Digging Deeper Psalm 107

Well, I bet you thought I was done writing about Psalms 107:1, 2, but yesterday's post barely scratched the surface. One of the really amazing things about the Bible is that has been so perfectly crafted that each and every part ties in with every other part. How deep and far you go with a Bible study is determined only by your strength of character and will. I can honestly say that I have never fully exhausted the significance or beauty of a single verse no matter how many times I have dissected it. There is always something marvelous to discover.

Let’s begin with the first words, “give thanks”.  In the Hebrew this is a single word, הֹדוּ, which conveniently enough means “give thanks”, but one the things you quickly learn about Hebrew is that is rarely that simple. It is a language of pictures and images that take us beyond the abstract and move us into realm of action.

Allow me to demonstrate. If I were simply to list the definitions provided in the Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB), you would find that the root of this word means to throw or to cast, confess, or to shoot an arrow as well as to give thanks. When you find such a diverse definition you have to fight off our rather English speaking tendency to focus simply on one while ignoring the rest. For someone who grew up speaking Hebrew all of these images would have been brought to mind even as they understood the primary meaning intended by the speaker or writer. It was in the multiplicity of images that the nuances that escape the translators grasp that the original audience would have understood the directive within this word.

To cast or to throw and to shoot an arrow are terms of warfare and precision. Remember that this song was commissioned by David, and what is he best known for? I believe it had something to do with a stone cast at a giant. Do you think it was an accident that a Psalm written at his behest included this term? Neither do I. We could pause here and consider the Hebrew word for sin, חׇטׇן, which includes a definition of “missing the goal or way”. Is there the implication that giving thanks is how we strive to hit the mark? Maybe. I think a case could be made, but I will let you ponder that while we move on.

Confess, now there is an interesting definition. As a reader, we should ask how this fits into the theme of the verse. If read further, we find that “the redeemed of the Lord (should) say so.” When you start putting the pieces together you begin to see that thanksgiving requires an acknowledgment of what has been done, and in this case God has been in the business of redeeming what was lost – the Ark of the Covenant and his people. So what did they have to confess? That they had been lost, that in a symbolic way they had lost him and his presence, that they needed redemption, and without that component they have nothing to be thankful for because God would have had nothing to do.  

If we do some more digging, we find that this word is used again in the Proverbs. (And who wrote Proverbs? Solomon, David’s son. Do I detect another connection?) Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who covers his faults will never succeed. He who confesses (הֹדוּ) and gives them up to the LORD will be shown compassion.” Compassion, lovingkindness…I think I beginning to see a theme.  

And all of these things would have been communicated with that single word! To anyone who grew up speaking this amazing language, and they would have never needed all the two hundred and seventy six study guides I have my shelves or the five years I spent in seminary to figure it out.

Now if you still think you aren’t digging deep enough, let’s look at the letters for a moment. Remember Hebrew was not always written the way we see it today. It originated in pictographs and each letter has not only picture that is associated with it, it also has a concept embodied by that picture.

Let’s take the first letter of the word, ה. (Oh, and you should know that with Hebrew, we read right to left.) It is pronounced “hey”. To explain how we get to this letter’s meaning, we would have to make two trips around Katy’s barn and one to Egypt, so I’ll just let you look that up if you are so inclined, but it means revelation or breath – both concepts bound up tightly together throughout the Bible.

The second letter in our word is the ד, and it represents a door. Doors are places of entry, and the guest that we would desire to enter into this life and world is God. We invite him in through our actions and prayers.

The final letter is the ו, pronounced vav. It is a hook. Some say it is a peg or a nail, but the principle is the same. It is used to join things together.

Now that you know what each letter symbolizes, you can put them all together. God reveals (or manifests) himself, to enter into our lives and world, so that we might be joined with him.

(This is where I totally geek out.)

What else has the power to move a person to give thanks than God’s manifest presence? What could be more natural than to be thankful that he has enter our world? Could there be a more compelling reason to sing our thanksgiving than God joining with us? What else could drive us to confess our need of him than a revelation of our redeemer and king, and do so not in abject despair but in joyful thankfulness?  

