Kindle Book - Overcoming Objections to Christian Faith

Here is another recommended book.  This 99 cent e-booklet provides a concise introduction to answering 10 key objections to the Christian faith:

• Why do the innocent suffer?
• Don’t all religions lead to God?
• What about the heathen?
• Isn’t the Christian experience only psychological?
• Are the miracles possible?
• Isn’t the Bible full of errors?
• Won’t a good life get me to heaven?
• How can you believe in hell and a God of love?
• Hasn’t science done away with the need for faith?
• What about all the bloodshed in the name of religion?

Bible teacher, missionary and radio broadcaster, Brian Johnston's conversational and down to earth approach provides a number of insightful illustrations and Biblical references which all Christians can use to help them give "a reason for the hope that is within us" and whet the appetite for further research on each question in greater depth.

http://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Objections-Christian-Search-ebook/dp/B0091ZTS0S/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Overcoming-Objections-Christian-Search-ebook/dp/B0091ZTS0S/

Contemporary Christian Worship - A Satire

I cannot remember where I first saw this but I stumbled across it in my archives - very clever. Very.  I think it is a spoof :)


"Thank you for choosing to worship with us today. If you are from a church that uses traditional hymns, you may be confused. Please take a moment to read through this guide to contemporary Christian music.

In our church you will not hear "How Great Thou Art," "Wonderful Grace of Jesus," or "Like a River Glorious." (Generally, hymns that have words like “Thou” are not used. They are too archaic and are normally replaced by words like “awesome” and “miry clay”). Yes, okay, we may do "Amazing Grace" or "Peace Like a River" at some point, but as a general rule we avoid songs with too many different verses or those that can't be played easily on guitar and drums.

If you are new to worship here, you may wish to know the reasons for this. One is that deep theological concepts do not belong in contemporary Christian worship. We frown on songs that change more than one or two words for each verse. For example, our version of "Holy is the Lord" consists of repeating that phrase six times per verse and then changing "Holy" to "Worthy," "Mighty," "Jesus" and finally changing "the" to "my." Isn’t that much simpler to sing and easier to remember? The twin goals here are a) repetition and b) chanting quality. We don’t focus on what we’re singing, but how we’re singing it. The main thing is to get that kind of tingly, "olive oily" feeling. Don't worry if you don't get this right away. It will come as you learn to disengage your intellect. Just free yourself. Immerse yourself. Relax.

Nevertheless, a traditional hymn may sometimes be used. For example, we’re not averse to "Holy, Holy, Holy." You may be tempted to sing this as you would have in your former church, but please note that it is sung here with changes, mainly the fact that we repeat it several times and try to sing as slowly as possible, thereby emphasizing the funereal nature of the verse.

Repetition is very important in contemporary Christian music. We repeat: Repetition is very important in contemporary Christian music. Just because a song may have one verse and one chorus does not mean that you only sing it through once. Old hymns have several verses, each of which introduces a new theological concept, and are meant to be sung once followed by "Amen." This is no longer how it’s done. The correct procedure is to sing the identical verse and chorus at least three times. Often it is preferable to repeat the verse two times initially before moving on to the chorus.

Also the worship leader may want to repeat a verse or chorus found in the middle of the song. This is signaled by “calling an audible." When this occurs, the worship leader will say the first few words of the verse or chorus he will be singing next. Sometimes, due to the similarity of the verses, this may be confusing and the overhead projector may flash several pages of text until the correct one is arrived at. Don't panic, this is normal. Just continue singing as though you know the words and soon either the correct slide will appear or a new chorus will begin.

After the verse and chorus are sung at least three times, it is permissible for the song to end. However, the chorus must first be repeated in its entirety, then the last paragraph, then the last line. When singing the last line it is important to slow down a little and look upward. Raising a hand is permissible and often done at this time. This may take a little getting used to but don't worry, if you just join in, in a short time you won't even notice and soon you will forget that you ever did it any other way.

We are just really glad you chose to share the worship experience with us today. Thank you and we hope to see you again soon.

Thank you and we hope to see you again soon. Thank you. Thank."

