Yes.  He did.  And we are here, only by His gracious act of creation.  If you have been following along with the posts and especially the commentary the last couple of weeks you are aware that creation has been discussed and I hope will continue to be.  No one is denying the fact of creation, just how to interpret the narrative we have that portrays it.  This post is not about creation in a wider sense.  It is about the many questions I have read out there in cyberspace asking what God created.

There is the question asking, did God create evil?  Another asks, did God create sin?  What about, did God create time?

Some believe He created evil and sin for example, so that we can experience good and His mercy.  Some believe He had to create time because He does not experience duration or sequence because He is infinite, but because we are finite we had to have time created to experience the same.  Some of these concepts are definitely brain twisters and the most vocal of the believers in these things end most of the discussions with the argument of God being so far beyond, above, mysterious, and such that we should not attempt to even ponder them.  Logic seems to have no place for determining what God is like.

I have other questions.  If we need evil to experience good, then how in the heavens are we going to experience good in eternity?  Isn’t the promise that evil will be gone?  Is evil a noun; is it something with independent existence?  Or is it just what occurs when Gods ways are not followed? The same goes for sin.  Isn’t it really just a turning from the path God set before us, missing the mark, as it is defined?

God is good because he said so.  Good has independent existence because God exists.  But God never, ever, said He was evil.  Isn’t evil really just a measurement, as is sin, of how much we are unlike God or how far we or our actions are from Him.  Did God create large, small, sweet, sour, pretty, ugly and such, or are these just descriptives and measurements of the things He did create?  Evil and sin are not things.  They are what things that are created do.

Time is in the same ballpark.  It is a measurement of sequence and duration.  Again, do we say that God created height, or depth, or diameter?  Or aren’t these just concepts that we use to relate to creation?  To me, time fits this description.  I once thought of God as timeless and above and outside time and it gave me nothing but headaches.  Upon further study, prayer, reflection and discussion I have come to the conclusion that this is a manmade concept and is not only unbiblical, it actually goes against much of the biblical witness.

As I read the love letter to mankind that we call the bible, I see a God that desires relationships with His creations.  I see a God that experiences sequence and duration.  A God that asks things like, how long?  How much?  When?  All of these things point far away from timelessness.  In eternity, if God does not experience time, meaning duration and sequence, then how will we relate to Him then?  It will be no better than it is here.

God is everlasting to everlasting.  God simply always was and always is and always will be.  He is the Alpha and the Omega, which are actually finite terms meaning the beginning and the end.  These do not point to timelessness either.  They actually point us to the fact that we find our beginning and ending only in Him.

Did God create…?

As far as evil, sin, and time go, I say no.  It just does not fit the picture of the Father that Jesus painted for us.  Instead we find that He is good, He is perfect, and He will be there with us and for us.  Hallelujah.

Love you all

Tags: alpha and the omega, Beginning, Bible, Creation, Discussion, Ending, Eternity, Evil, Father, God, Good, hallelujah, Heaven, jesus, King, Mercy, Perfect, relationship, Relationships

We were on our way to church last evening and the last few minutes of daylight were passing away.  At one point I became entranced by the size of the full moon that was fully visible despite the daylight.  This vision got me to thinking about the reality of things and the ways we interpret the bible.  Figure that one out.  The paths our thoughts sometimes make are amazing.

What I thought about was how most of us interpret the first ten chapters of Genesis.  I, like most of you, look at these passages as literal as I can, especially the creation account and the fall.  I tend to think of Adam and Eve as real people and of the Fall as a real event.  But there are some that do not.

There are theologians that look at these first verses of scripture as allegory, or an attempt to metaphorically represent certain spiritual truths.  This view is nothing new as most things theological are not new.  There has been a division over this view of interpretation from the beginnings of Judaism.  This approach can be consistent with an inerrant view of the bible but not from a fundamentalist style of literalism.

Gen 1:16  And God made the two great lights–the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night–and the stars.

If we take the moon itself as the lesser light, and we certainly do not have too, then we can see this as metaphorical and we know it cannot be literal.  And there are other arguments that can be raised also.

