Words of Truth

We like it when things stay the same. But change happens all the time. Relationships change, jobs change, our kids change, the person looking back at us in the mirror changes, which I find offensive, but that’s life. We naturally want things to stay the same.

When things change, we worry. Worry is defined as “mental distress or agitation resulting from concern usually for something impending or anticipated; anxiety.” Worry is anxiety. Anxiety is “an abnormal and overwhelming sense of apprehension and fear often marked by physiological signs (as sweating, tension, and increased pulse), by doubt concerning the reality and nature of the threat, and by self-doubt about one’s capacity to cope with it.”

In a biblical sense, worry is where we think we know more than God. Worry is where we display our lack of faith. It’s where we tell the Creator of the universe, from the smallest atom to the biggest star in the sky that we don’t think He can handle our problem.

It is natural to worry. God knows that. That’s why He had to tell us over and over in the Bible not to do it.
• Isaiah 35:4 says “Be strong, fear not: Behold, your God will come with vengeance, Even God with a recompense; He will come and save you.”   We are not to fear, because God is on our side.

• Isaiah 41:10 says, “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God:  I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

• Matthew 10:28-31 says, “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”  See my last post about sparrows.

• Matthew 13:22 is a verse from the parable of the sower.  Jesus tells about the four different kinds of soil on which the seed is sown, and one of the types is thorny ground, where the thorns sprung up and choked the new plant.  Verse 22 says, “And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.”  Worry affects our relationship with God.

• Luke 12:25 asks, ““And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span?”  Worry doesn’t actually achieve anything, it just lowers our spirits.

• Philippians 4:6 There’s a funny story about this verse.  In the King James Version, this verse reads, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”  The word “careful” really means anxious (in the English of 1787, the word “careful” could mean “full of care/worry”).  When I was in Bible college I took a class called Homiletics, which was where I learned how to preach.  Our first assignment was to give a short, 10 minute sermon on one verse of the Bible.  I was given Galatians 6:1. I memorized the verse, looked up the meaning of each Greek word, studied the context of Galatians, read several commentaries, came up with an outline of  the main points I wanted to make, added scriptural support for each, and threw in some illustrations.  One of my classmates did not prepare at all for his sermon.  His verse was Philippians 4:6.  When it was his turn, he got up and read the verse “Be careful for nothing.”  He then proceeded to give an impassioned speech about how we as Christians need to take more risks in life, because sometimes we are too careful, too cautious.  You could almost hear a pin drop, if it weren’t for the sound of our collective jaws hitting the floor.  I couldn’t believe it:  he was totally winging it!   Needless to say, he didn’t last long. The verse means “Don’t Worry, instead, tell God your problems.”

If you want to be free of worry, then trust in the words of Christ in Matthew 6:25-34.

Back in October many of the nurses at St Vincent including me took a $300 pay cut at work. That week I wrote the following words here on my blog, “God is still in charge. He knew I would be taking a pay cut next month. He knew, and He is still Yahweh Yireh, The Lord who Provides. We really need to stop allowing our financial situation to determine our level of felt security. Do you feel financially secure? If you lost your job would you feel less secure? If you lost your job, would God not care about you anymore?”

And here I am. I lost my job. It’s almost as if God took my words and just like with Job turned them right back at me: “Oh? You’ll trust me even if you lose your job? We’ll see.” Tune in next week when I write on my blog about how God would never let me win a million dollars. But seriously, what I said in my blog post is as true today as it was the day I wrote it. God is still in charge. Philippians 4:19 says that God will supply every need according to His riches in Christ Jesus. “According to” means “in accordance with.” A synonym is “corresponding to.” God is all powerful, and every resource is available to Him. That means that since He will supply our needs according to His riches, we can rest assured that, if we truly need it, in God’s plan, He will give it to us.

What do you truly need? Do you want to know what the number one cause of death is? Hypoxia. That’s a medical term that means “not enough oxygen.” Have you ever in your life thanked God for continually providing the air that you need? We need air. The World Health Organization lists the top ten causes of death.
• Number one is heart attacks. A heart attack is when the cells in the heart don’t get enough oxygen, and they die, causing a decrease in function of the heart. If enough heart tissue dies, then the heart can’t pump the blood with its oxygen to the rest of the body, and the body dies.
• Number two is stroke. That’s where a part of your brain doesn’t get enough blood supply, so the brain cells die due to lack of oxygen. If enough brain cells die, you die.
• Numbers three and four are pneumonia and COPD. That’s where the lungs get infected to the point that your body doesn’t get enough air.
Are you sensing a trend? Every single one of the top ten causes of death ultimately happens because the cells of the body are starved of air. But do we ever think about air? No. We just keep on breathing, about 14-20 times a minute, without even thinking about how God has not failed in all our years to keep us breathing.

