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God is not Down With the Sickness

A view in the Church today is that God sends sickness to test us throughout our daily walk with Christ. Is this really how a Father would act with His children? To answer this question, we must look at what God’s own Word says about His relationship with His children and sickness. Let’s explore some of these passages.

Psalm 103:2-3: 

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases…

1 Peter 2:24: 

Who his own self [Christ] bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

3 John 1:2: 

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.

Psalm 42:11: 

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.

As we see in His Word, God wants us to be healthy and has already healed us through his Son’s sacrifice and resurrection. This notion that God sends disease upon us to test us is an absurd notion because the Bible is also clear on who sends us disease and death. This is, of course, the devil. 

John 10:10: 

The thief [the devil] cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. 

Hebrews 2:14: 

Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he [Christ] also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil…

1 Peter 5:8-9: 

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

All of this is but a taste of what the Word has to offer on the subject, but it is definitely enough to get the point of how God is referred to as a Healer and the devil as a destroyer. As we further expand on the record in 1 Peter 5, we see the dichotomy perfectly laid out to us between God and the devil. 

1 Peter 5:8-11: 

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

We see that the afflictions which are accomplished in our brethren are a continuation of the description of the devil as we are to resist him knowing that, “Yes, we might suffer his afflictions which he uses to inflict upon the world.” However, it is God Almighty who is there to lift us up in our sufferings. It is He Who perfects us and establishes us. In Psalm 69:29 it says, “But I am poor and sorrowful: let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high.” God sets us high above the Earth and the present trouble as it says in Psalm 46:1. It is God Who strengthens us as it says in Isaiah 40:31, “But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” And it is God who settles us. 

Does the God Who makes us perfect, strengthens, establishes, and settles us sound like the God who would give us sickness just to test us? Certainly not! Some might point out the passage in 1 Peter 1:6-7 which mentions trials of the faith as proof that God sends calamity to test our resolve. This simply is not the case.

1 Peter 1:6-7: 

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. 

So, yes the Word does mention that our faith will go through trials or you could say “tested.” Though, God is not the one who is causing the trials. Reading in the context from verse 6, we see that the trials come from “manifold temptations” which only come from the devil and not from God.

James 1:13-15:

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.

Thus, the “manifold temptations” cannot come from God because God does not tempt man. A key word exists in this passage which will lead us to who exactly is responsible for the temptations and that is the word: death. As we learned in Hebrews 2:14, the devil has the power of death meaning that he must be the one who brings forth temptations. This fact is corroborated by Matthew 4:3 which refers to the devil as “the tempter.”  The dichotomy between the goodness of God and the evilness of the devil is further expounded in 1 Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 10:13: 

There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

God is so great that He will provide us with the means to escape anything we are going through or any temptation which might rear its ugly head. One last question must be asked concerning the passage in 1 Corinthians 10. So if we are to believe that God sends sickness to test us then what happens to those who have died or are incapacitated? Did those who die, fail the test God was administering? How much testing is enough for God to finally say, “Okay, I got what I needed?” Or, how far is God willing to take it with the sickness? Those question cannot be answered by the Word because that belief is not Biblical. It is clearly the devil who causes us to be sick and destroys us, but it is God who delivers.  

Eve vs. Jesus Christ: A Study In Temptation

This post was originally posted at the Christian Apologetics Alliance: Go There!

Temptation, all humans experience it and most can’t resist it. This is especially true as we walk the Christian path. Everyday it seems we are lambasted with enticing words and images to make us deviate from the road God has placed us on and onto the street toward sin. Though, the situation may seem dire, as I have said before in another article, God always has a contingency plan. His Word is full of examples to help us along the way and the fight against temptation offers us many passages to cling to. One passage in particular is the record of the serpent’s deception of Eve, the first woman, in the Garden of Eden. The record begins in Genesis 3 verse 1:

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

Sadly, history seems to be repeating itself over and over because, believe it or not, this deception is carried out successfully by the devil still today. Thus, this passage holds an inerrant truth even for modern readers. Let’s take a look at why this passage is important even for the most sold out Christian.

