Tag: suffering

How To Make The Best Of A Bad Situation

Dale Pollard

Rattlesnakes are large, venomous snakes that live throughout North and South America. In my humble opinion, they are one of the most terrifying creatures on the planet–from the hair-raising sound of that rattle to those intimidating fangs that can be up to six inches long. The bite from one of these monsters is excruciatingly painful. If you were to be bitten, at first you would experience a tingling feeling, followed by an intense burning sensation. After this you would feel lightheaded and begin sweating profusely. Your vision would become blurry, and each breath would be more strained than the last one.

If left untreated, it can be fatal to humans. All of that sounds terrible doesn’t it? What good could possibly come from a deadly rattlesnake? Well, at some point in history, somebody looked at these snakes and decided that they would make a beautiful pair of boots. That’s how to make something great, out of something terrible. There is no doubt in my mind that the inventor of snakeskin boots was an optimist. He could see the good, even when staring into the dark vertical pupils of pure reptilian evil.

When faced with hardship, that simply comes from living in a fallen world, it can be a challenge to see the silver lining in each dark cloud. American basketball player, Charles Barkley once said, “Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is a train.” That’s definitely how it can feel sometimes! Although we have books in the Bible like Job and James that teach us how we should view our earthly struggles, here are just a few reminders from our God.

Number one, remember that each day is worth rejoicing over. Psalm 118:24 gives us the reason why— because today is another day that the Lord has made. It’s not my day; it’s God’s day. Reminder number two, what we can’t see in times of difficulty, is worth waiting for. Paul would inform us in Romans 8:27, “But if we hope in what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.” In the muck of life it may feel at times that there’s just no way out. Just because you may not see the end in sight, rest assured that our hope is in a promise that was put in place before time itself began (2 Timothy 1:9). The last reminder is simply this, that God made the world you are living in and Jesus is currently creating the world we will one day live in (John 14:1-3). I firmly believe each day that passes can only mean that heaven will be that much more beautiful. If God created this world in six days, in all it’s beauty, imagine the splendor of our home to come. Now, if that doesn’t make a bad situation a good one, I don’t know what will! Here are the lyrics to an optimistic hymn that I hope get stuck in your head for quite a while.

“I care not today what tomorrow may bring, if shadow or sunshine or rain. The Lord I know ruleth o’er everything, and all of my worry is vain. Living by faith in Jesus above, trusting confiding in His great love. From all harm safe in His sheltering arm, I’m living by faith and feel no alarm.”

Doubting Can Be Good

Gary Pollard

Today’s article will be a brief excerpt from Today’s Handbook for Solving Bible Difficulties (1990, D.E. O’Brien, pp. 18-19). I do not agree with everything this author wrote and have found some of this excerpt — read in the broader context of his own sometimes-narrow interpretations — to be ironic. If we read this excerpt out of context, though, it’s an excellent reminder to read scripture with the goal of finding truth rather than merely affirming existing beliefs. 

[In] all of Job’s questioning, he never doubted God’s existence or power. What Job couldn’t understand was how his lifelong friends could turn against him. Job didn’t doubt God; he doubted his own intellectualized framework for understanding God. I would paraphrase and condense Job’s argument like this: “If everything I believe about God is true, then what does He think He’s doing?” To understand Job, we need to focus on the incomplete and sometimes inaccurate understanding of God that Job shared with his friends. There was no disagreement among them over the commonly held theology of the day. The difference between Job and his friends was that they had not suffered (16:4-5). Their theology worked in the ivory tower, but not in the misfortunes of life. Job loved God and called out to Him as a bewildered friend (10:8-13), but received no answer. Job’s friends spoke only from the limited wisdom of their sterile lives, which reduced God and all His creation to predictable equations that they could manipulate for their own interests. 

When all the arguing had ended and Job had hurled all his questions heavenward like javelins, God appeared. As Job had affirmed, his redeemer did indeed live and came to take His stand on the earth (19:25) to utter His ringing vindication of His friend’s righteousness (42:7-9). Imagine the chagrin of Eliphaz when his theoretical, theological God appeared before him and said, “I am angry with you and your friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.” At first, Job’s friends had all the answers and Job had all the questions. But when God appeared it was in response to questions, not unthinking certainty. 

George MacDonald wrote some time ago, “True and good and reverent doubts, springing from devoutness and aspiration — are far more precious in the sight of God than many so-called beliefs.” In the throes of his agony, Job intuitively turned to the only one with the answer to his questions. As the answer, God offered Himself. As with Abraham, Job’s doubts were the building blocks of deepened faith. Without the profound questioning that makes up so much of Job’s story, would he ever have been able to say, “My ears have heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You”? 

I don’t want to canonize doubt any more than I want to encourage continued silence. Just as we need to be free to ask genuine questions, we need to learn to recognize an answer when we see it. For many who call themselves Christians but reject the authority of biblical revelation, the perpetual quest for some spiritually impossible dream is the only goal of their faith. If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it’s probably a duck, they tell us. In the search for solutions to biblical problems the same holds true. If it looks like a solution, it probably is. 

Just as it dishonors the Lord for Christians to remain in continual ignorance because they are afraid to ask questions, so it dishonors Him when we ask questions for which we really don’t want answers. When we get to the place where we don’t want to be confused with any more information because our minds are made up and we are comfortable, we mire ourselves in spiritual mediocrity. Runners who finish a day’s run dripping with sweat, exhausted, and with their joints aching also feel exhilarated and strangely fulfilled. The Christian’s quest for more of the Lord, a quest that has to be undertaken with both heart and mind, can be like that. The habit of pushing ourselves to the limit of our mental endurance is missing from our American brand of Christianity. The most neglected of spiritual disciplines is a serious study of God’s Word. 

Answers follow questions. Growth follows struggle. Our goal in approaching Scripture is to seek and find, to ask and to have opened. Christians who fear study and questioning remain in darkness, but those who refuse answers are more profoundly darkened because their darkness is self-imposed. The goal of questioning in the Christian life is not to come up with answers, but to conformity with the image of Christ. George MacDonald capture the essence of this quest when he said: “A man may be haunted with doubts, and only grow thereby in faith. Doubts are the messengers of the Living One to the honest. They are the first knock at our door of things that are not yet, but have to be, understood…Doubt must precede every deeper assurance; for uncertainties are what we first see when we look into a region hitherto unknown, unexplored unannexed.” 

JOB’S WOOLLY RE’EM

Dale Pollard

The exact identity of the “wild ox” mentioned in Job 39 is unknown, but the text implies a powerful and strong beast whose strength was beyond human control.

One alternative theory is that it might just be referring to the extinct woolly rhinoceros—one of the largest mammals of the ice age.

God asks Job:

“Will the re’em be willing to serve you? Will he spend the night at your manger? Can you bind the re’em in the furrow (earthen trench made by plowing) with ropes?  …will you trust him because his strength is great?” (39.9-12).

Unlike oxen, rhinos have never been successfully domesticated, despite their tremendous strength. A modern rhino could easily pull half of its body weight, and they’ve used been known to use their sheer neck and shoulder strength to toss multi-ton objects, including hippos, water buffaloes, and entire cars—into the air (BBC Science Focus Mag., Top 10 Strongest Animals).

