Hope in The Face of Tragedy

       When I was in high school two of my friends passed away within 3 months of each other. To us here on earth it was a tough situation to handle. Why would God take away two of our churches budding college students? Not only were they young but there were two of the most solid guys that I can remember that passed through our youth group. They were both on fire for God, and as far as I can remember, not an unkind words was ever heard from their mouths. That was about 3 years ago. Fast forward to yesterday. A good friend of mine, Adam Berganza passed away from cancer at the age of 23. We all started to realize his death could be coming, but we hoped and prayed that the Lord would take away his cancer anyway. God chose, instead to bring his child home to heaven. For any of you who knew him that are reading this, know that I am writing with the same heavy heart that you have. So I say with you I have to wonder why God would take someone so young, and so loved. Why would God allow someone so young to die? I don't really know the specific answer to each young death we face, and particularly this one, but I know some principles from the Bible we should look for as we each individually mourn the death of our friend, brother, son, or whatever he may be to you. If you are reading this because you are facing a different tragedy in your life, know this, these principles apply to your situation too. 

      

     1. Everything God does is for our good. Romans 8:28 - "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." We have all been called out of a world of sin to love and to serve God and everything that happens, even what we would consider to be something bad, such as the death of a loved one, is bringing about for us eternal glory. The good news for my friend is that he is now in heaven eternally living with Jesus. The good news for those of us here on earth is that we don't have to watch him suffer any more. The last time I saw my friend he did not even look like himself anymore. The cancer had taken a fierce hold of his body. While I am saddened at his passing, I am glad he no longer has to suffer at the hands of a disease that can no longer effect his heavenly body.

       2. Trials are meant to strengthen our faith and we are to even take joy in them. James 1:2-3 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." Nothing, no trial or pain can reach us without first being authored by our heavenly father who according to I John 4:8 is love.  So we know that all trials that we face are put in place by a God of love. But if he is love then why would he allow trials, especially young deaths? According to the Bible it is to strengthen our faith so we are complete, lacking in nothing. It is meant for us to say "I don't know what you are doing God, but I trust you." Then, since we know that God allowed the trial to happen, and we know our faith is being tested, we should take joy in it. Joy in death? That doesn't make sense. From human perspective no, but we know something. Adam is in heaven at this very moment, praising Jesus. That in itself should give us Joy. Given the choice, would you bring him back to a world full of physical and emotional turmoil, or would you rather he be in heaven with his Heavenly Father who loves him more than we could ever imagine?

       3. Trials are meant to  make us more like Jesus. Hebrews 4:15 - "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin." What is the best way to become more like somebody else, to become more intimately intertwined in you're relationship with them? Its to go through the same experiences as they did. Jesus experienced suffering and pain beyond what we could imagine. When Jesus came to earth he experienced human emotions and characteristics - fatigue, stress, hunger, and sorrow. His own friend Lazarus died, and felt sorrow. He grieved a long with Mary and Martha and those that were with him. He knew what it was like to mourn someone's death. He knew what it was like to morn alongside with his friends (those who didn't realize that Jesus was about to raise Lazarus from the dead). He knew what it was like to have his father turn his back on him. He knew what it was like to experience physical pain. So what does this have to do with the verse? We are tempted when things like this happen to lose faith in Christ, to turn our back on him. And yet he knows how we feel. When Jesus was facing death on the cross do you think it was a temptation for him to abandon ship? Do you think he was tempted to wonder if his Father loved him? I would say that for someone who was sweating drops of blood while he was passionately praying for his Father to take the cup of death away from him, he probably would have rather his Father provide another way for our sin to be pardoned. Yet whatever he was thinking as the mob stole him away to be tortured and crucified, he was resigned to follow his Father's will. So must we realize that as tempting as it is to question God and lose our trust in him, we must be resigned to realizing Adam's death and every trial we face is God's will and it brings us intimately closer with Jesus Christ, the lover of our souls.

 

       4. Your tears are seen by Jesus and you will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 -"Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." Sometimes we feel like maybe crying is a weakness or that God expects us to "be strong" and to just trust him. Don't get me wrong, we should trust him. But also, we should understand that God expects us to mourn and he promises us that we will experience his comfort. If you have embraced someone and cried on their shoulder, you know what its like to have those arms around  you. You know the comfort that a hug brings. God embraces us. He embraces you now. Run to him accept that embrace. He desires us to be so intimate with him, that we can run to and cry on his shoulder. And consider this; God works through human hands. If your brother or sister in Christ offers to pray with you, cry with you or embrace you, that's God providing comfort to you. We are all ambassadors for Christ. It is proper that we cry with and comfort one another.

