Hope – Christians, God and the Coronavirus

Given everything that’s going on with COVID-19, especially so much misinformation or outright wrong information being put out by supposed Christians and political people that some (many?) Christians listen to, I decided to write some stuff that’s actually Biblically based.  Something for Christians to ground ourselves and not be misled.

Something to remind us of a warning that Jesus gave to His true followers.

A Tree and Its Fruit

^{Mt 7:15} “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

^{Mt 7:21} “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²² Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

It doesn’t matter if they really are false prophets / teachers or not.  We can make someone into a false teacher.  Take political leaders as one common example.  They use the word God a lot.  They even claim to be good for Christianity.  People even say they’re sent by God.  But honestly, when they do things that are so un-Christlike, can that really be true?  Would God send someone who spews hatred, mocks others, always puts themselves first (instead of last as Jesus taught and did)?

The only way I can see that happening is if God is trying to send us a wake-up call.  A warning.  Not as a teacher.  Not as an example to follow.  Think people like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar.

To that end, here are a few articles over on my other site that will hopefully help both Christians and non-Christians sort out the truth, the lies, and the misconceptions for some of what’s going on out there in the name of God and Christianity.

Do Christians need tax breaks to give more?

There was an attempt to get more money for non-profits in the name of churches.  The assumption is that without tax breaks, people won’t give to them.  Is that true?  More specifically, is that true for those Christians that really try to follow Jesus’ example and what He taught?  For some, the money just won’t be there.  But will that spell the end of a church with true believers?

 

Why do you live? The economy or God?

Is your life only about supporting the economy?  Are you parents and grandparents willing to die so your kids and grandkids can live in a world that has a better economy?  Or is your life worth more than that?

 

Where is God in the Coronavirus?

Yes – where is God?  Did He do this?  Does He even know about it?

The Bible teaches that no, God didn’t do this, although He did allow it.  A fine line – but a really important one.  It’s the difference between the truth of the Bible and a lie about it.

Does God know what’s happening?  Absolutely.

Is God here in the midst of this?  Of course.  To find Him – try looking in the mirror.  Even non-Christians might very well find something of God in the person they see in the mirror.

 

Suffering for doing good

This takes the previous one – Where is God in the Coronavirus? and goes even deeper.  Especially for a non-Christian.  But I recommend it to Christians as well, because these two especially may be a way for Christians to help our non-Christian relatives, friends, co-workers see something of God in themselves.  After all, the Bible teaches that God did write something of Himself in all our hearts.  Even our perceived enemies.

 

I pray that they help you.

Trusting in God when you have cancer

Do you trust in God when you have cancer?  Or do you get mad at Him for giving it to you?  And then, of course, run away from Him?    For most of my life, the answer was obvious.  Get mad and run away.

But now I was diagnosed with cancer.  And my first instinct was not to run away.  Nor to get mad.  Instead, it was to run to God.  And trust Him that, no matter what happens, everything’s going to be OK.

I know, non-Christians reading this are going to think that’s impossible.  Or maybe stupid?  But it’s not.  It’s entirely possible.  And for a Christian, it’s absolutely the best thing to do.

Here’s why:

Jesus Comforts His Disciples

Jn 14:1 “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I am going.”

I wrote a series of posts on my journey from diagnosis to deciding on how to proceed.  They are:

The problem of saying that God’s in control (even when you have cancer)

Each day has enough trouble of its own

Trust in God; Trust also in me – especially with cancer

I invite you to check the out.  Maybe they’ll help you.  I pray that they will.

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Image by PDPics from Pixabay

Screwtape Letters – series updated

My Screwtape Letters series has been completely reformatted to provide full functionality on desktops, tablets and smart phones.  That includes the color-coded text to make it easier to differentiate various aspects of the pages, such as who is speaking, questions, suggested study areas, Etc.

The ability to collapse / expand the discussion hints is also fully functional on all devices. including smart phones.

In the process, it’s been significantly enhanced to display much faster.

It’s also still free.

You can go to the Introduction here.

