Suicide Questions

Last week during the teaching about Samson I mentioned the subject of suicide. As a result we had a few questions. I will list the questions and then deal with them as a whole.

Q1. Is suicide forgivable?

Q2. At what point do you repent after killing yourself?

Q3. Can you repent at the judgment seat?

Answer. Suicide is self-murder, so, technically, if murder is forgivable, then suicide is forgivable. The tough part is that forgiveness happens after repentance, and it is impossible to repent when you are dead. That being said, God is God and he knows the heart and we don't. We all know people who were in desperate levels of depression who took their own life. I am not ready to say all suicides are eternally lost, and neither will I say that all suicides are forgiven. This is another one of those times I am glad God is the judge. Suicide is an incredibly risky venture, from a spiritual point of view. It is never a good idea and if you are contemplating suicide you should tell someone safe who will take it seriously.

In terms of repenting at the judgement seat, there is no mention in the scripture of repentance at that point. It is a judgment seat, not a repentance seat. The time for repentance is before you die. Some teach that there are second and third choices to follow Christ after you die, but Hebrews says, "It is appointed to man once to die, after that to be judged." If you need to repent. do it now!

Abraham's Questions May 31

Hey Creekside... thanks for the questions this week.

Q1. I've met people who think Israel has no place in the Kingdom of God, because they crucified Christ.  Right or wrong?

A1. Wrong.  Israel are still God's chosen people.  The New Testament is full of references about God's grace and love fully extended to Israel.  In fact, Paul is so taken with Israel's salvation that he says he would willingly give up his own salvation to see Israel saved. 

Q2. A lot of people think Melchizedek was an incarnation of Christ in the same vein of the Old Testament "Angel of the Lord".  What do you think?

A2. Thanks for your question, and the simple answer is, "I don't know" and no one can know.  What's more, I seldom spend much time on unanswerable questions like this.  It is interesting to think about, but the main point here is that Melchizedek was real and he served as a picture of Christ. 

Q3. Should we tithe before or after taxes?

A3.  Great question and I suggest you look at the booklet I wrote called, "What About Money?" which you can access at www.thecreeksidechurch.org and click on resources.  The real answer to this question is about attitude, not money.  If you are trying to do the bare minimum and only give what you have to, your heart is not following God anyway, so the amount of money you give is the least of your problems.

I heard one person ask, "Should I tithe on the gross or the net?" and the pastor answered, "Do you want a gross blessing or a net blessing?"  Remember, we not only reap WHAT we sow, we also reap HOW we sow.

Thanks, "Creekers" for sending in your questions.  See you on Sunday.

Don

Questions From "Noah" May 17

Hey Blog Followers,

Thanks in advance for your questions.

Before I get to the questions from Sunday, let me apologize for not blogging recently, or should I say repent.  I promised you that if you send the questions, I will blog the answers, and you did and I didn't.  My site was down for a while, but I could have gotten it up sooner.  I'll try to do better at honoring your questions.

So here are the Q's from Sunday . . .

Q1.  Why is your blog  called Grady Dawn?

A1.  Grady Dawn is the name of our boat, which is a Grady White, so the name is a modified version of Grady Don, which was given to me by other fisherman friends.  I went with dawn, instead of Don, because I like to get up early and it is less ostentatious.  

Q2. Does God really "know" how everything will "turn out", or, does he have the ability to "see" all the infinite possibilities at each decision juncture (man's choice) and thus never be surprised by any outcome?  

A2. The short answer to your question is yes to both.  God both knows how everything will turn out and also knows all the possibilities at each juncture. He is never surprised by the outcome.  This is called "Cosmic Chess" by those who subscribe exclusively to the last part of the question, believing that God doesn't know how things will turn out, but knows all the possibilities.  

Since God is omniscient, meaning He knows everything, He would not be God if He didn't know both how things will turn out as well as all the potential possibilities.  If God knows all the possibilities, it is a small jump to believe that He also knows what will happen, since He is omniscient, thus He is never surprised.

Q3. Does the bird finding the olive branch indicate that plants were not destroyed in the flood?

A3. Good question with some deeper issues connected to it.  The simple answer to this question is yes, the plants were not necessary completely destroyed in the flood.  God's focus in destruction was only those forms of life that had "breathe", which would not include fish or plants.

