Tag: heart

THE PROBLEMS WITH PRESUMPTION

Neal Pollard

Unfortunately, most of us are guilty of it.  Some call it “jumping to conclusions” (which, as it has been noted, can be a very painful exercise), others “reaching a verdict without a trial.”  This usually happens when we venture to guess another person’s motives or judge a person’s life without having all the facts.  The danger of this is that we can be certain of our conclusion, then find we have missed the truth by the proverbial mile.

PRESUMPTION CAUSES ONE TO KNOW BEFORE HAVING INFORMATION.  Solomon, by inspiration, says, “He who gives an answer before he hears, it is folly and shame to him” (Prov. 18:13).  That applies to poor listeners in a conversation, but also faulty perception about one’s circumstances.   It is a biblical principle to be certain of a situation before ever uttering a word about it.  Think of how foolish it is to pass judgment without a full hearing.

PRESUMPTION CAUSES ONE TO HAVE BOLDNESS WITHOUT FOUNDATION.  In 2 Peter 2:10, Peter references certain unrighteous ones, saying, “Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.”  They fearlessly and recklessly speak against others, even those in authority, based on personal opinions they confuse with the truth (here is the idea of “self-willed” or “arrogant”).  They rant and rave about the object of their fury based on preconceived notions that they will not clutter up with the actual truth.

PRESUMPTION CAUSES ONE TO SIN WITHOUT RESTRICTION.  This is why David prayed, “Also keep back your servant from presumptuous sins” (Psa. 19:13a).  It is a prayer for self-control against willful sinning.  He speaks of this same, arrogant spirit, using a word elsewhere translated “proud.”  Willfully entering into sin hardens the heart, including saying something against somebody which we are certain we do not know with certainty is true.

Understand, presumptuous sin takes in much more than our subject, but includes it.  Its synonyms are ugly–audacity, impudence, and gall.  Yet, it is something against which all of us must daily fight!  It is so easy to convince ourselves that we know what is driving other people or what has landed them in their present circumstances.  It got Job’s friends into a big problem.  Let us remember this rule:  Substantiate before you propagate, and then only carefully and prayerfully!

 

A Head Transplant?!

Neal Pollard

An Italian Neuroscientist, Sergio Canavero, announced this week that human head transplants are now possible!  I will spare you the gory details except to say it could happen within two years and should involve, in his opinion, someone who has a fully-functioning brain but who suffers from a severe bodily malady like progressive muscular dystrophies or genetic and metabolic disorders (“The Independent,” via Times Of India, 7/3/13).

We could debate the ethics of this, ponder whether Italian neuroscientists just have too much time on their hands, or discuss how realistic the possibility of this is.  We might also ask whether or not we should do something just because we have figured out how.  While the news out of Italy may seem like science fiction, there is a spiritual need for us to change our “head.”

Too many are riddled with guilt and beset by negative thinking and pessimism.  Christians ought not be fatalists.  That is a worldly point of view.  We have hope (Rom. 5:2) as well as the power of God (cf. Eph. 1:19) to help us cope.

Too many are consumed with lust and fleshly desires.  Christians should not be enslaved to such passions.  This is deadly and destructive.  God can help us, as we will it, to have a clean heart and new spirit within us (Ps. 51:10).

Too many are weighted down with jealousy and envy.  They cannot trust, even when they have no reason to suspect and distrust.  God can help us cope with these feelings and whatever drives them (cf. Gal. 5:24-26).

Too many are eaten up with anger, hatred, and bitterness.  The reverses of life, both real and imagined, can ruin our character.  We can feed our grudges until they become a gargantuan monster that turns on us and devours us.  God can help us cultivate a forgiving mind, letting go of resentment and allowing Him to transform us (Eph. 4:31-32).

You get the idea.  In our own individual ways, we are all “head cases.”  We have spiritual struggles in our hearts and minds, things that need changed into the image of Christ. Thank God that He is the Great Physician who has been successfully doing His superior kind of “head transplants” since the beginning of time!

What You Can Do With A New Heart!

Neal Pollard

This morning while running indoors with Rob Sinclair and Bob Turner, we happened to notice a news story about a woman who just completed 52 half marathons in 52 weeks.  That alone is impressive, but then we learned that Aurora De Lucia had open heart surgery in 2010.  She was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White, a rare congenital heart condition. She had an extra pathway to her heart, and several complications that extended halfway through 2011.  With her repaired heart, she became determined to complete the incredible fitness goal and she reached her goal (via http://www.laketahoenews.net).

Most of us without the excuse of a serious heart problem will not ever be able to say we ran 52 half marathons in a year, but she did it under such adverse circumstances.  What a difference a “new” heart made for Aurora.  She proves the power of perseverance and wears the decoration of determination.

