Jesus Never Fails

Maybe you know this song, maybe you don't. It's called "Jesus Never Fails," and it was written by Arthur Luther:

Earthly friends may prove untrue,
Doubts and fears assail;
One still loves and cares for you,
One Who will not fail.

Though the sky be dark and drear,
Fierce and strong the gale,
Just remember, He is near
And He will not fail.

In life's dark and bitter hour
Love will still prevail;
Trust His everlasting pow'r
Jesus will not fail.

CHORUS:
Jesus never fails,
Jesus never fails.
Heav'n and earth may pass away,
But Jesus never fails.

I'm not even going to disagree with the song. ("Aint gonna do it. Wouldn't be prudent." G.H.W. Bush) My question is this. Why is it that we will sing the song in church but won't test it with our lives? Sure, when things get tough in life, it's nice to have a song like this (or it's basic idea) floating around in your head somewhere. I just don't quite get why we don't always live like it's true.

I think we need to give God a chance to fail. Go out and pursue what you think His will is for your life. Maybe you'll succeed, maybe you won't. If you don't succeed, maybe it will help you to learn to listen to God a little better. But if you heard Him right, you'll certainly succeed, will you not? Or, is that just something we say at church?

His Eye Is On The Sparrow

I'm not trying to pick on anybody, but not too long ago I read a blog in which the author discussed the acquisition of a new pet cat. The author attributed certain events in the pursuit of this acquisition as being the will of God. Their reasoning was that if God cares about the sparrows, He has time to care about their cat acquisition. That got me thinking. Does God really care?

While it's true that the Bible says (Matthew 10:29) that God knows when even a single sparrow will fall to the ground outside the will of the Father, I don't know that it means that He cares one way or the other. I imagine the text to be properly understood as, "Nothing happens against the will of God." I don't think that means God really cares about the sparrow one way or the other. The point is that if God did care, He would control the situation to please Him.

The larger theme of the passage is "Do not be afraid of them" (Matthew 10:26). I don't think it's accurate to interpret the Bible--here or anywhere else--to say that God will prevent evil people from harming us. He may, at times, choose to protect certain individuals or in certain circumstances, but I think the historical record clearly illustrates that God is willing to allow people to exert their free will, even at the expense of His people. For crying out loud, people killed His own Son! If the Father will allow them to kill His Son, why in the world would you think you're safe? Instead, I think that we are to live free from fear of our co-inhabitants on this planet not because they can't hurt us, but rather because in the grand scheme of things, if they do hurt us it doesn't really matter.

Getting back to the topic at hand, I do think God cares about even the minor events in our lives, such as our pets. Some pets are horrible little creatures, while others bring us more joy than our spouses. ;) I don't think, however, that God would take steps to thwart your free will to stop you from doing something, even if you are making an incredibly stupid choice.

Proverbs 13:8

"A man's riches may ransom his life,
but a poor man hears no threat."

About The Mike Lyons Show

Okay, so I recognize that my web site features that which may appear to be a contradiction. So, here's what iBelieve about The Mike Lyons Show.

The iBelieve portion of the web site features random slices of my religious beliefs. As the main page says, it's largely sermon notes and crap like that. It also clearly states that I don't actually expect anyone to read it.

What about the Quote of the Day? There's all sorts of inappropriateness there, isn't there? Well, maybe. First off, you should know that many of those quotes are carefully selected so as to remove any and all context, casting the original meaning into the abyss of the unknown, leaving only the precious original quote which, for whatever reason, entertains me. You should also know that the vast majority of the quotes don't come from me, and come from a variety of sources that I run across every day. Finally, I think it's okay to repeat what someone has said. I think it is wrong to misquote someone, but if they said it, it must be okay to put it in print. I'm a fan of truthiness.

Privately, I receive a little bit of protest for the attitude reflected in The Not Celebrity Not Fit Club. The general theme of these complaints are along these lines: You shouldn't judge people by their appearance. You should love people for who they are. Blah blah blah.

