When You Just Cannot Help
I remember having a parakeet in the house when I was a teenager. This little bird did not seem to care much for me or anyone else, that is, until it wanted something. The cage had a small vial for food and another one for water, but whenever I tried to remove the small containers to change out the food or water the bird would be at the edge of the cage trying to bite me. Same went for whenever I tried to put them back. It became very annoying, so I began to let the food run out completely before trying to replace it. That is when something strange happened.
Instead of being at the edge of the cage trying to bite me, the little bird actually seemed to be friendly. To test the theory, I opened the cage and held out my finger for the bird to stand on. It hopped on, and as I withdrew the bird from the cage, it flew to my shoulder where it nuzzled its soft feathers against the side of my neck. I thought the bird had finally had a change of heart and understood that I was only here to help it, but I was wrong.
Once the food and water were refreshed, the little bird flew to the cage and began to squawk and act territorial again, and even went so far as to bite me if I put my hand in the cage to clean the bottom out. I was annoyed. The bird was not a friendly pet, it was a pain, and I soon grew tired of the thing.
Flash forward to a situation that materialized last week when my wife spoke of a friend with family problems. Her friend could not understand why the relationship in her family could not seem to be amended despite all her efforts at trying to do what was right and her efforts to reach out to family members. The results for all her efforts seemed only to anger the family even more, that is, until they needed something.
I think you can see where this is going. It happens a lot in life, not just with family, but in the business world as well. I experienced a similar situation of my own over the past two weeks when I tried to refinance the mortgage on my home. Not going into any details, but suffice it to say it is very safe advice for anyone to keep your own best interests in mind and do everything you legally can to make sure you are getting the best deal possible, because despite the smiles, friendly conversations, and warm handshakes, the banker has no purpose or inclination at looking out for your best interest.
It's a sad commentary on the world as a whole, and as a Christian man trying to live in this world, I sometimes struggle to understand why some people cannot just be straightforward in their business dealings. I have to say I was never lied to, but I was not given straight answers to questions I already knew the answers to, and it only made me angry and frustrated to know that I could not trust this person to look out for me, even though I was about to give them a chunk of business. In the end, I was left with a very bad impression, but a little wiser in dealing with the workings of the world.
What can you do about it? Nothing. In all of the situations above, there is nothing you can do about the decisions other people make in life. You cannot change others, you cannot make decisions for them, you cannot even try to educate them that the relationship, whether with family, business, or otherwise, would actually be better if everyone were transparent and honest. The only thing you have control over is you.
The decisions you make are the only ones you can be held responsible for, and so you simply live and do what is right regardless of what others do, and let others live with the weight of your decisions. Too often, people will make you try to feel guilty or pay a price in lost access to a relationship because of decisions you make. The process is one that tries to lure you into a feeling that you have done something wrong, and that you somehow now owe them something.
When this happens, my advice is to walk away. You simply cannot help some people, no matter how much you give, no matter how hard you try, no matter what lengths you go to trying to be reasonable, they will only maintain the relationship for as long as they get what they want. That kind of one-way relationship will eventually drain you of every resource and energy until you have nothing left to give, and then they will be the ones to end the relationship because you have no value to them anymore.
It isn't healthy. It requires wisdom to know who you can and cannot help, and I am not here to advise on how to differentiate. However, when you identify such a relationship in your life, when you just cannot help despite your best efforts, the only thing you can do to really help them is walk away.
Never Wrong
Going to church and calling yourself a Christian is easy, but actually living what you believe can be difficult to endure sometimes. Not because being a Christian is hard, but because the world we live in tends to penalize anyone, not just Christians, for doing what is right.
Take the case I ran into just this last week. On the job, I was trying to help a company who had taken over a hotel because the hotel had gone into bankruptcy. The previous owner of the hotel not only had defaulted on the loan, but just about everything else, and the hotel was decaying and falling apart because of neglect. Worse yet, to save money, the previous owner lied about the room count on the hotel. The management company under order from the bank, came in to rehabilitate the hotel and set everything right again.
Where I come in is when the General Manager of that management company called me to set the record straight on the room count, which represented a more than 100% increase on the room count total, and accordingly a more than doubling of the bill for that hotel. When the bank found out what the General Manager, who is a Christian, had done, the bank's knee-jerk reaction was to stop writing checks, and give the General Manager an ear-full for coming clean and telling the truth about the room count.
