Stability For Our Time

(Since I have badly neglected my own site for months, no one goes there anymore, so I am cross-posting this here, to add my own testimony to Rich's, since we are one flesh by the Covenant of Marriage and a team in all we do ... ~LissaKay)


The Bible tells us that God loves our prayers. We are to pray to Him our praise and worship, tell Him the desires of our hearts, request guidance and strength in our daily lives, and ask that He speak to us. The Bible also tells us that God can and will perform miracles for us, even today - He confirms and attests to us His love and our salvation "by signs and wonders and various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will." (Heb 2:4)

For the first time in my life, I have found myself in need of a true miracle.

On Memorial Day, Rich's youngest son was in a car wreck. His Jeep slid on a rain-slick curve and ran off the road. He sustained a head injury, in addition to broken ribs, lacerated lung with hemo-pneumothorax, and a minor fracture of his ankle. After a 90 minute extrication, he was rushed to the nearest trauma center. In the ER, he was responding appropriately, smiling at his dad and laughing with his best friend. Due to the knock on the head and the fractured ribs, he was taken to the ICU for observation. Shortly after arriving there, his level of consciousness started to decline. An astute nurse saw this and soon, Luke was being put under heavy sedation, intubated and put on a ventilator. A CT scan showed bleeding in his head and he had signs of increased cranial pressure.

While more than a little concerned, I felt assured that God had this under control. Of course I was praying for healing and recovery for Luke. The possibilities they were speaking of were very dire - the name for the injury he had is Diffuse Axonal Injury. A bit of research on the term revealed a very grim prognosis. Of those who sustain this kind of brain injury, 90% will never wake up. Of those who do, 90% will have major cognitive and/or motor deficits. Of the rest of that 1% the injury results in minor to moderate disability. When I read this, I felt like I had been punched in the gut. I prayed harder.

Wednesday morning, after I spent much of the previous night in deep prayer, the CT scan was repeated. Praise God in Heaven - the damage turned out to be very minor, limited to a small part of the brain and best of all, was not progressing. While he still had sustained the damage from the bleed, it was small.

Our celebration that Luke would be OK was short-lived however. As they started to back down the paralytic that was keeping him still, they soon found that his lungs were not functioning very effectively. After only three days on the ventilator, he developed ARDS - acute respiratory syndrome. His lungs were stiff, filled with fluid and could not transfer oxygen effectively to his bloodstream. They had to keep him on the ventilator and let his lungs heal - but the Catch 22 is that being on the ventilator is what made his lungs sick in the first place.

Over the next week, his progress went from 3 steps forward and 2 steps back to 2 steps forward and 3 steps back. We continued praying - seeking God's face and His divine guidance and reassurance. Rich got some answers, but I still felt adrift and useless. My faith sustained, I continued having faith that Luke would still recover, and I focused on being there to support my husband while he was there for his children and family.

As the days turned into a week, and Luke made little to no progress, in my prayers, I asked God to show me what I needed to do. Two things kept coming to my mind ... the word "supplication" and the verse Jeremiah 29:11 - which happens to be my life verse: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." To this I answered, "Guide me, Holy Spirit, to do the works commanded of me. Use me as you will."

Sunday evening, I was preparing to leave the hospital when we were called back to speak with the doctor. He gave us the news that we had hoped to never have to hear, that Luke was deteriorating and was headed to what was eventually going to be his final respiratory crisis. It could be days, it could be hours. But there was little else that could be done. But there was one hope - a special bed that would allow them to easily change his position to prone, and rotate from side to side and tilt up and down. The chances of this bed working were small, and the risks in moving him were great. It would take several hours for the bed to arrive, as there were only three in the region. I believe Rich knew that he had to go for the only chance we had - having already placed Luke in God's hands. With my support, he told the doctor to go for it. Get the bed. It was already on the way.

