A Touch of Humor - Failure to Communicate

How can we build bridges to unbelievers? What things stand in our way?

Old Erich Proverb - Rose -Colored

Which is more clearly rose-colored glasses, to believe in God or to believe human beings are basically good?

A Voice from the Past - Novatian

Because, since He has not any beginning, so consequently He is not conscious of an ending; unless perchance—and far from us be the thought—He at some time began to be, and is not above all things, but as He began to be after something else, He would be beneath that which was before Himself, and would so be found to be of less power, in that He is designated as subsequent even in time itself. For this reason, therefore, He is always unbounded, because nothing is greater than He; always eternal, because nothing is more ancient than He. For that which is without beginning can be preceded by none, in that He has no time. He is on that account immortal, that He does not come to an end by any ending of His completeness.

Novatian, 200-258 AD, Treatise Concerning the Trinity, Chapter II, (translated by Rev. Robert Ernest Wallis, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Rev. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson, T & T Clark and Wm. B. Eerdmans, Vol. V, p.1015)

What implications does the eternity of God have for us? What application does it have to our lives?

The Vanished Princess

The princess was missing, presumed dead. There was no sign of a body. There also had been no sign of any ransom demands. The planet of Noiterianas was in a highly volatile sector. It was assumed that some neighboring world was planning to take advantage of the situation. Therefore, they had called in me, John Talltree, to find the killer.

Princess of Noiterianas was a nominal title left in place by the empire, which really ruled the planet. Nonetheless, she had considerable loyalty from the people. This princess, Goiderous Ferpius Bernmus IV, was still young, the older members of the family having been killed in the imperial takeover. It had been thought politic to leave her with a title but little real power.

The planet of Noiterianas was a water world, generously dotted with islands but with no real continents. The inhabitants resembled nothing so much as a jellyfish with legs and were equally at home on land and in the water. I had brought my underwater gear, just in case.

The governor, Xerwas, was an amphibian who looked like a fish with legs. "Where was the princess last seen?" I asked him.

"She left her dwelling early in the morning," he said. "Her servants remember her leaving. She said she was going to the official audience hall. We allowed her to hear requests from the people, though we carefully controlled what was actually granted. The hall was only three streets down, and as far as we know she never arrived. Those are busy streets, but even after repeated appeals no one has come forward to admit to seeing anything."

"Would they have recognized the princess?"

"She was frequently on the vid and was well known. But she was not highly recognizable, and she never wore her regalia outside the audience hall. I think an inattentive person could have walked right past her and not noticed. At least no one has claimed to have seen her."

I took my issued aircar to the princess's dwelling. But on the way I drove over the streets in question. They were certainly crowded, with aircar traffic above (the streets were intended to limit the aircars to specific routes) and pedestrian traffic below. I might have to check again early in the morning.

The major domo of the household was an older Noiterianasian named Keras Poufatius. "Of course she was here that morning," he said. "I do not see why you insist on asking the same question over and over."

"Did you see her?" I asked.

"Yes, I see to it that her breakfast is properly brought in and if there is anything else she needs. I saw her go out the door. Do you think I am lax in doing my job?"

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

"Not a thing."

The cook, Yardes Faswer, seemed broader than was normal for a Noiterianasian. "I have said once and I have said a thousand times," he remarked, "I made her breakfast and brought it out to her. I did not actually see her go out the door, but she said she was walking over to the audience hall."

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

"No, why should there be?"

The maid, Vordis Qerus, was tall and thin, even more than even usual for a female Nioterianasian. "Why do you imperial flunkies disturb me with more questions?" she said. "Do you not see I have my work to do? I saw the mistress when she got up that morning, but did not see her leave the house. But it is obvious she is not still here."

"Did you see anything out of the ordinary?" I asked.

"Everything was just as normal."

The princess's air car driver, Purtius Latima, was tall for a male. "I do my job," he said. "I went down and asked my lady whether she had need of the aircar. She said no, she preferred to walk. I saw her go out the door. Why do we keep rehearsing this over and over?"

"Was there anything out of the ordinary?" I asked.

"Not that I saw."

I went over to the audience hall and talked to Opiuhis Lundris, the door keeper. "I come in every morning when the hall is open before the ruler gets here," he explained. "I unlock the doors and make sure everything is prepared for His or Her Majesty. I have done this my whole life for a number of rulers. But that morning I waited and no one came, so I notified the imperial authorities. I am pleased to see you are taking this seriously enough to investigate."

Reighis Qwerutes was the head of the princess's honor guard. "We were in the main hall, just waiting," he said. "We were already getting nervous when we were informed the princess was missing. Tell me, is there any hope she is still alive?"

"Nobody seems to think so," I responded.

"That is a shame. She was the last of the direct line. They will probably find a distant relative to replace her, but I do not know who."

Trailing suspects is not my specialty. And trailing someone on a water planet is even more difficult. But sometimes you have got to do what you have to do. I stuck carefully to the shadows until we reached a deserted beach. Then I turned on the switch on my water belt and followed him in. The water belt creates a forcefield to keep the water out and the air in. Shame it is not strong enough to do the same for a blaster bolt. By God's providence we were in the shallows, which meant I could hide behind rocks and seaweed. In the open sea it is almost impossible to follow someone without being noticed. A large sea creature passed over my head as I crouched among the seaweed. But it was eating the seaweed and therefore was probably not interested in me.

Finally we came to a group of underwater houses on stilts. They looked like a row of giant mushrooms. There was an opening in the bottom that my quarry plunged in through. I waited for a few minutes, pulled my blaster, and swam up after him.

