Difficult Questions Answered

One of the names of God is Jehovah-Rapha, “the Lord who heals.” So “Why doesn’t God always heal the sick when we pray for healing?” God is never surprised by the trials in our lives. God is sovereign and he is never caught off guard by our diagnoses of cancer. He knows our needs before we do and will supply us what we need when we need it. Mathew 6:26 states” Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”

Although we don’t need cancer, or even a cold, God sometimes uses these trials to refine us and bring us closer to him and closer to the person we were meant to be. So, in light of God’s sovereignty, and the fact that he knows what we need, our diagnosis of a disease might sometimes be a positive thing. I believe that things just happen because we are human and live in a fallen world. However, the big ticket items, like cancer, may in certain instances, be a blessing in disguise. Mark 8:26 states “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”

What a tragedy to lose someone to cancer or some other terrible disease, but an even greater tragedy to lose a soul to grips of hell. C.S. Lewis stated it best when he said “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

“A Bonafide Miracle!”

In 1996, four doctors said my 60 year-old mother had 3 months to live — with cirrhosis of the liver in its final stages. She rededicated her life to Christ, and moved into my house.

The fourth doctor, Eugene Evans, in Panama City, told me, “The liver doesn’t regenerate. I suggest: make her as comfortable as possible; pray she dies in her sleep.”

At home, I desperately cried, “Lord, I don’t know how to pray, as you said (Rom. 8:26). I accept your will, but tell me what it IS. Will you heal her HERE, or in HEAVEN? I’m asking for a clear answer EITHER WAY.”

Soon after, when no one was home but Mom and me, I was paying her bills. Suddenly, audibly, very clearly, I heard a voice behind me. It said, “I will heal your mother.” I turned to see if someone was there, but there wasn’t.

A few nights later, Mom and I were praying together, and the words of Proverbs 18:21 and John 6:63 rose in my heart. As I prayed in His name, life-giving words from Jesus poured into her body. She said she felt God healing her.

After that, at each visit to Dr. Evans, he called for a second blood test to confirm his findings – she’s improving! Three months later, he said, “In all my years of medicine, I have NEVER seen anyone recover from cirrhosis of the liver in the final stage like this. Her liver is functioning normally. You have a bonafide miracle here!”

Mom volunteers at the hospital, and shares about Jesus’ healing power with anyone needing a miracle.

In reality are there any “bad cops?”   Yes, of course. And the reality is “yes” pretty much in any career field there are “bad apples.”  So in reality does that make the majority of cops bad? No, it doesn’t and in fact, most of them are good.  So in reality there are hypocrites in every church yet in reality that doesn’t make the majority of Christians hypocrites.

If you mistrust all cops because you ran into a bad cop you are incorrect in your inner assessment that all cops are bad.  Likewise if you run into a bonafide Christian hypocrite you are also incorrect in your inner assessment that all Christians are hypocrites.

WE DON’T WANT WHAT IS FAIR—WE WANT GRACE

Matthew 20:1-16

Charlie Brown’s little sister, Sally, is writing a letter to Santa Claus and in the process generates an enormous list of toys she wants. At the conclusion of her letter she writes, “Santa, if that is too much for you to carry, just send cash.” When Charlie Brown sees this and despairs over his sister’s greed, Sally angrily responds, “All I want is my fair share. All I want is what I have coming to me.” We all want life to be fair to us, but when it comes to salvation, “We Don’t Want What Is Fair. We Want Grace!” Jesus’ parable about the workers in the vineyard helps us to understand this great Biblical truth.

Peter had asked Jesus a serious question. Jesus tells a parable about a landowner who pays equal wages for workers who do not work equal hours. Everybody is treated the same! Jesus is telling Peter that he will receive the same reward for his discipleship as everyone else. This parable is not about receiving what is fair. It’s about grace.

The person who accepts Jesus late in life is just as saved and just as important as the person who accepts Jesus early in life. Romans 6:23 reminds us of what we deserve and of what God gives us instead: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life….” Instead of giving us what we deserve, punishment for our sins, God gives us what we don’t deserve, grace. When it comes to salvation, “We Don’t Want What Is Fair. We Want Grace!”

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” And with those words, uttered more than six decades ago, Gandhi shared the sentiment of most non-believers toward Christianity. In short, the problem is the gap between what we profess and how we live. The gap between the beautiful grace of Christ and the ugly actions of people who bear His name. The larger the gap, the larger the problem. And most non-believers think the gap is just too big. Jesus would use the word “hypocrite.”

And who can blame them? Gospel presentation without gospel demonstration is just a clanging cymbal. It takes Christ-like love in words and deeds to authenticate our message.

I have a friend who sells “Crocs” shoes. One day a customer was in his store and asked about the “Crocs.” My friend said, “If you buy them, you’ll never want another pair of shoes on your feet.” The customer then looked down, said, “so why aren’t you wearing them?” and then walked out of the store.

How can Christians answer that rejection? Here’s my two cents…We cannot answer that rejection by trying to win an argument. The unbelieving world will never be drawn to Christ by Christians who simply shout louder. When we proclaim the message of Christ, they will look us over, much like my friend’s customer, and ask, “But do you live the message?” And when we do, they will too.

