The Forgiving and Life-Restoring God


Ever heard of Katyn Woods?

As the year 2010 was ending, the Russian government finally provided an answer to a puzzling situation remaining from World War II. The puzzle was: what really happened at Katyn Woods, Russia (an area near Smolensk)? The grisly truth showed the true character of the dictator, Joseph Stalin. Stalin was guilty of many crimes, but Katyn Woods was exceptional.

In 1939, Stalin and Adolf Hitler had their respective representatives sign a non-aggression pact. Part of the pact involved the partition of Poland. That is, Germany would invade, the Soviet Union would not intervene and then the two countries would partition Poland, half going to Germany and the other half to the Soviet Union. Nice little agreement between the two monsters, wasn’t it? Following the defeat of Poland by the German forces, the Soviet Union sent in an army to “stabilize” the region. It was stabilized all right. Stalin, who earlier had had his best generals executed – he feared them – now had the Soviet army round up the top Polish military minds. Thousands of Polish military officers were taken to Katyn Woods, where on March 5, 1940 Stalin himself gave the order that they should be shot. They were – and then buried in a mass grave. This mass grave was later discovered by the German army and exposed to the world.

But for decades scholars have wondered who was responsible. As time progressed, the Polish people became more suspicious that the Soviets were responsible for the needless slaughter of their fathers, brothers and sons.

The Russian Duma (the legislative body), in a gesture intended to resolve the tension and mistrust that has existed between itself and the Poles since 1940, provided information from its archives proving Russian responsibility for what happened at Katyn Woods. Russian propagandists had for years attempted to blame the Germans for the massacre, but finally had to admit culpability.

This episode, sordid as it is, does remind me of an important scripture: Numbers 32:23 – “…you may be sure that your sin will find you out.”

The practice of sin will most certainly manifest itself – it is just a matter of time. The effects are not only witnessed in a person’s life, but also manifested in his personality. Matthew Henry, a Bible commentator from an earlier era, has written for every era these words: “Be sure your sin will find you out. Sin will surely find out the sinner sooner or later. It concerns us now to find our sins out, that we may repent of them, and forsake them, lest they find us out to our ruin.”

Listen, my friend, you cannot get away with wrongdoing. It will catch up with you sooner or later. The time to turn away from such practice is now. Need help doing it? Then seek the presence and power of God in your life.

The announcement from the Russian Duma concerning Katyn Woods helps to write the history books correctly. The sin of the Soviet government, carefully hidden for sixty – five years, has now been found out.

Your sins will be found out, too. Turn from them now, and turn to the forgiving and life-restoring God.

Bringing People Back to Faith

A recent story in the news is that, on the day following the general election, the Federal Reserve began purchasing Treasury bonds in large numbers – 600 billion dollars’ worth. In other words, The United States is borrowing money from itself (the purchase of a bond is a loan to the issuer of the bond) – and the Fed has its printing presses working overtime.

Does this sound as crazy to you as to me? Don’t most people know you don’t handle debt by going deeper into debt? Could this drastic action mean the beginning of the end of the American economy? I don’t know the answer to that last question, but there are a few things I do know. I know that foreclosures abound. I know that unemployment remains high. Now it appears that a third wave is about to engulf us – the wave of inflation. Already I see its creeping effects: gasoline and grocery prices climbing. These are the staples which people need daily and they are becoming increasingly expensive.

A leading writer on economics (Brian O’Connell) has stated that this latest action is the Fed’s way of saying to Americans: “Stop saving.” Or to put it another way: “Start spending and borrowing – get this economy moving.”

The manipulation of the economy is a frightful thing to me. Who is doing the manipulating and why? And if this person today is “OK”, so to speak, remember that the next person may not have benevolent ends in mind. But the worst part of the “quantitative easing” (government speak for borrowing from itself) is that it signals desperation.

The Federal Reserve obviously underestimated the depths of the Great Recession. Perhaps they should have asked an Alliance, Hartville, or Louisville, Ohio resident – any resident – how bad the recession was and continues to be. In December 2008 the Federal Reserve Board reduced its interest rates to near zero. It has maintained a similar stance since. But tough times continue. Maybe not as tough as when the nearly zero interest rates were targeted, but tough nevertheless.

The point in stating all this is that those who save and try to live within their means, being frugal and responsible, are penalized. Those who accumulate debt are rewarded – or so it seems. Just how convoluted can things be when savers are penalized? Is this not indicative of how far removed from sound stewardship principles the country has gone?

