God Is In Control?

How many times have you heard the cliché “God is in control”? Songs have been written about it including the like-titled Christian hit by Twila Paris that won a 1995 Dove Award. Another one called “You Are in Control” I heard many times at the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida. 

Some Christians believe the Lord orchestrates every detail of a person’s life. Calvinists like to quote Romans 8:29-30, which talk about people being “predestined.” It would behoove Calvinists to read the previous verse. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” Notice this promise doesn’t apply to everyone but to those who love God.

Man has free will and can choose to follow his own devices (Jeremiah 18:12). Therefore, he is responsible for his actions and cannot use the old Flip Wilson excuse “the devil made me do it.” Numerous Scriptures talk about self-control. Galatians 5:23 lists that as one of the fruits of the Spirit.

Even nonbelievers recognize the inaccuracy of the claim, “God is in control.” In his book “The Art of Intercession,” Kenneth E. Hagin talked about an agnostic TV commentator who stated, “...ministers say, ‘God has everything under control. He's running everything.’ Well, if He is, He sure has things in a mess.” 

Psalm 115:16 says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” God may be running the universe but has given stewardship of this planet to man. We have the freedom to make choices (good or bad) such as where we will spend eternity.

While evangelizing, I’m often asked why God allows bad things to happen. I point out Satan is the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV) who comes “...to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). People can choose which god they will submit to. Before leaving the house for the day, I ask the Lord to order my steps (Psalm 37:23). Still, I can choose to disobey the Holy Spirit’s leading and walk into places I shouldn’t be in.

So is God really in control? Events prophesied in the Bible such as Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection were predestined. The Second Coming will happen regardless of what every person does on earth. Those things God has control over. However, events of lesser significance may or may not occur depending on our obedience and how much we intercede for others.

It would be more accurate to say, “God will guide and protect those who follow Him.”

“You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master.” - Genesis 4:7 (NLT)

A Moral Problem

Matt Post at the Capitol

Last month’s school shooting in Parkland, Florida that killed 17 people has not only triggered more calls for gun control but students leaving classes in protest. As part of the nationwide walkouts this past Wednesday, students gave speeches outside the U.S. Capitol alongside Democratic lawmakers. A video of the speech made by Matthew Post (no relation to me) has gone viral. This high school senior from Maryland declared, “We have a moral problem in this country…The adults have failed us. This is in our hands now. And if any elected official gets in our way, we will vote them out.”

I can sympathize with Matt’s anger and frustration but don’t agree with how he and others like him are reacting. Matt threatened to “shame our national policy leaders into protecting us.” No politician is perfect but we are supposed to honor and pray for those in authority. Many young people nowadays don’t respect their elders.

Voting out certain elected officials is a good idea. I would start with those that stood with Matt on the Capitol steps. Politicians wanting to tamper with the Second Amendment are hypocrites for having armed personnel protecting them. School shootings won’t cease if comprehensive gun control legislation is implemented. The city of Chicago has toughened their gun laws but the murder rate there has actually increased.

Terrorists have found ways to kill people without using guns. After the 9/11 attacks in 2001, we didn’t hear proposals to outlaw airplanes. When two brothers killed and maimed multitudes at the Boston Marathon five years ago, we didn’t see protestors calling for a ban on pressure cookers. Many teens still die from texting while driving even though it’s illegal in most states. I haven’t heard any of their friends and loved ones advocating the elimination of cell phones (although a few fanatics want to get rid of cars).

Yes, Matt. I agree adults have failed you. Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Ever since prayer and Bible reading were removed from American classrooms generations ago, we’ve seen an increase in crime, drug usage, and out-of-wedlock births. Homosexuality and gender transition are now taught in our schools as normal behaviors. God-fearing individuals who won’t condone these things are labelled as “haters.”

On the same day Matt gave his speech outside the Capitol, he posted on Twitter: “We’re going to keep marching. We’re going to vote. And we, the youth, are going to bring morality to this country’s politics.” Matt, I hope you do. You seem like a bright young man who has the potential of making a greater impact on our nation. But preaching morality without repentance won’t bring lasting change. It’s like putting a Band-Aid on cancer.

The real moral problem is sin. The solution is knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and planting the incorruptible seed of God’s word in the human heart. When people become born again, they have the supernatural ability to obey His commandments including "Thou shalt not kill."

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” - Proverbs 16:25

A Biblical Viewpoint on Bearing Arms

Whenever a mass shooting takes place, there is increased talk in the media about gun control. That is happening again following the recent tragedy in Las Vegas, Nevada. From two 32nd story hotel windows, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock used automatic weapons to fire upon a crowd gathered for a country music concert. 59 people died and over 500 others were wounded. This surpassed last year’s Orlando nightclub massacre as the deadliest shooting by a lone gunman in U.S. history.

