Fireproof

"If God Is Good, Why Is Life So Unfair?" (Part 1)

On April 20th of this year Missionary Veronica ``Roni’’ Bowers, 35, and her 7-month-old daughter, Charity, seated in her lap, were killed by a single bullet when the jet fired on the Cessna plane they were riding in. The Peruvian Air-force had shot at the plane because it mistakenly thought that it was carrying drugs and drug dealers. Bowers’ husband, Jim, 38, and their 6-year-old son, Cory, survived the attack without serious injury. The pilot, missionary Kevin Donaldson, 42, was seriously injured by gunfire to his legs, but was able to crash-land the plane on the Amazon. The Bower’s family had been faithful missionaries to the area for over a dozen years. It is hard to understand why things like this happen especially when you consider that in all likelihood many drug dealers and criminals flew that night without a problem. It makes you wonder: "If God Is Good, Why Is Life So Unfair?"

These two situations and many others like them in our lives can lead to confusion, anger and doubt about God’s Goodness. We can begin to doubt the value of living faithfully for God. We start to ask "Is Life Fair?" When we ask that question were not really asking a philosophical question about the nature of life, but a theological one concerning the nature of God. We are in essence questioning God’s goodness and fairness. We realize that the Bible teaches that God exist, that He is in control, and that He is good. If God is in control and He is good why then is it our experience that life is not fair. It seems that often good things happen to bad people, while bad things happen to good people. "If God Is Good, Why Is Life So Unfair?"

Today we are going to look at Psalm 73 which was written by a Levite named Asaph. Asaph was a spiritual leader in his day, but he was a spiritual leader with doubts and concerns. In this Psalm Asaph tells us that he had the same dilemma and the same questions about the goodness of God, the fairness of life, and the value of serving God that we often face. My hope is that we can gain some valuable insight from his experience so that our faith in God’s goodness and fairness remain strong. In this Psalm we will see some of the typical reasons that people question God’s goodness/fairness, but we will also see the understanding that Asaph gained that led him to declare with confidence that "Surely God is good…"

Asaph states that "Surely God is good to Israel (His people), to those who are pure in heart (righteous, godly)." This hardly sounds like a man who had questions and doubts, but we must keep in mind that this is a final conclusion that Asaph reached after a period of intense wavering in his faith in God’s goodness.

The Psalmist often used this literary device of putting their final conclusions at the beginning of a Psalm. In fact in verse 2 Asaph makes it very clear that he had not always had such a confidence. He like us had his moments of doubt about God’s fairness. In some ways this is reassuring to us when we consider that even the people that God used to write the Bible, who led the worship and who wrote many worship Psalms had times of questioning and confusion.In verse 2 Asaph notes that he had "almost slipped", and that he had "nearly lost his foothold." Speaking figuratively he is saying that had come very, very close to losing His faith in God. He had nearly lost his confidence in God’s goodness and therefore he had come close to completely falling away from God and into rebellion. Questions concerning God’s goodness are not merely academic because they affect our entire relationship with God. When we start to doubt we are walking on a slippery slope. We are but one misstep from slipping away from a right relationship with God.

Two pressing questions are "What had led Asaph to the slippery slope of doubt? " and "What restored his sure confidence in God’s fairness/goodness?" The answer is perspective! Asaph’s understanding changed as his perspective changed

A Human Perspective On Life Will Lead To Questioning God’s Goodness Because We will See The Prosperity of The Wicked

We are often troubled by the seeming unfairness of life because we don’t understand why God would allow the rebellious to do so well in life. This greatly troubled Asaph especially when he considers that the wicked have something good that he does not. He envies them because he, a righteous man, has not experienced the prosperity that the sinful have. They are prosperous while he struggles. This could certainly make one wonder if life is fair and if God is good. Why is it that the single mom who is a Christian has to work two jobs just to pay the rent on a one room efficiency while people like Hugh Heffner live in a mansion with servants? If God Is Good Why Is Life So Unfair? People often question God’s goodness when they se the prosperity of the wicked. This included not only their financial prosperity but their physical prosperity as well. As we see in verse 4 it is often the sinners who experience the best of health, while the saints suffer prolonged infirmities and illnesses. This doesn’t seem fair, yet it is sometimes true. I’ve seen times where the wicked will enjoy a long life and then die peacefully in their sleep while sometimes the faithful Christian dies young and after a great deal of pain and suffering. This is difficult to reconcile with a Good and Sovereign God. In fact it is impossible to reconcile when we view the wicked’s prosperity from a human perspective.