The woolly rhino was among the largest land mammals of the past. Fossil remains discovered in Russia, Germany, France, England, and Kazakhstan reveal that it grew to be 13 feet long and stood over 6 feet at the shoulder. It weighed in at around 8,000lbs and its prominent front horn has been measured at 4-6 feet in length. Preserved carcasses in the chilly permafrost of Siberia have even retained their reddish-brown fur, skin, and their last meals still sitting in their bellies. 

The Greek translation of the Old Testament– or Septuagint– translates the Hebrew re’em as monokeros, meaning “one-horned.” Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translated it as rhinoceros. The translators lived far closer to the biblical world than modern readers and evidently associated the re’em with a rhino-like creature.

No woolly rhinos have ever been uncovered in the region where Job was thought to have lived (modern Palestine), however several references in Job seem to indicate the right conditions that would allow our big-horned brute to feel right at home. Some theologians date Job towards the end of the ice age—here’s a few verses used as evidence.

 “Which is dark and turbid by reason of the ice, and wherein the snow is hidden” (6.16).

“By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast” (37.10).

“From whose womb comes the ice? And the frost of heaven, who gives birth to it? The waters harden like stone, and the surface of the deep is frozen” (38.29-30).

Is the re’em really a giant woolly rhino? There’s no way to know for certain, and since there’s no definitive answer– it makes the theory a cool one (little pun there for ya, pilgrim).

How Can Evil And A Loving God Coexist?

Gary Pollard

Stephen Fry is a well-known actor, activist, humanist, and athiest. When asked what he would say to God in a face-to-face, he replied, “Bone cancer in children, what’s that about? … How dare you create a world where there is such misery that is not our fault?” There’s more to the quote, but this sums it up. 

“How can evil and a loving God coexist?” At some point, we have to confront this question in our own faith. Some can accept the problem of evil as being a byproduct of a fallen world. Others – especially those who have experienced evil firsthand – have a hard time justifying the two. 

Most answers offered sound something like this: “The creation groans with the pains of childbirth up to now. Man, as a free moral agent, transgressed God’s law and brought the consequences of sin upon humanity. God cannot look upon evil, and certainly does not cause it. Every good thing and every perfect gift comes down from the father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.” 

While the principles in this explanation are correct, it fails to address the question on at least two levels. One, it does not answer how God could allow evil to affect humans. We exist, technically, against our will. Two, it utilizes jargon. It’s easier to say religious-sounding things to answer difficult questions, but anyone struggling with this problem knows how frustrating this answer can be. It doesn’t address the question, and sometimes comes across as avoiding it altogether. 

The following is based on personal study, as I’d wrestled with this problem, too. To be very clear: God loves us, and the existence of evil does not change that at all. This question was answered for me through an unrelated study that put a few things into perspective. Here’s the condensed version: 

God created reality, and it was flawless (Gen 1.31). In fact, Jesus described heaven as being a return to this flawlessness (Matt 19.28). The code of reality was intact. God didn’t force us to love him, he gave us freedom to choose for ourselves. According to Romans eight, nature was fundamentally affected by the choice we made. This choice essentially introduced a bug into the code of reality. God didn’t create evil, we did. 

Even though our choice has consistently been rejection – and we’re solely responsible for messing everything up – he still gave up everything to give us a second chance. Yes, Jesus sacrificed himself on a cross. This was extremely selfless and loving in itself. But this was NOT the only sacrifice he made. 

Jesus – the one who designed and built reality (John 1) – permanently demoted himself for humans. He gave up his status to die for us (Heb 2.7). He’s in the father’s chair right now, but will step back down after the end of time (Heb 1.14; 2.8-9). He is still God, but permanently lower because he’s still human, too (I Tim 2.5; I Cor 11.3; I Jn 3.1-3; Heb 2.11-18). 

So, how can evil and a loving God coexist? We’re stuck with the way reality is now, but he fundamentally changed himself to give us a second chance. He works full-time to get his family home (Rom 8.27; I Tim 2.5; I Jn 2.1-2). We changed the terms, but he changed the consequences. The most powerful entity in the universe stepped down – forever – knowing most of us would ignore it. When we look at it that way, it puts our own culpability into perspective and demonstrates God’s infinite capacity to love. 

Held Together by the Cross: A Devotional Reflection on Laminin and Christ

Brent Pollard

A Providential Conversation Beside a Ventilator

Circumstances recently brought another respiratory technician into my home to check my ventilator and oxygen equipment. Since he may be assuming my case permanently, he took time not only to inspect the machinery but also to understand the man attached to it. He offered practical advice—small adjustments that might improve life with a ventilator, supplemental oxygen, tubing, alarms, and all the quiet burdens that come with depending on breath delivered through machines.

As we finished the adjustments, our conversation moved from technical matters to deeper themes, gradually shifting from respiration to faith.

Learning that I was a Christian, he asked, “Have you ever heard of laminin?”

I had not.

He told me to look it up on the tablet beside me. What I found was fascinating. Laminins are proteins that help hold the body together. Like an internal glue, they bind cells to the basement membrane, interact with collagen and other extracellular matrix components, provide strength and elasticity to tissues, and even help guide cell growth, migration, differentiation, and repair. When laminins malfunction, serious disorders can result. When they function properly, they serve quietly and faithfully, supporting the body’s structure from within, much like hidden scaffolding holding up a house.

As I read, I noticed what had prompted my technician’s smile.

Laminin has a cruciform shape.

The “molecular glue” that holds the body together resembles a cross.

Christ the One Who Holds All Things Together

The mind naturally runs to Paul’s words: “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1.17, NASB95).

That verse is not a sentimental caption for a science poster but a thunderclap—a realization of Christ’s active role. He is not merely a comforting figure outside creation. He is the eternal Son through whom all things came into being (John 1.3), and in whom atoms, stars, cells, breath, memory, mercy, and meaning find their coherence and unity.

The world is not a machine Christ occasionally repairs; it is a creation upheld by Him. Scripture says He sustains all by His word. Creation is held at each moment by divine command.

That does not mean laminin proves Christianity. Faith does not rest on the shape of a protein. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is not dependent upon molecular diagrams. Yet creation is full of hints, echoes, and parables for those with eyes to see. The heavens declare God’s glory (Psalm 19.1), and apparently, even the microscopic world may whisper of His wisdom.

The Cross Beneath the Surface

There is something fitting—almost too fitting—that a cross-shaped protein should be associated with bodily cohesion. For the cross is where the brokenness of all things meets the reconciling love of God.

Sin tears apart. It separates man from God, neighbor from neighbor, soul from body, desire from holiness, and creation from its intended harmony. We feel that tearing in hospitals and homes, in grief and guilt, in strained relationships, in bodies that refuse to work as they should. Mutation, decay, disease, and death all testify that creation groans (Romans 8.22).

But Christ does not merely observe the groaning. He enters it.

The Creator stepped into His creation. The One through whom the world was made became a man within that world (John 1.10, 14). He breathed our air, felt our fatigue, touched diseased skin, wept at a tomb, and allowed Roman nails to fasten Him to wood. The One holding all things together permitted Himself to be torn apart.

