What is the Good God Has Promised?

As an extension of what I wrote on Monday, there is the huge question of “what is good.” The verse, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” is quoted so often that I almost hate to bring it up. (Romans 8:28)

But this verse is central to the question of moving God to act on our behalf through faith. Consider the idea of receiving healing for a physical problem. Some people firmly believe that God wants perfect health for everyone here on earth, because that is good.

In fact, there is a currently popular Christian song which says, “You make all things work together for my good.” But is that what Romans 8:28, quoted above, says? No, it is not.

There can be a huge difference between what I would consider “my good,” and “absolute good.” Going back to the health example, if it is always good for me to be healthy, then I would have to conclude that if I have perfect faith, I will have perfect health until at some point when God says, “time’s up,” I would drop dead with a smile on my face. It would mean that babies would never be born with defects, and that handicapping injuries would never happen to those who have perfect faith. But life doesn’t work this way.

John Bunyan spent years starving in prison- probably not what he would have defined as “good,” and yet the world was given Pilgrim’s Progress. Joel Sonnenberg was burned over 85% of his body as a toddler (certainly not because of his lack of faith), and his parents triumphed in God’s sovereign goodness, and Joel is now a Christian motivational speaker. Amy Carmichael broke her ankle before she thought that her work in India was complete, and discovered that God was moving her to the ranks of the prayer warriors, rather than to continue as a “soldier” on the front lines of working with people. We like to remember the faith of the men thrown into the fiery furnace who were not burned, but what of those heroes of faith from Hebrews 11 who were "stoned, sawn asunder, and killed with the sword?" They had the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who said that they didn't know if God would spare them, but he was able, whether he did or not. We are cheered by the physically saving faith of the men in the fire, but not so much by the faith of those who were sawn in two.

James 4:3 says, “You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.”

Sometimes, our definition of “goodness” is just another form of lust. We want to be healthy, sheltered in reasonable comfort, have loving family and friends around us, and feel God’s presence in our lives. We believe that God wants these things for us. Yet, sometimes God calls people to be ill, injured, cold and hungry, even alone. He wants us to trust him, whether we can feel that He is there or not. He wants us to stand with Job and say, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

Our definition of good has to be aligned with God’s definition of good. This can be a difficult coordination problem, but this is the issue to which we should apply our faith.

Race For Life: The Joel Sonnenberg Story Joel Sonnenberg's web site

Would You Dare? (Amma) $6.00

Can Faith Accomplish Everything?

This week, I was in a discussion about faith with someone. Her church is studying a book that proposes that every lack in our lives is due to the fact that we don’t have enough faith. This includes the lack of money, being depressed, having poor health, etc.

I took issue with this idea. Two examples from Scripture just leapt to mind. Job was tested simply because he was the most righteous man on earth, and Satan challenged God that he could be broken. Job lost everything except his wife and his life. But was it because of his lack of faith? I don’t believe so. My friend, who really does believe that anything can be accomplished with enough faith, quoted Job 3:25, where Job says, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.” This verse supposedly indicates that Job’s faith wasn’t perfect, that he had fears. But, I think this begs the question of the chain of events as reported. It was more due to Job’s great faith that the “bad” things happened to him, rather than a lack of faith. In fact, he refused to give up on God. His wife advised him to “curse God and die,” yet Job was steadfast and said he would trust God even if God killed him.

Another good example is the man who was born blind. John 9 tells that Jesus healed him, and then the disciples asked, “Who sinned, this man, or his parents?” They believed that the lack of health had to be the result of sin. Jesus didn’t answer in riddles, for a change. He clearly said that no one sinned, but that the man was born blind simply so that the works of God could be displayed.

We don’t know how old this man was, but if it’s a fact that sufficient faith fixes everything, then for all the years before the man met Jesus he could have been accurately criticized for not having enough faith. The reality is that he had plenty of faith, because he was healed. However, the timing also had to be right.

The book the group is studying does pose the question, “Does the sovereignty of God take precedence over faith?” In other words, if God has some overriding plan, can he be forced to change that plan by someone who prays with enough faith?

One school of thought says, “Yes, God has to respond to a prayer of sufficient faith.”

I say that there are lots of examples throughout history of people who were asked to suffer physically, emotionally, or spiritually for various reasons having nothing to do with the amount of faith they had.

