D. Richard Ferguson's Blog, page 11

How to Find God’s Presence in the Desert

Be Satisfied with Nothing Less

The “desert” is the place where joy has dried up. The solution to the desert is the presence of God. God’s presence is the source of blessing and joy.

“Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O LORD. They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness” (Psalm 89:15-16 NIV).

You experience God’s presence by experiencing his attributes when he turns his face favorably toward you. And it is through that enjoyment that you increase your love for God.

It is not enough to learn true things about God. It is not even enough to experience the benefits of his attributes. We must not be satisfied until our experience of each attribute has been profound enough to move our soul toward deeper love for him. We must keep learning and experiencing what is so wonderful about each attribute until there is a response in our affections.

The Source of all Joy

Each of God’s attributes is a single ray in the spectrum of the brilliant radiance of his glory. They are waves in a massive ocean, and one drop of that ocean is enough to delight your soul and occupy your faculties of praise for all eternity.

“… You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalm 16:11 NIV).

How to God Beyond Mere Knowledge

How do you find intimacy with God? Open the pages of Scripture, and instead of merely looking at all the words, putting in your time so you can say you did your reading, make an all-out search for anything and everything you can learn about how to experience the excellencies and perfections of God.

Suppose you’re reading Romans 15 and come across verse 5.

“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity.”

This verse supplies three facts about God:

1) He gives endurance.
2) He supplies encouragement.
3) He brings unity.

Three facts about God, but be careful. You can gather facts about God in ways that do not produce intimacy with him.

You might read the part about God being the the one who supplies encouragement and think, “Yep. I already knew that. Nothing new there,” and move on. If you do, you’ve missed an opportunity to experience God’s presence.

The fact that God encourages may not be new to you, but it’s always possible to experience that attribute of God in a new way.

Think of how you get to know people. Someone says, “Have you ever noticed what an encourager Sarah is? Every time I’m around her I come away feeling like I can handle anything life throws at me.”

What effect would that comment have on you? You would not simply think, “Sarah has the attribute of cultivating inner strength in people. I need to memorize that fact.” No. You would think through what it means in practical, relational terms and you would notice it more in the future. You would recall your interactions with Sarah and put this information into that context. And you would be alert to her encouraging attributes the next time you saw her.

That is how we should respond when we read about the attributes of God in Scripture. What does it mean that God gives endurance? How does he do it? Why does he do it? What does it feel like when it happens? How can I experience more of it?

Then, as often as possible, seek to make the connections between what you know to be true about God and what you experience in everyday life. Making those connections is the key to enjoying intimacy with God.

Love is not caused by bare information. It comes from interactions, exchanges, and experiences of the person you are learning to love.

How do You Know When You’ve Experienced His Presence?

As you read the Bible (especially the Psalms), each time you come across an attribute of God (an attribute is anything that is true about him), spend time in meditation and prayer seeking to have your eyes opened to the goodness of the attribute and to experience that it.

Ask yourself, “What kinds of effects would be present in my heart if I were to experience this attribute?”

Some examples:

Gladness and joyGreater love and desire for God (and all those he loves)Safety and protectionPeace and calmnessA joyful, willing heartConfidenceCourageFullness and satisfactionStrengthMotivationZealA greater abiding presence of Christ in the heartExperiential knowledge of the love that surpasses understandingFear of GodAwe and reverenceDesire to obeyNeed Help Getting Started?

If the concept of experiencing and enjoying God’s attributes in a relational way is new to you, there is a resource you may find helpful. The book Deeper Knowledge of God is a daily devotional that explores 76 of God’s attributes. The book is divided into 180 daily meditations.

Each day’s reading provides a few paragraphs on what is so amazing about that attribute and some ideas on how to experience that attribute as you go about your day.

I pray the book will assist you in drawing nearer to God’s presence than you ever have before. But even without the book, this is something you can do. Try it now. God to Psalm 63 and make a list of all the attributes of God you find stated or implied in that psalm. I would love to see in the comments. Your list might help others get started.

Next, pick one attribute from your list and give some deep thought–beyond what comes to mind right away–about what is wonderful about that facet of God’s glory.

Finally, write a prayer or a psalm, praising God for being that way and talking to him about how you might have greater experiences of that attribute than you’ve ever had.

The post How to Find God’s Presence in the Desert appeared first on D. Richard Ferguson.

Escape from Paradise: Interpreting the Allegory (chapters 1-2)

This discussion began on Facebook, but moved here (Ahh, blessed silence. Isn’t it nice to escape the noise of FB?)

WARNING: Lots of spoilers. It is recommended you finish the novel before joining the discussion if you are planning on reading the book. If you are not planning on reading it, you are still welcome in the discussion. It is not necessary to have read the book to benefit from the Bible study questions.

