by Ron Harper

The devil completely misunderstood Job's faith in God. In his conversation with God the devil asked, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Hast Thou not made a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? Thou has blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land" (Job 1:9,10).

The devil thought he knew a way to turn Job away from God. "But put forth Thy hand now and touch all that he has; he will surely curse Thee to Thy face."

Satan's accusation was simple. "God, Job is only serving you because nothing bad has happened to him. Allow him to experience some real tragedy and he'll turn his back on you."

Some people want God "on their terms." As long as all is well they will serve God. As soon as tragedy comes they turn away.

A man was approached about hearing the Gospel. His response was a picture of bitterness. "I've lost two wives and two sons. God didn't have time for me so I don't have time for God."

Some people are like that. They will believe in God on their terms. They will only believe in a God who will protect them from all tragedy.

Back to the story of Job: The devil completely underestimated Job. Although Job did not understand what was happening to him, he maintained faith in God. In the end he was blessed by God.

Centuries later James wrote, "You have heard of the endurance of Job and seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful."

We cannot have God "on our terms." He has not promised to shield us from all tragedy. We can be sure that he blesses those who patiently maintain faith in him.

by Oran Burt www.somersavenue.org

We can be reasonably sure that the image of Jesus is tarnished beyond recognition in most people, but we would hope not beyond recovery. God loves us and wants to save us. Most of us have deep sensitivities concerning our sins, failures, and inadequacies. We never feel totally worthy of being saved.

Jules Pfeifer wrote: "I felt like a fraud so I learned to fly an airplane. At 50,000 feet I thought, 'A fraud is flying an airplane.' So I crossed the Atlantic in a rowboat. I docked at Cherbourg and I thought, 'A fraud has crossed the Atlantic in a rowboat.' So, I took a space shot to the moon. On the way home, I thought, 'A fraud has circled the moon.' So, I took out a full-page ad in the newspaper. And I confessed to the world that I was a fraud. I read the ad and thought, 'A fraud is pretending to be honest.'"

Can you identify with that feeling?

In one of Ruth Calkin’s books, she writes this prayer: "Father, I have sinned and I’m not worthy to be called your child." And the answer came back; "I know, but my Son is worthy to be called your Savior."

How can we BE more like Jesus without doing the things that He did? But even in our doing, we cannot secure our salvation by works. In the song, "Rock of Ages," it is expressed, "Not the labor of my hands, can fulfill the law's demands."

So, our faith is dead without works, but our hope is not in our deeds alone. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

by Warren Baldwin

Do you know what the number one tourist attraction in America is? Disney World? Grand Canyon? How about the Mall of America in Minneapolis, Minnesota? It draws ten times more people than the Grand Canyon does every year! Americans are consumers.

Do you know what our favorite daily activity is? Judging by the amount of time we voluntarily donate to it, I would say it is watching television. The average American watches four hours of TV every day. That adds up to 28 hours a week, or more than one full day every week we spend in front of the tube. Americans are spectators.

Do you know what the primary word or concept is in the various self-help programs available to us? It is: Self. I couldn't even mention the programs with using the term "self!" Self-help involves self-image, self-actualization, and self-concept. Americans are self-absorbed.

Please, don't get angry at me for this less-than-flattering assessment of "us." I actually got this descriptive list from Culture Shift by David W. Henderson and Make Disciples: Reaching the Postmodern World for Christ by Terry A. Bowland.

What is with America's fascination with consumerism (buying "stuff"), spectator-ism, and self-absorption? According to Bowland, it is reflective of our quest to experience. He says we have become "a culture which has elevated experience to the highest level of importance." And this experiential quest is trait number two of our postmodern culture.

Like trait #1, relativism, experientialism poses a challenge to Christians as we seek to reach a generation that relies upon experience as a means of finding and defining self. Ideas are not that attractive. History is meaningless. Experiencing, feeling, whether by shopping, watching or "actualizing" the self is where meaning is found.

The challenge for us today, as we seek to communicate with our young people, whether in our homes, in the church or in the community, is to go beyond just words. If, as Terry Bowland says, our culture has "elevated experience to the highest level of importance," we have to respect that even if we don't agree with it. "We have to take into account that people in today's postmodern world want to experience what we have to offer. If they cannot experience it, chances are they will never accept it." (Bowland, p.126).

Instead of preaching love, how can we offer love in a concrete, measurable manner? Instead of preaching forgiveness, are there any opportunities in our lives to actually demonstrate it? Instead of preaching kindness, do we act kindly toward others?

