We’ve had some very busy, very “social” days lately. But it’s been good to have some times of prayer and celebrations of hope.
Last Friday we went to a church planting workshop put on by our mission agency. It was a blessing to get together with coworkers from around the country, talking about how to move forward in ministry.
Sunday was certainly a celebration of hope. Having a Sunday almost exactly half-way between Christmas and Easter, we had a Christmas/Easter Service! (In Spanish, we actually use the word Pascua or Passover, for Easter. I do actually believe that, contrary to popular belief, Easter is likely a Christian term. But here in Mexico it’s generally Pascua, and Holy Week (Semana Santa), and Resurrection Sunday.)
This was originally my Dad’s idea. The first half of the service has Scripture readings about the birth of Christ, Christmas carols, and so on. The second half features songs from Good Friday/Resurrection Sunday. The idea is to bring the two together, and show why they are both important.
With so many new people at our church right now, it was also an opportunity – not only to do something fun and different, but also to remind ourselves of the basics of the faith. Who is Jesus? What did He accomplish on the cross? Why is it important that He rose again?
Boxes of chairs, loaded into our van.
As you can see, Shari even thought of having a poinsettia and lily display. 🙂
But anyway, it really was a celebration of hope. What an encouragement to remember that Jesus has acted in history – and continues to do so – to bring salvation. He is indeed the Sovereign king of all.
Speaking of having lots of new people, we need more chairs! So I went and bought 16 more this week. And we also need to expand our tent – literally – so that we have shelter from the sun. So that is an ongoing challenge.
On Monday, we enjoyed getting together with Chuck and Karla, fellow missionaries in Mexico City. It was good to catch up with them, and pray for one another.
We even had a chance to “get together” as a family, connecting with Hannah in Canada, this week. We chatted and played some board games (online) together.
And Lord willing we’ll be seeing other coworkers next week, Mark and Angélica, who serve in the city of Pachuca.
Jim, Nathanael, Shari, Chuck, and Karla
And I’m hoping to have a prayer time with some of the pastors in our area next week as well, this time via video conference.
Meanwhile I’m preparing to preach tomorrow on “The Purpose of the Plagues“, as we continue through the incredible book of Exodus.
Some of you have received our newsletter – let us know if you don’t get it (it’s the “Different Opinions?” letter). Oddly enough, it was held up at the US/Canada border! Not by police, or truckers, as far as I know, but by some mistake. So I’m not sure what’s up with that. But do make sure that, if you’re on our Support Team, we have your current email address and physical address, in case something goes wrong with one or the other.
Today is Bible study day! Women in the morning, men in the evening. May God continue to teach us through His Word.
You should get a lot of bang for your buck this week – a whole bunch of video clips (computer generated) from a Spiritual Emphasis Camp for MKs that Nathanael and I went to. Wow, lots of memories here! 10 years ago.
Max Planck was a theoretical physicist from Germany. He won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of “energy quanta”. A crater on the moon bears his name, some units and concepts in physics bear his name, and there was even a space observatory known as the Planck.
Dr. Planck once said:
Science demands also the believing spirit. Anybody who has seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gate of the temple of science are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with.
Max Planck
Although Dr. Planck had his faith, I’m not suggesting he was a true believer or even that he was consistent in his beliefs. But he was right to say that all science does require faith.
Faith is not antagonistic to reason. On the contrary, biblical faith is required for reasoning. One must believe in order to understand. Faith must come first, we need certain presuppositions in order to even begin to reason. For example, we must first believe that there are laws of logic before we can argue for them logically. We must have faith that our senses are reliable before we can even begin to read the Bible. But when we do read the Bible, we will find that our faith is justified. Biblical presuppositions such as logic, uniformity, reliability of senses, and memory all make sense in the biblical worldview. The Bible provides the justification for these things.”
Dr. Jason Lisle
This explains some of why we have started by studying the basics of Genesis 1 and 2. And I shared with you three keywords that we will come back to again and again:
Truth – The Bible teaches us that the world was created by a Mind, by a Creator, who established the physical laws of the universe. Logic exists because it reflects the ordered mind of God.