       5. Our response to death and trial should be one of worship. Probably the hardest aspect of our response to God in times of tragedy and death is worship. Yet this is exactly the example he gives us in David,  a man he called "after his own heart.  In 2 Samuel 12 David's child becomes sick because God was punishing him for his sin. Don't get me wrong here. I'm not insinuating that Adam's death had to do with God punishing him or any of us because of our sin. My point for bringing up this passage is simply this: David knew his child's death was coming yet he fervently prayed that God would in his mercy spare his son. The comparison here is that our situation is much the same. Adam was nearing death, and we all fervently prayed that God would spare him. That God would heal him of his cancer. God felt it better to relieve Adam of his suffering and pain. When David's son died, his response is somewhat surprising.


2 Samuel 12:20-23. Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. He then went to his own house. And when he asked, they set food before him, and he ate. ²¹ Then his servants said to him, “What is this thing that you have done? You fasted and wept for the child while he was alive; but when the child died, you arose and ate food.” ²² He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ ²³ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”


 I underlined the key aspects of this verse. First of all David worshiped God. David worshiped God for allowing his son to die. In his case it because David had been told his son would die as punishment for David's sin and he knew God was being just. In our case we worship God because we know that Adam knows joy unspeakable in heaven now. That last phrase though is the most important thing we need to remember.


        6. "I shall go to him but he will not return to me." This phrase  holds a promise. We cannot return Adam to us. We can't bring him back from the dead like Jesus did with Lazarus. But we shall go to him. We will see Adam again. But this time Adam will look amazing. This time he will have a restored, strong, fully healthy heavenly body. And so will we. This time none of us will be suffering, none of us will be crying. We will all be rejoicing on streets of gold with God and the heavenly hosts of Angels. Wow. What a promise. Such hope we have! God taking Adam from us was ultimately an act of Love. God chose to relieve him of his suffering and take him to a place where he has joy and peace unspeakable. So take this comfort brothers and sisters. Take this promise and let it fill you with peace, comfort and Joy. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6-7)."


  I would like to say one final thing. Assuredly not every one who knew Adam is a born again believer in Christ. If you are reading this and you have this hope, please share it with those who don't. Take an opportunity to be a shining testimony for Christ by showing them that while you mourn now, you have an amazing and glorious hope and because of Christ, even in the midst of tragedy, you can have joy, drawing close to your loving heavenly Father. May all who read this have peace and comfort in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We Are Not Alone: Loved and Protected

       So recently I have felt somewhat distant from God. My personal devos were not deep, and I felt like I was only going through the motions. As David experiences in Psalm 63:1, I was in a dry land with no water. This morning I went to breakfast with a good friend, and we talked about God's goodness in our lives, the summer ministries God has called us too (Christian Youth Camps) and personal lessons God was showing us. I felt much encouraged after that; as Proverbs 27:17 says, I had been sharpened. Rejuvenated spiritually, I went home and spent an hour in prayer and Bible reading. It's interesting that God always shows me in his Word exactly what I need to hear. I opened to II Samuel 17-18. Now If I were to name a book of the Bible I would go to for encouragement, I would have turned to Philippians, Galatians or Romans not II Samuel. The truth is though, the entire Bible is meant to teach, rebuke, comfort and encourage us.In this Old Testament passage I find not only what my current problem is but also the solution.

 

        In this passage Absalom, David's son, is bent on destroying his father. In this case David is a righteous man being persecuted by an evil person, his own son. The first verse to catch my eye is 17:2, where Absalom is given counsel to "come upon (David) when he is weary and discouraged." This is exactly what Satan does. According to I Peter 5:8, "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." It doesn't take an expert in Zoology to know that the weaker prey is, the easier the prey is to overcome. I am the devil's "prey" and he seeks for weak moments to attack - he's been doing exactly that in recent days. I am weary and tired, and I try to defend myself. A slow moving person being stalked by a lion - on my own I haven't got a chance. So I read further on in the passage.

