Something to Think About: Making Sense of Faith, Prayer, Creation, and a Whole Lot More

Sense

Foreword

I am very pleased that this small volume has found its way into your home, and I pray that it may in some small way assist you in learning to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven.

A few years back, my wife Sandy and I hosted a weekly Bible study in our home. Something to Think About originated as an addendum to the notice regarding the weekly agenda I sent out. After a few months, the repetitive writing of time, topic, and special activities became tedious. It seemed logical, since I was writing anyway, to add a short dialogue on any thought that caught my mind at the time. The intent was then, and is now, to help ordinary folks like you and I grow by encouraging them to think through the various components of their faith.

I am not a theologian. I never graduated from Bible College, a Christian university, or any university at all for that matter. My knowledge of the Bible has been learnt through sixty-odd years of sermons from a dozen or more dedicated ministers of the gospel, and through my own reading of the Scriptures. I should also give credit to Christian Service Brigade. I have heard the scriptural and doctrinal portion of their achievement programme compared to a year’s Bible college training; having completed said programme, I can testify to its thoroughness. By the time I completed the doctrinal and scripture requirements, there were very few books in the Bible I had not read, analysed, and written about.

My chosen occupation is—or I should say, was—air traffic control. I served for over thirty years in an operational capacity before hanging up my headset. I spent the next ten years working in advanced planning before finally retiring four years ago. Now I drive a truck, which has given me a lot of time to think. What has all this to do with this book? Plenty, actually!

Air traffic controllers are free thinkers by nature. We have to be able to identify a problem, evaluate possible solutions, and come up with the right answer—all within a few seconds. We have to do all this while communicating instructions to other aircraft, planning the sequence and content of the next several transmissions, and listening to adjacent sector controllers hand over incoming or accept outgoing flights we have previously placed in the hand-off mode. There is no room for error. The end result: controllers seldom take anything for granted but continually question until they are certain they have the correct solution.

Each topic presented herein is a result of a question. Sometimes the questions originated from one of our home group members. Sometimes the questions originated in my own mind, but always the solutions are found in Scripture.

Although the thoughts expressed in Something to think about! are Biblically sound, they may not necessarily represent the popular interpretation—and that is more than okay. Whilst I didn’t set out to write a contrary opinion to every paragraph in my favourite commentaries, this occurred frequently enough that I was forced to evaluate every area of faith, resulting in a stronger and more firmly seated foundation. Paul’s comment regarding the Berean Christians is as valid today as it was two thousand years ago: he commended them for questioning all teaching and for persistently examining Scripture to ensure that the teaching they were receiving was Biblically sound. For myself, I have learnt that if I read without questioning, I seldom discover new ideas.

Two Additional Items

There are several chapters that deal with evolutionary issues. Just as I have no formal training in apologetics, so too my training has not included any of the sciences. The scientific information contained within these chapters is basic: it is not rocket science and does not require a doctorate to understand.

Several chapters will introduce the reader to a member of the congregation named Third Pew. Both he and the pastor to whom he writes are fictitious. This technique was chosen as a means to introduce specific theological or church-related topics in a manner that adds variety. Hopefully you will find these folks to be informative. Enjoy.

I pray that each page you turn will, as the title says, give you something to think about!

1.

A Cup of Coffee

After your salvation, what would you consider to be the most valuable gift God has given you? While you ponder that one, continue reading.

Whenever a group of professionals gets together in a break room for coffee, it won’t be long before they start telling stories—some true, some they wish were true, and some that are legend within the profession. Then it’s only a matter of time before the talk turns to problems at work, problems with management, and problems at home as a result of work. Traffic, commuting problems, cost of parking—all seem to contribute to the general discontent. I suspect that each of us has participated in such a discussion.

Most kitchens contain about eight matching cups and saucers. After that, there are a few chipped china mugs, some odd cups from Aunt Martha, and a couple of twenty-five-cent spares from the dollar store. When folks come over for coffee and the dishes are put out on the table, the matching ones are taken first, whilst those old chipped and battered mugs are inevitably everybody’s last choice. Those who reluctantly accept those mugs look rather enviously upon those who, arriving first, have grabbed the best dishes.