But it is not a one way street, for intrinsic to the design is God’s response to our thanksgiving and confession. For as we move towards him, he is moving towards us. The lovingkindness that we had only glimpsed from afar, perhaps a vague memory of time before our birth, floods into this world as he enthrones himself on our praise. The goodness that had been a mere shadow before now manifest in dazzling splendor as he joins with us to redeem us as his own. As our outpouring of love pierces his heart like an arrow, he responds according to his nature causing us to delight in presence ever more deeply.

All the opposing, complimentary, completing, and balancing concepts bound up so tightly in a single word! Everything affirming that God’s ultimate desire is to live among us, to move and be moved by those who love him. At once, he gives us the action and result so that we can know they are but two sides of the same coin, concurrent and indivisible is his presence and our thankful confession of his love.

*There is so much more to go with these two verses. If you are interested in more of what I am learning in this homework assignment, let me know in the comments so I will know to keep sharing.

"Oh Give Thanks To The Lord"

Oh, give thanks to the LORD for He is good, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy say so.  Psalm 107:1, 2

You don’t have to hang around my friend, Dennis Jernigan, very long to realize that this is probably in his top ten of favorite Bible passages. So I wasn’t surprised when he gave us this passage as our homework two weeks ago.

Now, I will be the first to admit that when I think of an in-depth Bible study Psalms is one of the last books I turn to. I mean, after all, its songs, right? How much analysis does a song really need? Either it speaks truth or doesn’t, case closed. And these verses seem pretty straight forward to me. So with a barely suppressed eye-roll, I dove in – more out of obligation than enthusiasm.   

But guess what? It seems I had a thing or two to learn after all. (Don’t make me start naming names of people who need to stop being so smug. I can feel your smirks through the computer, and you don’t know it all either.)

First of all, we were asked to look up the writer and the circumstance that lead to the writing of this particular Psalm. Easy enough, right? Wrong. Unlike many of the Psalms there is no intro included for this one, and if you go to the popular commentary sites you are going to find something that has run amuck in Biblical scholarship – the attempt to suppress anything prophetic within the Scriptures. Most sites are going to tell you that this was written sometime after the return of Babylonian exiles to the land of Israel. However, there is a major flaw in this argument, and if you take the Bible as a reliable source of history you have to dismiss what all the cool kids are saying and go by what is in the Word.

Which leads us to 1 Chronicles 16. I won’t type it all out here, but if you go and read it yourself (which I always recommend) you will find that David has just recovered the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines. The man is stoked. He is dancing in what is roughly the ancient equivalent of his tighty-whites, he has offered up sacrifices to God, and he is dishing up some sweet raisin cakes for the ladies. If this wasn’t enough, he decides that old tunes just aren’t going to cut it anymore and he commissions Asaph and his kinsmen to write up some new songs – the first of which is recorded right there in 1 Chronicles 16.

If you take some time and do some deep reading the first thing you are going to discover is this is a medley of Psalm 96, 105, 106, and 107. The Psalms and the passage from Chronicles share verses that are similar and some that are verbatim. Time and space prohibit me from going over them all, but let’s just look at one verse:

O, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. 1 Chronicles 16:34

Ring a bell?

So why is this important? I am so glad you asked. The reason is that it shows us the magnitude and greatness of Scripture. This Psalm was written in celebration. The Ark of the Covenant was home! The importance of this cannot be overstated. God’s presence was manifest over the Ark as he led them through the wilderness, the tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments were inside of it, Aaron’s rod, and a pot of manna – all the things that reminded them of God’s redeeming power demonstrated in the Exodus from Egypt and in the birth of their nation.

Yet, even as they sang these songs in the time of their joy, it would function as a prophetic word for the time to come. When Babylon swept in and stole, not only the Ark of the Covenant, but the people of the Covenant. God’s true treasure on this earth, and where he desires to be most manifest, in the hearts and lives of his people. It was in remembering God’s promises that the people found the courage and strength to keep going and to cling to their identity in a foreign land. They would sing these songs in their homes, over themselves, and each other reminding them of what God had done in the past and would do in the future.

