Posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005                                                 by Ben H

The Question of Suffering

I entered the room to the sound of my mother’s fervent prayers and looked down at my little brother lying on the bed. His eyes were closed and his face was contorted in a grimace. I saw his lips moving and I knew he was praying though he was moaning with anguish. My heart sank to see my little brother in such pain. I grabbed his hand, and I felt him tighten his grip. He knew it was his big brother. God, I thought, why does such a sweet little kid have to suffer like this?  

There it is, the philosophical question of the millennia: Why must good people suffer if God is all-good, and all-powerful? Epicurus, the ancient philosopher, looked at this question and jumped to the conclusion that there is no God. This is a very bold statement considering that Epicurus has based the existence of God on what is not fair to his human reason. But still the question remains to this day. Why Katrina and Wilma? Why earthquakes? Why 9/11? Why was that innocent girl raped? Why did that boy get murdered so young? 

Almost immediately I remembered a scripture in John where the disciples asked Jesus in reference to a blind man whether he had sinned or his parents. Underneath their question was the premise that all suffering was a punishment for our own sin.

John 9:3 - Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

I felt God assuring me that he was using this sickness to draw my brother to himself. Sure enough, God healed my brother not too long after. But what about all the people that do not have it so easy?  

The very next day, my university was having chapel. A visiting pastor got up and opened his Bible to Psalms 73. Asaph is questioning why the righteous suffer and the wicked seem to prosper. After pouring out his frustration and pain to God, he says in verse 17, “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end.” The key word here is end. Asaph realizes that the end of the wicked is eternal pain and agony. The problem with us is that, like Epicurus, we approach God with our human reasoning instead of eternal glasses. God has not promised us answers, but he has promised that all things work together for our good. Our tough job is to trust that He knows what is better for us and that our temporary affliction is working for us an “eternal weight of glory.” (2 Cor. 4:17)

The preacher concluded with what I thought was a profound illustration. Think about a high school orchestra trying to play Beethoven’s 5^th Symphony. While one may hear thru the squeaks and squawks some idea of what the original composer intended, one can hardly grasp the beauty and majesty of the musical masterpiece. However, when one goes to see the Philadelphia Philharmonic Orchestra, the grandeur that a musical genius intended is made quite clear, makes sense, is complete. So it is with life. We may never know what that the composer truly intended until we get up there and see the story in its fullness. Until then…trust.

I realize that I cannot do this question justice in so short a time, but I’d love discuss it further. Please post your questions / concerns on the Message Board. God Bless.         

   Posted on Wednesday, October 5, 2005                                                        by Ben H

The Three Thrones

I was deeply changed by a sermon I heard on the Three Thrones.  The preacher spoke first about the great white throne (Rev. 20:11) where God will open the books. How many books we do not know but one is the Book of Life. All those not found there are cast into the lake of fire. I pray that all who read this never come before the great white throne judgement; it is not for the believer. There is another throne which the believer will pass before: the judgment seat of Christ.

At the judgment seat of Christ we will receive just reward for what we have done here on earth, good or bad. Everything we have done for God, no matter how little or insignificant it may seem, will be rewarded on that day. Many will have little reward because though they were saved, they lived selfish lives here on earth. Their light will shine dimly in eternity.

The last throne is one that we have available to us now. Jesus made this possible when he paid the ultimate penalty for our sin.

“Seeing that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast to our profession. For we have not a 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. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” [Heb. 4:14-16] 

This is probably one of my favorite passages, because it is a 24/7 open invitation to receive mercy  when I do wrong and grace when I need help to not do it again. The preacher defined Grace as receiving what I don’t deserve, and Mercy as not receiving what I do deserve. Isn’t that beautiful! I deserve death and hell fire, but I receive pardon. I don’t deserve the goodness of God, the power of God, the anointing, etc. to fight sin, but it is always available to me. I don’t even have to come like a child who is embarrassed to ask for too much. I come boldly, knowing I have need, and knowing that only one person can understand and meet that need.

This throne is probably the most tragic. Why? Because it was available to all, and many, including many Christians, neglect it. Dear reader, believer or non-believer, I beseech you; do not waste more time. Come as you are to the throne grace. Whatever your problem is, the answer is here. Whatever your battle is, here is you victory. Come boldly; your passage was paid for in blood.  

