How to Answer the Fool!
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Friday, September 20, 2019
Are you searching for God?
The daughter of the famous Bertrand Russell says she believes her father was searching for God. She wrote in her book:
"I believe that his whole life was a search for God or, for those who prefer less personal terms, for absolute certainty. Somewhere at the back of my father’s mind, at the bottom of his heart, in the depths of his soul, there was an empty space that had once been filled by God, & he never found anything else to put in it … He seized on the follies, which are many, & labeled them official religion, while claiming that Christians have never taken seriously the good parts of Christ’s teaching. But he never dealt with it seriously either. When he wanted to attack religion, he sought out its most egregious errors & held them up to ridicule, while avoiding serious discussion of the basic message I found so liberating.
For me, the belief in forgiveness & grace was like sunshine after long days of rain. No matter what I did, not matter how low I fell, God would be there to forgive, to pick me up & set me on my feet again. Though I could not earn his love, neither could I lose it…As I went deeper & deeper into religion, however, I found it ever more satisfying. I wished I could convince my father that it added to all I had learned from him & took very little away. I didn’t find it a denial of life, a brier patch of restrictions, but a joyful affirmation. ‘I am come that they might have life & have it more abundantly,’ said Jesus.
I would have liked to convince my father that I had found what he had been looking for, the ineffable something he had longed for all his life. I would have liked to persuade him that the search for God does not have to be vain. But it was hopeless. He had known too many blind Christians, bleak moralists who sucked the joy from life & persecuted their opponents; he would never have been able to see the truth they were hiding.”
--Katharine Tait: My Father, Bertrand Russell
Russell exalted knowledge above all things. But God's Word tells us that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." Saint Augustine who had been a libertine on finally finding God said, "Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand." Faith in God precedes a true understanding of reality. The Bible tells us "The fool has said in his heart there is no God." A man without God is a fool. Apostle Paul writes, "But the natutal man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Let us therefore not be fools, but wise, discerning the signs of the times.
Monday, September 16, 2019
Four Tools for Personal Development or How to Change Yourself!
Yesterday, we were invited to a seminar for Personal Development by my wife’s sister. We decided to go to accompany my sister-in-law and see what it was all about. I brought a book along to read in case it was boring.
The speaker, a Life-Coach, was introduced by the head of a local association. I’ll go through my notes so you can get a feel for what she shared as I believe it’s good advice and we can apply it to our lives. Here we go.
What month is it? That's right, it's September. What does September signify? Exactly, a change of seasons, an end of summer, a getting back to school, or work, or the normal routine of things. September is bringing changes. But changes aren’t something that we like. We tend to abhor change and perfer security over it. We dread change. But physical change can be a catalyse for character change.
Everybody up. I want you to all change your seats. Everyone sit down next to two people that you do not know. Okay. Introduce yourself. Everybody with me. That wasn’t so hard and you have made two new aquaintences. Change is good.
Okay. Everybody on your feet again. I want you all to go and walk around the room counter-clockwise. While you are walking, I want you to be turning around in a circle counter-clockwise as you walk around the room. Okay?
You are rotating and revolving just like the earth is spinning on it’s axis and revolving around the sun. The whole galaxy is revolving, also. The whole universe is in motion. But we want to sit still. We don’t want change. But change signifies progress. Change signifies movement. Change signifies life.
[Of course, the Bible gives us the same advice. In the Psalms we read, “Because they have no changes, they fear not God.”[1] Without changes in our life we get lazy. We settle down and become like bumps on a log. But just like the universe is in movement, God wants to keep us moving, and changing, and learning, and progressing, everyday. Change is good, because it helps us to trust the Lord. – Dennis Edwards]
Before we go any further, I want everyone to think about the greatest problem or challenge they have in their life right now and write it down. Fold it up and put your paper away.
I’m placing some tomatoes in the center of the floor, because they represent the fruits of our lives up to this very moment. What kind of fruit would you like to have in your life?”
These five tennis balls, I’m placing beside the tomatoes, are each labelled with a positive atribute: love, kindness, health, patience, and peace. [The idea here is very similar to Apostle Paul’s writing about the fruits of the spirit,[2]and Jesus’s words about a good tree bringing forth good fruit.[3]]
“What kind of fruit would you like in your life?” Write it down on the papers we’re passing out.