Doubt has a bad reputation in most Christian circles because it is often portrayed as the enemy of faith. There is a problem with this portrayal of doubt though because faith is not certainty. The apostle Paul gives us some insight into the nature of faith in 1 Corinthians 13:12 when he says, “Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.” The insight Paul gives us here is that faith recognizes that there are things about God that we will never know in the short years of these mortal lives we are leading. God shows us enough of Himself to enable faith but to not force certainty upon us. Without certainty, doubt has room to roam and it does so throughout our lives.

The question then is not will we face doubt, but rather, what will we choose to believe when there is not sufficient information given for us to be certain. We will either choose to follow faith or fear. What is faith? The writer of Hebrews gives us a great definition in Hebrew 11:1, “Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Faith is the choice to believe that God is true and trustworthy in spite of my fears and doubt.

YES. I would also accept a donation from a drug dealer, prostitute, stripper, or anyone else who has engaged in an illegal or questionable activity. WHY? Let’s be clear, I don’t support or encourage illegal or questionable activities, or things like the lottery which are legal but morally suspect when applying the principles of God’s Word. The question is not, “Do you support the lottery,” but very specifically, “Would you accept money from a person who obtained it from a questionable activity.” Read that last sentence again. There is a difference. Suppose someone received money through what may be considered questionable means, and decides to give some of the money to a church. If they experience the grace, mercy and love of Jesus Christ in their life, and want to express their gratitude in a monetary way… what kind of message would it send for the church to reject their heartfelt act of generosity toward God through the church? You’re not good enough, you’re too tainted to associate with us, or any number of impressions that would give off the “holier than thou” vibe. Listen, I’m not saying that we should compromise the principles of God’s word to make people comfortable. Quite the opposite. I’m saying that we should clearly live the principles of God’s Word, which includes loving people toward a loving Savior. Money itself is amoral (not good or evil in and of itself), so this isn’t a question about money as much as it’s a question about people.

What most United Methodists believe is based on our belief in the “free will” of the individual. The Bible supports the fact that God gives you and me the opportunity to choose Him or reject Him. In the Garden of Eden, God put the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and gave Adam and Eve a choice to eat or not to eat. John 3:16 gives “Whoever believe in Him” a choice to accept or reject Christ. Revelation 3:20 gives us a choice—Behold I stand at the door and knock—we may choose to open that door! So far, most Christians agree. Where the difference arises is after one accepts Christ. Methodists believe that we retain “free will” after salvation. That is to say, it is possible for a believer to change their mind and willfully reject Christ as their Saviour. I did not say “lose you salvation.” That is a common abuse of the doctrine of “Free Will.” You may lose your car keys; that is not intentional. One must purposely reject Christ, not simply have a bad day or rough patch.

Scripture supports this in Hebrews 6:4-8, I Timothy 4:1-5, II Timothy 3:1-5. “In later times some will depart from the faith by giving heed to deceitful doctrines (I Timothy).” The Bible uses the word “apostasy,” to refer to those who choose to reject their salvation. The great news is the Bible also teaches that we can have an assurance of our salvation. It is not based on our works but His work (I John 5:11-13). For we live, worship and repent on a daily basis without fear or being overcome by doubt about our salvation (Romans 8:14-16).

First, we must establish what is good and what is bad. The measure of good is the righteousness of God. With this as the base line for good, then we must assume that not one of us is really good. While some are ”better than others,” not one of us reaches the good and righteousness level of God. Romans 3:23 says: “For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.” Now that this is established, like it or not, we are the product of a fallen world. The one constant factor is the human “free will.” That being said, we typically find God in one of two traditional ways, Truth or Pain.

In “Truth,” God’s complete Love and Mercy are often demonstrated in the tragedy of life events. When we lose a Christian friend or family member in their prime of life, whether they are young or older, as Christians we are given an assurance that helps us deal with bad things happening to good people. John 14: 2-3 says: “In my Father’s house, there are many mansions: if it weren’t not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

While “Pain,” is unpleasant, it motivates us to look outside of ourselves for the understanding of how and why things are the way they are. We learn and grow spiritually more in the valley of pain than we do in mountain top experiences…where our external circumstances appear to be going well.

James encourages us with the following Scripture James1:2-3: “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.”

In this passage the Greek word for “judgment” is anakrino and the primary meaning is to question, examine, conduct an examination, discern. It is used 16 times in the New Testament and in most cases it refers to searching for the facts. For example, it was used by Pilate when he examined Jesus and found no fault in Him (Lk.23:14). It was used by Paul to describe how the Berean Christians examined the Scriptures daily (Acts 17:11).

Perhaps a different translation would clarify the meaning of 1 Cor. 2:15: “He who is spiritual (the mature Christian) examines all things, yet he himself is examined (questioned, called to account) by no one.” (The bold indicates anakrino is used. The words in the parentheses are added for clarification.) The spiritual man is examined by God (1 Cor.4:4).

God does not expect Christians to be gullible. We should examine the facts about God, about the Word, and about the world; then we can make wise decisions based on those facts.br />br /> Jesus did say, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged” (Mt. 7:1). The Greek word used here is krino which does mean, among other things, “to criticize, find fault with.” Our Lord does not want us to be critical of others. But, again, we don’t need to be gullible, either. Later in that same context, Jesus stated, “You will know them by their fruits” (Mt.7:20). If someone steals, he is a thief. If someone lies, he is a liar. You know him by his fruit. That is not judging him (krino). That is examining the facts and making a decision based upon those facts (anakrino).

May we not be gullible or critical. May the Lord help us to be discerning by examining all things (1 Corinthians 2:15).