   Posted on Wednesday, June 29, 2005                                                            by Ben H

Hard Times

Sometimes the road to heaven can seem very, very narrow. Sometimes it can seem lonely. Sometimes its so
foggy you  can't see in front of you. Sometimes there's fire all around you and feel like your lungs will explode with all the smoke. Oh yes, the road to heaven is not always rosy.

The truth is Jesus never said it would be. In fact he said that we would suffer all things for His name.  He said to follow Him we must take up our cross on a daily basis. The cross means suffering. It means we are not going to be having a blast all the time.  Sure being a Christian can be very exciting, but as I heard Fred Hammond say, "Sometimes being a Christian just don't fell good." Paul would agree:  2 Timothy 3:12--Yes, all those who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

Here Paul guarantees hard times if we are serious followers of Jesus. There are times when you think God doesn't love you, because you've messed up or simply because you have not felt Him in a while. Oh, if I could only tell you how many times I've been there. At times I feel like God will not answer when I call Him.  Those are the foggy times. Sometimes it is so bad that you have get on your knees and crawl.

But that is the key. Just keep crawling. Even if  you cannot see where your going. Keep crawling. Even if it feels like your going nowhere. Keep crawling.  The fog too shall pass, my brother and sister. My Dad always told me, "Sometimes God leaves us in the battle, to see what we are going to do."

2 Thessalonians 1:4 --so that we ourselves boast of you among the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that you endure.

Faith and patience win the race.  Press on soldier.  You're not alone.

   Posted on Wednesday, March 30, 2005                                                         by Ben H

Christians and Profanity

Recently I had a long heated discussion with some fellow Christian-college students on whether or not it was wrong to curse. One guy kept saying that it was a cultural thing, that what is a curse word here is perfectly fine somewhere else. He said that the thumbs- up sign is curse word in Australia, and so on and so forth. The Bible doesn’t say anything about cursing, he said, it says “let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth” (Eph. 4:29). He went on to say how when he used certain profanity it was only an expletive and that he did not mean it as a curse word. Hmmm….

I told him that it was not practical for Paul to list every word we should not say. (He did not speak English anyhow!) Besides, what businesses do we as Christians have using words that the world considers profanity?! The rest of the above mentioned verse says… “but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.” The verse not only bars out cursing but also negative speech that will tear anyone down.

                I have thought a lot about that conversation and how that line of argument has been used by so many Christians today, including myself. We jump on passages like:

I Cor. 10:23—“all things are lawful unto me”—and ignore the last half—“but not all things are profitable, not all things edify.” Using my friend’s reasoning we can justify clubbing, drinking, smoking—things that obviously Paul does jot mention in the NT. The truth is that Paul wanted to avoid constructing a strict legal code, because that would put us right back in OT times. He wanted us to use our own discernment to judge the things that would edify us—a discernment that is sadly lacking in the church today. We have come to a place where we just want to be able to justify the fulfillment of our hearts desires. Then we point the finger at those who say we are wrong and say that they are “judging” us or they are simply old fashioned.

I have had to really examine my heart for this attitude of “how far can I get to the line before I feel guilt?” It has been a scary thing. I have come face to face with all the rebellion in my heart towards God’s standard of holiness. I really do not love holiness and purity the way I should. The things that break His heart do not break mine. There is hope… but it is found only on my knees. 

Galatians 5:13—For you were called to freedom, brethren; ^only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

   Posted on Wednesday, January 12, 2005                                                    by Ben H

Being Sensitive to the Spirit

Along the narrow road of holiness, I have found that it is not only the big choices I face that make a difference, but the little ones also. The big decisions are very obvious and always talked about; such as, “What is God’s will for my life?” or “Is this the person God has for me to marry?” The answers for these do not usually come easily, but what God has been drawing my attention to are the many smaller decisions I make on a daily basis. For a long time I have made myself believe that God really did not care about those little decisions, as long as I was not blatantly sinning.

Suddenly, I would find myself flat on my face in the ground. I had stumbled and fallen. I would get up and ask God for forgiveness, and wonder where I had really gone wrong and how I could have been so stupid. The temptation had totally taken me by surprise. Or had it? Maybe if I had not gone to that place, I would not have found myself in that tempting situation in the first place. But how could I have known? Then I would remember the check in my Spirit, the uneasiness I had felt before I had even gone. I had pushed it aside, ignoring it. The Holy Spirit had been trying to warn me.

