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“Interpret Your Problems” Devotional Commentary on James 1:2

When James tells us to consider it pure joy when we face trials, does that apply to all hardships? What about problems that are your own fault? Or if it’s something that displeases the Lord?

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2).

The Problem of Misinterpreting Trials

A great number of our problems come not from our suffering, but from wrong interpretation of suffering and undervaluing the benefits that come from suffering. Inability to properly interpret suffering is at the root of most relationship problems, spiritual problems, marriage problems, problems in your prayer life, emotional problems, fear, guilt, depression, anxiety, worry, anger, and selfishness.

James’ goal is to teach us the proper way to interpret hardships and awaken us to the immense value of the benefits our trials can provide.

The Right Way to Interpret trials

The starting point for finding joy during suffering is to place our suffering is to place suffering in the right category in our thinking. We must remind ourselves, “Regardless of how I feel or how things seem, this suffering is a good thing.” Reality must trump feeling.

Imagine you took your computer apart to replace the fan, and some annoying component was in your way. You say, “I’ll just bust that thing off and throw it away.” But a computer expert says, “No. Don’t do that. That part seems annoying, but’s actually a good thing. It’s the processor. Without it, the computer is useless.” Now that part is just as annoying as ever, but you are thinking about it as a valuable, good thing now instead of something you want to get rid of. If you trust the computer expert, your values will change. What seemed worthless is now valuable in your eyes.

If the medicine tastes terrible but the doctor says, “Without it, you’ll die,” you will pay good money for that horrible tasting medicine because you think of it as a good thing—if you trust the doctor.

Step one for finding joy in suffering is to listen to God when he says, “Trust me. This suffering I bring into your life is a good thing.”

Teach Your Children

One of the biggest favors you can do for your children is to teach them this. We all naturally think suffering is our enemy. And when a child thinks that, and he is faced with hardships he can’t escape, his life can become unbearable. Many behavioral problems in children come from the child not knowing how to handle suffering.

And that ignorance often persists into adulthood, resulting in all kinds of sinful responses. We tell lies to avoid suffering. We get angry when people cause us suffering. We get consumed with worry because we fear future suffering. We get depressed because we see no way out of our suffering. We make foolish life decisions in an effort to minimize suffering. We over-indulge to distract ourselves from suffering or because we think we deserve a break from suffering. We fail to do things we know we should do because they involve suffering.

All those responses rise from wrong interpretations—like seeing the flowers and assuming they are for your husband’s secretary when, in reality they are for you. And all those problems can all be avoided if we simply believe God when he says, “Trust Me. This is a good thing.”

Which Suffering?

“What kinds of suffering does this include? Does this apply to suffering caused by sinful people around me? Or to suffering caused by my own stupidity? Does it apply to suffering sent by God as chastisement for sin? Is it only for major suffering, like losing a loved one? Or does it also apply to stubbing your toe? Is it just physical suffering, or also emotional suffering?”

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2, emphasis mine).

That word translated “of many kinds” points to the wideness of the variety. It is not just the categories you would normally think of. This applies to any kind of suffering. Big, small, your fault, someone else’s fault, physical, emotional—any and every kind of suffering. It all counts. Consider it all pure joy.

God is saying, “Trust me. This is good. It might be an evil thing that people are doing to you, it might be an evil thing that you did to yourself, but none of that changes the fact that what I’m doing a good.”

Application

If all the suffering in your life is good, does that mean you should seek more suffering? No. Thankfully, you can trust God to take care of giving you however much you need. You don’t have to seek it out. In fact, Scripture even teaches that it’s okay for us to seek relief from our suffering, as long as we can do so without violating any principles in God’s Word (See 1 Timothy 5:23 as an example). When James tells us to consider trials pure joy, he’s referring to suffering you can’t escape without sinning.

Of all the hardships in your life, are there any of them that need some reinterpretation in your heart? You haven’t accepted that God knew what he was doing when he put that trial in your path. You can’t consider it pure joy because you’re still stuck on thinking it’s a bad thing instead of trusting the Expert in heaven who assures you it’s a good thing.

Run through the trials in your life right now and remind yourself for each one of them, one at a time, that they are good gifts from God, serving his good purposes. And thank him for that.

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Escape from Paradise Chapters 26-28 Study Questions

Chapter 26 MeaningsAdam’s Peace

“Adam had … envisioned himself crashing into the banquet hall, clutching the Ruler by the arm, and beseeching him to come with him to the orchard. … But now, as they strolled along the path to the cottage, all his anxieties settled behind the solemnity of the moment. Peace fell upon him as he watched the swaying treetops massage the sky in the cool breeze. As urgent as his concern for Abigail was, he sensed the Ruler could be trusted to carry that anxiety while Adam faced the momentous occasion at hand.”

This illustrates Jesus’ promise of peace to those who come to him.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-30).

The Foyer

The entry to the cottage features a series of plaques detailing how all things came to be and how the half-real world became broken and lost its connection with reality. This is the book of Genesis.

The Ten-Sided Room

Each of the ten walls emitted a different color. This room is the law of God, which is based on the Ten Commandments. God’s law reflects his will, which is an expression of his nature.

On each of the walls hung a mirror. This illustrates the fact that God’s Word exposes the reader’s heart like a mirror (James 1:23).

“Utterly condemned, his lungs still drew air but in the truest sense, he was dead. This room had killed him by showing him that on the inside, in the ways that matter most, he had been dead all his life.”

This illustrates the condemning ministry of God’s law.

“For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful” (Romans 7:11-13).

The Blood Room

The blood room is the place where the Father slaughtered the Ruler as he bore the punishment for his people’s sins.

This illustrates the cross, where it was the Lord’s will to crush Jesus (Isaiah 53:10) as a sacrifice for our sins (1 Peter 2:24).