I am not really concerned with the debate between theologians over this issue.  What I am concerned with is the questions that are asked by non-believers over some of these same issues and our inability to give in on some things to reach out to them.  There are so many people out there that won’t give Jesus a chance over some of our unbending views of creation, the flood, etc. and etc.  Shouldn’t the love of Christ and Him giving Himself for us be the focus and isn’t that enough.

I am not against those ministries that put all their resources into some of these views about the bible but when they think that an argument concerning a young or old earth is going to bring lost souls into the kingdom, I have to wonder about that and them.  These types of arguments should, in my opinion, be reserved for those that are mature in Christ, and not the lost.

As far as whether the first chapters of Genesis are literal or allegorical, I will not commit.  It seems to me that both have their merit.  But I do know that Jesus, who I know is God, primarily used parables to teach His truths.

Love you all

Tags: adam and eve, allegory, Beginning, Bible, Church, Creation, creation account, Ending, full moon, Interpretation, Kingdom, literalism, Love, Sin, Theological

In my last post I mentioned some things I believe the enemy has corrupted or even brought about to use in our destruction.  I also intended to develop some practical ways to change our strategy and tactics that I believe would help us in this fight to the death.  Instead, I ended up with one of my longer articles that took me on a slightly different path. 

So this time I am going to try again to go where I intended to then.  I made the statement that our enemy slowly seduced us from the original attitudes that brought about the modern Pentecost.  He used some of the following tactics to do this. 

Acceptance by the rest of culture, entertainment, false manifestations and manipulations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, pharisaical legalism, a false gospel of the pursuit of happiness and wealth, academics and the pursuit of knowledge, and finally a misperception of relevance.

I see these as the main areas of corruption but not necessarily all.  As I said then, I do not believe all of this is bad, just corrupted.  After all, our enemy is so good at taking the good and the true and twisting it into the bad and the false, in a way so subtle, so diabolical, that it is hard to recognize the evil. 

Let’s look a little closer. 

Acceptance.  We all want to be accepted.  We want to be asked to the party.  We want to be included in the program.  We love it when our ideas are implemented.  It is great when our words are the ones others seek to hear or read.  Most bloggers do look at their hit counters.  And this is okay.  But it does not usually fuel the drive that got us to that place of acceptance. 

At first it does keep us on our toes.  We must strive to stay on top.  But once we get accepted, we usually tend to find the comfortable.  We coast.  We lose the distinction of being the outsider with something to say.  With a new, relevant message.  This is what has happened to us.  We, as Pentecostal soldiers, who originally had a new weapon that scared the enemy and dealt him a lot of defeat, have been marginalized because we are now just one of the guys.  Playing that religious game.

Entertainment.  I hate the words, “I’m bored.”  My kids used to say this.  Often.  I also hear a lot of adults say it too.  I have thought about this more than most would believe and I don’t think I have ever said this about myself.  I don’t ever remember being bored.  Even when there was absolutely nothing to do outside myself, I still had the capacity to think and imagine.  And I say this as one who has spent a lot of time alone, as one who sought to spend that time alone.  Maybe I am just blessed that way. 

But the enemy has also cultivated the need for the individual to be constantly entertained.  Movies, TV, music, sports, internet.  Hunting, fishing, hobbies, games.  Parties, dates, meetings, reunions.  All of these things that take us over or outside ourselves have grown into giant entities of wasted time.  The days of personal introspection and Godly reflection are gone.  We must, instead spend massive amounts of time, energy, and money to feed the monster called Boredom.  I wonder if he is a principality or a power.

False manifestations and manipulations of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I really don’t want to go here.  But I believe I must.  I love the Holy Spirit and the Pentecostal church.  I have experienced things that at one time I was the most vocally against.  The Holy Spirit is real and alive and active in all Christians that allow Him to be.  The gifts of the Spirit are real and powerful and for today.  And I won’t even bother to argue about them because I understand the hesitancy of those who don’t believe to accept this. 

