A Gift From God?

While eating dinner with some fellow seminary students earlier tonight, I posed the question, “how does a person like me, who questions the sovereignty of God when I stub my toe, come to have faith like Job’s?”

I was being somewhat facetious about calling God to ’splain Himself when I stub my toe.  However, when the hard times come-a-knockin’ in my life, I tend to lean more toward the faith of Job’s wife than that of Job.  Although I do not wish to “curse God and die,” as Job’s wife recommends, I am closer to that extreme than to its spectrum opposite that we see in Job.

The example of Job’s faith that I had in mind is this.  Job was a man of great possessions.  He had much livestock, and 10 children.  Then one day a messenger told him that all of his oxen and donkeys were stolen, and all Job’s servants save the messenger were slain.  While that messenger was still speaking, a second messenger arrived, with the message that a fire had consumed all of Job’s sheep and servants- the messenger alone survived the flames.

While the second messenger was still speaking, a third arrived.  I suspect that the third messenger made Job forget about the first two.  The news that he brought was that a wind had brought down the house of one of Job’s sons, killing all ten of Job’s children.

There is much to be thought about and discussed in this story, as well as the rest of the book of Job.  But, for the time being, I just want to focus on Job’s reaction to this news: 

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” -Job 1:20-21

We don’t know much about Job, other than that he was, “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1).  However, I think that his reaction to such devistating news tells us something about him.  I suspect that a person does not reach the point of rejoicing in spite of such tragedy without rejoicing as a result of smaller tragedies.  To use the life of King David as an example, I presume that God brought along a few lions and bears to prepare Job for the Goliath that we read about in the book of Job.  So, although I was joking about questioning God when I stub my toe, I think it safe to say that Job was a man who rejoiced in less significant sufferings such as minor physical pain.

Anyway, after posing this question at dinner, I proceeded to play basketball.  Whereupon I sprained my ankle.  I sprained my left ankle.  Here is a picture of my right ankle after I sprained it about a year-and-a-half ago.  I expect my left one to look like this pretty soon!

So, I am trying to take some baby steps toward Job-like faith (not unlike the baby steps/hobbling across campus earlier).  Might it be that the living God is giving me an opportunity to rejoice in the midst of minor suffering, in order to produce endurance and Christian joy that I will need in greater suffering later?

This is definitely a “be careful what you wish for situation,” for the desire for Job-like faith could be met with Job-like suffering.  But if God would grant me such faith, and if He would sustain me and carry me through- for I assure you I cannot persevere in faith through a stubbed toe or sprained ankle without the grace of God- and if God would be glorified in my faith in the midst of suffering, then come what may, Lord Jesus.

You are my King.  And although I do not desire the cups of Jeremiah (singleness), Hosea (unfaithful wife), Ezekiel (loss of wife), or Job (loss of children) for my own sake, if drinking any of those cups glorifies Your name, I ask not my will, but Yours.  Only, if I must kiss the rod, may I respond the way Job did, and may your name be praised!

“Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” -Job 2:10

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.” -Job 19:25

“Misrepresentation of Alternatives”

Have you read Anthony Flew’s “There is a God: How the World’s Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind”?

Flew is the “World’s Most Notorious Atheist” mentioned in the title.  Before he “changed his mind,” he wrote some of the more influential works in favor atheism and was the atheist side of some famous atheist vs. Christianity debates.  However, he has recently converted from an atheist to a theist, on the basis of the argument for intelligent design.  However, he does not believe in any of the available revelation theories- i.e. The Divine Creator revealed Himself in a way believed by major religious groups such as Christianity, Islam, etc.

Sadly, proponents of the theory of evolution do not agree with Flew that we should “follow the evidence wherever it leads.”  Flew followed said evidence, and it led him to believe that there had to be a divine Creator.

I was doing some more research on Mr. Flew when I found out about his book, and came across a very interesting website: The “Truth in Science” organization.

If you are like me, a product of American public schools, then you know about evolution.  You may have even struggled to some extent with evolution and creationism, as I have.  If so, then the Truth in Science website will be as interesting to you as it has been to me.

Of particular interest was the Evidence for Evolution page, which is a bit misleading. The evidence there is actually evidence against evolution, but I guess the implication of the title is that the information there addresses the evidence for evolution, albeit from the perspective of the opposition.

