Is Life a Test?

March 4, 2011

Dr. Gregory House is television’s fictional curmudgeonly doctor. House is a misanthrope and an atheist. In a scene where the characters were considering whether there is anything to people seeing a white light at the end of the tunnel in near death experiences, House retorts that it is simply the chemical reactions to the brain shutting down. There is nothing after death, and he finds that comforting. When questioned about this being comforting, he replies: “I find it more comforting to believe that this isn’t simply a test.”

The scene succinctly raises an important issue about life. Is life a test or not? The Christian worldview gives a much different answer than the one given by the fictional Dr. House. The question is worth pondering.

I suspect that the comfort gained from saying life isn’t a test goes something like this. Death is the end. There is no judgment, heaven, or hell. We can’t get life wrong. It’s like the elation of the student who finds out there is no final exam.

Yet, this perspective comes with a terrible cost. It would mean that life has no ultimate meaning despite the fact we all seem to seek to make our life meaningful. It would mean that no moral values exist, other than the ones I subjectively create for myself, or we decide as a group, or some elite, powerful group decides for us. Yet such values are more akin to “I like chocolate; you like vanilla” than they are to “thou shalt” or “thou shalt not.” The dictator who exterminates millions, the gunman who takes out passersby in a shopping mall, or the woman who donates time at a soup kitchen are all just different ways of living life. Who’s to say which is better? They all die. If life is not a test, no one passes or fails.

Believing that life is a test certainly has ramifications. Since my choices in life can lead to eternal loss or eternal bliss, choices are filled with meaning and cannot be taken lightly. A choice between good and bad really exists. Doesn’t my sense that some things are not fair suggest that there is something about moral decisions that goes beyond my subjective feelings about them?

Such a life is more than a pass or fail for the afterlife. Life becomes a moral adventure. We have the opportunity to grow in goodness, love, and kindness. We learn the challenges of standing up for justice and fairness in a world that is frequently unfair. Honesty grows into transparency as we learn to be honest about who we are in all circumstances. The trials of life produce patient endurance.

I find comfort in life being a test. It means life matters, and death is not the end.

It’s a profound question. The course of your life will be affected by your answer. Is life a test?

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Posted by Russell Holden

Enduring Temptation

February 26, 2011

The problem in Corinth was idolatry. Some Christians in Corinth were attempting to have their feet in two different worlds. Yes, they had been baptized, and they participated in the Lord’s Table, but they also participated in the social culture of idolatry. They were apparently at fellowship meals of idols, what Paul calls the table of demons (1 Corinthians 10:21). They had participated in God’s benefits, but they compromised their loyalty in daily life.

Paul uses an analogy from the Exodus. God’s people coming out of Egypt were “baptized” under the cloud and in the Red Sea. They ate the same spiritual food – manna, the bread from heaven (Exodus 16:4). They drank the same spiritual drink – water from the Rock. Yet, when they participated in idolatry, twenty-three thousand fell in a single day (1 Corinthians 10:8). They had participated in God’s benefits, but they compromised their loyalty in daily life.

Paul cautions them not to put Christ to the test. Don’t grumble against God. “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Corinthians 10:12, ESV). The last phrase warns us that we can be presumptuous about our standing before God. Sin can lead us away from God, and our pride prevents us from recognizing it.

It is in this context of spiritual peril, that we receive a wonderful promise. Temptations are common to all. We are in no position for special pleading. We cannot say that my temptations are different and unique from everyone else’s temptations. We will face temptations, but we will face them with a wonderful promise.

The wonderful promise is based on God’s faithfulness. God won’t let us be tempted beyond what we can bear, and He will provide a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13). The promise is there so that the Christian can endure temptation. We are to bear up under it without giving in to it.

No, I won’t do that perfectly. But I am cautioned about attempting to live with my feet in two different worlds with two different sets of loyalties. I shouldn’t be presumptuous about grace. I can’t rely on a “cheap grace” that leaves me as I am. Grace is to transform us.

When I endure, my character is strengthened. When I fail, I set myself up for other failures. When I fail, I must turn to the spiritual resources that God has given me – my spiritual armor – to fight the next battle. For there is a spiritual battle going on for my heart, my allegiance, and my life.

Paul’s message is a challenge to our culture. Too many want to be spiritual and do as they please. Cheap grace is permissive; true grace is transforming. God wants me to learn how to endure temptations by relying on His faithfulness. He has given His promise to help me endure.

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Posted by Russell Holden

NIV 2011

February 18, 2011

The print edition of a major update to the NIV is expected to be released in March 2011. Electronic versions of this new edition are already available. The new edition is simply called the NIV. In order for consumers to know which edition they are purchasing, they will have to check the copyright notice in the front. The previous edition ended with a copyright date of 1984. The new one will have a date of 2011. Zondervan expects to move all of their NIV products to the new edition over the next two years. After the release of this new edition, the 1984 edition of the NIV and the TNIV will no longer be published.