I understand their hesitancy for two reasons.  The first and simplest is that it is impossible to convince anyone of my personal experiences.  But the second reason is the more insidious of the two.  I believe the enemy has convinced some to portray the gifts in a way that is extra biblical. Some of these gifts are esteemed so highly they misplace others, which are possibly more effective as weapons against the enemy.  Some gifts become so sought after that good people are willing to go to any length possible to be seen as having them. 

Paul said he wished all would speak in tongues but he would rather them prophecy. (1 Cor 14:5)  But he also let us know we all had various gifts and different roles in the body in order to be effective.  (1 Cor 12:7)  The enemy has convinced us that we need the most popular gifts so much that some of us are willing to deceive others and, I believe, even ourselves, in false displays of these gifts.  This is the very reason an unbeliever often has a lot of ammunition against us.  False tongues, prophecy, healing, resurrections and many other manifestations that don’t even have scriptural backup, do not bring glory to our Lord and King.  They do nothing really but fuel the flame of unbelief.

Pharisaical legalism.  This had its strongest force in an earlier day.  I was not a part of this body when a person would have the state of their sanctification judged by the length of their hair or skirt, the amount of jewelry they wore, or many other outward rules and regulations that had no effect on the cleansing of anyone’s heart.  But we have grown past this.  Our new motto is come as you are.  Wear shorts and a t-shirt and even come barefoot in some churches, that’s okay. 

But is legalism gone or has the enemy just given it a facelift.  A whole lot of churches that say come as you are really do not mean this.  They really mean wear what you want.  But our Lord would certainly not mean to allow them in with a sinful lifestyle.  So we should certainly expect them to change first.  Doesn’t our attitude sometimes reflect the need for sanctification before salvation?

 A false gospel of the pursuit of happiness and wealth.  I believe this to be one of the most dangerous of all the weapons the enemy has unleashed against us to date.  God wants us above all else to be happy and prosperous.  Not full of joy and taken care of.  That would not be enough.  God is my friend and my father and there is just no way He would want me to suffer.  The enemy has a large contingent of people in his employ spreading this nefarious lie.  I believe some of them are deceived but there are a lot that have to know who they are serving.

What happens to that person who buys into this and continues to suffer?  What happens when the wealth never comes?  Some turn from the faith.  Some hang on as bitter, weaponless soldiers, battered even more intensely.  Some even hang tough and it doesn’t affect their relationship with Christ, but their lost loved ones see the deceit and will never come to faith.  I believe we have lost a lot of battles to increase the Kingdom where this doctrine is concerned.

 Academics and the pursuit of knowledge.  It is amazing that this could be corrupted.  Shouldn’t knowledge and the pursuit of it lead to a better understanding of God?  Not if the enemy can get his hands, paws, claws on it.  There is an abundance of scripture declaring God’s pleasure at our pursuit of knowledge. (Pro 8:10, Pro 24:5, Ecc 7:12, Dan 2:21, Mal 2:7)  But there are also some warnings.  (Luk 11:52, 1 Cor 8:1, 1 Cor 13:2)  If knowledge is not shared, if it brings about pride, or if it is presented with no love, it becomes a deadly weapon to be exploited by the enemy. 

Some of our most intelligent, intellectual theologians have reached a place where they are no longer teachable.  And in their arrogance they do a lot of harm to the body of Christ thru division and debate.  They have become prideful and unloving in their exposition of truth.  The more some learn about God the less they look like Him. 

A misperception of relevance.  The church must be relevant in whatever culture it is in.  It simply must matter and should be able to impact any area, age or culture.  Paul said he would be all things to all men so that some might be saved.  (1 Cor 9:22)  But unlike Paul, who meant it as a servant, (1 Cor 9:19) we seem to go to the extremes. 

We take the idea of relevance and seemingly throw it away by saying we will not reach out, we will not bend, we will not mix, or; we go to the opposite extreme and throw away all the rules, all the truths, all the peculiarities of servant hood to Christ and bring the culture into the church.  We must live in the world without being part of the world.  The enemy has successfully made this very hard to understand or apply. 

