Revisionist History

I like history. I am one of those people who read ALL the little signs at a historical site. I like knowing little facts about places I visit and people I read about. To me, these little details make life more interesting. But lately I have been frustrated with the onslaught of revisionist history that seeks to rewrite history. Lately, it seems that someone can find a scrap of paper in an obscure location and rewrite centuries of history without any corroborating evidence. The media picks up on the shocking new revelation and everyone accepts it as fact without realizing it is based on a very minute about of data, which may or may not survive further scrutiny.

While I think we should take all such discoveries seriously, and include important finds that are independently supported by further discoveries, in new versions of our history books, I see no need to instantly rewrite history based on a line or two someone found hundreds of years after the fact, especially when there is legitimate question about the authenticity of the find.

This is particularly troubling in the area of faith. The recent popularity of the Gospel of Jesus's Wife caused quite a stir, and is still being touted by some as authentic. However, questions about its authenticity have always existed and despite all the media hype about it a few months ago, just this month serious scholars concluded is was indeed a forgery. No need to rewrite the story of Jesus after all.

Then there is the recent discovery that claimed camels were not used in the time period of the Old Testament. That discovery was thought by some to prove the Old Testament was not as accurate as some people thought. The scholars who made that discovery, two researchers at Tel Aviv University, found some camel bones at a copper mine and dated them 1,000 years later than the time of the patriarchs. No one disputes that the bones were there and the date given is probably correct. But many attempted to use this discovery to claim that the Bible was either written or edited long after the events it describes. But Todd Bolen, professor of Biblical Studies at the Master's College points out that "to extrapolate from that and say they never had domesticated camels anywhere else in Israel in the 1,000 years before that is an overreach." Attempting to re-write history because two guys find a bone of an animal in one spot does not undo the reality that those animals also lived in other places too, unless the one trying to rewrite history has an agenda.

Perhaps that is the problem. Many people trying to rewrite history have an agenda. For some that agenda is simply to be famous, or sell books or magazine articles. For others, it is to undermine faith based concepts and the accepted facts those faiths are built upon. For still more, it is a clear attempt to spread a lie in an effort to promote an ideology that cannot stand on its own truth. Whatever the reason, we must have discerning minds and not accept whatever startling new discovery pops up on our news feed or social media as truth. We must consider the source. We must find out if there is independent verification. We must look for agendas, hidden or obvious. In the end, the truth is the truth, and no effort to rewrite it will stand the test of time.

Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, thankful cancer survivor, and the author of numerous books aimed at helping small churches become healthier and individual Christians grow in their faith. You can find his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/

Four Steps to Pushing Through Personal Pain

Introduction:

We all have painful issues in our lives that we face. It might be a broken relationship, a physical challenge, a financial hardship, or the consequences of a bad decision by ourselves or someone close to us. Some people are crushed by such painful issues and never seem to recover. But those who have a great faith in God have four steps they can use to push through personal pain to find victory. We find those steps in the biblical story of Hannah in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel.

I Samuel 1:10-20
10 Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. 11 Making a vow, she pleaded, "LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut." 12 While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips. 13 Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and scolded her, "How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!" 15 "No, my lord," Hannah replied. "I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven't had any wine or beer; I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD. 16 Don't think of me as a wicked woman; I've been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment." 17 Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him." 18 "May your servant find favor with you," she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast. 19 The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow and to worship the LORD. Afterwards, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. 20 After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, "I requested him from the LORD."

Background on this passage:

•               Hannah was married to Elkanah, who was both wealthy and deeply spiritual, a rare combination.

•               Though Elkanah was a spiritual man, he was not perfect. He had a second wife, which was a source of tension between the two ladies.

•               The other wife had children, but Hannah had no children. In that culture, this was considered a negative mark against Hannah and it caused her great personal pain.

•               This passage take place when they made their annual pilgrimage to the tabernacle to worship.

Verse 10 - Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.

•               Hannah had a strong faith, yet she still had deep hurts.

•               Our faith does not erase our hurts, it gives us strength to endure them.

•               Many people try to deal with their pain in unhealthy ways, such as:

•               1. Drugs, alcohol or other mind-numbing substances

•               2. Hyper-busyness so they do not have time to think about their problems

•               3. Hyper-exercise so they are too exhausted to think about their problems

•               4. Denial

•               5. Sex

•               But none of these methods solve the problem and some of them make the problem worse.

•               Hannah dealt with her hurt through prayer and tears, both of which are healthy.

•               Prayer releases supernatural power to change our attitudes, our actions and our circumstances. Prayer changes things but does not always dry up all our tears.

•               That is okay because there is nothing wrong with having a good cry every now and then.

•               In fact, God designed tears to be part of the healing process.

The Miracle of Tears
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v15/i4/tears.asp

•               Biochemist William Frey spent 15 years studying tears and found that stress-induced tears actually remove toxic substances from the body.

•               Crying reduces the body’s manganese level, a mineral which affects mood and is found in 30 times greater concentration in tears than in blood.