For us there is an incredible lesson in this. As believers, we live in a land where we don’t belong. We may not even know what our true home looks like, we just know that it isn’t here. Everyone around us wants us to forget, to just give up and fit in. No more fights about abortion, homosexuality, and transgender bathrooms. No more squabbles over red cups, pagan holidays, and legalized marijuana. Life would be easier, simpler if we just forgot who we were and what we believe.

But to do that we would have to forget the God who redeems, the God who delivers, and the God who never forgot we are his. So how do we remember him? How do we remember who we are? We proclaim it, even when we can’t see it. We sing the songs of truth, of his promises fulfilled in the past with faith that we will see them in our future. We have been redeemed once as we stepped into relationship with him, and we will be redeemed again out of this exile in a strange land. So until then don’t stop singing, don’t let anyone steal the truth of your song, and sing for those who have yet to hear the music of his love so that they may know the truth.  

Reader's Question: Why Are Unwed Mothers Treated Like Pariahs?

“The research that I have done on Mary turns up different results. Some believe that she was married to Joseph before the birth of Christ, some say that she wasn’t, and others say she was betrothed and that was a good as being married. If she was not married before Christ’s birth, why are unwed mothers treated as pariahs in many churches? Especially churches that teach that Mary was not wed when she gave birth?”

Okay, let me say up front that I love this question for many reasons. First of all, I love that this reader DID RESEARCH! Secondly, I love she is attempting to do what so many of us Christians fail to do, she is trying to make a connection between what the Bible tells us and how we apply it in our lives – and did I mention that she isn’t a believer? (There is an entire lesson in that for those of us who claim the Christian faith.) Third, when she ran into a road block she asked for help.

To begin, let’s break this down because we really have three questions here, and each are important. The first question is: What was Mary’s marital state when she had Jesus?

Matthew 1:18 and Luke 1:27 both tell us that Mary was betrothed to Joseph when she is receives the news that she is going to give birth by supernatural means. The difficulty in this for modern readers is that we do not have anything that resembles an ancient betrothal in time, so we really do not know what or how much significance to place on this event. To avoid getting to bogged down in minutia, I will keep it simple.

Betrothal was essentially the legal component of the marriage. This was when all the agreements and promises were made, and the groom would begin the preparing a home for his bride based on those promises. During this time, he proved his commitment by tangibly investing his time, money, and labor into creating their new home. In turn, she would prove her devotion by waiting for him in her father’s home and refraining from any behavior that would dishonor him. What is important to understand is that while they were legally married, they had not yet consummated the marriage. In plain English, they had not had sex nor would they until the day he came to claim his bride and take her to their new home.

It was during this preparation time that Mary became pregnant with Jesus. As believers, we believe the conception was supernatural and that she was still a virgin when this happened. I know, it doesn’t make sense as we all understand that the pregnancy game requires two players, but that is why it requires faith to be a Christian. This is also why Joseph toyed with the idea of having Mary put away. He thought she had cheated on him until God told him otherwise.

So to answer the question more directly: She was legally married to Joseph, but they had not yet had sex.

Now I said there are three questions, but to be more accurate there are two but this one has two aspects that need to be addressed: Why are unwed mothers treated like pariahs?

First, we need to understand the importance of sex within the Christian culture. In the Bible, sex is one of the most vivid metaphors for our relationship with God. Think of it like a physical mirror of what is happening in the spiritual realm. In marriage, we forsake all others to be faithful to one who has committed to living a life that creates a future for the two of you to share together. The expressions of love through sexual intimacy transcend physical and momentary pleasure, and become a declaration of unity and devotion to each other that literally reshapes reality. No longer can sex be selfish or uncaring as true unity in intimacy requires compassion and concern for the totality of the other’s existence.

This should be the aspiration of all Christians in regard to God – that we are walking in love and devotion to every aspect of God we can even begin to comprehend so that intimacy deepens and becomes a life giving force for our world. No other human event encompasses this principle like sex within a committed marriage. For this reason, we place a high value on sex in the physical realm and place our sexuality and expressions of sexuality under the God’s authority which means no sex outside of marriage.