Blessed are those who mourn

Blessed are those who mourn.  Oh yeah.  That’s a message we all want to hear.  Especially when it’s translated as “happy are those who are unhappy”.  But remember, this is Jesus.  Everything’s either upside down or backwards.  After all, Jesus is the one who said, Mt 20:16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”  So what else should we expect?

 

Check out the second beatitude from Matthew 5.  It’s a detailed look going back to the Old Testament – even Genesis and Exodus.  Knowing something of the language and culture of the Jewish people that Jesus was speaking to gives us a much better understanding of how His words apply to us today.

It’s on my other site at Blessed are those who mourn

Blessed are the poor in spirit

This post starts with:

Blessed are the poor in spirit.  Seriously?  The poor in spirit are blessed?  That sounds so backwards!  It’s even more strange when it’s translated as happy are the poor in spirit!  It seems like it should be blessed are the rich in spirit.  And yet, that’s not what Jesus said.  So what did Jesus mean when He said what we now call the first of the Beatitudes?

Mt 5:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, 
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

When we read the whole verse, it sounds even more backwards.  How can the kingdom of Heaven be for those who are poor in spirit?  Isn’t it for the “good Christians” who are “rich in spirit”?

However, if we think back to the introduction, this was exciting stuff!  People were amazed and excited to hear this.  At least, “ordinary” people were.  And by “ordinary” I mean the down-trodden, the poor, the sick, the outcasts.

On the other hand, the religious leaders weren’t happy about this at all.  That should speak volumes.  They were the self-righteous ones that Jesus kept telling that they had it all wrong.

So it seems we have those who presumably were rich in spirit – the religious leaders – very upset at what Jesus was saying.  And the regular Jewish people, even the Samaritans, were finally hearing words they had been waiting for.  For centuries, they waited.  And here they were.  It was incredibly exciting.

 

And then asks:

Blessed are the poor in spirit – a lost message?

The discussion about that question can be read at this site:

Blessed are the poor in spirit

Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister. No exceptions.

This one is especially meant for Christians.

It starts off with:

Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister.  That’s not from me.  It’s from the Bible.  1 John 4:21.  And it’s a command from God.  Certainly, non-Christians might feel no obligation to obey it.  But if we’re Christian, it’s not a suggestion.  It’s not just a “nice” thing to think about.  It’s a command!  And there aren’t any exceptions to go with it.  In case you’re wondering – or even if you’re not – that includes our “brothers and sisters” from another country.  Again – Jesus gives no exceptions.

It gives the definition of the Greek word that gets translated in English as brother and sister.

Then, looks at some examples from Jesus to show who He had in mind, as far as things like brother, sister, neighbors.

After that:

By now, some of you are not happy with me.  Upset at me.  Some, even angry with me.  I’ll tell you what though – your anger is misplaced.  All I’m doing, if you even claim to be Christian, is reminding you of something you claim to believe.  To you, what I’ve quoted from the Bible you claim to believe is God’s Word, which is also something you claim to believe. 

You cannot pick and choose what to believe.  Well, actually, you can.  But God won’t.  And you know that.

So when I say that maybe you’re not really a true Christian in God’s eyes – it’s not me who will determine if you are or are not a follower of Jesus.  So don’t get mad at me.  Thank me.  Thank me for reminding you to take a look in the mirror.  For reminding you of things that you already know – but may have forgotten, in fear.

And there’s the reminder, from Jesus:

Mt 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

The conclusion, which I think applies to too many Christians:

Yes, I’ve removed plenty of planks from my own eyes.  More than I’d want to count.

All I’m asking, if you want to be following Jesus – is that you do the same.  And try to get as close as we possibly can, to the point where our love is perfect – like God’s love.  Where we love our brothers and sisters.  All of them.  No exceptions.

I invite you to read the whole thing at Whoever loves God must also love his brother and sister. No exceptions.

A note on happiness

Do you know about The Beatitudes?  You know, the part where Jesus talks about “Blessed are …” / “Happy are…”?  This post goes into what we generally perceive as happiness – versus what Jesus meant when He talked about blessed / happy.  In both cases, as opposed to unhappy / depressed.

