"Good Without God"?

This was the theme of the Tuesday evening broadcast of Chronicle HD on Boston's Channel 5 (ABC). Several atheists were interviewed, including Greg Epstein, who serves as the Humanist Chaplain at Harvard University. Epstein has written a book entitled Good Without God, which Channel 5 obviously borrowed as their label for last night's program. Epstein declares, "God is the greatest literary character we as human beings ever invented."

In describing his own spiritual journey, Epstein says that while he grew up wanting to believe in God, he eventually came to the realization that "what I really wanted was not a God to care for me, but for other people to care for me." Epstein says that miracles and other things pertaining to the supernatural are "no longer helpful." He believes that people have an inclination toward morality because they're aware that they get only one shot at life, and they need to make it count for good.

My son Matthew had urged me and his mother to watch this show with him, because scheduled to appear on it was another atheist named Zachary Bos, whom Matthew had met while doing open-air evangelism at Boston University with his friend Kaleb and two evangelists from our church (along with a few others who joined them). Zachary Bos is the Director of Boston Atheists and refers to himself as the "friendly neighborhood atheist."

"Aggressive atheism" is on the rise. Books denying God's existence have become best-sellers (e.g. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, and Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris). "Over the last 20 years," said Alan Wolfe of Boston College, "the number of people willing to tell people in surveys that they don't believe in God have pretty much doubled." Even Congress has its first self-professing atheist, Rep. Pete Stark (D-California).

Celebrity atheist Christopher Hitchens, while a guest on "Good Morning America Weekend Edition," said that American believers should recognize they live in a secular state. Says Hitchens,

It would be better for them if they didn't give themselves false conciliation. My challenge is really to say, "Can you name me a moral action or a statement that has been made by a believer that couldn't have been made by a non-believer?"

To that question the Bible provides a ready answer, a response that more than meets the challenge and gets to the heart of the matter:

For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

- Romans 2:14-16 ESV

Far from disproving the existence of God, Hitchen's challenge actually affirms what the Bible teaches about man's sense of morality, how it originates from God, and how it renders man accountable to God.

When confronted by atheists - or any other advocate of false religion - we can respond with confidence, knowing that what we are giving them is not the word of men but the word of God. Atheists resort to mere rational arguments aimed at the head, whereas believers declare God's Truth which penetrates the heart (Heb. 4:12). The sword of the Spirit is infinitely more powerful than the plastic fork of human rhetoric. Therefore, precious believer, remember:

who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 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, 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.

- 1 Peter 3:13-16 ESV

I praise God not only for our open-air evangelists who boldly proclaim the Gospel in the public square, but also for those believers who speak the truth of God in love in their classroom, place of employment, with their neighbors, hair-dresser and whoever else. "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ" (Romans 10:17).

People Who Make a Difference

The elders here at First Baptist Church have been reading through the classic missionary book, Hudson Taylor's Spiritual Secret. We have been moved by Taylor's passion for God and his heart for China. That, coupled with this weekend's missions conference - the theme of which is "The Challenge of a World in Crisis" - brought to mind a 7-minute video clip of John Piper that every Christian teenager, senior, and everyone in between should watch. Listen carefully to this passionate plea. Don't waste your life. Be a person who makes a difference in the lives of those that you can impact for God's glory.

Jesus Christ, the Only Way

Pluralism has polluted not only our society, but also the church. As one theologian lamented, there is no place for the truth in this age of tolerance.

Yet if we are to be faithful ambassadors of Jesus Christ, we must proclaim Him as the only way of salvation. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Now I am committed to this truth and to declaring it unapologetically, regardless of what the world may say. But I confess that there have been times when I have been committed to it volitionally without being moved by it emotionally.

Yesterday a colleague sent me a link to the following video by R. C. Sproul who expounds on the exclusivity of Christ by telling a 7-minute story - the story of redemption and God's offer of salvation. Listen to this message. It could be the most meaningful seven minutes of your day. And you may very well want to pass it on to a loved one who does not know Christ, as this is one of the most tender presentations of the Gospel I've heard in a long time.

Ten Questions to Ask Your Christian Brothers and Sisters

Today I came across some great questions that help to generate spiritual and mutually encouraging discussions among Christians. Here they are:

1. How is your ministry going?
2. Where have you seen the Lord at work lately?
3. What has the Lord been teaching you?
4. Have you had any witnessing opportunities lately?
5. Have you had any obvious answers to prayer?
6. What have you been reading?
7. What have you been reading in the Bible?
8. How can I pray for you?
9. How are you growing spiritually in your life right now?
10. What are you passionate about right now?