Each weekday I will post a Bible study question related to the passages of Scripture I was trying to teach in the story. Please don’t hesitate to post your answers in the discussion. Your point of view may be just what someone else needs to make it click.

Interpretations: The Half-Real World

The half-real world represents the physical realm.

The Cottage

The cottage represents God’s Word.

QUESTION: Why does it appear as a broken-down shack?

On the outside, the Bible looks just like any other book. But once you get inside, you see a word of divine revelation. That’s why in the story it appears as a cottage on the outside, but inside it’s a massive mansion with countless glorious rooms.

However, those who enter it without eyes to see (like Alexander) see nothing of note on the inside. Just an interesting historical landmark.

The Colors

The colors of the cottage represent what is appealing about God (his glory).

The Birds

The colors of the birds represent what is appealing about this world (counterfeit glory), especially entertainment.

The birds and rain distract Adam from the cottage. They demonstrate Satan’s efforts to prevent the Word from taking root in someone’s heart as described in the parable of the sower.

The Golden City and the King

The golden city represents the world. It appears at first to be a paradise because that’s what Satan always make us think about the world.

The king of the city (who is also the prince of darkness) represents Satan.

The Banquet Halls and the High Country

The halls represent individual churches, where God’s grace is “served up” by those doing ministry. The high country represents the church culture.

Not everyone in the high country, or even in the banquet halls, has gone through the cottage (not everyone in the church is born again). Inviting someone to a banquet hall represents inviting someone to church.

The Gold

The gold represents money and possessions.

Touching the gold represents loving money (or doing that which leads to the love of money)

QUESTION: Why does touching your own gold heal you but touching someone else’s gold burns?

When there is covetousness in the heart, it’s painful t see other people prosper. It actually hurts your soul to see someone else win the lottery or get some big windfall because you covet that money. But greedy people find it soothing to focus on their own money (counting it, watching the investment numbers go up, etc.)

But in the high country (the Church), people are soothed by touching other people’s gold. When you have love for your neighbor in your heart instead of covetousness, then it makes you happy to see them prosper.

The Great Ones/Prophets

Great Ones/Prophets represent naturalistic scientists and academics. They have huge eyes, representing their strong powers of observation of the natural world.

Our culture elevates celebrity experts, especially scientists, to the status of prophets in our culture. Their opinions are taken as gospel, even in areas outside of their expertise.

Bible Study Questions

5) How does loving money result in “many griefs” (1 Timothy 6:9—10)?

MY ANSWER:

It creates a new grief for each time it disappoints—each time it fails to bring the happiness it promised (which is always).Loving money creates grief by drawing me away from what I should love—true sources of joy.Loving money creates grief by damaging my relationships when I make decisions that place money above people.Loving money creates grief every time I lose money (or miss out on money I might have gained).

6) What practical steps could you take in your life to guard yourself against those dangers?

MY ANSWER:

I could do a periodic inventory of my heart and ask myself what I’m hoping in. What am I looking forward to the most? Something God promises, or something money promises?How does the energy I’m putting for to pursue God compare to the energy I put into chasing money?Is my concern about money putting strain on any of my relationships?I could watch my emotional responses when I lose money or miss out on gaining money. Does the way I feel reflect a possible problem of loving money?

EXCERPT:

“Whenever children come to the city, they always try to convince people to go to the high country. They don’t get many takers.” -p.19

QUESTION 7:

When we invite people to come to Christ, few come. And many who think they have, haven’t (Matthew 7:13—14). Why are so few saved? See Matthew 18:3; John 3:19; Luke 14:26—33.

MY ANSWER:

Mt.18:3 – Entering the kingdom of God requires humbling oneself, and most people aren’t willing to do that.

Jn.3:19 – Coming into the light is painful for those who love their sin because the light exposes their evil.

Lk.14:26-33 – Following Christ requires giving up everything else. This is not possible when a person prefers something in this world to Christ.

QUESTION 8:

How does Jesus describe the path people naturally take (Matthew 7:13—14)? What are some examples of this?

MY ANSWER: The natural path is wide (easy to find and easy to travel).

Examples:

People naturally assume their feelings reflect reality.People follow the impulses of their flesh.People construct their worldview based on what they think is best for them.People assume they know what is best for them.People follow the crowd.People live as though this life is all there is.

QUESTION 9

What is it about the journey toward God (narrow path) that is so much more difficult than the wide path that the world takes?

MY ANSWER:

It’s hard to believe things that don’t seem real.It’s hard to say no to the flesh.It’s painful to humble myself.It’s hard to swim upstream.It’s hard to believe what I can’t see or what doesn’t seem true.It’s hard to love God (in fact impossible without being enabled by God).