I hope you can see what I am saying here.  This has become a long read and for that I am sorry.  I hope you can take it and learn something and once again I apologize for not getting to where I intended to get.  Hang with me, please.  I will get there.

Love you all

Tags: Academics, Acceptance, Culture, Ending, Enemy, Entertainment, False manifestations, Happiness, Holy Spirit, Knowledge, Manipulation, Pentecost, Spiritual Warfare, Strategy and Tactics, Wealth

Our lives can be measured by a number of key events or stages.  All have a beginning and most can be seen to be an ending also.  Some of these are totally out of our control and some we can control to some extent. 

Conception is where each one of us began.  God only created two as far as we can tell.  After that He asked us to share in His plan by being fruitful.  Since that command the population has depended on procreation.  There is not one person alive that was not conceived by a man and a woman.  Our lives began there and we can say with assurance that there was not an ending of anything.  Unless we try to say it was an end to our nonexistence.  Which I think is rather absurd.  So we can call this The Beginning.

Birth is another and the very next beginning for all of us.  Our mothers carried us all through the first stages of life and then when the time came for us to be born, we entered into another stage.  Birth can be called an ending in the sense that we had to leave the perfect nurturing embrace of the womb and enter the cold hard world we live in.  But for most it isn’t too bad.  A lot of people who came before are there, to love and embrace us, and keep us safe.  Birth is both a beginning and an ending.

School is the next major beginning for most of us.  We come to that place in time where we must start our preparation for what is to come.  We do that by leaving our homes and going off for the first time alone.  So we can learn what society believes we need to know.  Some of us never finish school.  Some of us seem to never want to finish school.  But we all have to move on at some time. 

Work.  Entering the workforce is the next beginning point that we can measure.  It is an ending of the time where we were basically as free as we would ever be.  We now take on real life responsibilities.  All of those teens who just wanted school to end will now be able to see that they had it made.  Work is the thing that most of us will do for the majority of the time we live on this earth. 

Marriage is another major beginning.  It might not fall in this order.  Some marry in school.  And although it may be very rare, some even get married after they retire.  Marriage is one of the best beginnings.  A lot of people joke about it and a lot of people don’t make it all the way through.  But almost all of us really want someone to share this life with.  It is the way God made us.  If it is going to work it should be an ending to our selfishness.  We must give ourselves to the one we marry.

Parenthood is a beginning for most people.  It is not for everyone but it is a very important stage in life.  We not only finally get to share creative power with God; we also get to share in the love for those who are so much less than us.  At least to start.  If it is not, it should be an ending to our own immaturity.  We may have finished school, gotten a job and gotten married, and still be babies ourselves.  But if we want to be the parents we should be, we need to grow up.

Retirement is next if we make it that far.  We finally get to stop working and live out our remaining years in a somewhat less demanding structure.  But it is an end to the bustling world of deadlines and meetings, stress and tiredness, and some just can’t do without it.  At a time when we should be at rest some find only boredom and anxiousness. It is very much an ending as well as a beginning.   

Death is the next beginning.  And it is the best of all.  Some of you may look at it as only an ending, an ending to life.  Some may see that it is not just an ending but is also a beginning.  But do you really see it as the greatest beginning of all? 

2Co 5:1  For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2Co 5:2  For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,

2Co 5:3  if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked.

2Co 5:4  For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened–not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

2Co 5:5  He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

2Co 5:6  So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,

2Co 5:7  for we walk by faith, not by sight.

2Co 5:8  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

While we are at home in this body we are away from the Lord. Death is the doorway we go through that allows us to leave behind all the beginnings and endings and spend eternity with the only one who has no beginning or ending, the Alpha and the Omega. 

When we were conceived we were doomed to a pretty rotten future.  But God made us a way through Jesus Christ to achieve that most glorious of all beginnings.  We call it death but God calls it homecoming

Love you all. 

Tags: Beginning, Conception, Death, Ending, Faith, God, Hope, Love, Marriage, Parenthood, Retirement, School, Work