But it will not stay this way forever. Eventually the way God has ordered the world to run comes to the fore, correcting the flawed notions of mankind – yes, even those of the brightest economists.

If harder economic times than we presently face are in the future, and I think they are, then let us prepare to thank God. It will be His way of doing a great work in the lives of people.

It will be His way of inviting people to repent of greed. Greed is just another word for covetousness, which God has warned against in the Tenth Commandment.

Economic hardship will be God’s way of inviting people to understand the principles of Biblical stewardship and avoid undue indebtedness. To understand and employ these principles is to avoid making a disaster of one’s life.

Economic hardship may well be God’s way of…
bringing people back to faith.

Loving Someone to Christ

I recently read an article entitled “Downward Mobility in an Upscale World” by Shane Claiborne. Shane is founder of The Simple Way – a faith community in Philadelphia that ministers to inner city persons. We might call it “rescue mission” ministry, except that “rescue” is what all ministry is about – rescuing people from sin and its awful effects, whether it be those circumstances that force people onto the street, into the ghetto, or propels them into an affluent lifestyle that is indifferent to the legitimate needs of others.

Shane Claiborne and those who share his passion to make the Kingdom of God known by taking it to the streets of the inner city are some of the most committed Christians in the world.

I began to think. Perhaps you don’t possess a passion for the inner city, or for cross cultural (foreign) ministry. But somewhere in every Christian’s spirit there should be a passion for Christ and His Kingdom and a passion for others. The others may be family, friends, or even the neighbors on your street. If there is no passion for anyone you know, love or with whom you work or play to encounter Christ, then something is wrong. You are not a committed Christian. Shouldn’t we all be committed Christians? Is there really another kind?

As a college student I was challenged by a particular speaker at a student assembly. This man had taken Bibles into the European nations at that time under Communist rule as well as the Soviet Union. He asked the student body to pray that God would dismantle the Iron Curtain and make possible the free distribution of Bibles and freedom to preach the Gospel in that part of the world. Specifically, he asked that we pray freedom of religion become a reality in the Soviet Union. I prayed this way for twenty years – until 1989 when the Berlin Wall fell, Communism was toppled across Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union established freedom of religion. I was amazed in 1997 when I was privileged to travel to Ukraine and minister to Ukrainian and Russian pastors, sharing with them the goodness and reality of Jesus Christ. My passion for this part of the world, made very real through prayer over twenty years, is still strong.

My passion for our own nation and my community is stronger than ever.

Shane Claiborne writes, “When we get to heaven and are separated into sheep and goats (Matt.25), I don’t believe Jesus is going to say, ‘When I was hungry, you gave a check to the United Way and they fed me’ or ‘when I was naked, you donated to the Salvation Army and they clothed me.’ Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He is seeking concrete actions: ‘You fed me…you visited me…you welcomed me in…you clothed me…”

Jesus is not seeking distant acts of charity. He is seeking concrete actions.

It is time for Christians to move beyond talk and engage in prayer for those in spiritual and material need. This will kindle passion for them. Then, with the passionate love of Christ providing the motivation, we can speak and minister to them – directly and effectively.

This is what we mean when we talk about…

Loving someone to Christ.

Bind Yourself to Them

There is probably nothing that a pastor enjoys more than sharing the grace of God. To tell hurting people that they can be forgiven and to see them respond to this message is extremely meaningful. To tell others of God’s great compassion and love and see them light up with hope is very satisfying.

But the good news does not end with that content. It begins there. The good news is much more expansive than receiving God’s forgiveness and love. It expands into the area of a person’s attitude, character, morals and family life. The good news received personally challenges a person to extend the realm of Christ. This is done by sharing verbally what Christ has done personally for the person, a personal testimony. The realm of Christ is then extended through actions – that is, application of the good news. Displaying God’s love, compassion and forgiveness in daily life creates a powerful witness to others.

When such actions are put on display in the midst of serious opposition, such actions become all the more remarkable. When a follower of Christ continues displaying God’s love, compassion and forgiveness in the face of persecution, the realm of Christ is genuinely glorified.

All of the above is mentioned to encourage you to attend a conference at The Chapel in Marlboro. Open to the entire public and at no cost the Ohio-Western Pennsylvania Regional Conference for Voice of the Martyrs is to be held on Saturday, October 16, 2010. Events begin at 9:00 a.m. and continue until 5:00 p.m., with a lunch break from Noon – 1:30 p.m. Speakers include Gracia Burnham, Steven Khoury, Gatenah Getanah, Brad Konneman, Robert Brock and Mujahid El Masih.