The first mistake Eve makes is the fact that she actually starts holding a conversation with the devil. Do you think Eve knows full well she shouldn’t be talking to the serpent? Definitely. She let’s curiosity get the best of her. Well, we see strike one on the way to a sure strike out. The second mistake is committed when the devil asks her, ““Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” She responds with, “God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” This quote is in stark contrast to God’s command; so, let’s take a look at what He actually said. In Genesis 2:16-17, God commands, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

A large discrepancy exists between what God commanded and what Eve said He told her to do. God never mentioned anything about touching the fruit and He also said Adam and his wife would surely die. Eve changed the phrasing of the latter command to the much weaker lest. Random House dictionary says the word lest is “used negatively to introduce a clause expressive of an action or occurrence requiring caution.” Thus, we can see a great divide between the words surely (it will definitely happen) and lest (careful that it might happen).

Eve’s alteration and addition to the Word of God invites the devil to make the next statement, ““You will not surely die.” Whoa! This statements is a total 180 degrees from what God had originally said. As you can see, the devil does not come out and contradict God at the outset of the conversation, he lets Eve do the dirty work for him. Thus, his temptation is complete and Eve ends up sinning and convinces Adam to do the same which leads to the fall of man.

The example provided by Eve in this passage shows us a breakdown of temptation and how not to act when confronted by the devil’s devices. We see Eve make a number of mistakes along the way. The first is that she actually gives place to the devil by engaging him in a conversation. This is the opposite of what is outlined in 1 Peter 5:8-9, which says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith…” Remember one thing, the adversary has been at this since the beginning while we have relative inexperience with just a few years under our belts. I think the best thing to do is to resist him and the best way to do that is to have knowledge of what the Word of God actually says and to keep our heads in His Word. Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

The conversation Eve has with the devil snowballs into Eve’s second and third mistakes involving addition and subtraction from the Word of God. This can be dangerous because once we end up changing the Word, we cannot stand on the Word’s power and might. Hebrews 4;12, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Instead, we stand only on ourselves. I don’t know about you, but I am not comfortable standing on my own word when it comes to spiritual matters.

Eve’s temptation seems to be a guide on how not to deal with the devil’s devices; however, another one of God’s contingency plans includes a great example of how to act when temptation comes our way. Of this Example, it is written in Hebrews 4:15, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”  Jesus’ triumph against temptation is found in Matthew 4:3-11:

Now when the tempter [the devil] came to Him [Jesus Christ], he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’ and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’” Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

As you can see in this passage from Matthew, Jesus Christ acts completely opposite of what Eve has shown us. He does not engage the devil in conversation, but only quotes directly from scripture. We’ve heard the term What Would Jesus Do? Well, in this case we should follow the example laid out to us by Jesus Christ and resist temptations by using the Word of God as our weapon.

You're Doing The Waltz With Your Murderer

Well, I just saw Elysium a few days ago and I must say that it is one of the dumbest movies I have ever seen. This is not to say that there weren’t any good scenes. Any scene with Sharlto Copley was enjoyable and the fight scene choreography was good.  Though, what ruined the movie was its heavy handed, beat you over the head stupid political message dealing with social justice. The moral I got out of the story was, “Americans bad, illegal immigrants good.” Since Neill Blomkamp is not American, I don’t know if he was exactly going for that, but all you have to do is replace “Americans” with any first world Western culture and “illegal immigrants” with any disenfranchised population and you get the same dumb message. “Why did you even go when the politics of the movie were quite clear beforehand?” You might ask. Well, I didn’t pay for the movie, my friend did, and I was expecting much more from the director of District 9 which was a brilliant allegory of Apartheid in South Africa. 

