A Life Well Spent

Wycliffe Mourns Bible Translator (Wycliffe Pray Today, 3/28/2011)

“‘…I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit…’” (John 15:16, NLT).

“God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9, NLT).

Bible translator Mary Gardner, a member of Wycliffe UK, was killed by a bomb explosion in Jerusalem on Wednesday, March 23.

Mary was in Jerusalem studying Hebrew at The Home for Bible Translators. Mary spent much of her life in Togo, west Africa, where, in 1989, she joined a team translating the Ifè New Testament. The Ifè New Testament translation was finished in 2009.

Pray for God’s hand of peace on Mary’s family, friends, and colleagues as they mourn her passing.

Men, We Are Men. (Part 3)

In the movie, Braveheart, William Wallace is the manly man a lot of us would probably like to be. The girl he loves is brutally killed. So what does he do? First, he avenges her blood by taking out the guy who murdered her. Second, he rises up against the empire and teaches others how to fight. And finally, he gives his life and dies for the cause. He wasn't a marine, but that deserves an "Ooh-rah!"

The apostle John had those same three points (okay, with slight variations) in mind about 1100 years earlier when he wrote 1 John 2:12-14. Know the truth. Fight for the truth. Teach the truth.

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. ~1 John 2:12-14

Men, We Are Men. (Part 2)

"All men are the same. Now I remember why I don't date. (no offense, women have plenty of faults too)" ~Recent tweet by a Porch-going woman

Comments and tweets like that started the ball rolling on this post, which is part 2 of "Men, We Are Men.", but it's just a little piece of where we'll be going in this segment, so don't sign off if you're a knight in shining armor or simply disagree. You'll have something to apply here (I do!).

As a brief reminder, the goal of this little series is to stir up the men who follow Christ at The Porch and elsewhere to recognize that we are indeed men (no longer boys) and to live accordingly. So, without further adieu, let's get back on the trail and see where the Word leads...

Doubt: Is It Necessary?

Is doubt normative in the life of the believer? Is it necessary? These are two questions asked in a recent Sunday sermon, and the answers were distinctly "Yes". Perhaps the goal was to encourage believers not to let doubt shake their faith, as was somewhat stated in the speaker's points, but it seemed to also license doubt itself, especially with a citation from Dr. Chuck Swindoll's, which claimed it to be necessary.

Necessary? Really? I disagree. While we see plenty of descriptive stories in the Bible about people who doubted--even those esteemed as being "after God's own heart--God and the text do not endorse doubt as "necessary", but rather exalt faith. Now, can God use our doubt for His glory? Absolutely! But wouldn't He rather we exercise faith in the gaps where our knowledge and sight fail us?

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. ~James 1:2-8

James in this passage raises faith as the lighthouse amidst the stormy seas of trials. Doubt, on the other hand, is the enemy as it takes our eyes off of the lighthouse of God's wisdom and provision through prayer.

Perhaps this is a conversation of two types of "doubt" as the same can be said for "testing" versus "temptation". Is all doubt sin? Is all questioning doubt? The one doubting in James 1, the one who is blown, tossed, double-minded, and unstable, would surely as sinning, would he not? However, David and other psalmists' repeated cries to God in their times of trouble would seem to be reliance on Him in the form of questioning, not "doubt" as some might call it.

Paul, in Romans 14, speaks of the weaker brother who is tempted to doubt (his standing before God, it seems) by the eating of certain foods. In verse 23, Paul concludes by saying, "But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin." Faith, thus, appears to be the determiner in the midst of uncertainty (in Romans 14, whether God's declaration of all things clean and of idols being rubbish, is true).

Wrapping up, I would propose that asking questions of and in your faith is absolutely wise and necessary. Learn! Be ready to give a defense! Know your God!

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ~1 Peter 3:15-16

Is doubt, as it is mostly defined and spoken of in Scripture, normal? As fallen, unredeemed man, unfortunately yes. Is it necessary? By faith, no.

All passages quoted from the NIV 2011.

Men, We Are Men. (Part 1)

Sometime within the last week (during a sermon, I think), someone addressed the men in the audience, and I realized that he was talking to me. You might laugh or pull a joke out of that realization, but when I consider myself, I would call myself a "guy", a "brother", a "friend", but never really a "man". I'm no longer a boy, but in my mind, "men" are people like my father, pastors, the generation before me,...what I'll be when I grow up.

But I am grown up. Somewhere between high school, college, and now, it happened. Adolescence is over, and there is no detour before manhood. Our culture, though, is confused by the "adolescent-adult limbo" it is seeing in our generation (NPR). What does Scripture say about that? Is a life of video games, nights out, and other frivolities acceptable until the wedding bells toll? How does a man of our generation follow Christ in life and in relationships?