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Articles from this month's issue of the Berean News |
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Viewpoint Anyone who loves God's creation knows there are many benefits of preserving, caring, and restoring our natural wilderness areas. Outdoor enthusiasts wax eloquently on our duty, as humans, citizens - and yes, as Christians, to preserve wilderness areas throughout the earth. God seems to believe that his wilderness areas are important for us too. He used the wilderness so often in the shaping, molding, and development of many Biblical characters. Abraham obeyed God and traveled throughout the region of Canaan. He always stuck to the undeveloped areas. Joseph was raised in Canaan, in the same areas as his great-grandfather. Joseph also suffered a different kind of wilderness as he seemed forgotten in an Egyptian jail. Moses spent 40 years as a goat herder in the wilderness. This was his leadership training from God, despite the world giving him their best leadership training possible his first 40 years of life in Egypt. Moses also spent 40 days on the wild Mt. Sinai getting God's Law. Joshua spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness with Moses and the rest of the nation before becoming the conquering leader in the promised land. King David spent years hiding himself and followers in the wilderness. Elijah spent years in the wilderness being fed by ravens. Then, after his greatest victory, he fled to the wilderness in depression, dejection and despair -and heard God there! Peter spent three days in a wilderness of the soul, from his betrayal to his restoration on the beach. John was imprisoned on a desolate island - and received the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Even Jesus built his three and one-half year ministry on 40 days of intense wilderness experiences which included equally intense spiritual battles. What are some lessons that can be drawn from these experiences? First, in the wilderness you simplify. What most of us call needs are really only wants. The wilderness teaches us to strip away anything that is not necessary. Shelter is our first need. Without warmth we die quickly. Without the warmth of God's love we spiritually wither. After that need water is most needed. Without the "water of the Word" we can't progress or grow spiritually. Food is actually only needed within a couple of weeks in a survival situation. Sadly, many of us never look for real "meat." We settle for junk food and prepackaged service. Look at how simply most of the people above lived! You could imagine some of them chuckling over the many things we think we need in our lives. Like Elijah, wilderness experiences might teach us to hear the "still, small voice" of God. Or perhaps we will learn, like he did, how to accept God's provisions, no matter how strange they may seem. Israel had to learn this too with God's provision of manna. Our lives can be such a frantic pace, and contain so much noise that we don't hear God. We can become so worried about things Jesus said we should not worry about, that we don't see God's provision in our lives. We can miss the manna, or we might try to hoard it. When the ravens come, do we shoo them away? The wilderness can sometimes let us see more clearly. Living simple lives, focused around the needs and protection of the Tabernacle, all of Israel could clearly see God's direction, day and night, in the appearance of the cloud by day and pillar of fire by night. In the wilderness of life we learn how to avoid distractions. Are we able to see God's pillar in our life? Are we able to see the Tabernacle? Do we move with it, or do we build camp and refuse to move from the spots we like? Wilderness gives us perspective. When standing on a mountain, it becomes crystal clear how insignificant we are. The awesome loneliness of wilderness can be very liberating. It is easier to see a bigger picture. It is easier to see how life connects, and our part to play. We can learn to accept whatever role the LORD may be giving us at the time. Time takes on a different perspective in the wilderness. We can learn to be less frantic, even adopt Jesus' pace of never being in a hurry over anything. We can retune our clocks. Instead of the artificial timekeepers that make us slaves, we can rediscover the rhythms that God built into his living creatures. We can even learn, in the slow simplicity and quiet, what God's goals for us are - instead of being constantly rushed and drowned by our own. What looks like, to the world, the stripping away of power and ability, in God's wilderness experiences becomes our passport to true power and usefulness in his Kingdom. The wilderness teaches that God's power in us will not be found in earthly possessions or positions. In Mt. 8.