Author: Charlton Rhinehart

Why the Prophetess?

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Charlton Rhinehart

The Bible has many examples of women who were able to prophesy in addition to the men who were prophets. Scripture speaks of many false prophets, but the way most biblical prophetesses are described leaves us no reason to regard them as false. True prophecy as we see in scripture is a miraculous gift from God, so we know that God chose these particular women to be speakers of His word. But why the prophetess? Why did God permit women to sometimes be the “spokesman” for His message through prophecy when at other times He forbids women from spiritual leadership in public? The answer to this question might expose the difference in prophecy and other acts of spiritual leadership.

One of the first prophetesses we see in scripture is Miriam, the sister of Aaron (Ex. 15:20). We can infer that her prophecies from God would have been true and right. Perhaps Miriam is most known for the mistake her and Aaron made in Numbers 12 leaving her struck with leprosy for a short time. As with any man or woman of God in scripture, we see those individuals can make mistakes and often do so, but prophecy itself is unique because it comes direct from God without error.

Deborah in the book of Judges is also listed as a prophetess (Judges 4:4). She is the only female judge of Israel, a position that served as a military and civil leader. While Eli was a judge of Israel who also served as priest, Samuel was a judge with priest like duties (not a Levite), the 13 previous judges were only judges. Still Deborah is described as a prophetess also, just like God was with many of them in some unique way.

In the book of Second Kings when Josiah had found the book of the law, he sent the priest and several men to Huldah the prophetess to inquire of the Lord, realizing that they had been living in error for quite some time. Huldah the prophetess spoke to the men by prophecy (2 Kings 22:13-20), specifically addressing the message from God that was to be given to the king and to the nation of Judah. Her prophecy serves as an important example to help us understand that a prophetess was not limited in who she could prophesy to.

The New Testament seems to hold similar examples of female prophets. Anna the prophetess joins Simeon who is telling what Jesus would accomplish at the temple when He was brought as a child (Luke 2). Philip is said to have four prophesying daughters in Acts 21:9, and prophecy among women appears to be a gift that is addressed in the Corinthian letters. Aside from this gift eventually being fulfilled in the completion of scripture, the New and Old Testament seem to hold little difference on the subject of the prophetess.

There is another similarity between the Old and New Testament I would like for us to consider. And that is that neither covenant of scripture has an example of a woman serving as a priest, preaching publicly, teaching publicly on spiritual matters, nor do we see a woman leading public prayers before any assembly with men. When we consider the overall absence of those examples along with the commands of the New Testament for a woman to not lead spiritually over men, we have to wonder; why did God use women at times as prophets to deliver His message to all of mankind? Especially if the prophecies were spiritual guidance for men or entire nations at times.

Although in our eyes preaching, teaching, and prophecy all appear to be much the same, we have to realize there is a significant difference. By our own judgment we tend to think that a person who can prophesy should have authority to preach also, besides that we usually think of the prophet as greater than the preacher being that prophecy is a miraculous gift. Certainly the apostle John for example could preach and prophesy, and had authority to do both. But it is not always the case that a person who delivers a true prophecy from God has the authority to teach and preach also. Let’s consider some examples.

Saul of the Old Testament was selected by God to serve as King of over Israel. Saul was a good and humble man and he served well as King for a period, however with time Saul made some mistakes and God choose David to become the king of Israel because of those failures of Saul. What could have been a moment of repentance and change for Saul became a moment of his true downfall, he began pursuing to take the life of David. In 1 Samuel chapter 19, Saul has made several attempts to kill David and he has reached a point of madness. By the end of the chapter Saul has pursued after David into the presence of Samuel and strips naked and prophesies (v.23-24). Clearly God is not with Saul at this point but rather He is protecting David who narrowly escapes time after time, however God still uses Saul even in his state of madness and sin to prophesy a message from God. Saul was in no position from here to his death that he should have been preaching or teaching men his understandings of God, but God still used Saul in this low point to prophesy.

A similar example is a prophecy made by Ciaphas high priest during the life of Jesus, even though Ciaphas took part in sending Jesus to be crucified. While plotting with the Pharisees and chief priests about the death of Jesus, Caiaphas prophesied, “…that it is expedient that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation should not perish” (John 11:50 NASB). The following verse (v.51), tells us this was a prophecy from God concerning Jesus, yet it was done mistakenly while plotting His death. Ciaphas might have done plenty of teaching and preaching also, but those teachings were not in accordance to God’s word. This prophecy from Ciaphas however was directly from God, exactly how God meant it to be delivered.

You might notice, prophecy does not depend on the ability, righteousness, authority, understanding, or any other aspect of the person delivering the prophecy, but it is a message direct from God delivered though an individual. When a person prophesies it does not necessarily authorize the individual lead in any other capacity. This can be seen also in examples such as Balaam’s donkey who spoke to him through God. Balaam himself serves as an example, caught between the bribes of a king and the prophecies God would give him, his prophecies blessed Israel while he desired to curse them. Jesus at His triumphal entry stated that the rocks would cry out if the people were silent (Luke 19:40), can even lifeless items prophesy and fulfill prophecies?

We make a mistake when we associate prophecy with authority. True prophecy is a direct message from God without error regardless of who it is delivered through. On the other hand preaching and teaching – interpreting and representing God’s word and thought comes with great responsibility and in some cases God-given qualifications. Elders are to be “apt to teach” (1 Tim 3:2 KJV), teachers will “incur a stricter judgment” (Jas 3:1 NASB), and women are not to be the ones teaching publicly on spiritual matters (1 Tim 2; 1 Cor 14). Why God chose the prophetess at times to deliver His word has been a stumbling block to many, especially to those who desire a woman to have more roles than she has been given; But with honest study we can see why God used men, women and even other creatures to prophecy His word. Those prophesies don’t contradict or negate God’s instruction for a woman to refrain from teaching and preaching.

Church Conference Organization

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Focus Press has put out a few videos this year calling into question if large church conferences are at odds with the local church. The idea that they were discussing is that a conference with 7000 people is often faithfully attended with much enthusiasm while the local congregation’s assembly is dwindling in many cases. Although Focus Press is a group of individuals who are all part of institutional congregations, they could still see that something wasn’t right about this huge conference but suffering local congregations. They peaked my interest when they mentioned the local church several times and realized the problem though they never reach a definite conclusion. I have since seen several responses by individuals trying their best to show that the two, (the huge conference and the local church), complement one another and that the large conference or lectureship build up the local church – though the original video called that into question. I can’t pass up the opportunity to comment on this as subjects such as these have been my focus for the past two years.