Let me tell you a little about one of the lesser-known speakers: Mujahid El Masih. From Pakistan, in 1997 some Christians were falsely accused of tearing out pages from the Quran. Thousands of Pakistani Muslims were incited to riot against the Christians living in two villages in that area. The villages were burned and the believers tortured and persecuted. Mujahid El Masih was one of the leading Christian pastors in the area. His life was spared – and he doesn’t really know why, except that God showed him mercy. Advised by trusted friends to leave Pakistan, God opened a door for him and his family to come to The United States. Pastor Masih is very studied in Islam as well as Christianity. He presently ministers to all – but especially Muslims, sharing that the real and living God is one of mercy, compassion, forgiveness and love. And that through Jesus Christ this God may be known. His web site is www.fortheloveofmuslims.org.

When James Calvert went out as a Christian missionary to the cannibals of the Fiji Islands, the ship captain tried to dissuade him, saying, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” To that, Calvert replied, “We died before we came here.”

This conference will inspire and motivate you to understand and intelligently pray for those who genuinely suffer for their faith. Hebrews 13:3 states, “Remember those that are in bonds, as bound with them…”
Think about those who are persecuted for their faithfulness to Christ. Pray for those who are expanding the realm of Christ through their suffering. Learn of their courage and faith.

Bind yourself to them.

Serve Him by Serving Others

“Signs and wonders,” he told me. “You need signs and wonders.”

I knew what he meant: miracles of physical healing that are well-publicized. What I could not seem to convey to him is that signs and wonders are all around us – just not the type he was seeking. Many of the signs and wonders of our time are not exciting, but frightening. Rather than welcoming them, we find them disturbing. You want some signs and wonders? Try these: national economies in turmoil, with the European continent on edge; wars in the Middle East and the threat of a nuclear armed Iran and North Korea; garbage and waste from large cities being transported and dumped into landfills or the ocean; families strained to make ends meet and institutions to help the poor struggling to survive; betrayal of spouses and children proliferating through adultery and divorce, creating a class of people who lack the security provided by a stable family and home environment. There is more, but certainly you catch the drift. Personal difficulties have reproduced exponentially, becoming social predicaments that affect us all.

But since these signs are not immediate, some dismiss them as merely “problems”. Problems they are, to be sure – but rather significant (“signs”) and overwhelming (“wonders”). Signs and wonders were never meant to entertain us. Regardless of the nature, signs and wonders were always intended to call a person to faith in God – and then to an obedience to God. Having gotten our attention by the sign, God then would urge us to continue in a lifestyle of service. For example, these words from Romans 12 are important in this regard: “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service…” (Romans 12:1).

Did you catch a few of those words? How about “sacrifice” and “holy” or “acceptable”? Does this verse sound punitive to you, or as though God is depriving you of your personal liberties? If so, you are as wrong as can be. As we move along through life there is something we all encounter: unhappy people. Lots of them. Most if not all of them are persons who thought they knew best what would make them happy – and they pursued those things. But in the end, even having achieved those things, their lives are unfulfilled and unhappy. My question for you: “Don’t you think that the Creator knows what is best for the created ones?” Don’t you understand that God knows better than you what will bring real happiness and fulfillment to you? Of course He does!

Signs and wonders abound – and anyone can see them. What we really need is for the church to adopt its prophetic voice and announce to the world where we are headed if we do not repent. Add to this the message of the Old Testament prophets that God is merciful and will accept and restore us if we turn to Him and perhaps we will see a turning, a revival in the land.

In the meantime, God calls us in these times to faith. During these times of troublesome signs and wonders, He calls His church to obedience. He lies before each of us an opportunity –

to serve Him by serving others.

Our God Speaks!


From the earliest days, followers of Jehovah have maintained that He has spoken. It’s a good thing, too! The creation speaks of a Creator; the human conscience seeks relief from guilt, the mind seeks ultimate answers (what is good, fair, right, wrong – and who ultimately decides?). Further, from where do these concepts of fairness, right and wrong, justice, mercy and goodness originate anyway? These revelations all are evidence that point toward a Supreme Being, God. But still, our understanding of life is deficient unless God speaks in some fashion to reveal Himself and answer the most profound questions of human existence.

One of the great teachings of the Bible is a simple one: God speaks. He really does. When He created the world and all that is in it, following each day, He said, “It is good.” After the creation of mankind, made in His image and the grand conclusion of His creative acts, He said, “It is very good.” From this we learn that there is an expectation that God should speak to us. And He does.