So that is the principle that so many Christians think they are defending when they look at unwed mothers as pariahs, and the first aspect that needed to be addressed in answering the question.

The second aspect is this:

Christians can be stupid.

Too many times we get so caught up in trying to defend God and the things we believe that we forget that God does not need our help. (Unless you happen to worshipping some god inferior to the one presented in the Bible, in which case, that god may very well need it, but let’s be honest about who or what you are really worshipping.) God calls us to compassion.

People make mistakes and they screw up (sometimes literally). People get into bad situations that are beyond their control, and people live in a world that our own Bible tells us is corrupted – so shit happens. And if there is an unwed mother in your church, you should be taking this as an opportunity to walk in the love and grace that has been given to you. Stop acting as if it is in short supply and you need to hoard it all to yourself.

Being a single mom is hard. I know, I have been there. And it isn’t up to anyone on this side of heaven to mete out proper chastisement for a woman’s life choices. God has that covered. And what if she there seeking him, seeking answers, and trying to build a better life for her and her child(ren)? Do you really want to be held accountable for standing in her way or the way of her children? Jesus has some pretty harsh things to say to people who cause “the least of these to stumble.” (Matthew 18:6).

And another thing, church ladies, you need to get over your insecurities and fears. Most women are not there trying to steal your man away, and if he can be stolen you have bigger problems than the woman you want to brand with a scarlet letter. And church men, you need to get something straight too. Just because a woman has obviously been sexually active with another man, it does not mean she hot and ready to put out for you. Believing that just reveals that you need to repent of your pride and lust.

The book of James tells us that true religion is taking care of the widow and orphan. When he wrote that an orphan was anyone without a father. That means that you, the CHURCH, should be stepping up and helping take care of those kids, and you cannot do that if you are cowering if fear or roaring in judgement against their mother. It is time you acknowledge and support her choice to do the right thing, to step up and raise her child in a time when babies are disposable, and being free from the consequences of this life is as easy as trip to a clinic or a call to DHS. You are not being wise or holy for condemning her, you are simply revealing how great your own fears are and how small you believe God to be. So exercise some real faith, demonstrate some real love, and practice that religion that you tell everyone you value so highly because the world has enough hypocrisy it doesn’t need your's.

"I Wish I Knew As Much About The Bible As You Do"

I have to admit that I am always flattered when people tell me that they wished they knew as much about the Bible as I do. After all, I am human, and I have an ego like everyone else. Not to mention, I worked hard to accumulate the bit of knowledge that I have collected along the way. It is nice to be recognized. However, once the initial rush wears off there is always a twinge of disappointment as I am forced to ask the question – why don’t more people know their Bible better?

Look, I know that not everyone is called to get an advanced degree in Biblical studies or languages, nor do I think it is necessary. Time, money, family obligations, and aptitude do not always allow us to pursue a formal education in this area, and it is certainly not a field that lends itself to the accumulation of wealth, at least not the monetary type. And although I teach in the Christian Ministries department of a local college, I would be the last person to encourage anyone to go to college unless they were entering a field that required academic credentials.

However, that is no reason why we should remain ignorant about our faith. Our generation has the greatest access to knowledge ever known to humanity, and it is all at our fingertips. Unfortunately, this massive influx of information often proves to be overwhelming instead of useful, leaving people wondering where to start, what to read, and who to trust. Instead of trying to filter through the noise most people give up and “leave it to the professionals” or “those of you with degrees” which leaves us with two problems: 1. Christians who are ignorant about the thing they claim to hold most precious, and 2. A very small pool of people to do the heavy lifting.

Not wanting to simply complain about a problem without offering some solutions, I thought I would make a few simple suggestions that everyone can enact to improve their education without stepping foot into classroom. Will these make you a Bible wiz? No, but they are a great place to start without any fear of drowning.

1. Buy a copy of an illustrated Bible for kids. The basic stories are there, and it has pictures! The language is simple and easy to comprehend. Knowing the foundational stories of our faith is the first key to unlocking the deeper truths in the Biblical texts.