John MacArthur says in his book, “Anxiety Attacked” “Christians who worry believe God can redeem them, break the shackles of Satan, take them from hell to heaven, put them into His kingdom, and give them eternal life, but just don’t think He can get them through the next couple of days. That is pretty ridiculous. We can believe God for the greater gift and then stumble and not believe Him for the lesser one.”

The alternative to worry is obvious: trust. When we worry, we display a lack of trust. When we trust, we display a lack of worry.  I believe that worry and trust live on a continuum. Worry is on one end, and trust is on the other. I trust my children, but I don’t trust them completely. If I had left Nathan home alone when he was ten, I would have trusted him less than I do now, and worried more about him burning the house down. Christ described the multitude in Matthew 6 as being “of little faith.” He said the same thing to the disciples when they were in the boat during the storm, and when they worried about the bread. In contrast, he said to the centurion in Matthew 8:10 “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” Perhaps the best example though, is the man in Mark 9:17-27. He brought his demon possessed son to Jesus and asked Jesus to heal him.  Jesus said, “All things are possible to him who believes.” The man replied, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” He was saying “I trust you, please help me to trust you more.”

And so the question is: how much do you trust God? When you find yourself tempted to worry, remember that God loves you, He is in control, and He has promised to give you everything you need. In closing Psalm 94:19 says, “In the multitude of my thoughts within me, Thy comforts delight my soul.” The multitude of my thoughts. That’s another way of saying “In all my cares, in all my troubles.” God is our comfort. He is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

His Eye is On the Sparrow

The hymn chorus goes

I sing because I’m happy,
I sing because I’m free,
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.

For many people this hymn has brought comfort and joy. I believe the words of this hymn because they are based on Matthew 10:29-31 “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

I think some people hear this song, and believe it matches the false gospel of Joel Osteen, who says, “It’s God’s will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty. It’s God’s will for you to pay your bills and not be in debt. It’s God’s will for you to live in health and not in sickness all the days of your life.” (From “Your Best Life Now”)

But as I heard this song recently, a question occurred to me: What is the sparrow doing that God is watching? If you look back at the verse, the sparrow is falling to the ground. Not flying. Falling. In other words, the sparrow has died. So while this verse is definitely saying that God is aware of everything that is happening in our lives, it is primarily stating that God is aware of our problems. But to those like Osteen who think that God only wants us to be happy and prosperous: God never promises that.

The writer of “His Eye is On the Sparrow” Civilla Martin wrote the hymn based on an encounter that she had with a handicapped couple. The wife had been bedridden for over twenty years, and the husband was wheelchair-bound. Mrs. Martin’s husband asked the couple how they could be so joyful about their lives, with all their problems. The man replied, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.” Mrs. Martin made this quote the centerpiece of the song.

So next time you hear “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” just remember: God loves you and He is watching over you all the time. That means He’s watching over you during good times and bad. When you are at your lowest, do not give into the temptation that God doesn’t see, that God doesn’t know your sorrow. He knows the problems of birds, and He knows YOUR problems. When do we cling to our faith in God: when we’re in good times or in bad? God loves us, and to those of us who have been called to faith in Christ, God is working events for the best possible outcome (Romans 8:28).

The offending piece of equipment.

Several years ago I bought a Panasonic DVD recorder/VHS combo unit. Specifically, I purchased the DMR-ES53V. It worked fine for about a year, and then it started making this noise. I called Panasonic at the time, and they said I could ship it to them and they would replace the DVD drive for $100. That seemed a little steep to me since I could buy a new one for $200, and we couldn’t afford it at the time, so I declined.

Fast forward to today. We were cleaning the house, and found the box of VHS movies we decided to keep the last time we cleaned. They are mostly Disney movies, but there are a few that are irreplaceable (like our wedding video). I got to thinking about that DVD recorder, and decided I would see how much it would cost to replace it, or if I could maybe buy one that had the VHS side broken so I could switch out the DVD drive. My intent was to convert my irreplaceable movies to digital format so we could get rid of our VHS player.