Dependence – Our Creator needs no one and nothing. He is eternal and all powerful. But we need Him – we have limits, and live in time and space.
Purpose – We have a purpose from God. Ultimately, creation gives glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christians, we believe that God wants us to know Him, through His Creation and through His Word. It is possible to “do science”. It’s possible to investigate the evidence. Sure, we’re limited creatures. But it is possible to know absolute truth, because we have an “absolute” Creator.
When you try to separate your thinking from the truths of Genesis 1 and 2, strange things happen.
The Christian author from Russia, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, wrote about the politician Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky, a powerful man in the Communist Soviet Union. Vyshinsky wrote a report which, according to Solzhenitsyn, reflected common ideas in the Soviet Union at the time. Solzhenitsyn writes:
…it is never possible for mortal men to establish absolute truth, but relative truth only. He then proceeded to a further step, which jurists of the last two thousand years had not been willing to take: that the truth established by interrogation and trial could not be absolute, but only, so to speak, relative. Therefore, when we sign a sentence ordering someone to be shot we can never be absolutely certain, but only approximately, in view of certain hypotheses, and in a certain sense, that we are punishing a guilty person. Thence arose the most practical conclusion: that it was useless to seek absolute evidence—for evidence is always relative-or unchallengeable witnesses—for they can say different things at different times. The proofs of guilt were relative, approximate, and the interrogator could find them, even when there was no evidence and no witness, without leaving his office, “basing his conclusions not only on his own intellect but also on his Party sensitivity, his moral forces” (in other words, the superiority of someone who has slept well, has been well fed, and has not been beaten up) “and on his character”.
In other words, loyalty to “the Party”, and personal perspective, is more important than the truth.
Without absolute truth, justice falls, and science falls. And people who are unjustly arrested by tyrannical regimes still somehow think that they can simply explain to someone that their arrest was “a mistake”. But they forget that reason and logic were left behind when Genesis 1 and 2 were left behind.
Most of us know what happened next, after God had given his commandments to the first humans (Genesis 1:28-30; Genesis 2:15-17). Along comes Genesis 3, and, of all things, a talking snake.
Of course, we now know this was not just some freak of nature – the serpent in Eden was Satan himself (Revelation 12:9).
It’s fascinating to notice Satan’s tactics. I won’t go into detail here, but take a few minutes to look at what he does:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Genesis 3:1-5
The serpent starts with a simple question. He’s like a friendly neighbour, just trying to help. But he gets at least two details wrong, as he questions God – “you” is plural (God had given the command to Adam, so it was originally singular). And of course God had not been the big meany who would not let them eat of ANY tree.
Then the woman makes mistakes – “neither shall you touch it”? I don’t remember that command.
Finally, the serpent is bold enough to directly contradict God, and hold out the temptation.
God, the Creator, had created the trees, and in fact had created the woman’s eyes. Would it not be wise to trust Him? But instead, she (and the man, who is with her!) chooses another authority. What is it?
Well, the woman starts not with faith, but with the evidence. And then she creates her own standards. She is the ultimate authority. And, to steal another thought from Jason Lisle pointed out, she does something not only immoral, but irrational.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6
Satan loves the supposed evidence, when it’s taken without faith in God. Remember how he tempted Jesus Himself? “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matthew 4:3) (emphasis mine). Let’s test the hypothesis, Jesus! – IF.
Let’s see … how does Jesus respond? “It is written…“
First, God’s Word. Because without God, the evidence makes no sense.
You cannot use evidence properly apart from faith in the truth of God’s Word.
Again, an atheist can correctly interpret evidence. You don’t need to specifically believe Genesis 1 and 2 to do that. But you do need something of the truth as a foundation.
You may remember the well known verse about the defense of the faith:
…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…
1 Peter 3:15
Yes, present your reasons, bring forth the evidence! But let’s look at the context. “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…”First, the source of all truth. We honour Christ as Lord, the Creator of all.
