Speaking of Life

Introduction

Speaking of Life is an ongoing series. We gather here all the episodes that were 1) presented by Joseph Tkach and 2) on our website as of August 20, 2018.

The programs are available for free at https://www.gci.org/videos/media-speaking-of-life/. Programs are available in several video formats, mp3 audio, and as a transcript. We hope that you find them interesting, educational, inspiring, and helpful.

Dr. Tkach was the president of Grace Communion International from 1995 to 2018. He earned a D.Min. degree from Azusa Pacific Seminary in 2000. He is the author of Transformed by Truth: The Worldwide Church of God Rejects the Teachings of Founder Herbert W. Armstrong and Embraces Historic Christianity, and several e-books.

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The 40,000 Dollar Couch

Every year, college students across the United States move into dorm rooms. But before they can settle in, they need to get the essentials: mini-fridge, TV and, of course, a couch. But when a group of New York roommates brought their thrift-shop couch home, they discovered a surprise – 40,000 dollars hidden under the cushions.

They talked about what they would each buy with their cut of the money – maybe a new car, a vacation, or just pay off student loans. But then they found a name written on one of the envelopes. They were faced with a moral dilemma: keep the money a secret or call the thrift store and report their find.

I’m sure most of us haven’t held 40,000 dollars in hand, but I’m sure we’ve all been faced with similar complex moral questions. Many people would be tempted to take the money and run. But we know that as Christians, we’re called to a higher standard. See how Paul explains it in his letter to the Philippians:

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9)

We’re called to do what’s right, even when doing the right thing is a really hard choice. Though our salvation is not based on these works, we also know that as followers of Christ, we are known by the fruit we bear. Our actions speak out about the nature and character of the One we worship. It might be difficult to make certain decisions sometimes, but we know that through Christ, all things are possible – and knowing that we’ve done the right thing is the true reward.

In the end, the roommates made the right decision. After calling the thrift store, they were given the address of the woman who had donated the couch. It turned out that her husband, preparing for a time when he was no longer alive, had stored the money in the couch. When the roommates returned it to the woman, she felt as if her husband was looking down on her from heaven.

In the end, the college roommates were excited to help out this woman in need. It was the right thing to do. And likewise, we should heed their example, no matter who is looking, and always take the high road.

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The A-Team

Many of us remember the A-Team. It was one of the most popular action shows of the ’80s and even inspired a big Hollywood movie. I remember seeing a poster for the film that read: The A-TEAM – there is no plan B.

Later, while studying Christ’s atonement, I remembered that line. You see, many people have the misunderstanding that mankind’s fall from grace was a surprise for God. They think that he had an original Plan A, but after our sin forced his hand, he had to come up with a Plan B – and send Christ to be crucified on the cross.

But we know that this idea just isn’t true.

God was never caught off guard by our need for deliverance from sin. He (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) counted that cost for all eternity, and being of one mind and purpose, was both ready and willing to pay it so that humanity would once again be reconciled to him.

Our Lord Jesus foreknew his sacrifice and told his disciples what he must do to overcome evil and bring life out of death. No one could argue that he was naïve or unaware of the path that he would take to make all things new. We know that he sacrificed himself out of his unending love for us. Listen to how what Christ said in the Gospel of John: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13).

And he reiterates: No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again (John 10:18).

Let us remember that our Triune God is not the victim of circumstances beyond his control. Christ’s coming and sacrifice was never a Plan B. Instead, Christ – along with the rest of the Holy Trinity – were always the A-Team, ready, willing and able to pay the ultimate price to bring us back into communion with their divine life.

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All We Have to Say

Love means never having to say you’re sorry is a famous line from the film Love Story, but it’s also dead wrong. I think the opposite is true: love means being able to say that you’re sorry. As Christians, we all have an awareness that while we’re assured of our eternal salvation in Christ, we continue to live in a fallen world and we don’t yet fully partake in the perfection of the Trinity. A sinful nature still has a pull on us, and we will hurt and offend those closest to us. When this happens, our pride instantly kicks in. That’s why admitting we’re wrong and asking for forgiveness are so incredibly difficult. But if we desire to be like our Lord, John tells us that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us all from unrighteousness (1 John 1:8-9, NKJV). 