Here are some different packages of seeds. If we want tomatoes, we need to plant tomato seeds. Pass the tomato seeds around and everyone take a few. Look at these seeds. The life of the tomato plant and ultimately it’s fruit is in the tiny seed you hold in your hand. The seed is so small, but from it comes everything. Now remember what the fruit is that you want to bring forth in your life. What seed do you need to plant in your life in order to bring forth that fruit? Write it down.
[Jesus gave many of His parables talking about seeds and fruits. So the point she is making is very scriptural. What bad or evil seeds are we planting in our hearts? What bad or evil attitudes are we allowing in our thoughts? What bad or evil behaviors are they bringing forth in our lives? The metaphor of the seed and tree and fruit is used over and over again throughout Scripture. Jesus said a good tree brings forth good fruit and an evil tree brings forth evil fruit. You shall know the tree by its fruit.[4]]
You are not going to have the fruit you want in your life, if you do not sow the right seeds. Maybe, the fruit you have in your life right now is because you have been sowing the wrong type of seed. You need to start planting a different type of seed.
But in order for the seed to grow properly it needs the right set of conditions. A lot of things can destroy the seeds ability to grow. [Jesus went over this point also in his parable of the sower where some seed fell onto different types of soil. Some fell on rocky ground, some was eaten by the birds, some fell on the pathway and was trodden under foot, some fell among the thorn bushes and sprang up, but later was choked out by the thorns and thistles, lastly, some fell on good ground.[5]] But the seed itself is adequet for the fruit, if it’s given the right conditions like water, air, fertalizer, etc.
When we have a problem in the house we call the plumber or the electrician or the carpenter. They each come with something that helps them do the job. They each come with a ……? That’s right, a toolbox. [But it is God who has given each one of us our own individual toolbox for we are made in His image.[6]] We all have the same box of tools. The problem is, we haven’t been using them. We need to open our toolbox if we want to overcome our problems.
1. Our first and most important tool is the power of thought, the power of thinking. We each think some 60,000 thoughts each day. That’s a lot of thinking. Our thoughts are the seeds for our attitudes and actions. If we want different fruit in our lives, we need to change our thought patterns. Remember, if we sow tomato seeds, we expect to reap tomatoes. There is power in our thinking.[That is why the Word of God goes over this point over and over. God’s people from the time of Moses onward were admonished to memorize God’s Word as a seed that would bring forth the gift of eternal life. In Deuteronomy[7], in Joshua[8], in the Psalms[9], in the words of Jesus[10], and of Apostle Paul[11], we see the importance of having Godly thoughts, of controlling our thoughts, because the spiritual battle is in the mind. The battle for our soul is taking place in our mind. That is the battleground.]
Jesus said we would have to give account for every idle word we spoke. [14]Words are important. They lift up, or they tear down. They save or they damn.] Instead of speaking negatively, we should make positive statements. Instead of, “I don’t want to be sick.” We could say, “I want to be healthy.” Let’s eliminate negative speaking from our conversation and start speaking positively. Make that an exercise for the coming month to work on changing the words you speak. [After rereading the above, I think as Christians our toolbox is greatly amplified because God has taught us the power of praise.[15] We can use praise to help us in our mental and physical battles with the enemy.[16] Praise is the voice of faith and without faith it is impossible to please God.[17] But with faith, “All things are possible to him that believes.”[18]]
3. The third tool is the power of our feelings. We need to learn to control our feelings. It is not unusual to have negative feelings like anger, jealousy, impatience, lack of love, bitterness, depression. But do not stay with those emotions. Move through them as quickly as possible. Try to feel the feelings that you want to feel. [The Apostle Paul also admonishes us to flee from wrong feelings. He tells us to “Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.”[19] Also, as Christians, we can use the power of prayer to help us overcome our negative emotions. We can ask for prayer. The speaker did not explain how we were to move through the negative emotions. She just said, “Move through those negative emotions as quickly as possible.” However, united prayer, or asking for prayer is a way a Christian can overcome the emotional attacks or problems he passes through.[20] Even private prayer can help. The Christian’s toolbox is actually amplified.]
4. The fourth tool is the power of attitude or our overall will-power. Our attitude will determine our altitude. Strong will-power can help us overcome seemingly insurmountable difficulties.
