You have 1 missed call - from God - please respond ASAP!

God is trying to get in touch with you. This is a friendly reminder to answer the call!

How do I know that God is “calling” you? God tells us so in the Bible (and certainly this has been many people’s experience who have come out of something else into Christianity). Even though my telephone analogy is obviously a new way of conceptualizing the biblical “call,” the idea that God is “calling” you is found in scripture.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20)

A call to relationship with God

God’s call is first and foremost a call to relationship! Whatever previous image you had in your mind about God, perhaps as a distant authority figure who demands money and worship and correct adherence to rituals, I want you to put that all away and see what the Bible reveals of God’s character. The true and living God who created you and me is personal and relational.

God is calling you because he wants to have a relationship with you. The Bible uses a number of relationship metaphors to help us understand our interactions with God. For example, the Bible describes God as relating to us similar to a parent who adopts a child (Romans 8:15), a close friend (John 15:15), and a loving spouse (Ephesians 5:25).   

Indeed, in a sense you could say the whole purpose of life is relationship – with God and with our fellow people. Jesus explained that the first great commandment is to love God, and the second is to love our neighbours as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). God’s law is simply a revealed blueprint for perfect relationships with God and with each other (think of the 10 commandments each falling into one of these two categories), and sin is simply the violation of those laws (1 John 3:4) and thus a disruption of relationships.

If you look at the Bible as a grand narrative from creation to the defeat of evil, you can see God’s desire for relationship with you! It was there in the Garden of Eden when God walked and talked with his creation – that is, before we disobeyed God and hid from his presence (Genesis 3:8). It was there throughout the chronicles of ancient Israel when God led his people out of bondage and through a number of trials. It was there when God dwelt among us as a man in the form of Jesus Christ (John 1:14). And it is there in Revelation’s depiction of the eternities when God restores his kingdom and dwells among us in the heavenly city:

“And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” (Revelation 21:3)

A call of grace

You do not have to be perfect to enter into a relationship with God. You don’t even have to be good. In fact, God knows that you and I are rebellious, filthy, and broken. And he loves us anyway. As I’ve said before, Christianity is not about joining a holy club where everyone can dress nice, behave properly, and look down their noses at everyone else. People who think that are missing the whole point of the Christian message: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

Jesus said, “They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mark 2:17)

The amazing news is that God is calling you regardless of what you’ve done. In fact, he called you before he even created you. As the Bible says, God “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began…” (2 Timothy 1:9)

Don’t ever think that one day you’ll clean yourself up, turn yourself around, and maybe be good enough for God. Just stop it. You don’t ever have to be good enough for God! God is good enough for you. No self-righteousness required, only the righteousness of God (Romans 10:3-4).

A call to come out of darkness into light

You may not think of yourself as living in darkness. Saul of Tarsus certainly thought he had his life all together – he was a religious man, perfect at keeping the law, born into a decent social standing. But when he came to know Jesus he said that was all DUNG (Philippians 3:3-9). Religion! Rule-keeping! Social status! Appearing like you’ve got it all together! All of it is worthless.

It didn’t matter what he looked like to the outside world. He was still a sinner. He still had a filthy heart. After he finally heard God’s call and became a Christian, Saul of Tarsus (now going by Paul) testified that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1 Timothy 1:15) Incidentally, you can read of Paul’s amazing conversion story in the Book of Acts, chapter 9 (if you don’t have a Bible, use a free online one like biblegateway.com).

And so, regardless of your social status, religion, ability to keep rules, or how good you look to everyone around you, I want to suggest that you may be just like Saul of Tarsus, myself, and every other sinner who has fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). And like all of us before encountering the transforming light of Jesus Christ, you may be in darkness.

The good news is that God is calling you out of that darkness (1 Peter 2:9), whatever it may be. You don’t have to fix what’s broken about you (you can’t, only God can) – all you need to do is surrender it to God. Drop your old idols on the ground right now and walk away. Renounce your old sins, addictions, secret rituals, and even your church if it keeps you from a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. God has so much more planned for you.

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18)

“And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her [spiritual Babylon], my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4)

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light… And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.” (Ephesians 5:8-13)

Conclusion: Answer the call

God’s call for you will be individual and personal, suited to your particular situation. But the basic pattern is the same, and is emphasized throughout the Bible. Answering God’s call is not like picking up a badge and putting it on your Boy Scout sash next to all your worldly accomplishments – it’s like picking up a cross, dying to your old self, and following Jesus Christ. This is hardly a flashy commercial for a Boxing Week sale – but it is better than that. It is Jesus’ offer of life eternal.

