WHY NOT? A PERSPECTIVE ON SUFFERING

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

-- 1 PETER 5:10

I Recently conducted a Bible Study for members of Iron Faith Fellowship on the subject of suffering. This was not a guidebook on how to avoid suffering. That guidebook would be The Bible. The truth is in this world you can't avoid suffering; in fact, the Bible would confirm this, but if you followed the Commandments of God and believe in t\His saving grace through Jesus Christ, you could lessen that suffering while you were on Planet Earth and definitely avoid any suffering in the afterlife.

However, while here, it might help in dealing with any suffering that comes your way if you understand the reasons why sufferings exists. Therefore, I am going to post my lessons over the next several days.

Here is the synopsis:

SYNOPSIS

Part 1            An Infinite Reference Point                        

Part 2            Because You Have Done This

Part 3            Yes that Is the Price

Part 4            Do Not Regard Lightly; Nor Be Weary

Part 5            Riddle Me This

Part 6            A Thorn in the Flesh

Part 7            It’s Not in the Hands of Al

Part 8.           Heart, Soul and Mind and Your Little Neighbor, Too

Keep in mine, this is my study, thus my interpretation and opinion of what Scripture says. You should study and confirm it for yourselves and not just take my word for anything. This is how you should approach the teachings of any man or woman, pray for guidance and enlightenment, read their references, study the text, confirm they are being true to The Word, ask questions and pray again.
I have spend a lot of days preparing this study and I think I got most of it right, but I am not an Apostle or a Prophet and make no claim of perfection for freedom from error. Again, this is from my studying. I do not consult commentaries, because I believe the Bible is sufficient for its own understanding. I do look into the history of the times it was written or to biographies of certain characters, as well as history so that I can understand the context.

We will begin with my next post with Part 1: An Infinite Reference Point.

The photo at the top was taken by me in 1981. It shows my wife holding our second child, Noelle, not long after discovering the destruction by water of the home we were just preparing to move into. I was only saved six years before this photo and it was part of a series of disasters that befell us in this period. Do not think that being Born Again protects you from the sorrows of this world. Suffering falls upon everyone, good or bad, but God will provide the strength and comfort for His people to endure. We will talk more about what happened during those years in this study.

COMING THIS SUMMER - BAPTISMS IN THE BRANDYWINE

Iron faith will be doing Baptisms in the Brandywine on August 17, 2014 after the regular service, Come see the excitement as these people profess their faith in Jesus publicly.

Driving directions to Baptism Site On the Brandywine.
Via Ramsey Rd 
From Iron Faith Fellowship (Bellevue Community Center)
500 Duncan Rd
Wilmington, DE 19809
1. Head northwest on Duncan Rd toward Phila. Pike
0.2 mi
2. Turn right onto US-13 BUS N/Philadelphia Pike
1.1 mi
3. Turn left onto Silverside Rd
4.6 mi
4. Turn right onto US-202 N/Concord Pike
1.4 mi
5. Turn left onto DE-92 W/Beaver Valley Rd
0.3 mi
6. Turn left onto DE-92 W/Tompkins Bridge Rd
0.4 mi
7. Take the 1st right onto Ramsey Rd
1.0 mi
8. Turn right onto Brandywine Creek Rd
0.4 mi
Parking lot is on left just before intersecting with Beaver Dam Road.

Bloody Moon Madness

They call it a "Blood Moon". It sounds pretty ominous and from some of the pictures of this phenomena, it looks it too. Right now it has been getting some play in the media and some claim it is a sign.

I am sure most of us have seen a "Blood Moon" at one time or other in our lives, or at least, a red moon. Back in the 1970s I outlined and started writing a novel entitled, "Night of the Red Moon". There had been one in the sky when I got the idea for the plot. They are not new, then, so why the sudden interest.

It is because we are on the verge of a tetrad. Oh, I see, a tetrad.

Huh?

Well, a tetrad could be "a four-part structure that forms during the prophase of meiosis and consists of two homologous chromosomes, each composed of two sister chromatids". It could be, but fortunately the tetrad of concern tonight isn't that because I don't have time to learn that much biology right now.

Basic definition of a tetrad is a group of four. Wow, that's much simpler. The specific group of four that is raising some eyebrows now is not so much in the astronomy world as the religious sphere. It is a tetrad of solar eclipses (or is it eclipsi?  Apparently not, my spellcheck doesn't like this word.) The hubbub hasn't really centered on the eclipses, but on what is being referred to as a tetrad of "blood moons". It is also important to note that for eclipses to be considered a tetrad they must come six months apart with no partial eclipses between them.)