The doctor also told us that it would be reasonable to gather the entire family at that time - even the children who were far away. One daughter in Birmingham, one in California, and even the son deployed with the Army in Iraq. The calls went out and local family began gathering at the hospital within minutes.

And then I began praying. I was begging God to not take him, that we needed him here with us. I said, "Your will, Lord, not ours, but please hear our prayer that he stay here with us - healed, whole and healthy. Lord, Lord, Lord ... please don't take him! Have mercy on his father, his mother, his family, and most of all on his beloved Lindsey. Please don't take him, Lord ... DON'T!"

Even as I spoke with Rich and the rest of the family, that prayer repeated unceasing in my mind. Then we were called back to Luke's bedside. He was deteriorating faster than previously thought. Though his oxygen levels were good, he was not perfusing well, CO2 was building up and he was becoming acidotic. They needed to move him to the prone position right away. But this would be an additional move, and another big risk of causing an irreversible crisis.

We had a while to be with Luke while they prepared for the move. God came down and weighed on me heavily. Hardly thinking about it, I just did it ... I went to Luke's side and layed my hands on his chest, and then I prayed.

I prayed with every ounce of energy, every fiber of my soul, and with every bit of love in my heart. Now it seems as if in a dream, all I remember is repeating the prayer over and over, "Your will, Lord, not ours, but please hear our prayer that he stay here with us - healed, whole and healthy. Lord, Lord, Lord ... please don't take him! Have mercy on his father, his mother, his family, and most of all on his beloved Lindsey. Please don't take him, Lord ... DON'T! In the sweet name of our Glorious Lord Jesus Christ, I pray!" alternating with that supplication that was demanded of me, "Lord, I know I am unworthy, my prayers are but a whisper, but I come to You humbly begging for Your grace and favor. We need a miracle for this child of Yours, please hear me, Lord, and grant us this miracle. In His Name, Lord ... I beg of you!"

Tears washed from my eyes in great torrents, I was shaking and my legs quickly grew weak, but I knew I had to keep on. I had God's ear and I meant to shout our pleas into it. The nursing team was moving around me, I was barely aware of their presence, yet I was taking it all in, every detail. One nurse's aid, despite the gravity of the situation, made jokes and laughed. I prayed for grace and compassion for her. I prayed for divine guidance of the medical team - "Lord, be here with us, work through the nurses, guide their hands so that no harm comes to Luke!"

Rich and I stood across the hall as they moved him, holding each other, still praying. And then it was done. His numbers were bad, and we all held our breath waiting for him to recover. The prayers were unceasing - "A miracle, Lord ... oh please grant us this miracle!" And slowly, but surely, Luke's numbers crept back up ... but we would still have to face the move, and risks, again when the bed arrived later that morning.

Although I was able to speak to others, I remained in this prayerful state. We finally retired to the family lounge to try to sleep, but I could not relax, and so I prayed.

They started calling other families back for doctors rounds at 7:30. They called us last, around 8:30. The bed was there and they were going to start moving him soon. It was a new shift of nurses by then, and Luke had held on in his face down position quite well. We had a glimmer of hope that the bed would be beneficial.

Again, as they prepared, I prayed with my hands on Luke. The same prayers, with some thanksgiving for the hope we had received ... the same physical and total emotional and mental involvement, with same dreamlike state as before. This time though, when the team was ready to start the move, they stopped ... and then they circled around Luke with us, we joined hands and were lead in a beautiful prayer by Jeanie, the clinical specialist.

It would take about an hour to move Luke, and due to the size of the bed, and close quarters in the room, they had us leave the ICU and return to the family lounge. As we did, a strange and wonderful sense of peace settled over me, and I knew in my heart that Luke was going to be OK.

A little while later, we went back in to see Luke in this huge bed ... hanging upside down, gently cradled in this crazy looking contraption, Luke began healing ... REALLY healing. Within a couple more hours, his oxygen was up at near normal levels, and his CO2 was dropping. His fever, though encased in the bed without the cooling blanket, came down to 101. By every measurement and number, he was doing so much better.