2. Get a copy of the Bible that is reliable and is easy to read. I prefer the English Standard Version (ESV), but the NIV is also a good translation.

3. After you have read the kids version, look up that story in your Bible and see what the differences are. What did they leave out? Was there any major changes? Which details in the Bible stand out to you?

4. Start using a dictionary. If a word is new or puzzling, or even if you have the slightest doubt about its meaning, stop and look it up. Knowing the proper definition will help you understand the text more fully.

5. Make the right friends. Really, this is an important step. Find someone you can trust who has one of those fancy degrees and talk to us about what you are reading. Ask us the questions that arose in your study. Ask us for recommendations for further reading. Most of us love to share what we know and are thrilled when you do this! We want you learn more about the Bible and that is probably why we got a degree in the first place – to help others, so help us do our jobs.

6. Learn how to use a Bible commentary. For some people this seems like a huge obstacle, but it is actually quite simple. If you can find a verse in the Bible, you can look up information in a commentary. And you don’t have to buy a whole set of commentaries (which can get real expensive real quick). Just do what I did, if you are studying the Psalms just by a commentary over the Psalms. As your studies progress, your collection will grow.

7. Learn how to use a Strong’s Concordance. It is available online so you don’t even have to buy this one. The beauty of the Strong’s is that you can find all the places in the Bible where specific words are used and you can begin to see how the Bible is woven together in the most fascinating ways.

Take the word “thorn” for an example. If you look it up, you will find where thorns play an interesting part in the Sacrifice of Isaac, the Burning Bush, and the Crucifixion.

8. Don’t be afraid to ask questions of the Bible. It is when I ask questions that I am led to new and interesting discoveries about this book that affirm why I love to dig through its pages and why its author is worthy of praise.

To build on our example of thorns: Why is God including this detail in all these passages? Is this a deliberate link between these stories? How do the stories fit together? Do I understand one passage better after reading the others?

9. Practice, practice, practice. Studying the Bible, even just reading in general is a skill, and every skill becomes better when we practice. Just because it is difficult in the beginning does not mean that you are stupid or incapable of understanding, it just means you need more practice. God never decreed that we had to understand his word the very first time or even the tenth time we read it. He just told us that his word is a delight, and sometimes we have to work to discover how delightful it really is. And that is okay! Give yourself permission not to know it all, because no one does.

10. Make it a practice to look up any passages you hear from the pulpit, podcast, or television show. Read any verses cited and read the passage it was found in. Double check Bible teachers and make sure that we are giving you the whole story, not just the bits that might promote our agenda.

Many of my friends who are the most knowledgeable about the Bible are not people with seminary degrees.  They are simply people who wanted to know more, and who were willing to use the resources they had at hand to learn more about the Bible. There is no reason you cannot do the same thing, and anyone who tries to tell you that you aren’t smart enough to understand God’s word to you is lying and that includes that voice of self-doubt in your head. So don’t buy it, and if you get stuck, ask for some help. That’s what why I am here and that is what I do, and if I don’t know the answer, I will tell you but maybe we can look for them together.

Well, that’s a starting point. What suggestions do you have for learning more about the Bible? Leave them in the comments below!

Reader Question: A Look At the Devil

Question 1: Why is the devil portrayed as an ugly twisted red thing with fangs and horn when he is said to be the most beautiful angel of all Do you have any idea where the (relatively) modern version of him came from?

There is no straight path to the answer, and most of what we think we know is based on probable leaps of logic by those long dead. I think that unless further evidence is found, the best anyone can offer is conjecture. However, having acknowledged that, the conjecture is based on ideas and concepts accepted by most scholars to be historically accurate.

Let’s begin by looking at the role of goats in Judeo-Christian thought.

They have a rather mixed role within both religions. Goats were considered to be “clean” under Levitical law and therefore an accepted part of the Jewish diet and an acceptable sacrifice. It was a ram that Abraham found in the thorn bush when he was released from the command to sacrifice his son, Isaac. (Genesis 22).