There is the wonder: the sustaining Lord became the suffering Lamb.

When Weakness Becomes a Window

Living with illness and machines can make the body feel less like a temple than a frail tent. Paul described this as groaning under mortality, longing for life (2 Corinthians 5.1–4). He also learned that weakness allows grace to shine: “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12.9, NASB95).

That does not make suffering pleasant. Christianity is not the art of pretending pain is beautiful. A ventilator alarm at three in the morning is not romantic. Shortness of breath does not become poetic because one can attach a theological lesson to it.

But suffering can become holy ground when it brings us face to face with our dependence. By “holy ground,” I mean a place where God’s presence and our need meet. Every breath has always been borrowed. Every heartbeat has always been mercy. Health can disguise this truth; weakness reveals it. The man on oxygen is not uniquely dependent on God. He is merely less able to pretend otherwise.

God’s Glory in the Hidden Places

We often look for God in the dramatic—in parted seas, burning bushes, opened tombs, and thunder from Sinai. He is there, surely. But He is also present in the hidden architecture of ordinary life—in proteins, tissues, lungs, cells, and breath. By “architecture,” I mean the underlying structure that supports everything. He is no less glorious because He also works quietly. A whisper may reveal majesty as surely as a storm.

The lesson of laminin is not that we should build doctrine from biology, but that we should receive creation as a theater of divine glory. The microscope does not replace Scripture. It kneels beside it. Scripture tells us who holds all things together. Science lets us glimpse some of the means by which that holding appears in the created order.

And if one of those means happens to bear the form of a cross, perhaps we may be forgiven for pausing in worship.

The Practical Faith of Being Held

So what do we do with such a reflection?

First, we remember that our lives are not held together by our strength. That is good news, because our strength often fails.

Second, we entrust our bodies to the Lord without making health an idol. We seek treatment, listen to technicians, take medicine, use machines, and thank God for every skillful hand. Practical care is not a lack of faith. It is one of the ordinary channels through which God shows mercy.

Third, we let the cross interpret our weakness. The cross tells us that God’s love is not proven by the absence of suffering but by His willingness to enter it and redeem it. Calvary does not answer every question we ask in pain, but it answers the deepest one: “Is God for me?” In Christ, the answer is yes (Romans 8.31–32).

Resting in the One Who Holds Us

Long before microscopes revealed the body’s hidden structures, the apostles proclaimed a greater mystery: Christ created, sustains, reconciles, and will one day renew all things (Colossians 1.16–20; Revelation 21.5). Laminin may hold cells in place, but Christ is the true support, holding together the soul, the body, the church, the cosmos, and the future.

I do not know what early Christians would have thought had they seen a cross-shaped protein through a microscope. Perhaps they would have smiled. Perhaps they would have bowed their heads. Perhaps they would have said what faith has always said when creation gives up one more secret of its Maker: “This, too, belongs to Him.”

And so do we.

Whether breathing freely or with assistance, whether strong or frail, whether standing in sunlight or lying beside humming machines, the believer is not held by accident, biology, or willpower alone. We are held by the crucified and risen Christ. Beneath us are the everlasting arms (Deuteronomy 33.27). Before us is resurrection. Within us is His Spirit. Above us is His glory.

And at the center of it all stands the cross—not merely as a shape hidden in the body, but as the saving truth by which God holds together everything sin tried to tear apart.

Four Reasons We Have A Hard Time With The Necessity Of The Cross

Neal Pollard

The cross tells the truth about us and about God, all at the same time. That doesn’t necessarily make it easier for us to accept and understand. While the cross was a means of torture and punishment most frequently used in ancient times, what we know about it is that is was a painful, horrible way to die. The Roman statesman and philosopher, Cicero, called it the most cruel and the most horrible torture. Yet, God chose it and Jesus endured it. There are several reasons why we have a hard time accepting that the cross was necessary.

The cross says you can’t fix yourself. It confronts our pride by telling us that we must be saved and cannot save ourselves. The perishing think it folly, contrary to wisdom and a stumbling block (cf. 1 Cor. 1:18-23). We like to think that we command our destiny and hold the key to our own rescue, but we know it isn’t so. The cross is a loving reminder that help is available, but also necessary.

The cross says our sins are ugly. In a world that doesn’t want to diagnose behavior as sinful, the cross condemns what the Bible calls sin. “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, that He will not hear” (Isa. 59:2). All the rationalizing, normalizing, and desensitizing in the world cannot negate heaven’s response to sin by allowing the cross to address it.

The cross says God has a specific way to fight and defeat sin. Many expect God to fix things through His power rather than through suffering. Or, people try to fix themselves. God conquers sin through sacrifice rather than force. We may think His way makes no sense, but Scripture teaches His higher thoughts and ways (Isa. 55:8-9). Naaman balked at God’s remedy for his physical illness. So many do the same at God’s remedy for our spiritual sickness.

The cross demands change and a personal response. It calls for surrender, repentance, and obedience, and we don’t generally like that. His cross demands that we take up ours (Luke 9:23). We can come as we are, but we cannot stay as we were. The old song asks, “What will you do with Jesus?” In the test of life, we can’t leave that question blank!

The cross humbles us, challenges our sense of justice, exposes our sin, and calls us to change. Perhaps for these or other reasons, we may question why Jesus had to die on the cross. But the fact of Christ’s crucifixion is central to both the Old and New Testaments. Not only can we not understand the Bible without understanding this, but we cannot under God without it.

Books by the Pollards

A Tiny Spark Snail Mail Club (Kathy Pollard)

The Case For Life

Carl Pollard

Every society is ultimately judged by how it treats its most vulnerable. History bears this out. Civilizations are not remembered for their technology or wealth alone, but for whether they defended human dignity or sacrificed it for convenience. Few issues reveal this moral fault line more clearly than abortion.

At its core, abortion isnt a political or medical issue. It is a moral question, a scientific reality, and a spiritual matter that forces us to ask a simple but uncomfortable question: What is the value of human life?

Scripture is crystal clear about the source and worth of human life. Life is not accidental, disposable, or owned by society. It is given by God and bears His image.

Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in his own image.” This is not a status earned by size, ability, or independence. It is a condition of being human. From conception forward, human life carries divine worth.

Psalm 139:13–16 describes God’s involvement in the womb: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.” The psalmist does not speak of a future person, but of a present one known by God before birth.

Jeremiah 1:5 reinforces this truth: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” God’s relationship with human beings begins prior to birth, not after.

Throughout Scripture, God consistently condemns the shedding of innocent blood (Proverbs 6:16–17). No category of people is more innocent or defenseless than the unborn.

Science doesn’t argue against life in the womb. In fact, modern embryology overwhelmingly affirms it.

At conception, a distinct, living human organism comes into existence. This new being has its own DNA, separate from the mother and father, determining sex, eye color, and genetic identity.

By three weeks, the heart is beating. By six weeks, measurable brain activity is present. By eight weeks, all major organs have begun to form. By ten weeks, the unborn child can respond to stimuli. These are not philosophical claims. They are biological facts taught in medical textbooks.