The Promise Room

Multiple padlocks and deadbolts sealed the promise room, and only the Ruler could gain entry. This is to show that our access to God’s promises comes only through Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20).

The room contained people at rest and people carrying out great projects. It is in trusting God’s promises that we find rest (Isaiah 26:3) and perform mighty deeds (Matthew 17:20).

That the room had no floor illustrates the need to trust the Lord. Only by trusting him can one remain in the realm of God’s promises (Ephesians 1:18-19).

Chapters 27-28 MeaningsThe Promise Room (cont’d)

“The Ruler’s smile lit up the entire promise room as Adam walked to him across the floorless expanse without sinking an inch.”

The most fundamental way we can please the Lord is by trusting him (Hebrews 11:6).

Adam faces a test of faith when he is forced to choose between his greatest desire (returning to his family) and being with the Ruler. The story of the treasure in the field (Matthew 13:44) shows him it is joy that drives a person to forsake all he has in exchange for the Lord, because the Lord is worth so much more.

“Use the Mirrors”

Anzu chastises Dagon, the demon assigned to Adam, saying, “You had one job.” All Satanic attacks really boil down to one objective: destroy our faith. Unless Satan can get us to lay down the shield of faith, all the rest of his efforts are useless because faith extinguishes his burning arrows (Ephesians 6:16).

Anzu instructs Dagon to use the mirrors. The law of God is designed to condemn the unbeliever and drive him to Christ. But Satan also tempts us to use the law in a legalistic, self-justifying way (Dagon tempts Adam with thoughts like, “I’ve never killed anyone …”).

Sift You as Wheat

The Ruler warns Adam of an enemy who has the power to sift him as wheat. This phrase comes from the warning Jesus gave Peter in Luke 22:31. Satan is powerful, and if we lay down the shield of faith, he makes short work of us.

Trust in Christ’s Work Alone

The Ruler’s penetrating gaze lays bare Adam’s self-justifying thoughts, illustrating God’s examination of our hearts (1 Samuel 16:7).

“Adam, he who justifies himself will have himself as a defense and no other. But he who comes defenseless—I will plead his case.”

When God is angry with us, the only remedy is God himself pleading our case (Micah 7:9). Self-justification results in condemnation (Luke 18:9-14).

Salvation

When Adam trusts the Ruler more than he trusts himself, the Ruler is elated and gives Adam the blue fluid, which stands for grace. In this case, saving grace (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Then the adjacent room erupts with celebration. This illustrates the rejoicing of God and his angels over each repentant sinner (Luke 15:10).

Adam then looks in the mirror again and discovers he now resembles the Ruler. This illustrates the washing and transformation that takes place at conversion (1 Corinthians 6:11). The new self is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), created to be like God (Ephesians 4:24).

The Ruler then promises Adam that as he walks with the wind, he will grow deeper into this new identity. The Christian life is a process of becoming more and more what we already are (Ephesians 5:8).

The Ruler assures Adam that all his past wrongs are forgiven and the Father’s anger is erased.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalms 103:12).

“All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions— it is by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:3-5).

“… You turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead— Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath” (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10).

Adam is now the Ruler’s brother.

“Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers” (Hebrews 2:11).

“His love for you is now just like his love for me, because when you trust me, you are connected to me in the Father’s eyes—grace by association.”

This illustrates the concept of our being in Christ. Our association with Christ is so close that all the Father’s favor on Christ lands also on us. See John 17:23, Ephesians 2:7, and 1 Corinthians 1:30 as a few of many, many passages that speak of us receiving favor from the Father because we are “in Christ.”

Study Questions

QUESTION 1

Even unbelievers can read the Bible and understand the meaning of the words and sentences. So what aspects of Bible study require divine intervention? See 1 Corinthians 2:14-16; Psalm 119:18; 2 Timothy 2:7.

QUESTION 2

In what sense is the Bible a source of light? See Psalm 36:9; 119:105, 2 Corinthians 4:4–6, Psalm 119:130.

 

 

 

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“How to Change Your Emotions” Devotional Commentary on James 1:2

Most people think emotion is something that just happens to you. You can’t do much about it. The best you can do with your emotions is to manage them. That’s not true. You can change them. Today we’ll find out how.

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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” (James 1:2-4).

James begins by commanding something that sounds impossible.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds” (James 1:2).

Is James telling us to pretend we are happy when we aren’t? Does God want us to deny reality and live in a fantasy world? Or are we supposed to enjoy suffering, like masochists?

No. if we enjoyed it wouldn’t be suffering.

Hebrews 12:11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful.

James doesn’t say, “feel it pure joy,” but “consider it pure joy.” But what does that mean? If suffering is not joyful, why should we consider it joyful? Is this a purely mental exercise, disconnected from emotion? If so, what good is it? What is “joy” you can’t feel?

The word “consider” is a cognitive word. It refers to something you think and believe, as opposed to something you feel. You go through a process of reasoning and come to a conclusion you regard as true. But that is not to say your emotions are uninvolved.  It is a thinking word, but the purpose of the thinking is to change your feeling.

Emotions are Results of Interpretations

We live in a culture that holds an evolutionary, naturalistic perspective that ignores the reality of the soul. Emotions are nothing but chemical reactions in your brain. They are not right or wrong. They simply happen to you. So you are not responsible for what you feel.

But the Bible gives us a very different view. We are responsible for how we feel. We are not mechanistic robots controlled by random chemical reactions. Emotions are connected to chemical reactions, but in most cases those chemical reactions result from the activity of the soul. Just ask thinking about biting into a lemon can cause saliva to increase in your mouth, so other thoughts and attitudes can cause increased or decreased chemicals that affect emotion.

Emotion rises from your heart’s interpretation of events, weighed against your beliefs and values. The two key parts are interpretation and values.

Interpretation

If a wife sees flowers on the counter on her birthday, her interpretation may be that her husband did something nice for her birthday. The resulting emotion may be happiness or love.