Keep in mind that the human perspective is only part of the picture. We see the full faith restoring picture only when we look at life from a heavenly perspective which Asaph does later...

Does God sometimes seem unfair?

A Critical Spirit

It happened just a few years ago. The banks in New Jersey had been robbed systematically, one after the other. What made the robber stand out was his politeness. He just gave the tellers a note which said, "Please place your money in this bag. Thank you." The newspapers called him the GENTLEMAN BANDIT. The widespread publicity led to a very unlikely arrest - the suspect was a Catholic priest. His church was appalled but stood beside him, saying they knew he could not be the bandit. They signed petitions, held protest marches and came up with his bail. But the police were certain they had their man. All of the eyewitnesses positively identified him. And the news media dug into his past, to find that in a previous church he had left under a cloud because of financial irregularities in the parish. For a priest he had a pretty expensive lifestyle - his own apartment and a fast car. His church was probably standing up for him because otherwise they looked like dupes. As I watched the story unfold on the news, I was positive this priest had pulled a fast one. He probably had a sociopath personality so he could rob banks and preach the next Sunday without feeling any guilt. No one outside his congregation was standing up for this guy. But then a funny thing happened. The REAL Gentleman Bandit was caught red-handed. As it turned out, he was the spitting image of the priest. It’s just that he WASN’T the priest. The priest was released, his church threw him a big party, and the news media and I felt a little sheepish

This story reminds us of how careful and merciful we all need to be in our judgments. We may be wrong! Even when we are right we can still be wrong in our response. We as a society tend to judge, analyze, and evaluate various things. For instance we can give a movie two thumbs up or two thumbs down. We can evaluate a person’s attractiveness on a scale of one to ten . I of course am a Ten! The concern I have is when we begin to make judgments about people. Are we doing so with a critical spirit or a merciful spirit? What Exactly is a Critical Spirit? A "critical spirit," is an obsessive attitude of criticism and fault-finding, which seeks to tear others down — not the same thing as what is sometimes called "constructive criticism." The only criticism that is ever constructive is that which is expressed in love to "build up," not to tear down — it is always expressed face-to-face, never behind their back. The person with a critical spirit usually dwells on the negative, seeks for flaws rather than good.

This is an attitude we all need to be alert too. Several years ago, as I was reading the Bible one night, the phrase or warning of Jesus to "watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees" really stood out to me. I sensed that the Holy Spirit was trying to show me something about my own life. After several days of prayer and thinking, I began to understand that I had become in many ways like a Pharisee. As I took an honest look and evaluation of my own life I began to see how critical my heart and sometimes my words had become of other people. It seemed that I could find something wrong with every other church and every other pastor or ministry. I would often be critical or harsh toward believers and unbelievers. Subtly and slowly a critical spirit had entered into my heart and my life and God was greatly displeased.Many times the criticism I felt or spoke was based on facts and was accurate. I was right and yet I had never been so wrong in all my life. You can be right and the wrong at the same time if your attitude is not one of mercy, understanding, and love but is rather one of fault finding and finger-pointing. Truth is not the highest virtue, Love is!It is critical that we deal with the critical spirit because it is destructive and harmful to our walk, witness, and our world. It is harmful to our spiritual walk because there is nothing that causes as many problems in our relationship with God as an unforgiving, unloving , and critical attitude toward another person.

A critical spirit is harmful to our witness because the world is watching us and listening to us and they will not believe that we serve of God of mercy and kindness unless we exhibit those traits ourselves. It is harmful to our world and by that I mean our own personal world-that is our families, are churches, and our workplaces. Certainly very few things do as much damage and cause as much dissension within marriages, churches and workplaces as a critical tongue and attitude.

We all need to be careful that an unmerciful, fault finding critical spirit does not reside in us. Our goal at Calvary Chapel is to build up a people who are like Jesus. This means we are to be a people and a church who exude mercy, kindness, and forgiveness to other people especially when they fail. I want us to be the type of church and the type of people to whom people run to and not from when they falter. When people’s weaknesses come to light I want them to know that they can come here and be received with love. I want us to be a church that will not condemn the weaknesses or the failures of others, a church and people who will not shun sinners or point the finger accusingly but neither will we ignore or excuse sin. Rather we will be an understanding, compassionate and merciful people who lend a helping and hopeful hand

Are you Being Critical?

