Berean Community Church Blog

The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. - 1 Samuel 18:10

A while back I posted on reading hard things in the Bible.  This passage from 1 Samuel is one of those hard readings.  God clearly sends an evil spirit, or "harmful" spirit as the ESV translates it, to Saul that makes him do crazy things and try to kill David.  The question that I always hear get asked is, "Doesn't this make God evil if he sends evil spirits to people?" 

I had a thought this morning that I thought was helpful.  You be the judge. 

Deuteronomy 32:4 says, "The Rock (referring to God), his work is perfect, all his ways are justice; a God of faithfulness and without iniquity; just and upright is he."  God is not evil.  He is perfectly good.  But in many places in the Bible, God seems to clearly use evil as a tool to accomplish his good purposes.  Two other biblical examples that come to mind are Job and Jesus Christ: 

And the LORD said to Satan, "Behold, all that he (Job) has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand." - Job 1:12

"…for truly in this city there were gathered together against your (that is, God's) holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your (that is, God's) hand and your plan had predestined to take place." - Acts 4:27-28

The fact that God uses evil as a tool does not make God evil the same way that a tool in the hand does not impart its properties to the hand (or the owner of the hand).  In fact, tools are often employed because we LACK in ourselves the necessary qualities to completely accomplish a good task for which that quality is necessary.  Pounding nails into wood requires hardness.  But my hands are soft, not hard.  So I take up a hammer, which is hard, to pound in nails.  But my hands remain soft.  They, nor I, have not taken on the quality of hardness that the hammer alone possesses and no one would ascribe to me the qualities of the hammer.  Neither does God take on the qualities of evil spirits or evil people when he uses them as tools in his hands to accomplish good tasks.  

Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, "My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live." And he went with him. - Mark 5:22-24

Jesus just went! He didn't consult his calendar or the disciples to see what was on the schedule for that day.  Jesus saw a person in desperate need and he went.  I wonder if there were other people who had expectations for Jesus that day?  No doubt he risked the possibility that those other people might feel shafted for his decision to go see Jarius' daughter instead of meeting their needs.  I am also sure that there were plenty who did not understand why Jesus chose to do this act and neglect other possible loving acts that he could have done instead.  

My friend Ryan and I are meeting bi-weekly for coffee and discussing John Piper's Desiring God together.  We just finished chapter 4 this morning.  Chapter 4 is titled "Love: The Labor of Christian Hedonism."  In this chapter, Piper puts forth the following definition of love:

Love is the overflow of joy in God which, gladly meets the needs of others.

The observation that Ryan and I had regarding this definition of love that ties into Mark 5:22-24 is that there seem to be a lot of barriers in our lives to gladly meeting the needs of others. My life is so packed with obligations and desires that I feel must be fiercely protected.  When faced with an opportunity to meet another's needs I almost immediately start calculating in my head the pros and cons of action.  Inevitably, by the time I come to a conclusion, the opportunity has passed or I've talked myself out of it.  Jesus didn't seem to have that problem.  He just went!

Here is an example that I gave from recently in my life.  Last Thursday evening I was driving to class and as I was stopped at a light I saw a young girl (13-14 years old) walk by in shorts and a t-shirt in the cold rain.  She looked miserable.  She could have used a ride.  I wanted to roll down my window and offer to run her home.  Immediately I thought of a handful of reasons NOT to do this.  If she was smart (like I'd want my daughter to be) she would probably decline, if not scream and run away!  How would this look to others?!?!  If she said yes and got in someone might call the police on their cell phone and report my license plate number.  Would my wife approve of me picking up a young girl on the street?  How would her parents feel when she got home that a stranger gave her a ride?  Maybe she comes from a violent home and they'd beat her for it?  Regardless, she needs to learn a lesson about how to dress appropriately for the weather!  Any of these could be true.  Yet the opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ to this young girl could have been worth all of this risk.  "I am giving you a ride because I love Jesus!"  A simple statement like that could have changed her life forever.  But the risk was too great and when the light turned green, I continued on my way.

Here's a closing paragraph from chapter 4 of Piper's book:

"My desire to feel the power of God's grace conquering the pride and selfishness in my life inclines me to behavior that demonstrates the victory of grace, namely love. Genuine love is so contrary to human nature that its presence bears witness to an extraordinary power. The Christian Hedonist pursues love because he is addicted to the experience of that power. He wants to feel more and more of the grace of God reigning in his life."