These are great questions to be asking. Yet there's some tragic irony as to how I came by this list. I got it off the website of a pastoral colleague who recently confessed to having an adulterous relationship and has been removed from ministry. This young man is married with two little children. He was part of a close-knit fellowship of pastors (there are ten of us - now nine - in this particular network), who engage in a conference call once a month for the purpose of edification. In light of this tragic incident, our topic for today was on guarding our hearts (Prov. 4:23).

Yes, let us guard our hearts "with all diligence," as the above Scripture verse reminds us. Moreover, let us do everything we can to "encourage one another daily" (Heb. 3:13) through Christ-centered conversations which should often include heart-searching questions.

Speaking of which, is it well with your soul?

Havoc

On Saturday morning, while I was sitting in on a Bible conference session at our church, a "major catastrophe" occurred across the street in the backyard of our home. Our above-ground pool, which is 26 feet in diameter and holds 13,500 gallons of water, busted wide open! The force of the water gushing forth mangled the metallic structure of the pool, broke our neighbor's fence, and sent debris floating every which way. Here are a few pics for your viewing pleasure:

The pool burst forth through the panel containing the return line, which has had a slow perpetual drip. We had seen some rust develop on the panel that had caused us some concern. So we had sanded it, done our best to patch up the leak, but the drip was still there. At the start of the summer, we had some water delivered to top off our pool. At that time we showed the delivery man the leak, and he said, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about it. I've seen a lot worse. You'll be fine."

I'd like to send him some of the above pictures!

As I look out over my back yard at all the damage caused by this "catastrophe", I'm reminded of the destruction that often occurs on a far greater scale in the spiritual realm. Often there is a leak in one or more areas of our life where something is not right in our walk with the Lord, and a slow, steady erosion is taking place. We see that there's a problem but don't recognize how serious it is. We tell ourselves that it's not that big of a deal, even as we take halfway measures to "patch up" the problem. But we don't deal with it thoroughly - simply because we don't see the catastrophe that lies ahead and the destruction it will cause. For if we did, we would deal with the matter abruptly, doing whatever it takes to fix the problem before it's too late.

Nothing can be done to fix our pool. The damage is far too extensive. Likewise, sin devastates our life and the lives of those around us. God in His grace can make "all things new", but some things cannot be undone; some relationships cannot be restored. Credibility lost is seldom, if ever, fully regained. How important it is, then, for us to "fix the leaks" before catastrophe strikes at an unprepared moment.

Learn a lesson from our pool:

That man or woman is a fool

Who will not fix the leaks of sin

Causing corrosion deep within.

Sooner or later all will give way -

Catastrophe could occur today!

So take the matter before the Lord;

Confess your sin and obey His Word.

Do it right now - you won't regret it;

But sin will destroy you, if you let it.

Letterman's Affair Not Funny

On Thursday's 'Late Show', host David Letterman acknowledged that he had sexual relationships with female employees.

Why did he come forward with this information? Because someone tried to extort $2 million from him, threatening to go public with proof of the affair by writing a screenplay and a book about Letterman unless he was given money. Letterman ended up writing him a phony check, which inevitably led to the arrest of the would-be extortionist.

Letterman, who just six months ago married his longtime girlfriend Regina Laso, confessed the affair to his 'Late Night' audience, mixing in jokes while telling the story. Author Peter Barnes, in an article titled "What! Me? A Sinner?" wrote,

In twentieth century England, C. S. Lewis noted that, "The barrier I have met is the almost total absence from the minds of my audience any sense of sin." And in 2001, New Testament scholar D. A. Carson commented that the most frustrating aspect of doing evangelism in universities is the fact that students generally have no idea of sin. "They know how to sin well enough, but they have no idea of what constitutes sin."

Respected Christian author Jerry Bridges, who included this quote in his book Respectable Sins, went on to say, "The whole idea of sin has virtually disappeared from our culture. Unfortunately, the idea of sin is all but disappearing from many churches as well."

Bridges' book is designed to impress upon believers that there are, of course, no true "respectable" sins. Attitudinal sins like unrighteous anger, impatience, selfishness, pride, etc., tend to become acceptable to us over time, unless we conscientiously allow God's Word and His Holy Spirit to tenderize our hearts on a consistent basis.

I'm so glad that seventy-plus women in our church are undertaking a study of this immensely helpful, Scripture-saturated book. Only as we refuse to make excuses for our sin and instead apply the Gospel in all its fullness to our failures - for both forgiveness and victory - will we be able to show the world what it's so desperately missing: a relationship with and salvation through Jesus Christ.

And that's no joke.