EXCERPT:

The prophets are known as the ‘Great Ones.’ … Their writings are the definitive revelation of history, the nature of the world, and the way to life and good days. … If it’s not in the writings, it is unknowable.” -p.22  

QUESTION 10:

What examples of our culture’s over-reliance on experts (especially celebrity experts) have you observed—even to the point of treating them as if they were prophets?

MY ANSWER:

The most obvious examples are the times when scientists are interviewed on questions of morality. Pastors, who have extensive training in that area and deal with difficult ethical issues on a routine basis are never consulted, whereas doctors, experts in the hard sciences, movie actors, and athletes are held up as leaders. During the COVID crisis, Dr. Fauci was looked to by all as the final authority not only on questions in his field, but also issues of economics, business practices, policing, PR, work and family relationships, politics, and every other hot topic surrounding the crisis.

Another example is the fact that our culture looks to scientists to answer questions about origins. Theories of the origins of the earth, the universe, and life are not scientifically verifiable or testable (which means they are not in the realm of science). Yet most people rely on the opinions of scientists when answering such questions.

Another example is in the area of psychology. The science of psychology can be helpful in observing tendencies in human behavior, but no amount of psychological research can reveal the nature of spiritual realities. Yet even many Christians rely on the opinions of psychologists about matters that the Bible explicitly says are spiritual.

QUESTION 11:

We live in a culture that regards scientists as almost infallible. Has that influenced you? If a theory is accepted by the majority of scientists, but the Bible contradicts it, would your first impulse be to reinterpret the Bible passage to fit the science journal, or question the accuracy of the journal?

MY ANSWER:

The more time goes on, the lower my overall confidence in popular scientific consensus becomes. I specify “popular,” because the reporting about scientific research in the media is often very different from what the scientists themselves are saying.

And even the scientists very often overstate their level of certainty in some areas. There is immense cultural pressure, for example, for scientists to avoid any finding that would contradict the theory of evolution, whereas anything that seems to support it is presented as fact, even when it is little more than an educated guess that is driven more by the theory itself than by any data. In areas like that, I have very little confidence in anything they say. In other areas of science, where they are more honest about their level of certainty, I have greatr confidence.

But any time there is an apparent conflict between a scientific theory and the Bible, I cast suspicion on the theory, not on the Bible.

However, I do keep in mind that it is possible for interpretations of the Bible to be wrong. So if the scientific data is compelling, I will be willing to restudy the biblical passages to see if I have made an interpretive error. But I strive to never adjust my interpretation of the Bible to fit anything unless I can discover exactly what my previous interpretive error was.

EXCERPT:

“If a prophet didn’t author it, it’s not verified—it’s just superstition. … Superstition is what makes the mountain people so dangerous. They use it to brainwash people—and to justify all their crimes.” -p.22

QUESTION 12:

Naturalists accuse Christians of superstition. Christians accuse fortune tellers, astrologers, and psychics of superstition. What is the difference between superstition and faith? See John 14:11; 1 John 1:1—2.

MY ANSWER: Superstition is believing without evidence. Faith is believing based on the evidence one deems trustworthy.

Sometimes critics accuse Christians of believing without evidence because there is no scientific evidence for much of what we believe. What they fail to understand is that scientific evidence isn’t the only kind of evidence. It’s not even the best kind. Most of what people believe (including scientists), they believe based on non-scientific forms of evidence (such as reliable testimony).

EXCERPT:

“He’s not just the king of the city; he’s the king of the whole world. He has awesome power. He can bring rain or storms. The grass of the field and the birds of the air do his bidding. And he uses all of it to protect our freedom.” -p.22

QUESTION 14:

God has ultimate control of the weather and everything else (Psalm 135:6—7). But he does allow Satan to manipulate the creation. What are some examples of natural processes God has allowed Satan to influence? See Job 1:16—19; Exodus 8:6—7; 2 Thessalonians 2:9.

MY ANSWER:

Job 1:16-19 – Satan sent fire from the sky and a windstorm

Exodus 8:6-7 – Occultic magicians cause a plague of frogs to rise from the Nile.

2 Thessalonians 2:9 – Miracles, signs, and wonders.

QUESTION 15:

How do you harmonize passages that affirm God’s total supremacy over everyone and everything (such as Romans 11:36; Ephesians 1:11; Acts 17:24—30) with passages that speak of Satan ruling (such as 1 John 5:19. 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:1—2)?

MY ANSWER:

God is so powerful that he is capable of allowing sentient beings to make choices by their own will and still see to it that their decisions end up accomplishing exactly what God had planned. We can’t conceive of how that is possible without controlling the person’s actions (which is why people object to the sovereignty of God on the ground that it would have to violate human free will). But God is capable of things we can’t conceive of.

