14     What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15     If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16     and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? 17     Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. 18     But someone may well say, “You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” Jas 2:14-18.

One cannot have faith without works anymore than one can have love without mercy. Why do you get up in the morning?  Because the baby is crying? Because someone has to pay the bills?  Because you have a “to-do” list the length of your arm? When love motivates me, my whole attitude changes. The day is no longer about what I have to do, but what I get to do. I get to serve my family, I get to provide for my family, I get to breathe another day.  Faith and works, mercy and love all produced by grace bring glory to God. Make Lamentations 3:22-24 your prayer today and let Him be the reason you get up in the morning.

  22     The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. 23     They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. 24     “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” La 3:22-24.

James 5:1-6 (NASB95)
1 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you.
2 Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.
3 Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure!
4 Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.
5 You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.
6 You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you. 

James 5:1-6 is directed to wealthy landowners who had joined the fellowship of believers, but still lived selfishly and oppressed their fellow Christ followers. They had not repented of their love of money, so the fruit of faith was not evident in their lives. James details the landowners evil behavior (not paying their employees and letting the workers starve to death while they lived in the lap of luxury) and warns them of a just reward for their actions.

This letter is a good directive on how to reprove someone who professes Christ, but does not live accordingly. Notice it was not that these people were wealthy, but that they valued money more than they valued their brother that their sin was so grave.  Gently confronting someone with their sin in an attempt to reconcile them to Christ is the merciful thing to do. The ultimate objective of God’s discipline is always reconciliation. He patiently bears our sin and draws us near to Him. But He is holy and righteous and loves us too much to sit back and watch us destroy ourselves.

Many times the only thing that rectifies our focus from ourselves to God is calamity. Eventually the hammer will fall. The question is: who will be left standing? The answer is: only the ones on their knees. Spend this day in prayer for our nation, hope for a people with penitent heart and revival in our land.

Isaiah 45:5-7 (NASB95)
5 “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
6 That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other,
7 The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.

 

After reading W.K. Clifford’s essay “The Ethics of Belief” and William James’s essay “The Will to Believe” I have been given the task of answering the following questions: 1) Is it always wrong to believe something for which one lacks sufficient evidence? And 2) Is “faith” inconsistent with critical thinking?

The first problem that arises out of these inquiries is the question of what is “sufficient” or what determines “sufficient evidence”? I would have to assert that determination of sufficiency is autonomous upon the person holding the belief and independent of an objective standard. Although it may be that only when a question or issue is resolved by careful examination of the evidence at hand, that a reasonable person should establish a belief about that issue. But establishing a belief on the evidence and determining the sufficiency of that evidence are both autonomous upon the believer. What is sufficient for one person, may not be sufficient for another. So to say that it is wrong to believe something based on insufficient evidence is to beg-the-question for the determination of sufficiency must be established to determine lack and where must the line be drawn? Therefore, I suggest that a reasonable person may hold a belief established with moral certainty based on the evidence that an alternative is not possible. The highest standard of proof for any belief must be that established beyond a reasonable doubt. Thus, is it wrong to believe something when any doubt exists?

This brings me to address the second question regarding belief and logic. If faith is defined as a “firm belief in something for which there is no proof” according to Webster’s Dictionary, then the answer would be that, yes, faith is inconsistent with critical thinking. I would argue, however, that absence of proof is not necessary to require faith. One can follow the evidence to where it leads beyond a reasonable doubt and a conclusion would still require a willingness to believe due to the nature of man’s incomplete knowledge. One hundred percent conclusive proof may not be available, but a belief may be drawn beyond a reasonable doubt based on the forensic evidence provided at the time. Science relies upon the allowance and acceptance of this type of faith.

Take the debate between evolution verses intelligent design for example. The evolutionist believes that the evidence shows conclusively that changes in organic design are controlled by random mutations and contingent selection. In other words, evolution is a fact such that all that exists is the natural. The intelligent design proponent insists that evolutionary theory lacks sufficient evidence to support such belief and is better explained by an intelligent cause. Who is right? Are both standing upon faith? Does reason to doubt evolutionary theory exist? For one, a fact does not change, while theory does. Science suggests that evolution is both a theory and a fact. ID proponents recognize the fact of evolution within species which they have dubbed micro-evolution, but argue the theory of evolution’s ability to explain the mechanism of evolution is insufficient since reasonable alternatives are available. One side insists that reasonable doubt exists the other does not. Can it be determined if one is wrong and the other right? The possibility must exist or the pursuit of truth of evolutionary theory would be futile.

If ID proponents refuse to believe evolutionary theory with moral certainty that an alternative is possible, are they wrong? If one believes that the origin of life and of the universe are best explained by an intelligent cause, rather than a random undirected process, do they hold this belief in spite of the proof or because of it? How can a being limited by the physical existence know with absolute certainty that nothing exists outside of the natural? Whether one believes evolution theory to be true or false, it is certain that one believes or disbelieves with an element of faith. The study of science exists because human knowledge is incomplete. And, as the human race moves from false beliefs to true, the mechanism of faith as a moral certainty of a belief is a necessary element of the critical thinking process.