Seven Key Ideas of C.S. Lewis

Seven Key Ideas
I have heard it said that many well-known thinkers have only two or three key ideas that they develop from various angles throughout their lives. It might be asked: What are C.S. Lewis’s key ideas? I have chosen seven to summarize in this essay. You can click on the words in bold to get a further development of these ideas. The seven I have chosen are:

1. Chronological Snobbery
2. Desire
3. Imagination
4. Objective Values vs. Relativism
5. Myth
6. Immortality
7. Comprehensiveness

1. Chronological Snobbery
One obstacle that C.S. Lewis had to overcome was what he called his “chronological snobbery.” By that he meant the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is thereby discredited. For instance, people might ask, “What does a 2,000-year-old faith have to do with me?” One of Lewis’s friends helped him to ask about ideas that seemed outdated. Why did an idea go out of date and was it ever refuted? If so, where, by whom, and how conclusively? C.S. Lewis later argued that reading old books helped provide a corrective to the blindness induced by our own age. We ought, he maintained, to read one old book for every new one or if that’s too much, then one old one for every three new ones. Otherwise, we may be easily enslaved to the ideas of the recent past.

2. Desire
C.S. Lewis believed that we were made for “joy.” God is the great “hedonist.” He provides things for humans to do all day long, like “sleeping, eating, drinking, making love, playing, praying, working.” But, he also believed that to focus on these “second things” and neglect “first things” such as worshiping and loving God was to be “too easily pleased.” He wrote:

Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

Lewis’s argument for God’s existence from the nature of our desires is fascinating and thought-provoking. Just as the existence of hunger points to satisfaction in the reality of food, thirst in drink, sexual desire in sex, drowsiness in sleep (etc) so other “natural” desires: spiritual hunger, desire for supernatural encounters, aspirations to immortality (and so on) act as cosmic pointers to real supernatural satisfaction.


3. Imagination
C.S. Lewis viewed reason as the natural “organ of truth” and imagination as the “organ of meaning.” He believed that the only way we grasp any idea with clarity is if we have an image associated with it. He was able to work with equal facility in philosophical arguments or in writing fiction. Lewis uses images to illustrate his apologetics and communicates profound ideas in his fiction. For instance, he writes a great critique of relativism in Abolition of Man and communicates the same ideas in the novel,That Hideous Strength.

Imagination acted as a cosmic pointer to Lewis. Once, during his years of unbelief, he was going on a train ride and bought a book (George MacDonald’s Phantastes). While he was reading, he said that a “new quality” touched his life and his imagination was “baptized.” The quality was later described by Lewis to be “holiness.” Although it took a while for the rest of him to catch up (reason-satisfied; will-submitted), it was an important first step. Having had this early experience, it is not surprising that he thought that others might feel a similar thing. He felt that his Narnia series might sneak past “watchful dragons” of religiosity enabling us to see old things in new ways.

4. Absolutes vs. Relativism
C.S. Lewis argued for objective truth and morality against the relativism of his (and our) day. He felt that establishing the reality of truth and goodness was an essential preparation for the Gospel. He wrote:

For my part, I believe we ought to work not only at spreading the gospel (that certainly) but also at a certain preparation for the gospel. It is necessary to recall many to the Law of Nature before we talk about God. For Christ promises forgiveness of sins: But what is that to those who since they do not know the Law of Nature, do not know that they have sinned? Who will take the medicine unless he knows he is in the grip of disease? Moral relativity is the enemy we have to overcome before we tackle atheism.

Lewis’s arguments against relativism are set forth in Mere Christianity (Book I), Abolition of Man, and in numerous essays.


5. Myth
Early in C.S. Lewis’s life he noticed the parallels between pagan myths and classic Christianity. In his education it was assumed that the pagan myths were false and Christianity true. Why was this religion–and this one alone–true? This is one factor that led to his unbelief.
He resolved the problem and wrote about myth in a number of places. A key to his resolution was the increased understanding that if God created the world in a certain way and the human mind with a definite structure, it is not surprising that patterns re-occur. The only question is, Are any of these myths truer than others or, more precisely, Are any of these myths also fact? He came to believe that Jesus was the “myth become fact.”
Later he defined myth as an “unfocused gleam of divine truth falling on human imagination.” Lewis discusses parallel mythologies in his book, Miracles, his novel, Till We Have Faces, and in other places.