Why Christians Should Obey the Government...(Part 1)

Today I will be sharing with you some reasons for the Christian to obey the government. Every person has to deal with the government in one way or the other. We each must decide what attitude and response we will have towards government in general, weather local, state, or national, and towards the government’s leaders and government rules (taxes, jury duty, traffic laws, building codes, business laws, criminal and civil laws, etc.) Sometimes we’re inclined to be disrespectful to certain government leaders because we believe that they’re not worthy of respect or because we do not accept the legitimacy of their authority.

Sometimes we’re inclined to disobey or ignore certain laws and rules of government because they seem ludicrous or unfair to us or simply because these particular rules would be very difficult for us to keep. Some people go even further than disobeying or ignoring the government’s laws and actually fight against the government through various means, including terrorism. As Christians though, we’re not free to deal with the government, or its laws and leaders, as we choose. We have a God-given mandate to respond to the governing authorities in a specific way. We are to "submit to the governing authorities." The word "submit" means to recognize the authority of the government and to yield to that authority. In practice it means to obey the person or institution we’re submitting to. It is important understand that one cannot truthfully claim to be adhering to this biblical injunction of submission if they are at the same time actively disobeying the laws or leaders of the land.

Obey the government because it is the right thing to do.

Paul tells us who should obey the governing authority, and why this is the right thing for the Christian to do. First he says that "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities." Everyone means everyone! There is no one who has an exemption from this command.

Some religious people of Paul’s day felt that they were the exception. They felt that, since they were God’s people, they didn’t have to listen to the government. They were saying that they did not have to obey the government because they recognized no authority except God’s. Some so-called "Christian militias" still propose such ideas, but the Bible is clear, everyone is commanded by God to obey the governing authorities. Paul then goes on to explain why it is the right thing to do for Christians to obey the government. He says, "There is no authority except that which God has established."

The attitude of many people both past and present is that some governments and government leaders are evil or illegitimate, so they do not have to be obeyed, and that some laws do not apply because either the laws are stupid and selectively enforced or because the laws were established by atheistic, unbelieving, or evil government’s. The Bible will allow no such excuses or reasoning. According to God’s own word, there is no government that was not established by him. This includes democracies, monarchies, Communist governments, and dictatorships. This means we are to obey the governing authorities whether they are Democratic or Republican, moral or immoral, Christian, Buddhist or Atheists, homosexual or heterosexual, etc... Obeying the government is the right thing to do because these authorities are established by God.

Does this mean that everything various governments do is approved by God? No! Many times the government, which is composed a sinful men, will do the wrong thing. Does this principle mean that we’re to obey the governing authorities if they tell us to do something that God in his word tell us not to do? No, we’re to obey authority, but the highest authority is God. His commands supersede the governments in the same way that national law supersedes state law. In Acts 5:29 Peter refused to obey the Sanhedrin’s command to stop speaking about Jesus. He said "We must obey God rather than men." There are a few other examples of when believers rightfully disobeyed the government, such as when the Israelite midwives refused to kill the male children, or when Daniel refused to pray to King Darius and was thrown in the lions’ den. Having noted that we can sometimes be right in disobeying the government, we should be careful not to use this as an excuse to disobey government leaders and laws that do not directly conflict with the clear word of God. 99% of the time, obeying the government’s laws will not require us to disobey God! This means we should obey the government in matters such as taxes, business and building codes, traffic and criminal laws, gun control, prohibition against publicly led prayer in public schools, etc...

Do you always obey?

Fear...

A woman in Arkansas was sitting in her car in a parking lot last year when she heard a loud bang and then felt a sharp pain in the back of her head. She was holding her hands behind her head when someone walked by and asked, "Are you OK?" The woman answered, "I’ve been shot in the head, and I’m holding my brains in." Well, it wasn’t her brains. It was dough. A Pillsbury biscuit canister had exploded in the back seat, apparently from the heat, making a loud explosion and shooting the dough into the back of the woman’s head.Sometimes our fears are like that ladies. They are unfounded and irrational but more often our fears are based on rational and well-founded reasons.

Today we will lok at Psalm 27 which deals with the subject of fear and how a focus on God can give as victory over all of our fears weather rational or irrational.

Life can be risky and it is therefore filled with opportunities or reasons to fear or have anxiety. When I use the word fear tonight I mean all levels of fear from general apprehension and worry to dread and terror. Fear starts out when we are very young with fears of things like darkness, monsters, etc. and it continues into our teenage years with fears of things like rejection, humiliation and failure. Adulthood is also filled with possible fears such as fear of disease, death, financial problems, broken relationships, loved ones being hurt, storms, failure, aging, crime, etc. I personally know what it is like to be filled with anxiety.