We could save ourselves so much pain and heartache if we could only learn how to be sensitive to the Spirit not only in the great decisions but the little ones also. How many times do we ask God, “Should I go out with my friends tonight?” or “Should I watch this movie, God?” God sees things that I cannot and he knows what’s better for me.

He cares about the very last detail of my life, and I should be willing to yield that last detail to Him. A life of being sensitive to the Spirit is a beautiful life, but you must be willing to pay the price. Not only must you spend extra time on your knees, but you must be willing to obey when it does not make sense at the time. Just like a Navy SEAL in action who takes orders from an air unit who can see the big picture, we must move without asking why and sometimes when it hurts.   

Gal. 5:13, 16—“For, brethren, ye have not been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another… This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” 

Be a conduit of God’s Spirit. Press on Soldier.       

   Posted on Wednesday, December 1, 2004                                                    by Ben H

Thanks

A movie I was watching recently gave me much food for thought during this time of feasting and cranberry sauce. It was set in Africa, and the plot was centered on a group of Navy SEALS who had to rescue an American doctor from an African country in which a coup was taking place. The director of the movie did a tremendous job of portraying the devastation that is going on in that continent. Whole villages would be wiped out as rebel factions would sweep through looting, raping, and burning.

What struck me was that some people wake up thinking,   Wonder if the rebels will come today and kill us all, or Wonder if there will be any water today. That is reality that some kid my age actually wakes up to. What is yours and my reality? Oh, man, I have two papers to do, or Do I have to go to work today? And we feel like those are valid problems. When you think about it that way, it puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?

How ungrateful we can be for the freedom and stability we enjoy!

More important are the implications that our ingratitude have on our worship.

Here in America, worship is such a self-pleasing thing. We only sing songs that will conjure up enough emotions to make us feel good so that we can walk away and say that it was a good time of worship. Even worse, we can be complacent in our time of worship and we look around or let our minds wander or just absent-mindedly hum the words of the song. We do not value our worship because we take for granted our freedom to worship. Maybe God has made us so fat with prosperity that we do not realize our need for Him.  God forbid that we fall into the same state as the church of Laodicea (Rev. 3: 14-18).

God is looking for true worshippers, a group of people who will say, “What can I offer my King today?” Can we for once forget about whether we sound good to the person next to us and become more concerned about the state of our hearts? When we worship we must worship him with all that we have, with all our youthful strength. That’s what it means to offer our bodies a living sacrifice: 

Romans 12:1--- I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 

Love God with all your living strength. Pour it out like oil on His feet.

   Posted on Wednesday, October 13, 2004                                                    by Ben H

Too Busy Not To Pray

This year, I have been dorming in a Christian University here in Pennsylvania.

It has been an amazing time of maturation for me, mainly because I have had to come to grips with what I truly believe. For one, it is not until two ideas are presented that you are forced to choose. Secondly, it's when no one that you feel accountable to is around that you discover the beauty of a life alone with God.

After two weeks, the work was dumped on me all at once and I began the survival push to finals. I started well, keeping up my Bible reading and praying but before long, I found myself rushing through my devotions. My prayer list began to whittle down. I noticed the difference. I found myself more and more frustrated because it seemed I never had enough time I felt tired and loss of interest. Because my spiritual antennae weren’t being cleaned well, I found myself compromising on some issues.

What I’ve come to realize is that God is the one who created my time. He holds it in His hand. He is the one who stretches my time when I really need it. I am actually investing in my time when I just lay everything aside and spend quality time with the Creator of time. The problem is I don’t trust him enough. I don’t surrender my studies to Him. I have that tendency to try to do things on my own...only to find I can't so much as read without Him. I'm just nothing without Him. If I don't spend time with Him, there is no point in doing anything.

Sometimes, we have to reach that conclusion over and over again before we get it. Next time, in your devotions just tell Jesus that you are nothing without Him and that he really is the air you breathe.

Prov.3:5,6-- Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

   Posted on Friday, August 20, 2004                                                                  by Ben H

Carry The Torch

The recent passing of our beloved pastor Don I’m sure has all of us mourning, though we sensed it coming. I’m sure for many of us, it has us doing some serious thinking. Pastor Don was a model not only of holiness but of love especially. The love for the church pored out of him. One could se it in his eyes. But another thing he represents is an entire generation that slowly but surely is passing on. 

