Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Job 19:25 For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
Jam 5:11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

"Never shall I forget that smoke"


"Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed. Never shall I forget that smoke. Never shall I forget the little faces of the children, whose bodies I saw turned into wreaths of smoke beneath a silent blue sky. Never shall I forget those flames which consumed my faith forever."
Elie Wiesel in his book “Night” gives us a glimpse of the evil he experienced at the concentration camps in Auschwitz and Buchenwald, Germany. This short excerpt from his autobiography is rendered by many as the moment in which Wiesel lost his faith. . In a radio interview Wiesel gave this statement regarding his questioning God during this period in his life. “It is permitted to question God, even to take him to task […or] suing God. I bring him to rabbinic tribunal. I take God's words and say, since You said these words, how is it possible that other things or certain things have happened?”
In essence what Wiesel has asked is a question posed by many in the Bible. "Why do the wicked prosper?" Wiesel saw wickedness at its "finest," and he asked a logical question, but flawed in its understanding. Like Habakkuk
(see Habakkuk 1:3,16,17), Wiesel failed to note three principles. First, the unrighteous seemingly prosper. They are judged in God's timing. (Habakkuk 2:9,10) Secondly, we are bound within our state in time and cannot see God's full plan (see Habakkuk's insight into God's plan Habakkuk 3). God uses men to accomplish His purposes. Lastly, there is victory over the wicked in the Gospel. Christ triumphed over evil and therefore the wicked have already been condemned on all accounts (Genesis 3:15; Isaiah 53:10,12: Romans 7:1-8:11).

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Moment by Moment


"One question now to be put to the test is this: Can we have that contact with God all the time? All the time awake, fall asleep in His arms, and awaken in His presence? Can we attain that? Can we do His will all the time? Can we think His thoughts all the time?"
"Or are there periods when business, and pleasures, and crowding companions must necessarily push God out of our thoughts? We cannot keep two things in mind at once. Indeed we cannot keep one thing in mind more than half a second. Our mind is a flowing something. It oscillates. Concentration is merely the continuous return to the same problem from a million angles. We do not think of one thing. We always think of the relationship of at least two things, and more often of three or more things simultaneous. So my problem is this: Can I bring the Lord back in my mind- flow every few seconds so that God shall always be in my mind?" - Frank Laubach "Practicing His Presence"