Saying we’re sorry and asking for forgiveness is the only way to heal a relationship where we’ve wronged someone. Listen to what Jesus says in Luke: If your brother or sister sins against you... and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them (Luke 17:3-4 NIV).

It’s tempting to keep a record of wrongs that others have done to us, but doing so ignores the example set for us by Jesus. Of course, we can’t make anyone else accept our apology. But we can certainly set the example by overcoming our pride, admitting that we’re wrong, and asking for forgiveness first. And we open wide the door to restoration. This can bring a wonderful dynamic of openness and trust to a relationship, and in so doing, it mirrors the radical love that our triune God has shown for us. Because remember, true love doesn’t mean never having to say you’re sorry: instead, it actually means being able to say that you’re sorry.

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Access to God

Earlier this summer, a heat wave swept through Southern California. Our air conditioners worked overtime to keep us all cool here at headquarters. But as you can imagine, there just wasn’t enough power to go around. Suddenly, our entire office blacked out – lights, air conditioning and Internet all came crashing down at once.

I felt so disconnected!

I couldn’t Google what had happened. Cell phone service was down – so I couldn’t text my wife and daughter. And the power was out at the office! As I sat there in the darkness, I realized just how much I took all these modern conveniences for granted – and just how lost I was without them.

Fortunately, when I think about our connection with God, there is no power outage big enough or digital interruption great enough to keep us from access to the Father. Unlike a faulty Internet connection, our God is always available, no matter what the circumstances are – twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. There’s nothing that can keep us from accessing his grace and love.

In his collections of essays on Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote about what it looks like to see prayer in action:

An ordinary simple Christian kneels down to say his prayers. He is trying to get into touch with God. But if he is a Christian he knows that what is prompting him to pray is also God: God, so to speak, inside him. But he also knows that all his real knowledge of God comes through Christ, the Man who was God – that Christ is standing beside him, helping him to pray, praying for him. You see what is happening. God is the thing to which he is praying – the goal he is trying to reach. God is also the thing inside him, which is pushing him on – the motive power. God is also the road or bridge along which he is being pushed to that goal. (Lewis, Mere Christianity, chapter 24)

I love that illustration of us being prompted to pray by God himself, by the Holy Spirit dwelling within. And that Christ is interceding on our behalf and praying with and for us. There truly is nothing that can keep us from our God.

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Acts of God

As we record this program, large parts of the northeastern Australian state of Queensland are inundated with major flooding. Flood water has covered an area the size of France and Germany combined. Officials and relief workers, struggling to cope, say it is a disaster of biblical proportions. That is the way we often describe major natural disasters. Insurance companies call them acts of God.

Act of God is an actual legal term – a way of saying that no human was to blame. Such language can give people the idea that the Bible is primarily about catastrophes, and that we’re all at the mercy of an often bad-tempered God whose acts are destructive, unpredictable and life threatening. But that’s not the message of the Bible.

The primary, central act of God described in the Bible is not bad news, but wonderful good news. It tells us about a God who, far from being angry and destructive, loves us with a love that is so great – he did everything that had to be done to save us. The apostle Paul wrote to the Romans:

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:6-8).

The Son of God became a man, suffered and died as one of us and in doing so took humanity itself into God’s own being. It means that when we suffer, God suffers with us. We all know that every person who lives will eventually die, but the good news is that death is not the end of our story. Jesus’ death changed death itself. He made death a pathway to resurrection, to new life, to a new creation in which, as Revelation 21:4 tells us, there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

Christians hold this hope in faith — faith that God, who freely took up our human cause as his own, even to the point of dying as one of us, is true to his word. Every person who dies will live again, and all who believe God, who trust him, will share in the relationship Jesus has with his Father. The core message of the Bible is not one of doom and gloom, but that despite the suffering we experience in this life, God loves us with a love of biblical proportions, and our eternal future is secure in his hands.

