God – Page 8 – Scripture Thoughts

Tag: God (page 8 of 9)

A Nameless God?

I had a great exchange with one of the recipients of the Bible Sessions. She lives in the Philippines and was recently married. Even though she lives far away, I will keep her name anonymous:

Anon: I agree with you, I personally like to talk to people with different beliefs, not to challenge their religion, but to understand their faith. I am a very broad-minded person so trying to understand people’s feelings, culture and faith are things that interest me. I like to know their views and know more about their religion. I sometimes share with them my faith. I try to avoid telling them this and that about the Bible, but instead, I share with them my experience with the Lord and how God loves everyone. I try to emphasize that our God loves each of us equally, no matter what religion we have, and that there’s no right or wrong religion. I honestly have not encountered any “cults” although I’ve seen some on television. There are cults and I pray for their enlightenment. I know that God still loves these people and would want to save them. I pray that they find and experience God’s love.

Dave: Thanks for commenting. I always look forward to your thoughts. It is great that you share with others the love of God. When you say that there is “no right or wrong religion,” however, you must be careful about the ramifications of that statement. Our life’s experiences should not trump what God has said to mankind. Jesus gave plenty of warnings about false teachers, false Christs, and false religions. If other religions such as Islam and Hinduism (which worships thousands of gods) are right, then Jesus and the entire Old and New Testaments are wrong. The Bible clearly states that only Jesus is the Door to Heaven (Acts 4:12 and John 14:6 among others) because He alone conquered sin and death. No other religion has done this. Islam states clearly that Jesus is NOT the Messiah and that He is NOT the Son of God, and Hinduism either never acknowledges Jesus or merely adds Him to their list of thousands of gods, which is a huge slap in God’s face and it breaks the number one rule of the Old Testament that there is only One God and we should never worship any others. Islam says that their god, Allah, would never demean himself and become a mere man, he is too high up to lower himself to our level. Our God says that he loves us so much that He was willing to come down to our level so that He could save us. Quite a difference! To say that the other religions are right hurts the true God very deeply. So think your belief through more on this issue as to what you are actually saying and believing. Please realize that I am not making up these statements about Christianity, I am taking the Bible for what It says because the Bible is either the Word of God or it is not. If It isn’t, then maybe all religions do work, but then Christianity is a lie. We all must decide which side are we on. There is no middle road when you compare what religions believe. Please feel free to comment further if you would like to. Thanks.

Anon: I was actually thinking that I respect other people’s religion that I don’t consider their faith as “right or wrong” because as long as they do good and share love to their neighbor, then their faith in their God is doing them good. Everyone thinks that their religion is the “right” one and the others’ wrong. They have different “scriptures,” thus they base their faith on their “book.” I base my faith in my love of God, and my experience with Him. Every time other people talk about their religion, I listen but if they start telling me that MY choice of religion or faith is wrong, then they will definitely hear from me… but of course, I don’t fight with them. I tell them what I need to say and keep quiet. It’s up to them to listen to me or not.

Dave: You said, “As long as they do good and share love to their neighbor, then their faith in their God is doing good for them.” But then do they have eternal life with the true God? The Bible states that “all have sinned and have fallen short of God.” So no one ever does enough good or loves their neighbors enough to deserve eternal life. All must go through the cross of Jesus to gain forgiveness. He is God’s ONLY Son. When the human race in Adam choose to disobey God, all humans were locked out of eternal life. God had to do something to open that door again and He says that faith in Jesus alone will do that because of what He accomplished on that cross. If what you’re saying is true, then there would be no need to evangelize to our neighbors and to the nations as Jesus has commanded us to do. Furthermore, if I were Jesus and there were other ways to God the Father, I would never come down to earth and suffer and be crucified. We cannot trash what Jesus has done for us by saying other religions, which will contradict the Bible, are okay for others even though we believe in Jesus. Ever wonder why many people get mad or just turned off when we tell them about Jesus? At first thought it is strange because it’s such a lovely story about love that guarantees eternal life. This should be perceived as good news to everyone. But the Bible says that sinners are blinded by the god of this world, the Devil, and he hates Jesus and God. He is ruling their souls but they do not realize it. This is why they get mad or turned off. With all issues, believers in Jesus must use the Bible as a guide to sift truth from error because the Bible is God’s Word. If other “scriptures” from other religions are true also, then whoever is up there (God) is contradicting himself and I do not want to worship a phony, contradicting deity. Food for thought – Thanks for taking time to write,

Anon: Hmmm.. it only proves that I really really need to start reading my Bible. 🙂

Dave: Great response! I really appreciate what God is doing in your heart! Hugs and kisses from the Savior to you.

End Note: I recently contacted her and asked how she was going, and she said she is still reading her
Bible. Music to my ears!

Service Ruts

January 23, 2018 / dscheer / 0 Comments

Isaiah 29 – Judgments against Jerusalem because they were honoring God with their lips, but their hearts were far from Him (v13-14). Jesus also later used this against the Jews.

We need to consciously avoid spiritual ruts. Doing and saying the same thing all the time is not conducive to spiritual growth. I think church services should bend over backward to make each service different somehow. Pastors need to allow the Holy Spirit freedom to move among the people and trust that the Spirit will do this if allowed. Unfortunately, humans like to control things (even God’s Spirit) because it somehow gives the feeling of security and safety. I recall my boyhood church always singing 3 hymns and the sermon always lasted 20 minutes. I prided myself being ready for the next agenda item in the bulletin. My eyes and attention was on that bulletin schedule, longing for its end. Little did I know at that time that I was falling into the category of Isaiah 29:13!