•               Crying also reduces the endorphin leucine-enkephalin, which controls pain.

•               Crying actually makes us feel better.

•               But Hannah did more than just pray and cry.

Verse 11 - Making a vow, she pleaded, LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction. . .

•               Hannah was not content to just wallow in her pain. She made a commitment (vow) to the Lord.

•               Hannah thought of some specific commitments she could make to the Lord and what actions she might take to follow through on those commitments.

•               In painful times we should pray, have a good cry, and then consider our commitments to the Lord and to those around us.

•               Is there some specific action we can commit to that will produce positive results?

•               Is there some specific attitude we can commit to change that will produce positive results?

•               Is there some specific spiritual commitment we need to make to bring God’s positive blessing?

•               Part of our struggle when we are going through difficult times is that we either do not commit to actions that will lead us out of  the problem, or we do not make a commitment that lasts long enough for a real solution to happen.

•               We have to make the best commitment that we can that will allow us to take the best action possible in the situation. Then we should stay the course until resolution comes.

Verse 12 - While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips.

•               Eli was watching Hannah, though she probably did not realize it.

•               We may not realize it, but others are watching how we deal with our troubles.

•               Those who are watching us want to know if our faith really helps us or not.

•               If our faith does not help us, why would they want to follow our faith?

Verse 13 - Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk.

•               Eli did not understand Hannah’s spiritual connection with God, which was sad since Eli was a priest. Eli thought she was drunk.

•               People will not always understand how faith helps us in times of difficulty.

•               Sometimes even those who share our faith do not understand why we are responding the way we are because God often does unique and special things inside of our own minds and hearts to help us deal with our pain.

Verse 15 - . . . Hannah replied "I am a woman with a broken heart ….. I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD.

•               Hannah may not have been understood by others, but she understood herself and tried to explain it to Eli.

•               Hannah prayed hard, had a good cry, made some specific commitments to God and then poured out her heart to God BEFORE trying to explain the situation to others.

•               As a believer, Hannah realized the first person she should share her heart with was the Lord.

•               God is always happy to listen to our frustrations.

•               We need to learn the importance of pouring out our heart to God FIRST.

•               We tend to pour out of troubles to other people first.

•               Though it is good to have family and friends to share our burdens with, our FIRST response should be to go to the Lord and share it with Him.

•               When we share our hearts with the Lord first, it helps us be more clear when we share it with others. They then can offer more focused support to us.

Verse 17 - Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him."

•               Though at first Eli did not understand Hannah, he finally realized the depth of her pain and the power of her faith.

•               Eli joined her in prayer and sensed God was going to answer her prayer.

•               We should not write off those who do not understand our pain the first time we share it with them.

•               They will eventually realize our deep need and join us in praying through our situation, which is a powerful tool in our effort to find comfort in times of hurt and pain.

Verse 18 - . . . Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast.

•               Hannah she prayed, she cried, she poured out her heart to God and found a prayer partner and it all really helped!

•               Then she had to go on her way in life. Though her problem was not solved she found peace and strength to keep going.

•               Prayer, tears, making commitments and sharing our burdens with God and others can do the same thing for us.

Verse 20 - After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son.

•               It took time for Hannah’s problem to be solved.

•               It takes time to find real solutions to the problems we face in life.

•               We must be patient as we continue in prayer, and maybe while we shed a few more tears, pouring out our heart to God and praying with a prayer partner until God brings the answer to our problem at the right time.

Conclusion:

•               Our faith does not erase all our hurts, but it does give us strength to endure them.

•               We can push through the pain through prayer, tears, and commitments to God and by sharing our burdens with the Lord and a godly prayer partner.

•               But remember to talk to God about the problem FIRST before finding a godly prayer partner.

•Remember that God’s timing is not always our timing, but it is always the right time so we must remain patient as we wait on God.

Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, thankful cancer survivor, and the author of numerous books aimed at helping small churches become healthier and individual Christians grow in their faith. You can find his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/

Four Steps to Making Good Decisions

Introduction:

When we are trying to make big decisions our minds are often filled with confusing emotions. We can be very excited about the possibilities and quite frightened by them at the same time. Even some decisions that may not seem life changing can affect us more than we realize if we keep making the same decision over a long period of time. For example, if we make poor choices about diet or exercise, over time those choices will have a big impact though each individual meal or exercise choice may not have been that big of a deal. Many of the ways we make decisions are not wise, such as flipping a coin, rolling a die, checking our horoscope, calling psychic hot lines or having our palm read. Other ways we make decisions are only partially helpful, such as asking a friend for advice, when that friend does not really know any more about the issue than we do. Though we appreciate their advice, it just was not very illuminating to the situation. We need a set of objective filters that we can run our options through to help us make good decisions. Here is a list of four such filters:

1.     Commit to do whatever the Bible says.

·         If a decision would go against the Bible, it is a decision that will eventually lead
to more pain and difficulty in our lives than we would have had to experience.

