beauty for ashes

Wake up and smell the orchids!

It is so easy to get discouraged at the prevalence and strength of untruth and evil in our world. It takes my mind away from the real power and almighty omnipresence of God - who is more than able to overcome, and whose will and purpose will be accomplished on earth. He has given us his word. And, when we need reminding, all we need do is look around at the beauty of his creation, like this bloom erupting out of my jungle garden. When you bend down to admire her, you can also inhale the perfume.

A Beautiful Promise

"The song of the ruthless is stilled.
On this mountain the Lord Almighty
will prepare a feast of rich food
for all peoples,
a banquet of aged wine -
the best of meats and the finest of wines.
On this mountain he will destroy
the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
the sheet that covers all nations;
he will swallow up death forever.
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away
the tears from all faces." Isaiah 25:5c-8a

And, all those aborted babies and people murdered in secret will be revealed as,

"The earth will disclose the blood shed
upon her;
she will conceal her slain no longer." Isaiah 26:21b

Some day everyone will know the truth, whether or not they accept, agree with, or fall in line with it.

"for the earth will be full of the knowledge
of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:9b

I very recently did a post I called The Book of Miracles, discussing a current tendency to question, rather than really teach the Word of God. This can't be emphasized enough.
All those irreverent, so-called "Christian" teachers and professors at our "Christian" colleges and universities, who confuse and mislead their students will be judged more severely. They don't seem to comprehend the serious responsibility they have, and are in danger of the millstone hanging. Our God is as able to preserve and protect the whole of his Word to us, down through the years, as he is to communicate it to us in the first place. But, if you have difficulty believing in the power of God to create this universe as he said he did, without some millions of years' worth of trial and error, then you are worshiping a false and weak god, who would leave it to mankind to compile a "canon" of scripture; that by religious power-plays and politics, we ended up with what we call the Bible. This link is an example of the sort of teaching going on, in case you don't believe me.

Praise God, his Word is usually able to get me out of a funk, and all creation is a constant reminder to us of his beauty, power and majesty - good to remember with Thanksgiving coming up soon.

What's wrong with this picture?

What's missing is substance and sustainability. Also missing in much of Christian education. You might ask what the optimum method might be for teaching Christian core values and passing on the truth of God's Word to students. At one time in America (harking back to our Independence Day) and at present in some countries, it would be taught. Facts, information to be learned, understood and processed, hopefully into lives and action. Instead, we're getting a ton of current theories, speculative "ear-tickling", and melt-in-your-mouth emergent drivel.

On an intriguing blog I happened upon today, Baglady, this quote from her father's story of life as a new immigrant to America, highlighted for me the problem with most "Christian" colleges and Universities.

"Here in America, the professors often put students in small groups so that they can debate amongst themselves and students are encouraged to have different opinions. Additionally, on the written exams students do not necessarily have to agree with a professor’s opinion in essay questions. As long as you have a great idea and great supporting points you could still score quite well."

All very well for many subjects, however I believe Biblical Studies, mathematics, and some of the sciences should be excluded from this method. They have something in common: that understanding and applying is the important thing, not questioning. Though this is almost heresy in some circles. What good does it do to question and disagree that 5x5=25? Not a lot. And the same should be said of God's Word.

Of course, much has been learned in the sciences by questioning and testing the various theories and coming up with new ones, and testing those. I'm not talking theories here. And, I don't mean questioning in the sense that Nicodemus asked Jesus, "How can this be?" He didn't understand and was asking the Teacher to explain, with a heart to learn.

We, some of us, presume to question as Satan did, "Did God really say...?" and then to disagree with what he does say - "You will not surely die...", beginning, as the Tempter did, in Genesis, along with the majority of scientists in our time. Did God really create in six days? No, of course not. However, not being reproducible and involving the supernatural, it should be considered outside the field of science anyway. We can look at the fossils and say, as does Ken Ham, "millions of dead things, laid down in rock layers all over the earth." Yes, the flood explains that. Or, DNA research says we all came from one woman. Yes, Genesis says so, it must be true. DNA research changes, scientific study evolves and changes from year to year. Scripture does not change "a jot or tittle", the least stroke of a pen.

Interestingly, a few verses later, Jesus continues: "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." And, we know that their "righteousness" included questioning (in a wrong sense) and re-interpreting and layering on their own opinions, endlessly - a large set of oral teachings by the elders - a religious elite. Later, they broke with their own scriptures and allowed them, the Mishnah, to be written down, cementing in place the already sad corruption of Jesus' day. And, they still prefer their own "traditions" to the Word of God.

My point being, the same thing is done today by theologians and professors in our "Christian" seminaries, colleges and Universities, with few exceptions. Genesis is only the beginning of it, and I'm sure Satan is well pleased with them. His method of operation has not changed - question and pick apart Scripture. Students come out passing along misinformation, doubting their faith, or deserting it altogether. Not strengthened properly to do battle in our culture. And, it is a culture war.