Postmoderns would rather see a sermon than hear one any day. Almost sounds like something Jesus said about how others assess our lives, doesn't it? (John 13:34,35).

by Warren Baldwin

"God said it, I believe it, that settles it." That saying was posted on the office door of one of my college professors in 1976. Later, I saw a simplified version of that which simply read, "God said it, that settles it." The author of the shorter version was simply trying to say, "It doesn't matter whether I believe it or not, what God says is truth."

Such a confidence in the truth of God's Word is commendable and certainly is to be expected of all who are Christians.

But such confidence is also waning in our society. Not just confidence in the Bible, but confidence in anything that poses itself as a standard of thought or behavior. Replacing confidence in the Bible or some other authority is an attitude of relativism. Relativism is "the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute." In other words, there is no standard of right or wrong that is true for all people at all times. Society determines what is right or wrong.

Relativism has been identified as one of the traits of current thinking referred to as postmodernism. Postmodernism is the rejection of Enlightenment thought which elevated human reason over other aspects of life. Enlightenment thought believed in human goodness and progress. Man could do anything, including ending war, defeating disease, and figuring out God. And we tried, with science, technology, and increased learning. But we failed, didn't we?

After several hundred years of rather futile efforts in ending war, defeating disease, and figuring out God, a new generation of people grew up who "knew not the god of the Enlightenment." This generation tends to reject the conclusions of preceding generations about the goodness of man and inevitable progress. They look around and say, "Your technology, science, and religion have not dealt adequately with the problems of war, disease, or hunger. There has to be a better way." And what previous generations held dear as valid solutions to all problems current generations reject. And they often reject religion with it. God, Bible, church.

This is a problem, isn't it? Yes and no. I prefer to call it a challenge.

Postmodernism is a challenge because it forces those of us who believe "God said it, that settles it" to think seriously about how we can reach this current generation of thinkers with the Gospel. Even though relativism may characterize postmodern thinking, I believe many postmoderns are on a search for truth. They want something stable to hold on to. What will we offer them? We can reject them as being uncaring and unspiritual, but that is certainly not what God calls for us to do. We can also scold them for not listening to us, but that won't accomplish anything except to further alienate them.

What insight has God given us into how to reach out to people who might at first tend to reject the spoken or written Word? What did Jesus say we should hold out to people to attract them to Him? How will people know that we are legitimate disciples of Jesus and not just phony copies? The answers to these questions might give us some insight into how to reach the young person living next door to us. Or even the young person living in our own homes.

by Warren Baldwin

Why do we tend to remember things about people that are less than flattering? You know, we seem to focus on people's flub-ups, don't we?

I suppose there is a little bit of self-defense action taking place. If I can remember when you got drunk and broke out a window it makes my own offenses seem a little less severe, doesn't it?

What is unfortunate, however, is when people overcome their shortcomings but in our minds we don't let them live a new life. God will give them a new life. Jesus died so that they can have new life. But sometimes it is hard for us to grant them that new life, isn't it?

I sure know how that worked out in my life. I was one of Jesus' trusted advisors. I was one of his personally trained group. I was an insider.

Can anybody fault me for wanting some evidence that he was alive again? I mean, in all my life I had never seen a dead man come to life before ... except of course for the few times it happened when I was around Jesus. He could tell a dead man, "Get up," and he would.

But how was I to know that the same thing would happen to Jesus? If he was dead, how could he tell himself, "Get up?" Ok, so it was his Father who was the power behind him after all. I lost sight of that. When my friend was dead, I thought he was dead. It was over. And when they told me he was alive I thought, "What a macabre sense of humor. To joke about our dead friend like that!"

It was only natural that I would want to see the nail marks in his hands! Let me touch the sore on his side and then I would believe! No, I wouldn't just believe, I would know! I would know that Jesus was raised from the dead. But don't expect me to get my hopes up in a savior or a redeemer that was still dead.

Well, it took a week. A week of me wondering and fretting. A week of my friends cajoling and ridiculing me. "Come on Thomas, believe us, he is alive!" But I wouldn't believe. I couldn't believe. Not yet.

And then we were sitting in the house. Just us -- some of Jesus' disciples. And he walked in. Jesus. Really, he didn't walk in, he walked through -- right through the locked doors. And he said, "Thomas, put your finger here; See my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

And I did. Right then and there. I believed. I fell to my knees before him and said, "My Lord and my God!" And I meant it.

People still remember me as "Doubting Thomas." And you know, I really don't mind. Not that much. Because I am proof that you can overcome any shortcoming, any faux pas, any doubt. No matter where you are right now, if you will keep an open heart and an open mind, Jesus can provide the evidence you need to cast aside your doubt and create opportunity for faith.

Remember me as "Doubting Thomas" if you will. I'm just thankful that God remembers me as "Believing Thomas"! (John 20:24-28)