Okay, blood moons do go with eclipses and we are about to have a tetrad of eclipses beginning very shortly. Some tie significant events to such things. Yet this is not really so rare. We will have eight such events in this century alone. We had the first in 2001. (Hmm, that is when Wilmington Trust forced me to retire. Maybe there is something to this significant event stuff after all.)  Anyway, if Tetrad Eclipses are not all that rare, why a fuss about this particular group?

It is because of when the "Blood Moons" will appear (see chart below).

You see two will appear on sequential Passovers and two on sequential Sukkots (Feast of Tabernacles), important days on the Jewish Calendar.

Some are always looking to predict the time when Christ will return and when God will bring judgment on the world. They pull lone verses out of Scripture sometimes and come up with a theory that "now is the hour". In this case they pulled three references to what might be "Blood Moons".

1.          Joel 2:31 The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
 

2.          Acts 2:20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.


3.          Revelation 6:12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood…  (All verses from the English Standard version.)

Certainly these prophesies describe whet could be an eclipse situation, the darkness of the sun accompanied by a blood red moon. We may see just this occurs next week on the 15th. After all, what is a total eclipse? It is when the moon comes between the earth and the sun so that the sunlight is for a bit completely blocked from view and we are thrown into darkness during the midst of the day.

The difficulty with all this is "Blood Moons" are only light being reflected off the moon surface that is turned to the reddish hue by the earth's atmosphere in the same manner as we have sunsets and sunrises that are red. One cannot really predict that there will be four blood moons just because there will be four total eclipses. Even if there should be, they may not be visible or only visible in limited parts of the world.

There have also been eight such known tetrads all ready since the time of Christ.

Now, I don't want to downplay that someday the Lord will return. I believe myself that the Day of the Lord is not so far off in the future now. There are many things happening now fulfilling the prophesies about the end times; however, I say look to Israel and what is happening around it rather than to the moon.

I also do not wish to ignore the significance of the Jewish Holy Days, they do point to events. After all, Jesus died at Passover, rose on First Fruits and the Holy Spirit came on Pentecost. Surely the fall Holy Days harbor things yet to come.  

It is possible these eclipses will mean something, but maybe not. And what does it do for us if we did know the exact date of these things? It is more pressing we spread the Gospel to others whether the end of the world at hand or not, people die every day in many ways and their eternal fate is no different if they are run over by a bus than if they die in Armageddon. And we don't know when a bus might hit us either or when a mudslide will come or when a hurricane will drown us.

We have certainly been admonished to know what is coming, to read Revelation, but we haven't been told the date. Some would be wise when they start trying to pinpoint our deadline to pull these verses first:

Matthew 24:36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.


Mark 13:32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

One must tread carefully. We do not need another Harold Camping style media story. We have been warned to be ever ready. Why? Because we know not what hour the bridegroom comes. Let's be busy about sowing seed rather than sowing speculation.

I know, of course, many who read this neither give stock to Blood Moons or to the salvation offered through Jesus Christ. You'll just have to accept that I do believe in the meaning of the Cross and the Resurrection and the Easter soon upon us. You must allow me that belief and what you do with it is the chance you take.

Come to the Little Church that Could through the Grace of Jesus Christ

I attend, in fact, sit on the board of this small church just outside Wilmington, Delaware. That is the board to the left and I am in the middle pounding a ketchup bottle above the heads of our Associate Pastor and his wife. Despite what may appear to be a silly bunch of fools, we take our job very seriously and if we be fools, we are fools for Christ.

We love each other and I suppose because we love God, some would call us religious fanatics…or religious nuts. But that's okay, because even if you don't believe in what we do, we love you too anyway.

I would say this is the most loving church I've ever been in and I've been in a lot, not always willingly and not always lovingly. I was forced to go to church as a child, even though no one else in the family went; at least, not until I was fifteen. Then everybody went, but I was secretly revolting underneath. I was a very active Methodist in my late teen years, but also subversive. Just because I was President of the Methodist Youth Fellowship didn't mean I was a Christian. When I got married I fled that church.

A decade later, after a eclectic mix of churches in our lives, my wife and I, I was a confirmed atheist; not just an Atheist, either, but an active, proselytizing one. I was beating people over the head with a Bible certainly, trying to knock God out of them.

Then one day during a decreasingly tattered and sinful life a funny thing happened. I met Jesus down on my knees.

