Dear EleventyFans,
The last eight years of my life have been spent traveling the country and the world with two of my best friends playing in a band we have all put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into. I learned much about God, life, joy, failure, fear, and love firsthand while out on the road. I even met my wife. And now, as my time with Eleventyseven is coming to an end, I am nothing but grateful for the opportunities I have had to serve the Lord in Eleventyseven. Now, I am leaving the band to begin a new season of my life that I feel the Lord leading me to in order to serve Him even further. There are new ministries waiting on me. I want to say thank you to all our friends, family, and fans, who have supported me throughout the past 8 years. I will remember you and pray for you always. You were the reason I loved playing. I will continue to love, support, and pray for Matt and Jonathan personally as well as Eleventyseven and the ministry God has for it. This has been a very difficult decision to make, as obedience to our Lord usually is. All of your prayers as fans, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ, have been more than encouraging and have influenced me in ways you may never realize. I am forever indebted to your kindness and support. You have made my journey something that will always be something I look back on with gratitude. I encourage you all to follow the Lord even when it is hard, and I guarantee it will be, because on the other side of your obedience is a joy that the God of the universe is waiting to give you.
God Bless You All
Caleb
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Waiting For Relief
I'm only gonna do one more blog on the problem of evil. I know that there is so much more to say and more questions to ask, but if I'm to be honest, I really don't know if I can say anymore about it. After the last blog, I've been forced into thinking about things in a very frightening light. Questions beginning with "What if..." have filled my mind. I'm not really sure why but I've been putting myself in hypothetical situations where it is my family that has been murdered, my daughter that has been raped, my own child that has committed suicide; I've never been the type to think things like this. If I'm honest it scares me to know what could happen, the reality that could take place, that is taking place, only not in my life but the lives of others. Others I know personally.
The last thing I wanna do is give a very brief answer to the problem of evil, which in the end will not dissolve the problem but will seem more like a pain killer. We are still waiting for relief. Unfortunately there is a lifetime before we feel the effects of the pill, that is unless Christ returns. Just between you and me I hope he does, and soon. I'm tired of my sin, my love for myself. Damn the world and it's sex appeal.
The answer to evil and suffering (the answer to anything) is the Cross of the Christ.
I have recently been working on a lesson that I will be teaching at a youth event at Waynesburg University next month. My lesson is on the story of redemptive history. What is so fun about this is that this story has already been written. It is a story that goes from creation to new creation, beginning to new beginning. At the center of this story, the apex of all things, is the three days in which Jesus died and then rose. The cross, although it is the only way of making sense out of suffering, doesn't do away with it. It will but not yet, Jesus will but not yet. God began a story with creation, and will redeem the mess we have made of this story through the cross and begin a new story. Well then, why doesn't he do this already?
It is his mercy that keeps His return. After the disaster in Haiti, I heard quite a few people say, one of them being me, that Jesus just needs to come back so all of this can end. It's a good thought but what we forget is Revelation 14:14-20. Those who don't love God face God's wrath and you can say all of those suffering in Haiti right now are nice people but God doesn't care if you're nice, he cares if you love him. When Jesus returns He will return as a king, The King, not a peasant, and do away with sin and unregenerate sinners. Lets us preach the Gospel to the world so as few as possible will face His wrath. Please! Please! Please! Let us Live the Gospel for their sakes!
For those who are God-fearing Christians, the cross for us is a picture of our lives. The road to heaven is paved with suffering. We must pick up our cross and carry it like Jesus did. We follow Christ in the sense we all have a cross to carry. The beauty though in Christ's death is "...one died for all, therefore all have died."-2 corinthians 5:14. Not only did he die that we could all die to ourselves, but he rose so that we could all rise again. I would encourage you to read 2 Corinthians 15 and revelation 21-22. It will give you an idea to what the new beginning of God's story, our story, your story. To live this story we must suffer. The answer to suffering is that we are called to suffer (I warned you that this would seem like no answer). There is only one last thing to say...
I rejoice that my story has already been written, not in ink, pencil or anything perishable, but with the blood of Christ that can never be erased.
Amen
The last thing I wanna do is give a very brief answer to the problem of evil, which in the end will not dissolve the problem but will seem more like a pain killer. We are still waiting for relief. Unfortunately there is a lifetime before we feel the effects of the pill, that is unless Christ returns. Just between you and me I hope he does, and soon. I'm tired of my sin, my love for myself. Damn the world and it's sex appeal.