6. Immortality
Walter Hooper (C.S. Lewis scholar) argues that C.S. Lewis’s central idea was that all people are immortal. Lewis wrote: “There are no ordinary people. You have never met a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations, these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat.” Lewis manifested this belief by writing personally to everyone who wrote to him (usually handwritten letters) and giving away all the proceeds of his books.
Hooper tells the story of a time when he was with Lewis and they were talking about a man who was very boring. Hooper told Lewis that the man succeeded in interesting him by the very intensity of his boredom. Lewis replied, “Yes, but let us not forget that Our Lord might well have said, “As ye have done it unto one of the least of these my bores, you have done it to me.” In fact, Lewis felt that it was sometimes his duty to visit and help such people.
Lewis also gives us glorious pictures of heaven. For instance, in my favorite of the Narnia Chronicles,The Last Battle, he portrays life in the higher country as infinite adventures with an infinitely creative God for all eternity. The last paragraph of The Last Battle says:

And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

7. Comprehensiveness
C.S. Lewis believed that Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life and that all truth pointed to Him. Lewis said: “I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” He was influenced by G.K. Chesterton who maintained that we become convinced of a theory not just when something proves it but only when everything proves it. Lewis explored reason, imagination, fiction, non-fiction, art, philosophy, classic literature, and poetry finding shafts of light and following them back to the sun (Son

Excellent artice taken from http://thinkpoint.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/seven-key-ideas-from-c-s-lewis/

Where is God's House Today? Part 4

Where does God live today?  Of course God lives inside each Christian through the Holy Spirit.  But in the Old Testament, we see that God lived right in the middle of his people in a physical house.  Is there anything like that today?  Many Christians would see the parallel to be any group of Christians, because Jesus said, to the effect. "where two or three meet, there I will be in the middle of them".  But, as this series shows, it speaks of something different - a spiritual House, not the same as the Body of Christ, which operated in the New Testament and operates today.  Here is Part 4 of the series - find the first three videos earlier in the blog if you have not seen them..

Did Jesus Say He Was God?

From: www.apologeticsguy.com

What would you say if someone asked you, “Did Jesus say He was God?” In this post, I’ll give you a few talking points that you can use to give a thoughtful response to a question like this. But first, let me tell you a little story.


One day, I was at this family reunion at my in-laws’ place when a relative decided to engage me in a religious conversation. Now you have to understand that I usually don’t go looking for these kinds of discussions at parties. What I was looking for was more potato chips. Why? So I could try some of this homemade blue cheese dip–a secret family recipe!
So anyway, this woman cornered me and started talking about how Jesus never claimed to be God. In fact, she grabbed my Bible off the table, held it up as a visual aid, and said, “According to this, Jesus never claimed to be God.”
As a World Religions professor at a couple of universities, I hear this challenge a lot. The popular concept is that Jesus of Nazareth never said He was divine or never claimed to be the Son of God. But what about this? Did Jesus really say He was God? What does the historical evidence actually show?

Did Jesus really say He was God?

That’s exactly how Jesus’ original audience seemed to take it when He said, “I and the Father are one.” In fact, the Jews were ready to kill Him right there! Why? “Because you,” they said, “a mere man, claim to be God” (John 10:33).
On another occasion, He used the personal name of Israel’s God–the name revealed to Moses (Exodus 3:14)–to refer to Himself. And He even used the Torah for context, so no one would misunderstand Him: “Before Abraham was, I AM” (John 8:58). This would be about wild as telling a Muslim, “I am your God, Allah.” Don’t try that in Saudi Arabia! It’s no wonder the Jews tried to stone Him to death. That was the exact penalty for blasphemy under the Jewish legal system. It was pretty clear to everyone there that He was saying, “I am Israel’s God.”


