FAITH & REASON

Faith & Reason

Are faith and reason mutually exclusive? Is faith “Samson with his eyes put out” and reason “Darwin with a magnifying glass”? Surely Faith and Reason are the two pillars of all enduring establishment. For how could Samson understand what he was doing without reason? And how could Darwin believe what his eyes were seeing without faith? Thus both these men leaned on these two pillars of human society, for without faith there can be no reason.

But will Samson and Darwin ever truly see eye to eye? Did they have the same species of faith and reason? Did Samson because of his super-human strength reason he must be evolving into some new creature in the same way Darwin had faith that the adaptive finches on the Galapagos would naturally ‘evolve’ into different creatures? Surely Samson, after studying the fact of his great strength, concluded no such thing. And how did Darwin arrive at his conclusion? The answer is that both had a different basis and method of reasoning. Samson begins with God. Darwin begins with himself – man.

Even when blinded, Samson interpreted the facts in terms of the true and living triune God who created them. But Darwin the naturalist could only interpret the facts in terms of the god of the Deists. His god only started nature, but left it to its own devices. Thus both Samson and Darwin reasoned and exercised faith, but only according to their presuppositions about God and creation. Darwin’s conclusions were different to Samson’s because Darwin’s god had handed creation over to time and chance.

Therefore the two main supports in the temple of Darwin’s “absent landlord” are a failing faith and a rickety reason; (not to be confused with the faith and reason of Biblical Christianity). Therefore it stands to reason Darwinism will fall at the hands of a strengthened Christianity. Yes, many “Christians” have been taken captive and have been blinded by Darwinism’s highly speculative regime. But remember how Samson brought down the establishment that had taken him captive and had blinded him: “‘O LORD God… strengthen me, I pray…’ And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars which supported the temple… And he pushed with all his might, and the temple fell on all the lords and all the people who were in it.” Judges 16:28-30. 

Yes, Samson died along with the rest. But, that was not the end of it. For, Jesus spoke of the future “resurrection of life, and… of condemnation” (John 5:29). Samson belongs to the former. The testimony to this future physical raising of all who have died is the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ some 2,000 years ago.

Dear reader, faith and reason live forever in perfect harmony in Jesus Christ who is God and man in one divine Person. Those who repent of their sins and believe in His Gospel are members of the new humanity, not through “blind evolutionary process,” but by the same Spirit who gave Samson his great strength. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature…” 2 Corinthians 5:17a.

GIVING UP THE GHOST

Giving Up the Ghost

I rushed from Tasmania to Scotland to be with my father before he ‘gave up the ghost.’ With my brothers and sisters I was able to visit him as he lay in a hospital bed as we all contemplated his imminent expiration. I regret that I wasn’t there to comfort him at the exact moment of his death. He was gone half an hour before we arrived with great haste. His face looked peaceful in death. I had been at the bedside of others when they died, but not my own dad! I remember being slightly annoyed by the second hand ticking on his wristwatch.  Shouldn’t it have ceased its circumnavigating the moment my dad gave up the ghost? The world continues to turn, even without my dad.

              Where do departed spirits go? Are ghosts disembodied spirits that float around old buildings and graveyards? The Bible warns against attempts to contact the dead. Why? Well, first let’s note that the words ‘ghost’ and ‘spirit’ are interchangeable in the Bible. Wind and breath are from the same word. Angels are spirit beings. So are demons, ie, fallen angels. Satan poses as an angel of light. Therefore those who try to contact the dead cannot be sure that they are really communicating with a departed loved one and not a demon. Even if no one else knows, demons know personal moments we once shared with our now departed loved ones.

The strategy of demons impersonating dead people is to try to get us to ignore God’s way of salvation. Why get right with God through Jesus Christ when ‘ghosts’ are telling us that being dead is not so bad? Why concern yourself with Heaven and Hell when everything is rosy on the other side? O sure, there may be some troubled spirits who can’t rest, eg, till their killer has been brought to justice, but once the dearly departed’s message has been communicated through a medium, it’s off to ‘the happy hunting ground’ or ‘the great golf course’ in the sky! Or so the ‘ghosts’ would tell us.

              When it comes to ghosts it’s all about trust. Should you trust those who say there is no such thing as ghosts? Should you trust what ghosts say about themselves? Or should you trust what God says about these things in His Word? The Bible teaches that there is only one of two places to which we immediately go when we give up the ghost: Heaven or Hell. Jesus said to the repentant thief on the cross, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’ Luke 23:43. The word ‘today’ means the very moment the thief gave up the ghost. This means there is no hanging around for a chat with living people when you’re dead.

              Jesus’ word ‘today’ means that my dad upon his last breath went immediately to one of two intermediate places; the place of everlasting torment or the place of everlasting bliss. It is our responsibility to get ‘right’ with God before we die, and I believe my dad got ‘right’ with God before he gave up the ghost. But what about you, dear reader? Where to from here?