“…honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
The man and woman in the Garden ignored God’s truth and their relationship with Him. They listened to the lies of a fellow creature, taking the place of the Creator, throwing the world into chaos.
“…honor Christ the Lord as holy…” – because in the end, there are only two options. Christ or Chaos. (And I’ll tell you more about the origin of that phrase later on.)
I have a lot to write about, but it’s difficult to write about anything without writing about Canada.
Then again, it’s difficult to write about Canada too.
Part of the reason is because there is so much to talk about. I’m concerned that it’s easy (and common) to over-simplify what’s going on in Canada. That’s not to say that there aren’t clear answers, but it does take time to break through all the confusion.
Even media outlets don’t seem clear about the basic issues of the current protests. Generally, what we’re hearing from protesters all across Canada, and their leaders, is an appeal to the government to drop vaccine mandates. (Just to clarify – the unifying principle is not that only mandates for truckers be dropped, nor is it that we should not have vaccines. It’s the manner in which vaccines have been mandated that is a concern.)
Even the question of vaccine restrictions is complex, and seems to be constantly over-simplified.
As we have faced many changes since early 2020, I have felt that it is important, as a church leader, to have some understanding of statistics and medical information, and law. Not everyone has time to read through clinical trials and calculate numbers, but since I’m used to that kind of thing anyway, it has been a way I can contribute. I have also felt it is important to understand how Christians in the past have dealt with crisis and pandemics and plagues.
But the most important is to continue learning from the Scripture, applying it to our current world.
And speaking of over-simplifying, if we as believers are mainly arguing about masks and vaccines, we’re missing the big picture. Not only the big picture of Scripture, but the big picture of what is going on in the world today. And that is one of my biggest concerns as I have read how some Christians – even Christian leaders – are responding.
It was a blessing to go through the “Biblical Anthropology” topics that we went through as a church last year, and there’s a reason why I’m trying to share some thoughts here as well. Christians cannot possibly know how to deal with what’s going on in the world without having a firm foundation in the faith.
I’m not saying that we should stop fooling around with politics and laws and health issues, and focus on more “spiritual” things. I’m saying that the Bible gives us light in all things – in all reality – whether we consider it “spiritual” or “physical”. Christ lived in the physical world, He became a Man, and so this physical world in time and space matters.
So what does that mean for us? It means that while we recognize the spiritual reality, we live it out in the physical world. It means that as we acknowledge the sovereignty of God, we recognize also that He wishes to use us in this world, to stand up for truth.
The world is intent on dividing us, as believers. But in Christ we are united. Oh yes, I’m sure we disagree on many things. But believe it or not, we can discuss and even debate from a place of unity and love in the Lord. Let’s break down the division, while still discussing the issues. Avoiding the controversy is the Canadian way, but not necessarily the Christian way.
Now that I’ve made clear, I hope, that questions of laws and politics and health are indeed very important, let me skip to the bottom line for now.
I’ve been studying the book of Ezekiel lately, and one passage has really stuck in my mind as I think about Canada.
God is giving principles for a land that “sins against me by acting faithlessly”(Ezekiel 14:13). When a nation sins against God’s Word, God will send judgement. In the case of Ezekiel 14, it’s three things – first, famine/hunger/lack of food. Second, wild beasts, leading to destruction and the loss of free travel. Third, pestilence/death.
Sadly, judgement will come, God says. It can’t be avoided. And He illustrates it this way:
…even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, declares the Lord God, they would deliver neither son nor daughter. They would deliver but their own lives by their righteousness.
Ezekiel 14:20
When a nation shakes its fist at God – and, make no mistake, Canada has done so – God will judge. What is our place in such a situation?
Of course I pray that God would be merciful. Maybe He will be gracious, and we will have temporary relief, and for just a little while longer be able to serve Him freely (Exodus 8:1). But what should we do with any freedom we have?
We should bring as many people as possible to know the righteousness of God, and to receive it through faith in Christ (Romans 1:17). Because in the end, they are the only ones who will be delivered.