So did Jesus say He was God? Yeah. Did He use the exact words “I am God?” We don’t read a direct quote like that in Scripture, but here’s the thing: Jesus didn’t have to say the exact words “I am God,” in order to claim to be divine. But why is this a problem?
I don’t have to say the exact words, “I am married” to indicate that I’m married. I can say “I’m her husband,” or “this is my wife,” or “It’s our 12th wedding anniversary.” The question is, what did the people who were actually a part of conversation think about what Jesus said?

So Why Don’t People Get It?

Honestly, some never look into it. They believe whatever they hear about Christianity in pop culture. Others never look into it honestly. But some will actually be open-minded and give the Bible a fair hearing. Why don’t some of these people get it right away?
Jesus claimed to be God in ways that were pretty clear to the people He was talking to. Our problem as 21st century readers, is that we might not easily get what some of Jesus’ sayings actually meant to the people who were part of the conversation. For example, Jesus also claimed to be divine when He said He was the ”Son of Man.” I’ll admit that the first time I heard this title, I thought it was kind of like Muhammad saying, “I am but a man like you” (Qur’an 41:6)—Now there’s a religious figure who never claimed to be God! But this isn’t what Jesus meant at all. Let’s take a look at the term, “Son of Man.”

Jesus claimed to be the Son of Man

“Son of Man” seems to be Jesus’ favorite thing to call Himself–He uses it 80 times in the New Testament Gospels. Interestingly, it’s only used 1 time outside the gospels (Acts 7:56). So this probably wasn’t something the church made up. How many modern worship songs can you think of that use the term, “Son of Man?” We know this title didn’t emerge later on in history and it wasn’t written back into the earlier traditions about Jesus. But why is this title important? Because it’s referring to a figure that Jews recognized as divine. Here’s what the Jewish prophet Daniel wrote (7:13-14):

In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

Here’s the point: The “Son of Man” in Daniel’s vision is rightful heir to the divine throne. According to the prophecy, He’ll rule forever. Nations will worship Him and His kingdom will be unstoppable.

Jesus claimed to be the Divine Messiah

Back to my family get-together. I asked the lady where she heard that Jesus never claimed to be God. I let her talk and explain her ideas. Then, I gently took my Bible back from her and asked, “Could you read this for me?” I turned to Jesus’ trial, as recorded by Mark (14:60-64). She read the record of Jesus’ cross-examination:

Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?” They all condemned him as worthy of death. (63-64).

Jesus publicly claimed to be the Messiah. He claimed to be the Son of God. He even used the divine name in His answer: “I AM.” Now, at the very least, Jesus answered, “Yeah, I’m the Messiah. I’m the Son of God.” At that point, the High Priest probably thought something like, “Gotcha!”
But then, Jesus follows up with, “I’m also the Son of Man. And you’ll see me seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” That’s when people freaked. Why? Because Jesus basically said, ”You know that guy in Daniel’s vision? That’s Me.”


The high priest didn’t misunderstand Him for a second. His response was essentially, “Yikes! You just said you’re God and everyone should worship you!” No ambiguity there. But this just expressed what Jesus already seemed to assume by walking around and doing the things He did. Things like claiming to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-11, Luke 5:20-24). He certainly didn’t object when people worshiped Him or called Him God (John 20:28-29).

Jesus said He was God

If you’re willing to look at the historical record, you’ll find that there’s a reasonable explanation for the early Christian belief that Jesus was divine: Jesus Himself said He was God. Even people who hated Jesus attest to the fact that this is what He said about Himself.
So if anyone ever asks you, “Did Jesus Say He Was God?” You can confidently say, “Yes.” Just be ready to mention at least a couple of these talking points. It doesn’t hurt to memorize at least a couple of the Scripture references, too. Try it!
But what happened at my little family get-together? The woman decided to change the topic and drop it. I don’t think she’d ever seen these reports in the Bible before. I almost felt bad for her and just let it go. After all, this was a casual family reunion and I think she got the point.
I went back to look for more chips. And I finally got to that blue cheese dip, too.

Your Turn

Has anyone ever surprised you with a challenge to the truth of an essential Christian belief when you least expected it? How easy was it to respond? Would you respond differently if you could re-live that encounter?

