by R. Herbert | May 31, 2015 | The Life of Jesus, Updates
Have you ever tried to make a deal with God? I don’t mean in a blatant way, such as “If you give me what I want, I will obey you,” as most of us understand this would be wrong. But there are more subtle ways in which we can sometimes unknowingly stumble because of what might be called the “If” mentality.
“If” is a small word with a great potential for misuse. In fact, according to the four Gospels, many of the spiritual attacks against Jesus were based on this diminutive word. Satan’s temptations of Jesus at the beginning of His ministry show us one of the ways in which we can be lured by an “If” mentality. Notice the wording: “If you are the Son of God command that these stones be made bread … if you are the son of God throw yourself down … if you will fall down and worship me” (Matthew 4:3-8).
When we study these temptations in detail we see Satan repeatedly used the word “if” with the implication that if some action would be for a good purpose, then it is justified. This is the underlying attitude that we too may have in suggesting that God do something for what we feel is a good and necessary goal. We should always remember that even if it is for a good purpose, the ends do not justify the means unless they conform to God’s will.
Later in the ministry of Jesus we see the word “if” used in response to him in numerous other settings. We see it, for example, in the demands of the Jewish leaders: “If you are the Christ, tell us plainly” (John 10: 24), and we should be careful not to fall into this particular “If” trap, also. Jesus had performed many miracles and signs throughout Judea, yet the Jewish leaders wanted him to confirm the signs for them – to see them with their own eyes. We need to be careful to be attuned to what God is doing in our lives and the things he is wanting us to be aware of. We should not tell God how to get a point across to us any more than we should suggest that we will only hear if the message is conveyed in a manner we think is “proof” to us.
The Gospels record the “If”mentality manifesting itself all the way down to the end of Jesus’s life. Some of those present at his crucifixion, including some of the rulers and chief priests, said: “If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him” (Matthew 27:42 NKJV). Here, we see the attitude of “if” in its most raw and rebellious form – “If God does what I think is necessary, I’ll respond as I should.” This is not far from the attempts to make a deal with God that we mentioned as we began this discussion. There may seem to be “nothing in it for us” in some of these circumstances – but we still try to make God conform to our will, our conditions for obedience.
In every one of these cases and many more in the ministry of Jesus, the word “if” was used in a manner which sought to impose another will, another viewpoint, on that of God. We see it in the attitude of the self-righteous Pharisee who said “if he were a prophet, he would know who and what manner of woman … touched him” (Luke 7:39) and in dozens of other places. We must always remember that God’s way is not one of a number of options for which we can negotiate. There is truly only one kind of “If” mentality that is right and proper in our relationship with God: the attitude that Jesus himself exhibited throughout his earthly life – the attitude of “If it is your will…” (Matthew 26:42).
by R. Herbert | May 25, 2015 | Growth, Updates
An excerpt from our free eBook on Christian encouragement: Some Days We Soar. You can download the book without cost here.
H
ave you ever had a friend thank you for something that you perhaps were not even aware you did? Sometimes I think spiritual life can be like that, too. It’s easy to be aware of our failures and the many areas in which we want to grow and to miss the fact that growth is taking place. God does work changes in those who desire and ask for transformation (Psalms 51:10, Ephesians 4:22-24), and perhaps if we walked with Him much more closely, growth would be more obvious, but that doesn’t mean growth is not taking place because we do not always see it. Think about the disciples for a minute. By the time of the last evening of Christ’s life, probably every one of the disciples had exhibited enough human faults, failures, fumbles and foibles to indicate to them all that perhaps they hadn’t learned that much from their teacher. We might think of Peter’s many mistakes, but others even wanted to bring down fire from heaven (Luke 9:54), and it looks like they were all arguing about who was the “greatest” among them on that last evening (Luke 22:24). Additionally, Jesus probably knew that they would soon sleep as he agonized in Gethsemane, that they would all soon desert him, and that even the most dedicated among them would deny knowing him. Yet despite their track record of failures and little apparent growth, Luke records Jesus as making an amazing statement regarding the disciples at that last Passover meal: “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials” (Luke 22:28). It seems that Christ did not judge the disciples on their failures to date – or even those he knew were coming up soon – but on the right things they had done, on the areas where growth had taken place. He saw it in them even if they perhaps did not see it themselves. It’s like the Parable of the Growing Seed that Jesus had given earlier in his ministry:“This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4: 26-29). This is a time-lapse parable like the time-lapse videos that speed up time to show plants growing and other slow-changing things happening before our eyes. But the good news is that just as the farmer in the parable does not see or comprehend it, the slow-growing plant is growing nonetheless; and that, Jesus said, is how the kingdom of God grows. Once we come to understand this we can be encouraged that growth is growth no matter how small it may seem right now. And that helps us to focus on the value of every small – even seemingly insignificant – advance we make. Each right decision, each right choice, adds up, no matter how small it may be. As C.S. Lewis wisely wrote years ago in Mere Christianity: “Good and evil both increase at compound interest. That is why the little decisions you and I make every day are of such infinite importance. The smallest good act today is the capture of a strategic point from which, a few months later, you may be able to go on to victories you never dreamed of.”
by R. Herbert | May 10, 2015 | Family, Updates, Women of Strength
A few months ago, the research and polling agency Barna Group published their most important findings from the surveys they conducted in 2014. Those top findings included a fascinating (one among many) survey that looked at the satisfaction and stress levels of mothers – with children still at home – compared to other women.