The answer to evil and suffering (the answer to anything) is the Cross of the Christ.
I have recently been working on a lesson that I will be teaching at a youth event at Waynesburg University next month. My lesson is on the story of redemptive history. What is so fun about this is that this story has already been written. It is a story that goes from creation to new creation, beginning to new beginning. At the center of this story, the apex of all things, is the three days in which Jesus died and then rose. The cross, although it is the only way of making sense out of suffering, doesn't do away with it. It will but not yet, Jesus will but not yet. God began a story with creation, and will redeem the mess we have made of this story through the cross and begin a new story. Well then, why doesn't he do this already?
It is his mercy that keeps His return. After the disaster in Haiti, I heard quite a few people say, one of them being me, that Jesus just needs to come back so all of this can end. It's a good thought but what we forget is Revelation 14:14-20. Those who don't love God face God's wrath and you can say all of those suffering in Haiti right now are nice people but God doesn't care if you're nice, he cares if you love him. When Jesus returns He will return as a king, The King, not a peasant, and do away with sin and unregenerate sinners. Lets us preach the Gospel to the world so as few as possible will face His wrath. Please! Please! Please! Let us Live the Gospel for their sakes!
For those who are God-fearing Christians, the cross for us is a picture of our lives. The road to heaven is paved with suffering. We must pick up our cross and carry it like Jesus did. We follow Christ in the sense we all have a cross to carry. The beauty though in Christ's death is "...one died for all, therefore all have died."-2 corinthians 5:14. Not only did he die that we could all die to ourselves, but he rose so that we could all rise again. I would encourage you to read 2 Corinthians 15 and revelation 21-22. It will give you an idea to what the new beginning of God's story, our story, your story. To live this story we must suffer. The answer to suffering is that we are called to suffer (I warned you that this would seem like no answer). There is only one last thing to say...
I rejoice that my story has already been written, not in ink, pencil or anything perishable, but with the blood of Christ that can never be erased.
Amen
Friday, February 19, 2010
When breathing is all there is...
The past several days I've heard of some devastatingly real events that have ravaged the hearts and joy of a few good friends in ways that I couldn't even bear to imagine. Lindsay told me of one that confused the mind as much as grieve the spirit. The moment I heard the news I automatically said "What if I that were my girl?" Even that thought made me cry. I feel at this point in my life I haven't even tasted a morsel pain and suffering. Well, maybe a morsel. All along I've been trying to figure out how this thing works, maybe it's ignorant to even try. Maybe it's a hopeless endeavor.
Nothing seems to bring any kind of relief while standing in a thick cloud of despair. The cloud is to thick to breath in, to thick to see through, to thick to stay in. But you'll never find your way out. One deep breath will still never be enough to make it out alive, especially with your eyes blinded by the haze. There is only one hope. Jesus. And this may sound blasphemous but even he seems like he doesn't help. One of the more sobering stories for me in all the bible is in John 11, the death and resurrection of Lazarus. This event makes me fall in love with the Christ while at the same time it confuses me to no ends.
Lazarus, a man loved by Jesus. Jesus not only loved Lazarus but also his sisters Mary and Martha. Mary sent a message to Jesus that Lazarus was sick and getting sicker. When Jesus hears this He doesn't immediately start back. He tells his disciples that Lazarus will die but his sickness will not end there, it will glorify Himself. He then stayed where he was for two more days and then started his journey back to Judea with the plan of raising Lazarus. When Jesus comes into the village he is overwhelmed by grief because all the people were weeping. The next thing that happens is what I love about Jesus.
JESUS WEPT!
Jesus wept with those who wept and mourned with those who mourned. How... How... I have no word to describe this. When my granny Sarah died, Jesus wept with me, mourned with me. He cares! He cares! He cares! Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus! I don't mean that in the small way that he just wants to hear about our day. Jesus, when we are facing unspeakable anguish, knows to not give us explanations that don't help, but to cry with us while simply saying "I love you my child."
Now the confusing things to me are something I can't explain except to say this: God has plans far bigger than us and if God would like for us to suffer as a part of what He is doing then who are we to argue. For most that is not sufficient and for all who are suffering like I have described will never be consoled by that in the midst of pain. One question to ask (there are many more): Is it a little mean for Jesus to decide to let Lazarus and many more people suffer so He can glorify himself? Is there no other way to go about this thing? Maybe not. The only consolation, and the most in the all of scripture I must add, found here is that regardless how things play out, he is a friend, a friend indeed. In the cloud of despair that is far from navigable, maybe the only thing that helps is a friend willing feel the pain with you, a friend willing to share precious breath with you when your own refuses to hold out. When breathing is all there is to do, I will do it with you.