One of my favorites that I read there, which inspired this blog, was Misrepresentation of Alternatives.  This particular page proposes some reasons for the widespread teaching and acceptance of evolution.  I think this is very important.  Evolution lacks the credibility professed by its proponents, but is still being taught in public schools.  Everybody knows that it is a theory, but it is not presented as a theory.  It was certainly not presented that way for me.  What about you?  In your experience, was the theory of evolution presented alongside other theories of similar levels of acceptance and evidence?  If alternatives were presented, were they presented as alternatives that were purely religious and had no scientific merit?  Was evolution presented as an all-or-nothing issue?

These are issues that are addressed on the “Misrepresentation of Alternatives” page by Truth in Science.  The page also points out that the common understanding of evolution vs creation as merely a science vs relgion debate is misleading.  The page also acknowledges that there is some evidence for small-scale evolution, but that this evidence is wrongly used as evidence for the entirety of the theory of evolution.  The theory leaves a plethora of questions unanswered, and I absolutely believe that it takes more faith to believe in the theory of evolution than it does to believe in intelligent design.

Here is the conclusion of the article:

The ways in which some textbooks present evolution and its alternatives are neither fair nor scientific. Rather than teaching pupils to think critically,  these textbooks are indoctrinating them using poor arguments. School children should be given the opportunity to properly understand different views on our origins, so that they can come to well informed conclusions about this important issue.

Dear Christian, Get Off Your Butt!

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me, in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:18-20

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” -John 14:15

How are we doing on Jesus’ commandment known as “The Great Commission?”  If I had to guess, I would say that, as Mark Dever supposes in “The Gospel & Personal Evangelism,” we are flunking.  I have been reading and listening to some stuff from a guy named Todd Friel, and I would like to share what I have learned.  Lord willing, it will help you to become more comfortable sharing your faith, and we can repent of the sin of failing to show our love for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  We can start being more faithful in sharing our faith with our loved ones, and with anybody else with whom we come into contact.

First, two questions:  Do you believe in hell?  Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life; and that He is the only means to salvation?  If you believe that hell is real, that everybody deserves to go there, and that all who are not “in Christ Jesus” will go there, then think about what you are implying if you do not look for opportunities and share your faith, as we ought to and as we are commanded to.  Regardless of what excuse you have for not evangelizing, you are clinging to your excuses, and you are a) failing to share the treasure of salvation with those who desperately need it, and b) refusing to show your love for Jesus by obeying His commandment.

My goal here is not despair, unless it is despair that moves to action.  My goal here is to encourage you to do better.  The salvation that you have received is big enough for all the people for whom God, because He loves them, sent His Son.  Let us be encouraged to share it with all who would believe in Him rather than perish.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” -Romans 8:1

Let’s think about this verse for a minute.  The two major implications of this verse, for our purposes here at least, are that a) those who are “in Christ Jesus” were under condemnation until they became “in Christ Jesus,” and b) those who are not “in Christ Jesus” are under condemnation.

Everybody knows and loves that Jesus inaugurated a “new covenant.”  However, this verse, along with others, tells us that the “new covenant” is not universal.  Only those who are “in Christ Jesus” are under the “new covenant,” and therefore they alone are freed from the law of the old covenant and its consequent condemnation.  Therefore, the law applies to all who are not “in Christ Jesus,” and there is condemnation for them!

The media from Todd Friel, which I mentioned earlier, has been very helpful to me.  Its guiding principle, which I believe Todd has learned from Ray Comfort and his “Way of the Master” ministries, is “law to the proud, grace to the humble.”  Todd uses this principle in his evangelism to help people to see that their failure to keep the Ten Commandments means that they stand guilty before God.  When a person is rightly humbled by the realization that their guilt before God, combined with the fact that God is a just judge and will condemn those who are guilty to an eternity in hell, the “grace to the humble” part comes into play.  Todd suggests five questions to help lead our witnessing encounters:

1. “Would you consider yourself to be a good Person?”
2. “Do you think you’ve kept the Ten Commandments?”
3. “Will you be innocent or guilty before God?”
4. “If you are guilty before God, should He send you to heaven or hell?”
5. “Does it concern you that you are going to hell?”