To keep things simple, Christians can come together from anywhere and study, work, or worship at anytime, but we do not see the congregations joining their leadership together in any formal way for any event in scripture. We do not see boards and committees, chairmen or board members over any Christian effort in any of our inspired instructions. The same stands all the more for the local church who might want to hold a gospel meeting, inviting other saints or visitors; the inspired example is the elders and deacons leading the efforts of the church, we again do not find committees or boards in addition doing the work that the elders should directly be handling. A guest speaker or several guest speakers are in line with our examples of the evangelist traveling from one congregation to another in scripture. Saints traveling to visit, worship with, and encourage one another are examples from inspired letters. And Christians coming together to evangelize and help one another in need is what we find the early church doing. Christians meeting together are not wrong, even many Christians from great distances with a speaker from a whole different congregation is not wrong. But sadly the setup some have created and made common of uninspired leadership with boards, committees, combined leadership and funds are not according to God’s pattern all sufficient for us. In such cases the large conference or lectureship is at odds with the local church which God designed and gave authorized leadership for.

Christians can come together from all over for a large number of reasons, but to form such an assembly into something beyond what we have example of puts that Christian effort at odds with the local church, with scripture, and with God. This is exactly how events such as Polishing The Pulpit or Challenge Youth Conference have been organized, with boards, combined leadership, and funds. As much as I appreciate some of the good things taught at those assemblies, I have to realize the structure is wrong. As with all of these organizations, they look beautiful and so good on the surface, but once you learn of the compromises taking place for speakers and hidden errors being tolerated for the sake of the event then you realize with time why God gave us the design for the local church that He did. The local church is the only organized institution that God designed to teach the gospel, we cannot add our own design and structure to make it better . Let’s keep the pattern.

Charlton Rhinehart

The Forgotten Missionary Society

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Charlton Rhinehart

Around the turn of the century into the 1900’s there was a division happening in the restoration movement. The churches of Christ were splitting and the Christian Church was forming in the process. The divisive factors leading up to that split had been growing for years, but by 1906 the split was official. The two most prominent factors in this division were instrumental music in worship and the use of Missionary Societies in the church. If you are a member of the church of Christ then you are likely very familiar with the scriptural issues surrounding instrumental music; but unfortunately also if you are a member of the church then you are likely unfamiliar with Missionary Societies. There is a reason why we don’t hear much talk about these institutions today even though they were a major factor in our restoration history. I firmly believe that these societies have been intentionally forgotten, because their modern application now hits way too close to home.

A Missionary Society was an organization, institution, or arranged co-operative that combined congregation’s efforts, formed combined leadership, and combined congregation’s finances to carry out various works. There were many various Missionary Societies that the Christian Church established. Some examples include: The American Christian Missionary Society, Illinois Christian Missionary Society, Home Society, Women’s Society, and the Foreign Christian Missionary Society. There was a long list of these societies, many of them having various branches of focus. Some of these organizations focused on foreign missionary work, some of them were intended for stateside missionary work, some of them were used to pay preachers, some to build church buildings, some were to help orphans or widows, to give loans to struggling churches and many similar works like we see denominations collectively doing through their headquarters, yet the Christian Church still claimed to be non-denominational. These societies were financially supported through congregations voluntarily when their elder’s chose which ones to support, but there was also a sense of obligation among Christian Churches to support at least some of them. This ever-growing list of Societies were achieving so many good works that the individuals supporting them were convinced that they had to be pleasing to God. These individuals were willing to divide the body of Christ to establish the societies. But not everything that is good, is right.

Some of the churches of Christ however saw through all the good that was taking place by these establishments and asked the simple question, “are they authorized?” The temptation to be blinded by achievements that seem so good could not allow these societies to go without question. Were they scriptural? Do these institutions match the pattern of the New Testament church? The Missionary Society was no where in the scriptures, nothing in the pages of the New Testament could be compared to them. These institutions were not the local church, there was no scriptural design as to how they should be set up, who should be in charge of them, what those leader’s qualifications should be, where these organizations should get their funding, or what their allowed purpose is. Out of all the great physical needs of the first century, orphans, widows, the spreading gospel, churches being established, and preachers being trained, no society or similar organization was ever put in place as our inspired example. The church – the local church – the autonomous local congregation was what God had established and the local church had the responsibility to cary out the works assigned by God. This could not be delegated to a man-made organization or society that would handle these troubles for them. The church of our Lord was designed with elders and deacons with inspired qualifications yet the more powerful decisions of these collective societies were made by committees, a board of directors, and a chairman. The local church was to care for its own members in need, not an outside group with a separate treasury. The local church was to give to a sister congregation in need, not through an organization (Acts 11:28-30; Rom 15:26; 1 Cor 16:1-2; 2 Cor 8 & 9). The church was to evangelize and teach the gospel to the world and they were not to loose their knowledge of scriptures because they delegated that to a society. The churches could not combine their leadership and their funds to form anything beyond what God authorized. While Christians could work together and our efforts achieve the same goal, we could not establish a collective society of our own design. The Missionary Society was not an establishment that anyone restoring the church of the Bible could support, and so the churches of Christ rightfully opposed these additions of the time.

There is yet another piece of our history that needs to be told as we address these societies, the sponsoring arrangement. The Missionary Societies arose in the mid and late 1800’s and continued their departure away with the Christian Church in the early 1900’s, but man’s desire to establish similar organizations and great works continued to arise in the Lord’s church. In the 1950’s and 60’s a method was made common that gave us a different structure for these same organizations, it was the church sponsoring arrangement. Under this title an eldership of one congregation could “sponsor” a work, their elders would oversee a work just as God intended for His church carry out efforts. But the departure came as these works intentionally grew beyond the work of a single congregation. Other congregations were asked to support the work by giving funds through the sponsoring congregation. Hence, the sponsoring eldership was no longer managing the contribution and efforts of their own flock, but several congregation’s efforts were now being controlled by a single eldership. Lots of excuses can be made to try and justify the sponsoring arrangement, such as how the giving congregations were giving voluntarily or under their own elder’s decision, but they found themselves making the exact same excuses as the contributors to the Missionary Societies a few decades before them. Another aspect of the sponsoring arrangement was that the work being supported often ended up controlling whole congregations in other locations. For example, a sponsoring church and eldership would not just support a preacher the way we see Paul was supported (2 Cor 11:8; Phil 4:18), but whole congregations were being supplied and ruled over by a distant eldership. God never meant for one eldership to oversee another congregation (1 Pet 5:2). Likewise, the works supported from a combined sponsored arrangement such as evangelism would grow so large that the overseeing elders could no longer manage them, hence boards and committees had be established to really run what the elders claimed to be in control of. The sponsoring arrangement was satisfying to many wanting to justify a larger organization in the church. The arrangement provided a way to claim that a single church was carrying out a work just like we see with the local church in scripture, but the details of how the sponsoring arrangement really operates are just as ugly and identical to a separate society organization.

