theologer

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

I read:

By faith it IS possible to please Him. And without it we lack even a chance so...
First believe He exists. Check.
Next believe that He rewards those who seek him. Check
Now I can draw near to God.

Interesting, that in order to draw near, we have to believe that the Lord will bless our efforts in seeking Him. That is, we not only have to seek God to draw near, but we have to believe that it will yield something valuable.

Faith. And then we can please Him. But this isn't supposed to be something which we DO. It's supposed to lead us to Jesus.

The writer of Hebrews is saying that God DOES reward those who seek Him. Then he's saying it's only by faith - belief, not action - that we please the Lord.

Belief. Not action. Get that? Faith.

"My tears have been my food day and night,
while they say to me continually, 'Where is your God?'" - Psalm 42:3

I just finished writing a paper on 42/43 for class and ran across how Matthew Henry in his commentary talks about those who are doing the mocking in this verse. They think the psalmist is removed from God because he is removed from the ark physically.

He says something along the lines of how while we are are tied to our Bibles, or our robbed ministers God is not tied to them. He is tied to us.

"We know where our God is, and where to find him, when we know not where his ark is, nor where to find that."

Awesome.

It also reminds me of the Bahá'í faith. I have a friend who was Bahá'í and he told me (because he genuinely believed) they have the ark of the covenant in Haifa, Israel (something of a capital for the Bahá'í faith).

I couldn't help but laugh. Thank the Lord he is with me, not stuck in Haifa with some weird Bahá'ís.

Okay I just wanted to update my thoughts on this whole wife becoming Roman Catholic deal. I posted briefly here.

And want to say after further reading it was much less one-sided than I originally read. My new view of what went down is available in the forums.

"But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city." - Hebrews 11:16

I chewed on this for a bit knowing it to be significant but not able to sort out what I thought about it. Barnes' New Testament Notes brought it into a focus a bit for me. These are the people who are "so heavenly minded they're of no earthly good." Or rather, they are forgetting the things of the world and doing what pleases their father because they're looking forward to heaven.

This comes in the midst of the long section in Hebrews on faith, a section I have skipped over many times as it has often seemed monotonous. But reading this yesterday brought what was dull to light for me. The Lord is proud to call those who seek the eternal His children. Are you seeking the eternal? So many things on this earth have become so attractive to me that I often forget the eternal.

I'm reminded the significance of living by faith, living for the eternal, after all those who lived by faith,

"conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received back their dead by resurrection." - verse 33-35.

"And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." - Hebrews 11:6

I love that he rewards those who seek Him. I cant always pull it together, but I always hope He has grace for those who are earnestly seeking. I want to seek God. To seek Him more than comfort, wisdom, even knowledge, fame, peace, health. All things I've worshipped.

Help me Father, to seek you.

There is something of a schism in our atheistic friends in the way they live their lives and I've had some interesting conversations with a few of them. The part I still don't understand is how they don't follow their thoughts out to the logical conclusion.

That is... If there is no God, then man is an accident of nature. Making him not a little higher than the angels, but no better than the dirt beneath his feet. If he is no better than dirt than the highest end for man is the seeking of pleasure. Some people have this figured out and they turn to drugs. If you genuinely believe there is no God then drugs are the obvious outturn because it is my understanding there is basically no better feeling on earth than heroin.

They say its thousands of times better than sex. If man is no better than dirt you might as well enjoy a few years of sheer pleasure over 80 or 90 years of miserable striving after money or something similar. Also there is no reason for morality in the least. You are worth nothing more than dirt, thus your neighbor is worth nothing more than dirt and should you take his life there is no reason for guilt (after all it would be the same as crushing an ant or disturbing the mud).

The sheer number of people who don't believe in God doing good and having feelings of right and wrong seem to me a fulfillment of Jeremiah, "I will put my law within them, and I will write it ton their hearts." - Jeremiah 31:33b

And the truth is by living out morality in the midst of a denial of God, they are condemning themselves.

"For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus." - Romans 2:14-16

And

"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." - Romans 1:20

If you're an atheist, what reason is there to pursue anything more than pleasure?

There is a fundamental problem with biblical criticism. The issue is the two camps starting place. If you are a biblical critic you must start from the point of view of skepticism, hoping to prove the claims of the bible wrong. You look at what the text says of itself and say, is this right? I doubt it is... and today I will find out why.