What do you think?

Lyrics- Work For the Night is Coming

Every Sunday the lyrics from some great piece of Christian music will be featured. It's not that I want worship to revert to using all hymns, it's just that many modern Christian songs don't SAY anything. I really miss some deeper meaning. So I'm going to remind us of some great words.

Work For the Night is Coming
Anna Coghill, 1854

Work, for the night is coming,
Work through the morning hours;
Work while the dew is sparkling,
Work ’mid springing flowers;
Work when the day grows brighter,
Work in the glowing sun;
Work, for the night is coming,
When man’s work is done.

Work, for the night is coming,
Work through the sunny noon;
Fill brightest hours with labor,
Rest comes sure and soon.
Give every flying minute,
Something to keep in store;
Work, for the night is coming,
When man works no more.

Work, for the night is coming,
Under the sunset skies;
While their bright tints are glowing,
Work, for daylight flies.
Work till the last beam fadeth,
Fadeth to shine no more;
Work, while the night is darkening,
When man’s work is o’er.

This past week, while there were no posts here, I was working for a friend. It was hard, physical labor, which can be very satisfying. This song reminds us of that wonderful aspect of being human, and also that our time here on earth is brief. We should work hard, both for the accomplishments, and for the kingdom ahead. I'm having a hard time finding a video I like for this song, so I made one!

Lyrics- We Gather Together

Every Sunday the lyrics from some great piece of Christian music will be featured. It's not that I want worship to revert to using all hymns, it's just that many modern Christian songs don't SAY anything. I really miss some deeper meaning. So I'm going to remind us of some great words.

We Gather Together
Dutch Hymn written in 1597 by person unknown

We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.

Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!

We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!

This is probably the most "authentic" Thanksgiving hymn there is. It was probably sung at the very first Thanksgiving, as it was certainly known to the Pilgrims. Much to my surprise, I had a hard time finding a good video. The words seem to insist on a group rendition rather than a solo, but many non-professional groups don't sing all that well. I found two audio versions I liked, but with boring graphics. So, I have settled on this one, which, at least, shows people gathering together to ask the Lord's blessing!

Answer to Cryptogram

The answer to yesterday's cryptogram is Psalm 35:18 (NIV)

I WILL GIVE YOU THANKS IN THE GREAT ASSEMBLY; AMONG THE THRONGS I WILL PRAISE YOU.

Friday Fun- Cryptogram

Every Friday there will be a Bible game of some kind to play. The answers will be posted on Saturday morning. This time it's a simple cryptogram. Each letter you see has been substituted for another letter of the alphabet. For example, if A is represented by D, then every D in the puzzle would be an A (but this is just an example- not the case in this puzzle). Hint- it's a Bible verse.

X GXNN VXQM REF YALICH XI YAM VZMLY LHHMTWNR; LTEIV YAM YAZEIVH X GXNN DZLXHM REF.

Have Fun!

Gospel Enigmas - Which Commandments?

I find that many of the things Jesus did are perplexing. They make me think, and sometimes I have no conclusions. I'll pose questions and only share my opinion as to meaning after a day or so. Interact!


Jesus answered the scribe’s question of which is the greatest commandment: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

This wasn’t some newly created distillation of the ten commandments. Jesus was quoting Deuteronomy and Leviticus. By using these phrases he not only demonstrated his knowledge of Scripture, but validated the authority of the law. This all makes sense.

Then we come to Jesus’ meeting with the young rich man. This man chases Jesus down... literally. He runs down the road to catch up with him. He kneels and calls Jesus “Good Teacher.” Then he asks what he should do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answer is almost coy. He starts with a question, “Why do you call me good? No man is good.”

He continues by telling the man to obey the commandments, and lists them. Well, sort of... Jesus lists five of the ten commandments. And not the first five. Actually the decalogue breaks into sections of four and six. The first four deal with our relationship with God, the “love the Lord” part. The final six cover “love your neighbor.”

Jesus seems to be playing a game with the young man. He tells him not to commit adultery, murder, or lie, and that he should honor his father and mother.

This seems like all the wrong answers. It’s as if Jesus is saying that one can attain heaven by doing certain things, when the entire premise of the New Testament is that we gain eternal life by faith in God... more in line with the first four of the commandments.

What do you think Jesus was doing? read more

See Mark 12
See Mark 10