My first step was to talk to Panasonic. I initiated an online chat with their customer service department. I told “Kadine” the problem, and she said “The unit would have to be serviced.” She then told me to send the unit to Panasonic’s Customer Service Center in McAllen, Texas, and they would fix it for the low, low sum of $250. I told her “Or I could just poke myself in the eye with a stick.”

I don’t understand why they would charge that much just to swap out a DVD drive, something that I know only takes about 15 minutes, and the DVD drive can’t cost more than $10-$20 (since I can buy one for my computer for $20 retail…). What a ripoff.

And that’s not the worst part. I could purchase the exact same model, in good working order (used), on Amazon.com for $200. Why would anyone pay Panasonic $250? Then I looked at what other DVD recorder/VHS combos are out there, and found that Amazon sells several for $130-$200, by companies like Toshiba, Magnavox, LG, and others.

What Panasonic is telling me here is like saying I got a flat tire on my car, and it’s going to cost $8000 to fix it.
So then Kadine tells me that the unit is out of warranty. I replied, “I understand that it’s out of warranty. I’m not asking for free service. I’m asking for reasonable service. If you sold one of these products for $300 or so SIX YEARS AGO, it is unreasonable to request a consumer pay more than the cost of a new machine today to fix the old machine. If you said “It will cost $100 to replace the drive” I would understand that. I still wouldn’t do it, since for $150 I could buy a new product that WOULD be under warranty. I was really hoping that you would say, “Oh, you know electronics? You can purchase a replacement DVD recorder drive from us for $20 plus shipping, and we make no guarantee that it will actually work since you will be installing it.” I would take that bet, because if it didn’t work, I would only be out $20.”

But she said I needed to go to the Panasonic website and submit an online repair request to get an exact figure. I did that. Guess what? I put my name and email address in the website along with the model and serial number of my unit. Before I could even type in what was wrong with it, the website said to send it in, and for $235 plus $30 shipping they would fix it for me. Since I never even said what the problem was, it sounds like I could stick a pickaxe in this thing, run it over with my car, and then dump the parts in a box and ship it to Panasonic, and it would cost the same as it would for them to simply replace the DVD drive.

The problem here is that our society is a throwaway society. I bet you didn’t even get halfway through this post before you thought to yourself, “It’s not worth the trouble. He should just throw it away and buy a new one.” It doesn’t seem right that a DVD player costs $80 to purchase brand new and $100 to fix. If it cost less than $80 to manufacture, that means the sum of the parts cost less than $80, and the company should be able to ship you whatever part you need to fix your unit. But no, it’s, “Just buy a new one.”

That’s what I’m going to do. And I can tell you one thing: It’s NOT going to be a Panasonic.

I remember when I was a kid reading about the dinosaurs. Back then, I was being indoctrinated into the belief that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago, and became extinct millions of years before homo sapiens evolved. I remember reading that scientists thought perhaps a meteor impact blocked out the sun, drastic climate change, and other theories.

Another Theory

Since then, I have come to trust in Jesus Christ, and in His Bible, which gives the history of the earth as being only about six thousand years old (6127 to be exact). I believe the Bible teaches the dinosaurs were created on days five and six, and that man was created on day six. So humans lived at the same time as the dinosaurs. I believe that whatever dinosaurs were alive at the time Noah built the ark would have been represented on the ark as well.

But there are no dinosaurs alive today (other than crocodiles, alligators, Komodo dragons, iguanas, etc). And so the question remains: what happened to the dinosaurs?

My personal belief, in short, is this: we hunted them to extinction.

Why do I believe this? Look at ancient history. Most cultures have references to large lizards in their history. From Chinese dragons to St. George and the dragon, to ancient maps (“Here there be dragons”) and Beowulf.

From this I gather that the last large dinosaur died out within the past four hundred years. I think that they used to be common knowledge, and then, after they became extinct, they turned into “myth”, or “everybody knows they don’t exist.” Think about it: it would only take a few generations removed from the last person who saw one alive before people began to doubt that they ever actually existed.

Why did we hunt them to extinction? That’s simple. Imagine there were dinosaurs around today. Giant creatures capable of doing incalculable damage to people and property roaming the countryside. Well, today we would probably try to save them, eco-warriors that we are. But 400 years ago? If a large animal is threatening your family’s life or livelihood, that animal has to die.

For one final note: look at the endangered species list. What animals feature prominently? Elephants. Rhinoceros (aka “unicorns”). Whales, Tigers, Lions, Grizzly bears. All the largest and most ferocious animals are listed as endangered, because people have a tendency to kill them.

So what happened to the dinosaurs? We did.