My overall goal of this article is not to provide a review of Elysium (for an interesting review, check out io9), but to point out something that came to mind after watching it. Why do we constantly pay to watch movies and games that hate us, our way of life, and our point of view? This is a question which I find is one of the most puzzling for any Christian or Conservative. Another example recently reminiscent of the politics of Elysium is the game, Bioshock: Infinite. While, admittedly, I have never played the game (I believe the Bioshock series, in general, is overrated) which is considered one of the best of all time, its disdain for Christianity and the Tea Party is well documented. However, I have read many Christians critics who have either not addressed this at all or simply rationalize the content as “just entertainment.” 

This argument for “just entertainment” rears its ugly head all the time. We are treated to images almost daily which mock God and Jesus Christ to no end and to take offense is to show oneself as a prude who can’t take a joke. A sad fact is that Christians themselves do a lot of the criticizing of other Christians. This is ridiculous because not only does it go against what God said in Galatians 6:7, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap,” it is not the same for the other side. Movies with even hinted at Christian or conservative themes are destroyed by critics and leftists without the same kind of guilt-tripping.   

I am not one to call for boycotts or what not but what I do want Christians and Conservatives to realize is that maybe our money should go elsewhere when dealing with flat out anti-Christian and anti-Right Wing entertainment. Why do these men and women who despise us anyway deserve our support? I am reminded by two different lines in Norma Jean’s masterpiece, Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste, incidentally one of my favorite songs of all time.  The lines are, “You’re doing the Waltz with your murderer,” and “Mediocrity is the killer.” Settling for hateful rhetoric at our own expense in entertainment is settling for the mediocrity (the status anti-Christian quo) with which these movies and games will keep coming out because of profitability.

Some of My Thoughts About "Man of Steel"

Man of Steel seems to be the Tim Tebow of superhero movies as critics either seem to love the movie or hate it with a passion. Even a number of my favorite online critics think it is a travesty of a film and have urged people not to see it. I would like to count myself in the love it category. This movie, in my opinion, is the Superman movie I have been waiting for. This all goes back to the fact that I am a big fan of all of the DC animated movies that have been released straight to Blu-ray and DVD. What I love about these films are their epic natures. The battle between Darkseid, Superman, and Supergirl at the end of Superman/Batman: Apocalypse or Green Lantern’s solar radiation blocking construct at the end of Justice League: Doom are epic highlights that are rarely seen in the live action portrayals of superheroes. Why bring this up? Man of Steel is epic to a ridiculous degree. 

One thing is for sure, Zack Snyder, David Goyer, and Christopher Nolan know superheroes. The battles at the end of this film between Superman and the Kryptonians under General Zod seem like they are lifted right from the pages of the comics. Trains go flying, city blocks get destroyed, satellites are hurled to the Earth, and jets plummet to the ground. What’s amazing through all of this is that you definitely get a sense of the human toll of it all. There is one scene in particular that really hits him home about the perils of the regular person trapped in one of these epic brawls. This is something I think really puts the movie above The Avengers in that while it seems like a similar amount of damage is being done to New York City, you never get a sense of dread for the people below. This realization of civilian casualties is also very prevalent in The Dark Knight trilogy as well.

A criticism pertaining to these battles is that they don’t stay true to the comics in that Superman would have located the fight to a more secluded area to prevent further loss of human life. Well, apparently they haven’t read too many comics as probably seventy five percent of time, Superman battles in the middle of Metropolis or another population center. Thus, I think the criticism is unfounded. Plus, with the exception of Batman, who is more about outwitting and out thinking his opponents, superhero comics as a whole are about superhuman free-for-alls. Only three times have I ever felt that a live action movie caught the feel of comic book battles. The first time was in Spiderman 2 in the fight between Doctor Octopus and Spiderman. The second time was in The Avengers during the battle in New York City and the third time was in this movie.