Look. I never said that you shouldn't love people because they are a fat tub of lard. My belief, however, is that your body is the temple of God, and therefore one should take reasonable steps to maintain it. And it's not that I think everyone needs to be fit and healthy, either. I just see our self-abuse as one of the prominent sins of our culture. We're quick to tell people that they shouldn't smoke, they shouldn't drink, they shouldn't do drugs. But how is eating a roasted chicken for breakfast any less destructive than drinking a few shots of vodka? Gluttony, you may recall, is one of the seven deadly sins.

Again, I am a fan of truthiness. If someone is unattractive, they are unattractive. It is what it is. It doesn't make that person less valuable as a human being, even if it might make them less appealing to me in my humanness.

Finally, the main blog, or as I sometimes call it, my big bucket of ridiculousness. If I ever say anything inappropriate, feel free to call me out on it! For the most part, it's just what I'm thinking about whatever is going on out there. Jesus prayed that his followers be "in this world but not of it." I'm afraid of the Christians who are of absolutely no earthly good because they are so caught up in their religious nuttery. My faith doesn't stop me from being opinionated. I'm not saying that I'm right about any of it. Yes I am. I'm right, iBelieve.

All that to say that if you can't tolerate my ridiculousness, please disrespect my unreligious nuttery in the same way that I disrespect your religious nuttery--quietly on your own blog.

Success

Poorly written notes = poorly written blog. Deal with it.

Four Ingredients of Success

1. Consecration. To devote to a purpose with deep dedication.
   
   • We must be disciplined. All Christians are called to discipline.
     
   • We must come into the presence of God.
   • Romans 11:29 "...God's gifts and God's call are irrevocable."
   • Psalms 55:21 "His speech is smooth as butter, yet war is in his heart; his words are more soothing than oil, yet they are drawn swords."
     It's not good enough to know the Sunday School answers. We must have changed hearts and changed lives.
     
2. Character Formed by God.
3. Spirit of Conquest.
   Whatever you do not conquer conquers you.
   
4. Never Get Used to Mediocrity.
   We can't ever accept things the way they were. I hate to quote RFK, but "There are those who look at things the way they are and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not?" That kind of thinking will lead to all sorts of crazy stuff like praying for the people that you think are going to hell instead of shaking your head at them. What? I'm just sayin...

And, what if we don't?

"After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel." Judges 2:10

Praying a Little Late

Question
God is not bound by the constraints of time. That being said, if we pray about something after it has already happened, can God go back and change it? Or, could God act knowing that the prayers will be made in the future?

Answer
Of course, God can do whatever He wants. That's one of the perks of being God, after all. However, let's analyze this.

An incident occurs, leading to a believer praying that the incident not occur or that the incident occurs differently. God chooses to respond to the prayer, and He "goes back in time" (for a lack of better terminology) and creates a new time line, changing the initial incident to a more favorable outcome. The believer in the new time line then, taking this favorable outcome for granted, does not pray regarding the incident. Since the change to the time line was due to God responding to prayer, and that prayer has not occurred, God then chooses not to intervene regarding the incident, recreating the first time line. All things being the same as before, the believer will again pray that God intervene. This time, however, God looks at the vicious circle and says, "this is stupid" and chooses not to act.

Alternatively, God does this all the time. Before an incident even occurs, God knows how its outcome will affect us. Being a loving, gracious, and merciful God, He chooses to intervene on our behalf without anyone praying a single word about it--He just does it because it is who He is. Of course, being reactionary creatures as we are, when God spares us pain in our lives that we didn't even know was coming, we fail to recognize and appreciate this fact, depriving God of the praise He is due.

Recommendation
"Pray continually" - 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Who am I?

And now for an entire blog without a single original thought:

I am not what I ought to be,
not what I want to be,
not what I am going to be,
But thankful that I am not what I used to be.

"If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:17-21)

"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 2:4-5)

"You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Galatians 3:26-27)

"So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir." (Galatians 4:7)

"You, my brothers, were called to be free." (Galatians 5:13)

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Galatians 6:14)

"He (Christ) was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 4:25-5:5)