But suppose he walks into the room and says, “Honey, can you put those flowers in a vase for me? Today is secretaries’ day and I wanted to do something nice for her.” Now her interpretation of the situation changes, and her happiness turns to jealousy or anger.

Beliefs and Values

Two people might interpret a situation the same way but have opposite emotions. This is because they have different values.

Give a child a piece of candy and he might have emotions of exuberant happiness. Give candy to a typical adult and he might smile, but without a fraction of the child’s emotion. The emotional response is different because the child and the adult value candy differently.

The same goes for beliefs. One person sees some election results and he’s happy because he believes the winning candidate will bring about “social justice” and better conditions. Someone else might respond with fear and sadness because he believes it will result in injustice, higher taxes, and higher crime rates. The same interpretation of the data results in opposite emotions because of opposite beliefs.

Right and Wrong Feelings

So is there such a thing as right or wrong emotions? Yes. Feelings that rise from an incorrect interpretation of the situation, or from evil values or wrong beliefs, are bad emotions—even sinful in many cases. This is one of the biggest differences between worldly counseling and biblical counseling. In worldly counseling, the main goal is to feel better. In Scripture, the main goal is to feel rightly.

Application

How would you describe your emotional state? Joyful? Depressed? Apprehensive? Fearful? Apathetic? Hopeful? Just kind of blah? God designed us to feel a complex of wide-ranging emotions that are fitting responses to what happens around us. But the most dominant emotion for us as Christians should be joy.

Over the next few days, we will look into how to interpret trials properly. But for today, ask yourself these questions:

Is there something about your emotional state you would like to change? What is it in your thought life that might be leading to the emotions you wish were different?What needs to change in the way you interpret the things that happen to you and around you?What values or beliefs may be causing wrong emotions?Notes

“Greetings … Consider it pure joy” (James 1:1-2)

Part of James’ style is to end a section with a keyword, then use that word to pivot to the next topic. Here, the last word in verse one is “greetings,” which is the Greek word for joy. Then in verse two it is as though James says, “Speaking of joy, consider it pure joy whenever …”

If you find child abuse amusing, that is a sinful emotion because it comes from valuing an evil thing. If you are happy when someone blasphemes God because you believe God doesn’t exist, that is a sinful emotion because it is based on a wrong belief about God.

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Who Is the Real You? – Meditations on Psalm 139

NOTE: For the video version of this post, click here.

How Well Do You Know Yourself?

Do you know yourself? How extensive is your knowledge of who you are? And what you are? What kind of person you are? Could you do a good job summarizing your life?

The answer is, of course not. Right now, you’re experiencing only one tiny sliver of your existence—the sliver existing in April of 2022. How similar are you now to what you were at age ten?

That ten-year-old was definitely you. Same person. But how different are you now from what you were then? There’s not a single cell from your ten-year-old body that still exists today.

And your personality—no doubt some traits from then still exist today. But isn’t there a whole lot about you that’s very different now? In many ways, you have more in common with another person your age than you do with your earlier self.

And how much of your earlier self do you even remember? A few snapshots here and there, but the vast majority of the moments in your past life are long forgotten.

How about your future self? What sort of person will you be twenty years from now?

God’s Knowledge of You

Think of your life like a stream winding through some mountains. Each moment in your life is like a boat somewhere on that stream. And none of the boats can see any of the others around the bend.

Now think of God sitting on top of the mountain, viewing all the boats at the same time. He sees the five-year-old you and the ninety-year-old you just as clearly as the present day you.

In Psalm 139, David rejoices in being deeply and thoroughly known by God.

Psalm 139:13 You created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. … 15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

God’s Face

And not only does God know my past and future, he’s deeply attentive to me in the present.

Psalm 139:1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. 3 You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. 4 Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD. 5 You hem me in– behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.

The version of me I know the best is the one that exists right now. But even that version, God knows far more deeply than I do. He knows my thoughts before I have them. And when I don’t understand my own thoughts or motives, he does. He knows exactly where a wild hair came from.

And wherever I go next, God will already be there.

Psalm 139:7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

The word translated “presence” is the Hebrew word for “face.” The point here isn’t just that God exists everywhere, like some kind of expansive gas. The point is wherever I go, God will be there turning his face toward me. Revealing himself to me and showing me his favor.

God doesn’t just know the version of you that will exist in 2040. He will be there turning his face toward that future you, laying his hand on your shoulder and guiding you.

After Death

And that’s true even if you die in 2025. If you’re one of his children, even in the deepest darkness—the darkness of the grave, he is with you. His hand will be on you. Like when the little girl died in Mark 5 and Jesus took her hand in his and said, “Talitha koum.” Koum means “get up.” Talitha was a term of endearment that a parent would use when waking a child from sleep. “Wake up sweetie, it’s time to get up.” That’s what Jesus said to this dead girl. He took her hand and said, “Time to wake up sweetie.”

He’ll do that with you someday.

But when he does it for you, it won’t be like he did with that girl. She woke up in her old body. When Jesus wakes you up, you’ll find yourself in a new, incorruptible, eternal, glorified body.

And your relationship with God will be something beyond anything you ever imagined.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Which Version of You Is the Real You?

When God looks down at the river of your existence from that mountaintop, and he sees all the boats at each point, which one is the real you? Those versions of you are so different, which one matters most?

We always think it’s the one right now. Who are you? You’re the person sitting there right now reading this blog post.

But is that the version of you that defines you? That matters most to God? No. The real you isn’t the version of you that was a single cell in your mother’s womb. The most important you isn’t the version that was running around in diapers at age two. Nor is it the version in spring of 2022.

The real you is the one that takes up the vast majority of that meandering stream. From your birth to your death is just the headwaters of that stream. The real you is the long, unending river after the resurrection. When God thinks of you, that’s the you he thinks of most. That’s what defines who you really are.