             

Upon returning to my sister’s house not long after my dad had expired, I noticed a still-life painting on her wall; by my eldest brother some forty years previous. One of the items depicted in the painting was a Bible my brother had given dad. My dad had read that Reference Bible cover to cover, for over the years I had had some interesting discussions with him about it. Sitting on top of my dad’s Bible was an old alarm clock. I remember that clock. It had luminous hands. But unlike the hands on my dad’s wristwatch at the time of his death, the hands on this depicted clock were frozen in time. In the providence of God they are pointing to the time my dad gave up the ghost. That’s more like it!

AUTUMN & LIFE

Autumn & Life

Like beads on an abacus, the sun, the moon, and the stars are for counting out the seasons (Gen. 1:14; Psa. 104:19a). Seasons reveal the mathematical order and genius of the Creator who promised: “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22. Man is the image of God, but also reflects the earth from which he is fearfully and wonderfully hewn by God (Gen. 1:27; 2:7; Psa. 139:14).

Alas! man turned cold toward his creator. Hence, as the stars in their courses bring autumn harvest, too soon must we start to pack the bags of life’s spent summer vacation. Leaves begin to tremble and fall to the ground; so the hair of receding youth. Time to scramble and gather the fruit of summer labour before winter brings snow-blindness to the eyes, frost to the temples, and chill to the bones. Autumn is the time to harvest seed sown in spring.

Did we properly prepare the dust of the earth in the form of our children? Did we sow the good seed of God’s Word in their hearts? – lest they reap a bitter harvest in their time! Did we plant our offspring by the rivers of waters that they may bring forth good fruit in its season? (Psa. 1:3; Jer. 17:8) Did we teach them to honour father and mother that it may be well with them (and well with us in our winter years!) and that they may live long on the earth? (Exo. 20:12; Eph. 6:3).

This work being done, those taught of the LORD will not tremble at the sound of a shaken leaf, nor will they flee as though fleeing from a sword, and fall when no one pursues. (Lev. 26:36b). The LORD will not cast them down. For, as Friend not Foe, will they know and love the One who moves the abacus beads. “He counts the number of the stars; He calls them all by name. Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.” Psalm 147:4-6.

Were the Creator to shake the earth once more as when He delivered His Law on Mount Sinai – even if He were to shake also heaven! – those taught of the LORD would only be reminded of, and comforted by, the knowledge that they are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken (Heb. 12:26&27). They are part of His holy harvest.

Dear reader, perhaps you have found yourself in the autumn of your life with little or nothing to harvest. Well, know that the LORD is able to restore to you the years the locust has eaten. (Joel 2:25) For He has sent His only begotten Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but to save it. (John 3:17). He is the Sun of Righteousness. And as the sun rises, so He has risen with healing in His wings. (Mal. 4:2). Therefore, make hay while the sun shines, for the fields are white for harvest.

Seek the One holding your very breath in His hand. Seek the One counting off your days. Call upon the One gathering the harvest into His barns. Call upon the One who counts the number of the stars. Therefore, call upon Jesus Christ – today.

MESSAGE FOR MARGARET

MESSAGE FOR MARGARET

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

² He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.

³ He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.

⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life; And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever. 

Psalm 23 (NKJV)

We usually sing Psalm 23, The Shepherd’s Psalm, in its versified form, at funerals. It reminds us where to look when we lose and mourn the loss of a loved one. It reminds us not to seek solace in a bottle but to look to the Comforter Himself for comfort. Psalm 23 does this by reminding us that there is a Shepherd.

It reminds us that the Lord Jesus is our Shepherd. It reminds us that we, the flock of His green pastures, want for or lack nothing because we have Him looking after us. It reminds us that He restores us to sanity by the renewing of our minds, restoring our souls. It reminds us that He enables us to tell the difference between good and evil by leading us in the way we should go. It reminds us that we’ve got nothing to fear, not our enemies nor even death itself, for He is armed with a rod to defend us and a staff, a shepherd’s crook to rescue us from times of trouble.

It reminds us that He pours the good oil on us, and that “we’ll tak’ a cup o’ kindness yet”, the cup of His kindness. The cup from which we drink is always overflowing. It reminds us that His goodness and His mercy is with us until the day we die, and beyond. And, finally, it reminds us that He has promised that He will never evict us from His house, from His house of many mansions.

Margaret was my mother-in-law for thirty-seven years. She wasn’t present at our wedding, but neither were any of you. I broke Margaret’s heart when I took her daughter away to live with me in Canada back in 1980. Margaret visited Dot and me in Winnipeg shortly thereafter. Her daughter was pregnant with Jennifer, her first grandchild. Then Margaret visited again in 1988 and saw three of her grandchildren, Jennifer, Nina and Fionna.

