Category: Christian

Stepping Into the Light

If we step into the light, our condition is exposed. But, that is where we find truth; that is where we find God

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Psalm 139 is a favorite of mine. It can be very comforting knowing that God is intimately familiar with me. He knows my struggles, my good intentions, what I long for and what I need.

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.

(Psalm 139:1-4) On the other hand, God knows my demons, my sinful thoughts, my envious, hateful, spiteful and selfish thoughts. He not only sees the good things I do and think (that I want others to know); He sees the bad things I do and think (that I want no one to see). The idea that God knows me so well – even better than I know myself – is both a wonderful and a fearful thing!

The amazing thing is that He loves me. He knows me intimately – better than I know myself. and He loves me.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence

(Psalm 139:7) King David’s question is rhetorical of course. The answer is clearly nowhere. Nowhere can I go that God is not present. David takes comfort in that thought.

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.

(Psalm 139:8-10) That knowledge is as unnerving as it is comforting. Nowhere can I go that God is not present and nothing can I do, or even think, that God does not know it. David knew this full well. He learned it intimately through experience.

After he was tempted and succumbed to that temptation, seeing Bathsheba from his roof top, inviting her into his home and lying with her, and then plotting to send her husband to his death to cover up the misdeed, David was called to account by God in dramatic fashion. David’s sin was laid bare. He was completely undone by it. So, David knew well these words:

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

(Psalm 139:11-12) When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, their first reaction was to hide themselves from God. People have been hiding from God ever since to this day. Hiding from God is as futile an exercise as it is foolish. God knows every hair on our heads and every thought that runs through our heads. He surely knows every action that we take. There is nothing hidden from God.

Continue reading “Stepping Into the Light” →

Revisiting King Henry VIII

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Henry VIII King of England
Depositphotos Image ID: 5598102 Copyright: georgios

I recently saw Shakespeare’s King Henry VIII at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. The play, Shakespeare’s last one performed at the Globe Theater approximately 400 years ago, was very well done. The story line is not as compelling as most of Shakespeare’s works, but the interrelationship of church and state theme struck a chord with me, albeit a discordant one.

King Henry the VIII was born into aristocracy. Young Henry was appointed Constable of Dover Castle at age two, Earl Marshal of England and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland at age three, inducted into the Order of the Bath soon after, and a day later he was made the Duke of York. A month or so after that, he was made the Warden of the Scottish Marches. He had the best education available from the best tutors, was fluent in Latin and French and was familiar with Italian.

For all of his privilege, he was not expected to become king. His brother, Arthur, Prince of Wales, was the first born and heir to the throne, but Arthur died only 20 months after marrying Catherine of Aragon (daughter of the King and Queen of Spain). Henry VIII was only 10. (Wikipedia)

Henry became the Duke of Cornwall and assumed other figurehead duties. His father, the King Henry VII, made sure young Henry was strictly supervised, did not appear in public and was insulated from real authority. Henry VII quickly made a treaty with the King of Spain that included the marriage of his daughter, Catherine, to young Henry – yes the widow of recently deceased brother Arthur. (Wikipedia)

From this point begins a history of manipulation, abuse of power, shameless excess and rationalizations twisting biblical and religious notions to serve the king’s self-interest. This is a story that parallels the “marriage” of State and Church. The two are intertwined in an adulterous affair of blasphemous indiscretions.

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Troubles Mark the Way

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The Struggle by Andi Campbell-Jones

We live prosperous and comfortable lives in the United States in these modern times. No generation has had the comforts, pleasures, luxuries and distractions that we have. Even the poverty level of the people in the US, about $24,000, far exceeds the $2 a day ($730 a year) that many people in the world live on. We are blessed in this country.

We have developed our own, unique theology in the United States that emphasizes prosperity. When we face difficulties, as we often do, we chide each other for a lack of faith. People who are not “prosperous” (compared to other Americans) may feel that God has withdrawn His blessing or has abandoned them.

I wonder what the rest of the world thinks about this uniquely American theology. I can only imagine that they shake their heads. Continue reading “Troubles Mark the Way” →

Why the Bible?

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College was a foundational time in my life. I was confident going into college that truth is knowable, understandable and discoverable. I was excited to get down to the business of discovering the truth. I had no idea where I would find this Truth, but it seemed apparent to me that Truth was something I could grasp. Continue reading “Why the Bible?” →

The Good Friday Way

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Jesus died today. While he still lived, he said, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ” (Luke 9:21) He left little room for misunderstanding when he proceeded to demonstrate by his very life what he meant.

We cling to life. We cling to our thoughts, our ambitions, our pleasures, our habits, our selfishness. The way that Jesus showed goes against the grain of me and my life. He is “not a tame lion” as C.S. Lewis once said. He gave all of himself, and he requests all of me.

“For whoever will save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:12) He promises us life for life. Again, he did not just say it; he lived it. He did not avoid his destiny; he knew where he was heading, and he knew what he was doing. He walked purposefully on the road to his certain death, and he did not turn from it.

On the third day he rose again. Death could not hold him in the grave. He overcame sin and death and promises the same thing to us. Only we must let go of ourselves.

“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet to lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9:13) I recently heard someone say (and I paraphrase): men who believe in God have hope; men who do not believe in God only have hope that there really is no God. If I am wrong in my belief in God, what have I lost? Death comes to us all. We can not take anything with us when we go.

Why then do we cling so tightly to the selfish and small lives that we live?

Jesus showed a different way. He endured the cross for the joy set before him. He promised, “Where I go, I will prepare a place for you.” We have reason for the hope we have because three days later the tomb was empty. Jesus appeared to the disciples in glory and promised them the Holy Spirit before he ascended into heaven. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon them and empowered them. The Gospel has spread to the ends of the earth. We wait for the fulfillment of the promises of God when Jesus comes again. While scientists would rather believe that the world as we know it was brought to us by aliens, I am not ashamed to say that I believe in God, who created the heavens and the earth and all that is seen and unseen, who stooped to become a part of His creation in the form of a man, Jesus, who lived among us and showed us the way to gain relationship with Himself, and who leaves us the power to follow in that way in the form of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus died today. If we want what He has to give us, we must do as He did.