I have been reading in the book of Judges of how Israel lived during the time of Joshua and after. They had conquered most of Canaan but Joshua trusted them to drive out the remaining enemies in their respective lands. Judges 2:21and 22 says:

²¹I from now on will also not drive out from before them any of the nations which Joshua left when he died,

²²That through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not.

We are that next generation that God is talking about.

Being a big Olympics fan, I have enjoyed routing for my country over the last few days. We all know about the ceremony where the outstanding athlete is selected to  light the Olympic torch. Well, now is our time. You and I are the next generation of believers and we are next up at bat. How will we perform? Will we drop the standard or raise it higher. For years people like Pastor Don have been on the frontlines of the battle, interceding for us, the young people. Well, I don’t know about you but I’m beginning to feel the heat of the battle as we get closer and closer to the front lines. It’s time to see the big picture. We can’t be kids anymore.  

                                       Ride on, soldier.

Hebrews 12:1 - Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.        

   Posted on Wednesday, August 4, 2004                                                         by Ben H

Knowing God for Ourselves

I've been reading about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. God has been showing me how the whole ordeal, from the time they left Egypt to the day they set foot in Canaan, was really a foreshadow of our Knowing God for Ourselves Christian walk. There is so much to be learned from story of the children of Israel.

Did you ever notice that the first time God gave the Ten Commandments, he tried to give it to all the children of Israel in person? He told Moses to have the people purify themselves for three days and have them ready at the bottom of the mountain where he would appear in a cloud and give them His laws.

"And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel." [Exodus 19:6]

This was God's heart. He wanted them to deal personally with Him, to have direct connection. He wanted them to know Him for themselves so that he could write His laws and his ways on their heart. The last thing God wanted was to give some kind of strict legal code. But that was exactly what he was forced to do.
God came as he promised on the third day in all his terrible glory. The mountain shook with His awesome presence. But the people drew back in fear:
 
Then they said to Moses, 'Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, lest we die.'" [Exodus 20:19]

Moses even told them not to fear, that God wanted them to show them his glory so that they would fear Him and "sin not," but it was no use.
God yielded to their wishes and gave them the Law of Moses. For the rest of their journey, God could only remain in the Holy of Holies where the priest came once a year. Nothing broke God's heart more than the fact that he wanted to draw close to His people and they turned away.

 I can't help but think that even today, when we can freely come into the Holy of Holies, that many of God's people do the same thing. We turn away from Him when he tries to reveal Himself and say to His servants, "You speak to us, because we are afraid."
God is a gentleman. He won't force us to love Him or get to know Him. He finally yields to our wishes even when he knows they aren't good for us. Oh sure, we still come to church, but we stay in the outer court. We don't realize that God is calling, pleading for a deeper relationship, more intimacy. Not only that but because we are depending on men rather than God for guidance, we are easily led astray and easily stumbled by the mistakes that men will make.

Moses had the right idea. He begged God to reveal Himself to him. The Bible says that God spoke to Moses as friend speaks to a friend. But we are afraid that God might ask us something we don't want to hear. It's the greatest tragedy because God has so much to do in us and through us and we don't scratch the surface.

"Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time of need." [Hebrews 4:16]
 
Fall in love with Jesus. Man will only disappoint you. Jesus will blow you away with his love.
 

   Posted on Wednesday, June 16, 2004                                                            by Ben H

I have to admit, I did not know Ronald Reagan when he was in office. I was too young to care about politics, or even nukes, for that matter. But as I grew up during the Bush and Clinton administrations, I would hear my parents talk politics. I don't remember much about what they would say, but remember hearing that name: Reagan. He was always mentioned with a tone of nostalgia. Bush [Sr.] was okay, they'd say; but Reagan was a rock. So I'd always pay attention when they spoke about this man in history class.

But I learned even more from the man when he died than when he was alive.. I have never seen so much respect for any President, much less a staunch Republican Conservative like Reagan. Enemies and friends all agreed: Reagan was one of the greatest leaders of our time.

I would go further and say he was one of the greatest men of our time. Why? Because he was uncompromising in the face of adversity. When pressure was high to loosen up on moral standards he wouldn't crack. When heat was up to back down against Communist Russia, he wouldn't melt down. He was a man on a mission. He wanted the American people to believe in themselves again.
I love a man on a mission. (I'm not chauvinistic, man applies to woman, too) People who know what they want and don't let anything get in their way or sway their purpose. Reagan stood out as one such man in a world that is filled with compromise. No one stands for anything anymore; they want to stand for everything (be politically correct). God is looking for someone to stand for Him.