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7 Best Websites for Good Sermons

It used to be, if you wanted to listen to a sermon outside of Sunday morning, you would turn on Christian radio and listen to whomever happened to be on, preaching on whatever text he happened to be handling. But now anyone with online access can find a sermon any time, day or night, on pretty much any topic or passage of Scripture.

There is some amazing preaching available out there. But there is a lot of lousy preaching as well. If you want to avoid wading through the ocean of options out there, here is my guide to the seven best sermon websites out there.

1. Grace to You (John MacArthur sermons)

John MacArthur has been preaching two expository sermons a week in the same church for over 50 years. The result is a website where you can download an in-depth sermon on any verse in the entire New Testament. There are other sites in this list with sermons I like more than MacArthur’s, but too often those sites don’t have a message on the passage I’m studying. GTY has a sermon on every verse.

You may not agree with all MacArthur’s beliefs. I definitely don’t. But I still regard his sermons as invaluable. After hearing him preach on a passage, even if I disagree with his conclusions, I come away with a deeper understanding of the passage.

2. Desiring God (John Piper sermons)

If I can only listen to one sermon on a passage, it will almost always be John Piper. His combination of careful, accurate interpretation, profound insight, and contagious passion make his sermons more likely to change my life than any other preacher I know of. I have very little patience with preachers who do little more than state the obvious, or repeat the same things I’ve heard all my life. I can always count on a Piper sermon to show me truths I hadn’t seen before, or from an angle I’ve never considered.

3. Ligonier Ministries (R. C. Sproul sermons)

Like John Piper, R. C. Sproul was a combination scholar/pastor, which is a combination I absolutely love. Pastors have great understanding of people’s needs and helpful applications of Scripture, but all too often I find myself wondering if I can trust their knowledge of the language, historical context, or other interpretive elements. Many pastors rely on popular commentaries with varying levels of reliability, whereas scholars have better training with original sources and tend to be more conscientious about verifying what they read before preaching it.

Sproul has a plodding style, but his preaching is still captivating (especially if you listen on about 1.3X speed). Most of his sermons only have one or two points, but they are almost always good ones.

I recommend both his sermons and his teaching series.

4. Truth for Life (Alistair Begg sermons)

Good, solid expository preaching, delivered with an amazing accent. Before preaching on a passage, I always listen to Begg’s sermon on that passage.

5. Brucegore.com (Bruce Gore lectures)

Bruce Gore is a retired seminary professor who teaches at his church. Unlike many professors, he is very listenable and engaging. He’s another resource I always listen to when I’m studying a passage. Highly recommended.

6. Christ Covenant Church (Kevin DeYoung sermons)

Another well-read, reliable, doctrinally sound pastor who is very listenable and has helpful insights. (His website is very difficult to navigate, so I recommend using the link above.)

7. Food For Your Soul (D. Richard Ferguson’s sermons)

If you don’t have time to listen to all the previous six, my sermons glean the best from all of them, as well as many commentaries and other resources.

If you would like more bite-sized portions, subscribe to the Food For Your Soul podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. Excerpts from the sermons ranging from 5 to 15 minutes in length. It’s like breakfast for your soul.

So what about you? Do you have a favorite preacher? Please mention the sites you find helpful in the comments.

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Loving God from the Heart (Poem)

Holy, holy” seraphs’ cry
and call to all who hear

Cover feet and face before
the one whom all must fear

His glory fills the earth and
flashes brighter than the sun

To him belongs the highest praise
his equal, no not one

More worthy he to be the one
whom every creature seeks

Than any treasure earth may boast
the heavens, land, or sea

But if deserving of our praise
and honor and our fear

Our faithful prayers, repentant sobs
and every mournful tear

Then what of that, the greatest of
the gifts we can bestow

Our hearts, the love that steers our lives
and pulls the soul in tow?

If worthy of obedience
and duty and of praise

How much more must we with joy
our longings to him raise?

His claim on us extends beyond
just that which people see

All is his, our hearts and souls
not just our hands and feet

This poem was written as the closing for the sermon, The Greatest Thing You Could Ever Do, an expository message on the Greatest Commandment in Mark 12:28-32. Listen, watch, or read the sermon here. For a list of all the sermons, visit the sermons page.

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Reconcile–NOW

Averting Disaster

No matter how hard you try to get along, you’re going to have conflicts with people. Relationships are like cars—they break down. And for when they do, Jesus gave a strong command in Matthew 5:24. Go and be reconciled to your brother.

Very often, that’s the last things we want to do. So Jesus gave us some motives—big ones, like avoiding hell (Mt.5) and making sure God doesn’t reject your worship (Mt.5).