Oh! What a friend we have in Jesus.
Nothing seems to bring any kind of relief while standing in a thick cloud of despair. The cloud is to thick to breath in, to thick to see through, to thick to stay in. But you'll never find your way out. One deep breath will still never be enough to make it out alive, especially with your eyes blinded by the haze. There is only one hope. Jesus. And this may sound blasphemous but even he seems like he doesn't help. One of the more sobering stories for me in all the bible is in John 11, the death and resurrection of Lazarus. This event makes me fall in love with the Christ while at the same time it confuses me to no ends.
Lazarus, a man loved by Jesus. Jesus not only loved Lazarus but also his sisters Mary and Martha. Mary sent a message to Jesus that Lazarus was sick and getting sicker. When Jesus hears this He doesn't immediately start back. He tells his disciples that Lazarus will die but his sickness will not end there, it will glorify Himself. He then stayed where he was for two more days and then started his journey back to Judea with the plan of raising Lazarus. When Jesus comes into the village he is overwhelmed by grief because all the people were weeping. The next thing that happens is what I love about Jesus.
JESUS WEPT!
Jesus wept with those who wept and mourned with those who mourned. How... How... I have no word to describe this. When my granny Sarah died, Jesus wept with me, mourned with me. He cares! He cares! He cares! Oh, what a friend we have in Jesus! I don't mean that in the small way that he just wants to hear about our day. Jesus, when we are facing unspeakable anguish, knows to not give us explanations that don't help, but to cry with us while simply saying "I love you my child."
Now the confusing things to me are something I can't explain except to say this: God has plans far bigger than us and if God would like for us to suffer as a part of what He is doing then who are we to argue. For most that is not sufficient and for all who are suffering like I have described will never be consoled by that in the midst of pain. One question to ask (there are many more): Is it a little mean for Jesus to decide to let Lazarus and many more people suffer so He can glorify himself? Is there no other way to go about this thing? Maybe not. The only consolation, and the most in the all of scripture I must add, found here is that regardless how things play out, he is a friend, a friend indeed. In the cloud of despair that is far from navigable, maybe the only thing that helps is a friend willing feel the pain with you, a friend willing to share precious breath with you when your own refuses to hold out. When breathing is all there is to do, I will do it with you.
Oh! What a friend we have in Jesus.
Monday, February 15, 2010
The Investment Plan Known As "GOD"
I heard a sermon on Sunday that was incredibly confusing and, according to what I have experienced in the bible, is far from accurate biblical teaching. I won't tell you who he is in order to protect the guilty, not that you would know him anyway. I also am not out to attack him, just a very popular view that is embraced by evangelicals and not by the bible.
His sermon was on tithes and offerings. The beginning of the sermon was him explaining that a cheerful giver gets much in return. He threw out several examples from testimonies found in books to show that the more you give the more you get. What rubbish! He also asserted that ten percent of your earnings belong to God and anything more is you giving out of your heart, therefore it is an offering. Later he claimed that everything belongs to God. So which is God's, the ten percent or all of it? The last thing I'll mention here is something that was fairly subtle. Most wouldn't have even realized what he did. The pastor taught that we should never give expecting to receive. That is very true. The problem is that at the same time he was introducing an expectation for the listeners to hold on to. In short he said this: "Do not give to God expecting to get back; but understand, the more you give, the more God will give back." Not that God does not work this way but it should by no means be the rule. This kind of teaching gets awful close to the "Prosperity Gospel" teaching which I despise to say the least. This teaching is about the money and not about God himself.
How does this relate to evil and suffering?
Poverty is, in most respects, an evil. It is brought on either directly or indirectly. Someone who is lazy invites poverty to be his companion. They will walk hand in hand through life miserable and alone. This is someone who would bring himself to be poor, directly. Now if this man were a business owner with employees and, due to his laziness, his business went under, his employees might experience poverty indirectly. Why would God not protect these innocent people?
The most important kind of poverty I will argue is to be poor in spirit. A number of times Jesus insinuates that in order to follow him we must sell all we have. We must become poor. There seems there might be a correlation between being materially poor and poor in spirit. Maybe the former begets the latter.