Then there were a series a churches because I wanted to be there, but we moved about a lot. Somehow though I did end up without a pew to sit in and was suffering from some disillusionment and sorrow when this tiny little church appeared. It was started a year-and-a-half ago by six people, but oh the things it has done in that time from helping the victims of Sandy to reaching out to those sometimes shunned by others.

I write this to ask my friends to come visit us sometimes. If you can drive to Wilmington, Delaware come and get a hug, get a praise, get the spirit, feel the love. We welcome anyone as you are. We were you. We are a church of once broken people. We've been through the fire. We are here to understand, not to judge.

We will tell you our secret, though. The way to true change in your life is through Jesus Christ.

Here is my little montage of our little church over the past year and a half:

Purpose of Life and God's Plan

All my life I have heard this question asked. "What is the purpose of life?" When asked that question thirty-eight years ago, my answer was "pleasure". I was an Atheist and believed there was no real meaning to life. Our being here was purely a series of accidental events over a vast continuum of time and our existence amounted to little more than a hiccough, a mere moment in eternity. We came, we saw, we died and then we were nothing but someone else's memory and even that would eventually fade. Therefore, as a beer commercial once touted, we should grab all the gusto we could and have fun. I believed in the mantra of the time, "If it feels good, do it".

And to that end is how I lived. I didn't live to work, I worked to live and my definition of living was wine, women and song. I didn't see the illogic of that saying because I didn't like wine and I didn't grab the gusto of that beer, because I didn't like beer, and I was true to only one woman and I can't carry a tune. My motto then was whiskey, rum, vodka, bourbon and gin, sex-sex-sex and whistling a happy song even if the key shifted often. The real illogic was it didn't bring me joy nor keep the sorrow away. It did not matter how franticly I practiced pleasure in my nights and on my weekends, death, disaster and disease remained a reality.

But thirty-nine years ago all that changed. I got salvation, not in bars or bedrooms, but in the quiet of an evening on my knees. Now, as a Christian, if you ask that question I can tell you with absolute faith what is the purpose of life.  "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." 

That particular quote comes from Mark 12:30, but it is not just a Christian bromide; it is the over riding command of God known to Christian, Jew and Muslim for it first appears in the Books of Moses such as Deuteronomy 6:4, as well as throughout like in Joshua 22:5 - "But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you, to love the Lord your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul."

Now the cynic will ask does this fidelity to God and following Christ prevent death, disaster and disease? No, of course not, but those things are not from God, but because of human will turned away from God. The troubles of this world are due to sin, not necessarily our own in every case, but both the good and bad among us must share in the consequences. Being Christian does not shield me from moments of sadness or tragedy, but it takes away the constant sorrow and replaces it with continuous joy because my eyes are on Jesus and my heart on God's promises. The endurance to the end of the slings and arrows of a cursed and sinful world is the proof of our love for God and that we can endure it to the end is the proof of his love of us. 

If you think the Christian lives in a La-la Land where birds always sing and lightning never strikes, then you haven't read the Bible. Point me to a faithful follower of God who lived a life of ease never touched by stress or pain. Our life is not never to suffer, but to experience that inner joy of knowing God has us in his hands even when we hurt.

But what of God's plan for us. Isn't that the other thing we often hear, especially if you are a Christian?  God has a purpose and plan for every person. You begin to ask, what is God's purpose and plan for my life? Perhaps, as I once did, you begin to worry that you missed it or you somehow rejected it.

Oh, can you refuse God? The obvious answer is, yes, you do so when you reject Christ, but I believe you can also reject God's call to a purpose in his plan. It will not stop God's plan, don't flatter yourself in thinking that, but it will certainly bring you sorrow. I cite Esther 4:13-14 for my opinion: "Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

And do not worry that you have missed God's purpose and plan for your life somehow. See, here is the problem of why we get to thinking that. We want to be another Moses or Ruth or Mary or Paul or Billy Graham of even another Esther. Wanting to be those things is not God, it is ambition and ego. We do not choose how God uses us, we can only be willing to be used. I believe the reality is that God might be using me in someway right now and I don't even know it. Our purpose is not to obtain glory, but to reflect the glory of God. If you think this must be by some great achievement, effort or leading accomplished by you, then think upon this in John 9:

As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him." 

But you do have a command to keep you busy in the meantime so you don't fret about how God will use you. You are to tell others the Gospel, and who knows, maybe that is your purpose. 

You also have another command second only to loving God, "The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:31.  Do these two things and you'll not have to worry about being used by God and what your purpose is in life.