Three days later, as I write this, he has improved magnificently. The medical team is astounded. We again speak of WHEN Luke wakes up, not IF. The family that was called in from out of town, and out of country, is not here for the worst a family can face, but a celebration.

We are seeing a miracle unfold here ... the doctors tell us that Luke could wake up with cognitive deficits and possible long term or permanent damage to his lungs, which could limit his activities. But I firmly believe, and have faith that when God starts a miracle, he finishes it. Luke is going to be OK, really OK.

There have been hundreds of people called to pray for Luke, to ask God for this miracle. Hundreds of people obeyed that call. Their lives have been blessed. We are seeing this miracle. We asked, He answered ...

God said "Yes"

I used to call myself that.

Folks, if you call yourself a New Testament Christian then you are telling yourself a lie. You are deceived and there's no getting around it.

The New Testament is firmly rooted in the Old Testament, and just like a tree, if you cut off the root, the trunk will fall.

There's a bunch of folks running around right now trying to "reinterpret" Jesus Christ. They pay close attention to the New Testament, particularly the recorded words of Jesus, and use that limited scope to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was only a man, and not the Son of God. And by narrowing their focus, they make a pretty strong case. If you neglect all of the prophecy in the Old Testament, the hundreds of verses that predict the time of His birth, His purpose, His career, and His death in exquisite detail, it becomes much easier to discard the miracles Jesus' performed as simple folk tales. It is only when you place Jesus' life in context of Old Testament prophecy that you discover the incontrovertible truth that He is God.

Here's a simple example. We've all heard the story about the Three Wise Men:

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem,
2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him;
4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:
6 “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler
who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.”
9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.
11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.
12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

There's a lot going on in this story that most of us rarely take the time to appreciate. First of all is a simple but profound question: How did the wise men know what the star represented? Apparently, they read the Scriptures because Numbers 24:17 gives an answer:

I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near:
a star shall come out of Jacob,
and a scepter shall rise out of Israel;

When Herod wanted to know when and where the Messiah would be born, he asked the Pharisees and they quoted the Old Testament, in this case, Micah 5:2

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.

This leads us directly back to the first prophecy in the Bible, Genesis 3:15, which predicts the coming of a Messiah, Jesus Christ, the "seed" of a woman.

The point is that if you remove the prophecy, the birth oif Jesus becomes just another birth, with no significance attached. However, knowledge of the Old Testament, the Scriptures, tells us that the Jews knew where their Savior would come from, and when. IN fact, the knowledge wasn't all that esoteric if wise men from another country knew of it.

Which brings me to a kind of interesting point. How did the wise men from the east know of a Jewish prophecy, and come to take it seriously enough to undertake a long journey to a small town in a backwater country, bringing with them fine gifts? Let's take a look at Daniel 2:48:

Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great o gifts, and made him ruler over the whole p province of Babylon and q chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

There's that phrase, 'wise men' again. What makes this really interesting is that the word magi is a Greek transliteration of a Babylonian word.

And to close the circle, if we look at a map, what country lies directly to the east of Israel?

Babylon.

Was Daniel taken into captivity, then given authority over all the magi of Babylon, just so that hundreds of years later, a group of Magi would recognize the significance of a star appearing in the sky at a precise time?

More importantly for the sake of this discussion, when we understand the prophetic accuracy of the Old Testament, we gain a richer understanding of the nature of Jesus of Nazareth. He was not a random child born on a random day. His birth was foretold in exacting detail centuries beforehand. For this reason alone, the Old Testament is vital if we want to understand Jesus and His message to us.

But there is another, deeper reason...Jesus told us to study the Old Testament.