Joel and the Problem of Suffering

Joel had it tough. Not only did he have to suffer a locust plague eating the people out of house and home, he then had to inform his neighbours that their suffering was entirely their own fault. Even worse, the suffering was deliberately and directly inflicted by their God - the graphic army of locusts being described as the Lord’s!

Though unlikely to win any popularity contests, at least Joel could console himself that he had an answer which has eluded many suffering people today who ask, "Why?!"

This isn’t some dry philosophical debating point, but a cry borne of bewilderment, frustration and pain. "Why me? Why not someone else? It’s not fair! Why didn’t God stop this? What have I done to deserve this? I thought He cared!" Instinctively, we assume that suffering is ‘deserved’ as part of a relatively simple ‘cause and effect’ model (e.g. Sodom and Gomorrah).

But when a tower collapsed in Jerusalem, killing eighteen people, Jesus warned against prematurely concluding that this tragic event was a summary judgement by God on people who were more wicked than anyone else. (Luke 13:4). Plainly, God was not involved in that calamity in the same way as he had been in Joel’s locust plague. He permitted it but He did not prescribe it.

Similarly, the Pharisees assumed a man born blind was ‘"steeped in sin from birth"‘ and asked who was to blame. Jesus told them the real point was that the affliction afforded an opportunity to bring glory to God by its removal (John 9:1-3).

In answering, "Why?" it may be helpful to consider three sources of suffering: 1) humanity, 2) ‘nature’ and 3) God Himself.

We have to concede that much of the suffering in the world is caused by what has been called ‘man’s inhumanity to man’. God has given us the gift of free will to act as we please, but operating within a universe of cause and effect. The physical, moral and social consequences of what we do are therefore inescapable, and so our responsibility is equally inescapable. How easy would it be for God to stop each wrong decision or act, and the next one ... and the next one ...? But very quickly there would be no free will at all. And so God has graciously honoured that gift of free will by allowing its natural, and often terrible, consequences to occur even to today.

The constant stream of natural disasters that occur can also be traced back to a consequence of free will - the disobedience of Adam (Gen.3). In some sense, the cursing of the ground reflects the dislocation in the relationship between Creator and created, whether human or not. Until the relationship is restored, the created will continue to malfunction - a situation first to be addressed in the millennial reign of Christ, but comprehensively only when there is a new heaven and a new earth. Until then, none are guaranteed immunity from so-called ‘acts of God’, irrespective of their moral condition or spiritual status. We can be sure it’s always safe to treat calamitous events as ‘a wake-up call’ in realizing how small, frail and exposed we are, and how much we need to rely on God for our very breath and, vitally, our spiritual future.

Thirdly, as in Joel’s experience, suffering can be caused by God’s judgement, against believers or unbelievers. The end purpose of each, whilst we are still in the age of grace, is to turn us back to Him. This type of suffering can therefore be a catalyst for vital change in our lives - although it doesn’t seem pleasant, helpful or even warranted at the time.

It’s facile to suggest such a complex question can ever be completely answered! But it has helpfully been said that a fabric viewed through a magnifying glass is clear in the middle and blurred at the edges. We only know the edges are clear because of what we see in the middle. Life’s fabric has many blurred edges - events and circumstances we do not understand - but they must be interpreted by the clarity we see in the centre: the cross of Christ.

We aren’t left to guess about the goodness and intentions of God from isolated bits of data. God has clearly revealed His character and dramatically demonstrated it to us in the Cross. ‘He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?’ (Rom.8:32).

First Century Culture - Part 1

Another series of articles that I wrote for NT magazine....

First Century Culture (Part 1) - Honour and Shame

21st century Western culture encourages each to shamelessly pursue their '15 minutes of fame'. 'Shame' and 'honour' were never far from the mind of the ancient Jew, Greek or Roman, nor far below the surface of our Bible – but in different senses.

An individual's shame reflected badly on the family and the whole community – so there could be violent repercussions, even as far as death. (We still see this in so-called 'honour killings' today in some societies). Because of the communal impact, anything done in secret was automatically assumed to involve wrong-doing. (This could explain Jesus' trial defence, in John 18:2, that he did nothing in secret).