I say, Amen. 

“Your words were found, and I ate them, and Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” - Jeremiah 15:16

As with most mission trips — we went to give of ourselves, give our time, our understanding of God’s great love, our physical strengths, and our resources.  And we did give – helping build with cement, shining God’s love and being His salt and light, loving 22 orphans who only want the love and attention all kids need;  giving Creole scriptures and tracts, performing a simple gospel skit/mime,  giving bead necklaces and bracelets, balloons, basketballs, color crayons and books, hackey-sacks, toothbrushes, vegetable seeds from the U.S., first-aid kits, stickers and more.  But the team would no doubt say that we received much more than we gave.  We received, in an unexpected hilltop prayer and worship service, in spirit-filled worship services in Ennery and Camathe,  and in the extraordinary loving hospitality of our hosts – Paul & Belle – who provided transportation, safe lodging, 3 meals every day (7am, 12noon, 6pm),  daily devotions, a day trip to an historic site, tours of a clinic and university and school, interpretive services that made the language barrier easy to handle, and many more smaller details.

We saw so much that it is hard to describe in a short article.  Streets and roads that made a 15-minute trip take an hour; ‘the main road’ that was constantly buzzing with pedestrians, bikes,  scooters, buses, trucks (small wonder it had so many potholes); amazing vegetation and animals – including banana trees, pineapple bushes,  mango trees, orange trees, goats, roosters, cows, and geckos; a market much different than our cozy ‘farmers’ market back home; we saw answered prayer in worship opportunities, drama presentations, healing of upset stomachs, safe travel, found journals; we experienced foods that were new and different – including rice and beans, frog legs, lam, plantain, ka-chi-ma, goat stew, rice pudding, and even ate at a ‘nice’ outdoor Cap-Haitian restaurant. 

Life lessons?  Give more.  Support missions at every possible occasion.  Simplify your life.  Be content. (‘..for food and clothing, with these we shall be content.’  1 Timothy 6:8)  Never forget those who struggle for daily survival. And finally…..Do what you can where you are with what you have.  Would we go again?   You bet.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” - Matthew 5:16

Singing is a such a distinctly human thing to do.  Why did God put it in the mind and design of his ultimate creation to sing?  I think the answer from Scripture is clear: to sing to HIM.

"My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;my heart and flesh sing for joyto the living God."  Psalm 84:2

"Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes;to the LORD I will sing;I will make melody to the LORD, the God of Israel."  Judges 5:3

"I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being."  Psalm 146:2

Fernando Ortega has the right idea.  Lord willing, we will sing this song at BCC on Sunday (minus the string quartet).

I memorized this verse this morning and it brought to mind a conversation about God's will that my wife and I had this past weekend during our "date."  I know you're thinking "How romantic that they discuss theology on their dates!"  Well, I loved it!  

"The secret things belong to the LORD but the things that are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law." Deuteronomy 29:29

Some might encourage us to exhaust all effort in an attempt to discover the "secret things" rather than learn and devote ourselves to the "things that are revealed."  God has revealed his will for us in a book called the Bible.  What he wants us to know, he has made clear in that book.  He also has a secret will that only he knows which reveals itself as life and history unfolds.  This verse is telling us that God is not going to share that with us ahead of time.  We are not responsible for knowing that will.  We are only responsible for what God has revealed.  

I have not read this book but have heard about it.  It's by John MacArthur and it's called Found: God's Will.  If anyone reading this post has read it, feel free to comment on the book.  But the gist of it is this: 

The Bible reveals that it is God's will for all of us to be:

Saved (1 Timothy 2:3-4; 2 Peter 3:9)
Spirit-filled (Ephesians 5:17-18)
Sanctified (1 Thessalonians 4:3-7)
Submissive (1 Peter 2:13-15)
Suffering ( Philippians 1:29; 2 Timothy 3:12)

If all those things are true in your life, you may do whatever you want. (source)

So for those who are prone to wonder and worry about whether or not they are doing God's secret will or that such and such a decision is God's will for them…relax.  It's not your responsibility to discover the secret will of God but to be faithful to the revealed will of God.