It is time we look at ourselves today as the church of Christ. What have we become? If these Missionary Societies that were so clearly wrong and divisive to the body of Christ have been so easily forgotten, have we once again fallen for the same structures with a different name? Perhaps just a look at a few of our own efforts will reveal that, maybe even the efforts I once held dearly to need to be examined. Gospel Broadcasting Network, GBN is one of those efforts that I loved. GBN is overseen (sponsored) by the elders of Southhaven church of Christ. They are supported by many Christians and congregations, the elders have setup a “management team” made up of men from various congregations along with a director that many of us love. One of the problems is that it is not scriptural for a work to be funded by more than one congregation, let alone hundreds of congregations. Money is a powerful influencer, and God knew that when he designed the local church to be autonomous in giving. God’s gospel cannot be subject to mass funding such as the way that GBN is funded. GBN is an organization that is not the local church, it may claim to be controlled by a single congregation, but many congregations are clearly linked together by this enterprise in an unscriptural way. Am I too convinced by GBN’s good to question them against what I now understand?

The school of preaching in your area is another institution to consider, they are most all organized the same way, an overseeing eldership, a board of directors and a main director, supported by many congregations and Christians. Did God intend for such an institution to hold so much influence over all the preachers and doctrines of His church in a region? Did He intend each congregation to be independent while our preachers were to be connected to an alumni? As we see the failures of the Christian universities we often become strong believers in the schools of preaching, but it took me a long time to realize that we have only created another departure from scripture in the process. Foreign schools of preaching sometimes take this departure even a step further, the director will reside with the school in the foreign land, but the sponsoring congregation and eldership will not even be in the same country. How can those elders really know what the work needs and be intimately involved with it as God intends elders to know their flock? In reality it does not matter if the sponsoring congregation is near or far, neither setup permits elders to delegate their work to a director or a board. And while it is the work of the church to teach, a congregation is not authorized to establish a school institution. We are the church alone that Christ instituted. We cannot create and combine staff from other flocks to be subject to additional shepherds, and we cannot combine church funds in a way that these institutes do.

World Bible School, WBS likewise is an organization with many great achievements, however our efforts become vain when we break the pattern for God’s organization. WBS began to grow many years ago by receiving funding from many congregations. The organization does not feel the need to hide behind the sponsoring arrangement, but operates simply with a president and board. The Bible correspondence that WBS does is a great purpose, but this work that should have been done simply by Christians working together or by individual congregations has been made into a great organization. If you are familiar with WBS‘s corruption in preaching and worship in foreign lands (such as their Gospel Chariot Missions), then you can see the results of creating an institution out of simple good works. In a similar manner the beauty of previously listed sponsored works also loose their luster when you know the details of the compromises that happen for funding and political relations among churches.

The Church of Christ Disaster Relief is an organization we all know well. They operate with a board of directors made up of both men and women. Just like WBS there is no sponsoring church, there is no longer a need in the brotherhood to disguise behind that screen. A quick look at this CoC Relief corporation tells you there is no real agreement on doctrine and no emphasis on the uniqueness of the church from the religious world. Congregations from all over are encouraged to give and congregations from all over give to the organization without question. Conservative and liberal congregations send their contributions, even businesses contribute, those contributions are combined and handed out to anyone in need. Teachings are not emphasized, but giving is. Where are the scriptural qualifications for these board members to even be members of the church when there is no example for such a central agency? What passage would we turn to read about this organization? We read of congregations helping needy saints, congregations gave to the church at Jerusalem during famine, but there was not a separate corporation built to manage it for them. When we replace the institution of God – the local church, we then replace elders and deacons with board members, we replace scriptural qualifications with our own man-made qualifications, and the trend continues as we replace God’s doctrines with our own. With this corporation doctrine has not only taken a back seat but it has gone out the window. Our great intentions are heart warming by our own feelings as we behold the good we accomplish, but the church of our Lord becomes unrecognizable from the denominational world and foreign to the scriptures.

The examples could continue on, I could spend more time in research and tell of how many thousands of dollars roll through each agency per year. Or perhaps I could list how many hundreds of congregation give to each group and what some of those congregations practice. For the schools I could show how many congregations are influenced by the doctrines decided by a school’s directors, or how many congregations they have to please to continue their funding – but I hope that you can begin to see what took me so long to arrive at. Whether we look at conservative or liberal efforts among churches involved with these institutions, these works that have become organizations and institutions are simply modern day Missionary Societies. Not only have we forgotten what Missionary Societies were, we have become totally wrapped up in them under different names but with the same oversight, structure, and funding. Some of them have hidden under a sponsoring eldership, some of them no longer hide at all. Satan doesn’t need to disguise these arrangements anymore because so much of the church has lost the desire for true restoration.

The local church is God’s only divine institution for Christians to work together. The work of the church is to preach the gospel to the saved and lost, to teach and encourage members, to care for needy members, restore the erring, and worship our Lord.1 When we endeavor to expand our efforts beyond what God has authorized for us we may impress ourselves but we are rejecting God’s eternal plan for the kingdom. When we establish additional church institutions that are not scriptural in structure, organization, or funding we are telling God that His church is insufficient and that we know how to run His work better. It was the church that the gates of Hell was promised to never overcome and it was the church that Jesus built – not man (Matt 16:18). It was the church with specific instructions for work, structure, giving, and worship that God designed. It is not our place to combine congregations, treasuries, and leadership into our own designs. It is not scriptural for these central agencies to solicit, combine, oversee, and distribute funds that the local church alone is to manage. In the same way it is the local church that is to teach and preach, not a combined institution working like a denominational head destined for corruption. We can become blinded by all the good we can accomplish by creating these enterprises, but the standard and instruction for us is what we are accountable for, no amount of good can ever replace our responsibility to hold to God’s all sufficient instruction for the church He planned from the foundation of the world. Of all the authors of the scriptures over thousands of years, things that even the angels longed to understand all led up to the kingdom of God made up of autonomous congregations, it is a design we have no right to alter.

A final example that relates to all these matters is found in the life of W.W. Otey. Brother Otey was born in 1867, and he was a young man in 1908 when he challenged the aged and skilled debater J.B. Briney from the Christian Church to a debate on these matters. The debate concerned instrumental music and of course, Missionary Societies. The young farmer W.W. Otey gave an impressive summery, challenge, and defense showing that these societies had no place in the church despite his young age and limited preaching experience. While reading the debate I had to stop and look up to see if Otey lived to see the split over institutionalism in the 50’s and 60’s. If so what was Otey’s position during those times? Brother Otey did live a long life, and in 1951 Otey published a book titled “Living Issues”. In the book Otey wrote of the man-made institutions he saw forming in the church giving examples from his time, and he also wrote about the Missionary Societies that he knew so well. Brother Otey made dozens of comparisons between the societies, the institutions and sponsored works in the book Living Issues. He showed how the arguments for the institutions being formed were identical to the unscriptural arguments given for Missionary Societies. While some men changed their positions when The Gospel Advocate’s quarantine was published and fellowship issues became serious, W.W. Otey remained faithful exposing the similarities between the societies, the sponsoring works, and the institutions.