Now I’ll go out on a limb – even what I would deem as “spirit-filled churches” have dulled their spiritual senses by having the same routine every Sunday. Let us not put God in a box. I remember one Sunday my pastor preached a great sermon, and at the end he said that at the last minute, the Spirit told him to not preach from his prepared notes, but rather wing it! Now there is faith and freedom! Why not let worship continue “past the ordained time” sometimes? Why should worship always contain songs? We should do what the Holy Spirit wants us to do when we gather in Jesus’ name. Maybe that means to stimulate a discussion among the congregation about some Biblical topic, rather than a traditional sermon. Maybe people could get up and share testimonies for an entire or part of a service. Maybe we could put down the musical instruments once in a great while, etc., etc. C.S.Lewis maintained via his Chronicles of Narnia books that Jesus is not a tame lion, but He is good.

Church structure today, perhaps unwittingly in many cases, has played “lion tamer” all too often. At first, few notice. But over time, the Spirit fades from the service, or it isn’t quite as strong as it could be. If services were more free, more people would come with higher anticipation. High anticipation is faith within the heart of the believer that God will speak to them and that they will also be used by God to touch someone else. That attitude is being gradually lost, even in some good churches…ouch!

I am not advocating pastors allowing people to go crazy in the church. There are parameters of common sense and decency. What I am saying is let us not fall into a routine that will become dull over time, or not what it could be. Many churches start out great but lose something over time. The Holy Spirit is the best One that can “think outside the box.” People’s needs will be met if we truly allow that Spirit free reign.

Feedback so far:

NF – Excellent—-so very true!

GR – Continued great work. AMEN. Church services from time to time can indeed become mundane. At FBBC there is DEFINITELY a routine every Sunday. Our WED services are much more open and unstructured. In any event, I agree, we need to vary things and NOT get in that rut. Audience participation is always fun. We do that Wednesday nights.

Mickey L (4/20/13) – Amen Amen Amen.

God Knows All

January 8, 2018 / dscheer / 0 Comments

Tim: Though God is generally described as all-knowing – does He always choose to know how things will turn out? I sometimes compare the concept to a person reading a book – one can turn the last page and see how things wrap up – but do you want to? Did/does God choose to wait to see how humans will respond sometimes – instead of just instantly knowing the future? Will Adam and Eve sin – will Moses strike the rock – will Lot’s wife turn back to look, will Judas betray Jesus …?

Dave: Thanks for your question about God, time, and His awareness of time. Time is weird, but the Scriptures do give us some glimpses into your questions. I am not sure if I view heaven as being timeless. The Bible speaks of God setting certain things to happen at pre-ordained times, for example, the first coming of Christ, the torment of demons, the Second Coming of Christ, and the Final Judgment. all those dates the Father has chosen, and they were (are) locked in. We also find in Scripture that sometimes God delays His original plan, for example, Hezekiah’s death was delayed 15 years and God was prepared to destroy Israelites several times, but Moses persuaded Him to postpone.

I believe God knows all the future because He, unlike us, is not bound by time. Scripture says that a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day to Him. But I’ve always maintained that just because He sees the future, He does not necessarily CAUSE all the events in that future. I believe it is similar to a human foreseeing the future but does not make whatever happen. God certainly has intervened many times on mankind’s behalf throughout all of history, so He definitely MAKES some things happen, but I do not think all things are forced upon us.

God knew that Adam and Eve would die if they sinned, but I do not view God making them die. Rather, I see it as a natural progression much like a tumbling “domino effect.” Once that first domino goes over, the rest will follow. Could God intervene and stop it? Yes, but that would hurt us in the long run (see parable from Matthew 13:29). God sees the need to have a sinful world play itself out to its end which is a fixed time. Why does it need to play out? Probably to prepare His Bride (all believers from history) and to maximize the quality of the Eternal Kingdom. I think of an unsaved soul living a typical self-centered life. That soul needed to experience sin and its effects before he/she could “see the Light.” If God presented Himself prematurely to us, we may not have been able to repent and take in Jesus to our souls. The old saying is right – “Timing is everything!”

Yes, I believe God knew that Adam and Eve would sin. There is no hint that anything has ever taken Him by surprise. Jesus marveled at the centurion’s faith. but the Son of Man was God limiting Himself to time and space. Back in Genesis, God had the temporary remedy prepared quite quickly – an innocent animal was slain and its skin covered human nakedness (sin). It was a foretaste of His Final Solution performed by Christ on the Cross where innocent blood was once again shed. Mankind quickly learned that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22). But Jesus’ Blood has much more power than animal blood, obviously.

Yes, He knew that Judas would betray Jesus because it was prophesied in the Old Testament (Zechariah 11:12-13; Psalms 109:8; and Psalm 41:9). These were verified by the New Testament writers. Again, I don’t think that God made Judas do it, but He did know it would happen.

So even though God knows all, I think we, as a fallen race, need to experience life and see it played out before our eyes in order to seek (grope) for the Truth and find it before we perish. In Acts 17: 26-27 reveals much on this issue – “…and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”

Your question on whether or not God chooses to know certain things is a tough one. Scripture tells us He chooses to forget our sins. I’m not sure if this is to be interpreted literally or figuratively. If the latter, it simply means that He will never hold anything against us or remind us of what we were like in the sinful state. This makes me wonder if we will remember. Isaiah 25:8 says that God will remove our reproach, so my guess is that we might remember but no longer have the shame connected with it. All our tears will be wiped away!

We do know from Scripture that the angels do not see ahead like God does (1 Peter1:12). I’ve pictured angels as excited and loving servants. Excited because they know how good everything will turn out, they just don’t know how God will accomplish it. They are loving because they did not follow Lucifer’s rebellion. Just my opinion on this part.

Well, I hope I’ve covered all your issues within this topic.

Scripture Thoughts

Tag: God (page 8 of 9)

A Nameless God?

Service Ruts

God Knows All

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