He speaks in many ways, seldom in a bombastic, loud, overbearing way. Most frequently it is through the convicting power of the scriptures.

Both internally and externally the scriptures prove their trustworthiness. The scriptures also carry the imprimatur of divine authority, often quoting God (“thus says the LORD…”). Externally, from archaeology, history and every point of confirmation possible, the Bible stands as true. Its remarkable accuracy establishes its inerrancy – it is without error. Internally, not only does the Bible call the reader to believe its information as factual, it claims for itself to be the written revelation of God to mankind. Consider, for example, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the child of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” When the statement “inspired” or “breathed out by God” is used, it means that God is speaking again – this time through the scriptures.

If we really want to know what God would tell us, we should first consult His written word. Perhaps later, in a specific situation, He will speak in a way directly to our need (usually a prompting within our spirit). But the first stop is always the written word, for it is God’s general statement to the world of mankind. It really tells us what we need to know for the situations of life. How much more do we need than correction when our attitudes are wrong? Or reproving when our actions are offensive? The scriptures teach how to “do right” in any situation and encourages good works.

What a fulfilling life to obey what God has spoken!

The verse I used above reveals what God intends to teach us through the Bible. Our lives are to be lived in such a way that “the image of God” (each person) is to reflect Godly character. After all, an image is just a reflection of reality. If our lives are to be lived profitably, we will read the Bible and apply its teachings to life. We will refer to this book often for guidance, instruction, correction and learning what “good” is and how to implement good into our lives (“good works”).

We will refer to the Bible often because God has spoken and continues to speak through its pages.

Our God speaks!

Beware the Unrealistic Approach

Walid Shoebat is a name to remember. An ex-terrorist, he has a web site where he attempts to educate the world about Islam, his former religion. It is worth a look – you will keep returning as new developments in the Islamic world make you question what is happening. There is a good chance that www.shoebat.com will have the answer.

So it was with interest that I read, “Americans need to understand the level of deception and lies as well as the ends that Muslim clergy like Imam Rauf will go to advance their agenda of advancing Sharia law and Islamic domination in America” (I added the italics) . Imam Rauf is the one who is pushing for a mosque to be built at Ground Zero – a real slap in the face of those who died in the 9/11 attack and the safety personnel who died trying to rescue them.

I read President Obama’s greeting to the Muslim world at the start of Ramadan. I am grateful that the President has sent a greeting since it is a gesture of good will to about 1 billion people. I am not holding my breath however, to see if a Muslim leader sends out greetings to Christians on Christmas or to Jews on Yom Kippur. It will not likely happen. I was troubled by a few phrases in the President’s greeting.

“Muslims provide support to others to advance opportunity and prosperity for people everywhere.” They do? A record of assistance provided by national governments to needy areas of the world shows that Muslim donors have long contributed toward other Muslims in need, almost exclusively. And when aid from these governments has been given to non-Muslim areas of the world, there is almost always an accompanying incentive to convert to Islam. It is, “There is more where that came from if you become Muslim.”

The President applauded Islam by saying, and I am paraphrasing, “Islam has had a role in advancing justice, progress, tolerance and the dignity of all human beings.” This is almost laughable, except for the Muslim women and girls kept in bondage and non-Muslims tortured and martyred. TIME magazine recently featured a story on Islamic torture of a young woman, using her mutilated photo on its cover. President Obama would do well to speak with both Muslim women and non-Muslims who have escaped from Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and elsewhere. He would soon learn that persecution is active.

In an exaggeration, President Obama shared “Islam has always been part of America” and “American Muslims have made extraordinary contributions to our country.” Not until immigration laws changed in the 1960s did Muslims begin coming to America in any noticeable numbers. Not that I mind their coming, but the absence of this religion has been helpful to the building of our republic; its presence has now, quite obviously, created tension. It has also generated pandering by our President to Muslim-majority nations. Christianity has provided a strong cohesion to American society. The American Muslims who have contributed are not those like Imam Rauf, but those who have reshaped their faith to fit a democratic, pluralistic mold – and who have decided that freedom of religion, speech and press are good things, not bad. The unfortunate aspect is that these Muslims, those attempting to adapt to American culture, are frequently considered poor Muslims overseas, in Muslim-majority countries.

While I appreciate the President’s Ramadan greeting and its attempt to create good will with Muslim-majority nations, I think it also serves to dumb down the American public to the danger that an unrealistic approach will bear.

Walid Shoebat has written a book that every American should read: Why We Want to Kill You. This former terrorist will share in the pages of this book what the world is realistically facing in Islam.

Beware the unrealistic approach.