In one corner of the room was Keras Poufatius. In the other was seated a Noiterianasian female. "Princess Goiderous Ferpius Bernmus IV, I presume," I stated.

"How did you know?" she replied.

"All your house servants were uniformly hostile. I could believe one, possibly two, were traitors or simply had abrasive personalities, but not all of them. So the simplest solution was that they were supporting you and following your orders. So what are you doing here?"

"I am aware of what your empire does to planets - grabs their resources and enslaves their people. And I knew that I had no power to resist it. But empires are temporary; they fall apart over time. I have every confidence that one day we will be free again. But I could not preside over the destruction of my people. So I decided to go into hiding. Now I suppose you will drag me back."

I had prayed long and hard about this. I still do not know if I did the right thing. Certainly, if word ever got back to Central, they would have my head. They would say a free princess was a possible rallying point for rebellion. And they would be right. But sometimes you have to serve God rather than men. "I came here to find a murderer," I said. "I see no murderers here." Then I exited back into the sea. 

Pursuit of Success

The Bible says that we who follow Christ will prosper (Psalms 1:2,3; Joshua 1:8; 2 Kings 2:3). What does this prosperity look like? (Now it is clear that there is a condition here: meditating on and following God’s Word. But the question remains, what is the prosperity that is promised?) Does this look like our worldly idea of success? Now even if we throw out the extremes here--that success consists mainly in money and material possessions--are we still thinking of success in some seemingly spiritual form? Do we think in terms of large churches or celebrity leadership? How should we define prospering from a Biblical point of view?   

Scripture pictures us as being made perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:7-10; 4:7-11; 1 Corinthians 2:1-5). This is exactly the opposite of how we view success. And it is easy to take our view and transplant it, only slightly edited, into the realm of the spiritual. But God sees things from His perspective. God says those who put their faith in Christ are victorious (Romans 8:37; 2 Corinthians 2:14; 1 John 5:4), even if it does not always look that way (John 16:33; 2 Corinthians 4:17,18; Romans 8:28). It is easy to be bitten by the bug that bit Elijah. Elijah had had initial outward success; God had withheld rain at his request, God had sent fire, then God had sent rain when Elijah asked (1 Kings 17, 18; James 5:17,18). But when the people did not immediately respond to his demonstrations, he became depressed and hid in the desert until God corrected him (1 Kings 19; Romans 11:2-5). But one of the most outwardly successful prophets in the Old Testament was Jonah, who started out running from God and, when Nineveh repented at his preaching, went out and pouted because God did not destroy the city (Jonah1-4). Therefore, we need to avoid confusing outward success, even in a spiritual context, with real success in God’s perspective. True success in God’s sight involves doing what he wants us to do, even if it is not the thing that will produce obvious success. For in the end, only God will judge what was right and what was successful (1 Corinthians 4:3-5; Romans 14: 9-12; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Rather, what He asks of us is faithfulness, to His truth and to the task He has set for us (1 Corinthians 4:2; 2 Timothy 2:2; Luke 16:10-13). But whenever we make success our god, whether it is worldly success or spiritual success, it will elude us. But if we meditate on and follow God’s Word, we will prosper in the way God means us to prosper, and so will have real success.

Christian Country

Should God’s people be surprised when the world turns against them? The Israelites had been guided down into Egypt by Joseph (Genesis 50:19-21). Now Joseph had been a great benefactor to Egypt by explaining the predictions of coming plenty and famine and telling them how to deal with it (Genesis 41:1-37). But there arose a new Pharaoh, who did not remember Joseph and enslaved the Israelites (Exodus 1:7-14). The Lord Jesus told us we should not be surprised if the world opposes us, because it opposed Him (John 15:18-21; 16:1-4; Matthew 10:24,25). This is important because it is easy to come to expect the world’s respect for being a Christian. And when we do not get it to react in anger. But the hostility is what Jesus led us to expect. 

In the United States it has been claimed that we have benefited from a Christian heritage. Others have tried to deny it. The question arises whether the Founding Fathers were Christians or Deists. The answer to this is yes; some were Christians and some were Deists. But it must be remembered that Deism is watered down Christianity. The American political system can be traced back to the English Puritans. Over time there were those who threw out the Puritan theology but kept the Puritan political theory. But whatever the facts of the matter, we now see the Founding Fathers dismissed as dead white men. We seem to be entering a generation that knows not Joseph. The question is, how do we respond to this?

Unfortunately, many Christians have reacted by feeling they are entitled to respect and have loudly demanded it be given to them. This is not the Scriptural approach. We are commanded to love others (Matthew 22:36-40; Romans 13:8-10; Galatians 5:13,14). Now this does not mean accepting every kind of behavior. But it does mean correcting people with a spirit of gentleness (2 Timothy 2:24-26; Colossians 4:5,6; 1 Peter 3:15). But a sense of entitlement can encourage us to react with self-righteousness and vitriol, and this is wrong. We need to let go of the past, recognize we are Christians in a pagan society, and rebuild from there. But we need to trust God, whatever happens in the society around us (Proverbs 3:5,6; Psalms 127:1,2; 37:3-5). The Israelites were a long time in slavery before God delivered them. I do not claim to know what we might have to face in the future as Christians in the United States. But whether the time is long or short, we need to trust God through it. For He always keeps His promises in His time (Isaiah 40:31; 2 Corinthians 4:17,18; 1 Peter 5:10).

A Touch Of Humor - Definite Conclusion

Why is it easy to make general judgments and exclude yourself? How can we avoid this?