•          Psalm 119:101-105
I have kept my feet from every evil path to follow Your word. I have not turned from Your judgments, for You Yourself have instructed me. How sweet Your word is to my taste—sweeter than honey to my mouth. Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.

•The Bible will keep us from evil choices. Some things are just wrong, so we should stay away from them.

•          Though we may struggle with the idea that some things are always wrong, the Bible gives us God’s judgments, which are always superior to people’s judgments because God sees the whole picture but people only see part of the picture.

•          Following the Bible leaves a “sweet” taste in our spirit. Some things are just right. We should engage in such activities. When we do so, we know instinctively that we have done a good thing.

•          The Bible sheds light in the darkness and helps us see things more clearly.

•          It is important not to misuse the Bible. It is tempting to twist a verse to make it say what we want it to say. To avoid misusing the Bible, we must study it in the context in which it was written. We must take time to study the Word so we understand it correctly.

•          If any decision we are about to make would go against the clear teaching of the Bible, then we know it is a bad decision and should avoid it.

2.      Spend time praying.

·         We are unlikely to make good decisions if we have not spent quality time praying about the choices we have to make.

•Luke 6:12-13
¹² During those days Jesus went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God. ¹³ When daylight came, He summoned His disciples, and He chose 12 of them to be His apostles.

In Luke 6 Jesus was trying to decide who He would choose to be His apostles.

• This was a huge decision because the apostles would be the ones to carry on the work of Christ after He was crucified, risen and ascended back to heaven.
• Jesus spent all night in prayer about which people to choose as His apostles.
• Too often we either skip prayer, or only pray for a short while, before making a decision. We need to pray long and hard about the decisions in our lives.
• The Holy Spirit uses prayer to clarify things in our minds and hearts helping us to know which choices to eliminate and which to continue to consider.
• We may start with a large number of options, after Bible study and prayer; our list of options is usually much shorter. Having a shorter list is much less stressful and easier to see which option is the best one to take.

3.                     Focus on one option at a time, research it well and let God use circumstances to guide us.

·         It is easy to get sidetracked by too much information when we are trying to make a big decision. That usually results in us making a bad decision. So research one option at a time and then let God use that research to show us the way forward.

•          Proverbs 4:25-26
²⁵ Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead. ²⁶ Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.

•The scripture tell us to “fix our gaze straight ahead.” We cannot look in four directions at once if we hope to make a good choice.

• The scripture tells us to carefully consider the path. We often make choices without doing adequate research. We should do the research needed to make a wise choice.
• Once we have researched each option it is amazing how much clearer things become.

4.                     Consider how our decision impacts others and make the choice that is BEST for everyone involved.

•          1 Corinthians 8:4, 7, 13
⁴About eating food offered to idols, then, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no God but one. ⁷However, not everyone has this knowledge. In fact, some have been so used to idolatry up until now, that when they eat food offered to an idol, their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ¹³Therefore, if food causes my brother to fall, I will never again eat meat that has been offered to idols, so that I won't cause my brother to fall.

• When this scripture was written, many people worshipped idols instead of God.
• A big part of idol worship was to leave a piece of meat in front of the idol for it to eat. Obviously the meat was never eaten by the idol because it was just a statue, not a living being. After the meat had sat around a while, it would be sold at the market to generate money for the idol’s temple. The meat was sold at a significant discount because it was old.
• Some Christians bought this cheap meat because they were poor and it was all they could afford. Other Christians thought this meat was cursed because it had been used in idol worship. This was causing conflict between Christians.
• The apostle Paul said that since the idol was just a statue, it had no power to curse the meat. Therefore, if Christians wanted to eat it, they could.
• BUT – Paul also pointed out that if eating the meat was going to confuse some Christians who did not understand that it was okay, then he would personally not eat it.
• The point Paul was making was that Christians should take into consideration how our choices affect the people around us.
• Though we live in a very “me-centered” culture, Christians are called to think of others.
• We are all part of various groups (family, church, workplace, sports team, life-long friends, clubs, etc.) and the choices we make impact those groups. Christians should take that impact into consideration when we make decisions.
• This does not mean that Christians should be slaves to peer pressure. It just means we should think about how our actions affect others and do what is best for all.
• Doing what is BEST for all is different than doing what makes everyone HAPPY. Happiness comes and goes, but we will never regret making a wise decision that is BEST for all.

Conclusion:

Four Steps in Making Good Decisions:

1.      Commit to do whatever the Bible says.

2.      Spend time praying.

3.      Focus on one option at a time, research it well and let God use circumstances to guide us.

4.      Consider how our decisions impact others and make the choice that is BEST for everyone involved.

Dr. Terry W. Dorsett is a church planter in New England. He is a happy husband, proud father, thankful cancer survivor, and the author of numerous books aimed at helping small churches become healthier and individual Christians grow in their faith. You can find his books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Dr.-Terry-W.-Dorsett/e/B00405U4NY/