The sad truth is that we have forgotten what the Missionary Society was and we have forgotten to care about the design of the church in the scriptures. We are packed full of Missionary Societies, central agencies, institutions, and sponsored works. The efforts of the church that are dearest to our hearts are often the ones furthest from scripture. While we teach many distinct truths we have failed to see the log in our own eye that has grown larger and larger in our lifetime. Perhaps these words have brought you to realize what we have created for the first time, I hope you consider these matters in full honesty. The church of the Bible is non-institutional, that is not a biased statement, it is a fact. There are no various church institutions in the New Testament except for the local church itself. We cannot claim that something we create is part of the church when we cannot find anything like it in scripture. There are divine reasons why God did not design these organizations in His plan. When God gave Noah the instructions for the ark Noah wasn’t saved by improving God’s plan, rather we know Noah was righteous because he followed God’s design exactly (Gen 6:22,7:1,5). We can achieve great things through God’s design, by His authorized institution the local church when we get back to upholding her responsibilities. The desire to try to achieve more will always be a temptation for some, but we have to learn that God’s way is the only way that is right and truly good. There is only one blood-bought church of Christ that saves, that church serves God and His children through God’s design alone.

“Now these things, brethren… you might learn not to exceed what is written…” 1 Cor 4:6

“Now I praise you because you remember me in everything, and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.” 1 Cor 11:2

  1. W.W. Otey, Living Issues (Austin, TX: Firm Foundation Publishing House, 1951), pp. 27, 49. ↩︎

Tears in Heaven

Charlton Rhinehart Leave a comment

Charlton Rhinehart

There is a small church that I would often visit with my family as I was growing up when we were traveling in middle Tennessee. The church was sound in the faith, the preacher would always work up a sweat preaching though it was not to make a show, and the usual song leader would always lead “No Tears in Heaven”. You could always count on that song being sung every Sunday, yet it was always sung with enthusiasm. I have grown quite fond of that song because of the memories it gives me of that good congregation. I do believe there is a sense in which there are no tears in heaven, but the more I think about it I also realize that there has to be some tears in heaven, and those tears are not just tears of joy.

The passage that this song about no tears is getting at of course is the one in Revelation 21 when the new Jerusalem appears, perhaps describing heaven or a brighter picture of when the persecutions would be over. The passage says: “and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall be no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away” Rev 21:4 NASB. A similar passage is in chapter 7 v.17 of Revelation also describing a time when “…God shall wipe every tear from their eyes”. Hold that thought of such a bliss place and the context it comes from in Revelation in the back of your mind for a moment while we consider another thought.

I don’t like to speculate beyond scripture very much, but have you ever stopped to think about the thoughts of a person in heaven or paradise as they first awake there? If you have lost someone close perhaps you knew their situation and their concerns very well. We can imagine the sights of the glory of heaven though we really don’t understand all that will be, we can imagine the beauty of the singing that is there, the joy of being with past saints who have passed before us, the longing that will be fulfilled to be in the presence of God and to see the Son at His right hand. Even if Paradise is where we first go awaiting heaven we can still imagine the amazement that will be in such a place like Lazarus saw in Luke 16. But again if you have in mind someone who has passed on before us, you also know of their earthly concerns: their family, their spouse, their children, and grandchildren. How could a person not be mindful of their loved ones that they had to leave behind? Regardless of how amazing the scenes of heaven are, a person will still think of their close loved ones and long for them to be there also.

When a person enters eternity there is bound to be some sadness. There will be a great concern, sadness, and tears for the situation we left our family in behind us. There will be sadness for the ones who should be there waiting for us in heaven but are not there. There will be heartache for the ones still living who we know are on a track to miss such a beautiful place. There will be worry for our children and loved ones who we hope will be faithful without us there who we hope to see again, and there will be great sorrow as many of those loved ones never show up as time progresses. There will be great joys in heaven that we on earth cannot truly fathom, but there will also be sadness and tears – because there has to be. 

Perhaps the statement that there has to be tears and some sadness there in heaven catches you off guard. It seems to violate scripture of the few passages that describe heaven to us. But consider also who else lives there in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Are they ever sad? Are they ever grieved or hurt or are they simply in a constant state of pleasure? We know that God experiences sadness and heartache. We know that God was hurt, saddened, and angry when Israel were adulterous with idolatry and disobedience, and we know that He feels the same in heaven when the church acts similar today. We know that the Son is reminded of His pain when those leaving the faith trample on Him and the blood that was shed for them (Heb 10:29). We know also that we can grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph 4:30), that grief is felt there in heaven, and it resonates through the angels and the multitude that is there as all heaven longs to see the plans of God unfold.  There will be joy, peace, and happiness in heaven let’s not forget, but we have to keep in mind the context and the actual meaning behind the promise of no more tears.

Coming back to the thought of the bliss of heaven described in Revelation we need to remember how symbolic Revelation is written. Just like Ezekiel and portions of Daniel, Revelation is full of very symbolic language different than many parts of Scripture. For example in chapter 12 we have a dragon who we are told is Satan, 12:3, 12:9. In Revelation chapter 18 Babylon is destroyed despite Babylon having been destroyed 600 years earlier and never in history returning. In chapter 11 the temple is being measured though it was destroyed in AD 70, yet John likely wrote the book of Revelation in AD 90. There is reference also to the tabernacle which had been replaced by the temple for thousands of years.  Is Satan really a dragon? Did Babylon get rebuilt somewhere along the way or did a host of other Old Testament figures become a physical item again in New Testament times? Of course many of these analogies from Revelation were not literal or physical items; these things are simply imagery familiar to the saints depicting the trails and persecutions that they are going through as the Roman Empire persecuted the church in so many ways. Such it is with the promise of no tears, if we only understand that to mean what it literally says, then we are missing the point of a symbolic text of scripture.  

Heaven is not a place where we will be in just an ignorant state of bliss. I think one of the main reasons we tend to think this way is because we misunderstand the Revelation passage and make the symbolic text a physical requirement for heaven. When we read of no crying, or pain, or mourning then we think of a person in just a lost state of happiness. We think that our memory we will somehow be erased of the bad things that happened, and we ask foolish questions like, “will we recognize each other there?” Of course we will know one another, just think of the transfiguration and the prophets who knew one another on that mountain. We often have this foggy picture of heaven in our minds, where our thoughts are limited and our knowledge is impaired like a happy person lost in a nursing home. The scriptures show we will have knowledge of what is happening and the memories of all that has taken place, even in Revelation the slain saints show this awareness as they ask ”how long, O Lord, holy and true…?” asking when their blood will be avenged (Rev 6:10-11).