Even if it's not that intense, you at least say, this text is of no intrinsic value to me, so I will find out if what it says is true or not.

A conservative must approach to book from a basis of faith, expecting it to be true. The issue is, if you believe the book is true, there is little value in spending the time to prove that it is true. This makes the biblical critic angry, he doesn't understand how we can be both intellectual, and accept things at face value.

A conservative can try to prove the bible correct because they are interested in showing the critic, or because it confirms their faith. But he cannot however, set out in a middle ground of "Is this true or not?" If it is not true his beliefs will be rocked to the core, and unfortunately none of the evidence we find is very conclusive.

I remember hearing an argument from Jericho archaeological evidence that there was no evidence of a wall broken down. Which is one of the most ridiculous arguments I have ever heard... Its almost as dumb as those people who look for wood from the ark... When the walls fell down, he who rebuilt the city, re-used the stone. He wasn't a moron, why are these scientists?

In the same way, when the ark landed, man didn't walk away and forget about it, he had a MASSIVE amount of wood from which to build homes, build fires etc... Why are scientists looking for it? And why are these scientists given an hour on the Discovery channel and enough money to make a documentary.

Anyhow, I just think about these things as I get further along in my seminary studies... I have no desire to argue these things with biblical critics... if your point is the prove the bible wrong through archaeology (which, some may argue is just as fallible of a form of testimony as reading about these things in the bible), then you clearly have different interests and goals in life, I'm afraid I cannot relate and do not desire to be a part.

The point is, all forms of knowledge from history are a form of faith in the testimony of others. I find this fascinating... we all believe what people say is true, otherwise we would have nothing to know about the past. Even archaeological "fact" is not free from the testimony of others...

This is a little bit scattered... but you get the point

For more reading on this check out pages 45-50 Provan, Iain W., and others, A Biblical History of Israel

And when my friend decided to accept the Lord as his savior. I asked him if he believed. "Yes!" he proclaimed. "I could not and would not believe it if just one person had told me. But people from Italy, the Philippines, America, England, and China" have all told me. How could I not believe?!"

I feel honored to be surrounded by such a crowd of witnesses. And to be in the right place at the right time to yield fruit already ripe.

I've just started to read "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne. I'm not far into it, but it doesn't take long to tell that this is one of those books thats stretches you in ways you're uncomfortable with (good but uncomfortable). It challenges you to get out amongst the nitty gritty. To hold their hands and love them.

Thats hard.

I figure that getting used to working with the poor, the alcoholic, and the smelly, is kind of like getting used to cold water. At first its pretty uncomfortable. Easing in slowly will eventually get you submerged, but its a painful process. And weather you jump in head first all at once, or move along slowly. At some point you have to be in over your head and moving around pretty hard if you ever want to get used to the way it feels and find yourself comfortable.

Also once you're in, if you sit around for a while... you'll get cold and uncomfortable again.

I've been easing myself in slowly... its not been easy. I've been in the water before, but gotten out... but I'm pleased that since I've gotten back in (and I'm still in only up to my knees), I've been active in that little bit and the water is starting to feel warmer and warmer and its almost comfortable again.

I shake the guy's hand in my neighborhood who was hired to go through our trash cans and sort what he finds. But he's a sweet guy, and when he takes his hand out of the trash can to say hello and shake my hand, I've got to step up.

My mentally handicapped friend who sits on the steps a couple of blocks from my house and tries to pinch me when he holds my hands, is pretty gross. His hands are dirty, he drools and screams when he sees me. But the Lord loves these guys like he does me. And as I get dirtier and dirtier I'm getting used to the mud.
When you're running to get out of the rain, you eventually slow down, accept that you're soaked, and then you're able to enjoy the downpour. Thats what this feels like.

I'm reminded of James 2, how we can show favoritism to the rich over the poor. Also our faith needs to be matched with works. Typically when I think of works, I think of social service, but it also means prayer. Keep your works up with your faith. Otherwise you become the guy on the shore who has forgotten how to swim. And when God throws you in the deep end, its hard to get used the water when you've forgotten how to swim.

May God give us the grace to dive in and be willing to get wet.