Luke 18:18-30 is the story of a ruler. He was extremely rich. He asks Jesus how to inherit salvation. Jesus basically tells him to follow the law. The rich young ruler says "All these I have kept from my youth". Jesus then tells him to sell everything he has and give to the poor. The ruler becomes sad. End of story for him. Jesus wasn't attacking his wealth. Jesus was attacking this man worship of money. His grip on earthly things. The rich young ruler didn't want God or salvation. He wanted God's money.
This whole thing is not a science in which we make God a genie in a bottle. "I want a new Range Rover, God can you hook me up?" I see God's response to that as "NO! You selfish little brat of a child. Go feed my starving children with that five bucks in your pocket instead of buying a cinnamon dolce latte! Love Me and my people, not my stuff!!!"
That is a damnable view of God! There are too many so called Christians who love what God can do for them instead of loving God himself. That is Evil! Anything that is not done in Faith to Christ is sin (Romans 14:23). That includes spending, saving, and investing our money. Our world, our lives, our hearts, are drowning in sin, in death. Our hearts hate God! We would rather starve the poor and take their money. THIS IS EVIL!!! HOW LONG, OH LORD?
His sermon was on tithes and offerings. The beginning of the sermon was him explaining that a cheerful giver gets much in return. He threw out several examples from testimonies found in books to show that the more you give the more you get. What rubbish! He also asserted that ten percent of your earnings belong to God and anything more is you giving out of your heart, therefore it is an offering. Later he claimed that everything belongs to God. So which is God's, the ten percent or all of it? The last thing I'll mention here is something that was fairly subtle. Most wouldn't have even realized what he did. The pastor taught that we should never give expecting to receive. That is very true. The problem is that at the same time he was introducing an expectation for the listeners to hold on to. In short he said this: "Do not give to God expecting to get back; but understand, the more you give, the more God will give back." Not that God does not work this way but it should by no means be the rule. This kind of teaching gets awful close to the "Prosperity Gospel" teaching which I despise to say the least. This teaching is about the money and not about God himself.
How does this relate to evil and suffering?
Poverty is, in most respects, an evil. It is brought on either directly or indirectly. Someone who is lazy invites poverty to be his companion. They will walk hand in hand through life miserable and alone. This is someone who would bring himself to be poor, directly. Now if this man were a business owner with employees and, due to his laziness, his business went under, his employees might experience poverty indirectly. Why would God not protect these innocent people?
The most important kind of poverty I will argue is to be poor in spirit. A number of times Jesus insinuates that in order to follow him we must sell all we have. We must become poor. There seems there might be a correlation between being materially poor and poor in spirit. Maybe the former begets the latter.
Luke 18:18-30 is the story of a ruler. He was extremely rich. He asks Jesus how to inherit salvation. Jesus basically tells him to follow the law. The rich young ruler says "All these I have kept from my youth". Jesus then tells him to sell everything he has and give to the poor. The ruler becomes sad. End of story for him. Jesus wasn't attacking his wealth. Jesus was attacking this man worship of money. His grip on earthly things. The rich young ruler didn't want God or salvation. He wanted God's money.
This whole thing is not a science in which we make God a genie in a bottle. "I want a new Range Rover, God can you hook me up?" I see God's response to that as "NO! You selfish little brat of a child. Go feed my starving children with that five bucks in your pocket instead of buying a cinnamon dolce latte! Love Me and my people, not my stuff!!!"
That is a damnable view of God! There are too many so called Christians who love what God can do for them instead of loving God himself. That is Evil! Anything that is not done in Faith to Christ is sin (Romans 14:23). That includes spending, saving, and investing our money. Our world, our lives, our hearts, are drowning in sin, in death. Our hearts hate God! We would rather starve the poor and take their money. THIS IS EVIL!!! HOW LONG, OH LORD?
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Unfortunately, God Is Good
So I have a story for everyone today. The characters have been fabricated but the events are real.
There once was a man. We will call him Tom. He grew up like many kids. Everyday was a brand new adventure with a brand new villain to save the world from. As he made his way through school he learned he had a good mind for business. He made is way through college constantly standing at the top of his class. While in college, Tom fell in love with Sarah, a beautiful, wise, funny, fun-loving girl. Tom and Sarah tied the knot not long after graduating. In order to love and provide for his wife, Tom got a job supervising construction projects headed by the government. They had a wonder life together. He came home in the evenings to a meal prepared by his beloved.