It starts with this:

Are we supposed to be happy?  To most people, the answer is probably obvious.  At least it may seem obvious.  But to others, like me, who have issues with depression – the answer is hardly obvious at all.  Being happy can feel like something for other people.  Whether happiness is something to experience can be a question for Christians as well.  

The preachers who are into the so-called prosperity gospel, which isn’t in the New Testament, say – of course, God wants us to be happy.  But what does Jesus actually say about being happy during His time on this planet?  Jesus’ words should be shocking to those proponents and believers of that “prosperity gospel”.

I’m asking this question because I’m trying to write this series on The Beatitudes.  You know – the part of the Sermon On The Mount where everything starts with “Blessed are …“?  Well, if you didn’t know already, that can also be translated as “happy are …“.

When you read it, it sounds kind of odd.  Actually – it can sound really odd.

Along the way, it also says –

Here’s another question.  Why is it that the people who are “happy” by earthly standards often don’t want to read this?  And why do people who are “unhappy” by earthly standards can’t wait to hear it?  In other words, why do “happy” people so often get the message of condemnation – while the “unhappy” people get the message of salvation?

I believe those questions will be answering by paying close attention to the Beatitudes.  By paying attention to both sides.  The unusual things that Jesus says will make us happy.  The things that are good for us.  But that we, if we’re honest, often would like to be for someone else to be happy about.

Throughout, it examines all sorts of passages from both the Old and New Testaments to see what Jesus was saying – as opposed to what we generally think of – when we consider the feeling of being happy.

If you’d like to check it out, the whole thing is at:
A note on happiness

Why does Christmas matter?

Here’s something that’s probably a different way to view Christmas.  It looks the way we do Christmas now – and how it used to be in the days of the early Christian church.  It starts off with:

Why does Christmas matter? Is it the shopping, so we can give gifts? Maybe the shopping, because it’s important for companies to make money? Or maybe you’re part of that seemingly ever decreasing number of people who remember something about a little baby being born? How about this – it’s a time to put up decorations outside your house, so all your neighbors know how much holiday spirit you have? Better yet, because it’s a chance to force people to say “Merry Christmas!” Wait – I almost forgot about the chance to feel good about telling fake stories to little kids about some jolly old guy who like to give presents at this time of year.

Why does Christmas matter?All of those things resonate with someone. Of course, there are other possible thoughts as well. Things like a chance to sell walnuts, candles, snow globes, gingerbread, Etc. If I left yours out, sorry. It wasn’t intentional.

But let’s get back to the question. Notice, I didn’t ask what Christmas is about. I asked, why does Christmas matter?

In the middle we read:

Did you get that?  Easter and Christmas are clearly times for celebration.  Lent is the time for prayer.  And while Christmas is also a time for penance (read repenting) – that’s too much of a buzz kill.  Apparently the answer to this buzz kill problem is to just ignore it.

Really?  Christmas and penance in the same sentence?  And they go together?  That’s different.

Then a bit later –

So much for the cuddly little baby.  So much for the hope, peace, love and joy stuff of the first Advent.  The opportunities for that are long gone by the time of the Second Coming.  And since the time of the Second Coming isn’t known, then we are actually in the time of the second Advent now.  Yes – right now.

The conclusion includes:

So – celebrate Christmas.  Celebrate Advent.  But know what we’re celebrating.  We’re celebrating being part of the wedding feast below – rather than part of the destruction above.  However, also remember, only the true followers of Jesus will be there.  And remember to live like one.  Like a follower of Jesus Messiah.

So if you’re Christian, or if you’d just like to see how Christians back in the early days of the church used to view Christmas – I invite you to read the whole thing at:

Why does Christmas matter?

Merry Christmas, and hope to see you at Revelation 19:7!

The Sermon On The Mount – Introduction

Here’s an introduction to The Sermon on the Mount.  It’s the start of a series that will examine the entire three chapters from Matthew’s Gospel on this topic.