However; as I taught on Sunday, it was 150 days before the waters fully receded.  This means that plants, which cannot live under water, would have been destroyed if they were under water the whole time.  So is there are reasonable way to explain an olive branch?  Yes.

Consider this. . . the world we know now is not like the world before the flood.  Creation scientists postulate, with good reason, that a vapor would have probably covered the earth giving a mean temperature of 75 degrees and a humidity of about 80.  There was only one continent, since the world was not yet divided (Gen. 10:25).  There also would have been no polar ice caps and vegetation would have grown all over the earth, including the mountains, which is significantly different that our current earth.

This huge amount of vegetation would account for the dinosaurs growing to a great size, since as reptiles, they can grow as long as their environment can support them.  I personally believe that man and dinosaurs lived together in the same world,as there is clear evidence to support this.   This view is opposed by evolutionists.  Lush vegetation and giant dinosaurs would also account for the vast oil reserves in this region and around the world.

All this to say, it is entirely possible in a pre-flood world that vegetation (olives) could have grown on mountains which may have been under water for a short period of time. This could account for a bird finding an olive branch on a mountain that perhaps had only been underwater a few days or weeks.

Thanks again for your questions and I'll see you on Sunday.

Don

How is Jesus Dying Just?

Q. How is Jesus dying just?  He is innocent.  Is it really just for one man to take the punishment for another?

A. This is a great question from yesterday's teaching, and shows some deep thought on the part of the person asking

First of all, it is important to remember that God is not "doing" this to Jesus, and Jesus has nothing say in the matter.  The entire Godhead was involved in saving mankind, and each member of the Godhead suffered equally in the sacrifice.

• Isaiah 53:10-12 says it was God's will to crush Jesus, so that mankind could be saved.
  
• Hebrews 9:14 says Christ was offered up by the Holy Spirit.
  
• John 10:17-18 says that Jesus willingly offered up His life to save mankind. 

You are right in saying that Jesus was innocent, but Jesus willingly chose to become guilty of the charge of mankind's sin in God's court of justice.  

II Cor. 5:21 says that , "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us".  This means that God willingly allowed His son to become guilty of all the sin of mankind, past and future, and to pay the penalty for that sin.

Is it really just for Christ to take our punishment?  The answer is not only is it just because God says it is just (Romans 3:24-25),  it is pure mercy as well.

It is not only pure justice that is served by this means, but pure mercy and pure grace. Because of God's mercy, Jesus was offered up instead of us.  Because of grace, He was patient with mankind while waiting for Christ's sacrifice and remains patient with us today.

This is a brief answer.  For a more detailed response, I suggest you download the podcast of April 5, 2009 at www.thecreeksidechurch.org.

Peace in our time

As usual, we entertain questions from Sunday's teaching.  These questions came in this week.

Q. Are we supposed to be a peace at all times? In times of distress, how  does one define peace?

A.  Great question and thanks for asking.  God wants us to live a life of peace, but it is not practical or reasonable to be at peace all the time.  Even Jesus faced times if stress of loss of peace.  Read Matthew 26 about Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane and you'll discover he was under tremendous stress.

The key is to not live there.  All of us face times of stress, but continually living without the peace of God is not what He wants for us.  Jesus was stressed when He went to the garden, but not when He left it.  He was at peace with His God and God's plan for His life.

So the goal is to live in peace and when our peace is taken, pray and ask God why and seek to regain it.  I believe that God wants us to live in large blocks of peace with an occasional stressful time, rather than the  other way around.

Money Stuff from Sunday

Several conversations and questions surfaced as a result of Sunday's teaching in Malachi 3.  I thought it would be helpful to post some Q & A from the money booklet we offer online.

Seven Common Questions About Tithing

 1.  What should I do if my spouse doesn't believe in tithing?

        First of all, pray for your spouse's understanding of the scriptures.  Explain why you believe in tithing and how you see it affecting your family and finances.  See if you can do a three-month test.  And finally, if possible, do what you can by tithing on the part of the money you control.

2.  Does God promise a financial return for our faithful tithing?     

Yes.  The Hebrew language used here implies prosperity, which is more that just finances, but also includes finances.