Despite all these good things, we also find the goat present in the story of Jacob and Esau where the goat skins become a means of deception. (Genesis 25). Jesus declares there will be a time when the sheep will be separated from the goats in reference to judgement. (Matthew 25:32). But the most damning element is found in Leviticus 16:8-10, in a puzzling ritual sacrifice in which two goats are chosen for sacrifice and then the priests casts lots for which one shall be offered up on the altar and which one shall become a “scapegoat”. The scapegoat is released, symbolically carrying the sins of the people out into the desert to a demon or fallen angel known as Azazel.

The Bible offers no explanation as to who Azazel is, but his story is recorded in an extra-Biblical work called “The Book of Enoch” which tells us that “the whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin.” (1 Enoch 10:8) Many Biblical scholars believe that Satan, and Azazel are all the same entity as the description of each one is mirrored in the others. Additionally, Satan is not strictly a name, despite how it has been commonly used, and is more accurately a title meaning “accuser.” (This is where I will spare you the long theological debate about on how many satans there are and if or why they may or may not be different.) The point is Azazel predates any concept of Satan, and he has always been closely linked with the goat.

A key aspect of Azazel’s story, as told in the Book of Enoch, is that he was the leader of a group of angels known as the Watchers who came to earth and raped human women, giving birth to what were called the Nephilim. It was for this sin that Azazel and all the angels who followed him were condemned.

And we should also bear in mind that the Levitical law was given directly after the Exodus. In Egyptian culture the goat was also sacred – the point that it was not sacrificed. (Think Hindu cows.) In fact, Moses original request to Pharaoh was to release the people of Israel so that they might sacrifice to God in the desert away from the Egyptians who would be offended by the slaughter of their sacred animal.

In Egypt the Goat of Mendes was linked to fertility and some of the rites performed were even said to be sexual as recorded by Herodotus.  This goat god was later absorbed by the Greeks to become the god Pan. Pan would be known for his love of drinking, food, and women and would be worshipped by excessive consumption of all three just as Banebdjetet was.

Skip ahead a few millennium or so, and we have Christianity on the scene. A new religion with deep roots in Judaism and attempting to make a place for itself among the many religions practiced in the Roman Empire. Believing that all gods, apart from the Hebrew God, were demonic being masquerading as the truly Divine the imagery of the Greek/Roman gods was used to depict any spiritual entity in opposition or perceived competition with the Hebrew God.

Additionally, Pan’s mythology shared in several of aspects associated with Satan/Azazel. Pan was deceptive, a glutton, loved to drink, was a talented musician, and was basically the personification of lust. Combine that with the fact he was goat-man creature and that his image was everywhere, and you have the easiest target in the world. Particularly, if you are have two fold agenda:

1. Convince people that the pagan gods are abhorrent by equating them with pure evil. So the most popular god becomes Satan.

2. Strike fear into the hearts of your followers by portraying your enemy as something disgusting so that they will not be tempted to give into temptation. So Satan becomes ugly in the image of Pan.

Personally, I think as Christians we shot ourselves in the foot with this seemingly brilliant move. For while I do believe that there are demonic forces that masquerade as gods demanding to be worshipped, we have allowed the world to believe something that is counter to the teachings of Scripture. Satan is not ugly - the Bible teaches us this. He is beautiful and seductive in his beauty, but no one is on guard against beauty. We are all waiting for the man in red pajamas to scare us because we think we know that this has to be what evil looks like. We have based our ideas about God and Satan on movies, not Scripture. We have accepted superstition, folk lore, and Hollywood scripts as theology instead digging into our sacred text, and in doing so allowed offered up a lie to the world instead of the truth we were entrusted to share.

Speaking of red, I almost forgot. I could find no ancient sources that gave me any indication of color. So I will offer my speculation. Red has long been associated with passion, lust, and fire. Plus, it looks good on film and producers needed to dress up their characters in ways that immediately conveyed who and what this person was to embody. If I had to guess where the red came from, that would be it, but I am open to correction.

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"How Could Such An Intelligent Person Believe That?"