You see the picture that is being presented of eternity is not one where we are impaired and deceived into happiness, but rather this is a place where the pains of our fallen world no longer threaten us. It is a place where we come to a full understanding, a place where we reign with Christ having overcome the persecutions of the world. I believe there will be tears in heaven, tears of sadness, feelings of worry and concern, but those things are only there because of the troubles of our world. Our feelings, our memories, and our existence will be every bit as present to us then as they are to us today, but the trials of this fallen world will be over for those who overcome. When we realize what God meant when he told us of a place with no more tears in the context that He did, that is when we long for such a place. When we realize what having no tears represents, we see a clearer picture of heaven and understand better what we labor for. I look forward to such a place with no more pain.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” Revelation 21:3-4

A Modern Day Miracle?

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Charlton Rhinehart

If ever there was a case for a modern day miracle, it would have to be the events that happened on December 23, 1971 to Juliane Koepcke. You will not find a more amazing story of deliverance from certain death than the story of Juliane, she lives to tell the story herself to this day, the evidence of the event is undeniable, and no one hears the story and walks away not wondering how she survived. But if we compare this story to the miracles of scripture, will it hold up to match what we find there?

Juliane Diller, the present day married name of Juliane Koepcke, boarded LANSA flight 508 on December 23, 1971. The 17 year old girl had just attended her graduation ceremony and she was flying with her mother from Lima, Peru to Panguana, Peru. During the flight at nearly two miles high in the air, the plane was struck by lightning and began to tear apart. To anyone’s terror, Juliane was sucked out of the plane with nothing except the seat that she was strapped into. Juliane fell from 10,000 feet outside of the plane with no parachute and nothing but the seat she was in – landing in the Peruvian rainforest. Against all odds, most would say miraculously, she survived the fall!  But the story doesn’t end there; she was now deep in the rainforest with no one to help her survive and no rescue team aware of where she was. Juliane was lost in the rainforest for 11 days. She had many cuts, an injured arm, and despite her fall from the sky, her only broken bone was a collar bone. But now insects were feasting on her and maggots had began infesting her injured arm endangering her life though infection.

Juliane’s survival story continues as she pressed on and was able to search until she found an empty encampment with an old boat motor with some old gasoline. Using her wisdom of the threat to her health with her pending infections, she soaked her arm in the gas to kill the maggots, an action which experts have credited as part of her survival. Latter, loggers returning to the camp discovered her and got her the help that she needed. Once she was treated initially at a hospital she assisted search parties to find the crash site recovering the many killed in the crash, including her mother’s body. She continued to make full recovery and has written about and told her story many times on many programs.

When I first heard the story I did not believe it could be true. Part of my disbelief was my studied position that miracles have ceased, yet this story obviously had to be a miracle to have really happened.  Knowing however the trustworthiness of the individual sharing it, I searched for the story myself. Once I saw how many major news stations had interviewed her, how many articles were written on her and how many books told the story including her own, I had to believe it – but how could this be? People fall from small ladders everyday across our country and die, a fall from a tall ladder is almost certain death, yet here is a woman who fell from 10,000 feet, just shy of two miles high with nothing unusual to land on or not even a tangled parachute but here she is telling the story with no visible handicap.

A story like this is very difficult to fathom, a conclusion of a miraculous explanation seems inevitable, but taking a step back and reevaluating the story brings out some other factors. No, there is not reason to doubt the truth of the account, but there are some factors that don’t match the miracles of scripture. One of the first things you might learn as you look at the story in more detail is that Juliane had spent much time with her father in the rainforest. Though she was only 17 at the time of the crash, this was an important factor in her survival once the crash was over. Likewise her family’s ties to science perhaps played a part in her wise choices for treating her wounds. But this leads us to a very important factor in comparing Bible miracles to Juliane’s  story, and that is, why were there any injuries at all? Granted, the injuries are quite minor considering the event she survived, but does this compare to the miracles of the Bible?

The miracles we find in scripture are not left lacking in any way. For example the many lame men who were healed by Jesus did not walk away with a limp. Naaman’s skin was restored from leprosy, it was not with scars and imperfections, but it “…was restored like flesh of a little child…” (2 Kings 5:14). And even the blind man who Jesus healed at Bethsaida, who saw men looking like trees at first, the miracle wasn’t completed until he was seeing clearly (Mark 8:25). These miracles are not ever left incomplete, these miracles are not left short for natural healing to finish the job, rather the miracles of scripture are unlike any claims we see today. And Juliane’s miracle is lacking in this comparison though still staggering as the story is.

There is yet another similar factor to this story that separates it from a miracle, and that is the other lives that survived but were ultimately lost. Remember her mother’s body and the many others from the wreck that Juliane helped them find? All of those individuals were deceased when rescuers found the wreckage, it was apparent that many of them had also survived the fall from the sky, but sadly they failed to survive the conditions of the jungle.  It is the survival of the fall from 10,000 feet that is the factor making many of us convinced this is a miracle, but the fact that God would have miraculously delivered several individuals just for them to die a short time afterwards does not match the deliverance that we see God gives through Bible miracles. To call Juliane’s survival a miracle would cause us to also have to call the other initial survivor’s deliverance a miracle too; yet their injuries cost them their lives soon after. It’s a factor that we just cannot ignore and one that doesn’t match what God would miraculously do.

This story will always stick with me as an astounding story. The scientific reasons how she survived such a fall will baffle us and even the non-believing scientist, though the explanation of the factors are extremely difficult to comprehend or imagine they are somehow there. Perhaps it was the winds involved in the storm that helped slow her fall, perhaps the foliage of the jungle played a factor, or perhaps the speed of the plane helped create a different force like a parkour athlete jumping from a building with speed and rolling as he lands to break the fall. I do not dare to try to explain exactly how she survived such an event, but I know it was not a true miracle and that the laws of nature somehow had to work in her and the other passenger’s favor in this fall. This story doesn’t match the supernatural and perfect miracles of scripture.

…to claim that a modern day event is a miracle robs the magnificence of the true miracles recorded for us in scripture.

As much as we want to call the events in our lives a miracle and give God the glory for it, to claim that a modern day event is a miracle robs the magnificence of the true miracles recorded for us in scripture. The miracles that we find in the Bible are on a whole other level from even the most amazing stories we have. To discredit God’s hand in helping Juliane survive is not my intention, the providential works of God have always been in effect, but the miraculous have not. Even in miraculous times God also worked providentially, and in non-miraculous times such as today or the 400 years of silence between the testaments. I am glad I got to hear about this story, to challenge my own view in my own mind as I thought it through. It provided me an opportunity to test and strengthen my faith and uphold the view of the church knowing that the miraculous was for confirming the word of God in Bible times. Miracles provided signs and evidence that the prophets, the Messiah, and the apostles were inspired by God and that their message is from Him – proven by flawless miracles. Let us look to His completed word for our guide, and not within ourselves, and may we reserve the term “miracle” for the acts of God in the scriptures.