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Advent: Hope

This Sunday marks the beginning of the Advent season, a time when many in the Christian faith start preparing for Christmas. Over the next few episodes, I’ll be covering the four themes of Advent: Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. Together, we’ll examine scriptures that illuminate who God is, why he came and what he brings for us. I hope you’ll join me…

Have you ever visited the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico? I did when I was much younger. The caverns are beautiful, massive underground caves; some of which have never seen sunlight! Down there, if you turn off the lights you’ll be thrown into absolute darkness. Imagine my surprise when the Park Ranger did just that!

I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face. As my eyes tried to adjust, a wave of fear and anxiety built up inside me. I felt like I would be stuck underground forever. Finally, the ranger turned on a flashlight and pointed it at the rock ceiling. Even though it wasn’t much stronger than a candle, the beam illuminated the entire cavern, chasing away the darkness. I don’t have to tell you that as soon as I saw that light, my fear disappeared.

That experience reminded me of this passage in Isaiah 9:2: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.

Isaiah lived in a time of war and uncertainty, when it seemed like there was no hope for deliverance from invasion and occupation. It doesn’t sound that different from our world today, does it? He used the imagery of light and darkness to describe the feelings of the people of Israel, hoping and yearning for deliverance.

See, darkness covers the earth… but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you (Isaiah 60:2).

During the season of Advent, we try to remember what it must have been like to hope for the Messiah. Six hundred years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Zechariah wrote: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you, righteous and having salvation is he… (Zechariah 9:9, ESV).

These prophecies must have been like beams of light in a time when darkness and sorrow plagued Israel. After experiencing the complete blackout of the Carlsbad Caverns, I had a small taste of what hopelessness would feel like. Thankfully, Zechariah’s prophecy was made flesh in the form of Jesus Christ, the one who said: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12).

As we begin our series and continue to move closer to Christmas, I wanted to take a second to remind us what Advent actually means. It’s the anglicized version of the Latin word adventus, which means coming, as in the Lord is coming. In examining the theme of hope, we are reminded that we have been brought out of darkness and now live in the light and hope of Jesus Christ. And that’s something we can truly celebrate!

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Advent: Peace

Have you ever watched a Miss America Pageant? During the show, the host asks each contestant what they would hope for. Almost every time, contestants give the answer world peace. It happens so often that this response has become a cliché.

But is world peace really such an unattainable idea? I’d like to say, With Christ, it’s not!

On Christmas day 1914, at the height of the First World War, British and German soldiers laid down their weapons and met in the middle of no-man’s-land. They exchanged gifts, sang carols and even played an impromptu soccer match. For a moment in time, this celebration of Christ’s incarnation brought enemies together.

But that shouldn’t be surprising.

Isaiah wrote about this effect more than 700 years before the first Christmas in his most famous passage: For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6, NKJV).

Christ took on the form of a man to bring humanity peace. The prophet continues, telling us: Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end (Isaiah 9:7).

Can you even imagine what peace with no end would look like?

I think we have a hard time doing just that – especially when we look at the world around us. Everyday we’re bombarded with news stories about civil wars, famine and disease. Add that to the stress we experience in our personal interactions at work and in our homes, and you start to see the world the way Jeremiah did so long ago: They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. ‘Peace, peace,’ they say, when there is no peace (Jeremiah 6:14).

But I want to look at what Christ told his disciples: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid (John 14:27).

During this season of Advent, as we move toward the celebration of Christ’s birth, I want to personally wish you the peace of God, which transcends all understanding… (Philippians 4:7).

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Advent: Joy

In the previous episodes of our Advent series, I’ve talked about hope and peace. Now I’d like to look at what happens when that hope is fulfilled. To do that, I want to take you back to the night of Christ’s birth.

At that time, Bethlehem was an agrarian town with a population of about 1,000 people – and a small percentage of those were shepherds. But shepherding today is a little different than it was back then. Not only did you have to contend with lions, wolves and bears – but you also had to sleep with the sheep! Shepherds were outcasts, people who didn’t fit into the social norms of their time. But all that changed on the first Christmas night…

We find the account in the Gospel of Luke:

There were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. (Luke 2:8-11)

But the story doesn’t end there. After hearing the good news, these shepherds rushed down the hill, found Jesus in the manger and told Mary and Joseph what they had heard. And after that, The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told (Luke 2:20).