“He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” (John 12:25)

“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

“Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” (Ephesians 5:14)

“That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:21)

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

God bless you!

Upon this Rock...

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?”

This is a question that everyone must answer for themselves. Who do you say that Jesus is?

At first the disciples tried to dodge the question by simply stating what other people thought. Some say you’re this, some say you’re that. Then Jesus asked them more directly, Who do YOU say that I am?

Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus responded in the affirmative, saying that flesh and blood had not revealed it to him, but God did. Then Jesus said something else: “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (for entire passage, see Matthew 16:13-20)

Upon what rock? Peter? Revelation?

A common interpretation of this verse is that Jesus was referring to Peter as the rock upon which he would build his church. Roman Catholics have used the verse to justify their tradition that Peter was the first pope, and the claim that their church alone bears apostolic authority.

I grew up with the LDS interpretation that the rock was revelation. We explained this interpretation by focusing on the preceding verse (v. 17) which says “flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” Since we believed we were a church founded on direct revelation from God, we felt that the verse supported the sole authority of the LDS church.

As I have come to know Jesus through his word, the Bible, I believe that both of these interpretations are dangerously wrong. Of course, both Peter and revelation have their merits. But they are not the “rock” Jesus spoke of. Peter was an early Jesus-follower whose faithfulness to God provides important examples for believers today. Revelation is one of the spiritual gifts that God gives to his children (Ephesians 1:17), and without it I would not be a Christian today (read about my conversion story here: http://eph1-17.blogspot.ca/2013/05/a-journey-to-jesus-part-two.html). But again, neither of these things are the rock.

If not Peter and if not revelation, what “rock” is Jesus talking about?

The only Rock for me: Jesus

The Bible makes it clear, Jesus is the one and only Rock.

“And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.” (1 Corinthians 10:4)

“He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he.” (Deuteronomy 32:4)

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalm 18:2)

“Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be greatly moved.” (Psalm 62:1-2)

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 3:11)

The only rock worth building a church on is Jesus. Indeed, the only rock worth building your life on is Jesus! Not men. Not a nice organization. Not even spiritual experiences. These all may look like lovely beach-front property right now, but be warned! They are shifting sand!

Jesus said that whoever hears him and follows his teachings is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock. Whoever relies on anything else is like a foolish man who builds his house on shifting sand. When the rains come down and floods come up, the house on the sand will fall. The house on the Rock will remain standing. (Matthew 7:24-27)

Revelation is only good if it points you to the Rock

Revelation is a wonderful gift from God. Yes, even modern-day revelation. But what does your revelation tell you about Jesus? I wrote about this concept in my last blog post (http://eph1-17.blogspot.ca/2014/07/have-you-had-spiritual-experiences.html), but it bears repeating. If your church claims to have modern-day revelation, but it is confused about Jesus (maybe it teaches that he is not God or he is one of many gods)… Get out of there! You’re on shifting sand, and that house is going to fall! You have to place your faith securely on solid ground, on the one and only Rock, Jesus Christ.

I’m not talking about joining a different church. Jesus’ church is not a single 501c-3 corporation with official membership cards. It’s the body of Christ, the body of believers. And Jesus built his church on his own teachings, centred upon himself. You can be part of THAT church, that true church which Jesus spoke of, by building your life on the Rock. I’m talking about going to God directly. Going right to the Rock and trusting in him alone. That’s how you become part of the true church. I’ve addressed this subject in other blog posts: http://eph1-17.blogspot.ca/2014/01/do-you-trust-jesus-or-church.html, and http://eph1-17.blogspot.ca/2013/08/adopted-by-god.html.

Peter knew that Jesus was the true Rock

When Peter was preaching, he never once pointed to himself and asked people to submit to his authority as some kind of pope figure who could absolve sins or something like that. Rather, like all true followers of Jesus, he pointed people to Jesus! Take for example the following passage in Acts in which Peter is preaching:

“[Jesus] is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:10-12)

Time for some new spiritual real estate?

Have you been building a spiritual house on something besides Jesus? Perhaps you have used all the finest materials. Perhaps you made sure to have a beautiful view of the lake, and you’ve done some nice gardening and landscaping. Doesn’t matter. If you didn’t build on Jesus Christ, you will be in trouble when the floods come. Don’t hold on to that house, no matter how beautiful it is, no matter how much time and energy you have put into it, no matter how well it has served you in the past. If it is not built on Jesus, it will fall. Don’t be in the wrong house when the floods come, my friends.