I began a few years year ago to have some strange symptoms which according to the medical literature and the doctors I was seeing was most likely that was either multiple sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Neither one of these options is a very good one and Satan certainly tried to instill fear into my life at this time. I became very apprehensive and concerned about things such as my family, the church, even the opinions of others and how they would view this disease. My anxiety made it difficult to sleep at night, to think straight during the day, and to worship. It was only when I took my mind off of the problems and future I faced and put my focus on the Lord who is my God that my fears disappeared.

We are anxiety-laden society as the sales of many books on dealing anxiety and the sales of calming drugs indicate. Fear is very unpleasant and it is very harmful physically, mentally, and even spiritually for as the Bible tells us in Matthew 13:22, fear or anxiety chokes out the word of God. Fear can be very displeasing and dishonoring God if we do not respond to it with faith in him. As the Bible says we will have anxieties but we are to "cast all of our anxieties on him." We all want solutions to the fear problem. We all want answers to anxiety. We are looking for something to relieve us from our fears, something to reassure us. We’re looking for some source of security that will instill a perfect confidence and peace within our hearts

Some people look for that security in their bank account. Some seek that reassurance in a relationship. Others placed their trust in the government, latest drug, etc. None of these are real solutions because none of them offer total security or absolute reassurance. No amount of money, success, or any position in life can truly give you peace in every situation. So the question becomes, "How can we have victory over fear?" That answer to this important question is given in Psalm 27 which says in effect "Focus on God and your fears will disappear!"

This is the consistent message of the Bible regarding fear. For example when Peter Walked on the water Peter’s fear got the victory only when he lost his focus on Jesus. In Isaiah 26: 3 God has said "I will keep in perfect peace all who trust in me, who thoughts are fixed on me!" We also see the same idea and Philippians 4: 6-7 which says "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. Then the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."There will be times when anxiety and fear will come into our lives it is then that we have a choice to make - we can choose to focus on the problem and be overcome with fear or we can choose to focus on God and are fear will disappea

Pastor Brian Broderson - What We Need

Building Better Relationships (Part 1)

There are many stories about people who get into fights and conflicts about crazy things and the terrible results.

In Orlando, a 48-year-old man was shot to death by his wife after a fight over the satellite TV controls.

In California, a man was stabbed to death by his girlfriend because he brought home a McDonalds ham, egg, and cheese bagel instead of the two Egg Mcmuffins that she’d asked for. (Husbands, let that be a lesson to all of you -- get it right!)

In Dallas, a 37-year-old man was beaten to death by his roommate after a fight over the thermostat setting in their house.

In Maryland, a 15-year-old boy has been charged with in the shooting death of a man who was playing reggae music on his car stereo. Apparently, the boy really hates reggae music.

Although these are extreme cases and responses, it can be difficult maintaining positive relationships with others. As Christians we will have times of conflict; sometimes with a neighbor who seems unbearable, sometimes with an employer, customer, or government official who seems overly demanding or unfair, sometimes with a relative, fellow Christian or even another church. The answer to handling these type problems is not revenge, hostility or avoidance of the problem, which is not a real possibility anyways. What does the Bible (our perfect instruction book) tell us about relationships?

The Bible tells us that we are to "Do everything possible on your part to live in peace with everybody." (Romans 12:18) So our need and goal should be to know how to build better relationships.

Be Proactive In Avoiding Future Conflicts

Most people are reactive that is they wait for conflict to manifest itself and intensify before they do anything to try and resolve it. This is better than ignoring the problem or resorting to worldly solutions (hostility, revenge, etc.) but in many cases we can avoid conflict altogether by being proactive. We need to use godly wisdom to see potential conflicts and respond accordingly.

This is true when dealing with neighbors, employers, or anyone else. It is much easier to avoid problems than it is to solve them later. In the same way that it is easier to use sunscreen now that it is to treat skin cancer later.

Deal Honestly With Others

It is amazing how many conflicts are caused or magnified by simple dishonesty. This is a common theme in Genesis, especially in the story of how Jacob’s dishonesty led to conflict Esau and how Laban’s dishonesty led to conflict with Jacob. In Ephesians 4:25 we are told to “put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor...” The context of this Scripture passage deals with unity so it again is showing us how dishonesty spoils positive relationships.

In practice this means being honest but kind about our feelings, situations, likes and dislikes, etc

Are you building Positive Relationships?