When God Is Good

Turns out a lot of what I write about is spurred from social networks. If you have Christian friends on Facebook, you have no doubt seen them get excited about something that has happened and end the status or post with "God is sooooo good!" And they are right: God is a good God. But this ending proclamation is much less prevalent if someone isn't happy. Have we forgotten He is good because of our circumstances?

First of all, I don't think this is the case with any true follower of Christ. If someone has a basic truthful understanding of God, he or she should know that He is good, otherwise He is not worthy of our praise. If you remain unconvinced, consider Psalm 34:8, 100:5, and 25:8, to name a few. The God of the Bible is good, and worthy of constant, continuous worship.

But how, then, do we consider our trials and calamities? One base to lay down is that He is in control of everything, or sovereign. A good illustration is in Acts 17:25 (I'll focus on the last half), which says "(God) himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything." There is a difference here that should be noted between life, the start of a person's time on Earth, and breath, the continuation of that with each inhale and exhale. This means God not only gives someone life, but continues that life himself, and not in a passive manner (Isaiah 42:5 uses the word "gives" in terms of this breath, a very active word). Now think of the implications of the term "all mankind." He not only extends a purposeful life to His children, but to everyone who walks the earth. From you to me to heroes to villains, anyone who is alive is not "left" alive, but He literally keeps them alive. Therefore, God gives life and sustains it purposefully of all who are on the earth. A God this sovereign must have a plan then, if He's to be good.

My personal favorite proof of this plan in the Bible is the story of Joseph (the one with the Technicolor dream coat). As a brief overview, he was beaten within an inch of his life by his own brothers, who then threw him into a well and sold him into slavery. While a slave he was accused of trying to rape his master's wife and, despite being innocent, imprisoned. Eventually he was brought out of prison to interpret Pharaoh's dreams, with God's power, and because of the interpretations, a famine was foretold and the country could prepare, even to the point of helping others. We see in Genesis 50, Joseph's brothers apologizing to him, and his response is one that may shock us. "As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today." (v 20) Joseph was not allowed to go through these trials and calamities for no reason, nor was the saving of people's lives a passive after thought. God meant it, in His good and perfect will (Romans 12:2).

Note, this is not an accurate reenactment.

We do not usually have the privilege of seeing this plan from the vantage point of a recounting of events in the Bible, nor do we usually see it while we're in the midst of our trials and calamities. But we trust that He is good, and that He is in control. We have faith in our God's goodness in times of happiness and times of sorrow because He is sovereign and for those who love Him all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). Thus, He is worthy of praise all the time.

If you never knew the meaning of my blog's name, it is derived from Luke 19, when the Pharisees criticize Jesus for letting his disciples shout in praise. "He answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.'" (Luke 19:40) Christ followers should keep in mind that God is good all the time, and always worth of praise. Don't let the stones speak: fill the air with praise so they don't need to.

Don't Pray For Patience

The phrase has been passed around for quite some time now, "don't pray for patience because then God will give you an opportunity to be patient in." This saying is not worth holding on to as truth, and should be addressed when we hear it. It paints two untruthful pictures. One tells the believer to not desire to look more like Christ for it will require work and trials. The other is of our Father having a sick sense of humor, giving us more trials when we're asking for his help. The Bible, which should be our basis of the Christian faith, disagrees.

One goal of the Christian is to be shaped to be like his/her Lord, Jesus. We were originally made in God's image (Genesis 1:27) but we fell from this image when Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3). For the one who is saved, we are to be more like Christ, both currently (1 John 2:6), and as a hope in a promise we've been given (1 John 3:1-3). Why fear this then, no matter how it comes? The Christian should strive to be like Christ in all things to glorify his/her Father. Trials may not be fun, but trust that they are for good.

The real problem in this saying, though, is the picture it paints of God. Saying that while one is in a trial requiring patience, praying for it will result in more trials is to say that He wants one to develop these skills alone, and will punish anyone who asks for help. This is ridiculous to claim and directly contradicts Luke 11:11-13

What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!