The question, then, isn’t when life begins. Science has answered that. The real question is whether we believe some lives are more worthy of protection than others.

Since the legalization of abortion in the United States, tens of millions of unborn children have lost their lives. Globally, abortion accounts for tens of millions of deaths every year, making it one of the leading causes of death worldwide.

Statistics also reveal another uncomfortable truth. Abortion does not solve social problems. It masks them. Poverty, lack of support, abusive relationships, and fear are not cured by ending a life. They are exploited to justify it.

Women are often told abortion is empowerment, yet many report long-term emotional and psychological distress afterward. Depression, guilt, and regret are not uncommon, even if rarely discussed publicly. Ending a life doesn’t heal anything. It compounds it.

If human rights mean anything, they must apply to all humans. If worth depends on size, location, dependency, or wantedness, then no one’s rights are secure. A newborn is smaller than a toddler. A disabled person may be dependent on others. An elderly person may be unwanted. Yet we recognize their right to live.

To argue that the unborn do not deserve protection because they cannot speak or survive independently is to adopt a standard that would justify horrific injustice elsewhere.

The womb should be the safest place on earth. Instead, it has become the most dangerous.

Human life has value not because of what it can do, but because of what it is. A child is not valuable because they are planned, healthy, or convenient. They are valuable because they are human.

This is the foundation of every just society. When life becomes conditional, morality becomes negotiable.

God’s design has always been clear. Life is sacred. Children are a blessing, not a burden. And justice demands protection for those who cannot protect themselves.

Abolishing abortion isn’t about controlling women. It is about refusing to dehumanize children. It is about building a culture that responds to crisis with compassion, not death, and support, not silence.

The answer to abortion is not apathy or anger, but truth and courage. Truth that life begins at conception. Courage to defend it even when it is inconvenient.

The measure of our humanity is not found in our slogans, but in our willingness to stand for life when it costs us something.

If life is truly sacred, then it must be protected. All of it. Especially the smallest among us.

Common Arguments Used To Defend Abortion: 

1. “My body, my choice.”

Pregnancy involves two bodies. The unborn child has a separate DNA, blood type, and biological identity. Bodily autonomy does not include the right to intentionally kill another innocent human being. Society already limits “choice” when it harms others.

2. “The fetus isn’t a person.”

Science confirms the unborn is a living human organism from conception. Personhood based on development, location, or ability is arbitrary and dangerous. If personhood is granted by others, human rights are no longer inherent.

3. “Life begins at birth.”

Birth changes location, not nature. A baby minutes before birth is biologically identical to a baby minutes after birth. No scientific event at birth creates humanity.

4. “What about rape and incest?”

Rape is a horrific crime, but abortion punishes an innocent child for the sin of another. Justice does not permit killing one innocent person to ease the suffering caused by another’s crime.

5. “The baby won’t survive or has severe disabilities.”

Human value does not depend on health, lifespan, or ability. To argue otherwise revives the logic used to justify eugenics and discrimination against the disabled. Compassion does not require killing.

6. “Women will die if abortion is illegal.”

Modern medicine can treat life-threatening complications without intentionally killing the child. Direct abortion is never medically necessary to save a mother’s life. Treating pathology is not the same as ending a life.

7. “Abortion is healthcare.”

Healthcare aims to heal, not intentionally kill a patient. Abortion ends the life of a distinct human being and therefore contradicts the fundamental definition of medical care.

8. “The child is just a clump of cells.”

Every human is a clump of cells. The question is not cellular composition but organism identity. From conception, the unborn is a complete, developing human organism.

9. “The child isn’t viable yet.”

Viability depends on technology, geography, and age. Human rights cannot depend on hospital access or medical advancement. Dependency does not negate humanity.

10. “Abortion reduces poverty and suffering.”

Killing the poor does not solve poverty. Ending life is not a moral solution to social failure. True justice addresses suffering without destroying the sufferer.

11. “Women will still get abortions anyway.”

The same argument could be used to legalize any crime. Laws exist to restrain evil, protect the innocent, and shape moral understanding. Justice does not yield to lawlessness.

12. “The Bible doesn’t explicitly mention abortion.”

The Bible condemns the shedding of innocent blood, affirms God’s work in the womb, and recognizes unborn children as known by God. Moral truths are often established by principle, not explicit wording.

13. “Abortion should be rare, but legal.”

If abortion is wrong, it should not be legal. If it is legal, society teaches it is morally acceptable. There is no moral category for “justified injustice.”

14. “Criminalizing abortion punishes women.”

Abolition seeks equal justice, not cruelty. Law recognizes moral agency while also addressing coercion and exploitation. Exempting one group from accountability denies the humanity of the victim.

15. “This is a religious belief, not law.”

Opposition to killing innocent humans is a moral principle shared across cultures and legal systems. Laws already reflect moral judgments about life, harm, and justice. Neutrality is a myth.

IRONY IN JOB

Dale Pollard

In Job you find all kinds of interesting things like references to the earth’s rotation (Job 38.14), ocean floor vents (38.16), and even the movement of star clusters like the Pleiades (38.31).

But, there are a couple of powerful verses that also include a heavy dose of irony.

“Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever!”

Job 19.23-24

A moment in the middle of Job’s pain and agony he seems to cry out those words, but they’re buried under many other laments and arguments concerning his terrible situation. The reader, though, already knows all of this because later in life Job wrote down his pain, questions, and his defense– on a scroll and engraved them forever. Just like he wanted!

Well, he desired to be remembered accurately. Job isn’t just venting. He wants future readers to know that his suffering was real and that his struggle with God came from a good place of honesty, not rebellion. An eternal scroll was proof that his story mattered to God, but also a reminder that God could in fact hear every word at a time when he felt like God couldn’t.

At the same time, this moment shows Job’s faith wrestling out in the open for all of us to benefit from. He believed that truth ultimately matters, even if it is not recognized right away. Ironically, Job’s wish is fulfilled. His words are preserved and read thousands of years later. What felt like a desperate plea is turned into his story of suffering before God that wasn’t wasted. God hears it all and answers every cry of confusion, and He can turn it into a lasting story of faith.

The Silence Of The Lamb

Neal Pollard

What do you contemplate during the Lord’s Supper? Your mind could go in a thousand directions, the cruelty and infliction of pain, the hatred and rejection, the eternal plan of God, His unending love, the ugliness of your sin, and on and on.

There is a curious aspect to the entire frenetic proceedings that Jesus endured. You first read about it in Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the atonement offered by the “Suffering Servant.” The prophet wrote, “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth” (53:7; cf. Acts 8:32). For emphasis, he says it twice: “He did not open His mouth.”

At the end of the gospel accounts, after Jesus’ arrest, we see two significant periods of time where this applied to Him. Before the Jews in the farce and mockery of a trial, Jesus kept silent (Mat. 26:63; Mark 14:62; Luke 23:9). Then, when handed before the Romans and their governor, Pilate, He did not answer (Mat. 27:12-14) and He gave him no answer (John 19:9). Scholars have scoured the ancient records in an effort to find anything like it in the legal annals of the Jews or Greco-Roman society.