Tom and Sarah eventually had a son. We will call him Tristan. Tom loved Tristan. They loved to wrestle. Tom taught his son to respect his family and others, to work hard, and the way to a woman's heart is to give her yours. Tristan grew to be strong, caring, and compassionate. About this time, some really curious and unnatural things began happening. The river nearby, which the people heavily relied on, turned to blood. It was completely useless. There were bugs like gnats, locusts, and flies infested the city. All of these incests absolutely destroyed all of the crops. The city was even over run by frogs. Everyone was bewildered and feared that things were going to get worse. All the religious crazies didn't help either. Eventually all the livestock fell over dead. Even the weather went ballistic and it began to hail. With all the talk all over town Tom and Sarah were becoming worried. It was soon after that they received calls from friends and family that they were sick and had boils all over their bodies. Even after doing everything to protect themselves, Tom and his family still got sick. Everyone did. At the end of all this the sun was blocked for three days. It was total darkness.
Through all the pandemonium people still had time to talk. Everyone was saying that it was God's judgment on the people. It was like listening to a city full of Pat Robertsons. Everyone began believing that their children were going to die if they didn't smear blood on their doors. Tom and Sarah had always been realistic people. There is no way they would believe that. They also had never done anything wrong to anyone. No one would have any reason to hurt their family.
On an ordinary night (comparatively speaking of course), Sarah put Tristan to bed and just after she joined her husband. They laid their heads down to sleep. They watched the fun and quirky choreography preformed by the all too famous sugar plums.
The next morning they woke up and, just like every morning, went to battle their son to get out of bed. This time no battle would be fought. Tristan was dead. Tom was overcome by grief, so much so he had not even an inkling of an idea of how to console his beloved wife.
Unfortunately this is where the story ends. Tom and Sarah lived the rest of their lives in overwhelming grief.
If you haven't figured it out by now, this is a story in the bible. We even wrote a children's song about it where God asks pharaoh to let his people go. Not so much of a kiddie song is it. This event is the way in which God set free Israel from their slave master, Egypt. Let me ask a question. Why was it necessary for God to bring death and suffering to an entire nation to accomplish this? Why did children have to die? It almost seems to me that God was punishing a nation for what they did as a nation and not as individuals. Maybe none of these people were innocent, not even Tristan. Is God really Good? Allow me to answer. YES! But how? This is a time when we would say "If this is good it is unfortunate and unfortunately God is good." We must not think in terms of earthly things but in terms of spiritual things which will not make sense to earthly minds. The truth of God is found in the Holy Spirit illuminating scripture. Let us not reason with things our minds cannot understand. Psalm 131.
There once was a man. We will call him Tom. He grew up like many kids. Everyday was a brand new adventure with a brand new villain to save the world from. As he made his way through school he learned he had a good mind for business. He made is way through college constantly standing at the top of his class. While in college, Tom fell in love with Sarah, a beautiful, wise, funny, fun-loving girl. Tom and Sarah tied the knot not long after graduating. In order to love and provide for his wife, Tom got a job supervising construction projects headed by the government. They had a wonder life together. He came home in the evenings to a meal prepared by his beloved.
Tom and Sarah eventually had a son. We will call him Tristan. Tom loved Tristan. They loved to wrestle. Tom taught his son to respect his family and others, to work hard, and the way to a woman's heart is to give her yours. Tristan grew to be strong, caring, and compassionate. About this time, some really curious and unnatural things began happening. The river nearby, which the people heavily relied on, turned to blood. It was completely useless. There were bugs like gnats, locusts, and flies infested the city. All of these incests absolutely destroyed all of the crops. The city was even over run by frogs. Everyone was bewildered and feared that things were going to get worse. All the religious crazies didn't help either. Eventually all the livestock fell over dead. Even the weather went ballistic and it began to hail. With all the talk all over town Tom and Sarah were becoming worried. It was soon after that they received calls from friends and family that they were sick and had boils all over their bodies. Even after doing everything to protect themselves, Tom and his family still got sick. Everyone did. At the end of all this the sun was blocked for three days. It was total darkness.
Through all the pandemonium people still had time to talk. Everyone was saying that it was God's judgment on the people. It was like listening to a city full of Pat Robertsons. Everyone began believing that their children were going to die if they didn't smear blood on their doors. Tom and Sarah had always been realistic people. There is no way they would believe that. They also had never done anything wrong to anyone. No one would have any reason to hurt their family.