   

Another criticism I have heard is that the pacing is off with numerous flashbacks to Superman’s childhood. To knock down this criticism, let me mention my favorite theatrical Batman movie, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. In the geek world, this film is almost universally loved as one of the greatest Batman stories ever put to film. What a lot of people probably don’t realize about the movie is that it is an origin story as much as it is a detective story. Both Man of Steel and Batman: Mask of the Phantasm use the same exact flashback type device with similar pacing to tell each character’s origin. Why it works for the latter movie in many critics’ eyes but not in the former, I just couldn’t tell you. 

One thing I’ve noticed about both fanboys and critics is that they like to hype up certain genre movies to the point that no matter what product is shown, it could never live up to that built-up hype. This is why movies like Iron Man 2 (which was not bad) are so universally panned because if a movie doesn’t live up to its hype, it is the worst film ever. The sad thing is that these same people never learn and build up that hype over and over. Only two genre movies have ever lived up to this hype and those two movies are The Dark Knight and The Avengers.

 

While in my opinion Man of Steel was much better than its hype, I think critics are too attached to Christopher Reeves’ version of the character to give this movie a fair shot. I’ll be honest with you. I have never really cared for his portrayal of Superman. Well, his Superman wasn’t bad, but I just loathe his version of Clark Kent. To me, Reeves’ Clark Kent is so overcompensatingly bumbling that I think it would be very obvious that he is Superman. I much prefer Superman: The Animated Series’ and Lois and Clark’s portrayals of Clark Kent which are much better as you can believe that he actually is an investigative journalist. The jury is still out on Henry Cavill’s Kent as we didn’t see much of him, but hopefully it’s truer to my favorite versions.

Do Any Atheists Live In A Moral Vacuum?

Originally published at the Christian Apologetics Alliance.

Can an atheist really be good without God? This seems to be an age old question and something organizations like the Illini Secular Student Alliance (ISSA) would have you believe with billboards and advertisements to boot. Well, what does God think? Does God agree with this sentiment that someone can be good while not believing in Him? Psalm 53:1 says, “The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.” Well, that was very direct from God’s Word. I guess that settles the debate. For the sake of argument, though, let’s dig a little deeper into this question of secular morality. There’s no question atheists are capable of practicing good actions. We all know non-believers who give to charity, work at homeless shelters, and care for hurt animals and people. So how can this be if God’s Word says, “There is none that doeth good?”


You can consider this article somewhat of a sequel to a previous one I wrote: When Christian Reform Met Classical Theory. In that article, I explore some of the foundations of Western Culture. There is no question that different parts of the world have different cultures and cultural norms. Many of the prominent atheistic campaigns out today originate from culturally Western nations. Thus, to attain a better understanding of the influence of these campaigns, we should take a look at the framework of Western Culture itself. Western Culture has seen many changes from Roman culture and philosophy (heavily influenced by the Greeks) to Catholicism to the Renaissance and Reformation, to the Age of Enlightenment, and so on. All of these and more time periods, events, and movements have shaped how we, in the West, feel and think today. Berry, Poortinga, Segall, and Dasen (2002) state, “Human beings acquire patterns of behavior through experiences that are characteristic of the context of which they live.” Thus, we must find the context in which these atheists and their campaigns live.

As you can see with the different time periods which have contributed to the foundation of Western Culture, Christianity can be found to be a central factor. Alvin Schmidt (2001) posits in his book, How Christianity Changed the World, much of Western Culture bears a striking resemblance to Christ’s influence and teachings. Just look at one of the foundational moral codes of Western Culture, the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Do you know where the Golden Rule originated from? It comes from Matthew 7:12, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” What about giving to charity as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have done which has been highlighted by the current Secular Samaritan campaign? Luke 18:22, “Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.” 1 Corinthians 13:3, “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

Whether they like it or not, these atheists, including Gates and Buffett, live in a Western society which is greatly influenced by Christian principles. Instead of being good without God they are good because of God. The question of the day shouldn’t be, “Can an atheist be good without God?” Rather, the question should be, “Do any of these atheist live in a moral vacuum?”