This (ignored) passage comes directly after the (often misused)  verses of Jesus explaining that if we ask our Father for something, we will receive it. He asks those listening if they give their child some calamity in response to a request for food. What kind of person would do that? Even humans, who are evil, will not deliver some trial instead of nourishment. So we should expect this even more from our Father, when we ask for the Holy Spirit. Don't be confused here, because patience is one of the outward signs (fruit; Galatians 5:22-23) of the Spirit promised to those who are to be saved. Therefore, it should be asked, what kind of god would our God be if when we asked for patience in the time of a trial, he instead gave us some serpent or scorpion?

Know, however, that trials are used for our good and are used to sanctify us. James says that we should "count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." (1:2-4) For through trials we are made perfect, with the Holy Spirit giving us the strength. This does not mean that our Father sends us trials in the midst of trials because we've asked for help through the original trials.

The Holy Spirit that a Christian has been sealed with is our comforter and source of patience. We may be taught patience through trials, but He is there to guide us through them. Our Father will not give us scorpions or serpents instead of food, and he will not give us calamity when we ask for His Spirit.

How A Body Is Built

What does it look like for a body to be completely mouths? What about only arms or feet? Or, if the legs not only walked, but tried to talk, digest, and think? Taking a look at many churches or para-church organizations answers these questions. These communities have lost sight of what a body looks like and why they are made of different parts and have lost their effectiveness, in at least some sense.

The Thumb-Thumbs from Spy Kids were pretty ineffective...

One cannot say another is acting foolishly, without explaining the proper way to act. So before expanding upon what behavior could be considered an ill-formed body, a proper body should be considered. A brief introduction to the gifts of the Spirit (in which this idea is based) is found in 1 Corinthians 12:4-7.

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

Note that the same sentiment is repeated three times in a row. There are different gifts, types of service, and activities, but the same Spirit, Lord, and God respectively. Displaying the gift of teaching does not mean that someone has a different Holy Spirit than one who is an administrator. And because one person serves in the kitchen while another serves as an usher does not mean they serve a different Lord. Finally, the senior pastor and the VBS volunteer serve the same God, who empowers them to complete each of their tasks. Verse seven tells us that all of this, everything we do to serve God in his power, is for the common good. When we use our gifts, whether it's healing or preaching or encouraging, each is for the common good.

Further in the passage(vv. 8-10), language like "to one is given," and "to another" is used to stress that each gift is not given to each person. The same Spirit gives each gift to whom he chooses as he chooses (v. 11). These verses explain that the Holy Spirit has a will in this, deciding who gets which gift, and that he does not empower everyone the same.

Moving forward in chapter 12, is the body analogy. Please read vv. 14-20 for an extension of how foolish these bodies Christians try to form are. The illustration is used to teach that each part of the body is important, and each role needs the other. This is why God, our Father, has built his Church with diversity in the gifts the Holy Spirit has manifested in us. Personally, I am a bad encouragement, but I have a passion and wisdom about the Bible that is not my own. My best friend, ChrisKolb, is a huge encouragement and just as passionate about God, but if he ran a church, paperwork might not get done. Another best friend, Nik, would make the paperwork and leadership duties beg for mercy, but has not been given wisdom in the word like I have. We all need each other, as we'd fail miserably if we tried to do everything. This dependence is good and willed by the Father.

But there are countless people who may have ripped this chapter out of their Bibles. Some churches claim that a specific gift needs to be shown in your someone's life as evidence they are saved. Other organizations require everyone to show every gift of the Spirit that they acknowledge, making all who are involved teach and encourage and administrate and evangelize and so on. While each of these gifts alone are good, there is not a specific gift that proves salvation (that's what the Fruits of the Spirit are for), nor are all the gifts given to everyone. Each believer is instructed to be empowered by the Spirit in the way he has manifested himself in them.

This is a part of the Bible the Church has ripped out or scratched out, so we can hold on to our own power. When will we stop ignoring God's will for his Church?

Why I Am Ok Without God

All of us at one point have thought we are alright without God, with no need for him, his grace, or his presence. Understanding why that's a lie is one matter, but why would someone even think that? As I said in my last post, we often rely on other humans to feel loved when on their own they are incapable of such a thing. This is not limited to other humans, but we put our faith and trust in so much to survive everyday life or even eternal life. How could we be so foolish?