As always, put your faith in Jesus Christ alone. There is no other foundation and no other name under heaven whereby we may be saved. Read your Bible and see what it says about Jesus! Start with the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 1. Please feel free to ask me if you have any questions, but most importantly, ask God to give you eyes to see and ears to hear. God bless you.

Have you had Spiritual Experiences?

Do you believe that you have had a spiritual experience? A dream that was more than a dream? A vision, a prophecy, a revelation?

I think you may be right. I want to offer a Christian perspective on some of these things. Even if your spiritual experience was not a “Christian” one, I hope you can appreciate what I have to say.

First, the Bible is full of amazing spiritual experiences. Not only that, but promises that WE can and will have spiritual experiences as well.

“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy… And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Acts 2:17-21)

What is the purpose of these spiritual experiences? Here’s my perspective. See that last part of the passage? “And it shall come to pass, that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved”?

Do not miss that. All of these dreams and visions and prophecies are not just to be a song and dance number, or to make you feel special, or to give you an interesting story to tell people around the campfire. They are meant to point you in a particular direction – to Jesus Christ.

Give me a sign! …Now follow the sign…

Imagine that you are lost in a desert. Every direction you look all you can see is sand, and it all looks the same. You desperately need a sign or you will soon die of dehydration. You wander around in a single direction, and then you see a sign that says “TURN AROUND, NEAREST WATER 2 KILOMETRES THE OTHER WAY.” Finally, the sign you’ve been looking for!

Three different responses:

1) Stay with the sign. You get so excited that you finally got a sign. You dance, you sing, you shout. You kiss the sign! What a wonderful sign! You are so happy that you finally got a sign that you sit there and just hug the sign. And you die of thirst.

2) Ignore or misread the meaning of the sign. You are so glad to see the sign, thinking it probably means that there are people nearby. And you keep walking past the sign in the same direction you were going. And you go deeper into the desert. And you die of thirst.

3) Obey the sign. You are delighted about the sign, and you resolve not to keep going the wrong direction. You turn around and go where the sign told you to go. You get water. You get help. You live.

This is a silly analogy but I hope it illustrates what I am trying to say. Some people could experience amazing visions or dreams from God, and not do anything with it. They just have a nice story to tell or it helps them feel good. They just stay with the sign in the desert and never actually go to the water. They will die of thirst in the desert, despite the amazing sign right in front of them.

Others ignore the spiritual experience or misread it. They keep going in the direction they are going. They too will die of thirst because they will not heed the sign’s instructions.  

Jesus taught a similar concept: “they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” (John 5:39-40) Jesus was referring specifically to people reading scriptures which testify of him, but I think it’s appropriate to consider what other things point to Jesus and apply the same principle. If you read the Bible (which points to Jesus) and you don’t come to Jesus, you are lost. If you have a spiritual experience (which points to Jesus) and you don’t come to Jesus, you are lost!

Jesus used the metaphor of water in reference to himself. “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” (John 4:14)

Are all spiritual experiences from God?

No. The Bible is very clear that some spiritual experiences are deceptive. The Bible speaks of “lying wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9-10; see also Matthew 24:24) and warns that even Satan can appear in the form of an angel and evil people can appear as ministers of righteousness (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

How can we know if a spiritual experience is good or bad?

“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” (Isaiah 8:19-20)

“But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8)

Think about the message of your spiritual experience. Does it contradict the Bible? Does it contradict “this word” that Isaiah spoke about? Does it contradict the gospel “which we have preached unto you” that Paul spoke about? Then do not listen to it!

For example, if you had a dream that said Jesus was just a man, notice that the Bible says he is God (John 8:58) and disregard the dream. If you had a vision which said that Jesus is just one way of many ways to God, notice that the Bible says Jesus is the only way (John 14:6) and disregard the vision. If you had a good feeling that someone alive today is a prophet, but they teach something contrary to the Bible, disregard that good feeling. (My Mormon friends and family, for more on this topic with specific reference to Mormonism, please see a past blog post: http://eph1-17.blogspot.ca/2013/06/the-bible-and-mormons.html)

Let the Bible be your standard for assessing the validity of your spiritual experiences. As you know, I believe I’ve had (and continue to have) spiritual experiences. If any of them ever contradicted the Bible, I would have no choice but to rebuke them in the name of Jesus and cling to God’s truth. In fact, the main reason I was convinced my dreams were more than dreams is because they pointed to and were verified by the Bible.

Why won’t God give me a sign?

Maybe you haven’t had a spiritual experience. Jesus has something to say to you as well. He told a parable about a man who passed away and wanted his brothers to know the truth about God before they died. He met Abraham in the afterlife and begged him to send a spirit to warn them. Here was how Jesus concluded that cautionary story…

“Then he [the man who passed away] said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:

For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.