Now, what does the second paragraph have to do with the first? The second will hopefully provide the key to reducing or even eliminating the stress created by those problems mentioned in the first paragraph.

The purpose of the professional’s gathering is to relax and enjoy a cup of coffee. Take it from one who enjoys his coffee: the quality of the container has no bearing whatsoever on the quality of the coffee. Yet some of those with less expensive cups may frown as they consider their utilitarian containers and contrast them with the more ornate vessels being held by their compatriots, who obtained them simply because they arrived first. The late arrivals may behave as though they have somehow been given an inferior product, robbing them of the full joy of the moment.

By now I’m certain you’re wondering what on earth I’m talking about, but please keep reading. It will all become clear.

Life is the coffee, and the jobs, houses, cars, possessions, money, and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life, and the type of cup we have doesn’t define or change the quality of life we live. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided us. God brews the coffee, not the cups.

Do the math! There are 8,760 hours in a year (twenty-four hours multiplied by 365 day). Given four weeks of vacation time per year, plus two additional weeks for government approved holidays (ten days), and taking into account two hours for commuting per day, you spend 2,300 hours working every year (fifty hours multiplied by forty-six weeks). That leaves 6,460 hours for family, friends, and hobbies—and eating and sleeping, of course. Yet which part of your life (work or home) occupies the greatest amount of your planning and is considered the most valuable?

I would be willing to bet that your fondest memory of childhood revolves around family or friendship, not the size of your parents’ paycheques or the status of their places of employment.

In Genesis, we read that we were placed upon the earth with a role to subjugate it, not to be dominated by it. This includes time. So take a moment today to talk to friends, play with the kids, enjoy the flowers, and taste the coffee.

Something to think about!

2.

You Are Welcome

Dear Pastor,

It has been quite a while since I really came across a problem I didn’t know how to deal with, but I have one that’s threatening my peace and sanity to the point where I don’t know whether I really want to be called a Christian anymore. It came about because of my home studies in Matthew. I started reading the Sermon on the Mount and came to the Beatitudes, and I didn’t like what I was reading. So I asked my brother-in-law (you know the one) what he thought about it. He says that it’s all about what being a good Christian is. And I got to thinking. If I have to be miserable, poor, beat-up, spiritually down, hungry, and abused for my faith, I’m not sure I really want to continue.

Then I went to Luke, which only adds to the negative. I can’t be rich, well-fed, or happy either. On top of it all, when someone abuses me, I’m supposed to jump for joy. Give me a break, Pastor! Is that what being a Christian is?

Sincerely,

Third Pew Back, Left-Hand Side

Dear Third Pew,

Isn’t it amazing how hard we struggle to convert a simple, joyful plan for living into drudgery? Both the New and Old Testaments echo with words like joy, peace, longevity (read the Psalms), prosperity, and happiness, yet we Christians delight in selecting passages that appear to focus on work or suffering and pain and say that these are the characteristics of those who will be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Since the Sermon on the Mount is the longest direct quotation of Jesus’ teaching, and since the Beatitudes are the introductory statements to this sermon, your observation would be cause to question what the rest of Scripture says is a good life. That is, if what you wrote was correct. I can assure you it isn’t.

Jesus’ second most important role whilst on earth, after providing our means of rejoining His Father’s Kingdom as fully redeemed citizens, was that of being a teacher. To a teacher, the primary indicator of a successful lesson is when a behavioural change is witnessed in the class. Jesus was a superb teacher who used common issues of the day and statements made by His audience as starting points for the change He wished to see. The Sermon on the Mount was delivered to bring hope and joy to a group of poverty-stricken peasants who were taxed to death by the Romans and sneered at by their own rulers and scholars—the scribes, Pharisees, and church leaders. His primary purpose in teaching was to convey the message that the Kingdom was here and now (Matthew 4:17).

In order to do that. He had to first convince His audience that what He was about to say was relevant to them. He was successful, too. Here’s what the people said at the conclusion of the sermon: He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes (Matthew 7:29).