Then Jesus added further wise counsel. Go and reconcile before things turn ugly.

“Settle matters quickly with your enemy who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny. (Mt.5:25-26 NIV)

When you have a falling out, reconcile immediately because if you wait, things will usually get a lot worse.

Prevent Extensive Damage by Acting Quickly

In this scenario, you’ve offended someone and Jesus urges you to settle out of court. Do what you can to work it out, because if it goes to trial, you could end up with a much bigger mess than you had to start with.

Most of the time our disputes aren’t legal ones, but the principle applies to any conflict.

When a person gets mad at you or is offended or hurt, if you deal with it right away, in many cases the whole thing can be done with forever with a ten-minute conversation.

But if you wait, the anger festers. Then something else happens that the person interprets it through a grid of anger so they take offense again. Then they talk to someone else about it, and that gets someone else down on you, and the whole thing snowballs until finally the person has so many complaints against you and his attitude has become so embittered that there is no way out. Repairing that kind of relationship can take years or even decades.

And it all could have been avoided if you had just been willing to humble yourself, go to the person, and make an effort to reconcile.

Since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands: Go and humble yourself; press your plea with your neighbor! Allow no sleep to your eyes, no slumber to your eyelids. Free yourself. (Proverbs 6:3-5 NIV)

More Than a Truce

When Jesus tells us to reconcile, the point isn’t to just smooth things over. The point is the restore the closeness of the relationship. The word translated settle matters in verse 25 literally means “make friends.” It’s more than just settling up. It’s an effort to win that person’s friendship back and place the relationship in good order.

Divine Judgment

The reason Jesus gives for why you must win the person’s friendship back as quickly as possible is that if you don’t, the person might turn you over to the judge (verse 25).

Who is that? The context is talking about the heavenly court, so the judge is God. When you sin against a brother or sister in Christ, what if that person cries out to God for justice?

What if God answers that prayer? Then you’re in real trouble. You’ll face chastisement from which no one will be able to rescue you.

You do not want that to happen.

God tends to listen to the prayers of people who have been treated poorly, and so you take steps to win back that person’s friendship before they take their case to God and you find yourself in real trouble.

Just Put Out the Fire

Imagine you are part of a large, loving family. Tonight after a wonderful evening with them, you’re tired and hit the sack. Soon the rest of your family turns in and the house is quiet.

Just as you start drifting off, you smell something. You spring out of bed and see there’s a fire in the kitchen. Right next to you is the fire extinguisher. It’s just a small fire at this point—easily put out, but you think to yourself, I’m not responsible for this fire. It didn’t start it, and it’s not my fault. Are you going to just go back to bed and let it burn down the house and destroy your whole family including you?

All Jesus is saying in this text is this: “Just grab the fire extinguisher and put it out. Do it because I don’t like fires in my house. Do it because as long as you let my house burn down, you’re going to be at odds with me. And do it immediately because if you don’t, the damage will increase exponentially for as long as you put it off.”

Question for Reflection

We get into bad habits with the people we live with. One of them is to have an “acceptable” time gap between a conflict and reconciling. Examine your life. Do you have a time gap like that? If so, take Jesus’ words seriously and eliminate it. Reconcile immediately.

Of course, if the other person refuses, you are only responsible “as far as it depends on you” (Romans 12:18). If you try to reconcile and it doesn’t work, that’s not on you. The question is, how much of a time gap is there between the conflict and your first effort to reconcile? The shorter, the better.

This blog is an excerpt from the sermon titled Reconciling Relationships. For a full list of sermons, see the Sermons Page on this site.

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Election Prophecies and Itchy Ears

Leading up to the election, numerous people sent me links to prophecies from men like Jeremiah Johnson predicting Trump would get a second term in 2020. They were wrong, and because of how public they made their prophecies, it’s creating no small stir. One prominent leader in the Pentecostal movement, Michael Brown, called those prophecies “the largest scale deception I’ve seen in 49 years of following Jesus.” The matter has even found its way on to the front page of the New York Times in an article by Ruth Graham.

While some prophets have clung to their predictions even to this day, others, including Jeremiah Johnson, have apologized. But even as Johnson “repented” (to use his word) of the prophecy, he does not consider himself to be a false prophet because he has a good heart.

What Constitutes a False Prophet?

The Old Testament standard for prophecy is very clear: get it wrong once and you’re a false prophet.

