (the last English class I actually passed in H.S. by the way). I remember her going over what "communication" was. Since English is at the core a means of communication she felt it important to make sure we, her students, knew and understood the process. Well, tenty five plus years later, I don't have the materials readily at hand - but I am very thankful for the internet. LOL :) I will be using a webpage titled "Communication & Leadership" by Don Clark as my reference material... Communication is in essence the process whereby the 'communicator' (the one with the "message to be conveyed) is attempting to pass along an idea or concept to a 'receiver' (the one to whom the message is intended for). Now for this discussion it does not matter how many intervening "hops" there are. If the receiver does not understand the message of the communicator - communication is NOT taking place. I see a similar correlation in the process of Leadership. If a leader is unable to convey his/her message, and/or unable to convince others to follow him/her - Leadership is not taking place. Being a husband and father I am called to be the head of my household. In essence the leader (note: I am not saying Lord and master). Many of the troubles I shared earlier this week are as a result of poor communication and leadership on my part. Now, I know that I am not the only participant in this process. I have a wife who is my equal before God. She has her own thoughts, and ideas. She has her own contributions to the issues at hand, and she will be accountable for her actions before God (man that sounds like I am somehow condemning her - when that is NOT my intention, only a statement of fact - she is accountable for her own actions). But in my role I have failed her thus far. I have allowed the troubles of our communication to go on so long that we are at the place we are at. I have failed to identify (to include engaging her on her thoughts and ideas), I have failed to act (to include her on her thoughts and ideas), and I have failed to communicate with and lead her, thus I have failed to "Love her". I have failed to protect and provide. Fortunately nothing is beyond redemption, and we are not so bad as to just throw in the towel. I am blessed in that I am married to a very unselfish woman. She is just as frustrated as I am, and she wants to get through this as well. I am just not sure where else to go, or what else to do - other than pray of course. But communication is the foundation of any relationship, be it teacher:student, friend:friend, business:customer, husband:wife. God provides an example of what is possible when communication is working (Genesis 11). Although it may not be obvious, but God was the one who confounded speech to begin with, and His intention is not so much to cause us to fail as it is to make us turn to Him and to rely on Him... and that is something that has been happening. I feel like I am going through a regular old "1st and 2nd Kings" like experience... hopefully I am one of the kings who went through the land to tear the ashura poles down. Verse for today: Genesis 11:1-9, ESV Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused [1] the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.