Why did Jesus keep silent through the judgment phase of His crucifixion? He was not totally silent (Mat. 26:64; Luke 22:67-701), but as the charges bombarded and cascaded He gave no rebuttal. It was not that He could not. He had bested them in every debate and silenced them (see Mat. 22:46).

Why the silence?

  • He came to suffer, not to speak.
  • They would not have been convinced by His words any more than His wonderful works.
  • Jesus does not see this as a legal matter, but a spiritual necessity.
  • He placed His fate in the hands of God, as He prayed in Gethsemane (Mat. 26:39; John 6:38).
  • He accepted His situation.
  • The charge brought by two witnesses in Matthew 26:60-61 was technically true, though they twisted His words.
  • It provides a stark and compelling contrast between accusers and accused, which the reader readily sees.

No doubt there are more reasons, some known only to God. But it provides as much tension and drama in the Passion as it does confirmation of prophetic claims. It stands as but one of a thousand pictures of a loving, determined Savior to endure whatever necessary to pay for our sins with His life. The next time you contemplate the various “scenes of fear and woe,” take a moment to reflect on the silence of the Lamb. Through it, He truly speaks volumes!


1The reason for this is explained well by Stuart K. Weber : “When Jesus refused to answer and the attempts of the chief priests failed to convict Jesus, Caiaphas took the lead. I charge you under oath by the living God was the priest’s trump card. According to Jewish law, the priest had the authority to force a person to testify. If Jesus remained silent, he would violate the law. His decision to answer showed his respect for civil law and authority” (Holman NTC, 446-447).

What To Do When The Bull Has You By The Horns

Often, we panic or worry. Or we despair and even give up. We may talk like Elisha’s servant, who seeing the Syrian army surrounding them, cried, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (2 Kings 6:15). The problems, pressures, and pains of life can so gouge us that we are ready to come unglued! 

Neal Pollard

What does a bull running amuck along the streets of Pamplona think about? If they have thoughts and they live to gore, then one particular bull may have been pretty pleased with his results. He gored two brothers, Lawrence and Michael Lenahan, simultaneously, in the annual running of the bulls festival. Fortunately for both of them, their wounds did not prove to be fatal (details here). 

When we tackle a problem head on, determined to be decisive, we often say we are “taking the bull by the horns.” This phrase probably comes either from rounding up cattle or bullfighting. It assumes the person has control of (or is trying to take control of) a situation. However, what do you do when the situation seems to be taking control of you? What do you do when the bull has you by its horns?

Often, we panic or worry. Or we despair and even give up. We may talk like Elisha’s servant, who seeing the Syrian army surrounding them, cried, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” (2 Kings 6:15). The problems, pressures, and pains of life can so gouge us that we are ready to come unglued! 

What’s the answer? Elisha’s prayer holds the key when we’re gored with grief and stuck by sorrows. He pleads, “O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see” (17). In response, “the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha” (17). 

When you are in the midst of a painful problem, you may not actually see the power and protection of heaven in such a visible, dramatic way. But be assured that you serve the same God with the same power! He will never leave us or forsake us (Heb. 13:5). 

As you find yourself running down the narrow way (cf. Mat. 7:13-14), you are prone to attack from one who’s set his sights on you. He may not actually have horns, but he has ways to try and afflict you (cf. 2 Cor. 2:11; 12:7; Eph. 6:11,16). Trust this. “Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). 

When The Clouds Speak

Reflections on God’s Power and Presence in the Book of Job

Brent Pollard

In the book of Job, clouds represent more than just weather patterns; they embody profound metaphors for God’s inscrutable mystery, immense majesty, and sovereign authority. Such imagery offers spiritual insights for individuals seeking to understand the fullness of God’s presence in their lives. These verses combine lyrical elegance with eternal truths for those committed to honoring the authority of Scripture.

Consider what the clouds reveal about our Creator.

1. Clouds Reflect God’s Majesty and Grandeur

“He wraps up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud does not burst under them.” —Job 26.8

Here, we witness the magnificent tapestry of God’s sovereign design. Clouds transport vast quantities of water without releasing it—a stunning equilibrium that surpasses human understanding and highlights God’s supreme authority over His creation. Although science can clarify the complexities of atmospheric physics, we must not forget that behind every natural law stands the sovereign hand of the divine Lawgiver.

In this passage, Job contemplates God’s authority over the depths, the heavens, and the essence of life (Job 26.5–13). The clouds testify to His greatness, who upholds all things by His Word (Hebrews 1.3).

2. Clouds Reveal God’s Mystery and Hiddenness

“‘Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; and He walks on the vault of heaven.’” —Job 22.14

Although Eliphaz’s views on Job’s culpability are mistaken, he reflects a profound biblical truth: God’s ways often remain enigmatic to humanity. Just as the cloud on Sinai obscured Moses (Exodus 19.9) and the tabernacle radiated with God’s glory (Exodus 40.34–38), the cloud in Job stands as a significant symbol of God’s concealed magnificence.

During periods of uncertainty, it’s crucial to remember that God isn’t far away; instead, He is deeply engaged, even when we can’t perceive His presence. As Paul states, “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5.7). Genuine righteousness is demonstrated through trust in God, even when His intentions are not completely clear.

3. Clouds Symbolize God’s Sovereignty Over Nature

“Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, the wonders of one perfect in knowledge…” —Job 37.16

Elihu urges Job to contemplate the marvels of the sky. The One who is “perfect in knowledge” has meticulously arranged the clouds. In a realm characterized by change and unpredictability, those with unwavering faith find comfort in knowing God sovereignly governs all creation.

This profound truth is echoed in Jesus’s words when He rebuked the wind and the sea, showing that the Creator commands authority over the storm (Mark 4.39–41). Job’s description of the cloud powerfully foreshadows Christ’s sovereign control over the wind and the waves.

4. Clouds Are a Backdrop for Divine Encounter

Although Job existed before the Mosaic law, clouds as vessels of divine encounters are evident throughout Scripture:

• In Exodus 13.21, the Lord guided Israel with a pillar of cloud.

• In Exodus 19.9, He came down to Sinai in a thick cloud to converse with Moses.

• In Matthew 17.5, a brilliant cloud enveloped the mount of transfiguration, and God’s voice proclaimed, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!”

The pattern is clear: God often reveals His presence through the cloud. What seems obscure to human eyes is, in fact, the gateway to divine revelation. Much like Moses and Elijah, the faithful are urged to climb the mountain—even when surrounded by fog—to receive the Word from the Lord.

5. Clouds Teach Us to Wait on God’s Timing

“Can anyone understand the spreading of the clouds, the thundering of His pavilion?” —Job 36.29

Elihu draws our focus to the profound mystery of God’s workings. We lack control over the clouds and do not understand their complex paths entirely. They emerge, transform, and bring rain at the right moment. Similarly, God’s answers remain beyond our understanding.

The clouds teach us patience, reminding us that the Lord is active even when those clouds obscure our clarity. As the psalmist eloquently says, “Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” (Psalm 97.2).