The image snip below (part of Barna’s graphic summarizing the survey) shows a few of the survey’s findings we felt were particularly interesting. It shows, for example, that while most mothers tend to be a little more dissatisfied with the balance of their work/home life than other women, they are significantly more stressed (80% as opposed to 72% for all women), tired (70% as opposed to 58% for all women), and overcommitted (56% as opposed to 48% for all women).
These statistics are informative and interesting at any time, but they are perhaps especially relevant for us to consider on Mother’s Day. Barna’s research shows clearly and empirically that motherhood does indeed involve sacrifice. The additional stress, tiredness and feeling of over-commitment faced by the majority of mothers is something we need to keep in mind as we celebrate Mother’s Day. All too often the potentially deep appreciation we should all show on Mother’s Day is muted by well-meaning but perhaps inadequate store-bought cards and other forms of ritual acknowledgment.
This is not to say that motherhood does not bring its own rewards. It does, of course, and most mothers are happy to make the sacrifices they do. But when we consider the ongoing and very real nature of the sacrifices made by so many mothers on a day-to-day basis, we should perhaps look at this day a little differently. Barna’s excellent survey reminds us not just to see Mother’s Day as another day on the calendar – like birthdays and anniversaries – to send a card, but to see it the way we should: as a day in which we honor those who so often sacrifice for their families.
You can see the survey and Barna’s other top findings here.
by R. Herbert | May 6, 2015 | Family, Updates
A few months ago we ran an article on “Christian Adoption and Foster Care” which proved very popular and drew a number of positive comments. This month is Foster Care Month in the United States and we decided to bring you a small update in that area.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in the United States more than 400,000 children are presently in foster care, and many more children are waiting to be accepted into foster care homes. Some 114,000 children presently in foster care are waiting to be adopted.
If you are interested in fostering a child needing a temporary home (most child welfare agencies cover many of the costs associated with fostering), there is a wealth of information available online regarding Christian fostering. The Christian Alliance for Orphans is only one example, but it is one we feel is particularly helpful with lots of links to further information on fostering as well as adoption. The Alliance unites more than 100 respected Christian organizations and a national network of churches so it can be very helpful in finding contacts in a person’s local area. Another good resource, giving state foster care contacts, is the U.S. government’s National Foster Care Month page.
Also, you may find that there are people in your own church who are already providing foster care or who have adopted or are in the process of doing so. You may find such people invaluable sources of current local information and opportunities.
Even if you are not able to consider fostering or adopting, there are other things you can do to help. We recommend CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) which promotes court-appointed volunteer advocacy to help ensure children in foster care or adoption are safe and properly protected.
If you decide to try foster parenting, or know someone who does, there are many good books available on the subject. One very new book that we have seen and highly recommend is the unique and very helpful What’s a Foster Family? by Anne Garboczi Evans (author) and Helen Cochrane (illustrator), which helps even young children of existing families understand and accept a foster sibling. Published just a couple of months ago, it’s well written and illustrated and perfectly pitched for the children who will be helped by it. In the US It is available here, and those in the UK can find it here.
Finally, if you didn’t already read our full article on “Christian Adoption and Foster Parenting,” and it is of interest, you can read it here.
by R. Herbert | Apr 30, 2015 | Great Commission, Updates
The New Testament Book of Acts contains many fascinating stories of the growth of early Christianity. One of those stories tells of the conversion of an African man from Ethiopia whose coming to belief had great significance for early Christianity – more than we might realize …
“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road – the desert road – that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him …” (Acts 8:26-31).
Reading the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch it is hard for us, as modern readers, to grasp the way in which the story would have been perceived by its original hearers in the early Church.
In the ancient world Ethiopia epitomized the idea of remoteness. The Greek poet Homer spoke of the inhabitants of Ethiopia as the “farthest of men” – the most remote known peoples (Odyssey 1.23), and the term Ethiopia was often used by classical writers to mean all of unknown sub-Saharan Africa – to “the ends of the earth.”
This sense of the exotic and distant land from which the eunuch came was heightened by other details of the story – the fact that the inhabitants of Ethiopia were dark-skinned was exotic in itself. The fact that the man was a eunuch also placed him in a small minority of Jews or Gentile proselytes to the Jewish faith. Even more exceptional was the nature of the eunuch’s position as an important official in a distant land perceived to be “ruled by women” (a number of the Kandake queens ruled Ethiopia during that era). All these factors would have come together in the minds of early Christians to form a very vivid image of a man from the ends of the earth.
We see how these facts would have been perceived when we apply them to the wording of the great commission given by Christ to his disciples before his ascension: “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8B). Acts records that commission being fulfilled in Jerusalem (Acts 6:8-8:3), in Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:4-25) and, in the story of the Ethiopian eunuch, to “the ends of the earth” (Acts 8:26-40). That is doubtless why, out of all the thousands of people that were converted at that time (Acts 4:4, etc.), the story of the Ethiopian eunuch was selected to be told in detail. The commission certainly was to take the Gospel to all the Gentile world, not just to Ethiopia, but the early readers of Acts would have immediately recognized in that account how God was working out His purpose and beginning to fulfill His intentions.
There are many exemplary lessons we can see in the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch: the willingness of Philip to follow the Spirit’s prompting to do the work of God, the devotion of the Ethiopian to travel the huge distance to Jerusalem to worship, the humility of the powerful man in the way he asked Philip’s help to understand God’s word, and many more. But a lesson we should not forget is that if we keep in mind the plan and purposes of God, we will see them being fulfilled in and around us if we are observant. If we look for them, we will see the signs of God’s work being done and be strengthened by them, as the word continues to go out to “the ends of the earth.”
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