What I really like about this story is that even though Jesus hadn’t necessarily saved anyone yet, the shepherds still glorified and praised God. They had faith that all the things the angel had told them would come to pass. It reminds me that when we put our trust in Christ, we can rest in the knowledge of his timing and his power to work his miracles. And that assurance is something that brings me great joy.

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Advent: Love

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been discussing the themes of Advent. In the first episode, we examined how the prophets hoped for the Messiah. Then, we talked about the peace he would bring. And last week, we heard about the joy the shepherds experienced as they encountered the incarnation. Now, I’d like to look at our response to that miraculous gift.

When my children were younger, we would place an ornament on our tree every night until Christmas Eve. And as soon as the last one went up, my kids would tear into their presents. With each unwrapped gift, their smiles grew wider and wider, until finally – they would rush to my wife and I and shower us with hugs!

Giving and receiving gifts has always been a way of expressing our love for one another. And in the Bible, we see God does the same thing. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells his disciples: If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him (Matthew 7:11).

But Christmas wasn’t just about God giving us a good gift – Christ’s birth was the greatest gift ever!

John wrote: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (John 3:16-17).

Did you catch that phrasing? God loved us so much that he gave us a gift to bring us into communion with him.

But how does God want us to respond to this gift?

I think the answer can be found in the concept of participation. Christ has drawn us out of darkness and into light. And through this relationship, a relationship with Christ, we are sanctified, transformed, becoming more like Christ. We know God is love, and his purpose is to perfect all things, so when we receive this gift, our natural response is to love others. First John 4:19 sums it up like this: We love because he first loved us.

This Christmas, we here at GCI wish you and your families the gifts of hope, peace, joy and love. I hope you’ll continue to join us as we respond to those gifts and participate with Christ in the coming year.

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Aggressive Atheists

I believe that most atheists are really agnostics. In times of crisis, for example, they, like everybody else, tend to resort to prayer. When the chips are down, they hope a merciful and benevolent God is there for them.

But some of those whom we might call aggressive atheists are different. They like to use science and logic to try to convince believers why they should stop believing. Using science and logic, they argue, it is impossible to prove that God exists.

Richard Dawkins, for example, has compared the idea of an imagined Flying Spaghetti Monster to belief in God. God is no more real or provable by conventional means of proof than a flying spaghetti monster, he argues. It is just made up.

He’s right about one thing. The existence of God can’t be proven by conventional means of proof. You can’t prove God exists using science and logic. You can only know God by faith, not by scientific study. You can only know God though God’s own revelation of himself, not by mathematics, logical deduction or the scientific method.

But what these aggressive atheists don’t like to admit is that just as the existence of God cannot be proven through science and logic, neither can it be disproven through science and logic. They have no more grounds to disprove God’s existence using conventional means of proof than we believers have to prove God’s existence using science and logic.

The tools of belief in God are revelation and faith, start to finish, not science and logic. The atheist has no basis to disprove what can only be held true by faith. The Flying Spaghetti Monster and other such analogies are not valid analogies for belief in God because they miss the very heart of why so many people believe.

God’s personal revelation of himself through Jesus Christ makes sense of the world. It assures us that we matter, that we are not here by accident, and that we were created on purpose and for a purpose. It makes love matter, because by faith we hold that God made us because he loves us, and in that love he will make us into people who can love like he loves.

Aggressive atheists can scoff about the lack of scientific proof for the existence of God, but they are looking in the wrong place. By standing on their premise that God doesn’t exist, they miss the still small voice of revelation, and the personal joy of knowing God and knowing God knows them.

I like to say that in the end, there is really only one kind of atheist: those who will one day come to faith. That’s my prayer.

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Always With Us

Have you ever seen an original Jesus Doll? This one was made about sixty years ago, and it’s probably a collector’s item now. It was made at a time when the idea of personality dolls was becoming popular. Barbie also first appeared around this time.