Many people say that they “just want to go back to normal life”. Brothers and sisters, it’s too late for that. I most certainly do not want to go back to normal life (whatever that is). There is no going back. But we can go forward, until the day when Christ returns (Titus 2:13). And even now, He is with us (Matthew 28:20).
Don’t panic! It wasn’t that bad. Actually, it was quite good – just very busy!
Nathanael hanging out with friends after the Sunday service. We meet just behind this little Christian bookstore, owned by a woman in the church.
This past weekend was full of blessings, actually. On Saturday morning, the women of the Las Palmas church had their first regular Bible study. (Lots of clarification there, of course – there have been regular Bible studies for adults, and lots of women’s activities, but I don’t think we’ve had a regular women’s study until now.)
As you might have guessed, I (Jim) was not there. However, from the reports I heard it was a great time. A great turn out, everyone sharing… very cool. And, on Sunday, more women showing interest (e.g. purchasing the Bible study book they’re using).
Sunday evening was the first men’s study. And as seems to be a common trend in the world, fewer numbers! But actually we had fewer men in the first place, and one got called into work, another got sick… so we had a small study. But it was a fun one – that’s where we went through purgatory.
One of the men had been talking to some people in the week and had received a paper about how biblical purgatory is. So we took some time to look at some of the Bible passages. (Spoiler – purgatory actually is not biblical. So although we went through the topic of purgatory, no one will actually go through purgatory!) And, as is often the case, God surprised us with a lot of truths that had a very person application for us.
On Sunday morning we were counting the chairs and wondering if we should buy some more. Yes, we were full up – men, women, teens and children. Some of our regular people were away, but there were also lots of visitors. So we were taking time in our service to explain how we do things, and to make sure people had access to information about our church. And sharing songbooks, because we didn’t have enough.
I always have extra respect for people who visit – it’s a brave thing to visit a church for the first time. Especially around here – sadly, we hear horror stories about people who visit churches and have a very bad experience (many of these would not be biblical churches at all – a reality in this area). So I hope we made everyone feel welcome.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many of you have been contacting us lately, telling us that you’re praying, asking what you can pray for. We even recently enjoyed a couple of special prayer times with coworkers via video chat. And if you’re part of our Support Team, you’ll be getting a newsletter in the next week or two (Lord willing) with news and prayer requests.
It did feel like a battle going into the weekend (and coming out of it!) for various reasons. But sometimes opposition reminds us that God is working in a special way.
So thanks for your prayers! Do continue to pray for the many new people we’ve been coming in contact with, especially those who do not yet know the Lord.
Today we’re going to continue our look at Genesis 1 and 2, an important foundation for what is to come.
This is a taco. Read on to find out why it’s here.
We’re nailing down 3 keywords that we’ll look at again and again in the future, Lord willing.
#1 – Truth. These chapters explain how we can know truth in the first place – why it exists, and why it can be known.
Now, let’s move on to #2.
2. Dependence
We depend on something outside of ourselves, and everything depends on God. This shouldn’t be difficult to understand. We need air to breath.
And here’s something even more mind-blowing. We need to begin to exist! If nothing ever began to exist, it wouldn’t be here now. And nothing can make itself exist, because it wouldn’t be there to make itself exist.
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” …
Exodus 3:14
Who is God? Where did He come from? When did He begin?
I AM. Go as far as you like into the future – I AM. Turn around and travel back into the past – I AM. Go to the edges of the universe, and then beyond creation itself – I AM.
You see, nothing caused God. He doesn’t have a beginning. And that’s why everything else exists. Because Someone brought everything else into existence.
Hmmmm… I thought this post would be a little lighter. Oh well.
Look. If I drop something on the floor, what caused that to happen? I did. Or maybe you could say, gravity. Very well, what caused me? You might say, “Your parents”. And them? And on and on we go. But something must have caused the first thing in the chain – something that did not have, or need, a “cause”. If it needed a cause, it wouldn’t be the first thing. And that is the Almighty Eternal God.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…
Hebrews 1:1-3
Who sustains the universe – keeps it running? The Son of God.
We are dependent beings – God is independent. He needs no one and nothing. And listen, this isn’t just any god, some “higher power”. This is the Holy Trinity, Yahweh of the Bible.