“For My Thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8 NASB.

Salvation without the Church?

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Charlton Rhinehart

There is nothing more offensive to our society in our current times than to hear someone say – “You have to be part of the church to be saved”. Even the handful of people who are left in our society that still go to church take offense at such a statement, because the denominations teach salvation by belief alone apart from anything else mentioned in scripture. It is interesting however, how the same offended individuals will quickly change positions whenever a passage such as Eph 5:23-25 is read, which shows that the church is the body, for who Christ died and is the savior of. Now that they are on board with the statement that the church is necessary they will quickly point out that we are the church, the universal church they might say, and the church is the people. 

“The church is a structure, not a brick and mortar structure – but a structure of people…”

It is true that the church is the people, but unlike the new position these individuals are now embracing, the church is not just people or even saved people. The church is a structure, not a brick and mortar structure – but a structure of people that assemble together, are accountable to leaders, are responsible for tasks together, and who worship together. The church is a local congregation you assemble with, answer to, and work with. For this God set elders and deacons up for His church, not just as an option for those who desire. For this God called the church “the pillar and support of truth” (1 Tim 3:15). For this God said do not forsake the assembly of the saints (Heb 10:25), and to listen to those who give account for your souls (Heb 13:17). 

There is no salvation outside of the church – period. Do not be deceived, this is the kingdom of God which the whole Bible points toward (Matt 16:18-19, Col 1:13, Rev 1:9). If you are not in the church, or your church teaches it is not necessary (which is the belief of most of denominations and community churches), then you need to be concerned for your soul.

“For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives aught to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her;” Ephesians 5:23-25 NASB

“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” Acts 20:28

“… to the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” Galatians 1:2-4

“And one of the the seven angles who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.“” Revelation 21:9

Does Christmas belong in Worship?

Charlton Rhinehart 2 Comments

Charlton Rhinehart

Many churches of Christ include some aspects of Christmas in their December worship in our current age, and many congregations of the Lord’s body still do not. Which is right? Does it really matter? What about scripture? What about growth? What about reaching the lost? What about spirit and truth? All of these are thoughts to consider on the subject, and yes – it matters.

The basic argument is something along these lines: There is no “Christmas” mentioned in the Bible, there is no celebration of Christ’ birth annually by the scriptural church, therefore Christmas should not be something brought into the church’s worship. Granted most all the members of the church celebrate some American-type traditions of Christmas at home such as a tree, lights and Santa Clause for their children; but for some the line is drawn at the church and rather or not to include the religious aspects of Christmas in worship, and this is a major offense to those who do incorporate the two. I am sure this whole issue looks foolish to the world of various denominations and community churches, but until you have studied the importance of biblical worship, then you cannot comprehend how important this issue is to us.

The other side of the argument in the church is fairly common also, for those who want to include Christmas in the church, first the concern with scriptural worship is acknowledged because we all come from the same basic understanding of the restoration. Then the shift is made that it is Christ’ birth that we are talking about, and the scriptures make a big deal about that. Who are we to suppress the teaching of the birth of Jesus? Next we address the lost, how many are looking for truth this time of year through the birth of Christ, and the fact that we are missing out on those opportunities because we do not include Christmas in worship and in our church efforts. These congregations will then modify the sermon to be about some aspect of the birth of Christ, there will be several of the songs replaced with the usual Christmas themed church songs already in our mainstream song books. We stick a tree out in the foyer and we give away some hams to the poor that we talk about but never have seen. But through all this we keep in mind that we are still seeking a simple worship as seen in scripture, so an extravagant Christmas program is not what any of us are comfortable doing.

So which way is right? Truth be told it seems neither side is very far apart. The progressive side is just a different but still biblical lesson away, and even a few scriptural songs from the progressive side is nearly all that separates us. The reality however is that these two congregations are very different, and these details matter to God and must matter to us.

All the details of the restoration matters to us, because we know that they matter to God. We know the structure of the church is vital, I am writing to the members of the church so I feel no reason to explain. But we know there is no way we can substitute our structure with the common pastor or headquarters of our society. We know that our teachings of salvation cannot be ignored, all of the plan of salvation is truth that is absolute and necessary. We know that worship matters, far more than we would have ever thought, but we know what happened to Uzzah at the ark, to the houses without blood over the doors at Passover, to Nadab and Abihu, or with Cain and Able’s sacrifice. We know the importance of the measurements of Noah’s ark and of the instructions of Solomon’s temple. We know why Saul’s sacrifice was wrong and that it is better to obey than to sacrifice. We know why Naaman had to wash in the Jordan and not the rivers of Damascus, we know why the blind man had to wash in the pool of Siloam, and we know about Ananias and Sapphira. We know about the pattern of the tabernacle in the Old Testament, and we know about the pattern of the apostles pertaining to the church as the Spirit guided them into truth.

We know our responsibilities to worship in spirit and in truth and we know that appealing to the lost by compromising those things is absolutely no excuse. We know that a sermon on the birth of Christ is right, but we also know that to do so on the closest Sunday to Christmas is deceiving to our visitors, our youth and ourselves. We cannot let ourselves compromise any of our teachings for the sake of pretending to be a group that we are not. If a visitor is really looking for a Christmas service, do we really think that any of us can compete with the world’s churches? They have plays and solos, they have instruments and stage lights, they have choirs and a live manger scene, the sky is the limit when there is no guide to go by. Even the most liberal congregation of us who still clings to our name for whatever reason cannot offer those things. We have something far greater to offer, we have truth, the truth of the scriptures, the truth of biblical worship, the truth of the church of the bible and freedom from the distractions that pseudo-christianity spends their focus on.

If Christmas is mentioned in the church’s worship then let it be because we are addressing the truth about it. If we want to speak on the birth of Christ because it is on everyone’s mind then so be it, but let’s make it clear in the same lesson that we are not doing so because we are incorporating Christmas into our worship. Christ died for the church, if we are going to be that church then we will be different, we will follow the pattern of the apostles and not the pattern of the world and it’s divisions of Christ. Even if we knew the exact day of Jesus birth it would make no difference, if the church of the bible did not practice it in their worship, then neither can we. We don’t have to be rude about what we believe, we don’t even expect the world to understand us without studying with them deeply, but we’ve got to be the pillar of truth, and we cannot be that by pretending to be someone else.

“You observe days and months and seasons and years. I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain.” Galatians 4:10-11 NASB

“In Vain Do They Worship Me, Teaching As Doctrines The Precepts Of Men.” Mark 7:7

Christian Meditation?