-20 Jesus states, "Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but 1, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head." Most finding themselves in this state would be worried, but not our Lord. He knew the secrets of the wilderness. We must focus on hearing and obeying God's commands. Jesus said, "I assure you, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the son also does." (Jn- 5:19) When we focus on the true basics, we have the time and energy to attend to the LORD. While being focused on our Father, instead of all that life is trying to overwhelm us with, we can see and hear him. Then, we can be like Jesus, and finally know "what Jesus would do." Jesus' constant retreating to the wilderness seems to have helped him keep his sight and hearing tuned to his Father. We must also be willing to walk away from obvious sources of power. "Jesus saw that they were ready to take him by force and make him king, so he went higher into the hills alone." (Jn. 6:15) By becoming comfortable with ourselves and our Lord, we discover we don't need the things the world offers. Wilderness helps us get over our fears of quiet solitude, inactivity, and lack of control. Look at Jesus' rejection of the offers Satan gave him in the wilderness. All the great things of life, rightfully Jesus' to have, easily dismissed because it was not from God. Going to the wilderness is humbling. Nobody notices us there. We have to learn to be unconcerned with our not being noticed - and just as unconcerned when we are. Jesus told those following him, "The truth is, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you saw the miraculous sign." (Jn. 6:25) He knew what really motivated his "followers." Moses' life shows the importance of learning this lesson as well. Moses became the incredible man of God he was because he could walk away from the best the world had to offer. The wilderness taught him what is truly important and powerful in life. Many of us go through wilderness experiences in our lives, some literal, some not. What's important is what we receive from the LORD through the experience. Do we follow the Master's pattern, getting our daily bread from the Father, or do we let these experiences sink us into self-pity? Follow Jesus' way: "The next morning Jesus awoke long before daybreak and went out alone into the wilderness to pray." (Mk. 1:35) Discover the power of wilderness. --Mike Knapp |
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Perspective Do you consider yourself a tolerant person? Do you think that tolerance is a Christian virtue? Does the Bible teach us to be tolerant? And if so, of what? As Americans most of us are committed to the idea that all citizens of this country should have equitable and just access to the rights and freedoms guaranteed by our constitutional democracy. We certainly are grateful for these rights and want to see them preserved and continue. And we realize that for us to enjoy these freedoms, we must extend them to others &emdash; even those with whom we may disagree. Most of us, whether theologically and behaviorally conservative or liberal, would affirm the values of tolerance, inclusiveness, diversity, and pluralism. These values are so accepted and inherent in our democracy that we almost reflexively transfer them to our Christianity. Herein lies the problem. We should not assume that basic American values are necessarily Christian values. According to James R. Edwards, professor of religion at Whitworth College in Spokane, Washington, in seventeenth-century Puritan America,. church norms were imposed on society at large. This often violated civil rights by narrow theological concerns. Today the reverse is happening. Civil norms, as defined by pluralism, inclusiveness, and tolerance without regard to merit, are being imposed on the church. This threatens to jeopardize the message and mission of Christianity in this country. The author Dorothy Sayers once argued for a hard and solid Christianity over a soft Christianity. She said we should never substitute soft and vague concepts of Christian sentiment for theological content. In our desire to be tolerant and inclusive, have we become less than zealous for the truth of the gospel? Do we now neglect the purity of faith? Have we become indifferent to personal holiness? Pluralism, diversity, and inclusiveness are not in themselves Christian values. Whether tolerance is good or bad depends upon the context. Certainly as a Christian I am to be accepting of others. I am to be loving and kind. But I am to be accepting of people as individuals, not necessarily of their behaviors or all their positions on issues. I cannot afford to be tolerant of sin any more than I can afford not to love the sinner. The values of our society, even seemingly good ones like tolerance and inclusiveness, should not determine or mold the values of our churches. We Christians should never assume or conform to the values of our society. We are first and foremost citizens of heaven, not of this earth. Human standards accepted as our Christian standards? That is something we should never tolerate. &emdash;Larry Urbaniak |
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A Daughter's Heart