You see, to the bank, the General Manager cost them a lot of money. If the General Manager had just kept silent, then no one would have known, and the deception could have continued indefinitely. The problem is, the General Manager knew, and the deception was not just wrong, it was illegal, and being a Christian the General Manager simply decided to do what was right.
Talking with her by phone, I could hear the distress in her voice as she tried to describe why the bank had stopped writing checks and why the work was going to be placed on hold for a time. My response was this: "It is never wrong to do what is right."
I have two little girls, and I am trying to raise them in the greater wisdom of the teachings of the Bible, but one day, they are going to be launched into the world to face the reality that not everyone believes doing the right thing is the best thing, or even the right thing. As I talked with the General Manager, she expressed appreciation for the encouragement, and I told her that I am going to take this story home to my two daughters where I teach them they should always tell the truth, even if it gets them into trouble. This was one real-world scenario I would have never thought of, but is exactly the kind of situation many Christians can find themselves in.
While the world will have you believe there are no moral absolutes, that doing right is conditional, and that there are extenuating circumstances for everything, let me set the record straight. There are hard decisions, sometimes it can be confusing to determine what is right, and sometimes there are some downright heartbreaking decisions that seem to blur the line between right and wrong, but here is one absolute of which I am 100% sure - It Is Never Wrong To Do What Is Right.
A Good Mystery
I love a good mystery. While I never read Nancy Drew mysteries (those were for girls) I did read a few Hardy Boys stories and listened to the Sugar Creek Gang some mornings. Later, it was the Sherlock Holmes stories when I could get hold of one, and today I still love a good book or movie with a bit of a puzzle or mystery to solve. That kind of curiosity led me to study out the Bible with questions like, "Where are all the 2,000 year old men?" answered last week.
What is even more curious though, is that the question answered last week was not where I initially started, but rather ended. For there was another verse in the Bible that sparked my curiosity, and led me to study out an entire chapter, which then led me to the verses talked about last week. When talking about those verses, I wondered, was it possible any one of them actually walked the earth today?
Practically, my study led me to believe that whoever was there was also simply taken to heaven as Elijah and Enoch were both taken to heaven, but I also wanted to know if it was even possible that "some of those standing here" were still around today. That question led me to a study of a special assignment, given to Paul, and his story of survival against man, nature, and beast. There, woven in the lines of the book of Acts, was this amazing account of how God preserved his life despite some of the most dire circumstances. In short, Paul was told he must go to Rome to testify before Caesar, and God would see to it that nothing would stop him from completing that mission.
Did you know, though, that there was someone else given a similar mission? That the person given such a mission was one of those standing there whom Christ said would not taste of death? Did you know that there was one person in the New Testament where it was actually rumored that this person would not die? It's true. But I'm getting ahead of myself. The verse that caught my attention actually starts in Revelation.
Revelation 10:4 "And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not." You see, anyone who has studied the book of Revelation knows about the seven seal judgements, the seven trumpet judgements, and the seven vial (or bowl) judgements; however, here in this verse is where I first found the seven thunders, and what stuck me is that we are told about their existence, but not allowed to know what the seven thunders actually are.
No big deal, except there is one person who DOES know. John.
You see, John was allowed to know something that no other human on earth would be allowed to know for a very long time. As I studied out the whole chapter, I learned many interesting things, but the most interesting to me was four words in the very last verse: Revelation 10:11 " . . . thou must prophesy again . . . "
Chapter 10 in Revelation is also curious in that it is the only chapter in Revelation where the writer moves from observe/report to actually taking part in the action. He is told to eat of a little book, given a great secret known as the seven thunders, and finally given a special mission. Why? That is when the verses talking about "some standing here which shall not taste of death" began to ring in my mind. Then came these words . . .
John 21:20 "Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee? 21 Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? 22 Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me. 23 Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?"
Note: the rumor is that this disciple (John) will not die, but John corrects the rumor to the actual words spoken. What is great about this verse is that Christ sets the very groundwork for fulfillment of the other verses when He said "there be some standing here which shall not taste of death." He literally mentions John tarrying until He comes - the same language used in Matthew 16:28 - as though it is no big deal.
To you and me, that someone could actually be walking the earth for 2,000 years might be a big deal, but to Christ who was there when the universe was breathed into existence, it is but a small matter. Question is, who cares? If John actually is walking the earth today because of some special mission to which only he has been allowed to see in Revelation 10, what do I care? Well, for one, what do you think John would be doing today? Would he be doing what you are doing? Would his priorities in life align with yours? Would he seek to live the life you do, go to the church you do, and pursue the things in life you do?