On an ordinary night (comparatively speaking of course), Sarah put Tristan to bed and just after she joined her husband. They laid their heads down to sleep. They watched the fun and quirky choreography preformed by the all too famous sugar plums.
The next morning they woke up and, just like every morning, went to battle their son to get out of bed. This time no battle would be fought. Tristan was dead. Tom was overcome by grief, so much so he had not even an inkling of an idea of how to console his beloved wife.
Unfortunately this is where the story ends. Tom and Sarah lived the rest of their lives in overwhelming grief.
If you haven't figured it out by now, this is a story in the bible. We even wrote a children's song about it where God asks pharaoh to let his people go. Not so much of a kiddie song is it. This event is the way in which God set free Israel from their slave master, Egypt. Let me ask a question. Why was it necessary for God to bring death and suffering to an entire nation to accomplish this? Why did children have to die? It almost seems to me that God was punishing a nation for what they did as a nation and not as individuals. Maybe none of these people were innocent, not even Tristan. Is God really Good? Allow me to answer. YES! But how? This is a time when we would say "If this is good it is unfortunate and unfortunately God is good." We must not think in terms of earthly things but in terms of spiritual things which will not make sense to earthly minds. The truth of God is found in the Holy Spirit illuminating scripture. Let us not reason with things our minds cannot understand. Psalm 131.
Friday, February 5, 2010
creation, creation, we all fall down.
The first thing we must do in approaching the problem of evil is to attempt to determine what is truth and what has the potential to be mystery. The only way that I know how to do this is to work through the bible piece by piece with an open heart and mind with the intent of being teachable; constantly praying for the knowledge available only by the Holy Spirit and that the Spirit of God would continually humble us the more we study. The best place to start is with the book of beginnings, where everything has it's origin, Genesis.
We know from the first verse in the bible that God is the world's creator. We know that what God created was originally good. I must clear something up though. Most people fall into a trap of reductionism when thinking of creation. Most will say that God created the physical world (trees, ocean, animals, humans) and this is most assuredly true. This is not the whole truth though. God also created the systems in which the world works. There are laws that exist in nature that God himself created. Even more so, there are systems in which the world must work. Right and wrong ways of doing things. In the movie "Idiocracy", society has replaced water with what is best compared to gatorade. Plant life becomes extinct. God created a particular way for agriculture to work and outside of those bounds it just will not. It is this way with everything; relationships (romantic or unromantic), business, music, education, and so on. My point is God created all.
God also created man. He created man in the image of himself. It is flawed for me to say himself because that term is singular and God is not, yet he is. We were made in the likeness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Being made in the image of God, I believe means we were created with a divine purpose, namely to Glorify the trinitarian God. We were created to worship and we all worship something. Even God worships (if that sounds uncanny then maybe that will be another blog itself). It would take way too much for me to expand on the image of God like I want but I will do it eventually. I believe that when God created man He did so out of an overflow of love, not an obligation and definitely not out of need. Because of that He desires obedience. Man, created with freedom of will, chose to worship self rather than God. Adam and Eve wanted to be God rather than worship Him.
When it comes to creation and fall, there are many that seem to feel that there is a lot of speculation that goes into a historical recreation of these two events. That maybe true but I still must emphasize that at the end of the day there is a truth presented that is an absolute either way you look at it: we were made in God's image and we shattered that image with our self glorifying actions. In the case of the fall, the choice made by the father of mankind (Adam) not only affected humans, but the whole of creation. Creation itself has been subjected to futility (Romans 8:20). It is God's plan through this that creation would be set free from the bonds of the curse that God placed upon it (and us). This is where evil is introduced to creation, through our sin, causing God to implement His plan to redeem man and creation. In Romans 8:21 Paul explains that God's plan is to use evil in a redemptive way for His good purposes, to build His kingdom, to save His people and to Judge the wicked.
I think the hardest part for me is Him judging the wicked. How can God use evil to punish the evil doers? In the book Habakkuk God raises up the Chaldeans through their evil in chapter 1 and in the very next chapter curses them for their evil. If someone out their has an actual answer for this then I'm sure you just haven't thought about it enough to see that your answer is flawed. These kinds of tensions in the bible are everywhere. I can systematically put things together but even when I do that it doesn't make sense. So in short, I don't know! There is your conclusion. I sincerely believe this is the conclusion until Jesus himself returns to tell us how small minded we are.