One of the blessings in the Bible is: “Yes, may you see your children’s children.” Psalm 128:6a. Margaret was blessed by living long enough to see her children’s children. Andy and Mary included. And, wow! Margaret got to live long enough to see her children’s children’s children: Tristan, Lanna, Owen and Caleb! Truly blessed.

Not everyone gets a mention in a book. Margaret gets mentioned in my book From Mason to Minster a few times, but here’s a mention that’s relevant to today. It’s found under the heading: Postcards from Australia

The Winnipeg winters were getting harder and harder for me to thole. I loved the hot Manitoba summers, but they would end all too soon... 

Sometimes it would begin to snow early, one time even on my eldest daughter Jennifer’s birthday on October 8… 

The same snow could lie on the ground from October to April without melting once. Shovelling paths and driveways became the exercise regime for all. That pathway to our mailbox had to be kept clear lest the mailman refuse to deliver! Dorothy showed me some photographs she received in a letter from her brother who had moved to Brisbane, Australia. I asked about the coloured man in the picture. “That’s my brother Alan!” she said. Alan, sporting a glorious suntan, was surrounded by palm trees, golden sands, and a turquoise ocean. We applied to migrate to Australia and were accepted... 

Alan was going to put us up in his Brisbane flat. I had begun to pray that the Lord would gather Dorothy’s family together. Her mum and her sister still lived in Scotland. We were in Australia for a year when her sister Elizabeth and her husband Robert arrived to stay. Then came Margaret, her mum![1]

That all happened nearly thirty years ago.  And here we all are in 2018. But 2018 hasn’t been a good year for us. To borrow a phrase once used by the queen, 2018 has been an “annus horribilis”! – a horrible year.

Alan and Anne were sick, really sick! Alan getting his sister Dot’s bone-marrow stem cells to help in the battle with his leukemia. Anne arriving at hospital the day her husband Alan was leaving after his chemo-treatment, not to take her husband home, but to check in for her own treatment for a different kind of leukemia!

I was staying in the same hospital a few times for various (unmentionable!) surgeries, which made it handy for visiting Alan and then Anne.

And then Margaret died on Friday 14 September 2018 around 12.50pm in her wee flat in Toowong after having been sent from hospital to die at home – as was her wish.

It was a good departure! Her children’s children, Tristan, Lanna, Owen and Caleb had visited her and had interacted with her while, though very sick, she was still able to engage with them. Her youngest great-grandchild, Caleb, had asked Margaret how she got to be so old. She laughed and said that she was wondering that herself! She got to see Andy and Mary too.

Then on the day she left us she was surrounded by her children and her children’s children. Robert was there. Elizabeth and Dorothy were there. Jennifer, Nina and Fionna were all there.

I had left work and I was busy circling the block trying to find somewhere to park my car outside the flat when Margaret “gave up the ghost”, as the Bible would term it.

O, and Alan, in hospital with a serious lung-infection, really serious, had phoned, which apparently was very unusual for him, and was on the speaker phone.

Margaret’s last breath was a strong one as it exited her body for the very last time. The Bible says, “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.” Ecclesiastes 12:7. Though I just missed it, the reports I got were that Margaret’s spirit left her with such a force that it certainly went upward! But before she left us, she had indicated that when she got to Heaven she would be asking that her son get better, or words to that effect. We are happy, more than happy, that Alan is well enough to be here today, and Anne!

Now back to Psalm 23, The Shepherd’s Psalm. It’s a Psalm written about Jesus. Jesus said in John 10, “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture…” Does that word “pasture” jump out at you? As it says in Psalm 23, “He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”

Jesus goes on to say, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep… I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, … and I lay down My life for the sheep.”

And when He laid down His life for His sheep by being nailed to a cross, it says in Luke 23:46, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost.” Luke 26:46 (KJV). The same Greek New Testament word pneuma may be translated, spirit, wind or breath. And “to give up the ghost” is to ekpneo, made up from two Greek words, ex as in exit and pneo, to breathe hard. Therefore, it means, to breath out hard, to expire, to give up the ghost.

In honour of Margaret and the city that gave birth to her I’d like to read a short portion of Scripture from Jamie Stuart’s “A Glasgow Bible” which is found under the heading Jesus Crucified:

When it came tae the middle o the day, the hale country wis plunged intae a spooky darkness. At three in the efternin Jesus cried oot fae the cross, ‘My God, My God, why hiv ye left me?!’

Then wan o the criminals oan the next cross said tae him, ‘Hey freen, are ye no the Christ? Gauny prove it then an save yersel – aye, an us tae while ye’re aboot it.’ But the other criminal shouted ower, ‘Belt up you! We deserve tae die, but this man didny dae ony wrang.’ Then he whispered ower tae Jesus, ‘Will ye keep mind o me?’ An Jesus said, ‘Today ye’ll be wi me in Paradise – I promise ….’ 