I Cor. 15:58 “ Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain

 A few days ago the Christian school in Brooklyn of which my dad is principal held its last school closing ceremony. It was deeply moving to see old alumnae (now adults with kids) return to show their love and respect for my dad. What moved me to tears was to see the "tough and macho" students weeping like babies on my dad's shoulders. It hit me again. All those years, my dad had not budged one inch on his standards. Though he was cursed out and threatened by parents and students alike, he would not waver. But now they all understand that he loved them and had a mission to see them succeed in life.

I want to be remembered as a man on a mission. Our main mission, of course, is heaven. People are watching us whether we like it or not. They may laugh and or even say they hate us and our Jesus, but they are still watching. Are we going to waver and lower our standard, or are we going to build a eulogy as a man or woman on a mission?
 

   Posted on Wednesday, June 9, 2004                                                            by Ben H

The devil really doesn't have many new tricks. He is just so smooth at what he does that we fall for them a lot. The tricks that he uses on you and me are the same as the ones he used in the first temptation of mankind in the Garden. The reason why I think its important to look closely at what happened in the Garden is that we are in a an all-out war. The first rule of combat is to know your enemy and his tactics.

"...Yea hath God said you shall not eat of very tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, God hath said ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, "Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes will be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." [Gen.3:1-5]

 Notice this age-old tactic: the serpent makes Eve believe that God is making her miss out on something good. Being God is something man has always craved for. How could Eve fall for such a stupid idea? There's only one explanation: the idea was so attractive to her that she, in essence, lost all reason. She forgot the wonderful fellowship with God and the peace it brought. She lost site of the fact that God had always given her everything good in life. She was simply infatuated with that one thing that he had told her she couldn't have. Was it because God was being mean? That's what Satan told her. No. It was because that THING was not good for her and would never make her happy.

Again, man has always has wanted to be God. You may think I'm talking about cloning or abortion or euthanasia (legal killing of elderly and other "unwanted" ). Not really. I'm talking about the desire to be our own god and run our own lives. I call it the perpetual struggle for surrender. That's what it really comes down to. How much are we willing to let God take over?

If you're like me, you're not willing to surrender anything. The Bible says we are so wicked that we would not give God a piece of bread if he asked us. But thank God for the Holy Spirit who draws us with cords of love to Himself and for Jesus who broke the dominion of sin and death over us. Slowly but surely, God knocks down one stronghold after another in us. Take it one step at a time.

Keep up the good fight.

   Posted on Tuesday, April 20, 2004                                                            by Ben H

A song by Fred Hammond is entitled "Running Back To You." I think every Christian can identify with the words of this song.

How can you forgive me when I've often gone astray
How can you think of me when I do things my way
Turning my back from you
The one who loved me first
Having my own desires
Renewing worldly thirst...
And I am running back to you
I see your standing there for me
Your arms are opened wide
And I don't have to cry no more
You're standing there for me
And I am running back to you,
Why do I go away when I know I am no good when I'm on my own.

The fact is, we are miserable failures when it comes to being holy. If any one were good  at it, he wouldn't need Jesus. I've come to that realization  so many times, and I've found that whenever I have fallen (I lost count years ago), I can always run back into his wide open arms. In fact, some of my most precious moments with Jesus have not been the times when I'm "coasting," if you know what I mean. It's been those times when I feel lost and alone, and I cry out, "God! Please take me back. I'm lost without you. I've made a mess again." He always takes me back and I feel his warm presence surround me.

I wonder at those times how I ever thought I could live without him. I look at people around me and I wonder, "How do you do it?! How do you live without Jesus?" The funny thing is, I end up going through the same process over and over again because of the deception in my own heart . The Bible talks about the deception of the human heart: 

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" [Jer. 17:9]  

Apostle Paul talks about the deceitful pull of sin in our bodies in Romans: 

"For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.[Rom.7:9]"  

But he gives us hope: 

"O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!... There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus..."[Rom. 7:24,25;8:1]  

Jesus is our righteousness, our justification. He intercedes for us, his brethren. That is what gives me hope. One last verse I'd like to leave you with:

"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."[Heb.4:15] 

He not only forgives, He understands.