Conclusion: The Cloud Is Not the End of the Story

Job might not understand the full extent of his suffering, but he experiences a profound revelation of God’s greatness, which is enough. Although the clouds may obscure, they also reveal the glory above. They announce God’s power, veil His splendor, and sustain creation. One day, those clouds will serve a different purpose.

“Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.” —Revelation 1.7

The clouds that once hid God’s glory will eventually reveal the majestic Christ in His fullness. As we walk beneath the expansive sky—occasionally in darkness, often in reverence—we remain assured that above every cloud, the Sovereign Lord reigns.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are taken from the NASB® (New American Standard Bible®, 1995 Updated Edition). Copyright © 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved

Keep Hurtin’

Gary Pollard

This is a break from Origen’s First Principles. I’m slow: it takes me a long time to wrap my head around something. Romans 7 and 8 are about our constant battle against our sinful nature. We have the side that wants to be holy and serve God, and we have the side that betrays our human weaknesses. It’s an awful existence in many ways. Even Paul said, “What a miserable person I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death?”

Then we get to 8.17 where Paul talks about suffering. I always assumed this was a shift in topic because he gets into stuff that won’t happen until Jesus returns. But since he spent the previous several paragraphs talking about our constant, sometimes-demoralizing struggle against sin, I don’t think this is necessarily about physical suffering.

God’s Spirit helps our spirit — our mind, emotion, intent, any aspect of being that can’t be measured — in that fight. There are outside influences in our struggle against sin, of course, but Paul really focuses on the stuff that hurts: our own sinful weakness. We hate that we’re weak. We’re ashamed of our failures. We’re “waiting for God to finish making us his own children…we are waiting for our bodies to be made free.”

In the meantime, we suffer. Maybe not physically — though in some places on this earth that’s a reality — but certainly spiritually. We know our faults and failures better than anyone. Our spirits, burdened by the knowledge of our own weakness, groan to God with pain too deep for words. And he helps us!

“We are very weak, but God’s Spirit helps with our weakness. We don’t know how to pray like we should, but the spirit speaks to God for us, begging on our behalf with groaning too deep for words.”

Guilt is a powerful weapon in the enemy’s hands, and we all have too much of it. The struggle and the pain is normal — it’s guaranteed for anyone who wants to be like God. It’s never going to happen in this life! We can’t ever be good like God! But we can try, and we can at least ensure that sin isn’t the master we serve. If you feel that pain, odds are you’re on the right track.

Right after this section, full of empathy and hope and reassurance and warning, Paul says,

“Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one! God is the one who makes them right.

Who can say that God’s people are guilty? No one! Christ Jesus died for us, but that is not all.

He was also raised from death. And now he is at God’s right side, speaking to him for us. Can anything separate us from Christ’s love? Can trouble or problems or persecution separate us from his love?”

The struggle and its pain is normal. It’s a sign that our hearts are set on something we won’t achieve until our bodies have been freed. God helps us, he understands, and we cannot let the enemy demoralize us into giving up. It’s harder to keep struggling against our sinful weakness, but it will be so worth it!

“But in all these troubles we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us. Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us—nothing in the whole created world—will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Isaiah: The Holy One Who Rules The World (XLVII)

“The Suffering Servant” (53:1-12)

Neal Pollard

Walvoord and Zuck observe, “This is perhaps the best-known section in the Book of Isaiah. Several parts of this passage are quoted in the New Testament: Isaiah 52:15 in Romans 15:21; Isaiah 53:1 in John 12:38 and Romans 10:16; Isaiah 53:4 in Matthew 8:17; Isaiah 53:7–8 in Acts 8:32–33; Isaiah 53:9 in 1 Peter 2:22; and Isaiah 53:12 in Luke 22:37” (BKC, 1106).  This chapter is the most recognizably Messianic of the entire book of Isaiah. It is the completion of the fourth Servant Poem, in which the prophet reveals three crucial facts about Him.

The suffering servant would be overlooked (1-2). Why? Given the prelude of this Servant (52:13-15), this is a surprising fact. This exalted and glorified One is described now as a tender shoot, a root out of dry ground, with no stately form or majesty, and without an attractive appearance. The message about Him and from Him is deemed unbelievable (1). He grows up among the people, who cannot but see Him only as a carpenter, Mary’s son, with younger brothers and sisters, and, thus, a cause of offense (Mark 6:3). He is “this man” (Luke 7:39). The root out of dry ground takes our minds back to Isaiah 11:1, the tender shoot of Jesse. Physically unremarkable, financially modest, and without any sort of commending pedigree, He was an average, ordinary-looking Man among men. 

The suffering servant would be oppressed (3-10a). Beyond His humble circumstances, His contemptible appearance, combined with His relentless effort to spread His unconventional message backed by undeniable miracles, led to His opponents doing all within their power to punish and silence Him. Graphically, Isaiah foretells what those among whom He dwelled dispatched of Him (or so they thought). His oppression was vicious. It led Him to experience despising, forsaking, grieving, sorrowing, and condescending (3,7). His oppression was vicarious. It led Him to experience things for us, things we deserved to experience but that He went through on our behalf (4-6,8). James Smith gives us a concise chart of this:

OUR EXPERIENCEHIS EXPERIENCE
GriefsBore
SorrowsCarried
TransgressionPierced Through
IniquitiesCrushed
PeaceChastening
HealedScourging

 Smith, James E. The Major Prophets. Joplin, MO: College Press, 1992. Print. Old Testament Survey Series, 149. 

His oppression was voluntary (7). Reading the fulfillment of this in the gospels as Jesus stands before Pilate and His many accusers, He chose not to speak to defend Himself. He knew that as a sacrificial Lamb, He had to submit to their torture and injustice. His oppression was violent, as we see from the many words associated with the death He would die (9). His oppression was victorious (9-10). It accomplished the Divine purpose, in which He played a part as God the Word. He successfully became the blood offering for our sins (10). But that last fact points us to the last major point of the chapter (10b-12). 

The suffering servant would be an overcomer (10b-12). As this was the premeditated plan of heaven, the Godhead knew that death could not keep Him down and the grave could not hold Him (1 Cor. 15:54-57). That’s why the Lord was “pleased” to allow such cruelty to occur. After being made a guilt offering for our sins, “the Lord would prolong His days” (10). Notice how the vicarious nature of the suffering Servant’s sacrifice would satisfy divine justice and solve humanity’s spiritual debt problem. 

Why Suffering?

Gary Pollard

This week’s is possibly one of the most-asked existential questions out there. “Why is suffering a part of the human experience?” Believer and non-believer alike struggle with this one. Believers and even many agnostics struggle to justify the existence of an all-powerful, all-loving God with “bone cancer in children” and other seemingly senseless evils. Non-believers may struggle with the existence of suffering, too, especially if their worldview involves progressivism. After thousands of years of lessons learned, shouldn’t we have found a way to eliminate suffering? 

The Bible answers this question: we brought suffering to the human experience by violating the relationship we had with God. The story of the Bible is one that ultimately repairs this condition, thanks to God becoming human and sacrificing himself to repair that breach. On top of that, he came back to life as proof-of-concept and as a promise — we will have immortality, too. The message of Christianity is one that looks forward to a time without evil’s consequences (especially suffering and death). For many people, accepting the hard truth of our (i.e. humanity’s) culpability in the existence of suffering is too much. It can’t be that simple! 

We could illustrate this with an adapted pagan myth. Pandora’s box is well-known to many — she opened a box that contained all of the evil in the world, but with hope attached to them. There was no returning those things to the box and it affected everyone. While the framework of the story is decidedly pagan, it is rooted in historical fact. The first woman on earth did actually open something like Pandora’s box, introducing entropy to the planet for the first time. The consequences were far-reaching, as Christians believe all of humanity came from her. We are living with the consequences of Pandora’s box having been opened. 

Even if we look at this from a totally naturalistic standpoint, the existence of suffering does not necessarily preclude an all-powerful, loving God. In fact, it offers a fairly reasonable explanation for why suffering affects good people! What it does lack is anything resembling meaningful hope for a brighter future — this explanation ends with physical death, the beginning of eternal non-existence. A naturalistic explanation is something like this: There is suffering in the world because we’re all born ignorant and have to learn from the mistakes we make. Mistakes often have a ripple effect, and can sometimes negatively affect others. For example, a new driver’s inexperience may cause an accident that takes the life of an innocent person. It’s seemingly random, chaotic, senseless. What did that other person do to deserve death? Nothing, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even the naturalistic worldview understands that bending nature’s laws to prevent all tragedies would have devastating consequences in our current framework. 

So why doesn’t God intervene in every situation? The short answer is “we don’t know.” He does often intervene (cf. Hb 1.14; I Kgs 17.8-16; Ruth; Dan 3.8-30, and many, many others), but we don’t always know why. His perspective is infinite, ours is not. It’s frustrating, painful, and confusing at times, but we all accept that it’s temporary. We know that he won’t allow us to deal with more than we’re capable of handling with character intact (I Cor 10.13), but not too much beyond this. Christianity views suffering as part of the human experience that we’re quite ready to leave behind. This is why death is something we look forward to! 

We have sufferings now, but they are nothing compared to the great glory that will be given to us. Everything that God made is waiting with excitement for the time when he will show the world who his children are. The whole world wants very much for that to happen (Rom 8.18-19). 

I have told you these things so that you can have peace in me. In this world you will have troubles. But be brave! I have overcome the world” (Jn 16.33). 

Encouraged By Eternity

Dale Pollard

What will Heaven be like? While some biblical authors will attempt to explain aspects of our eternal home’s appearance, Peter chooses to tell us what it won’t be like. He states, it won’t perish. Heaven won’t be a place that can be defiled as the earth has become in many ways down here. Our new home above will be perfect on day one (though it’s a place outside time) as on day one billion (I Pt. 1.4). So Peter tells us what paradise won’t be like by explaining the difference between Heaven and earth. 

Interestingly, Peter tells us about our inheritance to give us motivation while in the middle of our earthly trials. We should be motivated to endure the lowest valleys in life because of what awaits us. This seems to be something we’d all agree with; however, some seem to be motivated by fear of the punishment rather than faith in the prize. While it’s true that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 9.10-12), God wants us to live out our faith based on the knowledge of eternal rest. 

As one makes their way down through the chapter the reason Peter begins by elucidating our heavenly home becomes clear. With all of that in mind, we’re told to prepare mentally for what we’re called to do (v.13). We must prepare our minds for action! What things demand preparation in your own mind? For some it’s their view of God or the reason they suffer in the first place. They may think if they don’t live perfectly then they’ll be lost forever— so they anxiously go about living a “check list” style Christianity. 

THREE WAYS TO PREPARE YOUR MIND 

Preparing the mind means educating the mind. 

1. Educate the mind about the concept and workings of the amazing grace Jesus offers us.

2. Prepare the mind by filling the mind with the glories of heaven. 

3. Prepare the mind by studying the benefits of Christian suffering, rather than allowing our suffering to negatively distort our view of God. 

A Pre-Written Obituary

Neal Pollard

On July 18, 1969, as the world waited for Apollo 11 to land on the moon, presidential speechwriter William Safire had an unpleasant task. He had to write a contingency speech for Richard Nixon to read in the event the astronauts became stranded on the moon. It began, “Fate has ordained that the men who went to the moon to explore in peace will stay on the moon to rest in peace.” Can you imagine anyone being willing to go on a mission so dangerous that they write your obituary before you leave?

But it happened 2700 years earlier when Isaiah wrote the obituary of Jesus of Nazareth. “Who has believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:1-3). 

You have to think that a prophecy so important to Jewish hope and expectation would have been read frequently in the temple and the synagogues, so how many times did Jesus hear it read? The theme of Isaiah 53 often seems to be on His mind, though He doesn’t directly quote it in the gospels. In Matthew 9:15, He tells His disciples that He would be taken away from them and Isaiah 53:8 says, “He was taken and cut off.” In Matthew 17:12, the disciples bring up Elijah and Jesus connects him to His own suffering. Repeatedly in the gospels, when Jesus connects His coming suffering and death, He is appealing to an aspect of Messianic Prophecy highlighted by Isaiah that was unmistakeable if unpopular. 

Isaiah describes His suffering, but the crux of His story is salvation. But just as that word crux means “cross,” it’s difficult to separate the victory from the viciousness. Yet, because Jesus was willing to accept His deadly mission, we can have eternal life! 

Don’t Fight For Your Faith

Gary Pollard

The rest of I Peter 3 is about two key points: be good to each other as a church, and don’t lash out at the world when they hurt you. We’ll look at a couple of applications from this section. 

Verse 14 says, “Don’t be afraid of people who make you suffer. Don’t worry about it, either. Make sure Christ is the ultimate authority in your life.” This is the context for a verse often misused: “Always be ready to answer everyone who asks you to explain about the hope you have.”

The entire section is about suffering. Peter tells us that our fear of God should be greater than our fear of people who make us suffer. We usually try to explain away φοβος (phobos) as meaning “respect” or “reverence”, but that’s not what this word means. It means terror. I Pt 3.15 tells us, “We need to be more terrified of the consequences of abandoning God than we are of people who want to hurt us.” We can only do that by making Jesus the most important thing about our lives. 

As if that’s not hard enough, God also expects us to handle these potentially life-threatening confrontations with gentleness and respect, and offer a rational explanation for our hope of new life. This leaves no room for a hostile response (including self-defense) when we’re being attacked because of our faith. Remember Jesus’s reaction to mistreatment according to I Pt 2.23 — “People insulted him, but he did not insult them back. He suffered, but he did not threaten anyone. No, he let God take care of him. God is the one who judges rightly.” And, “It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong. Yes, it is better if that is what God wants. Christ himself suffered when he died for you, and with that one death he paid for your sins. He was not guilty, but he died for people who are guilty. He did this to bring all of you to God” (3.17-18). 

The rest of this section is a doozy, so we’ll save that for next week. 