The path to this updated version has been bumpy and controversial. Two previous editions met with criticism — the NIVI released in Britain (the “I” stood for inclusive) and the TNIV (the “T” stood for “Today’s”). The debate centered on gender inclusive language. Most modern translations (e.g., NKJV, NASB, and ESV) attempt to be somewhat gender neutral. The question is the extent to which this may legitimately be done. For example, sometimes “brothers” may include women, but not always. The new NIV frequently uses “brothers and sisters” where the Greek has “brothers.” But there are situations where it may be difficult to know whether women should be included. For example, the new NIV has “believers” for “brothers” in Acts 14:23 for the group that travelled with Peter to Cornelius’ house. Controversy also erupts over changing singular masculine pronouns like “he” to plural pronouns like “they.”

“Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ” (John 14:23, NIV 2011, my emphasis)

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. ” (Revelation 3:20, NIV 2011, my emphasis)

We end up with singular pronouns being mixed with plural pronouns referring to the same person. Other passages to notice are that Phoebe becomes a “deacon” in Romans 16:1, and women are told not to “assume authority” rather than “have authority” in 1 Timothy 2:12. These are passages that are likely to spark discussion.

The new NIV has responded to some of the criticisms of the NIVI and TNIV and pulled back a bit from those editions, but it remains to be seen whether it is enough to avoid controversy and gain the same level of use. Readers of the Bible need to understand how to distinguish the previous NIV from the new one and the nature of some of the changes. Readers of “thought for thought” translations like the NIV are wise to compare with more “word for word” translations to see if we indeed have God’s thoughts and not just the thoughts of a translation committee.

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Posted by Russell Holden

The Parable of $100,000

February 13, 2011

The Bible reader must be careful. The message must be properly understood and not distorted.

Sometimes passages do need further enlightenment that will change our perspective. This may come from taking into account all that scripture says on a subject, allowing scripture to interpret scripture. It may arise from new insights gained from history, customs, geography, understanding literary forms, or the biblical languages.

Yet, there is also the danger that we will fail to understand and apply simply because we don’t like what it says—our own willfulness gets in the way. Maybe scripture challenges our beliefs and attitudes, and we shrink away. Søren Kierkegaard told a challenging little parable of $100,000:

Suppose that it was said in the New Testament—we can surely suppose it—that it is God’s will that every man should have 100,000 dollars: Do you think there would be any question of a commentary? Or would not everyone rather say, “It’s easy enough to understand, there’s no need of a commentary, let us for heaven’s sake keep clear of commentaries—they could perhaps make it doubtful whether it is really as it is written. (And with their help we even run the risk that it may become doubtful.) But we prefer it to be as it stands written there, so away will all commentaries!”

But what is found in the New Testament (about the narrow way, dying to the world, and so on) is not at all more difficult to understand than this matter of the 100,000 dollars. The difficulty lies elsewhere, in that it does not please us—and so we must have commentaries and professors and commentaries: for it is not a case of “risking” that it may become doubtful to us, for we really wish it to be doubtful, and we have a tiny hope that the commentaries may make it so.

Let us be careful readers and students of the Bible searching for the truth (see Acts 17:11). Yet, let us not protect our hearts from scripture’s rigorous demands, but allow it to challenge and change us. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12, NASB).

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Posted by Russell Holden

Psalom

February 4, 2011

It was a wonderful experience having Psalom sing last Sunday afternoon. Konstantin had a wonderful way of getting us to sing along with Psalom as well. The quartet is a ministry of Konstantin Zhigulin. Konstantin is a musician by background. When he became a Christian in 1994, he began composing hymns for use in Russian speaking congregations. These hymns are sung widely in churches of Christ in the Russian — speaking world. The music is so beautiful and encouraging, two American Christians – Mark Shipp of Austin Graduate School of Theology and Jeff Matteson, former missionary to Siberia — began translating several of Konstantin’s hymns into English, so that they could be shared with American churches. But as Konstantin said last week, his main emphasis is the development of congregational a cappella singing in Russia.

Psalom had two albums available last week. I know quite a few of us purchased the CDs and the song book last week. Some of you may wonder whether it is still possible to purchase the CDs and also how you might keep in touch with this ministry.

Psalom has a web site:

www.psalom.org

The site provides information about Psalom. There are some samples of their music under “MP3 audio.” They have some videos of performances in Russian under “Videoarchive,” and there is ordering information for their CDs under “Contacts, Donations and Store.” Their album “Peace to You!” is available at iTunes and also at Amazon.com as an mp3 download. That album was not available last week, but it is also in English. By the way, the songbook that was available is based on that album.