And that version of you is so thoroughly pleasing and delightful to God, he smiles on you even now.

No wonder David had to pause in this psalm and say …

Psalm 139:6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

 

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Gone in an Instant: Losing My Son Loving His Killer by Tammy Horvath

I had three reactions to this book–two positive and one disturbing.

First, I found the book quite interesting. That’s saying a lot, as few books hold my interest. But Tammy’s story hooked me in more than most novels. The book is definitely a page-turner.

Second, the main message of the book is one I believe is extremely important. She describes how she forgave the man who murdered her son. Many Christians seem to think anger, rather than mercy, is justified in cases where there is an extreme offense. Tammy’s story illustrates how the greater the offense, the more mercy is called for–and the more God-like it is.

And she doesn’t simply state that she forgave him but goes into considerable detail about all she felt and the emotions she experienced throughout the process. The scene in the courtroom with the killer moved me to the core.

I would like to recommend this book and shout about it from the housetops to get people to read it, so that people can see what a beautiful thing mercy really is.

However, there is a third element in the book that tempers my endorsement. A repeated theme in the book is the comfort the author receives from being certain her son is in heaven. I certainly hope he is! But my concern is over the basis upon which her confidence rests.

I got the impression from an early draft of the book that the author’s confidence is based on her son’s conversion experience. She seemed to be saying that if a person has a genuine conversion experience, that person will be in heaven even if he does not follow Christ after his conversion experience.

I spoke to the author about this concern, and her response was remarkable. She said, “Oh my! … I don’t want people to think accepting God as their Savior doesn’t involve surrendering themselves and making Jesus Lord of their life.” Even though we had this conversation on the very day of the deadline for her final manuscript, she spent the entire day making changes to the book to clarify the gospel.

I say that’s remarkable because I know what it’s like to reach publishing day after spending years on a book. At that point, after spending thousands of dollars on editing and proofreading and all the rest, you don’t want to so much as move a comma, much less make any substantive changes. Mrs. Horvath is to be commended for placing the importance of the gospel above all!

I pray the changes will prevent anyone from getting the same impressions I initially had. I believe it is crucial that we be clear on exactly what a person must do to be saved. To be born again, a person must believe the truth about God and trust him–trust him so deeply that they happily turn their back on the world to embrace God’s way.

Jesus put it in the most radical terms imaginable.

Luke 14:26-33
“If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters– yes, even his own life– he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

James 2 is a chapter devoted to describing two kinds of faith–one that can save and one that can’t. The faith that can’t save is dead because even though it believes the right things, it doesn’t trust God enough to follow his way.

And not only is salvation dependent on faith, it is dependent on persevering faith. Not just a momentary conversion experience, but a faith that perseveres all the way to the end.

Colossians 1:22-23 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation–if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel.

Hebrews 3:14 We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.

1 Corinthians 15:2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

Romans 11:22 Consider therefore the kindness and sternness of God: sternness to those who fell, but kindness to you, provided that you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off.

One final point. This is a very minor issue-so minor that if you’re not into semantics and precision in word use, you might want to just skip this part of my review.

For those who are word sticklers, here goes:

I think the term “mercy” might be a little more accurate way of describing what this book is about than “forgiveness.” Most people think forgiveness is when you choose not to harbor bitterness, anger, or resentment and not to harbor thoughts about the person’s wrongs. I believe a better word to describe all that is “mercy.”

Forgiveness, I believe, goes farther. Forgiveness is the restoration of the broken relationship. That is why God requires us to ALWAYS show mercy, regardless of whether the person repents. But full forgiveness (restoration of the relationship) cannot happen unless the person repents. That’s why we are not required to forgive unless the person repents (Luke 17:4). Not even God forgives unrepentant sinners. The relationship cannot be restored unless both sides come together.

For a book-length treatment of this view of forgiveness see The Christian Experience of Forgiveness
by H.R. Mackintosh (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3…).

Please don’t misunderstand. I’m NOT saying it’s okay to harbor resentment toward someone who has sinned against you and hasn’t repented. We must not do that, because God calls us to show them mercy. And I don’t know if I’ve read a more beautiful example of someone showing that mercy than in Tammy Horvath’s “Gone in an Instant.”

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What is a Woman?

Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson claims she doesn’t know what a woman is. Swimmer Will Thomas (now Lia Thomas) thinks he does. What does God say? It’s more than you might think.

Is “Woman” Hard to Define?

For a couple years now I’ve been meaning to write a blog about femininity—what it means to be a woman. I’ve been putting it off, but after the recent questioning of Ketanji Brown Jackson in Congress, I couldn’t procrastinate any longer. When a U.S. Senator asks a Supreme Court nominee in an official congressional hearing if she could define the word, “woman,” and the judge says, “No. I can’t. … I’m not a biologist”—our culture is in a really bad place.

Most normal people rolled their eyes at that. Jackson’s response implies the answer has something to do with biology. But if it’s a matter of biology, then it would not take a trained biologist to discover the difference between a boy and a girl. Children can do that. Throughout the history of mankind, everyone, regardless of political orientation, regarded the question of maleness and femaleness as the easiest of all questions. People with female parts and XX chromosomes are women. Simple as that.

But the “trans” activists of our day believe they are the first people in all of human history to discover that humanity has had it wrong all this time. They say it’s more complicated than physiology. Leftists news outlets rushed to Judge Jackson’s defense with headlines like this one from the Philadelphia Inquirer: Defining ‘woman’ is complicated for everyone.

So complicated, it seems, that a definition is impossible. Nevertheless, even though they don’t know what the word means, even transgenders use it. William Thomas changed his name to Lia and refers to himself as a “transgender woman.”

They use the term, “woman” so they must mean something by it. Evidently, they believe a woman is anyone who feels like a woman.