He told us to study the Scriptures, and those Scriptures are none other than what we call the Old Testament. He told us that the Scriptures were all about Him. He told us that He did not come to replace the Law, but to fulfil the prophecies of the Law. He told us that the Law would stand unchanged and immutable until every bit of it was fulfilled. He quoted frequently from Scripture, using it to teach His disciples. In short, the Old Testament formed the core of His ministry. How then can any of us say that the New Testament is more important than the Old?

It's a deception.

One more proof.

Many New Testament Christians point to the Sermon on the Mount as where Jesus replaces Mosaic Law with the "New Law." They quote Matt 5:38-41:

38 “You have heard that it was said, y ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’
39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.
41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

They say that Jesus is directly replacing the Law of the Prophets. Oddly, they completely ignore what He said in the very same speech:

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
19 therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven

.

How can we reconcile this seeming contradiction? New Testament Christians just shrug it off. Biblical Christians realize that in His examples, Jesus is not talking about ignoring the Law, but about leaving the punishment to Him. If we want to know His mercy, then we must show that mercy to our fellow men. Following the Law is a matter of the heart, not the body. Jesus excoriates the Pharisees, who followed the letter of the Law with great diligence, but completely ignored the Spirit of the Law. They complied out of obligation, and in search of power, not out of true love and devotion.

When asked later what the greatest commandments were, he replied from Scripture, not some new law.

35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

He quoted Deuteronomy 6:5 and Leviticus 19:18

Jesus points to these two Old Testament Commandments and tells us straight out that these are the keys to all of the Law and Prophecy in Scripture. Think about that for a moment. Jesus said straight out, with no equivocation or misdirection or ambiguity that all of the Law rested on these two verses from the Old Testament.

And some of us in our arrogance try to tell ourselves that the Old Testament isn't really all that important anymore; we're "New Testament" Christians.

Like I said, I was there once. Fortunately, I've been given the grace and knowledge to see through that deception.

That's the big question on everybody's mind right now, isn't it? That earthquake in Haiti has really stirred things up, particularly after Pat Robertson spoke his piece, a topic I already covered in some detail here.

We know that there had to be some good people on the island, right? Despite what Robertson said about deals with the devil and so on, not everybody on Haiti could be bad, so then why were the good punished along with the wicked?

These questions point to an underlying assumption in the big question, that there were good people on Haiti. If we look closer, we can see that there are several big assumptions tied up into this question, and we need to examine them so that we can understand exactly what we are asking. If you don't think the underlying assumptions contained in a question are important, just think about the old saw about asking a man if he had stopped beating his wife. Whether he answers yes or no is irrelevant because of the underlying assumption, that he had beat his wife in the past. So before we can start to answer the question, first, we have to understand it. Let's break down the parts and see where we stand.

1. "Why does God allow...to happen" indicates a belief that all things are under God's control.
2. "Bad things" indicates a belief that our perception of bad and good are accurate and applicable on a global scale as well as an individual scale.
3. "To good people" indicates a belief that there are good people, or at the very least, people who don't deserve whatever calamity we happen to be talking about.

As I've written about before, I believe the Bible is divinely inspired, and despite the fact that every copy in existence is flawed in some way, I believe that it is easily accurate enough for us to use as a reference on the nature of God. So let's see what the Bible has to say on this.
First, let's look at assumption 1, that everything that happens is in accordanc with God's plan. Let's look at three cases.

1. God has planned everything and it is all under His complete control, a doctrine called predestination.


2. God has a general plan that will be carried out, but the details are left vague to allow us to exercise free will.


3. God set the universe in motion and is sitting back, watching the show to see how it turns out.

_{(Technically, there is a fourth option, that there is no God, but I don't have enough faith to be an atheist, so I'm not going to bother. Go read Dawkins or Hitchens of that's your cup of tea.)}

Pr 16:4

The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble

.
Acts 4:28

to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

Rom 8:29

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

Eph 1:3-5

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Job 31:4

Does not he see my ways and number all my steps?