Since His lesson was geared to the students present at the time, before we look at the lesson itself we have to look at the makeup of the group. From Matthew 4:24, we find that they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Our audience is composed of sick people and their relatives. Others in the crowd would have been the unemployed, street people, curiosity seekers attracted by the noise, and a few representatives of the local synagogue. A few middle-class folks would have wondered what all the noise was about as well. Most of these folks were probably poor, since sick people can’t work. There was no social security, and their relatives had to support them.

In the Palestine of the first century, church folks were the rich and educated class. Being rich was equated with being holy, since God had obviously blessed you. Disease was an indicator that sin was buried somewhere in your life. John 9 tells of a man born blind, about whom the disciples asked Jesus, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? (John 9:2)

There was an entire sub-culture of ritualistic cleanliness that had to be followed to worship in the temple. Otherwise you were limited to one of the outer courtyards. Remember the man who was robbed in the parable of the Good Samaritan? One reason the church leaders had for walking clear of him was to avoid coming into contact with uncleanness (blood and open sores) that would prevent them from participating in worship. How often do you think a working man from the fields or factories would be free of open cuts, bruises, and be able to take the time to cleanse himself as the law required so that he could be a part of temple worship?

So, keeping in mind the audience and the culture, and remembering that the primary goal of the lesson was to present the Kingdom to the group present, I’ll paraphrase the lesson: God’s Kingdom is here and now, and because of Me you can have access to it. It doesn’t matter to Me whether you are miserable, poor, beat-up, spiritually down, hungry, or abused. You are all welcome in God’s Kingdom, regardless of your personal situation. For those who think that money, influence, social standing, or church affiliation will get you in, forget it. I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one can approach the Father except through Me.

You see, the Sermon on the Mount is all about citizenship in the Kingdom. It’s all about Jesus. There is nothing spiritually uplifting about being hungry, poor, or abused. Being poor and miserable isn’t a passport to Heaven. Jesus isn’t saying that wealth and happiness bring condemnation. There is nothing wrong with being rich, happy, or healthy, provided these don’t prevent you from meeting God. What He’s saying is: Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, but seek first the Kingdom of God and you will find it. And there are no exclusions.

In summary, status won’t buy admittance and the lack of something to wear to church won’t keep you out. Heaven’s gates will open to all who look for them. The Beatitudes are not a list of qualifications for Heaven. You could write your own list if you wanted to. How about these: Blessed is the drunkard, for he shall become intoxicated with joy? Or maybe Blessed is the lonely soul who hides in his room, for he shall stand in the Heavenly choir? Or finally, Blessed are the parents who watch with pride as their children grow in their knowledge of the Lord, for they shall spend eternity remembering that joy?

Remember what the writer said about Abraham: that the people would call him blessed. He certainly didn’t fit into any of the Beatitude categories. The Bible says, For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (Matthew 7:8). We are all blessed!

Something to think about!

3.

The Living Book

In 1971, an Illinois businessman by the name of Kenneth Taylor published a modern English paraphrase of the Bible that he entitled The Living Bible. Even though I’ve had a copy sitting on my bookshelf ever since, I have never given the title much thought. It was just another version to go with my NASB, my NIV, and my NKJV. I find that it’s useful as a reference tool even though it isn’t a properly accredited translation. I suspect that there are a large number of forty-somethings out there who, if they search their closets and attics, will rediscover their own copy; it was a favourite handout for evangelical young people’s groups and teen Sunday school classes in the late 60s (for the New Testament) and the early 70s.

But this isn’t about the Bible itself. It’s the title I got to thinking about.

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

—Hebrews 4:12–13 (emphasis added)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; this one was in the beginning with God; all things through him did happen, and without him happened not even one thing that hath happened. In him was life, and the life was the light of men…

—John 1:1–4, YLT (emphasis added)

I wondered, how can a book be considered alive? So out came Webster. I’m going to walk you through the definitions I went through without comment—at least not until the end. First off, of course, we start with the word living.

Living: the condition of having life.

Life: the state of an organism characterized by certain processes or abilities…

Organism: Any living being or its material structure… Any complete whole, which by the integration, interaction and mutual dependence of its parts is comparable to a living being.

Think about any living entity you may be familiar with and see how the definitions listed above are fulfilled. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a plant, baboon, human, or crow.

