Only in China...

(March 12, 2009, AP)
More than 1,200 residents in northeastern China have set a new world karaoke record by singing continuously for 456 hours, two minutes and five seconds. Students, soldiers, and businessmen from Changchun, capital of Jilin Province, sang more than 6,200 songs from February 20 until yesterday morning, Xinhua News Agency reported today. It beat the old Guinness World Record, set by Finns in July, by nearly 10 hours.

Beautiful statement on Perseverance

This statement is Article 23 in the First London Confession of Particular Baptist Churches, 1644. It's one of the most beautiful statements I've seen on the Perseverance of the Saints:

"Those that have this precious faith wrought in them by the Spirit, can never finally nor totally fall away; and though many storms and floods do arise and beat against them, yet they shall never be able to take them off that foundation and rock which by faith they are fastened upon, but shall be kept by the power of God to salvation, where they shall enjoy their purchased possession, they being formerly engraven upon the palms of God's hands."

Wrestling with God

Over the last 2 years or so, I've met quite a few people who place a significant marker in their lives at the point where they began to understand and accept God's sovereignty in salvation. Did God choose me to believe in him completely apart from my own actions and decisions? Yes. It's offensive on every level, especially to an American. But there's something divinely powerful about a person's yielding to God over issues of predestination and irresistible grace. And it's always a wrestling match, like Jacob wrestling with God. I've yet to meet a person who has truly wrestled with these issues and not been blessed. Humbled like Jacob, but blessed. Humility is one of the greatest gifts that God can give to a man or woman, and one of the greatest joys for a person to receive and experience. What is more humbling than to realize that God chose me to be His before I did anything good or bad? Wasn't I wise enough to accept the offer of salvation when I heard it? Nope. That wisdom was not mine, it was a gift from God.

The difference that I've seen is in people who have truly wrestled with this truth. Many For many years I simply rejected it out of hand. I refused to interact with the Bible over the issue. Part of me thought it was just academic - a fun question for people to ask and speculate about. At the same time, part of me was offended at the idea that some people might be elect and some not. I thought that God would be unjust to elect some people and not others.

There are a lot of questions, mostly philosophical in nature, that can be raised in objection to the doctrine of predestination. I believe that these questions have answers, but that's not my point. My point is the fight. Becoming a Christian is not an easy process. But for many, like myself, for whom it seems as though it was easy, the fight simply comes later on down the road of faith. For me it looked like this, two years ago: on my hands and knees for many mornings in a row, asking God why I could not be joyful in my faith. Why, after asking for many mornings would God not grant this to me? Why can I do nothing to change this situation? How is this fair!? My faith, it seemed, was too small; but then how could I ask for more faith if my very prayers were faithless? After several weeks, God graciously opened my eyes to see that my situation was a drama for the process of salvation. And my conclusion had been correct: I stand completely and utterly at the mercy of God.

I would love to ask any Christian, if I had the opportunity, if they've wrestled with Scripture over God's sovereignty (The book of John is a good place to start). The issue is not periphery, it's at the heart of the gospel. How sinful do you think that you are? What did Jesus mean when he said, "No one is good but God alone." If believing in Christ is "good", then how can a bad person ever do such a good thing? In fact, the best thing!? God is Lord over all things which he created. It's in the very nature of who he is as God to rule over all that he has made, and he will not give this glory to another, certainly not to us.

He delivers the afflicted by their affliction

My head has been hurting quite a lot this week, and I've returned recently to meditating on what the Word teaches us about God's purposes in our pain and affliction. The more I meditate on these things, the more I see how central they are in day to day living, even apart from my headaches. The following thoughts are not new, but God has been driving them deeper into me, so maybe I can express them more clearly than I have before.

In some places in the Bible, suffering clearly refers to persecution. Jesus tells his disciples that they will be persecuted for his sake. James and Peter encourage the churches to remain steadfast in their suffering for the cause of Christ. This is a kind of suffering that all Christians should experience at some point in our lives, albeit probably not to the extent that the apostles did. 1 Timothy 3:16 says that "All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

But this isn't the only kind of suffering that the Bible discusses. Many people, myself included in times past, are discouraged when they read passages about suffering because they think that the only suffering that the Bible has in mind is persecution. This is absolutely not true. The book of Job is one of the best places to go to begin to understand God's purpose in non-persecution-type pain, affliction, discomfort, etc.

In Job 36, Elihu gives a theology of suffering. I believe that Elihu, the final friend to speak to Job, should not be lumped together with the other 3. His speech is true to the rest of Scripture, and God does not rebuke him like He does the other 3 friends.

First, Elihu gives God's purpose in suffering, then he gives two possible responses. Finally, he gives us the reason why we should respond the one way and not the other.

Job 36:8-9

"And if they are bound in chains
and caught in the cords of
affliction,
then he declares to them their
work
and their transgressions, that
they are behaving
arrogantly.
He opens their ears to instruction
and commands that they return from iniquity."

The purpose of affliction is to awaken us to our arrogance (which is continual), reveal to us our sin, and humble us before God. The design is so that we might turn to him and more fully live with respect to Him, obeying him from the heart as a manner of life.

The negative response is this, in verse 13:

"The godless in heart cherish
anger;
they do not cry for help when he binds them."

Their pride wells up, causing them to respond in anger. They say to themselves, "I don't deserve this suffering!" Rather than having their eyes opened to the reality of their rebellion, they harden their hearts in pride and anger, and turn further from God. In effect, they deny both their own smallness and God's bigness.