God was the ultimate source of honour and it was thought to be available in limited quantities! Anyone who acquired honour therefore had to have taken it from someone else – compare John the Baptist's assertion that ‘"He (Jesus) must become greater; I must become less."’ (John 3:30).

Honour had to be ascribed by others; assuming it for oneself would usually be challenged publicly. (Could this explain why the Lord made few claims about his true status, but never refused others' genuine worship?)

Themes of honour and shame can be seen throughout Jesus' life. He completed numerous 'challenge/riposte' cycles with the Pharisees. The challenges were questions designed to trip Jesus up and cause him to lose face (e.g. ‘"What is the greatest commandment?"’). But Jesus' skilful answers meant that eventually ‘no-one dared to ask him any more questions’ (Luke 20:40) – clearly the risk to their honour was too great!

Jesus was prepared to sacrifice worldly honour when eating with tax collectors and sinners (Mat. 9:11), breaking the elders' traditions (Mat. 15:1-2), and associating with Samaritans (John 4). Even so, Jesus was accumulating so much honour that the leaders of the day out of envy handed Him over to Pilate to be killed (Mark 15:10).

Jesus' teaching often used shame/honour concepts to grab attention. The prodigal son had brought shame on his family by his actions, and the hearers would instinctively side with the 'other son' – yet Jesus revealed the father's shocking response to be right. Jesus' command to love our enemies, instead of regaining lost honour by taking an eye for an eye, was also a very radical message.

The New Testament writers seem agreed that the key sub-text of the cross was shame, not pain – unlike the provocative film 'The Passion of the Christ'. So the focus was on spitting at, and striking of, the head (usually most honoured body part), insults, and ridicule by giving him the 'trappings' of a king – and most of all, the shame of the apparent forsaking of the Son by the Father.

And yet, amazingly, the Lord ‘for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame’ (Heb. 12:2). Paradoxically shame has been turned to honour in God's plan. Jesus even chided the two on the Emmaus road, ‘"Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter His glory?"’ (Luke 24:26).

Believers today will likely lose this world's honour if they serve the Lord faithfully. Yet God has promised us something more valuable, saying, ‘"Those who honour me I will honour"’ (1 Sam. 2:30) and ‘anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame’ (Rom. 10:11).

A Series on the Book of Judges - Part 3

Part 3 - Israel and Baal

Sunday School pupils might have long enjoyed Elijah’s triumph over the prophets of Baal but given the somewhat salacious background to this false god, it’s perhaps not too surprising that a “theo-biography” has not traditionally featured on their curriculum!  But no understanding of the Old Testament is complete without knowing the prominent role that Baal played in Israelite life.

The Israelites seem to have managed to avoid falling into idolatry while captive in Egypt, despite the polytheistic society. Post-exodus, apart from the golden calf and the Balaam crisis (Num.25), the Israelites largely stayed loyal to God with some notable exceptions (Amos 5:26). But it didn’t seem to take long for them to fall headlong into idolatry when they entered Canaan.  Judges 2:12-13 records “They forsook the LORD…who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them.”

 What was behind this sudden departure after generations of faithfulness?  The key factor was social co-habitation, including marriage, amongst the Canaanites.  As reviled slaves in Egypt and then pilgrim wanderers in the desert, there was simply limited opportunity for this to happen before then.

Judges 10:6 lists the false gods that the Israelites worshipped. It’s no shock that Baal, a God of the Caananites, is first on the list:  “They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines”. Who was he?

Baal means master, and thus to worship Baal usurped the position of the Lord.  We learn from ancient Syrian texts that he was known as the storm god, the bringer of rain, and therefore fertility, to the land. His nickname was "Rider of the Clouds," and often described using meteorological terms like clouds, thunder, lightning, hail and, most importantly, water.

 It’s easy to imagine how he might appeal to people living in an arid and agriculturally marginal area, where the fertility of land was so vital to preserving life. The Israelites experienced God as a powerful desert warrior God, who they counted on to march in with his heavenly armies when needed. But as they settled into the land, they perhaps became convinced that Baal was in charge of the more mundane aspects of everyday life, like rain, crops and livestock.   But the Israelites never completely abandoned the worship of the true God. To put it bluntly, they had one God for crises and another god for everyday life (this is called syncretism - we can be guilty of that too!)