Comfort and Friel both use Jesus’ encounter with the “rich, young ruler” (where we definitely see Jesus use the first two of the aforementioned five questions) to defend their “law to the proud, grace to the humble” approach.  I find their argument compelling, and I believe that this is a great approach to take to our witnessing encounters.

We have all failed many (if not all) of the Ten Commandments, especially when you factor in what Jesus said about the sins of the heart (lust, hatred) being equal in the eyes of God to their actual counterparts (adultery, murder).

Just as the Ten Commandments condemn all of us, Paul says that none of us will enter the kingdom of God:

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.” -1 Corinthians 6:9-10

We have all failed the Ten Commandments, and we all fall into one of the stripes Paul paints in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.  Therefore, we are all under condemnation.  However, thanks be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has made a way for the condemned to be freed from condemnation.  Jesus Christ completely fulfilled both the positive and negative aspects of the law (positive- always doing the good He should have done; negative- never doing the bad He should not have done), and He was completely sinless in thought, word, and deed.  He lived the life that we couldn’t live. 

Then, to quote a poem that I wrote a while back:

First You were flogged by a Roman soldier,
Then took Your own cross upon Your shoulder.
Then came the nails through Your wrists and Your feet.
Screams as the nails pierced nerves in agony.
Forced to push up on nail with bone for breath,
Until You last breathed and attained death.

Jesus died the death that we deserve, fulfilling the figurative promises made by the Passover and the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, and dying as our “lamb without blemish.”

Anybody who believes in Jesus Christ, who trusts His promises and believes that He has the power, the ability, and the willingness to save them, who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior- and seeks to show their love for Him by obedience to Him- will be “in Christ Jesus.”

And, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” -Romans 8:1

Cause of African-American Deaths Since 1973

Cause of African-American deaths since 1973:
heart disease-2,266,789
cancer- 1,638,350
accidents- 370,723
AIDS- 203,695
violent crimes- 306,313
for a total of 4,785,870

African-American abortions since 1973: roughly 13,000,000

(statistics from the National Black Catholic Congress’ website)

I wonder how many potential Martin Luther King, Jr’s have failed to make it out of their mother’s womb.  African-Americans are absolutely right when they suggest that “the man” is holding them down.  However, white supremacy in this country is taking an unexpected angle.  Planned Parenthood- America’s largest abortion provider, which receives millions of dollars annually from the United States Government- targets urban, minority areas with their abortion clinics. 

Ironically enough, African-American federal tax dollars are finding their way into the predominantly white pockets of Planned Parenthood, while Planned Parenthood successfully accomplishes the goal of its founder Margaret Sanger.  That goal was to practice eugenics, that is the ’science’ of controlling births such that favorable traits and qualities are more often reproduced than those that are less favorable, to keep minority births down.

I doubt that Sanger could have dreamed that her “Negro project” would ever have been as successful as the 13,000,000 African-American abortions that have taken place since 1973.

(Watch a video of a John Piper sermon where he speaks of Sanger.  “When is Abortion Racism?” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwnXyfVzSWs )

I mentioned Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who is best remembered for his “I have a dream” speach and for his martyrdom for the cause of bringing about his dream for the African-American people in this country.  I wrote a poem a couple of months ago titled “The American Dream.”  The title is a satire, tragically, because the “American dream” mentioned in the poem is anything but a dream.  It is a nightmare, and it starkly contrasts the dream that Dr. King spoke of.

“The American Dream”
Pharaoh and Herod blew their battle horns,
Not against men, but against the newborns.
Tragedy, yes, but today we would say:
“Pharaoh, Herod, you guys waited too late!”

For if you kill newborn babies, you’re jerks.
But us, we’ve evolved, just look at the perks.
We kill our babies before they can scream,
So we can live the American dream.

“Ma’am, your boss gripes ’bout maternity leave?
Well ‘it’s’ just an ‘it,’ no reason to grieve.
You’ll go under the knife one afternoon,
Then back to your life, ‘it’s’ over so soon.”

I have a thought I’d like to consider:
Moses put his staff in the Nile river,
And the water turned to blood all around.
Could it be that the blood rose from the ground?