Then Jesus cried oot in his agony, ‘Faither, intae yer hauns I gie my spirit.’ An wi these words, Jesus breathed his last.”

Then jumping ahead to the good bit, the bit under the heading The Resurrection:

Early oan the Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene an Mary the mither o James, went tae the grave takin sweet smellin ointments tae pit oan the body. But when they got close up tae the tomb, the first thing they saw wis that the huge stane had been moved oot the wey. They went in, kinna feart-like.

All o sudden two men wer staunin in front o them. The weemen wir terrified an cudny even look up. The men said, ‘Tell us, why are ye searchin amang the graves for someone who’s alive? He’s no here! He’s come back tae life again! D’ye no even remember whit he himself telt ye when he wis wi ye in Galilee – that the Christ must be haunded ower tae evil men, nailed tae the cross, an be raised tae life again oan the third day?’ Then, sure, they remembered whit Jesus had telt them. So they raced back in joy tae Jerusalem an telt the eleven disciples an aw the ithers, ‘He’s alive! Jesus is alive!’[2]

Because Jesus is alive we believe Margaret is with Jesus in Paradise right now. Because Jesus was raised to life again we believe that Margaret will be raised to life again. Therefore, we believe that we will see Margaret again in Paradise and that we will be raised again with her on the Last Day.

Therefore, “Let not your heart be troubled!”

---

[1] Neil Cullan McKinlay, From Mason to Minister: Through the Lattice, Nordskog Publishing Inc., Ventura, California, 2011, pp. 104-5.

[2] Jamie Stuart, A Glasgow Bible, Saint Andrew Press, Edinburgh, Scotland, 1997, (Reprint 2013), pp. 136-8.

GO TO THE ANT

Go To the Ant

While living in Queensland I was surprised to see an army of ants, like pygmies carrying elephant tusks on their shoulders in an old Tarzan movie, cart off my toenail clippings to their colony under ground in my garden! I recalled the verses: “Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, which having no captain, overseer or ruler, provides her supplies in summer, and gathers her food in the harvest.” Proverbs 6:6-8. Man, even the lazy man, can gain some wisdom through the study of the creatures God has made.

Who calls the shots in the ant colony? It’s clear that ants work for God. He designed them to do what they do. As part of God’s great cleanup team, it appears that not even discarded toenail clippings are to be wasted! Though many, the colony acts as one. God is social, for God is many (Triune) yet acts as one. Thus we see a reflection of the Designer in the ant colony. Since ants are social creatures, a lazy ant would be an antisocial ant. No Person in the Trinity lies back while the Others attend to Him. Each Person in the Godhead serves God who is one. The industrious ants serve God. So should we.

But who calls the shots with man? Was man, like the ant, designed to serve God? If so, then are not those who ignore serving God being lazy, i.e., antisocial? For God made man in His own image with the ability to dialogue with God (Gen. 1:27; 2:16&17). And as  worker and guard ants work in and guard their colonies, so God set man to work in and guard the Garden (Gen. 2:15).

The queen ant is the single producer of all the offspring in the ant colony. Eve was the mother of all living (Gen. 3:20). Adam failed to guard Eve by allowing the Serpent Satan to slither into the Garden. In this Adam was lazy, antisocial toward God. Like a worker having a fly smoke, so Adam hid from God after he ate the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:8). But where there’s smoke there’s fire! How was Adam going to clean up the mess he had gotten mankind into? And so the blame game began. Adam blamed God his Supervisor, and he also blamed Eve his co-worker for his present demise (Gen. 3:12). The whole social structure of mankind was now in turmoil. Both humanist socialism in its various forms, and individualism are rebellious ways fallen man tries to hide from God. For the Triune Creator is a social Being. Man is His image. The many must not rule the one or the one the many. As in God, the one and the many must have equal ultimacy.

God started a new social colony when His Son, the Middle Person in the Trinity, became also Man and entered His creation. He is Head of the cleanup team, His Church. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” John 3:17. Jesus carried His cross and went to take away the sin of the world. (Isa. 53:4-6; John 1:29; 19:17). Then His followers carried their crucified Captain, Overseer and Ruler and laid Him in a tomb in a garden (John 19:38-42). He emerged bodily from the ground on the third day (Luke 24:6&7). After physically ascending to Heaven the Son, with the Father, sent out the Holy Spirit (John 15:26; 16:7).

Presently His ‘colony’ is spreading itself throughout all creation as His Spirit works effectively with His Word in people’s hearts, cleansing them. While on earth the pure in heart are part of God’s ‘cleanup team.’ Who calls the shots? “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Romans 8:14. For “There is one body and one Spirit…” Ephesians 4:4a

Dear reader, do you know the joy of having your sins carried away by Jesus Christ? Don’t be a sluggard! Be wise. Go to the ant and call on Jesus today.