Barbie is still going strong. But the Jesus Doll was a flop. The company thought they had done their homework, even consulting with religious leaders, including the Pope. But this was a more conservative era, and it seems that parents were horrified at the idea of their children playing with a doll that looked like Jesus.

But the company was just ahead of its time. Now there are many Jesus dolls available. Here is a modern version, one with a button on the back. If I push it, we’ll hear a gospel message.

In these more liberal times, people don’t seem to be offended by the idea of a doll that looks like Jesus. And of course, children get very attached to their toys, don’t they? Especially dolls and stuffed animals. So perhaps there is some value in the idea – a Jesus you can take anywhere – a 24/7 companion. Because isn’t that is who Jesus is?

But he is so much more than that. He is a powerful creator, the Son of God, who sustains the universe. We all, every one of us, depend on him for every breath we take.

This then, is the person who promised that he would be with us always, and would never leave us or forsake us. Not just in this life. He said it was his will that we enjoy his company forever – and that he would transform us to such a degree that he would fully enjoy being in the presence of his holy love forever.

This is not just a sentimental idea thought up as a marketing ploy. It is a reality that the world needs to hear and understand. Far from being a cute toy that belongs to us, we belong to him. He came to forgive, save, redeem, reconcile, and restore us to a fullness of life in him. He loves us with a perfect holy love, and will never let go of us.

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Amazing Grace

The other day I was walking along, when all of a sudden, I stumbled across a section of broken sidewalk. Luckily, I caught myself before falling down. But when I turned around to see where I’d tripped, something caught my attention: two words carved into the sidewalk: AMAZING GRACE. I had walked right over them.

That started me thinking. How often do we stumble and leave the amazing grace of God behind?

Everybody sins. The apostle Paul famously wrote: All have sinned and fall(en) short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). But as Christians, we can sometimes feel like we’re through with all that. We’ve been saved in Christ, so temptation can’t touch us. That’s where we run into trouble. Sooner or later, we’re going to sin again. That’s just part of being human. In Christian-ese, we call those slip-ups stumbling. But the worst part of stumbling might not be the sin at all. Sometimes, people feel so much shame after they’ve sinned that they don’t turn back to God. Instead of embracing God’s free grace, they try to do a good work, balancing out the wrong with two rights. But that’s not the way it’s supposed to be.

In Christ, we are on a journey of sanctification, being conformed into the image of our Savior. But it’s not always a smooth process. That’s where God’s grace comes in. It’s by this grace that we are able to access God’s forgiveness and, through Christ, be brought back into perfect communion with our Lord. See how Charles Spurgeon describes it:

Our Lord Jesus is ever giving, and does not for a solitary instant withdraw his hand. As long as there is a vessel of grace not yet full to the brim, the oil shall not be stayed. He is a sun ever-shining; his is manna always falling round the camp; he is a rock in the desert, ever sending out streams of life from his smitten side; the rain of his grace is always dropping; the river of his bounty is ever-flowing, and the well-spring of his love is constantly overflowing. (Spurgeon, Morning and Evening)

Christ’s grace to us is never-ending. It’s inexhaustible and always new. No matter how many times we stumble or how much shame we feel, God’s grace is always available to us. So the next time you’re out walking around, keep your eyes open. You might just stumble right into God’s amazing grace.

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Anniversary of the King James Bible

The year 2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the first printing of the King James Version of the Bible. England’s King James I commissioned nearly 50 scholars and translators to revise an already existing text – the Bishop’s Bible of 1568. In their words, they set out not to make a new translation of the Bible, but to make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one. This included gleaning the best from such well-known versions as Tyndale’s, Matthew’s, Coverdale’s and the Geneva Bible.

The 1611 King James Version went through an intense, nearly three-year editing process by six translation committees. The six teams met to tackle pre-assigned sections of Scripture and each team eventually had to check on the work of the others. The balance between Anglican bishops and Puritan zealots on the committees was almost a guarantee that no one doctrinal slant would dominate, a rarity in 1611.