Feeling Like a Woman

The problem with that is obvious. What if the person is wrong about what it feels like to be a woman? If I walked into a room full of women and claimed I knew what it feels like to be a woman, I doubt it would be well-received.

And rightly so. A person in a man’s body may claim to know what it feels like to be a woman, but how can he be sure? Isn’t it possible for a person to feel one way and be wrong? What if a person feels like he’s an animal? Or that he’s God? We have all felt things that turned out not to match reality.

Personally, I have no idea what it feels like to be a woman. For that matter, I can’t even say I know what it feels like to be a man. I know how I feel, but I don’t know how other men feel. My suspicion is that there are millions of different ways men feel. And the same goes for women. Using one’s feelings as a definition of gender is hopelessly imprecise.

Trans? From What to What?

And it’s contradicted by the very term, “transgender.” Bruce Jenner (now Kaitlyn Jenner) believes he was female from childhood. But if that’s the case, in what sense is he “trans”? Surgery and hormone treatments represent a physical transition, but if femaleness is not a matter of physical traits, in what sense is there a transition from male to female? If Bruce Jenner really was female from birth because he felt female, why call him a transgender woman? Why not just a woman?

The Distinction between the Sexes

They use that language because the transgender movement has backed into a truth that the secular world has long resisted—that men and women are different. And that the differences matter.

On this point, they are in agreement with the Bible. From the opening pages of Scripture God made it clear how important the distinction between the sexes is to him.

Genesis 1:27 …In the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Genesis 5:2 He created them male and female and blessed them.

And as ardent as Scripture is about the distinction between male and female, the world has been equally strident in their effort to flatten the differences between the sexes.

The worst culprit in this has been the feminist movement. No movement has undervalued femaleness more than feminism.

Feminism

Feminism is not mainly about equal pay or equal rights. It is about deprecating femaleness altogether.

The feminist movement has proved to be one of the greatest enemies to femininity there is. The movement is misnamed. “Feminist” leaders despise femininity. For years they told women that in order to find fulfillment, women had to be like men. Stop bearing children, get out of the home, get into the work force—do all the things men do. The more you can be like men, the better.

There is such a thing as a heroine. Many have lived in history. But Hollywood has no concept of it. Their idea of a heroine is to take a petite, 100 pound girl and put her in the role of an male action hero. The more she acts like a man, the better. They glorify masculine roles and masculine characteristics and scoff at all that’s feminine.

A more accurate term for the movement would be “anti-feminism,” or “masculinism,” because they despise all that is feminine and prize masculine traits above all.

Thankfully, the movement has waned in recent decades as millions of women discovered they don’t really like being men.

The Preciousness of Femaleness

While the world has undervalued femaleness, God has prized it. Throughout Scripture, God assigns value and dignity to women that is strikingly out of step with cultural norms.

And that attitude is evident in cultures where Christianity has had influence. As you survey cultures across the world, the greater the influence of Christianity, the more women are treated with respect.

Femaleness supremely valuable in the eyes of God. After creating woman, God stopped creating. Eve was the crowning climax of God’s creative work. He takes pleasure in femininity because women bear the image of God. Make a list of female traits and you will have a list of attributes of God. Women exist to display truths about God that we wouldn’t properly understand if we only had men.

Beyond the Body

Despite their claims, even the transgender activists seem to believe that physical characteristics are indeed a significant aspect of what it means to be male or female.

And they’re right. Your body is very much a part of your identity. If someone punches your body, you say, “He punched me.” If your body is sick, you say, “I’m sick.” If your body is in Colorado, your whole being is in Colorado.

So your body is important, but it’s not all there is to you. You’re still the same person now as when you were three, even though not one cell of your body from back then is still part of your body today. There is a “you” that goes deeper than your body.

And on this point, the transgender movement is right. There is more to femaleness than physical traits. But what is it? What is the definition of “woman”?

What Does God Say?

Rather than relying on feelings and opinions, which are decidedly unreliable means of discovering truth, a more rational approach would be to look to our Creator to define what we are. What does the Bible say about what it means to be a woman and not a man?

Beauty

Perhaps the most obvious mark of femininity is beauty. Nothing in creation is more beautiful than female human beings. If they want to sell a magazine to men, they put a beautiful woman on the cover. If they want to sell a magazine to women, they put a beautiful woman on the cover. Women are associated with beauty.

This is by God’s design. 1 Peter 3 has a lengthy passage teaching women how to become more beautiful.

1 Peter 3:3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. 4 Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

God designed women to reflect his beauty in a greater way than anything else in the creation. And it’s a beauty that emanates from her character.

The feminist movement reacted against this. Since they are all about making women more like men, they downplay the importance of beauty. They say, “It’s demeaning for a woman to jump through hoops just to be attractive to men!”

But women don’t wear nice clothes, style their hair, put on makeup, and all the rest just to be attractive to men. They also do it to appear attractive to other women. And they do it to be attractive to themselves when they are alone in their bathroom standing in front of a mirror. For most women, it simply feels good to be beautiful.

Women to the Rescue

Another characteristic of femaleness has to do with the role God assigned to women when he created mankind.

Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him. 

The woman was created to be a suitable helper for the man. But when you hear that word “helper” don’t think assistant. The only other individual in the Bible described by this Hebrew word is God.

That should tell you something about what this word means. It doesn’t mean assistant. God is not our assistant.

The word means to rescue someone out of desperate trouble—trouble he can’t handle himself.

So what kind of desperate trouble was the man in that he needed to be rescued from? God gave him a task that was more than he was capable of doing. He didn’t have enough strength or knowledge or ability. He needed another human being—a different kind of human being who had a very special ability. The ability to strengthen him.

God has given women a special ability to support and strengthen male leadership.

Over the years I’ve faced some pretty rough situations in ministry. I know what it’s like to have someone spread lies about me and turn the entire church against me. I know what it’s like to be in a board meeting with twenty people and every single one of them is against me and no one is on my side.