Jer 1:5

Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

Matt 10:29-31

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

There's more, but I think you get the point. God didn't just give the universe a shove to get it going, nor does he plan somethings and leave others to chance; he has planned and knows every detail, down to the number of hairs on your head. This idea has some interesting implications for free will and personal responsibility, but we'll deal with those at another time.

Assumption 2, that what we define as bad actually corresponds to bad is the next topic.
Pr 16:4

The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble

.
Ex 1:12

But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and the more they spread abroad. And the Egyptians were in dread of the people of Israel.

Job 5:17

“Behold, blessed is the one whom God reproves; therefore despise not the discipline of the Almighty.

Ps 119:67

Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word.

Zec 13:9

And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”

Heb 12:11

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Matt 5:10

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Deu 8:5

Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you.

Again, there is more, but you get the point. Biblically speaking, it is clear that in many instances, what we see immediately as painful and bad can turn out, in accordance with God's plan, to be of benefit to us. Given the limitations of our perceptions and intelligence, there is no way for us to know at any given moment whether the trials we are facing are there to chasten or reprove us, or to strengthen us in our faith. All we can say is that all things work towards the glory of God, and to benefit those who follow Him. Assumption number 2 is false, and that gives us part of our answer.

Now for Assumption 3, that there are good people.

This is the real sticking point because I don't know anybody, myself included, who likes to think of themselves as a bad person, but once again, let's see what the Bible has to say on that.
Rom 3:23

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Gen 6:5

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

1 Kings 8:46

“If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—"

Psalm 14:3

They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good, not even one.

Psalm 130:3

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?

Ecc 7:20

Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.

Isaiah 53:6

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;

Isaiah 64:6

We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

1 John 1:8

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

So once again, from a Biblical standpoint, our assumption is false. We aren't good people. In the eyes of God, we are all unclean and unworthy of His protection. But because He loves us, He has given us a Savior, Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sins by dying on the cross.

So, knowing what we now know, let's reformulate our question to eliminate the false assumptions.

Why would a loving God allow bad things to happen?

We already know at least part of the answer from the verses in our study of Assumption 2. God allows us to undergo trials in order to strengthen us, or chasten us. Like the shepherd's rod, he uses trials to tell us when we're going astray. He also uses them to strengthen our faith and temper our hearts, and to bring us closer to Him. As recorded in Matthew, God uses trials and persecutions to bless us, and Jesus told us to rejoice in our persecutions:
Matt 5:11-12

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Another part of the answer comes from our study of Assumption 3. Bad things happen because we deserve them. Read Matthew Chapter 20. In this parable, Jesus is telling us that He isn't giving us what we deserve, but through the grace of God, more than we deserve. We don't earn our good fortune; it is a gift from God. If we were given just what what we deserved, we would be in pitiful shape.

There is one final part of the answer, one nobody likes to talk about, but it is real. Troubles are a punishment for disobedience.
Dan 9:11

All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.

We like to think of God as a loving God, but that is only part of His nature. He is also a just God, and justice requires consequences for actions. As a just God, He must condemn us all for our sins, but as a loving God, He sent His Son to pay the price for us, so we wouldn't have to. We do have a responsibility to meat in this deal. Jesus ransomed us from damnation, but in order to get the benefit of that redemption, we must accept Him as our Savior and our Lord. Simple belief is not enough. As the Scripture says, even the demons believe. We must also obey become His servants, and His friends. Being the friend of God isn't a bad price to pay to escape condemnation, but as creatures of flesh, we have a hard time paying it.

So God helps us. Those who He has called for His own will be chastened and reproved when they go astray. Trust me on this one; I've been on the receiving end of many chastenings, and I'm certain I have more in store. On the other hand, I've been through trials that have made me stronger , and again, I'm sure there will be more. The important thing is that I keep clear that all things work for the good of those who walk with God, and that God won't test me without giving me what I need to pass the test.

Heck, he gave me a Book with all of the answers in it; all I have to do is find them.