I am often asked why “such an intelligent person” would allow my life to be dictated by such an archaic book as the Bible. The implication being that to do so is a stupid choice or, worse, I am stupid for making that choice. Now, this the point in the conversation where most Christian do one of two things: they become offended and say some rather rude things about the questioner, or they start quoting Scripture at the questioner, appealing to the Bible’s declarations of authority.

The flaw with first approach should be self-evident, but in case you need a refresher, calling people names, casting aspersions on their intelligence or character, or more simply failing to be gracious is not in keeping with the dictates of Scripture. Furthermore, you have revealed your own hypocrisy and lack of faith by seeking the validation of another’s agreement. So just don’t, okay?

The second approach is also flawed, because it ignores the one basic fact that would lead to such a conversation in the first place – the Bible is not authoritative to anyone who does not believe in it.
Allow me to break this down for you: If you do not accept that Bible is a holy and inspired work, you have no reason to accept any of its claims, including the right to be seen as holy and inspired.

However, there is a third option. It is a much harder and demanding option, but it places the demands of Scripture above our own flawed thinking. This is three step approach, and it cannot be something that you do in the heat of an argument. Waiting until someone challenges you on the authority of Scripture to apply this method is too late, and it will not work.

First step: Live like you believe that Bible really is the divine decrees of God. I am not going to try and make a list of what this should look like. To do so would require far more time and space than I suspect you allowed for reading this blog, but it brings us to the…

Second step: Study your Bible, and I mean really study your Bible. I am not talking about doing a daily devotional. Devotionals all fine and dandy, but most of them were designed to make you feel good about your faith. They were created to be soothing to your ragged nerves and fragile egos, but real Bible study confronts and challenges us. It is does not allow us to pass over the unnerving bits of Scripture and forces us to ask ourselves, what do we truly believe? Are we comfortable with the God who demanded that Abraham place his son on that altar? How about the God who killed the first born of Egypt or demanded the deaths of entire nations, right down to the last child? What about a God who condemns his own son to a bloody death?

Real Bible study will not let us get by with only focusing on the happy verses. And happy verses alone do not demand maturity or growth, they let us remain spiritual babies who can only live like we believe the Bible is true in the good times. By finding God in those troubling verses of the Bible, we learn how to find him in the troubling places of our lives, those places where the world needs to see him the most.

Third step: Share the awe.

There is something amazing that happens when you dig into the word and find God’s fingerprints upon the pages. A sense of awe rises up and leaves you in wonder of the revelation and artistry of this book. It is a feeling that does not have to be conjured up or whipped into a fanatical frenzy, it simply is and it settles upon your heart in waves and currents of love, joy, peace, happiness, and all the other fruits of the spirit that we are to exhibit in our lives. It inspires us to share what we have learned not through adversarial tactics but in true awe-struck veneration of a God who transforms us into a reflection of his Son.

In that place of awe, there is no need to be offended, no compulsion to be rude, and the futility of arguing is revealed. Instead, we can face our critics with love, with compassion, and with a pure desire not to be right but rather with the hope that they can experience a similar moment with their Creator. For in the end, it is not about winning an argument, and it is not about being smarter. No, it is about finding him to be bigger than our doubts and objections, unafraid of intellectual wranglings and justifications, and discovering a God greater than ourselves – a discovery that we can coerce or force upon another.

So instead, we offer them a peek at the inspiration we found in the pages of his Word. For beneath the ink and paper, beyond the rules, is the reason for our obedience – the God who wishes to be known and the love that our souls crave more deeply than any other love we once held sacred.

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"But They Are All Dead!" - Laments of Deferred Hope

“But they are all dead!” I wailed as yet another friend pointed me to Hebrews 11 in an attempt to encourage me during a season of great frustration of singleness.

“Of course, they are all dead they lived during Bible times.” She said looking rather befuddled.

“No, I mean they all died before anything God promised them happened – even Moses died right before he got to step foot in the Promise Land.” I whined. “You know what that’s like? That’s like sitting in the parking lot while your friends spend the day in Disney World. Way to go, God, what an awesome way to treat your chosen hero. Guess that’s as good as it gets when you are serving God.”