       Fast forward to chapter 18. David has been warned by a friend that he has that has been working as somewhat of a spy - befriending Absalom so that he could tell David exactly what his son was up too. He's been warned that his son is coming after David to destroy him so that he will have no competition for the throne of Israel. David musters himself and his army for battle. David has been on the run, he is tired, weary and should not be going out to battle. Fortunately, his military leaders know this. This is the counsel his men give:  “You shall not go out. For if we flee, they will not care about us. If half of us die, they will not care about us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore it is better that you send us help from the city. (II Samuel 18:3).” So David has someone coming after him, but fortunately he doesn't have to fight this battle. His army will do it for him. I take encouragement in this. When I'm down and weary I don't have to fight my own battles. How do I know this? For He will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. (Psalm 91:11). I have an army of angels protecting me. The best illustration is Daniel 6:21-22. Daniel is facing the hungry faces of ravenous lions and what happens? "My God sent His angel and shut the lion' mouths and they have not harmed me." Yea the angels shut the mouth of the lions. Lions < angels. Angels > Devil. Christ has power over the Devil. I am not alone. Four words that are extremely comforting. But there was a second lesson in this passage God wanted me to know.

       Absalom is eventually killed. God defeated David's enemy. Now you would think David would be overjoyed at his enemies death, but no matter what Absalom had done, he was still David's son and David still loved and cherished him. David's response to his son's death is found in II Samuel 18:33 - “O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! Would I had died instead of you, O Absalom, my son, my son!” David said that he would have rather have died in his son's place - That's how deeply he loved his son. God is the same way; no matter what we have done to offend him, no matter how bad we sin, no matter how disobedient we are and how far we stray he still loves us deeply. He actually did die for us. Jesus died so that I could live. My heavenly Father has an immeasurable love for his precious children.

      It's quite an amazing thought really. That we have an army that fights our battles, a God that loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us. A God that sends angels to shut the mouths of lions, and a God who protects us from the devil when we are weary and discouraged. My friends, we must remember that while life may get hard, we may fall into the valley and experience desert - like droughts, and we may feel like we are too tired to go on but we are not alone and we never will be. We are loved and protected by an Almighty Father.

The Power of the Gospel

What's your purpose in life? What are your goals? You may be in college and your goal is to achieve a good GPA, or maybe you're just looking for that dream job, a spouse a nice car? These aren't bad goals at all but there is a goal not listed here that should be our primary goal in life. The Bible defines this goal in Mark 16:15 - And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation." There you go, that should be your main goal in life - share the gospel every your day every opportunity that you have. You say that's crazy. No that's biblical.  Is that verse not compelling enough for you to want to reach others for the gospel? If not maybe this will.

Romans 1:16-17. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. AS it is written, the righteous shall live faith.” 

Here, Paul, the author of Romans is bringing the gospel message to people who had not yet had apostolic teaching. It’s the theme of the book of Romans. It comes in the first chapter right after Paul expresses his love for the people he addresses. The book of Romans may be known as the gospel epistle. This should give us more than enough motivation to witness to the lost all around us. We are given here three reasons/motivations for why we should be confident in witnessing.

           