No. I think John, if he was walking the earth today, would have priorities quite different from my own. I quite believe the rest of Revelation 10:11 may be what he would be trying to accomplish today when it says " . . . thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings." As for you, forget about John's mission, how about your neighbor, the person who cuts your hair, the people you work with or see every day in some capacity. Do they even know you are a Christian?
While John may be on some special assignment given exclusively to him, we still have one of our own no matter where we are in this world, no matter who we are in this world: Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."
Where are all the 2,000 year old men? Part 2
For the sake of time and space, the question as stated above comes from someone who would discredit the Bible based on Matthew 16:28, Mark 9:1, and Luke 9:27 simply because we have no knowledge of 2,000 year old men walking the earth today. I certainly don't know of any. However, the people who usually ask this question begin to make all kinds of assumptions without any basis, and then wildly false conclusions based on those assumptions that eventually lead to holding Christianity responsible for every bad thing that ever happened on the face of the earth.
- Reposted from www.MenRising.com
It is not ignorance on their part, for ignorance can be rectified with a rational discussion. What they demonstrate is a "hands over ears and eyes closed" childish game of willful ignorance where they accept no answer, no matter how rational, and refuse to answer any intelligently posed question while asking multiple "gotcha" questions that have been answered time and time again. I quite imagine that they would hold their breath in an effort to turn blue if they thought it would help, but that would mean they couldn't whine so I guess that really isn't an option for them. Too bad.
Allow me to set up the question in rational form. OF the three verses, Matthew 16:28 gives the most detailed and specific information:
1. There are "some" - meaning at least two or more, maybe even three or more
2. "standing here" - present at the time the words were spoken
3. "which shall not taste of death" - will not die
4. "till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." - the second coming of Christ
Lest anyone say that Jesus is talking about the Transfiguration, simply look at verse 27 which puts verse 28 into context and see if that holds true. Verse 27 is clearly talking about the second coming as it references rewarding every man according to his works. The Transfiguration also does not hold up to the 4th point. Jesus has not left yet, how can He return unless He leaves?
This website has an answer that also dismisses the Transfiguration: "Contradictions" however, I still disagree with even his answer because I simply believe verse 27 makes it clear that Jesus is talking about the second coming. So, the question remains: where are all the 2,000 year old men?
First, answer these questions:
1. Is there a precedent of anyone in the Bible who never died?
2. Is there a record of any of those people being present, identified, and viewed by anyone in the New Testament during the time of Jesus on earth?
3. Is there any record of anyone else after the Ascension of Christ who should have died because of present circumstances but did not at that moment die?
To answer question 1: Genesis 5:24 "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." lest you think that does not mean he did not die, the Bible again mentions Enoch in Hebrews 11:5 "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Also we have II Kings 2:1 and 2:11 which mentions that Elijah was taken up into heaven by a whirlwind.
To answer question 2: Matthew 17:3 tells us of the actual sighting of Elijah in the New Testament alongside Moses. So, we know that Elijah was at least present in the New Testament.
Steve Yothment wrote me through email and also noted those same Scriptures, and gave the following answer: "I've heard that John Hagee has claimed that Elijah and Enoch are the Two Witnesses of the Book of Revelation. (Rev 11:3) As I recall, Tertullian, Irenaeus and Hippolytus also thought that Elijah and Enoch are the Two Witnesses. Anyway, is it Elijah and Enoch who were standing there when Jesus spoke "There be some standing here who shall not taste of death . . ."? - Steve Yothment"
To be honest, it is not the answer I had in mind, but I can find nothing wrong with his answer. It is entirely possible that they could have both been present because Christ never names anyone. We also know that they did not die and were both taken to heaven, but that Elijah at the very least made an appearance in front of the disciples. It also answers the question, "Where are all the 2,000 year old men?" in that we know both Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven.
As we have no record of who Christ was talking about, we also have no record of anyone else being taken to heaven. The bigger question is question 3: "Is there any record of anyone else after the Ascension of Christ who should have died because of present circumstances but did not at that moment die?"