It starts with:

The Sermon On The Mount takes up 3 of the 28 chapters in Matthew’s Gospel.  Obviously, Matthew thought it was important.  Since he was Jewish, much of what Jesus said in that event was earth-shaking for Matthew.  Since Matthew was a tax collector – hated by pretty much everyone, especially other Jews – The Sermon On The Mount was undoubtedly amazingly good news for him.  Jesus turned the whole Jewish world on its head with His words.

Jesus begins with nine statements, all beginning with “Blessed are …”.  Most of them are pretty far from the kinds of people the Jewish leaders considered blessed.

Not long after that, Jesus keeps repeating “You have heard that it was said …” in different contexts.  Again, these are statements that just blow away what the Jewish people were taught for generation after generation.

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount was counter-cultural at that time.  But it doesn’t seem to be that anymore.

I doubt that a huge number of people today would refer to Christianity as counter-cultural.  In fact, being in what’s called a post-Christian era, more people are likely to view Christianity as the old way – much like young people don’t use email, Facebook, and countless other “old” technologies.

The question is – why not?  Christianity should be very much a counter-culture.  The fact that it isn’t, I believe, is more related to how Christianity is practiced than it is to what Christianity is really about.  I’m talking about the Christianity of Jesus – not the Christianity of man.  Not the European model, where people are more into following The Force, as in Star Wars, or being a “none”.  And not the Christianity of America, where the so-called prosperity Gospel seems to have more followers than anything close to what Jesus actually spoke about.

So as you read this, think about Jesus’ words in that counter-culture way.  Maybe it’s not what you’re used to hearing.  But they are, after all, His words.  They aren’t the watered down or misinformed words that are spoken or written about by people who don’t even follow Jesus’ teaching themselves.  Think the “yeast of the Pharisees” here.

The article then goes on to examine that thought.  Why isn’t this sermon a big deal anymore?

It closes with this:

That’s not the kind of message I’d want to get from Jesus about the church I go to.  

So, as I said, maybe you’ll read things you’ve never heard before.  It happens.  If so, you really ought to check things out.  Find out why it’s news to you.  Maybe something you missed?  Maybe not applying your mind because of other things?  Or is it really because you go to a church like Sardis?  No matter what, do something.  Find those few people in <your church> who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me<Jesus>, dressed in white, for they are worthy.  Or go someplace that’s more than Christian in name only.

Learn what Jesus really said and meant in The Sermon On The Mount.  Understand it.  And Obey it.

To read about how that conclusion came about, please check out the entire article at:

The Sermon On The Mount – Introduction — God versus religion

Reopen mines that poison – is this what God meant by subdue the earth?

Here’s an article that looks at what really should be a Super Fund Cleanup Site.  But Trump’s EPA wants to reopen the mine.  It starts with:

Reopen mines that poison – is this what God meant by subdue the earth?  Not likely.  That’s an acid lake in the image below.  And what we’re going to see is the EPA wanting to open up a mine that will poison a lake.  We know that, since it happened before.  It’s still poisoned.   And the EPA wants to start the mining again.  Worse yet, this lake is used for swimming, fishing and drinking water.

It goes through what’s happening in one Idaho lake – from a government and business point of view.  How the parents of children that live there are shamed into not even checking on the health of their kids.

Then, it takes a look at it from the Christian point of view.  It considers things like subdue the earth, be fruitful and multiply, serving two masters, and even who is our neighbor.

In the end, it comes down to two questions.   One for non-Christians.  And one for Christians.

That says a lot.  God didn’t put us here to be rich – to have lots of money.  Or huge “toys”.  God didn’t put us here to get anything at the expense of our neighbors.  Or at the expense of the earth we live on.  We’re here to take care of each other.  To take care of everything that God gave us.

So there’s one final question – especially for the Christians reading this.  Are we storing up treasures in Heaven, both for ourselves and especially for others?  Or are we helping out the thief that comes to destroy?  Are we trying to follow God?  Or are we following Satan?

You can read the entire thing at Reopen mines that poison – is this what God meant by subdue the earth?