I've been hearing all day about how Pat Robertson said the earthquake in Haiti was a result of God's wrath against Haiti for making a deal with the devil, and I was preparing to write a post calling Robertson out for it.

But as I dug into it for myself in order to make sure I was getting the straight story, I found out that Robertson was being railroaded.

Here are Robertson's actual comments followed by a transcript:

And you know, Christy, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it, they were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil, they said, we will serve you, if you get us free from the French, true story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free, and ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor. . . the Island of Hispaniola is one island cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti, on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is, is, prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty, same Islands, uh, they need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come, but right now we're helping the suffering people, and the suffering is unimaginable.

A careful reader, which leaves out those with an agenda and the mainstream press, but I repeat myself, will notice something important; not once did Robertson mention the wrath of God. He didn't even come close to it, nor did he even imply that the earthquake was a judgment on the people of Haiti. You can read it or listen as many times as you would like, and you won't find it because it isn't there.

What is there is another clear example of people who know nothing about Christianity, or who are actively biased against it, trying to write about it, and getting it wrong.

Rev Robertson said nothing about the wrath of God, or a curse from God; instead, he noted that Haiti has been a nation that has suffered affliction after affliction throughout modern history, and he linked it to a "deal with the devil." He went on to say that what Haiti needed was more of God, not less. The only legitimate implication you can take from these remarks is that the people of Haiti are suffering from the wrath of Satan, not God.

This is not an unprecedented in the Bible. Revelation 9:3-5

3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.

The locusts are allowed to torment everyone except those who are sealed to God as recorded in Revelation 7:3

If you subscribe to a premillenial eschatology, the Church has already been raptured, and the servants of God who got His seal are the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. The only people left on earth at this point are those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, and they are the ones singled out for torment by the agents of Satan.

Not God.

Satan.

Robertson is saying the same thing about Haiti. They aren't suffering from the wrath of God, but the torments of Satan, which is why he and his organization are rushing to help the survivors with food, water, and medical supplies. He wants to show them that God's love can protect them from Satan's torments.

Robertson is being attacked for something he didn't say, or even imply. The reason for that attack is an exercise I'll leave for the student.

One of the neat things about the way God works is how He uses what many would call coincidence to demonstrate the things He is trying to teach us. For example, a couple of days ago, I wrote about how the Bible is constructed holographically, which is to say that topics are dealt with in multiple locations, and each location adds a little bit to the reader's understanding. The today at church, the teacher asked us to look at John 3:16-17,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

and then at 1 John 3:16-17. (He also had us look in Luke, but I'll get to that in a minute.)

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?

For the moment, forget the interesting fact that the verse numbers are the same, and let's concentrate on the verses themselves. Verse 16 in both books are talking about love, with the second expanding on the first. Let's put them together and see what they say.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

The two thoughts work together to create a fuller understanding, not just of God's love for us, but what that love means, how it works, and even more importantly, how it should work in our hearts. If we truly believe in God, and that He sent His only begotten Son to die for our sins, then we should be willing to lay down our lives for our brothers. Now this will come as a shock to all the John 3:16 Christians out there who believe that all they have to do is say some magic words and then they are saved. True salvation makes you want more. It makes you want to do something for your brother. The saved man says, "Yes, I am my brother's keeper, and when he is hungry, I'll feed him, and when he is cold, I will warm im, and if he is naked and homeless, I'll give him clothing and roof over his head." He says that not because he is required, but because it is what is in his heart, because as John says, God is living in his heart.

How many Christians are missing that part of the message because they focused on John 3:16 as the definitive statement of salvation?

You've got to read the whole Bible folks, not just the pieces that are easy.

I hear some of you muttering,"I'm a New Testament Christian. I fall under the New Covenant. Sure, I'll read the Gospels, and some of the Epistles, but I don't need to read the Old Testament. We're not bound to it anymore, so why should I wade through all of those books of laws that don't apply anymore?"

Let me ask you a question, then. What laws do apply?