In the book of Acts, Paul was tasked by God with the specific duty of testifying in Rome (Acts 23:11) and in the very next verses, we see more than 40 Jews taking a death oath saying they will neither eat nor drink until Paul is dead. Verse 14 makes it clear they were not speaking generally, but were perfectly clear to either die by not drinking or eating, or see Paul killed. Yet, we know Paul escapes out of their murderous intent - no word on whether or not they kept to their oath. Next, Paul is set on a voyage that seems as though it will kill everyone, but God reaffirms Paul's mission to Rome and that all will be spared in the ship (Acts 27:24). However, just in case anyone doubts that Paul should have died in either the acts of men or the acts of nature, there is the last act of the snake which bites Paul, an obviously venomous snake such of the kind that the men who witnessed it fully expected to see Paul fall dead. (Acts 28: 3-6) Yet, Paul does not die. Why? Because his life has a mission to fulfill.
That there would be "some standing here" when Christ spoke those words meant that there were some being given a special mission, who would not taste of death, until the second coming of Christ. I cannot say that at least two of them were not Enoch and Elijah, we simply do not know from the text. However, we do know that Enoch and Elijah were taken to heaven, and there we have one of two possible answers.
There is nothing in the passage that says the people standing there who would not taste of death would be walking the earth for the next 2,000 years, yet on the other hand, we have evidence that if that is exactly what Christ meant, then there is nothing that would stop it from happening. Next week, I will delve into one other person (not Enoch or Elijah) who was standing there who may have been one of the people Christ was talking to directly. I'll give you a hint: he was also given a very specific mission just like Paul.
Now, let the petty ramblings of the willful ignorance of the atheists with an agenda come forth!! For everyone else, if you have a sincere question, please email me at jbagwell@menrising.com and I may feature your question in a future article.
Where are all the 2,000 year old men? Part 1
I want to start by saying this: Just because YOU don't understand the Bible doesn't make the Bible wrong or God a liar. For some reason, atheists in particular, are drawn to the parts of the Bible they do not understand, and then finger-point like little children while whining away. What is worse, if YOU personally cannot give them an answer, then they conclude that THEY are right and YOU are wrong.
How ignorant and childish.
Just because you cannot give an answer to someone on any topic doesn't make your statement false. I can say with confidence that the speed of light is 186,000 miles per second, but if someone asks me to prove it I'm going to have to shrug. If they ask me how I know it is true, I'm going to have to point to a book somewhere. If they further challenge me to prove the book I didn't write true, I'm going to have to say "Go to the author." Atheists, however, do not want to go to the Author of the Bible, because they do not believe in God. So instead, they want you to speak for God, and are ready to pounce on you if you can't. "See! You can't prove it! It must not be true!" So, God is a liar because I cannot prove the Bible true?? Wow.
Well, the speed of light is still 186,000 miles per second, and it's not up to me to prove anything. So it is with questions about the Bible I may not fully understand. That we both, atheists and Christians alike, may not fully understand a particular passage of Scripture does not instantly make God a liar, or the Bible untrue, nor do I have to prove anything.
That said, Christians should feel free to stiff-arm the questions they do not understand for a while and say "Let me do some research on that and get back with you." Truth is, there is nothing to fear from such childish finger-pointing, and if you will put just a little time into some Bible study, looking at the context of the passage in its proper place and time, and really seek to gain a real understanding, then I believe you can have an answer.
Here is one particular passage that, for no good reason, has confused many. Again, atheists will finger-point like little children and ignore the vast majority of Scripture in an effort to hold YOU responsible for a Book you didn't write. I will simply let the question stand as written first and then give answer next week.
"Matthew 16:28, “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”
Mark 9:1, “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”
Luke 9:27, “But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.”
Some means more than one. Jesus has not returned with all of his powers. Where are these men who were alive then and are still alive? Truth or lie: There are 2,000 year old men still wondering the earth who personally met Jesus."
See how the question is worded? He wants to draw an exact line with the words "truth or lie" and later he personally challenges me to give answer "Where are these 2,000 year old men?" as though I had them hidden somewhere in some secret undisclosed location or something. It's funny really, because the Bible answers this exact question.
I told him on February 21, 2012 that I would answer his question next week, and so I will. Meanwhile, until next week arrives, I wanted to allow this question to go to all of you out there.
The words were spoken by Christ. Christ has not yet come in His kingdom. There were some present when Jesus spoke that were not going to taste of death until such an event took place. The Bible is true. Jesus did not lie, and you CAN find the answer in the Bible. Well? What do you think?
As I told my atheist friend, I will answer this question next week, but for the next seven days, why don't you think this over, study it out, and see what you find. I'll give you a small hint: he didn't ask "Where is the 6,000 year old Christian?" or "Where is the 3,000 year old Christian?" but he could have.
- reposted from www.MenRising.com
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