 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.   Malachi 3:10

 3.  Why does God call someone in the church that doesn’t tithe, a "robber"?  Isn't that kind of harsh?

 In the same way that our government has the right to levy taxes to support our country, God has an even greater right to institute a means to support His church on the earth.  He has chosen tithes and offerings as this means.  God understands that we grow spiritually and this takes time. 

He is patient with us.  Once we clearly know the truth about His financial plan from his word, we are responsible to be obedient.

4.  I want to tithe, but if I paid 10% now, I'm afraid I'd go broke.  What should I do?

Obedience to the Lord is the key here.  Jesus said only those who love Him will obey Him (John 14:23-24).  God knows it may be hard to begin and that's why He offers us a test (Mal. 3:10).  In a practical way, the 90-day challenge complies with this principle.  Here's how the 90-day challenge works. 

 Follow the eight key principles of tithing for 90 days.  If at the end of that time you feel you have made a mistake, or God is wrong, or you have not been blessed, we will refund the amount you gave.  It is important that you make a decision to honor the Lord with your obedience.  After obedience, attitude is key. 

5.  Should I tithe on net or gross earnings?

 Do you want a gross blessing or a net blessing? The Bible tells us to tithe on the increase of what God has blessed us with (Duet. 14:22).  If you are a business person, for example, you may have spent $100 to make $20 profit, then your gross total would be $120, but your “increase” would be $20.  That is what we are to tithe on.

6.    Is my local church really the storehouse mentioned in Malachi 3:10?

 The Hebrew word for “storehouse” literally means, "treasure depository".  It is clear from Malachi 3:10, we are not to divide our tithe (Bring the whole tithe) and give a little here and a little there.  It is to all go to one place.  It is also clear that the purpose of the tithe is to provide provision for God's house (that there may be food in my house). 

 Finally, the scripture does not say to bring the tithe into “a” storehouse, but “the” storehouse.  Each of us has a specific storehouse that we draw from spiritually.  That is our local church and that’s where the tithe goes

7.  If tithing is an Old Testament teaching, why should we hold to it?

 Jesus confirmed many Old Testament teachings in the New Testament.  Tithing is just one Old Testament principle that Jesus supported in the New Testament. 

 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices-- mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law-- justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.  Matthew 23:23

The Old Testament is valid for our day as well.  Galatians 3:24 tells us that the law (Old Testament) was given to bring us to faith.  Jesus also told us the commands of the New are greater than the Old in His Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:20-48).  If tithing is emphasized in the Old Testament, then it is only a starting place in the New.  Beyond tithing, the New Testament teaches proportional giving (I Cor. 16:1-2, II Cor. 9:6-11).

Malachi Questions

This week we conclude a three week series on Malachi.  At the same time that King Leonidas and his 300 Spartans held off the entire army of Xerxes, God sent a man named Malachi to his people in Israel.  As in all series, we entertain questions texted in during the teaching.

Q. Is ambition in ministry inherently sinful?  Where is the line between righteous and selfish ambition?

A. Ambition in ministry is not inherently sinful.  Jesus was ambitious.  Paul was ambitious.  In fact zeal (righteous ambition) is spoken about in both Psalms and Romans.  The primary difference between righteous and selfish ambition is motive, which is a heart issue.  Only God knows your heart, so what could appear as selfish or righteous may be the opposite, but the person doing it knows, and sooner or later so does everyone else.

If you are doing something to bring attention or glory to yourself, then the ambition is selfish.  If our genuine concern is expanding Christ's kingdom, then our motive and actions will be pure. That is why the Bible talks so clearly about guarding our heart.

Q. Don, what is your Bible reading plan? 

A. My Bible reading plan has been the same for several years, to read a book in the Old Testament and then a book in the New Testament.  I am currently reading in Romans.  I addition to this I read daily through the passage to be taught on Sunday.

Q. In comparing teaching methods, how does Levi & Malachi's methods compare and contrast to those of pastors in modern times?

A. This is an interesting question.  Although Levi was a priest and Malachi was a prophet they had the same purpose as a pastor, to bring people to God.  Although Levi and Malachi had no modern teaching tools like computers and P.A. systems, the primary method then was the same as now . . . his mouth.  It is about speaking the word of God.

Regardless of the generation, whether it was Levi, Moses, Jesus, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards or Billy Graham, God has decreed that the primary teaching method is speaking.  It is nice to know that some things never change.