Back in 2012, Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend before committing suicide hours later at the team’s practice facility. The next night during a nationally televised football game, NBC Sportscaster Bob Costas stated, “If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins [Belcher’s girlfriend] would both be alive today.” Some Americans think taking guns out of public hands will reduce the amount of murders in this country. One of my Facebook friends posted this interesting analogy: “Jim Jones killed a lot of people with Kool-Aid. Thank God Kool-Aid wasn’t banned or I wouldn’t have had a childhood.”

Although I'm not a gun owner, I strongly support the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which protects the right of civilians to keep and bear arms. President Ronald Reagan stated two years after surviving an assassination attempt, “You won't get gun control by disarming law-abiding citizens. There's only one way to get real gun control: Disarm the thugs and the criminals, lock them up and if you don't actually throw away the key, at least lose it for a long time...It's a nasty truth, but those who seek to inflict harm are not fazed by gun controllers. I happen to know this from personal experience.”

Back when Jesus walked the face of this earth, the sword was the gun of its day. Both civilians and those in authority carried them. According to Luke 22, Jesus was not a pacifist like some anti-war demonstrators want to believe…

36 Then He {Jesus] said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. 

37 For I say to you that this, which is written must still be accomplished in Me: ‘And He was numbered with the transgressors.’ For the things concerning Me have an end.”

38 So they said, “Lord, look, here are two swords.” And He said to them, “It is enough.”

Of course, Jesus didn’t condone indiscriminate use of weapons. In response to Peter cutting off the right ear of the high priest’s servant, the Lord said in Matthew 26:52, “Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”  

The problem isn’t the National Rifle Association or gun ownership but wicked criminals who possess these weapons. Guns do not come alive and kill people on their own. Somebody has to pull the trigger. The solution can be clearly illustrated in this poem written by Darrell Scott whose daughter Rachel was killed during the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado…

Your laws ignore our deepest needs

Your words are empty air.

You've stripped away our heritage.

You've outlawed simple prayer.

Now gunshots fill our classrooms.

And precious children die.

You seek for answers everywhere.

And ask the question “WHY”?

You regulate restrictive laws.

Through legislative creed.

And yet you fail to understand.

That God is what we need! 

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” – Matthew 15:18-19

Fat City

At the Lutheran church I attended during my childhood, comic strips from the local newspaper were posted on a bulletin board. One in particular I remember was Hägar the Horrible sitting at a table with his first mate Lucky Eddie. They had the following conversation... 

Eddie: “Is gluttony a sin?”

Hägar “Is it fun?”

Eddie: “I think so.”

Hägar: “It’s a sin.”

Of course, God is not against us having fun. 1 Timothy 6:17 says He “...gives us richly all things to enjoy.” That would include food. But like most other things, eating can be abused when done in excess. Scripture has a few things to say about those who eat too much...

“So that place was called Kibroth-hattaavah (which means ‘graves of gluttony’) because there they buried the people who had craved meat from Egypt.” - Numbers 11:34 (NLT)

“But Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; You grew fat, you grew thick, you are obese! Then he forsook God who made him, and scornfully esteemed the Rock of his salvation.” - Deuteronomy 32:15

“Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat. For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.” - Proverbs 23:20-21

“For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things.” - Philippians 3:18-19

We’ve all probably heard preaching against smoking and drinking. I heard one Christian comedian point out how some preachers put down men with long hair and yet they themselves have a weight problem. When was the last time you heard a sermon on gluttony?

I have friends who would be considered “fat.” Therefore, my intent with this article is not to bring condemnation but to remind everyone the importance of taking care of our bodies. 1 Corinthians 3:17 in the New Living Translation says, “God will destroy anyone who destroys this temple. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” Verses 19 and 20 from Chapter 6 goes on to say, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

One website for skeptics has a page titled “What the Bible says about Fat People” in an attempt to point out contradictions in Scripture. The King James Version’s use of the word “fat” doesn’t always refer to overweight people. Sometimes it describes God’s blessing. For example, Proverbs 13:4 (KJV) says, “The soul of the sluggard desireth, and hath nothing: but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.” The New King James Version renders the second part of that verse, “...the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.” 

God’s word does not contradict when rightly divided. Luke 15:23 mentions killing a fatted calf to celebrate the prodigal son’s return. On the other hand, Leviticus 3:17 and 7:23 commands us not to eat the fat itself.

Organizations such as the American Medical Association have labelled obesity a disease. I disagree with this assertion. More people today willingly eat too much of the wrong types of food plus don’t get enough exercise. I’ve been guilty of this and have put on extra pounds when I sat around too much working on my computer. One thing that helps me keep the weight down is going for prayer walks (during which I often evangelize). Fasting also helps the body eliminate unnecessary fat and toxins.

By the grace of God, all of us can exercise self-control and enjoy the fat of the land (Genesis 45:18) without being fat ourselves.

“But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.” - 1 Corinthians 9:27