I hope that we learn some of Konstantin’s hymns. It was a wonderful experience having Psalom here. And thanks to all of you who made the fellowship possible. Konstantin had mentioned he was uncertain about eating prior to singing (fearful that we might all be sleepy), but he said he got it. The meal is about family, spiritual family, and he appreciated that Psalom received such a welcome.

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Posted by Russell Holden

For Your Good

January 28, 2011

A few years ago, I ran across an article entitled “Do five simple things a day to stay sane, says scientists.” The social scientists, not being writers of headlines, were talking about mental well-being. They had found that five simple things that can often be done daily make a great difference in our mental outlook. What was their list?

  • Connect. Develop relationships with family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.
  • Be active. It can be as simple as taking a walk, but physical activity is good for us.
  • Be curious. Note the beauty of everyday moments. Reflect on what is most important.
  • Learn. It’s challenging and brings satisfaction to our lives.
  • Give. “Helping friends and strangers links your happiness to a wider community and is very rewarding.”

What strikes me as I reflect on such a list is that my faith encourages me to do these simple things. My faith encourages me to connect with others: my family, my church family, and my community. Assembling with my church family and doing acts of service encourage me to be active. Prayer and meditation encourage curiosity and living a reflective life. As a student of the Bible, I’m a lifetime learner besides the fact that service will also entail learning new things. Following Jesus who came not to be served but to serve leads me into giving. I’ve learned giving in my weekly contribution to the church, but I’ve also learned to give to others in various settings. Following Jesus encourages me to be generous.

Another social science study notes that church attendance and having friends at church are keys to well-being. Thirty-three percent of those who attend weekly with three to five friends in the congregation report being extremely satisfied. Those who attend weekly without friends in the church and those who never attend scored 19% extremely satisfied.

The bottom line is not about social science or what I may perceive as beneficial to me. I could be self-deceived about my felt needs. The bottom line is about God. I’m struck by a line in Deuteronomy 10:13. Moses has commanded Israel to walk in the way of the Lord, to love God, and to serve God with all their heart. Moses tells them to keep the commandments “for your good.”

I’m convinced that following God is the best way. It is the way of character, inner peace, and fulfillment in life. Social science catches a glimpse of well-being, but wisdom intimately knows the inner life of the soul. Even when following God leads through hardships, I’m convinced God’s way will ultimately be the best way. I believe in a loving God who commands things “for your good.”

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Posted by Russell Holden

400 Years Old!

January 21, 2011

First published in 1611, the King James Version celebrates its 400th anniversary in 2011. The KJV had a number of important English Bible predecessors: the Tyndale New Testament (1525/26), the Coverdale Bible (1535), the Matthew-Tyndale Bible (1537), the “Great Bible” (1539), the Geneva Bible (1560), and the Bishop’s Bible (1568).

King James I, the king of England and earthly head of the Church of England, called the Hampton Conference of 1604. It was at this conference that a new translation of the Bible was proposed for use in the Church of England. One of the purposes of the new translation was to eliminate marginal notes that had become popular with the Geneva Bible. Those notes had become a battle ground of doctrinal differences.

Fifty-four translators worked on the KJV, although the names of only forty-seven have been preserved. The translators were divided into six committees. Three committees worked on the Old Testament, two on the New Testament, and one on the Apocrypha. (The Apocrypha was commonly printed in the KJV until the British and Foreign Bible Society adopted a policy of omitting it in 1826.) The draft translation from these six committees was then reviewed by a smaller group of 12 translators (two from each committee). The work of seeing the translation through the printing process was overseen by Miles Smith and Thomas Bilson. Smith wrote the preface, “The Translators to the Readers,” which is usually omitted in modern printings, although interesting to read.

In what sense is the King James Version the Authorized Version? The mention of authorized version is printed in the KJV, but unfortunately there is no historical record of its authorization. It is assumed to have come by Order in Council, but records have been lost. Such an order would only have meant that it was authorized by the Church of England to be read in their churches. It is not a reference to any divine authorization.

Why celebrate? I’ve decided to read the KJV in my daily Bible readings this year in honor of its 400th anniversary. The KJV made a profound effect on language, literature, and study of the Bible. For many, it is still their Bible of choice. The preface to the KJV remarks that they owed “everlasting remembrance” to the translators who went before them. I suspect we do owe an incredible debt to all who have translated the Bible for us. The KJV translators overcame a resistance to making the Bible available in the common language (an issue addressed in the KJV preface). Whatever translation you are reading, if it in English, you have an incredible debt to the KJV and the translations that preceded it. They made the Bible available to us all.