The Bible tells us that, spiritually, we can achieve even greater feats with a “new heart.”  From the time the exilic prophet Ezekiel foretold a time when Judah would have a “new heart” (36:26), Bible writers spoke of the possibility of a renewed heart and mind.  Paul spoke of it to Corinth as the renewed inner man (2 Cor. 4:16) and to Ephesus as being “renewed in the spirit of your mind” (Eph. 4:23).  He tells Colosse that this renewal process is brought about by true knowledge (3:10).

A “new heart” is pure (Mat. 5:8; 2 Tim. 2:22), honest and good (Lk. 8:15), glad and sincere (Ac. 2:46; Eph. 6:5), resolute (Ac. 11:23), open (Ac. 16:14; 2 Cor. 6:11), circumcised (Rom. 2:29), obedient (Rom. 6:17), believing (Rom. 10:9-10), enlightened (Eph. 1:18), compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient (Col. 3:12), loving (1 Pet. 1:22), and assured (1 Jn. 3:19).  The old heart is none of these things and described with words like lustful (Mat. 5:28), distant from Christ (Mat. 15:8), defiled (Mat. 15:18), hardened (Mat. 19:8; Eph. 4:18), Satan-filled (Ac. 5:3), uncircumcised (Ac. 7:51), not right (Ac. 8:21), darkened (Rom. 1:21), stubborn and unrepentant (Rom. 2:5), veiled (2 Cor. 3:15), unbelieving (Heb. 3:12), deceived (Js. 1:26), selfishly ambitious (Js. 3:14). and trained in greed (2 Pet. 2:14).

Thankfully, one can have his or her heart transformed from that wretched, latter condition with God’s help.  His Word, with its convicting and instructing power, can work on the heart (Heb. 4:12) and renew it!  With a “new heart,” we can impact lives and destinies–including our own. At the very end of all things, the Righteous Judge will note such as the greatest accomplishment of all time and eternity!  Oh, think what we can do with a new heart!

DEADLY DISPUTE

Neal Pollard

A few years ago fifty miles southeast of Indianapolis in Andersonville, Indiana, two neighbors were found dead of gunshot wounds.  The bizarre finding of police investigators is that they fatally shot each other.  Indiana State Police Sargeant Noel Houze Jr. explained, “They just shot each other in an exchange of gunfire and both of them died of fatal gunshot wounds.”  She was 29 and he was 64.  They knew each other, but no one has come forward with any details about motives or explanations.

The imagination runs wild, though facts do not follow behind it.  What makes two neighbors mad enough to draw guns and engage in a gun battle?  What could be serious enough to escalate a dispute to this level (AP wire, 8/17/07)?

Conflict is an inevitable part of human relationships.  Normally, the better we know someone the more likely disputes will be and the more heated or passionate they can become.  The hope is that civility and courtesy can prevent hostility and homicide!

Luke records a dispute among the apostles, that “an argument started among them as to which of them might be the greatest” (Lk. 9:46).  The same Greek word translated “argument” in that passage Jesus  modifies with an adjective to teach that “…from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries…and defile the man” (Mk. 7:21,23b).   Arndt and Gingrich, since this noun is used, suggest that the idea is stronger than merely bad thoughts, but “evil machinations” (186a).  Thus, schemes and plots that begin in the heart, that are fed, nursed and stoked, can play out in all the ways Jesus enumerates in Mark seven.

From these two passages come a warning about two areas of life–motives and heart.  A bad motive and evil heart open the door which allows conflict to escalate and grow.  These conflicts may not end in shotgun blasts, but estrangement, divorce, isolation, division, or character assassination.  In trying to deal a hurtful blow to our opponent, we may find ourselves mortally wounded, too.   What a needed reminder to guard our hearts, watch our motives, and control ourselves!

THE HUMAN HEART (Poem)

You Don’t Want To Miss The Start Of The Bear Valley Lectures!  If You Have Never Heard DAVID SHANNON of Mt. Juliet, TN, Speak, You Are In For A Treat.  First Session Is At 7 PM.

Neal Pollard

That part of each man crafted by God

but unseen by mortal observation,

The figurative place of our emotions and thinking,

helping our spiritual station.

A place we alone can nurture and tend,

to work to better or embitter

That directs our whole body and life on a path

That makes us a winner or quitter.

God put in place ways to help our own hearts

stay in tune with His perfect intentions.

To mold us and make us like Him in our thinking,

to stave off man’s wicked inventions.

The Bible, as His mind, He has given to mankind,

a heart monitor as well as a mirror.

It gauges our true selves and guides our footsteps,

if used it will make His will dearer.

He has given us singing, a wide world of nature,

and people as living examples,

So much that exists we can see and by seeing

can resist Satan’s slick sinful samples.

Yes, true, human hearts can be darkened and hardened,

becoming a frightful container.

That holds in the worst, the depraved, and perverted,

that becomes such a wicked retainer.

But such is the work of neglect and of lust,

a struggle that fights a higher objective.

For when in human hearts there’s willing submission,

they become more spiritually selective.

So spiritual battles are lost or they’re won

In a place where no other can see,

Keep your heart, you alone with heavenly help

Will determine your soul’s eternity.