One examination of the problem is in Jeremiah 2. The chapter comments on Israel's condition, having turned from the LORD and seeking their own glory. God illustrates it beautifully in verse 13:

for my people have committed two evils:
    they have forsaken me,
        the fountain of living waters,
    and hewed out cisterns for themselves,
        broken cisterns that can hold no water.

Just like someone would not turn to a cracked water bottle for relief from thirst or a glass with a hole at the bottom, this verse illustrates the foolishness of people turning from God and turning to false gods, like we do all the time. Obviously, there are so many other places we see this, but I prefer the imagery here.

A key to this question is what the flesh desires. Galatians 5 lays it out explicitly. "Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these." (vv 19-21a) If our physical being, our evil selves seek such things, and find them, they will feel satisfied. It is their foolish replacement for the joy and grace of God. So telling someone that they will not be satisfied without God may seem as a lie to them, because their flesh is satisfied with evil things. But their soul will not survive on these.

If God is working in someone's heart, they will come to know their longing and need of him. Nothing we say or do can change their mind, unless it is God's work as well (1 Corinthians 3:5-9). So we think we're ok without God unless he's working in us to convince us of his truth. We are satisfied with sins and evil, even when we let the flesh control us, and God is the one who reveals our brokenness.

Everyone Will Let You Down

I'm going to share a current frustration with you: myself and everyone I know keep trusting humans.We are relying on each other for happiness and fulfillment, to inevitably get let down again and again. My Facebook news feed is filled with these stories; Friend X posts a status about how amazing Y is and  they are the best friend ever, oh so loving, etc., only for the friendship to be broken up and passive-aggressive statuses to be seen a week later. Rinse and repeat. The problem is that apart from Christ, we cannot love.

If you are not a Christian and you're reading this, you're ready to throw tomatoes. If you are saved, you may feel the same way. The statement that those outside of Christ cannot love is admittedly controversial, to say the least, because everyone thinks that they or their non-Christian friends love each other, and it's obviously offensive to claim otherwise. Now if you aren't a Christian, the Bible itself needs its own proving (I'd be glad to help you with that if you contact me), but my intent is to show you and Christian readers what it says about the ability to love, as I think our culture has some misconceptions on the issue.

 I'll start with the general idea (and you'll come to find out my favorite to teach about), humans are evil; I'll be honest, I think it is central to a lot of the issues in today's world. Paul lays it out well in Romans 3, quoting various passages of Psalms.

    “None is righteous, no, not one;
        no one understands;
        no one seeks for God.
    All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
        no one does good,
        not even one.”
    “Their throat is an open grave;
        they use their tongues to deceive.”
    “The venom of asps is under their lips.”
        “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
    “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
        in their paths are ruin and misery,
    and the way of peace they have not known.”
        “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
(Romans 3:10b-18)

It's a reoccurring theme, seen again in Romans 8:7-8: For* the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. If you accept that God is good, then not following God is intuitively the antithesis of good, or evil. One cannot seek the flesh, or selfish desires, and God's good and perfect will. This would be like a soldier fighting on the front lines for both sides in a war. It is impossible to fully serve either side.

So, in general, humans are of an evil nature. This follows logically to prove that they are incapable of love. Simply, love is good so the evil are incapable of partaking in it. It is displayed in the Bible multiple places, one such being 1 John 4:7-8: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. What this is saying is without a connection to God (being saved by Jesus' sacrifice and being sealed with His Spirit), one cannot love. Like a cord cannot carry electricity apart from the outlet or vessels cannot carry blood if disconnected from the heart. God is not just the source of love, he is love. So being disconnected from him, is a disconnection from love.

Now those who disagree with my claim will respond with something along the lines of "but my non-Christian friends love me" or "I am not a Christian and love my friends." I think a key to understanding this is the difference between what we have decided is love, and what the Bible is referring to here. What we see as love is a societal norm, or a means to a selfish end. I do it all the time: I show someone kindness as a bartering tool or because I'm supposed to, not selflessly as the Spirit would have me do. So you see I admit that Christians are not perfect in this and we still "love" by the world's standard when we do not let our Helper, the Holy Spirit, work through us.

There is still the question of why someone who is not saved can make others feel loved, but this post is long and accomplished it's original goal. I will continue that discussion sometime this week. Please comment with disagreements so I may address them in that post as well.