It has been an excellent year for tomatoes in the Midwest. Although I do not have a garden, I have witnessed the bumper crop firsthand through the generosity of gardening family, friends and neighbors. I like tomatoes and they contain many excellent nutritional benefits. My husband, on the other hand, is not a big fan of the fruit. Although he is a pizza connoisseur and enjoys pasta in its sauce, he always promptly removes the intact tomato from his sandwich. Because I do not like to see something that is so good for us go to waste, I have attempted to disguise tomatoes in various dishes. Yet I am always amazed at Kent's ability to find the tomatoes in anything I make. Although he never says anything, the tomatoes are always piled neatly in one corner of his plate when he is finished. I have realized in myself and in others the tendency to use this "tomato in disguise" approach when sharing the message of Christ with others. People need Christ and to have Him in their life would be good for them. However, some people are not ready or are just not interested. In order to make a person realize that Christ is for them, it is easy to try to present Him in a light that they might find appealing. What I forget is that God does not need me to disguise or "dress up" the message of Christ. It is a privilege for me to be able to work in His plan for another person. Tomatoes in any form will still be tomatoes. And Christ, no matter how we present Him will remain the same (Hebrews 13:8). He loves the one that we are sharing with more than we ever could and He has a plan for their salvation. Remember to pray for the Spirit to direct you as you share the Gospel, and then trust. Trust that God can use your words and make His plan palatable. --Alanea Urbaniak |
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Other Items by Alice Gmiterek Ryden This is how it all started, we call it creation God spoke his words and it was done So God made the sun to light the day Great creatures he made for you and me So the book of beginnings is called Genesis For in the image of God he created man A garden he planted with fruit to eat And a tree in the midst of the garden he formed But Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden A paradise garden well-tended with care Bringing sin and sadness to all humanity Now they must leave the garden and go Then, Cain and Abel, a tragic scene 'Twas the first murder, out in the field Then Noah, a man who built a boat Two of every kind to be kept alive It rained for or forty days and nights After the flood , a rainbow in the sky Then God called Abraham to leave his land Abraham became the father of a nation God now promises Abraham a son The birth of Isaac was Abraham's joy God saw that Abraham's faith was real Then Jacob, Isaac's son gets what Esau should inherit Jacob flees for his life and runs away Marries Leah and Rachel and has twelve sons Joseph, his son, was sold into slavery Joseph saves many from famine in the land So now comes the end of the story of Genesis |
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Roy's Reflections I'm sure you've felt it! The hair on the back of your neck stands up and your whole body tingles with fear. Your heart pumps so hard that it feels like it's about to explode out of your chest. Your palms sweat and your mind races for options, as it tries to help you find a way to safety. I'm talking about that eerie feeling we get when we enter a dark room and have that intuition that we are not alone. Or we're leaving an unfamiliar place, it is dark, and we get an overwhelming suspicion that someone is following us. Or we may be in the middle of a crowd, but get that creepy sensation that someone is closely watching us. We have the assurance as believers, that God is always with us. (Hebrews 13:5: Psalm 139) But our adversary is also around trying to entice us into one of his traps or surveying our weaknesses waiting for a more opportune moment to pounce. That's why I find God's words to Cain so compelling. Cain was jealous of his brother Abel. God accepted Abel's sacrifice and not Cain's. Cain's jealousy fermented into a murderous rage. God reminded Cain that evil was close by, waiting to claim him. God's words are chilling: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door: it desires to have you, but you must master it." (Genesis 4:7) In the New Testament, Peter uses the image of a lion on the prowl, looking to devour us as his latest prey. (1 Peter 5:8) Sin, evil, and wickedness are lying in wait just at our doorstep longing to have us. But the evil one can't have us if we choose God's way. We not only can master evil, we must master it! Today many people either deny Satan and the power of his demonic realm, or they find demons under every rock, behind every shadow, and in every company logo. This denial and extremism have become the excuse for many believers to lower their guard, to not take the presence of Satan in our world seriously, or to fear they are powerless to do anything about his influence in their lives. Let's remember that Satan and his use of evil are real. His desire is to have us and destroy us. His power and influence are crouching at our door. But if we follow God's way, we will be protected and empowered by God himself through His Holy Spirit, and by His Son Jesus. We can master evil. Jesus has already defeated it at the Cross. But we must take the offensive against evil: it's right there on our doorstep, lying in wait to have us. But like Cain, if we ignore the warning, the results will be disastrous for us and those around us! Jesus came to destroy the work of the evil one (Hebrews 2:14, Colossians 2:15) and he calls on us to resist Satan and submit ourselves to the work and will of God. (I Peter 5:9; James 4:7-8) As we think of our crucified Lord and the humiliation he bore at Calvary, let's resolve to live triumphantly for the Lord and not the defeated predator lying in wait outside our door! He cannot have what belongs to the Father and cannot master anyone whose life is joined to Jesus! Roy R. Boswell |
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