"That's easy. Jesus was asked that question,and he gave the greatest two commandments."

Luke 10:25-28

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

"So I don't need to know Mosaic Law; I don't need to worry about Deuteronomy or Numbers or Leviticus. The New Covenant is in the New Testament!"

Mmm-hmmm. Do yourself a favor, look up Deut 6:5

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

and Lev 19:18

You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but t you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

Do they look kind of familiar?

The New Covenant is contained in the Old Covenant.

You've got to read the whole Bible folks. There's no getting around it. The New Testament is contained within the Old, and part of our journey towards wisdom, is to discover how the pieces fit together to make a whole. Remember, wisdom requires both knowledge and understanding. Knowledge comes from studying the Scriptures, but understanding comes only from revelation by the Holy Spirit. Without that revelation, you are in the same boat as the Pharisees, able to quote Scripture for hours, but not able to understand it. By the same token, revelation that does not conform to Scripture does not come from the Holy Spirit; it comes either from the flesh, or the Enemy. You have to have both pieces in order to put the puzzle together correctly. If you read only the New Testament, you are missing half of the puzzle pieces you need, and your knowledge will be incomplete.

A "New Testament Christian" is a Biblical cripple, subject to error, and worse, deception.

Today's Bible verse, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, sparked me:

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

I have a lot of friends who call themselves Christians but want to pick and choose which pieces of Scripture they will follow. For example, some insist that sex outside of marriage is not sinful. Almost as many claim that homosexuality is not a sin. You can even find Christians who reject the notion of sin entirely! In each case, what they are really doing is rejecting parts of the Scriptures, and folks, that's not a good thing.

They try to dress it up and hide behind the New Covenant, saying that Jesus came and died and we are no longer bound by the Law. The problem is that Jesus told us straight out that this was a false teaching.

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Folks, it doesn't get much clearer than that!

To make sure we got the point, Jesus confirms again that the whole of the Scriptures still stand:

"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

Jesus tells us that the Scriptures, all of them, are about Him. How then can anyone who calls themselves a Christ follower ignore any of them?

We can't.

On the other hand, if we are under Grace, and not the Law, then why should we follow the Law? In Romans, Paul spends a great deal of time answering that very question. The core of the answer is Romans 6:15-18

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed,
and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

While we are no longer condemned by the Law, we follow the Law to demonstrate the truth of our Salvation. If we truly serve God, if we have accepted Jesus as both Savior and Lord, then we will want to follow His Law.

To sum up, Christians acknowledge that the Law comes from God and is therefore righteous. All of it; not just the parts we understand, or that fit within our culture. We recognize that we fail in keeping the Law, and that the price for that failure is eternal damnation. But we also know that Christ died for us, and that by accepting Him as both Savior AND Lord, we will be judged under Grace, and not the Law.

Now then, let's look back at the friends I was talking about, and see how their approach is somewhat different. When asked, they condemn the Law as unfair. They value their own human judgment ahead of God. Rather than subjugating themselves to His Will, they subject His Word to their understanding. While they accept Jesus as Savior, they refuse to acknowledge Him as Lord. When presented with the choice to conform to society or with the expressed Will of God as revealed in the Scripture, they choose society.

There will be many who will call me judgmental, and tell me that the Bible says "judge not lest ye be judged." They are correct, but the Bible also says that by their fruits you shall know them. I do not presume to judge whether they are Christians or not; however, I can determine whether what they say and do conforms to Scripture or not.

And that leads us back (finally!) to the verse of the day.

Paul wrote the letter while in a Roman prison, and he knew he was about to be executed. He knew that what he was writing was very likely to be the last thing he ever said to his disciple and friend, Timothy. He chose to use this last letter to charge Timothy to carry on preaching the Gospel, and evangelizing to the Gentiles. He also warned Timothy, and us, about what is to come for the world in the last days. 2 Tim 3:1-5

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.
For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,
treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.(Emphasis mine)

Sounds familiar, doesn't it? How many people do you know who call themselves Christians, but deny the Power of God? How many don't believe in miracles, or in Divine Intervention? How many don't believe that God is not only merciful, but just as well? How many people do you know who believe that being a Christian is all about being nice to other people, helping the poor, and going to church on Sunday? How many who study the Bible are "always learning but never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth?"(2 Tim 3:7)

Far, far too many.