It was at this point my friend decided to abandon any attempts at consoling and backed away slowly. She later confessed that she was pretty certain that it was going to lightening the next time I opened my mouth, and she didn’t have any intentions of being anywhere near the strike zone. (I hear that quite frequently believe it or not.)

Now for those of you who have lived a beautifully blessed life, I am sure that my laments sound a little melodramatic and bordering on blasphemous, but follow me on this one. You really need to understand, maybe not for yourself, but at some point in your life you are going to have a friend who feels this way. And if you have ever felt like this towards God, we have group meetings at my house on the second Tuesday of the fifth week next month.

Nothing hurts more than waiting on a dream. Solomon even said so, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but the fulfillment of a desire is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12). I prefer Stephen King’s paraphrase from the Shawshank Redemption, “Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man (or woman) insane.”

The only thing worse than hope is hope that is rooted in a God given desire. Whether it is the dream of marriage, a thriving ministry, publishing that next book, or having a home to call your own, all of it hurts when it seems like it is happening for everyone but you. And it isn’t just the not having that kills you, it is the way you begin to feel like everyone else is looking at you, that subtle shift in how they treat you, and the unspoken accusation of why aren’t you good enough to receive God’s blessings.

So you work the steps. You go over your life with a fine tooth comb and you begin looking for some sin that would explain why God is withholding his love. You pray, you fast, you confess even the most minor infractions, and you cry in frustrated pain and in anger. You volunteer more at church, you start tithing 11% instead of 10, and you begin wondering if you should sponsor a child in Africa to show just how good you really are. And every morning you wake up expecting a miracle, you decree God’s provision and blessing over your life while you brush teeth, and all you have to show for it are toothpaste splatters on the mirror.

That is when the bitterness creeps in. It starts out as disillusionment and frustration, but you know deep down in your heart that anger is starting to take over. Oh, you fight it down, push it away, and do your best to deny that you are capable of such an unholy emotion, but you are beginning to feel like ticking time bomb. Soon all your prayers are boiled down to one word, “Why?”

“Why, God, why me?”

Now this is the part where I am supposed to offer you some holy answer and sacred words of wisdom. They will magically appear on your screen after you close your eyes, chant the Lord’s Prayer, and commit to sending me ten bucks.

Didn’t work? Yeah, I will have to work on that. Really, what did you expect?

The truth is I don’t know. I don’t think anyone knows why some prayers get answered and others don’t. I can’t understand why God has allowed so many charlatans to achieve levels of great success and experience such blessing and leaves the rest of us out in the cold. I don’t know why he healed your friend who uses drugs and let my dad die, or why didn’t give my ex a holy zap and save our marriage when I prayed for that while warded off his blows. None it makes sense to me, and if I told you I did I would be lying.

But here is what I do know: God is sovereign, and that means he gets to call all the shots, even the ones I don’t understand. God loves me and he loves you, even when we don’t deserve it. Love will do what is best for us, even when it means disappointment and hurt. Hurt and disappointment does not mean our story is over. It just might mean that we have to be willing to let him write a new one, one we never imagined being the story of our lives.

No one in Hebrews 11 saw the fulfillment of the promise that God gave to them. They all died long before it happened, but they had enough faith to believe that in pursuing the promise they were exactly where God called them to be. They pressed onward even when it all seemed pointless, believing that God was faithful, and even though they didn’t see it happen their kids, their grandkids, and everyone who came after did.

You see, they changed the world by chasing the dreams God had given them and doing so transcended their finite existence. They ceased to be individuals and became a part of the fabric of history. Each of them is remembered not for what they received, but for what they gave – to you, to me, and to everyone who dares to receive the promise of salvation to this day.

And isn’t that what we were called to? To give it all away, including our lives, so that the world might witness his glory and not our own? Sometimes the only thing we have to lay on that altar is our hopes the ones he gave to us. Maybe he will provide a ram caught in the thorns of life, or maybe he will resurrect in a new and unexpected way. I don’t know, but I do know that he is the God of redemption and that includes disappointed hopes and dreams.