Now, everyone up and move to the other room and sit on the floor on mats, or along the sides of the room on chairs. As the speaker entered the room she turned off the lights and dragged a heavy barley sack labelled “problems” to the middle of the room. With a flash light in her hand, focusing the light on the “sack of problems,” she said, “If I concentrate on my problems, what happens?” She moved closer and closer to the problem. “If I concentrate on my problem, it becomes the only thing that I can see. It distorts everything else. All I can see is my problem. And my problem will bring me down and down.” She leaned into the problem even more. [We as Christians need to keep our eyes on Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.[21] If we don’t, we end up believing the enemies lies, instead of God’s love and mercy for us.[22] We, also, need to use the weapon of praise and praise our way through our problems, not sink into them.]
I’m putting on boxing gloves. I’m going to fight my problem. I’m going to get the victory over it. The speaker started punching the sack of problems. But the more she puncked, the more exhausted she became. [Here, as Christians, we have God’s promises to claim and hold onto. God’s Word tells us to stand back and watch Him fight.[23] It says the Lord will fight for us and we can be at peace.[24] Apostle Paul tells us to fight th good fight of faith by walking in righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness. We need to let God do the fighting.[25]]
Some years ago, I had a very serious pain in my body. Different doctors told me I would have it for the rest of her life and there was nothing I could do about it. Finally I met one doctor who advised me otherwise. He told me that the way to get over the pain was to stop thinking about it. I learned how to use the tools in my toolbox and became an overcomer rather than be overcome by my problem.[Same point as previously, we as Christians have the promises in God’s Word to cling to, to claim in prayer, which can help us to overcome, for we can be more than conquerors through Him that loves us.[26]]
Everyone please help me. On the paper I’m handing out now, write out a solution to help me see how I can overcome my problem.
After collecting all the solutions, but still with her boxing gloves, she sat down with the basket full of our suggestions, the things we had learned through her seminar. Look, I’m unable to pick up a single suggestion. I have the boxing gloves on. I’m still in the mode of fighting the problem in my own strength, rather than facing the problem with reflection, and taking out my toolbox. If we use our toolbox, we can change our situation. Instead of “fighting” our problems in our own strength, we need to face our problems and make a stategy to overcome them. [And with the help of God we can ask God to give us a strategy for overcoming. With the tools He’s given us in our toolboxes, plus the spiritual tools available to us, we can have greater victories.]
Don’t say, “I’m going to try.” Say, “I’m going to do.” Use the toolbox and face your problem instead of fighting it (in your own strength) and losing the battle. You have a problem in your life because the seeds you sowed in the past brought forth bad fruit. They were the wrong seeds. If you continue to sow the same seeds, you will continue with the same results. We need to start sowing different seeds. If we sow different seeds, we can bring forth different fruits in our lives and open up new windows of opportunity which we never dreamed of.
Reflect on how you can face your problems, rather than fight them (in your own strength). We have a box full of good tools we can use. [As Christians our box is much more powerful than the one presented here. God is the source of our toolbox and has given us spiritual tools to enhance the physical tools we all have available.] The toolbox is our box of magic. We all have these tools available to us, but maybe we haven’t been using them. Remember, when you have a bad thought, do something about it. Don’t just sit with it. Move it!
Close your eyes and fold your hands as if in prayer while we listening to a song that recaptures the theme of the seminar. [As Christians we have a great deal of music we can use to help us change our thoughts and thinking. God admonishes us to do just that.[27] The music we listen to can help plant seeds of change in our lives. Becky Harding of the 30 Day Praise Challenge has compiled a list of over 60 songs to help us have victory in Jesus.[28] Nubeat.org[29] has hundreds of Bible based songs available, also.] Therefore, sow the right seeds in your life so that you produce the right fruit. Use the toolbox [God has] given you and face your problems in the right way, (not in your own strength).
As we were leaving, I asked my wife. “What do you think?” She responded, “Fine! But it was missing the part most important, the spiritual part, the getting connected to Jesus.” We who have Jesus have the best toolbox available. Let us apply ourselves to the task at hand and keep moving and changing as God’s Spirit guides us and overcome our problems. And as Apostle Paul has written, “But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ,”[30] so that we can be more than overcomers.[31]
Notes:
[1] Psalm 55:19
[2] Galatians 5:22-23
[3] Matthew 7:15-20
[5] Luke 8:5-15
[6] Genesis 1:27
[13] Philippians 4:29
[28] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sf27E7l0zwQ&list=PLU6CoT7SOq9Pa89xe_cXatSozoboUOaYk
[29] https://www.nubeat.org