God also created man. He created man in the image of himself. It is flawed for me to say himself because that term is singular and God is not, yet he is. We were made in the likeness of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Being made in the image of God, I believe means we were created with a divine purpose, namely to Glorify the trinitarian God. We were created to worship and we all worship something. Even God worships (if that sounds uncanny then maybe that will be another blog itself). It would take way too much for me to expand on the image of God like I want but I will do it eventually. I believe that when God created man He did so out of an overflow of love, not an obligation and definitely not out of need. Because of that He desires obedience. Man, created with freedom of will, chose to worship self rather than God. Adam and Eve wanted to be God rather than worship Him.
When it comes to creation and fall, there are many that seem to feel that there is a lot of speculation that goes into a historical recreation of these two events. That maybe true but I still must emphasize that at the end of the day there is a truth presented that is an absolute either way you look at it: we were made in God's image and we shattered that image with our self glorifying actions. In the case of the fall, the choice made by the father of mankind (Adam) not only affected humans, but the whole of creation. Creation itself has been subjected to futility (Romans 8:20). It is God's plan through this that creation would be set free from the bonds of the curse that God placed upon it (and us). This is where evil is introduced to creation, through our sin, causing God to implement His plan to redeem man and creation. In Romans 8:21 Paul explains that God's plan is to use evil in a redemptive way for His good purposes, to build His kingdom, to save His people and to Judge the wicked.
I think the hardest part for me is Him judging the wicked. How can God use evil to punish the evil doers? In the book Habakkuk God raises up the Chaldeans through their evil in chapter 1 and in the very next chapter curses them for their evil. If someone out their has an actual answer for this then I'm sure you just haven't thought about it enough to see that your answer is flawed. These kinds of tensions in the bible are everywhere. I can systematically put things together but even when I do that it doesn't make sense. So in short, I don't know! There is your conclusion. I sincerely believe this is the conclusion until Jesus himself returns to tell us how small minded we are.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Absolutes and Mysteries
I finished reading a book by C.S. Lewis called "The Problem of Pain" about a week ago. I love Lewis as a writer. What a gifted linguist. There is very little I agreed with in his book on suffering and evil but there was something in his writing that I could not get away from. Something beautiful. Something real. Something I could connect with.
Lewis portrays in his writing a since of urgency, a desire for christian virtue, a love for a God he was far from understanding. I believe that is what I connect with. I have seen his humanity and frailty very clearly displayed in the difference between "The Problem of Pain" (an intellectual and philosophical look at evil and suffering) and "A Grief Observed" (His journal during the time of his wife's death). The most important thing that I have learned from these two books as a whole is this: Regardless of your intellectual understanding of evil, the face of evil is more terrifying than the thought of it. A theology of evil built on nothing but absolutes (I do believe there to be some) without the ability to be mysterious will cause more devastation than it will provide comfort. All of those absolutes will eventually be torn asunder. God is mysterious. So is the way he works. We must allow room for mystery.
The christian and non-christian world views both have some serious issues in the way they view evil. First, in the non-christian world view, the idea of social darwinism will never be able to define evil. For instance, if goodness is subjective and if we compare ourselves to others instead of God then we may have a chance at seeming good. The moment we compare ourselves to the infinite goodness of God we see that we are evil. If atheism has no god ( a Good god of course) to use as a standard, the same way a christian uses God as their standard for righteousness, then nothing can be called evil. Evil then would simply be the result of evolution. Even a deist who believes God is no longer involved in his creation would have the same problem or would retreat to admitting God is evil because he does not care enough to be involved in his creation.
In the christian world view we run into those who would rather wrestle philosophically with evil instead of seeing how God deals with it in scripture. Some would rather strip God of his omnipotence than say that God would not stop evil. If God does not intervene in order to end evil is he still good? They end up having to sacrifice, in their own mind anyway, either God's goodness or his omnipotence. Neither one of these are supported by scripture, only human reason. The character of God is far above reason.
It seems to me that Lewis understood that there are absolute truths that lie within the problem of evil but for every truth you discover you will also uncover a mystery that, unless you learn to enjoy the mystery of God, will haunt your dreams. Let us remember that, regardless how difficult, we must adhere to scripture to find truth. As long as we do so I believe... well, Matt Langston said it best. "The truth will reveal itself." That is if it choses to do so.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