When I was a little girl, I loved to go to church. I felt safe there. Everything seemed better at church. Food tasted better, colors were brighter, music came alive and the world made sense. When I played the piano at church, it seemed I could hit any key and it would be beautiful. When I sang, my 10 year old voice soared over the congregation and harmonized with the reverberations coming back to me. Later as a preteen and teen, church was my sanctuary. I wanted to be in God’s house every time the doors were open. Fortunately I had godly friends who could drive and didn’t mind picking up the scrawny little girl with horn-rimmed glasses three times a week.

Then my sophomore year in college, the pastor of my parent’s church raped someone very close to me. I didn’t find church to be so appealing after that. It lost its luster you could say. Apparently he had committed the same evil at his previous church, but they remained silent on the subject. Quite embarrassing and who wants that kind of liability? It took some time for me to wrap my mind around the appalling injustice committed in the name of God. The holy refuge I retreated to when I was lost now held dark and dangerous secrets. I still longed to be close to my heavenly Father, He just seemed so far away.

In First Samuel we are introduced to a particular priest and his evil sons. Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were charged with ministering to God in His temple and to His people. They served as God’s representative to His chosen people. What a great responsibility, what a great privilege! One would think that one would desire to live in a manner worthy of such a holy calling. One would think…

1 Samuel 2:12-17 (NASB95)
12 Now the sons of Eli were worthless men; they did not know the Lord
13 and the custom of the priests with the people. When any man was offering a sacrifice, the priest’s servant would come while the meat was boiling, with a three-pronged fork in his hand.
14 Then he would thrust it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fork brought up the priest would take for himself. Thus they did in Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there.
15 Also, before they burned the fat, the priest’s servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, “Give the priest meat for roasting, as he will not take boiled meat from you, only raw.”
16 If the man said to him, “They must surely burn the fat first, and then take as much as you desire,” then he would say, “No, but you shall give it to me now; and if not, I will take it by force.”
17 Thus the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for the men despised the offering of the Lord.

Hophni and Phinehas not only despised the offering of the Lord, they despised the Lord and Eli did not rebuke them. I have become increasingly disgusted with the selfish and self serving ministry of some pastors and I for one refuse to remain silent like Eli.

Pastors telling God’s people that they need to mail them a check to “sow a seed of faith.”

Pastors committing vile sins and then manipulating their congregations to reinstate them to their former positions of authority.

Pastors who never prepare themselves to teach and minister the truth and starve their flock with spiritual milk.

Pastors so enamored with their “vision” that they deny the gospel.

Pastors who stand before a congregation week after week and refuse to tell people how to find forgiveness because “we don’t do that here.”

Pastors who prey on the wounded and the suffering and lure people away from the path of salvation with provocative lies.

As disgusted as I am with the deception of some evil leaders in the church, I am humbled by the warning to believers found in God’s dealings with Eli and his house.

1 Samuel 3:13-14 (NASB95)
13 “For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.
14 “Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”

Eli was held responsible for not disciplining his house and he and his house were judged harshly for their disdain toward God’s precepts. How long will churches in America refuse to hold our leaders accountable to the truth? How long will we allow teachers to inaccurately handle the word of God? Where are the true prophets to boldly rebuke the iniquity of the false priests? Do we fear man over God so much that we have become paralyzed with apathy?

The American church is no longer viewed as a refuge for the lost and a beacon of truth. The church has absorbed the values of our culture, denying absolute truth and criminalizing those who refuse to compromise the integrity of God’s word. However, I am confident that the bright light of immutable truth will overcome the shroud of darkness that plagues us today. When God’s people behave in a manner worthy of the Name they bear, then God will not seem so distant.

One glorious day all that hides in the darkness will be revealed and holy justice will reign. Those who fear that day have reason to tremble, but the children of Righteousness can rejoice! The Gathering will be cleansed of all deception and God will inhabit the praises of His people forevermore.

No, believers exercise freedom under grace and, as such, the church is no longer subject to the requirements of Old Testament Law. We give of our time and of our material provision by faith, cheerfully and generously, limited only by ability and/or desire. Even if a Christian wanted to tithe as directed by the prophet Malachi, they would be unable to for, among other things, the Temple no longer exists. And while some may try to draw comparisons of the Temple to a church building, that temporal similarity does not substantiate translating the tithe and offerings of Malachi into the New Testament church requirements.

Perhaps a more accurate question should be, “Is a Church administration acting under biblical principals in requiring a tithe of its members?” Many ministries in err appeal to Malachi 3:8-10 to support that requirement and to guilt its membership into compliance. The answer to this question is again “no”, they cannot require a tithe of its members and claim biblical support. However, a church administration does not violate biblical principals if it requests monetary gifts from those who benefit from its ministry. But let me be clear, tithing is not a means to gain mercy or favor from God. The teaching that God can be manipulated by our works is not supported by scripture, in fact, the Bible teaches against this false teaching.