The final manuscript has a richness and majesty of style that remains unsurpassed to this day. Few English-speakers are not affected by the rich poetry of the Psalms or the moving tones of Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name and Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.

Such 1611 phrases as bring hither the fatted calf, God forbid, eat, drink and be merry and my cup runneth over have traveled around the world. Coming from the age of Shakespeare and Sir Walter Raleigh, the King James Version appealed to an audience well used to striking, punchy phrases.

It was destined to be a hit. The literary critic Peter Ackroyd claimed that the 1611 Bible invigorated the consciousness of the nation and through the spread of the English language it positively affected many other nations as well. It is not too much to say that the King James Version gave a centrality and a commonality to Protestant Christianity that endured until very recent times.

But the King James Version had weaknesses as well. The translators of 1611 did not have access to the wide body of since-discovered Greek manuscripts we possess today. They based almost everything on one so-called Received Text from the Greek region of Constantinople. Today we know there were other whole families of manuscripts that would have strengthened the King James Version immensely had they been available at the time.

The men of 1611 knew their work was imperfect. They presented their new translation to the church, as they put it, with all humility, never imagining that some misguided descendants would feel they had produced the true infallible text. Their attitude of being open to fresh inputs and insights from the Holy Spirit is an example that can help Christians today as we face our own religious divisions. And if this anniversary year of the King James Version prods us to rededicate ourselves to reading the Bible in any translation, it will have been a great success.

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Another Look at Repentance

Repentance is a cornerstone of Christian life, yet when it is misunderstood – as it often is – it can cause Christians to live with needless fear and doubt about their relationship with God.

The most common way to misunderstand repentance is to think that to repent is to stop sinning. But since we all do still sin despite how much we repent, we have to assume that our repentance is not deep enough or true enough and we strive harder. No matter how hard we try, though, sin remains in our lives, and our lack of success gives us a growing sense of frustration and anxiety about how we stand with God. Eventually, some burn out and give up trying.

We don’t have to go down that path. The truth is, repentance toward God is simply not about a new and improved you and me. It’s about a new perspective, a new way of looking at things that were already true long before we came to see them. It’s a change in how we think about God and about ourselves.

Repentance is not a behavior issue. It’s a faith, or trust, issue. Jesus has already done everything that needed to be done to restore humanity to a right relationship with God. There’s nothing we can add to that or take away from it. Repentance isn’t about promising to never sin again. It isn’t about striving to be a better person. Repentance is about believing God’s word of truth about who he is and who we are.

In 1 Corinthians 1:30-31, the apostle Paul wrote, It is because of [God] that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

Jesus is our life and our righteousness. We are a new creation in him, holy and righteous not of ourselves, but in him.

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said to his disciples, Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Repentance is the start of a new relationship, a new friendship, not the start of a sinless life. Our righteousness is real only because it is Jesus’ righteousness given to us, not because we can achieve it ourselves. And that means it will endure forever. So we have nothing to fear. We can take all our weariness and all our burdens to Jesus and find rest for our souls.

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Appearances

Things are not always as they appear. That was certainly the case with Jesus. The crowds saw a miracle-worker, a remarkable man of God who could heal their diseases. They came from all over the region to see him and hear him speak and to be healed. Sometimes the crowds were so thick that Jesus had a boat ready in case they pressed him into the Sea of Galilee.

After a long day of hearing Jesus teach and heal the sick, the people would go home. They would go back to their families and their jobs and life would return to normal.

But they would wonder about that day by the sea. They would wonder who that amazing man was who healed the sick. They would talk about him in their towns. He had inspired a sense of hope in them, whoever he was. Some said he was John the Baptist, come back to life. Others said the great prophet Elijah had returned. But things are not always as they appear.

The day would come when they would hear of this man again. And what they would hear would change everything. Jesus was not just a teacher, a prophet or a healer. He was God in the flesh — God among us and one of us — and he took our very humanity into himself, doing away with our sins and giving us his own righteousness.

Maybe you need to see beyond appearances too. It might appear to you that your sins have the better of you. It might appear to you that God is fed up with you, sick and tired of your falling short, ready to spew you out of his mouth and wash his hands of you.