And I know what it’s like to feel like I have the strength to face it because of my wife’s support. When she is for me, I feel like I can face down the whole world.

I was in a situation that required more strength than I naturally had. I was in a desperate condition and needed a helper—a rescuer who could provide strength that I didn’t otherwise have access to. And God gave me that helper and enabled me to be strong.

If you’ve never experienced it, it’s hard to even explain. But take my word for it. You can hardly imagine how much strength a woman can infuse into a man by supporting him and encouraging him and being responsive to his leadership.

I don’t think most women realize how much power they have to strengthen their husbands.

And they have just as much power to weaken them. There are men who seem like some of the strongest, most powerful, most intimidating guys around. But in their home they are boys, because their wife has ripped away all their strength.

She treats him like a child, demeans him, mocks him. She manipulates him and controls him and gets him to get her way. It might be through nagging, crying, pouting, being in a bad mood, yelling, or manipulating him with her body.

And he is powerless to do anything about it because in order for him to have enough strength to lead, he needs to be strengthened. He’s like Popeye needing spinach, and she’s the only one who can provide that spinach.

The spinach is those times when he makes an effort to lead and she praises him for it and encourages him in it and supports it and is responsive to his leadership and follows it willingly and eagerly. But if she withholds that she makes him weak and powerless.

Women have awesome power to strengthen or to weaken men.

Single Women

And this applies to single women as well. A guy in the youth group tries to step up and be a man and lead. He says, “Hey, let’s go ahead and pray.” If the girls laugh at him, roll their eyes, or just ignore him, that will rip the strength out of his manhood and spiritual leadership. They just made sure it will be a really long time before that guy ever makes another effort toward spiritual leadership, if ever.

But something as simple as one girl saying, “Yeah, good idea” and influencing a couple others to respond to his leadership can infuse strength that will affect the trajectory of his whole life.

A Real Woman

A real woman is someone who can spot spiritual leadership and loves it. And she knows the power she has been given to strengthen it or destroy it. And she is skilled and righteous in the use of that power.

She is beautiful, and her beauty brings glory to God.

Those are two characteristics of femininity. We could explore many others. Watch a mother nurture her children or lay her life down for the sake of her family. Watch that, and you’re seeing the heart of God.

Consider a woman’s sensitivity—how she notices how people feel. How she can pick up on slight changes in skin color and emotional reactions. Watch her compassion. Her tenderness. Her ability to comfort. You’re seeing attributes of God.

What would the world be like if there were no women? Horrible, right? Unimaginable. And that’s exactly what Satan would love to see, which is why he pushes so hard for society to destroying femininity.

He’s done it through chauvinism—monstrous men when use brute strength the subjugate women. He’s done it through feminism—working to flatten the differences between male and female. And now he’s doing it through the confusion of transgenderism.

Whatever the form, we must resist it at every turn. We must strive to build masculine men and nurture feminine women. We must do this because God created them in his image, male and female, and it was very good.

 

 

 

 

The post What is a Woman? appeared first on D. Richard Ferguson.

The Christian Experience of Forgiveness by H.R. Mackintosh

Most people think forgiveness is when you choose not to harbor bitterness, anger, or resentment and not to harbor thoughts about the person’s wrongs.

Mackintosh argues that forgiveness goes farther than that. Forgiveness is the restoration of the broken relationship. God requires us to ALWAYS show mercy, regardless of whether the person repents. But full forgiveness (restoration of the relationship) cannot happen unless the person repents. That’s why we are not required to forgive unless the person repents (Luke 17:4). Not even God forgives unrepentant sinners. The relationship cannot be restored unless both sides come together.

This book greatly enhanced my understanding (and appreciation) of God’s forgiveness. He didn’t just commute my sentence and cancel my debt. He moved toward me and restored what was broken in our relationship.

The post The Christian Experience of Forgiveness by H.R. Mackintosh appeared first on D. Richard Ferguson.

Escape from Paradise Chapters 24-25 Study Questions

Chapter 24 Meanings

The king of the lowlands (Satan) promises Abigail there are a hundred paths leading out of the orchard. This illustrates the world’s belief that there are many paths to God or that all religions lead to God.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The Wind Touches Adam

When Adam had lost everything and was at the end of his rope, the wind touches him. He feels crushing guilt.

This represents the work of the Holy Spirit to convict unbelievers of sin (John 16:8).

Chapter 25 Meanings

The result of Adam’s crushing guilt is a compelling drive to go to the Ruler. This shows the difference between worldly regret and godly sorrow. Mere regret over sin leads to death, but godly sorrow leads to repentance, which drives us to God (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Another feature of his repentance was hatred for the orchard. To fear the Lord is to hate sin (Proverbs 8:13).

“In that moment, Adam knew there was only one hope for Abigail, and, for that matter, for himself. He must find the Ruler.”

True repentance forces a person to Christ because it becomes plain that the problem of sin is so massive, only God can solve it.

“When he saw the change in Abigail, something changed in him. Desperation? More than that. It was like the morning sun had broken the horizon on the world—the real world. Values came into focus. He was beginning to see what mattered … and what didn’t.”

The opening of Adam’s eyes to reality illustrates the enlightenment brought by the Holy Spirit when he draws a person to salvation (2 Corinthians 4:6).

The wind is at Adam’s back all the way to the banquet hall, showing that when a sinner comes to Christ, the Holy Spirit enables him to do so.

The Coming Destruction

Destruction is coming to the lowlands. This depicts the coming judgment on this world.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Peter 3:10).

“When the Ruler comes in judgment, he will offer them amnesty. But all who are enslaved by Judas desires will reject it and will be destroyed.”

God offers all sinners amnesty (Revelation 22:17). But those who love the darkness will reject the offer (John 3:20).

Wholesome Desires

“Then, a hunger pang. It was a strange sensation. A pure, wholesome desire—powerful, yet no threat to his self-control.”