Now take that living entity and remove a piece. The organism is impaired and unable to function properly. Birds require two wings to fly. Two eyes help prevent us from being blindsided while driving. Without petals, flowers cannot attract the insects required for pollination. Each part depends upon the others for survival, for replication, or for aesthetics. Each part also has a specific position within the organism and interacts with the other parts in a specific manner. Most organisms can survive the loss of a few bits and pieces and continue to function, albeit somewhat impaired in movement or appearance, but take enough bits away and it will no longer function as intended. Remove a few more bits and the organism will die.

Now think about your Bible and apply the same rationale as you did with the examples above. The Bible is no different—with one exception, which we will get to in a moment. It’s a complete whole, from Genesis to Revelation. Each chapter reinforces the message being conveyed by the complete Word. The Gospels interact with the prophets, with the life of Christ providing the fulfillment to many of them. Paul’s letters draw upon the books of the law and the prophets to complete their logical arguments for the reality of our salvation and heavenly citizenship. Genesis provides the beginnings whilst the prophecies in Revelation bring this earth to its ending and new beginning.

If you take away certain parts, the story becomes incomplete. Think what the effect would be if John 20 were removed! How about Matthew 1? Surely it would be possible to eliminate all those begats. Removing Revelation would eliminate many of the objections people have concerning Scripture. Controversial areas like Genesis 1 or Job 40 could be left out of the new publication, thus assuring acceptance by all critics.

In fact, the politically correct version of the NIV hit the newsstands in 2006. The new version of the Sacred Scriptures was presented at a book fair in Frankfurt. Subtitled The Bible in a More Just Language, the so-called translation has Jesus no longer referring to God as Father, but as our Mother and Father who are in heaven. Likewise, Jesus is no longer referred to as the Son but rather as the child of God. The title Lord is replaced with God or the Eternal One. The devil, however, is still referred to with masculine pronouns.

In December 2005, Matin Dreyer, pastor and founder of the sect Jesus Freaks, published the Volksbibel (The People’s Bible) in a supposed attempt to make the message of Christianity more accessible. Jesus returns instead of resurrects, and it multiplies hamburgers instead of fishes and loaves. In the parable of the prodigal son, the younger son squanders his inheritance at dance clubs and ends up cleaning bathrooms at McDonald’s.

Before we leave this portion of the argument, the difference between the Word and all other organisms is that the Word is eternal. You can burn it, ban it, bury it, deface it, or ridicule it, but you cannot stop its message from being broadcast throughout the world. It cannot be slain.

Oftentimes we consider the Word as being the story of God’s interaction with man, and I would certainly not attempt to argue against this definition, but to my mind it seems a bit incomplete. The Word is ever so much more than a simple biography. No biography serves any purpose other than to acquaint the reader with the subject of the biography. It’s true that we may learn some significant lessons from reading specific biographies, but those lessons are secondary to the main purpose of the biography.

The Word has a number of very specific functions in addition to relaying the story of God and man. Several are identified in the Hebrews 4 reference quoted at the start of this chapter. The sword image here is not the two-handed broadsword of King Arthur fame, nor is it the curved scimitar as used by Aladdin; rather, it’s the short fighting sword used by the Greeks in close combat. It would be approximately the size of a dagger. From days long past when I worked in a butcher’s shop, I can assure you that cutting through a joint to separate the limb from the torso requires an extremely sharp and flexible blade. It also requires a great deal of skill to penetrate the joint and separate the ball and socket so that the two parts are divided cleanly. Joints are hard to divide. A cleaver or axe won’t cut through cleanly. Only an expertly wielded blade can do it.

The purpose of this precision cutting is to expose man’s inner heart. This is done not to encourage ridicule or promote pain, but to reveal to us those things that must be excised if growth and spiritual good health is to prevail. The Word exposes our hearts, and then, if we acknowledge its findings, it enables us to claim God’s promises. These are the two edges!

Do you wonder about the difference between the soul and the spirit? The spirit is the intelligent (or immaterial) part of man. The soul is the eternal. So the Word distinguishes between the stuff that’s nice to know and useful to correct to get along in this world and the things we need to fix in light of eternity.

We