   Posted on March 10, 2004                                                                                 by Ben H

 Recently, I was having a Bible study with some friends from college. The Bible study leader had selected a passage from Numbers that day. It was the passage that talks about the twelve "respected" Israelite men that venture out to spy the land of promise. It was exactly what I needed to hear that day and it is something I would like to share with you all.
As the story goes, the men went in and explored the land , and were immediately awed by its beauty and luscious fertility. But when the men came back to camp, only two, Joshua and Caleb, had a good report. The rest told Moses in front of the whole assembly that the land could never be taken because the people who lived there were too powerful and the cities, too well fortified. They told Moses that the men there were descendants of Anak (Goliath's family).
"We look like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them [Num 3:33]."
 

   The Israelites immediately despaired and cried out, and grumbled  that things were better in Egypt. They even threatened to rebel against Moses and Aaron and return.
This is so much like me in my walk with God. I get to a point where I feel like I've hit a wall and I can't seem to get over  a besetting sin, a trial, a temptation. It's too hard God, I can't go any further. And sometimes we all find ourselves looking back to our old lives of sin. Forgetting the bondage, the guilt, and the emptiness that we were in, we want to turn back. We forget all the miracles that God has done for us and how amazing it is that he brought us as far as we are. It's so crazy, but its how the Devil works. He gets us so caught up in our own state that we don't have anything left to pour out for others.
 

A lot of it has to do with how we view ourselves. To the ten rebels, they were "grasshoppers" in their own eyes.  Listen to what Joshua said: "And do not be afraid of the people of the land because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone but the Lord is with us[4:9]." I think that Joshua had been spending time in God's presence. He knew how God saw him and that God was with Him. No matter what you are going through, you are God's child, and God said he will never leave you. He loves you more than you could ever know. To him, you're only holy and nothing that you've done will remain except what you do for Him. Don't look back. You've come too far already.

   Posted on February 11, 2004                                                                                 by Ben H

When We See God's Glory

As I've been reading the Gospels recently, I've been  seeing things from  a different angle, and have been struck by what I've found . I thought about the disciples and who they were. We often think of them as saints from the start when in reality there was nothing saintly about them. Some of the, Peter, for example“ were rough fisherman; they cursed and swore like the rest of them. Matthew was a greedy tax collector who hung with a bunch of party animals [Matt. 9: 10]. They were a pitiful group of frightened, weak-minded, uneducated, cynical men. Throughout His ministry, Jesus was constantly rebuking them for their unbelief [Mk. 9:10] even after they had seen so many of Jesus' miracles. When Jesus needed them most, they deserted Him.

   Second, what turned these cowards into the men of Acts and of  Mk. 14: "And they went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." ? They'd seen the glory of God, the resurrected Jesus. They saw Him ascend into heaven and sit at the right hand of God [Mk. 16: 19]. We know that whatever they saw, they were never the same again. They lost all doubts and fears.
 

  I find it helps to think  that disciples were like you and me. In our sin, God still sees our hearts seeking Him. And for every step we take to Him he takes three to us [Lk. 15: 20]. And whenever someone says that Jesus was just a good man who died a horrible death, think, Why would a group of scared, uneducated men suddenly become so bold unless they had seen Jesus raised from the dead? In our prayer time, lets ask God to reveal to us His Glory. Like the disciples, we'll never be the same. 

   Posted on January 28, 2004                                                                                 by Ben H

We are straying from the flock and we are more vulnerable to attack from Satan, especially on our minds.   

    Then I remembered a scene from Gladiator in the Coliseum. The gladiators were supposed to be reenacting  the historic battle between the Romans and the Carthaginians in which, of course, the Romans won by far. Maximus is in the group playing the part of the Barbarians and of course they are put at such a disadvantage that they cannot win the fight. The men with Maximus began to despair. They knew that they were going to be slaughtered by whatever came through the gates of the arena. Maximus told them (and I paraphrase), “Men, whatever comes through those gates, ,if we stick together, that is the only way we can survive.” You know the rest. Maximus and the others rallied to pummel the “Roman” army despite overwhelming odds. 

   I couldn’t help but think how real that is in our spiritual lives. We are in a battle. The whole world is watching. And by all rights and reason, we should lose this one. We have every excuse. But the only way we are going to survive is if we stick together. I think that we’ve been flying solo long enough. It’s time to unite. Time is winding down and we need each other to fight the good fight. As Maximus said, It’s the only way we’re gonna get out alive.

“And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight : and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. [Lev. 26:8]”