But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say … must be put to death.” You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?” If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously… (Deut. 18:20-22 NIV)

Pentecostals have argued that while the Old Testament standard for prophecy was indeed very high, in the New Testament the standard dropped considerably. Rather than prophecy being a direct, verbatim, infallible word from the Lord as it was in Old Testament Times, in the New Covenant prophecy is merely a potentially fallible report of an idea that the Holy Spirit has brought to someone’s mind. The Spirit causes the prophet to think of something and that prophet does his best to communicate the idea, but there is no guarantee the Spirit will see to it that he does so accurately as he did in Old Testament times.

One argument that is frequently used to support this view is the fact that prophets were to be judged in the church (1 Corinthians 14:29). I do not find this argument compelling, as it seems it would be necessary in a church like Corinth where people are routinely claiming to have gifts they don’t have to identify those with the true gift. However, the full debate over the definition of New Testament prophecy extends beyond the scope of this blog post. For a strong (but somewhat technical) defense of my view (that Old and New Testament prophecy are the same) see the article by David Farnell here.

(Note: I do believe the thing Pentecostals call “prophecy” exists and is valuable. Sometimes the Spirit does bring things to mind, and we should express those thoughts. My only objection is in labeling it “prophecy.”)

Itching Ears

Another mark of false prophecy in the Old Testament was the tendency to prophesy popular ideas.

The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end? (Jer.5:31 NIV)

What were they prophesying? The opposite of what the true prophets like Jeremiah were prophesying. Jeremiah warned the people that God was going to punish them by sending a foreign power to conquer them. The false prophets assured them, “No, Israel will win.” And the “We’ll be the winners” message is always more popular.

This is illustrated in comical fashion with the prophet Micaiah.

So the king of Israel brought together the prophets– about four hundred men– and asked them, “Shall I go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” “Go,” they answered, “for the Lord will give it into the king’s hand.” But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here whom we can inquire of?” The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad. He is Micaiah.” …

The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me.” When he arrived, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?” … Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd.” … The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Didn’t I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?” (1 Ki. 22:6-8, 13-18 NIV)

Prophecies about a Trump victory were exactly what the vast majority of those prophets’ audiences wanted to hear. I know my ears certainly would have loved to hear a word from God assuring victory, given the alternative. And sure enough, those prophecies spread through social media like wildfire.

How Wrong Can New Testament Prophecy Be?

But they were wrong. And not just a little wrong. They were the complete opposite of what happened. Are we to believe that the Holy Spirit brought to the minds of all those prophets, “Biden will be elected” and that came across in the communication of those prophecies as “Biden won’t be elected”?

Rather than this being an example of who a New Testament prophet can sometimes misunderstand some details of an idea the Holy Spirit has brought to mind, it seems much more like a classic example of a very popular “we will win” message being peddled to the applause of the masses while being the opposite of the truth.

Be Careful When Your Ears Itch

So what can we learn from this? Regardless of your position about prophecy in the New Testament, it’s important that all of us keep a careful watch over our itching ears.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. (2 Tim. 4:3 NIV)

Always remember, the itchier your ears are to hear something, the more vulnerable you are to deception.

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Truth, Lies, and Fact-Checkers

Life would be impossible without trust.

Perhaps you think of yourself as a trusting person. Or maybe you’re one who finds it hard to trust people. But the truth is, every one of us believes almost everything we’re ever told.

It has to be that way. Otherwise, life would be impossible. If you meet a total stranger, and he tells you his name is Jim, you call him Jim. If the sign says, “Denver, 130 miles,” you assume that’s the distance. If your spouse claims to be feeling a little tired today, you don’t demand proof. Life in a community with other human beings is only possible if our default response is to believe what we are told unless there is some compelling reason to doubt it.

Liars, scammers, and con artists take advantage of this fact. They know we can’t doubt everything we are told, so they simply place himself in a context where there is no obvious reason to doubt them, and they fooled us. And people like that are a plague on society.

The Insanity of Deception

They are a plague not only because they swindle us out of money, but because they steal from us something even more precious—reality itself. Insanity is defined as living in a world that doesn’t exist. Seeing and hearing things that aren’t there so that the world you experience does not correspond with reality. When someone deceives you, they are injecting a little bit of insanity into your life. When you make decisions or have feelings based on beliefs that aren’t true, you are being robbed of a little bit of life itself. Believing something that turns out not to be true is like sitting in a chair and having it collapsed under you. Objects and people that prove unreliable are one of the miseries of life.

Fake News, De-Platforming, and Fact Checking

The issue of truth and falsehood has risen to the surface of public discourse over the past several years. President Obama accused his detractors of peddling “fake news.” President Trump co-opted the term and used it throughout his presidency to describe what he believed to be dishonesty in the news media. And now the tech giants have responded by de-platforming conservative voices. Both sides of the political divide have deep concerns about what they regard as dishonesty from the other side.