Things are not what they appear. God loves you and always will. Christ died for us, while we were still sinners. Paul tells us this in Romans 5:8: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus didn’t wait until you were behaving better before he loved you and saved you. Sin doesn’t stand between God and you—God already took that barrier away. That means you can stop worrying and trust him. He loves you, he saved you and he’ll never let you go.

Don’t believe the lies your sins tell you—despite what your sins say, God does still love you, and he won’t ever turn his back on you. So why not take your struggles with sin to him—in faith that he’s already forgiven you—and trust him to help you become more like him? He’s right beside you, he loves you without measure, and he’s not going away.

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Are You Conciled?

In 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, beginning in verse 17, Paul wrote,

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)

It’s interesting to note that Paul uses the word reconciliation three times. I enjoy exploring the meaning of familiar words because there is often more to them than meets the ear.

If something can be re-conciled, presumably it was once conciled. But what does that mean? Concile isn’t a word you’ll find in most dictionaries. Reconciled is what linguists call an unpaired opposite.

For example, we recognize what it means to be disgruntled. But how often are you gruntled? You can be overwhelmed – but what about being whelmed?

These were once quite common words, but they have fallen into disuse, and only their opposites remain. So what about conciled?

You can actually find it in the multi-volume Complete Oxford Dictionary. It is an archaic word that has to do with people meeting in agreement. And thus, "re-conciliation" implies not the forging of a new relationship, but the restoration of a relationship that once existed. And this adds an exciting dimension to the verses I read in 2 Corinthians.

With this new understanding, we can see Paul showing us that God, through Jesus Christ, has reconciled the relationship broken by the fall of man. In this restored state, God and man now work together in partnership to spread the ministry of reconciliation to all the world.

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Armageddon Blues

The popular film 2012 stirred renewed interest, as well as fear, about the end of the world. Doomsday predictions always gather a following, and there seems to be no end to new ones. Since the earliest days of Christianity history records a continual parade of failed predictions.

More recent ones would include the prophetic hen of Leeds. It seems that in 1806 in the English town of Leeds, a hen began laying eggs that had the words Christ is coming clearly visible on their shells. Fears of doomsday spread rapidly until it was discovered that the ominous eggs were a hoax.

In 1854 thousands of followers of preacher William Miller believed that the world would end by March 21 of that year. It didn’t happen, but the faithful didn’t give up. A new date was calculated – followed by more disappointment. Even that wasn’t enough. Further Bible study revealed that the date should have been October 22, 1854. What became known as the Great Disappointment of 1854 is now history, but the lesson has yet to be learned.

In 1980 televangelist Pat Robertson declared, I guarantee you by the end of 1982 there is going to be a judgment on the world.

1999 was a nail biter for those who believed that one of Nostradamus’s quatrains predicted the end of the world for August of that year.

Millions were uneasy as the year 2000 approached, worrying that even if the world didn’t end that year, planes would be falling out of the sky as their onboard electronics would stop working. It was another needless frightfest.

Televangelist Jack Van Impe declared that the Great Tribulation would begin in 2001, and that political chaos, natural disasters, nuclear war and the worldwide rise of Islam will usher in mankind’s final hour.

And now we have 2012 taking center stage at the doomsday circus.

Maybe we should take comfort in what Jesus said. He said, Of that day and hour no one knows, only the Father. So according to our Savior, if we think we know when the end is, we don’t. So there is nothing to predict, and nothing to panic about. We can trust our safety and care to him, because we are always safe in his hands.

The bottom line about the Mayan Calendar and the year 2012, and all other doomsday scenarios is this: Our job is to live faithfully, not make predictions.

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Artificial Life

There was a time when we who believe in a Creator could say with some confidence scientists will never create life. Well, we can’t say that with quite the same confidence now.

Last year, it was announced that a team of scientists succeeded in creating life. In a landmark experiment, they created the world’s first synthetic life form in the laboratory. This controversial feat occupied 20 scientists for more than 10 years at an estimated cost of $40 million and was described by one researcher as a defining moment in biology.