Baal worship involved prostitution, designed in part to encourage this fertility to continue (read Hosea and Jeremiah for the graphic details). It seems particularly apt, then, that the metaphor of prostitution was used in Judges 8, and of adultery many times elsewhere, to describe Israel’s unfaithfulness.

There was no prospect of Israel’s God just letting all this happen though. It’s no accident that various scriptures portray God using images consistent with the Baal myth. God speaks from the mighty waters, His voice lightning and His words thunder (Psalm 29; 104:7). God is described as shooting flashing arrows from the heavens as He rides in a chariot in the clouds (Psalm 76:3-9; 77:16-20; 97:1-5; 104:1-4; Hab 3:4-9). It is God alone who rules over the waters of the deep and controls the raging of the sea (Psalm 77:16; 89:5-13; 93:3-4).

 God is showing himself to be the real deal, not just in words but in actions as well.  Judge Deborah’s song of victory has an unmistakably watery motif, “When you, LORD, went out from Seir, when you marched from the land of Edom, the earth shook, the heavens poured, the clouds poured down water.  The river Kishon swept them away, the age-old river, the river Kishon.” Judges 5: 4,21. She knew that it is God who is in control of the elements, not Baal.  The famous Carmel contest was further proof of this, giving strong meaning to Elijah's prayer that rain would be withheld, as a direct challenge to the rain-god!  And Elijah even added insult to the priests’ injuries by soaking his sacrifice to God with water to show that this was no barrier to His almighty power.

 Outlasting the Judges by centuries Baal worship thrived until the time of the exile, even as a quasi state religion under Ahab and Jezebel. Although the problem largely faded after the return from exile thanks to Ezra and Nehemiah’s reforms, Israel has been so passionately monotheistic ever since that most Jews incorrectly view accepting Jesus as the Son of God as a forbidden return to polytheistic syncretism.

A Series on the Book of Judges - Part 2

Part 2 - God, the Canaanites and the Problem of Suffering

Deuteronomy 20 v 16-17 is evidence that has, as C.S. Lewis might describe it, “put God in the dock”: “In the cities of the nations the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them…..as the LORD your God has commanded...”

Of course, God doesn’t require anyone to defend him; but let’s explore what was behind this statement, which at first glance appears to be instructing ethnic cleansing that we condemned in Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The killing was not primarily to vacate the land for new incoming tenants, although that was a by-product.  There was a moral imperative here - this was a judgment on the Canaanites, similar to the Flood or destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.  
But “everything that breathes” includes babies and young children. What was going on in Canaan that was so bad that God ordered even the children killed? (Sinful Egypt, Edom, Moab and Ammon were not completely destroyed, so the Canaanite sin must surely have been more serious). Was there no alternative; could God not have given them another chance?

Our final article in the series will expand further on the Caananite religion, which was the root of the problem.  But to illustrate: when a new house was built, a child would be sacrificed and its body built into the wall to bring the family luck. The firstborn were often sacrificed to Molech, a giant hollow bronze image in which a fire was built. Parents would place their children in its red hot hands and the babies would roll down into the fire. The sacrifice was invalid if the mother showed grief; she was supposed to dance and sing. This is sickening and warped stuff.

The Canaanites saw Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed completely - a warning that God would judge wickedness.  But God didn’t hurry to judge the Canaanites. God told Abraham: In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”  Genesis 15:16. God gave the Canaanites 400 years while Israel was in Egypt and after Israel passed through the Red Sea, He waited 40 more years while Israel wandered in the wilderness.
The people knew Israel was coming, and that God had given the land to them, as the Canaanite Rahab testified: “I know that the LORD has given this land to you and that a great fear of you has fallen on us…." Joshua 2:9.  Families could well have migrated out of the land and settled in nearby areas. God gave no instructions to hunt down and kill Canaanites who left the land peacefully. Jericho had six additional days to repent while Israel did laps around it and even on the seventh day of judgement, Israel marched around the city seven times to provide a further opportunity.