This illustrates the fact that when our desires are good, we are free to indulge them without fear of losing control or overindulgence. There is no law prohibiting good things (Galatians 5:22-23). When our desire is for the Lord, there are no rules restricting our indulgence of that desire (Psalms 37:4). I depicted this in the story by the fact that the one and only law in the high country is that one must prefer the Ruler’s delicacies over the fruit.

Hodia And Tichi

The Hodia and Tichi characters are based on Euodia and Syntyche in Philippians 4. Both were godly women who had worked with Paul, but they had a conflict with one another that was so serious, Paul wrote about it in his letter and commissioned a third party to work it out.

In the story, the conflict begins with Hodia developing a self-righteous, judgmental attitude. When she begins to gossip about Abigail, it infects others in the church like a disease. This illustrates the infecting nature of gossip.

“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts” (Proverbs 18:8).

As the problem progresses, it can affect the whole church, so that everyone attacks one another.

“If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15).

The Mutilated Bodies

It is in this chapter where the mystery of the mutilated bodies is explained.

“Levi, I saw your body in the lowlands. You looked like your heart had been ripped out. I know it was you.’

‘That’s the old me. When I went through the cottage, the old Levi died.’”

“If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:5-6).

The Ruler of the Kings of the Earth

The spectacular appearance of the Ruler in this chapter is derived from Revelation 1.

“And among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:13-18).

The Ruler’s speech is a combination of Revelation 21:6, Psalms 2, Isaiah 40:11, and Matthew 11:28-30.

The Servant Ruler

“Isn’t it amazing? He’s the great Ruler of the kings of the earth, and yet he serves every week as our chef.”

Jesus taught that the greatest is the one who serves (Mark 9:35). This applies to Jesus as well.

“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them” (Luke 12:37).

**********

Chapter 24 Study Questions

EXCERPT

    “You told me I could leave this place whenever I want. But I feel like a prisoner. Can you show me the way out?”
“Of course. There are a hundred different paths. And I will gladly point you to any or all of them.”

QUESTION 1

The most popular religion in our culture is the one that says all religions lead to God and all paths point to heaven. What does Scripture say? See John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 10:13–14, and Matthew 7:21–23. Why is it impossible for any other religion to lead to heaven?

MY ANSWER

It’s impossible because there’s no other way to satisfy God’s justice. Jesus died for our sins. No one else did. Apart from Jesus, there is no sacrifice to cover our sin, which means we would have to pay for our own sins.

EXCERPT

 You feel trapped because you’ve been trained to fear freedom. All those taboos and rigid traditions in the high country—it’s paralyzing.

QUESTION 2

The world defines freedom in terms of breaking free from moral taboos. How does this compare to God’s definition of freedom? See 2 Peter 2:19; John 8:34; Romans 6:22.

MY ANSWER

The person who breaks “free” from moral taboos becomes enslaved to depravity. The only other option is to be freed from sin and become enslaved to God. There is no absolute freedom. Either we are free from sin and slaved to God, or we attempt to free ourselves from God’s law and become enslaved to sin.

EXCERPT

 The wind gusted and a painful gnawing grew in his stomach. In the past, pangs of conscience struck only after bingeing on fruit. But why now? He had eaten no fruit today. Yet these guilt pangs pressed harder than ever before. He sensed they had nothing to do with any individual failure. It was something worse—something deeper, as if he were failing in his very purpose for existing.

QUESTION 3

Which is more accurate:

We are sinners because we sin.We sin because we are sinners.

See Romans 7:15-24; Mark 7:21-23.

MY ANSWER

Both are accurate. However the second one is a better description of our condition.

Chapter 25 Study Questions

QUESTION 1

True repentance not only turns from evil, but also hates it. See Amos 5:14-15. Why do you think the emotional element is so important to God? See James 4:4. What tends to prevent us from hating our sin? See Psalm 36:2.

MY ANSWER

If all God cared about were behavior, he could have simply created a race of robots. What he desires is our hearts. It’s like a marriage. If a wife tells her husband, “I will cook and clean for you, but my heart belongs to the guy next door,” that would not be acceptable to him. He wants her heart. If we stay in love with the world, our “good” deeds become meaningless.

Our inner lawyer constantly arguing in our own favor prevents us from making honest assessments of our own sin. Even when we admit committing the sin, we tend to excuse it because of the difficulties and exigent circumstances surrounding it.

QUESTION 2

How can one be freed from the bondage of his own will—when his own desires hold him in chains? See Romans 6:6-8; 8:13; Galatians 5:24-25.

MY ANSWER

First, he must be converted. It is only when a person is born again that he dies to his old life. After that, it is important to be continually reminded that we died to that old self.

Secondly, he must keep in step with the Holy Spirit. The more we respond to the Spirit on a moment-by-moment basis, the more we will desire righteousness and develop a distaste for sin.

QUESTION 3

What is our message to the world in light of the looming threat of judgment day? See Acts 17:30-31; Luke 3:9-16.

MY ANSWER

Repent! Now! Lest you end up in hell forever.

QUESTION 4

What does Scripture teach about the urgency of rescuing those who have wandered from the truth? See James 5:19-20; Jude 1:23.

MY ANSWER

The picture is of something that is moments away from being lost forever. And even if you somehow manage to pluck them from the flames, they have most likely already been deeply damaged, and you risk being damaged as well if you’re not careful.

QUESTION 5

Satan’s objective is to take you captive to do his will (2 Timothy 2:26). What are some strategies he uses for that? See Acts 8:23 (the term for bitterness in this verse refers to the bitterness of envy); Colossians 2:8; Titus 3:3; 2 Peter 2:18.

MY ANSWER

Acts 8 – Envy. He diverts our attention from what we have been given to what others have been given.
Col.2 – Philosophy and human wisdom.
Titus 3:3 – Passions and pleasures.