And such concerns are understandable. When your political opponents propagate ideas you believe are false, and you see those ideas gain a wide hearing and influence millions of people, it’s distressing. You can speak up and attempt to set the record straight, but, as the saying goes, a lie travels halfway around the world before the truth gets its shoes on.

And beyond that, even after the record is set straight, falsehoods continue to do damage. Whatever you hear first will continue to influence you, even if you come to believe that it’s inaccurate.

The Damage of False Information

An interesting experiment illustrated this fact. On his February 17, 2021 episode of The Briefing, Albert Mohler cited a study done by University of Pennsylvania psychologist, Paul Rosen in which people were asked to put sugar from a commercial sugar package into two similar brown bottles. Then people were given two labels, sugar and cyanide, and were asked to put them on the bottles. After having done that, people were reluctant to take sugar from the bottle labeled cyanide, even though they themselves had affixed the label. The researcher concluded. “This helps explain why lies and falsehoods are so corrosive. Some part of us believes them, even when we know we shouldn’t.” Being duped by falsehood is even more damaging than most of us realize.

Society Longs for an Ultimate Arbiter of Truth

For this reason, society longs for an ultimate arbiter of truth. Someplace we can go where the information will be absolutely reliable. In recent history, our culture has elevated two authorities to that position: scientists, and the news media. And since not all scientists agree on everything, allegiance is given to the handful of scientists who appear on the news media. So in fact, there’s only one authority. Whichever newspapers or news anchors a person considers reliable—that’s the ultimate arbiter of what’s true and what isn’t.

At least that’s how it was up until the last several years. But when most people began seeking their news from social media, trust shifted from newspapers and broadcast news, to “fact checkers.”

Who are these fact checkers? How intelligent are they? How biased are they and in what direction? How old are they? No one knows. They are simply a group of invisible authorities that the tech giants assure us can be trusted. In fact, they must be trusted. Question them, and you lose your place at the table in the discussion of ideas.

Recently, I suggested on an online discussion that Parlor and MeWe were good alternatives to Twitter and Facebook because they didn’t have so much censorship. The response was that I am a fool to use “un-fact checked” platforms because they result in an echo chamber. It seems to me that when only certain ideas are allowed, that would be the very definition of an echo chamber, but that’s another blog. My point here is simply to show that the human craving for an ultimate, final, absolutely reliable arbiter of truth is so deep and compelling that people will put their complete trust in a group of unknown people simply because someone labeled them “fact checkers.”

The ultimate, infallible arbiter of truth is, of course, God. Our society has rejected him, but as much as they hate him, they can’t help replacing him. Even if it’s with some unknown 25-year-old fact-checker armed with Wikipedia.

Social Justice and Informational Justice

Another topic that has dominated the news in recent years has to do with social justice. Many believe they have been treated unjustly as evidenced by their ongoing poverty. Most discussions of social justice focus almost exclusively on economic issues. But there is another kind of social injustice that is even more damaging than economic injustice. Namely, lying. Forcing people into poverty is evil; forcing them into the insanity of living in a world that doesn’t correspond with reality is even worse.

The perpetrators of injustice are most frequently those in power. But the seat of power has shifted in recent years from Washington DC to Silicon Valley. The government still holds a great deal of power, but the tech giants control information, which gives them even greater power because they control the beliefs of the people who elect government officials.

Just as government officials should be held accountable for when they use their power to oppress the poor, so the tech giants should be held accountable for when they use their power to oppress the ignorant.

Such accountability is unlikely anytime soon, since one side of the political spectrum controls the White House, both houses of Congress, the dominant news media, and all of big tech.

The Solution to Disinformation

So what is the solution? There probably is no immediate remedy. But the long-term solution is a return to free speech where both sides of each issue can be heard with equal clarity. This will only happen when consumers transfer power from the current social media companies to alternative platforms that allow free speech.

And if you’re not ready to leave platforms like Facebook or YouTube or Google just yet, there is something you can do that will drastically reduce their power and income. You may have heard in the news recently that Apple is planning on creating a pop up that will ask iPhone users if they want to continue to allow Facebook to track all their Internet activity (Facebook doesn’t just track your behavior on their platform. They track all your Internet browsing.) Judging from Mark Zuckerberg’s panic over this and the numerous full-page ads Facebook has taken out in papers like the New York Times trying to turn public opinion against such a move, it’s clear Facebook is terrified to lose this information. It is a major income stream for them.

But you don’t have to wait for the Apple pop up. You can turn off Facebook’s ability to track your online activity. Just click on this link. It will take you to Facebook’s off-Facebook activity setting. When I did it, it listed over 1200 websites that shared my browsing activity with Facebook.

