Joy for the Mourning.

For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. (ESV Psalm 30:5)

I have known dear Christian people who genuinely wrestle with balancing valid passages of warning with scriptures of assuring promise. Admittedly, there are verses, even in the New Testament, which show us the stern side of God’s countenance. If I quote to them a passage like Romans 8:1 they agree, but invariably go back to some passage that causes them distress.

John Bunyan fought that same internal battle. When he opened the scripture it seemed that the words of woe and warning always leapt up from the page rather than those that brought comfort. For many years, after he had repented and believed in Christ, he could not break free to the assurance of his salvation.

David portrays a balance in Psalm 30:5 that comforts me and ought to ease every believer’s discomfort. God’s anger at sin is but for a moment. Yet, His child can depend upon God’s favor, i.e., His gracious acceptance, forever. Though we have times of distress and grief, we know that joy always returns as inevitably as day follows the night.

Christ has borne the wrath of God on our behalf. God still uses warnings and circumstances to correct a wayward child. He disciplines the child he loves, but even in the discipline is the assurance of his paternity. We can take seriously His correction without losing sight of His grace. He is Holy; He is love. He is full of grace and full of truth. Allowing both to inform our faith is most salutary to our souls.

Beaten Censers

Can unholy men serve God or proclaim him to others? There is an interesting answer to that in the book of Numbers.


If you’ve seen the movie the Ten Commandments, you may remember the rumble between Moses and Dathan. With high-tech special effects, the best Hollywood could achieve at the time, the ground opens up and swallows Dathan and his rebel band. God vindicates his servant Moses.


There is an interesting footnote to the story. Moses had challenged the associates of Korah, Dathan included, to meet him on a certain day. Each was to bring a censer to burn incense before the Lord. Korah had questioned the exclusive claim of Aaron as priest. Moses stated that this would be the test to see whom God had chosen as priests.


After the earth swallowed the “unfavored,” Moses does a curious thing. He tells Aaron’s son, Eleazar, to take up the fallen rebel censers and hammer the metal into a covering for the altar. Moses says, “For they offered them before the Lord, and they have become holy.

Even though they were not approved as priests, the act of offering incense before the Lord made the censers holy unto God. They were not to be rejected though the men themselves had been severely punished.


Is this not like the mega-church pastor who commits a moral failure? People ask, “But did he not do much that was good and fruitful? Didn’t he preach the gospel? Weren’t men saved through his ministry?” That work was indeed holy, but the man suffers his penalty. One bad action does not nullify what has been done in the name of the Lord.


Our God is bigger than our sin. He can make the wrath of men to praise Him. By the same token, we should not presume because we have offered sacrifices in His name that he will be pleased with those works. God looks to our hearts. We should be humble before Him, and come to him on His terms, namely through the one High Priest, Jesus Christ.

The Hubris of Atheism

This morning I caught a snippet of Bill Maher on "The View" talking about his new movie, which is an attack on theism and religion. I'm not sure if Maher considers himself an atheist or agnostic, but he is at the very least an antagonist.

I wonder if Maher is familiar with the story of Anthony Flew. When I was in seminary in the late 80s, one of the chief nemeses of the Christian faith was this atheist philosopher, Flew. I've slept since then, so I can't say I remember much about his chief arguments about Christianity. All I remember was that he was intelligent, virulently anti-religion, and hard to ignore.

Imagine my delight a few years ago when it came out that Flew has migrated to a belief in some sort of higher power. He has not confessed Christ, but he is a kind of "theist". Flew turning away from atheism would be like the equivalent of Billy Graham deciding that there really is no God.

One wonders how Maher can be so smug in his certainty. He may think that he has it all figured out, but really how could he be sure? Is it likely that only a few enlightened individuals in the world see the truth for what it is, and the rest of us mere mortals are ignorant or demented (including now Flew)?


If the universal testimony of humanity is in favor of theism, aren't you forced to produce incontrovertable proof that God doesn't exist? Has Maher managed? If even a top notch philosopher like Flew eventually succumbed, how will Maher manage? Perhaps a man like Maher is simply not smart enough to see how impossible his case truly is. It is easy to become deluded and believe something you want to think is true. A proud man may ignore opposing data in order to appear right.

The Bible says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" There is nothing new here. Bill is not the first and will not be the last to mock the belief in God. It is sad to watch a blind man mock those with sight. You cannot prove to him that there is such a thing as light, color, or image. If he wants to insist in his superior reason and accuse the sighted of delusion, you cannot help him.