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Charlton Rhinehart

Meditation has become somewhat popular in our western culture, it has always been a major part of oriental cultures, but Americans are starting to catch on too. Think of how many exercise classes incorporate some element of meditation now. The same is true in various types of counseling and therapy, and of course there are many spiritual or religious movements using meditation. Meditation is a major part of many religions and it is also a fundamental part of Christianity, but the meditation spoke of in the Bible is very different from meditation of the world’s religions.

Recently I was in a group where we were being spoken to by a public speaker who was also a practicing Buddhist. While her religion was not at all the focus of her subject, she still began her talk by having us participate in some meditation (something that I knew came from her religion and culture). She began by having us close our eyes, to focus on our breathing, to forget about our concerns, and mostly to relax. It was a nice way to pull us in, a nice experience to relax some, but I couldn’t help but be on guard a little knowing where the practice comes from. The experience had me thinking, what is meditation? How could it be good or bad? Is it right to do or is it just a waste of time to distract us from what we should be doing?

Meditation is spoken of many times in scripture, mostly in the Psalms. Psalm 1 speaks of the blessed man who keeps his way from trouble, “But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night” Psl 1:2 NASB. Notice what the mediation is upon and what this meditation must be like. It is a focus on the law of the Lord, a concentration on those things and it is this man’s joy – his delight. Perhaps this reminds you of Psalm 119 where the word of God is praised in the longest chapter of the bible, it is also where we find the word meditate many times again. “I will meditate on Thy precepts…” v. 15, “… I will meditate on Thy statutes” v.48, “…that I may meditate on Thy word” v.148. Many other Psalms use the term also, such as 143:5, “… I meditate on all Thy doings; I muse on the works of Thy hands”. It is easy to see what is being described, to meditate is to think upon a particular item. This last passage even gives us an alternative term to help us understand it – to muse on the subject or to be consumed in thought and focus on these aspects of the Lord; particularly His commands and desires for us, the power of Him and His creation, or the eternal aspects our minds struggle to comprehend. This is what meditation is, it is focus, deep thought, concentration, and reverence toward what God has revealed. What good is the word of God if we never meditate on what it means? How can we ever respect the authority of God if we never meditate on His power? Meditation is a key aspect to the man of God under the Old or New Covenant, if we truly are thinking on and concerned with what God has said, what he has done, and what He will do, then we are meditating on Him.

In contrast, the meditation of the world’s religions is far different from the meditation we find in scripture. Perhaps a decent summary of the world’s meditation would be a way to simply relax, to set aside stress and connect with the spiritual things as we imagine them. There is a mindless aspect to this worldly meditation. As I looked further into the meditation of the Buddhist and similar religions, their meditation was described as a way of setting all these concerns aside in order to focus on one thing. I thought for a moment that there is something similar there we could relate to, that in order to focus on one thing, (such as the law of God), we must lay aside our other concerns. But when you consider the ultimate goal of their meditation – nirvana, it is evident that progress, conclusion and understanding from this thought process is not the goal. Nirvana in the Buddhist religion is the hard to reach point of meditation that reaches the peak of total emptiness, it is to be completely apart from your concerns or even your own awareness of who you are, unaware of your situations that might take your thoughts away from this mental place of perfect freedom. Its goal is not focus on any particular item, but rather just the opposite – it is the achievement of forgetting about everything for a moment. This may sound great to the person in need of a vacation, but it is in stark contrast to the sober and alert Christian of the New Testament (1 Pet 5:7, Acts 20:28), and it also isn’t the way of the Psalmist who is concerned of the devil’s snare and the Lord’s teachings (Psl 1). The meditation of the Buddhist or Hindu is a way to simply escape their current problems rather than face what needs to be done by God’s instruction. It offers no more than a drug or drink of alcohol, a simple escape for the moment and a way to avoid seeking the truth which is true meditation.  

Meditation is an important part of our Christian walk, without it we will never apply what God has taught us, we will never appreciate what we have been given, or acknowledge the power that God holds. Biblical meditation is far different from the meditation that the world shows us and it nearly the complete opposite of what the other religions have made it to be. As usual, the God of the Bible stands in obvious contrast to the gods of the world, and He differs in meditation too.

“The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and you will have success.” Joshua 1:8

Placebo Effect Miracles

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Charlton Rhinehart

We all know what a placebo is, that fake pill given out to some of the test group during the trial of a new drug. Yet it is always amazing how many of those who simply receive a fake sugar pill somehow have beneficial results. It makes for a challenge for the actual drug to compete with, not only does the real medication have to show real results, but it has to prove it is better than all these false results that people claim. But why are there so many benefits from a fake pill? Perhaps some of it is psychological to the person taking the drug – when they think positive they get positive results. Perhaps some of it is natural healing that takes place on its own and gets credited to the drug. And finally perhaps some of it is just plain dishonesty. Nevertheless, the placebo effect is something that even scientist have to account for. Could it also be that modern day miracles are the same thing, a placebo effect in our thoughts for those who believe them?

The churches of Christ have a unique view on miracles that I honestly haven’t seen in any other group. We believe that miracles have ceased. No, we don’t claim the miracles of the Bible are false, we don’t deny that God has the power to perform miracles, but we still claim they have ceased for the time we live in. The simple straight forward reason is because miracles served a purpose – they were to confirm the word of God, and that word is now complete. II Timothy 3:16 tells us of the inspiration of scripture, and verse 17 goes on to tell us that by it we can be “complete” and “thoroughly equipped”. This same message has been “…once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 4). And as John wraps up the book of Revelation he concludes by warning about those who would add to the words of the book, or take away from the words of the book (Rev 22:18-19). He was clearly talking about the book he had just written, but it also seems as more than coincidence that this is the last book of scripture written. The statement serves as a warning as well to not add to or take from the book as a whole, the big book that is – the Bible, it is now complete.

The fact is, miracles were performed not just for the convenience of the person benefiting from them, but they served a purpose, they were a sign that this is true. A sign that this prophet really is a true prophet from God, a sign that Israel was God’s nation, a sign that Jesus really was the messiah, and a sign that the apostles really were revealing inspired truth. The scriptures interchange the term signs and miracles often, John chapter 20 tells us these “signs” (v30) were “written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ” (v31). If this is the case with miracles and the prophets have been fulfilled in Christ, and if the apostles have revealed their message in scripture, then the need for miracles or signs are no longer needed.