And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” (Luke 16:27-31)

You have Moses and the prophets. You have the first century apostles. You have the words of Jesus Christ himself. If you haven’t bothered to listen to God with all of that sitting in front of you, why would a spiritual experience change your mind?

I believe that God will give you the proof you require. Sometimes that means a spiritual experience. Sometimes it means just opening your eyes and looking at what’s right in front of your face.

Come to Jesus, my friends. Feel free to ask if you have any questions. God bless you!

The Meaning of Faith

As an ex-atheist, I am guilty of perpetuating the false dichotomy of “reason” and faith. The popular culture of the last decade has provided ample ammunition for the rationalists’ (non-)holy war, which presents a distorted image of religious adherents as dangerous fanatics or deluded bigots. The “four horsemen” of the New Atheist movement have led the charge in describing the faithful in terms usually applied to the mentally ill or dangerous criminals: Daniel Dennett, for example, offered an analogy of an ant behaving erratically because it was afflicted by a parasite. A famous newspaper ad depicted the still-standing twin towers in New York with the caption “Imagine No Religion.” Richard Dawkins implicated even the most benign of believers with his assertion that religious extremists learned their destructive mental habits of “faith” at the hands of religious moderates. The implication is that there are two starkly different ways of thinking: rational or religious. And the religious is uniformly bad because it could just as easily take down a building as compose a worship song.

I will argue that this is an unfortunate caricature of faith. As a born again Jesus follower today, I affirm the value of the right kind of faith. To be a true follower of Jesus you must have faith, yes! But don’t misunderstand what that means. Saying you must have faith is not the same as saying you must close your eyes and cover your ears and shout “la la la, I’m not listening, I can’t hear you” until inconvenient facts go away. The kind of faith that Jesus advocates is not the kind that will make you a blindly obedient automaton. Rather, biblical faith requires careful assessment of information, a willingness to reprove error where it is found, and finally, a relational trust in Jesus.

It’s that trust part that gets people, and for good reason. There are a lot of wackos out there who can deceive you, so you want to be careful where you put your trust! Jesus understood this reality, and regularly warned people to “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” (Matthew 7:15). The Bible offers warnings repeatedly such as, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1).

It is tempting to say that you will simply trust no one but yourself. Maybe a proven system of fail-safes like the scientific method will be your ultimate and only standard for knowing truth. But you can’t put God in a Petri dish, my friends. Actually, if we had to rely on our five senses and upon science for every bit of information, we would have a difficult time functioning as human beings. How do you know your significant other loves you? Do you have a checklist whereby you can objectively verify their love? Cards on all the right holidays and hugs of just the right duration? Will an EEG reading pinpoint what moves you about a work of literature or of music? Maybe you could chart the exact firing of electrons and then, instead of listening to your favourite song, you could just evoke the same emotions by stimulating the right series of nerves? Can a man in a lab coat do tests to determine objectively what is right and wrong, as atheist Sam Harris comes close to suggesting?

This is all a bit tongue-in-cheek, but it is to make a point. Your epistemology for knowing your spouse loves you is based upon a relational trust. The meanings which we derive from our experiences are far more subjective than “rationality” allows, and yet, they are what make us human. That subjective criterion of relational trust is the basis of the Christian life, and indeed, the singular requirement for salvation. In short, God wants a relationship with you. He doesn’t want you to be just some servant who blindly takes orders, but he wants to call you friend AND make known to you the things of God! (John 15:15). He wants you to get to know him and trust him – not some other false God, not some religious system, and not some man who claims to speak for God today. Trust only God, who as Jesus Christ presented himself to humanity and died on the cross to atone for your sins. He will give you eternal life. (1 John 5:9-13)

Forget whatever caricature of Christian faith that Dawkins or false religious teachers have spoonfed to you. Instead, look at what Jesus said and did as recorded in the gospels themselves. He gives a reasonable basis for that relational trust to rest upon. Take for example “doubting” Thomas, who would not believe Jesus was resurrected until he felt the nail prints in his hands and feet. Jesus gave him that proof, after which his skepticism was satisfied and he cried out “My Lord, and my God!” (John 20:24-28).

Jesus never rebuked Thomas’s skepticism. It is perfectly reasonable to doubt amazing things before you can have some basis upon which to accept them. Just don’t let your skepticism be the hands over your ears as you shout “la la la, I can’t hear you,” lest you miss the reasonable proof God is trying to show you.