First, Christians must witness with confidence because the gospel has the Power of God to save. Many Christians today, even some of you in this reading this have this fear of witnessing that can stem from any number of reasons, but Paul clearly states there is simply no reason to be shy or timid about witnessing. Paul emphasizes this by saying “I am not ashamed, I am not ashamed. Do you hear that confidence? Let me say it one more time. I. am.  Not. Ashamed. This word ashamed has a negative connotation to it: it’s defined as being convicted that something is wrong. So obviously Paul is confident that he is preaching truth. My favorite definition of ashamed is as follows; Ashamed: unwilling or restrained because of fear of shame ridicule, or disapproval. So Paul says “I am not ashamed of the repercussions of sharing this gospel with you. “I can handle criticism, being looked as weird, persecution, and even death, for the gospel” Ladies and gentleman, can you say that about yourself? Paul said he was not ashamed! But what was his motivation? His motivation was the nature of the gospel: that it has the power of God to save. What do you think when you hear power? For some of you guys, you’re idea of power may be a defensive lineman just destroying the running back, tackling him with massive force that you just makes your wives or girlfriends cringe. What about storm, a hurricane, something that can’t be stopped? Most of you are familiar with hurricane Katrina that hit land a few years ago, completely devastating some coastal and rural areas. The power that Paul is talking about is a completely different kind of power and it’s a greater power. It’s a power like no one, nothing in nature can produce, its miraculous power. The gospel of Jesus Christ has a unique, unimaginable power fellow believers. We are talking about the Power of the God who made the heavens and earth with a breath! You’ve all heard “And God said let there be light, and there was light” but how many of you actually let that sink in; that he spoke and it came to be! II Timothy 3:16 informs us that all scripture is God breathed; he breathed out the Word and it has his power! Isaiah 55:11 – the word of God will never return void. This isn’t a little rains storm that you can avoid, this is an oncoming category 5 hurricane, something that in its path, its going to effect you one way or another! Whether the gospel shatters what you believe, as a hurricane would take down the foundation of a house, or if it’s just a little cleanup of litter, or standing water…in other words if the Gospel of Jesus Christ merely makes you think…it has an effect. And what does the gospel have the power to do… SAVE!!! What does it save you from? Death; a spiritual death. Romans 1:18, says “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”  Romans 6:23 states “the wages of sin is death;”(it saves you from death as this verse continues), “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!” We are saved from damnation. PS. 9:17…”the wicked shall be turned into hell.” I am saved and You're saved if you believe in the Scripture. This so affected Paul that he says “I'm not intimidated by men, I am not fearful of ridicule, because the gospel I preach is backed by the power of God, and will save you from eternal damnation!! By the way a side note; that’s love. Jesus tells us to love our neighbor, and what better way to show love then to preach a gospel that has the power to snatch you from the grip of hell into the loving arms of Jesus Christ. When you witness and you don’t have the confidence that you can be an effective witness for Christ, remember you are preaching a powerful word, not your word but God’s. Take up the attitude of Paul and say, I don’t care if I'm criticized, I don’t care if I am looked at as weird, if I am made an outcast,I will witness using the Word that will effect everyone who hears it. This summer I had the opportunity to work at an amazon warehouse and I worked with many unbelievers. I decided to ask God to enable me to be unashamedly vocal about my faith; and he granted me that privilege. On one occasion a coworker just looked me and said “you’re such a Jesus freak.” Without missing a beat, I said yes I am, I love Jesus." That is one coworker that never liked me, but he was clearly effected by my testimony, and he knew there was something different about me. That is a very mild example of ridicule because of sharing the gospel unashamedly. We can’t be afraid of being looked at as Jesus freaks. We can’t be afraid of anything that might occur to us while witnessing. The Gospel that we preach has the power to save, and we cannot keep that to ourselves

So must witness unashamedly because we know the gospel has the power to save, but there are two parts to every conversation; we share the gospel but with whom? Who can legitimately receive the gospel?  The answer is, everyone

  Christians must witness to everyone because the gospel is a gift that is open to anyone who trusts in it. Romans 1:16 continues: "to everyone who believes; to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Jewish people are easy enough to define; the Jews were God’s chosen people, and there are still many practicing Jews today. The Greeks, also translated gentile, were defined as anyone who was not Jewish. So this encompasses every living soul. So who is left out? Who are we not supposed to witness too? That’s a group that doesn’t exist. We are all wicked sinners that deserve the wrath of God but the gift of the gospel is open to ALL who believe because of what His Son did for them. Your race, your background, none of that matters; if you fit into the Jew or gentile category, you can receive the gospel of Jesus Christ! Why wouldn't you witness to someone? Did you know unsaved people are headed for a spiritual death? Of course you did, I mentioned that in my first point. Think of it this way; if you saw someone about to commit suicide, would you not try to stop them? You see someone on top of a roof getting ready to jump and its obvious once they make that jump, there is no turning back; they are going to die. Wouldn’t you try to talk them out of it regardless of who it was? I hope you would say yes! Some of you might say, well if it was a complete stranger, why would I care? Have you thought about the fact that if one of your family members or friends were about to commit suicide you would want someone to attempt to stop them? That complete stranger is someone’s brother, sister, mother, father, friend, whatever. They have family members that would hope someone else would step in and talk them out of killing themselves. In the same way unsaved people who are living ungodly lives apart from Christ are headed for hell and guess what; once they get there, there is no turning back. People are headed for hell, don’t you want to stop that? Don’t you want to influence someone to be saved? It doesn’t matter who they are, you do not want to see them die do you? Of course not! That is why we witness to everyone! Wouldn’t you tell that person on the roof there is so much to live for? Witnessing is the same way! People can live for Christ. This passage also explains how to be saved; believe; that’s it. There’s no special feat to be performed, believe: that’s confidence in the truth, or existence of something. If you believe in the gospel you will be saved. John 3:16 tells us that whoever believes in Jesus will inherit eternal life! So when you are witnessing you can tell about the simplicity of the reception of the gospel...believe in this and you will be saved. This is the simplest solution that you will ever face in life. You don’t go to work and your boss says “well since you showed up to work and you think you deserve money I’ll pay you.” That would be nice but no, you have required work to do. You can’t drive to a gas station and have the owner say “since you believe you need gas, go ahead and pump it in to your car.” Again, this would be nice but no, you must pay. Yet you come to Christ and he says “Since you believe in me you’re are saved.” It is not your job to work in hearts, it is your job to witness and be committed to witnessing. Remember, the Word that you share has power and truth that takes no complicated process to receive. The command is simple; believe.