There is a pattern here - God judges swiftly when He finally acts, but He patiently warns and waits for repentance.

The point of God’s command was to destroy the evil Canaanite culture rather than the individual Canaanite people. Otherwise, as God said “they will teach you to follow all the detestable things they do in worshiping their gods, and you will sin against the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 20:18. 

Later in the Bible, Canaanite individuals like Uriah the Hittite show up as righteous characters. Rahab herself was a Canaanite harlot who repented before Jericho was destroyed and even became an ancestor of Jesus Himself.  So God’s judgment was not based on racism or favoritism.  

God is never arbitrary or unjust, despite how some events might appear when viewed from a human, limited perspective. Those of us who know Him trust that His justice is perfect and His patience and forgiveness are immense. He waits for repentance and gives everyone the opportunity to choose between salvation and judgment.  This is true today – He wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.  But the clock of judgement is ticking and one day, maybe soon, time will be up, and there will be no more opportunity for repentance. That is why today really is the day of salvation.

Words!

In 11^th century Europe, the First Crusade to recapture Jerusalem was started by the Pope by just 3 words “deus le volt”, or “God wills it” in English.  In 1960’s America, the cause of race relations was greatly advanced by 4 words from Martin Luther King – “I have a dream”.

Matthew 12 v 36-37 says, “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.”

James 3 v 6-8 says. “The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell...no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

This being the case we should watch our words carefully.  It seems to be that advice which the Bible gives – to limit our words to each other and to God in certain circumstances.

One of the challenges we face is that we have unlimited numbers of words at our disposal.  In addition, English is the richest language in the world, with over 700,000 to choose from.  It is estimated that men use 25,000 words per day, whereas women use twice that amount.  They probably would claim it is because the men were not listening the first time they said it! It was said of Samuel in 1 Sam 3 v 19 that God did not let any of his words fall to the ground.  What an interesting expression.  Not one word was wasted, and this also shows that God was also listening at all times.  Are any of our words only fit to be thrown away?

There appear to be 3 good options here:

1)  Be slow to speak – assess the situation from all angles, challenge the motives behind what you are about to say, and then prepare and select your words with great care

2) Speak few words – the law of averages tells us that the fewer words we speak, the less chance of putting our foot in it.  As James vividly indicates to us in his letter, our tongues can get out of control – he uses the word “hell” in his description, which is not a word to be used lightly.

3)  Don’t speak at all – its very unnatural for many, particularly when you feel under attack and you feel the need to defend yourself.  But think of Jesus’ example and how it was said of him, when he was reviled he did not revile again.  Our culture today is one that demands instant opinions – whether it be in relation to politics, news or sports events.  Some stars are even contracted to be interviewed after an event – they cannot get out of it!  We can though and sometimes its better not to say anything at all.

However we must also be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Of course there are times when we must speak out, and infact we are commanded to do so!

- Confession of Jesus as Lord – Romans 10 v 9.  Consider this as a daily exercise to start the day

- Building up of fellow saints – Ephesians 4 v 15.  Its certainly harder to do this than tear someone down!

- Declaring God’s praises – Psalm 145 v 6.  Don’t forget our words can still be few.  After all, if our bodies are a living sacrifice to God throughout the week, isn’t that what God wants more?

- Witnessing – 1 Peter 3 v 15.  Words should be used like a scalpel though - and not a blunt instrument like a mallet.  The words here are in response to a specific question from an enquirer (presumably triggered by the distinctive lifestyle of the Christian) and not simply a scattergun approach to the gospel.

May our prayer be that of David in Psalm 19 v 14 “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

Where is God's House Today? Part 1

This is a short video of less than 7 minutes which is the first of series on the subject of where is God's House today?  In the Old Testament, God lived first in a tabernacle (tent) and then in a temple? It is true of course that God now lives inside every believer, from the day of Pentecost onwards.

But is there an equivalent dwelling place for God in the New Testament that can still exist today, that operates in a collective way like it did for the people of Israel?  This video, and the rest of the series,  argues that the answer to that question is yes, and that this has great importance for every Christian who is interested in serving God in a way that he has instructed us to do.  Take a look and I would be very interested to hear what you think.