The positive response, verses 11, 15

"If they listen and serve him,
they complete their days in prosperity,
and their years in pleasantness."

"He delivers the afflicted by their affliction
and opens their ear by adversity."

We might expect this verse to say, "He delivers the afflicted from their affliction." But it doesn't say that. What then, are they afflicted being delivered from? Verse 16 gives the answer - he delivers them from closed ears. That is, he delivers them from not perceiving themselves and God according to what is true. He reveals to them their sinfulness and finitude, but God's greatness and majesty and perfection. This is the amazing mercy of God in afflicting his children.

We don't understand what life truly is. We think that life is about being comfortable, successful, and full. Even we Christians act this way, and we prove it by the way that we respond to pain and affliction.

Romans 8 gives a New Testament cap to this discussion. Romans 8:1 says, "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." For those who are in Christ - that is, those who have believed with their hearts that Christ's death counts on their behalf, as evidenced by patterns of joyful obedience - for these people, nothing in life should be considered 'condemnation'. 8:31 says, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" The implied answer is 'nothing and no one." For the one who has trusted Christ, no difficulty, affliction, failure, pain, or loss is the result of God's punishment or condemnation. Christ has absorbed all of the punishment that we deserve.

Then, if affliction is not God's punishment or condemnation towards me, what is the point? Paul gives the answer in 8:28, one of the most glorious verses in the Bible, "And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

Pain and affliction are God's gifts to his children, who see dimly and hear faintly. I long for God to teach this truth more fully to my heart at a young age. All of life on this earth is affliction. As I age my comfort will not increase.

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us." - Rom 8:18

Economic Crisis in China

There's an article on cnn.com (read here) today about the difficulties that many rural Chinese are having as a result of the current global economic crisis. It's quite eye-opening. Few people in America will suffer as severely as those in other countries. While we were in China, one of the traits of the Chinese that continued to amaze us was their ability to press on and not complain. They accept hardship and learn to cope.

With Christianity on the rise in China I can't help but wonder what role this crisis is playing in God's design.

The Holocaust and the Resurrection

There's been a story in the news this week about a Catholic priest whom the Pope recently reinstated. Almost immediately after being reinstated, this priest made a public statement denying the holocaust. Catholics and Jews around the world are protesting the Pope's decision and calling for action. As I was listening to recent updates on NPR yesterday I was astonished to hear how many holocaust-deniers there are in the US and in the world. Something as recent and well documented as the holocaust leaves little (or no) room for doubt in my mind. How is it that so many actually deny it?

There's a certain parallel here with the resurrection and with belief in general. What is the cause of unbelief? Is it a lack of evidence? Many say that if God showed himself to them, in a way that they could see and experience, then they would believe. This was a common thing that we heard in China. But is it true? How many would actually believe in God if they saw him?

The holocaust took place about 60 years ago. There are innumerable photographs and even video footage of the concentration camps. We have testimony after testimony of guards who worked in concentration camps, describing the horrors that occurred there. We have the eyewitness testimonies of soldiers, some of whom are still alive, who walked through the concentration camps and saw the famished captives there. And finally, we have the testimony of prisoners who were released and lived to tell about their experiences, some of whom are also still alive. Is there any lack of evidence that the holocaust occurred? Absolutely not. The issue of people denying the holocaust has nothing whatsoever to do with evidence. What we see, rather, is the ability of the human heart to twist any amount of evidence in order to serve its ends, its preconceived beliefs.

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (Jn 11), there was a division among the people. Some believed. Some, however, did not believe, but went and reported what Jesus did to the Pharisees. They believed, in a sense, in what Jesus had done. But they did not believe in Him. They wanted him dead, that's why they told the Pharisees. The issue was not one of evidence, but of the heart.

The next time I have a conversation with someone who doesn't believe in Christ because of a lack of evidence, I'm going to ask them what they think about those why deny the holocaust. I think that the comparison is striking.

Biblical Imagery of Conversion

There's a lot of powerful imagery in the Bible that God uses to get across his point. Metaphors and similes are usually only used to make a single point of emphasis, often highlighting either human sin or God's grace. For example, the common OT metaphor of Israel as a prostitute is meant to vividly portray their idolatry in turning from God to worship man-made things. Some of the most powerful metaphors are used to reveal the nature of conversion. As a rule, these metaphors should not be pushed to have multiple and complex meanings. The surface-level meanings are profound enough.

What I see in each of the following passages is that conversion is solely God's work and is completely dependent on his will alone. God uses means to accomplish his purposes, and these means are also his designs. Consider these passages

New Birth: John 3:1-15
"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

Creation: 2 Corinthians 4:6, 5:17
"For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

Abandoned Newborn: Ezekiel 16:4-6 and following

"And as for your birth, on the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to cleanse you, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling cloths. 5 No eye pitied you, to do any of these things to you out of compassion for you, but you were cast out on the open field, for you were abhorred, on the day that you were born.

6 “And when I passed by you and saw you wallowing in your blood, I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’ I said to you in your blood, ‘Live!’"

I believe that the message of these metaphors is simple and powerful: Conversion is God's work alone. Does a newborn lying on the ground decide to accept the grace of the person who picks him up and cares for him? Does a baby consent to being born? (in fact, if babies could choose, they'd probably prefer to stay in the womb rather than come out!) Does an uncreated thing agree to being created? The obvious answer to each of these questions is 'NO'. God is not restricted by humans, and it is his free decision to overcome and change the human will in conversion. On the most basic level we have no say in the matter.