Could this be the same blood from years before,
When upon male babies Pharaoh made war?
If that is the case, what about us then?
For we have killed Forty-seven million!

What if the blood of those babies would rise,
And red cover earth like blue covers skies?
Or must we have hard hearts like the Pharaoh,
Until God releases His due arrow?

For the bow is ready and the string is taut,
And the Hunter is just to shoot or not.
The blood of those babies is on our hands,
And in His eyes their blood covers our lands.

Pray for “The Woodchucks”

I wrote a brief blog the other day about the group of Southern students who went out evangelizing this past Saturday night.

Lord willing, we plan to make this a weekly occurrance- on either Friday or Saturday nights (and if the Lord blesses us with enough growth in numbers, we plan to split up and have some go Friday and some go Saturday).  Please pray for our group, “The Woodchucks,” that we would be faithful in seeking opportunites proclaim the gospel, not only collectively but also individually.  That the Lord would give us opportunities to proclaim the gospel as we ought, that we would seek those opportunities, and that we would make the most of those opportunities- for the glory of the Lord, the sake of the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, by the power of the Spirit, and for the good of those who will suffer eternal punishment without the salvation that Christ alone can give them.  I just read the end of the book of Colossians this morning, and I think that Colossians 3:2-4 is a good prayer for “The Woodchucks” collectively and David Hamilton individually:

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.”

Although my dorm room is quite small and I am often in “confinement” here, the imprisoned part doesn’t exactly apply.  Also pray that the love that we have for Jesus Christ would exude from us as we take the gospel to the streets of Louisville.  There is no way around the awkwardness and the differentness when proclaiming the gospel.  May we remember the amazing love that called us out of our sin, and may we not only proclaim the gospel, but may we do so joyously!

One More Reason to Keep My Door Open

So, I’m sitting in my dorm room about five minutes ago, talking on the phone with my sister.  And the craziest thing happens.

The guy that lives across the hall from me, Ross, was a Capitol Hill intern recently, and he just had two visitors.  I recognized a fellow student, but did not recognize the man in the suit immediately.  It was Mark Dever! 

Ross told him who my brother is, and introduced us.  He said to tell Jim hello and told me that I have a wonderful brother.  Wow.

Calvinism for the Glory of God

My Arminian friend, who is possibly the greatest human being on the planet, recently asked me how Calvinist beliefs are more God-glorifying than Arminian beliefs.  If I remember correctly, I told him that they are, and he asked why.  At the time, it was one of those things where I believed the statement to be true, but I wasn’t really prepared to articulate and defend the statement.  When I woke up this morning, the articulation came to me.

These thoughts, like everything else I have, I have received.  Therefore, if you disagree, then disagree with David Hamilton.  But, if you agree, then do not praise David Hamilton.  Praise God, from whom all blessings flow!

Calvinist beliefs glorify God moreso than Arminian beliefs, mainly because Calvinist beliefs cause us to shift our focus from man to God.

I think that Calvinist beliefs lead a person to study the whole Bible, and they lead a person to seek to faithfully preach, evangelize, and practice church Biblically.  The reason that I think that Calvinist beliefs lead us this way, which glorifies God more than the alternatives, is the fundamental difference between Calvinist and Arminian beliefs.  I think that the fundamental difference between Calvinism and Arminianism is that they differ on who makes the decision about salvation.  Arminians believe that the human makes the decision and accepts salvation, whereas Calvinists believe that God makes the decision and bestows salvation. 

It is logical that those who believe that it is necessary for God to decide to save a person in order for that person to be saved to focus on God.  It is also logical that those who believe that it is necessary for the person to decide to be saved in order for that person to be saved to focus on man.  Therefore, it is logical for Calvinists to focus more on God, while Arminians focus more on man. 

Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1 that, “the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.”  However, because Arminians wrongly focus on the decision of the person, Arminians will not rightly focus on the “word of the cross” as they ought.  This is logical.  Whereas “the word of the cross is foolishness;” whereas Arminians believe the human must decide to be saved; and whereas humans do not decide in favor of foolishness (well except when we decide to sin, but that’s another story); it flows logically that Arminians will not focus on the foolishness of the “word of the cross” as we ought.