*Whenever you see "for" or "therefore" starting a verse, it means that there is an argument before this verse affecting the one you are reading. It is easy to take these things out of context, so always make sure the verse or passage is being used correctly, according to the surrounding text (even if it's being used by me).

We Stand Like A Bombed Out Building

So I restarted this blog to shift focus from my summer working for CIY to what God has taught/is teaching me. Those who are saved by his grace and sealed with the Holy Spirit are continuously being sanctified (i.e. being made perfect, Christ-like) through the Spirit, and that includes me. One thing I have never been good at is living like the church is Christ's body and bride (Romans 12:3-5; Ephesians 5:31-32). I have been taught numerous ways to "love my brothers and sisters," to "reach out the the rest of the body," and more recently, a new one, "love in faith" so that I know I don't need to feel anything toward anyone to show them love. I am still pompous and arrogant.

I know it's dangerous exposing my sin like this because, like James 3:1 says, "...we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." I consider myself a teacher, in some regards, so this verse scares me, especially because how I see this blog running is that it's filled with things I'm learning (read: things I'm failing at). And if I admit to any reader who stumbles upon this that I fail at loving them, why should they listen to any wisdom God gives me?

My comfort lies in the fact that I am evil. Yeah, you read that right. I am a sinner and I only want to sin, without God's help. However, God has changed my heart enough for me to accept his gift of grace through Jesus' death and be sealed with the Holy Spirit, as I mentioned earlier. So through God's Spirit, I can love my brothers and sisters, but I cannot on my own.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
(Romans 8:7-11 ESV)

This is what I'm learning, always and until the day all is restored and I am fully sanctified through the Spirit. Currently, it applies to my inability to love. I cannot love alone, I need Christ in me to love for me, and to give up my selfish ambitions of seeming cool or above it all. Generally, it applies to every sin and lack of righteousness in my life. If this blog continues, you will get tired of hearing it, but will always need to: we are sinners and the only good in us is Christ, if we are saved.

Giving Up

So often in life, we are told to never give up. It's a sign of weakness, immaturity, and foolishness. We are supposed to push and push until we can't push anymore, then keep pushing. The idea is to dig deep inside of ourselves, "knowing" that we are strong and able to do anything we set our minds to. I'm learning to give up.

I am a firm believer in the idea of "total depravity." This means that we, as the human race, are evil from birth and born into sin, seeking our own gain and momentary pleasure. Genesis 6:5 says "The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." This shows that every intention we have is evil, from the early days of our existence (ever since the fall, or original sin), and Romans 3:12 agrees, declaring that "all have turned aside; together they have become worthless; / no one does good, / not even one." Nothing we can do pleases God or is righteous. Nothing we can do is worth anything. Uplifting stuff, huh?

The great thing about God's word is that it is filled with this seemingly depressing truth, but as a way of giving us hope. Without understanding we are sinful and worthless, and our "days pass away like smoke" (Psalm 102:3a), we can't understand how amazing God and his power are, or much less our necessity for him. But with this knowledge, knowing that there is nothing inside of us that is good, no matter how deep we dig or how much we push we can never live up to God's righteous standard or do anything qualified as good, we can find freedom from this in the Holy Spirit and finally accomplish the good works the Lord has prepared for us (Ephesians 2:10).

So with this background, I've been learning how to stop pushing, stop digging deep, and to give up. I consistently and daily forget I am unable to do anything alone. I try to lead Joelle and our relationship alone. I try to give advice alone. I try to grow closer to our Father alone. It's foolishness and it never works.

In fact, this past week I went through spells of feeling inexplicably sad. I spent these times wondering how I could feel better. Maybe if Joelle said the right thing, or I bought myself something fun, or if I was outright with it enough someone may feel sorry for me and fix it. The whole time I felt the Spirit prompting me to trust my Father, knowing he is sovereign and will work this for my good (the meaning of which is a whole other post I could write). But I refused at first, armed with my foam sword of mentalities that I just need to dig deep, push push push.

Having failed in my foolishness, I'm learning to give up. I'll never fully understand how, and until Jesus returns and everything is made complete I won't be fully sanctified, but I'm learning a little more now. I'm understanding more than ever I'm an evil human, whose only ability for good and sanctification is the Holy Spirit I've been sealed with by my faith in Christ and the Father's grace.