So we are witnessing under God’s power, we’re witnessing to all because salvation is an open invitation, but what effect is the gospel supposed to have? Why is it worth telling? There must be an effect otherwise the gospel would be worthless right? What difference does it make?

 Christians must witness because the gospel’s effect is righteous living. The gospel enables us to live righteously by faith. What does it mean to live righteously? It means acting in accord with divine or moral law; being free from sin. We can live in such a way that we choose good over evil, we choose not to sin! The other half of this equation is we live righteously by faith. What’s faith? Let’s look at Hebrews 11:1 for our definition; it’s the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. To simplify that, faith is being sure of our hope in the Lord and being convinced that God, though unseen, exists, and Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, even though it’s not an event that you can just go on youtube and search Jesus Christ, and see him being crucified. Quite frankly it would be tough to see, as some of you know from watching the Mel Gibson Film, “The Passion of the Christ,” and I don’t know that you would want too see the actual crucifixion. I want you to understand something here: it effects both sides, you and the person you are witnessing too. Notice the little phrase here “from faith to faith” in verse 17. This is a phrase that has baffled many interpreters and commentators. The most accurate definition, I believe, is that it takes faith both to witness and to receive the gospel. This faith only comes from living righteously by God’s standards. As we see at the end of verse 17, “The righteous will live by faith.” So what does it mean to live righteously; it means very simply obeying God and his Word. In this instance for the one who is witnessing it means obeying the command in  Matthew 28:19-20 to teach all nations. If we are witnessing we are being obedient to God, and we are living righteously because, by faith, we are believing that the Gospel has power, that it is true, and we are sharing it! We were made righteous the minute we became saved. Christ's sacrifice on the cross set us free, made us righteous, and it continues our entire lives. Be committed to living righteously!

So I’ve given you three reasons to witness from this passage. Many of you till now have not been committed to witnessing because you just don’t trust you will know what to say. I’m not judging you for that!! God is very forgiving, so let that give you peace. So now what? Ok, study the scriptures, but you must trust that the gospel has power, and it’s not your words that save, but the power of God. Others of you just don’t know who to witness to, but you learned that you need to witness to everyone you come in contact with. Still others of you just saw no value in witnessing but you know now that it is a command in Scripture and to not witness is a lack of obedience and therefore a lack of love for God and for others. So, live righteously by witnessing to all because the power of God will save men! Let me just wrap up by saying this; witnessing doesn’t come naturally to most people. You have to train for effective witnessing, just like an athlete has to be trained to play a sport. It takes practice. Here’s the good news; you have the enablement of the Holy Spirit, the power of God! Behind every good athlete is a good coach, behind the effective testimony for Christ, is what; a knowledge of the Word and reliance on the strength of Christ. You’re out of excuses. Be committed to witnessing. The chancellor of Bob Jones University, Dr. Bob Jones III, says, “the most sobering reality in the world today is that people are dying and going to hell today.” Are you going to stand idly by as others who are facing the same fate that you were before you were saved, stand at the entrance to the gate of hell, or are you going to witness and allow yourself to be used of God to bring people to heaven’s gate? Witness for Christ. When you do that righteous living will naturally be falling into place. You’ll be obedient to Christ. As you see people being saved, you will be filled with joy, and you will want to please Christ even more! That should motivate you to want to live righteously. Righteous living and witnessing must go together! Witness, and be committed to righteous living;