On the other hand, how many Christians do you know who profess that being a Christian is first about having a relationship with a Living God? How many know that it is only after we have that relationship that all of that other stuff matters. How many realize the truth that just as faith without works is dead, so too are works without the relationship between us and God? Once again, Jesus gave us the truth, that doing good is not enough.

On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

Oops, there's that whole "law" thing again. It keeps coming up, so it must be important. Let's make it really simple, as my pastor likes to say. IN his gospel, John names Jesus, the Word. The Scriptures are also called the Word of God. It doesn't require too much of a stretch to say that Jesus and the Scriptures are two aspects of the same thing, just as science tells us that matter and energy are two aspects of the same thing. That being the case, a true Christian can no more ignore the Law than he would ignore Christ Himself.

Like I said, it's simple.

Getting back to Timothy, Paul goes on to warn him about false teachers: 2 Tim 4:3-4

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.(emphasis mine)

And can anyone deny that this is where we are today?

People don't want to hear the parts of Scripture that don't fit comfortably within today's world view. Rather than looking at the world through the lens of the Word of God, they choose to edit the Word of God using the lens of contemporary culture. They want to be liked, respected, and accepted by the world, rather than to walk with God.James 4:4 warns us of this:

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Whether they call themselves Christian or not, by ignoring parts of Scripture in favor of the worldly values of our culture, they are setting themselves up as enemies of God. And when they are done altering Scriptures, they can call the resulting god whatever they want. The truth is that they have built a god in their own image, and that is the definition of idolatry, folks.

Something I say all the time is that if I could understand everything God has told me, then that would mean that He is no smarter than I am, and folks, while I'm smart, I'm nowhere near smart enough to run the Universe. The fact that there are things about God and His Word that I don't understand proves to me that He is greater than I am, which would seem to me to be a prerequisite to Godhood. No mysteries, no god.

Anticipating an objection, I know that Christians have many denominations and varying beliefs about the Scriptures. Obviously, we are interpreting Scripture through our own limited understanding. So what separates us from idolaters who take the name of Christ in vain? (That's a much more profound reading of the Commandment than simply "Don't curse.") The answer to that question comes in two parts. First, we have to look at the motivation behind the distinction being drawn. Are we trying to conform ourselves to God's Word, or conform God's Word to ourselves? If it's the former, then any mistakes made are blameless; we will be held accountable for them, but we will not be condemned for them. If it's the latter, then we are engaged in idolatry, and can no longer claim the covering of Christ. Second, we look at the Scriptural foundations for the distinction. Does the body of the Scripture support the interpretation? Not a cherry picked verse here or there, but the whole of the Scripture. For example, Calvinists and Armenians can both find ample scriptural evidence for their positions, and so believers of either position are respected. (I happen to believe they are both wrong, as both sides depend on a linear definition of time that imposes a false dichotomy between cause and effect on our perception of the universe. If we could perceive the true nature of time, the Eternal Now of Heaven, we could easily reconcile predestination and free will. But I digress. Again.) On the other hand, those who would claim that sex outside of marriage is not a sin cannot say the same, as Scripture is very clear that it is sinful.

We know that we will face many false prophets, and false teachers. We're told to be open to new teachings, but to test them against the Scriptures to determine if they are true. We're not told to follow our hearts, or our minds, or the cultural priorities of the time we live in. We are told to search the Scriptures and even to test the revelations we are given. The Word of God, the whole Word, is our path to walking with God. As Paul says:

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Not just some of it; all of it.

Amen.