Quite obviously, this experiment was performed with a remarkable amount of work by a highly skilled team of quantum and computational chemists, protein engineers, biochemists, and molecular biologists.

It is important to understand that these scientists have not created life from nothing. Nor have they claimed to. What they have done is to remodel an existing life form to generate a new one. Another way of looking at it would be like a team of highly trained engineers taking parts from other existing engines to build a brand new working engine. But let’s not underestimate what these scientists have achieved.

The researchers pieced together enzymes from about one hundred proteins of known structure, essentially mixing and matching protein regions to produce enzyme mosaics. They planned and performed well-thought-out design strategies in order to prepare artificial DNA molecules that were carefully manipulated by highly skilled chemists.

The ingenuity of this scientific team was evident throughout the process. Their efforts are of huge theological and philosophical significance. Let me quickly explain why!

Their work provides evidence that if life is to undergo any significant transformation at the biochemical level, intelligent agents must be directly involved. Their work was based upon decades of accumulated knowledge, brilliant ingenuity and strategic planning toward their planned goals in order to design new, synthetic metabolic pathways and add to the genetic code. To put it another way, they made evolution happen.

As you probably know, some scientists who espouse an atheist agenda would argue that life could originate and develop through natural processes, with no need for an intelligent creator. But clearly, this experiment did not reinforce that argument. It was not an undirected process. Neither was it a lucky coincidence or blind luck. It required precise methods and procedures intelligently thought out and expertly executed. These scientists have shown that modifying even the simplest life form needs the involvement of an intelligent agent directing the process.

So, far from showing that life does not need a Creator, this experiment actually reinforces the conviction of a need for a Creator’s involvement in the origin and development of life. This experiment won’t put an end to the Creation versus Evolution debate. That controversy can never be determined by the data collected by scientific experiment. Those results must be interpreted on the basis of philosophical or theological assumptions established on some other grounds. And of course little intelligent discussion can take place while one side is trying to knock the other out of the ring.

But in the meanwhile, we are coming to understand more and more about the beautiful and intricate processes that are involved with the phenomenon we call life.

Both science and religion should approach the questions of the development of life with humility. We still have much to learn, and the more that we do learn about life, the question should not be whether or not a Creator was involved, but rather, was there ANY part of this wonderful process that did NOT need the involvement of a Creator?

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The Artist

We’ve all heard of the great artist Michelangelo. And I’m sure many of you have seen paintings by Monet or Picasso. But I’m certain that almost none of you are familiar with the work of the painter Paul Smith.

Born in 1921, Paul was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Doctors informed his parents that he wouldn’t survive past infancy. But Paul refused to give up. And by the time he reached 11, he was ready to start a career in art. After finding a discarded typewriter in his neighbor’s junk pile, Paul realized that this would be the perfect tool to help him create his masterpieces. After some trial and error, he discovered that he could use 11 of the keys on the keyboard to create intricate patterns. The results were amazing.

Through the years, Paul brought joy and hope to almost everyone he met. When they looked at his typewriter paintings and said, I can’t do that, Paul simply asked, "Well, what can you do?"

That question got me thinking. So often in our lives, we can look at everything we don’t have. We highlight our disadvantages instead of looking positively at who we are and what we do right. But the apostle Paul teaches us something different. We read in his letter to the Ephesians that we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).

I’ve read other versions of this verse that phrase it like this, We are God’s workmanship. What I really enjoy about that translation is the idea that none of us is disposable. We are each created by God – a creation that he takes pride in. He loves us, no matter what. And before we were even born, he created good works for us to do.

While we might not be able to create artwork like Paul Smith, we all are able to partner with Christ in the work he is doing every single day. Let’s see what we can accomplish together.

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Ascension

Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, he ascended bodily into heaven. The Ascension is so important that all the major creeds of Christian faith affirm it.

Christ’s bodily ascension foreshadows our own entrance into heaven with glorified bodies. 1 John 3:2 tells us:

Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Jesus not only redeemed us from sin, but made us righteous in his own righteousness. He not only forgave our sins, but seated us with himself at the right hand of the Father.

The apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1-4:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the