Archives For christian philosophy

When God is Not Fair

Unfair. That’s how it feels.

Remember that childhood Christmas when your sister opened the gift you wanted? Or when your brother got a T-bird for graduation and you got stuck with the family Nova?

Not fair.

800px Tears When God is Not Fair

(Photo by Rob from Sydney, Australia (CC-BY-2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Fast forward to today and ask yourself how it hits you when:

  • A coworker gets a raise but you do more work—or perhaps, his work?
  • A neighbor decorates her home from an unrestricted budget and you’re gluing the peeling wallpaper back on the wall?
  • Your job reduces your salary because of the economy, but another business gives raises and bonuses?

We find ourselves kids again pouting around the Christmas tree.

There’s a reason Scripture has to command us not to covet. It’s in our nature. It’s systemic. If we can’t have more than others, at least we want it equal.

But less than others? Uh, no. That’s not fair.

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The Secret to Untying Your 6-Ton Elephant

A man in an Arizona circus used to train animals for the movies. Somebody asked him: “Hey, how do you tie down that 6-ton elephant with the same sized stake you use for a baby elephant?”

“That’s easy,” the trainer answered.

Asian Elephant and Baby The Secret to Untying Your 6 Ton Elephant

Photo by SuperJew (CC-BY-SA-3.0), via Wikimedia Commons.

“When they’re babies, we stake them down. They pull and tug thousands of times until they figure out they can’t jerk loose. At that point, the elephant’s great memory kicks in, and they remember for the rest of their lives they can’t pull away. So they quit trying.”

I’ve discovered that you and I think a lot like elephants.

Especially when it comes to sin.

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Why Your Life of Faith Has Gaps

The Bible doesn’t tell us everything.

Not even close. That’s because there are huge gaps between most events.

vivozoom 74818566 w Why Your Life of Faith Has Gaps

Photo: The Zin Valley in the Aravah of Israel. Picture by Noam Armonn, via Vivozoom

Oh, to be sure, the Bible tells us all we need to know. But it leaves out most of the details that scratch our curious itches.

  • What did Jesus look like?
  • Was Nehemiah bowlegged?
  • Did Martha have a sidesplitting laugh?
  • Was David more handsome than Brad Pitt?

We’ll never know. And this offers a huge encouragement in our life of faith.

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Staring Death in the Faith

Sometimes you hear crazy stuff at funerals.

I heard of one set of parents who tragically lost a child, and the minister told them not to weep—but to rejoice in faith. After all, their son was in heaven. It sounds so right—so spiritual.

But it was only half right. Therefore, half wrong.

800px 2012 04 Kietlice 17 Staring Death in the Faith

Photo: by Ralf Lotys (Sicherlich) CC-BY-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The Bible reveals that when someone dies, the most natural and right thing to do—even in a life of great faith—is to weep. After Abraham’s wife died, we read:

“Abraham went in to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.” (Genesis 23:2).

Even Jesus wept at the results of physical death (John 11:35). So, that makes it okay for us too.

Why is weeping right, even if our loved one is in a “better place”?

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The Problem of Evil and a God of Love

We live in a world where it seems God turns a deaf ear to pain and evil.

Children hunger, immorality runs rampant, injustice occurs in the courts, and our loved ones die of cancer.

All under the nose of an all-powerful God of love.

noevil The Problem of Evil and a God of Love

It feels as if He were a God of love and justice and power, He would and could remove all evil. As it is, evil remains. So do our feelings of confusion.

In a forgotten corner of the Hebrew Scriptures we catch a glimpse of this seeming contradiction with the problem of evil as well as its resolution.

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Hurling the Sin We’ve Swallowed

I went to a movie with a friend, and he gorged on popcorn, cokes, and candy. As the movie was about to end, he leaned over and whispered: “I don’t feel good. I’ll wait for you in the back.”

As I walked out, I saw him holding his stomach and twisting his face. “You want me to drive?” I offered.

“No, no, I’ll be okay,” he said.

On the way home, he slammed on the brakes, opened his door, and hurled in the street.

“You sure you don’t want me to drive?” I asked again.

toilet Hurling the Sin We’ve Swallowed

Photo: Design Pics, via Vivozoom

“No, no,” he said, breathing heavy. “I—I feel better now.”

We drove another hundred yards, and he slammed the brakes on again! (The seat belt began to hurt my shoulder.)

Later he told me after he got home he spent some time in the bathroom. I can imagine that point in his ordeal—as he leaned over the commode and begin to experience the candy and popcorn for the second time—that he asked himself: Why in the world did I ever eat this?! Talk about regret!

I can think of no better illustration of sin and temptation in our lives than this true story.

In fact, that’s what happened to a man named Lot.

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What Comes First in Our Relationship with God?

If Jesus told us He had a criticism for us, we’d pull out our checklist and start down it.

  • “Should I go on a mission trip, Lord?”
  • “Should I pray more?”
  • “Maybe memorize the book of Romans?”

“You just name it, Lord, and I’ll do it!”

The most important part What Comes First in Our Relationship with God?

Photo: By Almonroth, via Wikimedia Commons

I have discovered that slips in our relationship with God never start with the big things. They begin with the basics.

We would never consider waffling in our morality or our theology.

And yet, how often we betray a more basic element.

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Are Your Big Dreams as Big as Your God?

Life gets fueled on dreams. Without big dreams or a purpose, we wither and die.

As Christians, we have more to do than get up, work hard, and come home for a few hours of television . . . only to rise and begin again.

vivozoom 15034344 Are Your Big Dreams as Big as Your God?

Photo: Kuzma, via Vivozoom

If that’s all we do, we will wake up at age 65 and realize life has amounted to a stack of paychecks and a few laughs.

God wants more for us than that.

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How to Approach God According to God

Ask five people on the street, “How can I find my way to God?” and you’ll likely get five different answers.

They may not even believe in God. Or your God.

Connecting with God How to Approach God According to God

Photo: Design Pics, via Vivozoom

As I’ve thought about this question, I think it requires we ask another question first.

This one question boils down the issue like nothing else can.

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Eden and Gethsemane—Two Gardens and Two Choices

Two gardens, Eden and Gethsemane, provided the settings for two choices that brought opposite results.

The Bible wildly contrasts these choices.

Garden of Gethsemane olive Eden and Gethsemane—Two Gardens and Two Choices

(Photo: The Garden of Gethsemane. Notice the city walls in the distance. Courtesy of the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands)

In the Garden of Eden, Adam’s choice to commit sin had the potential of bringing condemnation to everyone. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ’s decision to die for sins provided potential justification to everyone (Romans 5:18).

Adam never would have eaten the fruit had he known the consequences to himself and to his race. But he couldn’t see the results.

All he had was God’s Word and its warning. That’s all we have as well.

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