Berry, John W., Poortinga, Ype H., Segall, Marshall H., & Dasen, Pierre R. (2002). Cross-Cultural Psychology: Research and Applications (2nd Edition). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Schmidt, Alvin J. (2001). How Christianity Changed the World. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

My Top 10 Science Fiction and Fantasy Characters: #1

1. Hal Jordan (Green Lantern)

Rewind to about 6 years ago and this number would have probably been a totally different character. Back then, I was not much of a DC comics fan and the Justice League was not my super team of choice. No, I was a huge Spider-Man fan even going so far as enjoying the unfolding of the Clone Saga and reading the heck out of Maximum Carnage, Marvel Knights, New Avengers, and Civil War. All the good will granted from these story lines was not to last for in 2007, the abomination (I am not talking about the Hulk’s villain) that is One More Day hit comic book store shelves. To say this ruined the character of Peter Parker is an understatement. 

For those not initiated, One More Day is a story set after Marvel’s Civil War (I could explain the story, but it is just shorter linking to the Wikipedia page) where Aunt May is shot because Peter Parker revealed his secret identity to the world. All the universe’s most powerful heroes and villains cannot save her; so, enter in Mephisto, Marvel Comics’ embodiment of the devil. Peter, in turn, makes a deal with Mephisto (the devil) to save Aunt May’s life which breaks up Mary Jane and Peter Parker’s marriage. My heroes don’t make deals with the devil, period. Thus, I was no longer a Spider-Man fan similar to thousands of other fans who had felt betrayed after all those years of engrossing oneself in the character. I actually didn’t read comics for a while after that which changed after picking up a copy of Green Lantern: Rebirth written by Geoff Johns.

It is sad to know that Johns’ run on the character is over because reading from Rebirth through the new 52 First Lantern storyline has been a pleasure. I guess it’s time for a little more back story. In the mid-nineties, DC Comics decided that Hal Jordan was not modern or popular enough; so, they initiated Emerald Twilight which turned Hal Jordan into the supervillain Parallax and introduced a new Green Lantern, Kyle Rayner. I was never a big fan of Rayner and it seemed comic book fans in general shared my sentiment as the book began to lag in sales and a plan was enacted to bring back Hal Jordan as the Green Lantern proper. The job fell to Johns which culminated in one of the greatest retcons in comic book history and from that point, I just couldn’t stop reading Green Lantern comics. He quickly became my favorite comic book superhero and I converted from Marvel to DC. 

What endures me to the character is that his fight of fear versus will is very close to a Christian’s walk. Fear is our enemy just like it is the main enemy of the Green Lantern Corps. The actual requirement to becoming a Green Lantern is that one must be able to overcome fear. This is also why Batman has not always been a huge fan of Jordan because Hal is not afraid of him. Another thing I like about Green Lantern is that his powers are very unique in that he can make any construct he thinks of with the ring in addition to the standard powers of flight, super strength, and invulnerability. Also, Hal Jordan is a very relatable character for me as he is a guy who likes to “wing it” in many respects. He is most likely a procrastinator and he can be overconfident with the occasional witty line but he won’t stray too far from the right path. Well, unless a cyborg superman and extraterrestrial terrorist come along and destroy his hometown and every in it, that is. 

Best portrayal: War of the Green Lanterns; The Sinestro Corps War 

Favorite moment(s): Hal Jordan straight up kills the evil renegade Guardian, Krona, in epic fashion. The Guardians become scared of this because of their future plans of replacing the Green Lantern Corps and they exile Jordan.

In Rebirth, as Kyler Rayner is having his butt handed to him by Sinestro, Jordan is rejuvenated into his old body from his time as the Spectre and he promptly makes short work of his long-time foe. 

Jordan uses the power of the indigo tribe to trick the ring Sinestro made for him into no longer obeying the commands of Sinestro.