The “word of the cross” and its foolishness will only be focused on as we ought when a person beleives that salvation is in God’s hands, rather than up to the individual person’s acceptance of salvation.  In this case, a person is at least more likely, I believe, to follow the words of the apostle Paul, who was a Calvinist about 1500 years before John Calvin lived:

We preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. -1 Corinthians 1:23-25

and again:

When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. -1 Corinthians 2:1-5

I believe that the prosperity gospel and the emergent movement have both grown from Arminian roots.  The biggest problem that I have with both of them is that neither preach Christ and Him crucified.  Because of this, neither preach about sin.  The latter flows from the former because Christ and Him crucified is the only answer for sin, and without Christ and Him crucified we have no answer for sin.  Furthermore, the problem with not preaching Christ and Him crucified is that such a failure relegates Christianity to the status of every religion other than Christianity.

Christianity alone deals with sin.  All other religions are works-based religions, and all other religions fail to deal with sin.  Though they have their distinctions, they are all systems whereby a person goes through a checklist, and if they do enough good and little enough bad, then they will be “justified.”  But none have a way of dealing with their failures. 

Christianity is the only religion that does so, and it does so in one way and one way alone: Christ and Him crucified.

Notice in 1 Corinthians 2:4 that Paul says that his preaching and message “were not in persuasive words of wisdom.”  If man can “decide” and save himself, then Paul’s statement is the most ridiculous statement possible, because under Arminian beliefs the only hope if we desire to see souls saved is to persuade people to believe.  Conversely, believing that a merciful and gracious act of God is necessary for salvation to come about; believing that the Spirit must cause a person to be born again; and believing that the Spirit acts so as to bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ leads us away from “persuasive words of wisdom” and to one method of preaching, evangelizing, and practicing church.  That is, focusing on “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”  This also frees us because we do not have to be persuasive and/or have greater wisdom than anybody else in order to see souls saved.  We simply proclaim Christ and Him crucified, and prayerfully seek the Lord to act on His word and His gospel.

Although you will hear love, social justice, and the benefits of Christianity for this life from Arminians, you will not hear Christ and Him crucified- at least not as it ought to be proclaimed.  Love, social justice, and the worldly benefits of Christianity are all good things, but none of them have eternal benefits.  The only means to eternal prosperity, eternal benefits, and eternal assurance is Christ and Him crucified.  His death in my place to pay my penalty for my sins, whereby I am spared from the just wrath of my Creator, who will be my judge.  By faith alone forgiveness, reconciliation, and righteousness are mine by faith in Christ and Him crucified.

Therefore, by leading us away from man-centered, persuasiveness-driven “wisdom,” and by leading us to “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified,” Calvinism is more God-glorifying than is Arminianism.

The Gospel

I just stumbled across a website where you can submit poetry for potential publishing.  After compiling a collection of my poetry, I noticed another collection in the “Religion and Spirituality” category that was titled something like “From Christian to Atheist to Christian.”  As this was the path that I have travelled, I decided to check it out.  I fear that the author has been deceived by the emergentism which relegates Christianity to the same level of all non-Christian religions by failing to address our sin and our hopelessness before the holy, righteous, and just living God.  This was my response to this person’s writing:

What matters is that God created us and He will one day judge us.  On our own, none of us have any hope on the day of judgment.  However, as Kevin DeYoung said in his book “Why We’re Not Emergent,” God sent Jesus Christ to live the life we couldn’t, and to die the death that we deserve.  He died in our place to pay the penalty of our sin.  By loving, faithful obedience to Jesus Christ, by trusting in Him and repenting of our sins, and by persevering in faith until the end, those who believe in the only name under heaven that can save, the name of Jesus Christ, will be forgiven of their sins, reconciled to their Creator, and will inherit the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ.  Jesus said that we are to be perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect.  The only hope that we have is to trust in the promises of the Word of God, that by faith the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ will be ours, we will be adopted as sons by the living God, and we will be fellow heirs with Jesus and inherit the world.  I too have gone from Christianity to Atheism to Christianity.  But by the gospel of God, which is His power unto salvation for everyone who believes, it has been given to me to see that the only hope in my hopelessness is the hope provided by the person, work, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Ross King’s Satirical “Why Me, Lord?”

“Clear the Stage” by Ross King

“Clear the Stage” Lyrics

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