This also means that we are limited and finite. We get tired and go to sleep. We become hungry, and we eat. We get old and die. But God is unlimited and infinite.
I hope the importance of this will become clearer later. But now, let’s get the last keyword!
3. Purpose
God is a being with His own will.
When we do something, we do it for a reason. Sometimes a bad reason. Or we might not even be aware of the reason! Like when you walk into the kitchen and forget why you went there. But generally, we do things for a reason.
And God?
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 4:11
By His will. But we read even more on Colossians:
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Colossians 1:16
Who is “him”? In the context, it’s the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And so we might say, Jesus is the purpose of the Creation.
There’s more.
The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
Psalm 97:6
In the creation we see His righteousness and His glory. What’s “glory”? The meaning varies a little, depending on the context. But basically, it’s something worthy of praise. It’s the revelation or demonstration of something wonderful.
And so, God shows Himself to us in His creation, and He is wonderful! Surprising! Powerful!
For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[a] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
Romans 1:19-20
God reveals Himself in His creation. We can know something of the creation, and so we can know something of Him. The creation reveals the eternal power and divine nature of the Creator.
When we see something that is wonderful and beautiful, what is the appropriate response?
Let them praise the name of the LORD! For he commanded and they were created.
Psalm 148:5
Praise. And part of praise is – words! He created with words, and we respond with words. Words are important!
But, as most Christians know, we really praise God with all of our lives, all of our being. “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
This purpose – giving glory to God, glory to the Son, praise – it happens in a million different ways.
One way is through His commandments. And what commandments do we see in Genesis 1 and 2? How about Genesis 1:28?
Have kids! Not everyone will have kids, but that is one way to praise God. Fill the earth! “…and subdue it, and have dominion…”
Take control of the earth. Use its resources. Invent things. Bake cookies! Plant a garden. Fix a car. Create music. Invent the taco.
Speaking of tacos, I used a taco as an illustration to finish this part of the study. My apologies if you’re not a taco fan. (And why not??)
What is a taco?
What is a taco? Well, let me put it this way. In an imaginary world without God, what is a taco?
Well, how would you know? You really couldn’t.
But let’s say we could observe some things. Empiricism, remember? We really can’t trust our observations in this imaginary world, but let’s borrow from the Christian worldview and pretend we can.
A taco is a series of molecules, chemicals. They all come together, and a human creature can eat it and survive.
Atheist Richard Dawkins called humans “survival machines”. That’s all we are. By some chance, we’ve come together so that we can survive.
The frightening thing about that is that the other humans around us are simply a part of our “environment”. We use them to survive. Really, there is no “love”.
What a cold, cruel universe. Except – cruelty really isn’t a thing, because there’s no good or evil, there just “is”.
Everything is mechanical, in this view. The only reason we “taste” tacos is because by chance it helps us to survive. What a depressing, sad, confusing world! Without Genesis 1, there is no truth or purpose in anything.
We teach people this, and then we wonder why so many are stressed and depressed?
But let’s get back to the real world.
God created good food for our good. 1 Timothy 4:3 – “…foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.”
Sure, we can study the molecules in the taco. We can be amazed at the order and creativity and power of God. At the same time, people created in His image used their intelligence and creativity to invent the taco.
Yes, we see the miracle of God’s creation in the taco. We thank God for His good gifts. And Jesus keeps the atoms spinning, holding the taco together (something my own fingers can’t always do successfully)! It’s the truth.
And it’s a world of thanksgiving, logic, science, and praise.
That’s the real world.
I hope you’re beginning to see how Genesis 1 and 2 change everything.
If you’re a believer, I encourage you to take a minute or two to read Psalm 148, out loud if you can. It is a wonderful response to these truths from Genesis.
Resources
In each of our studies, I tried to share some resources for those who wanted to go more in-depth. Obviously, the resources I originally shared were all in Spanish. However, on the topics we’ve been talking about so far, I highly recommend the resources that astrophysicist Dr. Jason Lisle has created. In particular:
