“Isn’t hope just delusional wishful thinking?”

Question: “Isn’t hope just delusional wishful thinking?”

Hope is as instinctual as breathing, taking your first step, or watching the weather. So it may come as a surprise that there are some who are loosing hope, and others who have thrown it out with the garbage after ripping it out of their hearts.

A person who has given up on hope said this:

“Hope is a disease, a fairy tale, the futile wish of a child praying ‘Make it not so.’ Hope is a sop. Hope is false promises. Hope is an empty fantasy. Hope is the deceit that allows the evils that exist to flourish. Hope is a mask for the horror that is at the core of all that which is real. Hope is a substitute for real planning, and rational assessment and analysis. Hope is unreason pleasantified. Hope doesn't cure diseases... science and hard work does. Hope doesn't grow food or raise children. Hope is the offering of empty hands. If the human race could only eliminate two concepts from its worldview, the best to be eliminated would be "hope" and "belief". To be precise... I try daily to expunge 'hope' and 'belief' and 'faith' and all those other anti-rational *inhuman* concepts from my existence.”

That may be hard for some to hear because we rely on hope so much – OR -- maybe that is the way you really feel sometimes and don’t have the courage or permission to say so. The challenge that comes from a person who is choosing a Star Trek Vulcan life (or Andromeda, Nietzscheans)

Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
Friedrich Nietzsche

It was the widow with the dead son that said to the prophet Elisha: “Didn't I tell you, 'Don't raise my hopes'?" (2 Kings 4:27-29).

This is the observation of Solomon when he wrote...

12. Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12

To kill hope, is to kill longing. To throw out longing is be rid of joy. The experiences of hope must dare disappointments. The experiences of love must risk hate; faith must risk doubt; and peace anticipates conflict.

Answer: “Is an attribute of God, woven into the fabric of everything He created.”

Sometimes the answer is so obvious, but not always welcome. Hope is not something we create but something that we have from our conception. It is greater and more persistent than we are because God created all things with hope. To say you are without hope is to say you are without God. Since Nietzsche rejected God in his “God is dead” movement, he had to logically reject hope. In this sense the great atheist of recent time is absolutely right. God and hope are intrinsically linked.

I would make the argument that hope, like God, is not a fairy tale wishful thought. He is not like Santa Clause that millions of kids will write to this year and ask for a special Christmas gift. Hope, like God’s nature, is all around us, and gives the light of love to every new born child, searching for eyes that love them back.

We are in a season where hope rises and disappointment threatens. We hope this year our family will get along with each other. We hope we won’t be alone and someone will be our friend. We hope that the coming year will be better than the last. Every year that feeling comes back and sometimes we resent the disappointment it may bring.

But let me ask you, between hope and no hope, which would you rather have? The promise is not that this fallen world will give us hope, but to put our hope in Jesus Christ, who in hope risked His life for you. This is a hope that does not disappoint, that Jesus loves us and will see us through and beyond the nightmares of this world, to the waking reality of His love.

...we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Romans 5:3b-5

Are we all going to go to heaven? What about hell?

Q: Are we going to heaven?

...and another related question is often asked:

Q: Will we be sent to hell? What will it be like?

Despite all the talk about a secular society, God still plays a big role in the lives of most Americans. We all seem to have a sense that there is an after life, and worry about the consequences of heaven and hell.

The popular notion of these two places is so far removed from the Bible as to be comical. There are great extremes as to what they are like. Some have rationalized the scriptures to the point of saying they don’t exist while others have turned them into a glorified Disney Theme Park.

First, heaven is not the state of living forever. If you are worried that won’t live forever, relax, everyone does. Christians and Jews have believed for thousands of years that all humans are created eternal, which means that we have a beginning and no end. Our bodies may die but our souls live on. Almost all world religions teach this in various forms. Heaven is not simply the state of existing, or you would be there right now.

Second, hell is not primarily a place of punishment and anguish. You have punishment and aguish right now and the Bible describes hell as something very different from this experience. Just as happiness is not heaven but one of the effects of heaven, so suffering is not hell, but one of the results of its experience.

So what is heaven and hell in the scriptures? Heaven is simply that place after life where we can live with God forever. Heaven is all about God and not about us. Conversely hell is primarily described as an eternal separation from God. Hell is all about us and has nothing to do with God.

If we could describe heaven and hell in these terms, where would you feel the most at home? I have heard people sit around describing heaven. They will say things like, “There must be golf in heaven. I love golf so much, I couldn’t imagine there not being a golf course in heaven. It just wouldn’t be heaven to me if I could play golf.” People who think of heaven as being a five star accommodation for their likes and dislikes would not like the real heaven. God is at the center of heaven and everything about it centers of the worship of God.

Answer: Yes we are all going to go to heaven. We all go there to be judged. Those who are known by Jesus Christ as one of His disciples will enter heaven forever and the rest will enter hell.

“What! How judgmental can you get! How can God be a loving God and send anyone to hell for eternity?”

Yes, yes, I know. I have heard it many times before but we completely miss the point. When God created you and me he created us eternal. That means we have a beginning and no end. Now, that is a great gift or a great curse, and the person who decides is you. You can choose to live for God, or you can choose to live for yourself. Which ever choice you make will sort you out in the end. All decisions are made final upon your death, for eternity.

There is no sin so great that can keep you from entering heaven, and no good work so wonderful to keep you from the pits of hell.

Why? Because our future is not determined by how good we are, because we all fail miserably. We enter heaven on the basis of the Grace of Jesus, His forgiveness. We get that by repenting, asking for forgiveness and learning to Love Jesus Christ. He will forgive any sin if we will love Him with our whole heart. There will be many people who had done good things who will be sent to hell because their goodness was all about them and not about a love for God.

Personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way. God tells me by this action that what I do on this earth matters for eternity. Every little thing matters and affects my eternal destiny. If there were no consequences to our actions, then what’s the point of this existence? I like this too, because it doesn’t put the emphasis on performance but on the sincere commitment and love of God. I don’t have to be perfect, just devoted while doing my stumbling best.

What do you think? Which eternal place would fit you better? With God getting all the attention, or you?

Why would anyone believe without evidence?

Question: Why would anyone believe without evidence?

The article by William Lobdell stirred up some discussion on the internet. Here are two related comments...

Comment July 21, 2007 at 3:35 pm
In my experience, most believers are like this. They have a powerful moral sense, a need for answers and no powers of rational analysis at all.
To read this is to feel a strong sense of empathy for a decent human being struggling to reconcile the irreconcilable, yet also to wonder why anyone would ever let their beliefs be determined by such vacuous crap? He drifts into religious belief with no evidence, and drifts out again with no coherence.

Comment July 21, 2007 at 3:50 pm
Is faith a weakness or a mechanism to cope with hardships?
When the emotionally vulnerable endure some genuine personal tragedy then faith becomes a useful 'skill'. I mean, who hasn't ever wished really hard that there is a chance to see loved ones once again?
Of course most of us do sober up after a while and learn to move on.

If you are a believer you may find these comments hard to hear but it is important to listen to what is being said. If you are not a believer you may want someone to seriously answer these objections. Can I ask both of you to listen in for a few minutes.

There are several statements made but the question is still the same. “Why do people believe in God, Christ, the Bible without evidence or a well thought out foundation for their religious convictions?” The assumption behind the words is that we could avoid a crisis in our life if we were just a little more thoughtful and this would be accomplished by not believing or having a solid foundation for our faith.

Answer: We have a need to believe.

The irony of these comments and the question is that I often wonder myself why people don’t take more time to think through the most important question of their life, the existence of God and what that means to me and all of humanity.

I spent most of my life pondering that question and people amaze me with how shallow we approach this foundation of an eternal life with God. Many of us spend more research on football teams, and cars than we do on the question of our mortal souls relating to an immortal God. The comments were insightful, and misinformed.

We believe because we need to believe. Faith is the normal way of living and anyone who is really honest will admit that they use faith all the time. Faith is another word for trust. We place our trust in things, peoples, and systems on a minute by minute basis. In an interconnected world you cannot fail but use faith constantly. Religious faith is placing some of that trust in a god. A Christian faith is placing most of that faith in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

Now why would anyone do that? You are going trust someone, why not Him? His track record is better than most and you have put faith in less trustworthy things in the last twenty four hours. Why not believe in Christ since you are going to believe in something and hope for the best anyways.

Faith, in comment two, is called a useful skill to help us cope with life and its unexplained tragedies. That is a big reason why the modern American adopts faith as we do many things. We adopt faith because it works, but we also drop faith when it doesn’t seem to work. In others words we value people, things, and God only when it is working for us. Unfortunately that is not a high quality faith, but a self absorbed life.

The amazing thing about Jesus Christ was that he elevated this conversation to a whole new level and said faith is not just believing, or acting religious. He said that faith should be a day by day relationship with Him. The Christian faith makes no sense at all if it isn’t more than religion and ideas. The coherence of faith is in the relationship. Therefore if we have no relationship, or if it is all about us, then we don’t have a faith that Christ would endorse. That is not what it means to be born again.

Please see the previous posts that discussed this topic.

“Is a baby a sinner?”

Question: “Is a baby a sinner?”

Here is the question that stumps many Christians. If I say “no” then I have to admit that there are many “good” people in the world (all the babies) and that our problem is a social problem of learned sin. If sin is learned then it can be unlearned through behavioral psychology, social reform, and education.

If I say “Yes, all babies are sinners...” then I will be accused of being insensitive and judgmental. After all, what have babies done that they would be judged a sinner? They haven’t lived long enough to have done anything wrong. At worst I would be seen as a baby hater and a religious nut.

So, let me risk my answer and then beg your patience with my response...


Answer: “All babies are sinful.”

Stick around long enough to find out why I would say such an offensive thing and see if I can manage a little bit of truth that you might consider.

They key in this issue is the definition of the terms “sinful” and “righteous or holy.” Most people who look at a cute baby, like I do at Church every Sunday, say things like, “She’s so cute.” We look at that baby face and we want to pinch it or get the kid to smile. If we manage that, our day is made. I have often been caught on the floor with toddlers in my church, but I still claim they are sinful, just like me.

Most of us think of a sinful person as being a drug addict, a murder, or politician. How can I put a baby in that category? The Bible is clear on what sin is, and simply put, one of the main sins from the dawn of time is being self centered. No matter how cute a baby is, or how sweet they can be at times, they are basically self absorbed little people and will be that way for many years until a loving parent fights the battle in the terrible two’s. That is when they learn they are not the center of the universe.

What is a holy, righteous and innocent person then? The Bible defines this kind of person in the opposite way. They are God centered. They believe and act as if God is at the center of the universe. No baby is able to do this. They have to grow up to even approach this great truth. Most adults are not able to do this, because we must die to our selves and let Christ live in us through His Holy Spirit. As one famous author put it, He must sit on the throne of our heart instead of us.

Question: “Will a baby go to hell if it dies?”

This is the one reason people don’t want to say babies are sinful because then we are accused of saying they will go to hell.

Answer: "No, they won't go to hell because they are not accountable."

The Bible tells us that we are held accountable not for everyone sin we commit or for being sinful. We are only accountable for the sins we KNOWINGLY commit. The Christian church has taught for thousands of years that babies go to heaven and are not judged because they don’t know they should be God centered rather than self centered. They are innocent by ignorance and not be nature. When do they cross the line and knowingly choose sin? I don’t know. The church has called this the age of accountability and for many years thought it occurred around the teenage development. There are many who know think that the ability to know right from wrong comes much sooner because of exposure of media and accelerated society.

What we do know is this, all of us come to a point in our life when we know that we shouldn’t do something, but we do it anyway. That is when God hold’s you accountable and judges you for the sin in your life.

Hey! If you think I’m being tough, remember this. The more you know about God the more accountable you are. I’m a Pastor and the Bible says I have to give an accounting more than most because I suppose to know better than most. What I have just argued goes double for my future date with God.

These two questions were born of out of the last blog and I am sure there are more that will come from this blog. Give me a chance! Thanks for reading all the way through. Now click below and leave your thought. Read the previous blogs!

“Why wouldn’t a good person go to heaven?”

Question: “Why wouldn’t a good person go to heaven?”

“Thank you...” Words I love to hear. They were from a college student who had just survived tremendous pressure to abandon her belief in God. A college professor and class mates pressed her hard to question the reality of Christ but she was able to answer each question and objection thrown at her. Why? She had asked me those same questions years before in High School.

The number one question she asked as a teenager and her college class mates asked was this: “Why wouldn’t a good person go to heaven?”

Although I can answer this question, I have gone deeper into my own understanding of the crisis of faith in America because of what the question reveals about the person asking. Anyone who asks this question is a religious person, but not a born again Christian. Many people who claim to be Christian are asking this question, but if they really understood the truth about Christ, they wouldn’t ask.

Answer: “There are no good people. Only sinners go to hell, and we are all sinners.”

Christianity can not make sense to anyone who believes that good people are rewarded with heaven and bad people with hell. We will look for God to punish the wicked here and reward the good if we believe that is how the justice of God is dispensed.


In my last Blog I shared William Lobdells’ story in the L.A. times and his crisis of faith. The key question he is asking, the turning point of his faith, is this question. This is the crisis of a religious person realizing that it doesn’t work with a Christian God. Here is the quote from his article:

The questions that I thought I had come to peace with started to bubble up again. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why does God get credit for answered prayers but no blame for unanswered ones? Why do we believe in the miraculous healing power of God when he's never been able to regenerate a limb or heal a severed spinal chord?

In one e-mail, I asked John (a pastor), who had lost a daughter to cancer, why an atheist businessman prospers and the child of devout Christian parents dies. Why would a loving God make this impossible for us to understand?

The answer he got back, the one he heard, was: "My ultimate affirmation is let God be God and acknowledge that He is in charge. He knows what I don't know.” William respects this pastor but says “...but he couldn't reach me.”

This question is ancient. I remember seminary professors telling me it was not answerable. They were wrong. The bible is very clear about this question. Evil, suffering, and death is in this world because of sin, the fall of humanity. In the New Testament we are told...

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:23

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
Romans 5:12

If you can accept this premise, that everyone is guilty of sin, then the answer to the question is that none of us can get into heaven by trying to be good, because we will never be good enough. We are all sinners.

If you can’t accept that we are all sinners, but believe instead that some are good and some bad, then you are a religious person who cannot accept the message of Jesus Christ. The Christian faith does not make sense to a person who demands a sorting out of the good and bad people of this world.

Some of you are scratching your heads wondering if you ever really understood the Christian faith. Good. Let help you. You may have thought that Christ rewards the good and punishes the evil and when life turns out very different a crisis faith results. The truth that Christ came to bring us is this:

We are all sinners and Christ came to pay the cost of our sin. We are saved from the judgment of sin not because we are good but because Jesus (the only good person to walk this earth) paid the price for us.

All religions of the world argue that we must work at being good and earn our way into heaven. People who are not good enough are sent to a judgment and those who did their homework get into heaven. We expect a loving God to treat us that way now while we are on earth. The Christian faith has always taught that it is only by the grace of Christ, not by your good works, that you enter heaven, because no one is good enough.

Conviction of our sinful heart is the starting point of a saving faith. You can’t skip this and think that a life with Christ will work for you, because it won’t. His death on the cross is an answer to the sinfulness of all, but if we are not asking the question, “How can I a sinner be right with God?” this his death is useless and meaningless.

The Bible says that there is no true salvation without a true repentance. Their can be no true repentance with out a God inspired conviction (Psalm 51).

I will stop here and ask you to consider these words. They are not mine. I am only sharing what God has shown us in the Bible. If you want to disagree I am not insulted for I am not defending my opinion. I am only being true to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

So this leads to the important question: Are you Christian or religious?

Question of Faith

This last week I came across the L.A. Times story by William Lobdell and was moved. I have been a Pastor for over twenty years and his story touched the heart of my mission.

William lobbied his editors for the religion beat because he wanted to show people of faith in a positive light. He did find the affirming stories in Orange County that he knew were out there, but the darker stories soon overwhelmed him, bringing his own faith into question. This story was written in July of this year, but is the story of many millions in the United States. To read the whole story, go to: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-lostfaith21jul21,0,3530015,full.story?coll=la-home-center

In this blog and in the many to come I want to begin to address the questions he and others have raised on this courageous journey testing the reality of God. No faith is worth having if it can’t be tested.

Your comments will be welcomed and I am sending an email to Mr. Lobedell to join in the discussion, but this is much bigger than him for it is the issue that all of us must face if we are going to discover the truth about God and our faith in Him.

So, Mr. Lobedell, I hope you are listening and will write back. I imagine that many people have written offering their thoughts, attempting to rescue your faith, while other applaud your courage. In the end, most of them don't really understand but only project their own convictions upon your actions. Now is the time for dialogue and the ruthless search for truth, no matter where it may take us.

This is the only story worth writing, the only life worth living.

(This post is part of my sermon this week and you can check it out at www.fcog.us, after Sunday. Text will be available on Sunday and audio on Monday.)

God = Love ?

Last Wednesday I started a nice argument in our Bible Study and maybe I can get you in on this debate.

We read 1 John 4: 16b – GOD IS LOVE

Here is the passage in context...

13. We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the Day of Judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

The question I asked, which started the debate is this: “If God is Love, can we then say Love is God?” The arguments on both sides broke out after that. I wrote possible formulas for this and asked which the group liked.

1. God = Love
2. God > Love
3. God < Love

After some discussion I chose no. 2, because even though I believe that God does have (agape) love, He is more than that. He is also righteous, Holy, and the judge of all mankind. If he were no. 1 or no. 3 then certain realities, like hell for example, would not make any sense. I also believe that He is more than a principle (like love), and we are to relate to Him as a person.

What do you think? What side of the argument would take?

Bad Questions?

Are there any bad questions?

No, not if you are willing to be open to the truth.

As a Pastor I love to explore questions with people about the truth especially as it relates to God, faith and the meaning of life.

I want to invite you to ask your questions and send them to me at pastorjohn@clearwire.net . I will post them on this blog and attempt to give the best Biblical, Christ centered response I can give. Others will read our statements and hopefully be part of the conversation.

Why would I do this?

I really believe what Jesus told us, that if we seek we will find, if we ask we will receive, if we knock the door will be opened. Truth is a person, not an idea or an opinion. As we ask the questions that move us towards the truth we will find ourselves moving towards Jesus Christ and a personal relationship with truth himself.

So... ask, and will shall seek and knock together on the gates of heaven.

Pastor John

Celebrating the Small Church Pastor

For many years I have been a fan of Frank Peretti’s novels and one book in particular really won me over. “The Visitation” was a wonderful revelation of the strength of small church pastors making a tremendous difference the lives on individuals despite the lack of glory and honor. The novel also implied that the larger church can have serious problems that make it less attractive and even dangerous to the life of the believer.

I want to celebrate the dedication and hard work of the unsung hero, the pastor of the small church. They have made a difference in the world far greater than their numbers and will never be recognized or honored for their work. They are available 24hrs. a day and demonstrate a wide set of skills that make them effective in ministry.

As our nation becomes in love with big and bigger the small group ministry, the small cell, or the small home church is still the universal building block of any significant congregations. For years now the experts have been warning that the small group is far more effective than the large group in changing lives and bringing people to salvation in Jesus Christ.

Small does not make everything virtuous any more than big makes everything better. Yet it is in the small group that accountability, and teach-ability becomes effective. The world largest church in Seol Korea is actually a community of small house churches. Small is God’s plan whether we are talking about cell groups or congregations.

The Pastor of a small church, group, or house church is the front line minister who closes to the real work of Christ. Those who move up in administration over Pastors move further away from working with the lost and the recently saved.

So this is to all those individuals out there who lead a bible study group in their home, Pastor a congregation of hundred people, or have a house church meeting in their living room. You are one of the most important workers in the Kingdom of God, and we love you for your service. No fame or rewards are as great as what you do each and every week over the flock you love and nurture. Keep it small and let others learn from your example. Our reward is great in heaven.

Celebrating The Small Church

I love the small church. She deserves more respect than she is given.

The idea of a large mega-church did not come until recently. Not long ago their was no congregation in America or Canada that could boast the numbers we now see in some worship services. On the other hand we have not seen the decline of the small church like we have today. Most congregations in North America are small churches, and they are in rapid decline.

Big churches are growing and small churches are closing.

So what's the problem?

The problem is that there is a smaller precentage of people attending church in North America than there was before the Mega church. People know less about their faith, read the Bible less, and pray less than ever before. The majority of people who do attend church don't act much different than those who don't believe in God.

Bigger is not always better.

The congregration I have served for the last eleven years is not a big church. In the last 80 years of her life, the First Church of God (Medford, OR) has never been big. This small congregation has seen many generations of believers and many pastors. We who make up the nature of this congregation come and go but the church remains. But we know each others name and we have journeyed through many hardship sharing each others burden. Like most small congreations, were small, tough and loyal.

The trouble is that we are also rejected because of our size. Our size is our strength. The small church is a place where people miss you when you are not there. It is a place where we talk about you when your not around wondering what is going on in your life. We may even feel the permission to meddle in your life because we are concern about what is happening. In other words, we are like family.

In the next series of blogs I want to celebrate the small church, and what she has done around the world over the last 2000 years. She is not obsolete yet and she has a lot to say to a fast paced post-modern world.

What is your take on size? Does it matter?