QUESTION 6

God offers forgiveness to all (Revelation 22:17), but most will reject it. Why? See John 3:19-20; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12.

QUESTION 7

Can you think of an example of a time when God’s enlightening grace opened your eyes in a way that changed your values?

The post Escape from Paradise Chapters 24-25 Study Questions appeared first on D. Richard Ferguson.

Escape from Paradise ChapterS 24-25 Study Questions

Chapter 24 Meanings

The king of the lowlands (Satan) promises Abigail there are a hundred paths leading out of the orchard. This illustrates the world’s belief that there are many paths to God or that all religions lead to God.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The Wind Touches Adam

When Adam had lost everything and was at the end of his rope, the wind touches him. He feels crushing guilt.

This represents the work of the Holy Spirit to convict unbelievers of sin (John 16:8).

Chapter 25 Meanings

The result of Adam’s crushing guilt is a compelling drive to go to the Ruler. This shows the difference between worldly regret and godly sorrow. Mere regret over sin leads to death, but godly sorrow leads to repentance, which drives us to God (2 Corinthians 7:10).

Another feature of his repentance was hatred for the orchard. To fear the Lord is to hate sin (Proverbs 8:13).

“In that moment, Adam knew there was only one hope for Abigail, and, for that matter, for himself. He must find the Ruler.”

True repentance forces a person to Christ because it becomes plain that the problem of sin is so massive, only God can solve it.

“When he saw the change in Abigail, something changed in him. Desperation? More than that. It was like the morning sun had broken the horizon on the world—the real world. Values came into focus. He was beginning to see what mattered … and what didn’t.”

The opening of Adam’s eyes to reality illustrates the enlightenment brought by the Holy Spirit when he draws a person to salvation (2 Corinthians 4:6).

The wind is at Adam’s back all the way to the banquet hall, showing that when a sinner comes to Christ, the Holy Spirit enables him to do so.

The Coming Destruction

Destruction is coming to the lowlands. This depicts the coming judgment on this world.

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (2 Peter 3:10).

“When the Ruler comes in judgment, he will offer them amnesty. But all who are enslaved by Judas desires will reject it and will be destroyed.”

God offers all sinners amnesty (Revelation 22:17). But those who love the darkness will reject the offer (John 3:20).

Wholesome Desires

“Then, a hunger pang. It was a strange sensation. A pure, wholesome desire—powerful, yet no threat to his self-control.”

 

This illustrates the fact that when our desires are good, we are free to indulge them without fear of losing control or overindulgence. There is no law prohibiting good things (Galatians 5:22-23). When our desire is for the Lord, there are no rules restricting our indulgence of that desire (Psalms 37:4). I depicted this in the story by the fact that the one and only law in the high country is that one must prefer the Ruler’s delicacies over the fruit.

Hodia And Tichi

The Hodia and Tichi characters are based on Euodia and Syntyche in Philippians 4. Both were godly women who had worked with Paul, but they had a conflict with one another that was so serious, Paul wrote about it in his letter and commissioned a third party to work it out.

In the story, the conflict begins with Hodia developing a self-righteous, judgmental attitude. When she begins to gossip about Abigail, it infects others in the church like a disease. This illustrates the infecting nature of gossip.

“The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man’s inmost parts” (Proverbs 18:8).

As the problem progresses, it can affect the whole church, so that everyone attacks one another.

“If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15).

The Mutilated Bodies

It is in this chapter where the mystery of the mutilated bodies is explained.

“Levi, I saw your body in the lowlands. You looked like your heart had been ripped out. I know it was you.’

‘That’s the old me. When I went through the cottage, the old Levi died.’”

“If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin” (Romans 6:5-6).

The Ruler of the Kings of the Earth

The spectacular appearance of the Ruler in this chapter is derived from Revelation 1.

“And among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades” (Revelation 1:13-18).

The Ruler’s speech is a combination of Revelation 21:6, Psalms 2, Isaiah 40:11, and Matthew 11:28-30.

The Servant Ruler

“Isn’t it amazing? He’s the great Ruler of the kings of the earth, and yet he serves every week as our chef.”

 

Jesus taught that the greatest is the one who serves (Mark 9:35). This applies to Jesus as well.

“For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them” (Luke 12:37).

**********

Chapter 24 Study Questions

EXCERPT

    “You told me I could leave this place whenever I want. But I feel like a prisoner. Can you show me the way out?”
“Of course. There are a hundred different paths. And I will gladly point you to any or all of them.”

QUESTION 1

The most popular religion in our culture is the one that says all religions lead to God and all paths point to heaven. What does Scripture say? See John 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 10:13–14, and Matthew 7:21–23. Why is it impossible for any other religion to lead to heaven?

The post Escape from Paradise ChapterS 24-25 Study Questions appeared first on D. Richard Ferguson.

Review of How to Write a Dynamite Scene Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson

If you’re new to fiction writing, don’t make the same mistake I did and read this book AFTER you’ve already written your novel. For my next novel, I plan to listen through sections 2 & 3 of this book as I write each scene until I have the principles down.

I highly recommend chapter 1 of this book to everyone–regardless of whether you have any interest in writing. The chapter brilliantly describes the crucial role fiction plays in our lives by teaching “emotional muscle memory” to enable us to face hard moments in life.

The book has 4 sections.

Section 1 defines the fundamentals of what makes a story in very simple terms. A story is a character in a crucible. And every scene must be a story, with a character in a crucible.

Section 2 walks through the nuts and bolts of a proactive scene.

Section 3 walks through the nuts and bolts of a reactive scene.

Section 4 describes how to identify and fix broken scenes.

The book is very well-written and engaging with plenty of examples from three stories–Hunger Games, Outlander, and The Godfather.

The post Review of How to Write a Dynamite Scene Using the Snowflake Method by Randy Ingermanson appeared first on D. Richard Ferguson.