To turn it off, click on the “Manage Your Off-Facebook Activity” link on the right side of the page. Next, click on the Manage Future Activity link. As you go through this process, they will give you all kinds of warnings about how you will miss out on all kinds of amazing deals with various businesses. Personally, I don’t remember receiving any amazing deals at businesses because of Facebook, so I wasn’t too worried about this. It also allows you to clear your history.

I never did this in the past because I figured if I have to look at ads, they might as well be ads that pertain to things I’m interested in. But now, Facebook and Google have become so powerful in our culture, and they have used that power to create so much informational injustice, I would rather forgo seeing pertinent advertising in order to do my part at reducing their staggering power.

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Have you Missed God’s Will for Your Life?

God has a wonderful plan for your life. Is it possible you missed it? We’ve all made bad decisions–could it be that some of your past choices have put you in a place outside of God’s will? How can you find God’s will for your life?

Questions like that rise from the assumption that God’s will has mainly to do with where you are and what you’re doing. But a survey of what the Bible says about God’s will and his guidance reveals a very different perspective.

It’s never God’s will for you to do something God forbids–ever. It’s never his will for us to lie or steal or commit adultery or disobey Scripture in any way. But what about when we have to choose between multiple good options? Should you take this job or that job? Marry that godly person or a different godly person–or stay single for kingdom purposes? But this house or that house? How do we make hard decisions?

How David Sought God’s Guidance

A good place to go with these questions is Psalm 25, where David seeks God’s will for his life. Perhaps the most striking truth in that psalm is how little David focuses on the outcomes of his decisions compared to the motives behind the decisions.

“4Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; 5guide me in your truth and teach me … 8Good and upright is the LORD; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways. 9He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way. … 12Who, then, is the man that fears the LORD? He will instruct him in the way chosen for him. … 14The LORD confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.” (Psalm 25:4-14)

(For an audio devotional on this passage, click here. It is a chapter taken from the book Lost in Prayer.)

When we agonize over a hard decision, it’s usually because we’re concerned about which option will produce the best outcomes. Should I buy this house or that house? In my list of pros and cons, the list is mostly about whether things will work out better for me in one or the other. Will I end up better off financially? Will I enjoy one more than the other. Will one create more hardship than the other?

Those questions are worth asking, but for David, questions like that weren’t at the center of his decision-making process. For him, finding God’s guidance was a lot more about how he made the decision than about which option he chose. He wanted to be in God’s path (v.4), God’s truth (v.5), and the fear of the LORD (v.13).

Which Car Should You Buy?

Should you buy the blue Toyota or the red Honda? It’s a big decision, so you seek God’s guidance. If God answers your prayer for guidance, in what form will the answer come? An email from heaven saying, “Buy the red one. The transmission in the blue one will go out in one year.”?

No, that’s not how God guides us. Whether or not one will last another 200,000 miles and the other will fall apart in a month isn’t what’s important. When God provides his guidance, it comes in this form:

“Here’s how to make this decision with a heart that cares more about eternal things than temporal things …”

“Here’s how to make the decision with humility rather than pride …”

“Here’s how to honor your spouse as you make the decision …”

“Here’s how you can eliminate covetous attitudes as you choose …”

In other words, “Here’s my way. Walk in it.” It’s the way of righteousness and the fear of the LORD.

Does it matter if you but the one that’s the better deal and that will be more reliable? Sure. Part of walking in God’s way is using wisdom the best you can, and there’s nothing wrong with avoiding foreseeable trouble. But avoiding trouble is way down on the list of importance compared to things like what your heart trusts, what you love, and which motivations rise above others in your heart. Finding God’s will is more about walking through the decision-making process with godly attitudes than it is about whether you end up buying the blue one or the red one.

Are You Out of God’s Will?

So could it be that you’ve missed God’s will for your life? Is it possible to take a wrong turn in life that’s so wrong that it takes you off the path of God’s wonderful plan for your life forever? No, it’s not. It isn’t possible because God’s wonderful plan for your life has very little to do with where you are, and a whole lot to do with how you are walking. Being in the center of God’s will isn’t about whether you’re working as a plumber or a scientist as much a whether you’re doing that work as if serving the Lord, not men (Eph.6:7).

If you have a hard decision and ask me to pray that you would be able to discern God’s will, I will pray. But don’t be surprised if the next time I see you my question isn’t “Which option did you choose?” but rather, “Did you walk in righteousness in the way you made the decision?”

What a freeing truth this is! If God’s will were mainly about which option we choose, what we do, and where we go, then one really bad turn (like marrying the wrong person) really could place out outside of God’s will for life. But if God’s will is mainly about what direction your heart is going right now, then it’s always, always possible to be right smack dam in the center of God’s wonderful plan for your life.

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