The Advantages Of Faith

Neal Pollard

Paul settles into the heart of his argument and thesis of the epistle to the Galatians in 3:1-14. It is a letter full of contrasts–law and gospel, Spirit and flesh, Jew and Gentile, circumcision and uncircumcision, slave and free, Jerusalem of earth and above, Abraham’s seed of old and now, and faith with works of law (2:16), There is no mistaking Paul’s decided emphasis upon the advantages of faith, a word he uses 22 times in 20 verses of Galatians. He also uses the verb form an additional four times (2:7,16; 3:6,22). In this paragraph, Paul reminds these Christians that false teachers (1:6-9) were “bewitching” them into believing they were required to submit to “works of the law” in order to be acceptable to Christ. Relying on that threatened to render their Christian lives “vain” (4). It would make them “foolish” (1,3). 

Positively, Paul makes his case for the pure, true gospel of Christ by highlighting what they gain by faith in Him. Notice what he says.

  • One receives the Spirit by faith (2-3,5,14). While Paul is talking about the miraculous work of the Spirit as part of this discussion (5), he also seems to be referring to the indwelling of the Spirit common to all who are in Christ (cf. Acts 2:38; Gal. 3;14; 4:6). The benefits of that are multiplied. We are perfected (3:3). We eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness (5:5). We do not gratify the desires of the flesh (5:16). We bear the right fruit (5:22-23). We live spiritual lives, keeping in step with the Spirit (5:25). We ultimately reap eternal life (6:8). The Holy Spirit never directly operated on the hearts of Christians, never interfered with man’s free will. One cannot rightly claim that the Spirit is moving him or her to do “X” or not do “Y,” imparting divine revelation apart from God’s revealed word in the Bible. Yet, neither should we discount or minimize the great blessing of God’s indwelling presence that comes by faith (Rom. 8:11; 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Tim. 1:14). 
  • One suffers with purpose by faith (4). Paul teaches this by asking, “Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?” Much as Paul argues the vanity of suffering if there is no resurrection (1 Cor. 15:2), he argues that suffering for Christ is pointless without faith in His life, death, resurrection, and total rule and authority. Why are we willing to be ridiculed, ostracized, and rejected by friends, family, co-workers, fellow-students, and others, if not for faith in Christ?
  • One is counted righteous by faith (6). Abraham lived 430 years before the Law (17), but he was justified. How? By faith. Paul is telling the Galatians they are not counted righteous by law, but by faith. So are we.
  • One is a child of Abraham by faith (7). Paul is going to continue to develop this throughout the chapter and into the next chapter. We are spiritual descendants of Abraham by faith in Christ, not by the works of law (29). 
  • One is justified by faith (8). We looked at justification in chapter two, but remember that it means to be made righteous. Law does not do that. Faith in Christ does. 
  • One is blessed by faith (8-10,13,14). Paul’s point is that to be justified by law, one would have to keep all of it perfectly. None of us can do that! The blessing is that because Christ became a curse for us (13), we can be blessed by trusting in that sacrifice. I strive to live a sin-free life, but because I cannot perfectly do so I am blessed by Him as I walk in His light (1 John 1:7). 
  • One lives by faith (11-12). The “living” in this context is not primarily referring to living on earth, but ultimately living eternally with God after this life. We enter into a spiritual condition of life by our obedient faith, and we ultimately escape spiritual death by faith! 

Sadly, the influence of some in religious error can make us shy away from faith as well as grace. Faith and grace can be misunderstood, causing people to minimize the importance and necessity of obedience (12). But, if we are not careful, we can lose sight of the Christ we are to obey. We can trust in ourselves and our works, forgetting that He is the power. Without His saving work, nothing we do would matter at all. It is never “faith alone” that saves. Even in this chapter, faith leads one to be baptized and thereby clothed with Christ (26-27). It never could have entered Paul’s mind to argue that faith does not have works of obedience which accompany them. He is combating a mindset that argued that one’s salvation came because of the works (in context, the works of the Old Law) rather than the saving power of Christ. Who or what do you trust in? 

The End Is Near?

Gary Pollard

The message of I Peter could be summarized like this: God calls us to endure suffering, just like Christ suffered. He calls us to live morally pure lives, if for no other reason than our fear of dying in a lost state. We can live morally pure lives through exposure to his word and through submission to each other. We have no idea how much time we have, so we should make the best of it. 

The key verse of I Peter is 4.7 — The end of all things is near. Keep your minds clear and control yourselves. This will help you in your prayers. 

Several times throughout the letter, Peter warns them of their impending suffering, which would cause many of them to die. He uses what sounds like military terminology in a few verses, the kind of pep-talk a leader would give his soldiers before doing battle. “Many of you won’t make it through this. What’s more important than this life is how you live it, because this life isn’t the end for any of us.” 

Over the next few weeks, we’ll do an application-based study of I Peter. For those interested in reading more than will be discussed in these articles, I highly recommend using the Easy to Read Version (free on biblegateway.com and on their app). It does a fantastic job of relaying the full meaning of the original text using language a child could understand.

Christian, Strengthen Your Heart

Carl Pollard

“You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” James 5:8 

The heart has been a topic that James has mentioned several times in his letter. 

  • 1:26 We can deceive our hearts
  • 3:14 We can fill our hearts with “bitter jealousy and selfish ambition.” 
  • 4:8 We are called to “purify our hearts” 
  • 5:5 Self-indulgence can fatten our hearts for the day of slaughter

But now in contrast, James tells us to strengthen our hearts. He’s not telling us to start a cardio regimen, eat cheerios and take CoQ10. The heart is the center of our thinking. It is what influences our actions. 

When we strengthen our center of thinking, there is a direct correlation to what we will focus on in this life. 

What should be our focus? The coming of the Lord! James tells them that this day was near. Not that the end of the world was at hand, but that through death, the suffering Christian’s he is writing to would be standing before the throne of God very soon. 

This gives us a glimpse into the extent of their suffering. They were so mistreated that they were at the point of death. Rather than worry about self-preservation, think about where you will be the moment you pass from this life. 

We are told that our life is a vapor (James 4:14), here one minute and gone the next. So don’t get so focused on the suffering that you face to the detriment of your soul. If we lose focus on the eternal, what’s the point of prolonging the temporal? 

These poor Christians would have been tempted to do anything they could to take care of their families. James says in verse 9, “Do not complain, brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”

If you make plans to go over to a friend’s house, your journey begins at home, you get in your car, drive the route, arrive at their home, get out of your car, and go to the door. Entering through the door is the last step before you are in their home. That the Judge is standing right at the door paints the picture that our judgment is right in front of us. Judgment is near, our life is a vapor. Don’t do something in this life that will put you in the same boat as the unrighteous. 

James began his letter with a statement on suffering, and he ends by talking about trials. Suffering can produce endurance (1:2). Suffering can also give us a stronger heart. As Christians in the 21st century we might be tempted to act as though judgment is far off in the future. 

Does the thought of Christ coming back in 30 seconds scare you? If we knew for certain that Christ was coming back in 30 seconds, what would you be thinking?

…Do you feel relieved that it didn’t happen? If so, why? Are you disappointed? The coming of the Lord is near for each one of us. At any moment we could be standing before God. We should live with this thought in mind every day. 

For those who have strengthened their hearts there will be a reward beyond comprehension. When suffering comes, strengthen your heart.