So what about the miracles we see today? We have all seen some amazing things – are these not the same miracles we see in scripture? A miracle by definition is something supernatural, something that cannot  happen by natural laws, not just something that is rare, but something that cannot possibly happen within any natural odds. One of the most common things today that we call a miracle is the birth of a child. As amazing as the birth of a child is, especially your own child, birth is a very natural thing. Birth is well within the laws of nature to look at it from a scientific point, or well within the design of the human body from a Christian perspective. Truth be told we often misuse the term miracle for natural things that we don’t see every day, but a miracle is something that no person can explain. But what if a couple is told by their doctor that they are unable to have children, they pray for a child anyway, and a pregnancy occurs? Is this not a miracle?

Perhaps a better term for this unlikely pregnancy would be providence, this is what we pray for and hope for as God works with us today. The situation of the desired pregnancy is that the woman was highly unlikely to become pregnant, so much so that the doctor told her it wouldn’t happen. But just because the pregnancy occurred does not mean that a miracle has occurred. This isn’t something supernatural and totally unbelievable, but at the same time don’t rule out God’s involvement with it either. Perhaps if there was no prayer for this child the pregnancy would have never occurred. You see God can work out things that would have never occurred without His influence, but though He is involved, the result is not a supernatural unexplainable sign. God used those miracles, those signs in the past for a reason, to witness part of His word. But the need for that miraculous witness is fulfilled now as His word is complete for our understanding of Him. Still we know of His power and capabilities, still we pray and hope for His influence on the world around us providentially, but the instant supernatural response is not what we can expect in our time.

So why are there so many believers today that buy into miracles? They will tell you of things they have been healed of miraculously, tell you about angels they have seen or things God has spoken to them verbally. Perhaps the only way to explain this is the placebo effect and their own misunderstandings. Just like the convincing healing of the placebo pill that has to be false, so also many are convinced that they have witnessed the miraculous. Often these individuals are friends we know and trust to tell the truth. Sometimes it makes us think twice if something miraculous really occurred, but we have to realize these things cannot be true. For many of these individuals the churches they are a part of encourage their thinking. At these churches people will testify of things they have seen, Calvinism will have them looking for a calling to salvation, or preachers will tell of their unique miraculous calling to preach. Soon our friends are looking for something similar in their life and it doesn’t take long for them to find it in that mindset. One of the hardest challenges in evangelism is trying to show the truth to someone convinced they have seen the miraculous; someone who doesn’t believe the word of God is the whole authority for truth. Please reexamine the subject, just as there were 400 years of silence from God between the testaments, God can be silent today also yet we still know what He expects and that He is faithful.  Don’t swallow a sugar pill of lies.

“ Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease, if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part, and we prophecy in part; But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away.” (1 Cor 13:8-10)NASB.

“But the one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty…this man shall be blessed by what he does.“  (Jas 1:25)NASB.

Strange Evidence for God

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Charlton Rhinehart

There are many evidences for a person to have faith in God. For some it is nature itself and seeing all the beauty that God has created (Rom 1:20; Psl 19:1), the fact of how it all works together day after day. Perhaps others stand on the fact that it is impossible for something to come from nothing, the scientific excuse that the elements have just always existed leaves too much unexplained. Another source for faith is the word of God (Rom 10:17), when we stick with the study of His word long enough, we begin to see how it all ties together in a way only something far greater than us could design. When we see the different authors over thousands of years all in harmony with the nature of God, when we see the Old Testament stories foreshadowing the New Testament flawlessly it becomes obvious that faith does come by hearing that word. There are many more sources of faith that God gives us, but here lately there is one that stands out to me above the others, and that is the foolishness of sin, that which looks so appealing to the world but God condemned in wisdom only He could have. The more the world becomes wrapped up in sin, the more attractive it becomes to them when in reality it is so obvious the disgust and consequences it holds, that is when Satan’s pull is revealed. Likewise this is also when God’s way looks the best to those who can see beyond these short pleasures, His existence, His wisdom, His words become apparent truth.

An example of the world’s strange attraction to sin is political liberalism. While there is no single party we can recommend the church to vote for that matches God’s word perfectly, it is also so amazing just how Anti-God the left has become – the church cannot be silent about it. The liberal political views that are rapidly spreading in our schools, our youth, among minorities, Hollywood and the wealthy are not just an innocent different view of things as we sometimes think of them. When we see the handouts to those not willing to work we are seeing God’s word ignored (2 Thess 3:10). We see the idle time these individuals now have that Satan uses for temptation, and the lack of respect for what others have worked hard to build. We see genders made into a confusing mess, youth are encouraged to be another sex and prescribed hormones to alter their body’s development causing permanent damage and depression. We see murder being stood for with passion as the left lobbies to keep abortion legal and obscure ideas like euthanizing of elderly, sick, or those with down-syndrome slowly becoming a considerable option. The good principles of America, our founder’s faith, our recognition of God’s word and principles, our heroes who fought wars for these freedoms are made the villains. Homosexuality – that which is against nature, is praised as special and the family by God’s design with scriptural marriage is despised. How could a single party stand for so many evils? How could the majority of our nation now fall for such senseless positions? Only because Satan is the prince of the world, only because God’s way is foolishness to them (1 Cor 1:20, 3:19).

Lust is another example of similar rebellion but with a strange way of spiraling out of control – again however it all testifies to the wisdom of God. On more than one occasion I have seriously discussed scriptures with someone at their home while nearby was a picture or poster of a woman with nearly no clothes on. Often you will find yourself in a situation such as a garage playing gospel music on the radio yet there will also be a calendar nearby featuring a bikini model. It is easy to become hypocritical when ignoring some of Jesus’ commands, especially a command such as to not even lust after a woman which He calls adultery in our hearts leading to hell (Matt 5:28,29). That glance of a beautiful woman in our society can easily turn into a stare of lust, that lust can cause us to seek out more images leading to pornography – always available anywhere by technology. The world’s culture is being destroyed by pornography that Satan has made so common. A person begins it with curiosity and turns away disgusted by some of what is seen. Soon he returns again remembering a favorable image or two, soon those disgusting acts become tolerable, then they become desirable, finally they become an obsession. Pornography twists the mind and heart. No wonder perversions, lust for the underage and rape, homosexuality and many unthinkable desires have manifested our society since the internet has become readily available. We think we can maintain control if we just overlook a command of God, but before we know it our life is consumed with sin and our conscience is seared. If anyone who is locked into this cycle can stop just long enough to look at what has happened he will not only realize his need to change, but he will realize the wisdom of God in a way that shows His undeniable existence.

Sin has a way of blinding us (2 Thess 2:11; Rom 1:26), it also has another way of also waking us up (1 Cor 5:5). From time to time we have that chance to see God’s wisdom in His word because of either our own sins or other’s sin around us. Perhaps it is in these many moments you will find yourself seeing one of the most convincing evidences of God. Strange as it is, sin reveals the glory, wisdom, and evidence of God, and yet it is all around us.

“How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Thy precepts I gain understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.” Psalm 119:103,104 NASB