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Posted by Russell Holden

Greater Love

January 14, 2011

The nation was shocked by the Arizona shooting. The darkness of human madness is incomprehensible. Yet, in the midst of such darkness the light is often reflected because human beings are created in the image of God. Dorwin Stoddard, a victim of the shooting, is one such story. You may have heard his name in the news, but you may not have heard that he was a member of the Mountain Avenue Church of Christ. He and his wife, Mavy, were involved in their benevolence ministry.

When the shooting began, Dorwin threw himself into the line of fire to protect his wife. Although wounded, Mavy is recovering and was released from the hospital. Dorwin was fatally wounded.

You can’t hear such a story and not be moved. How great a sacrifice! How great a love! And in the background I hear the echo of scriptures.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7–8, ESV

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13, ESV

I have sat across the desk from couples preparing for marriage and read portions of Ephesians 5: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25, ESV). I have asked those potential husbands, “What kind of love did Christ have?” It is difficult to coax the words out of them, but the answer is sacrificial. It should not be surprising that a man who attempted to live a Christlike life died a Christlike death. Greater love has no one but to lay down his life for another.

But if you are moved by this man’s love and sacrifice, remember something. You are loved in the same way. Christ died so that you might live. How great a love! How great a sacrifice!

Our condolences go to the victims of this shooting and their families. Whenever there is darkness, a need exists for people to reflect the light. God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. Those who have come to know the sacrifice and love of Jesus can be light bearers in the midst of darkness.

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Posted by Russell Holden

“In Accordance with the Scriptures”

January 7, 2011

The witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection also testify that His death and resurrection were in accordance with the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:4, Luke 24:44). Another line of evidence that the seeker needs to consider about Jesus is prophecy found in the Old Testament or Jewish Tanach.

Alfred Edersheim listed 456 passages which were interpreted as Messianic in ancient Jewish literature. J. Barton Payne in his Encyclopedia of Biblical Prophecy identified 1239 predictions in the Old Testament (6,641 verses) of which 127 (3,348 verses) were personal Messianic predictions. An important point for the seeker to remember is that the prophecies were written before the birth of Jesus. We can know that from the Jewish literature of the time, the manuscripts of the Old Testament that date before the first century A.D. (e.g., the Dead Sea Scrolls) and the translation of the Old Testament into Greek (the Septuagint) which dates from 200 to 100 B.C. We do not have to worry about a criticism which would claim the prophecies were written after Christ to make it look like Jesus had fulfilled them.

Peter Stoner was chairman of the Departments of Mathematics and Astronomy at Pasadena City College. He had students calculate probabilities for eight Messianic passages. He attempted always to remain conservative in their estimates. They found the chance that any man might have lived down to the present time and fulfilled all 8 prophecies was 1 in 1017.

Stoner illustrated the probability by imagining 1017 silver dollars dumped onto the state of Texas. They would cover all of the state two feet deep. Stoner wrote: “Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man, from their day to the present time, providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.”

We are faced with the choice between the inspiration of God guiding the prophets or some incredibly difficult odds. And as Stoner noted, it is not just a matter of 8 prophecies. We have more than 100 that could be added to the calculations. Stoner calculated if we were to take it up to 48 prophecies, the odds would then be 1 in 10157. Stoner concluded with these words: “Any man who rejects Christ as the Son of God is rejecting a fact proved perhaps more absolutely than any other fact in the world.”1

The witnesses claim that Jesus’ passion and resurrection are in accordance to the Scriptures. Have you examined? What have you decided?

1Peter W. Stoner, Science Speaks: An Evaluation of Certain Christian Evidences (Chicago: Moody Press, 1963), pp. 99-112.

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Posted by Russell Holden

Time and Eternity

December 28, 2010

The eternal God who created the universe also created time. There was neither day nor passing year until God spoke the universe into existence and separated the light from the darkness. The eternal God gave the sun, moon, and stars to mark the progress of the seasons. Humankind’s first calendar was the glorious march of sun, moon and stars across the sky—each obedient to its creator. Look beyond the clock and calendar even the magnificence of the skies to the One who made it all and give Him praise.

The eternal God should be “our dwelling place.” As we see how fleeting time is—how fleeting our time is, we ponder Him for whom a thousand years is like a day or a few hours of the night (Psalm 90). But for us even a long life is soon past. Yet in those fleeting moments we may live for God and decide eternity for ourselves. “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12, ESV).

Having had the opportunity to hear good news, we must not let the moment fly from us without a response. Our eternal destiny hangs in the balance.

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Corinthians 6:2, ESV).

And once begun, the faith must be lived. We dare not drift away from so great a salvation. We do not know when the last grain of sand will fall in the hour glass of our life.

But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end (Hebrews 3:13-14, ESV).

Though our life is but a mist—a fleeting moment (James 3:14), God can give meaning to our lives, and living for God can give us hope beyond the transitory and the temporary. Praise God for time and eternity!

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Posted by Russell Holden

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