Steve Johnson Blames God

Wide receiver Steve Johnson of the Buffalo Bills has been incredibly good this year.  Even though he is young and inexperienced, he has emerged as one of the top receivers in the league.  Last Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers was an incredibly close game.  It went into overtime and both teams had multiple chances to win.  On the Buffalo Bills’ last drive, their quarterback threw a deep pass to Steve Johnson in the end-zone.  This pass was the epitome of perfection.  Johnson had no one close to him and it was placed perfectly in his hands.  All Johnson had to do was catch the ball and the Bills would have made an astonishing comeback win against a very good Steelers team.  Instead, he missed it.  Johnson dropped the pass and the Steelers ended up winning the game.

Wide receivers drop passes all the time.  Not all are as significant as this one, but it happens.  This is just a part of the game.  Most fans and players could have moved on from this, especially since the Bills are not a good team this year, but the comments Johnson said on his twitter account have struck a nerve with many people.  This is what he said, “I praise you 24/7!!!!!! And this is how you do me!!!!!  You expect me to learn from this???  How???!!!  I’ll never forget this!!  Ever!!! Thx tho….”

Again, wide receivers drop passes all the time, but I have never heard anyone else actually blame God for it.  He even seems to throw a little sarcasm at the end as well.  There are many factors Johnson could have blamed the dropped catch on.  He could have blamed it on the lights, lack of practice, and even himself.  Instead the blame was thrown on God.

It is too bad that Johnson reacted in this way, but thankfully he has since retracted this statement.  The problem is, people do this every single day.  People throughout the world go through terrible difficulties and many of these same people conclude that it is God’s fault.

Often in Scripture we see people suffering.  One of the most devastating accounts is of Job.  Job lost 1000 oxen, 500 donkeys, 7000 sheep, 3000 camels, 1000 oxen, and all his sons and daughters (10 total) in one day (Job 1:13-19).  Not long after this he also lost his health and had sores and boils all over his body (Job 2:7).  To top it off, even his own wife turned against him and told him to “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9).  However, no matter what Job went through, not once did he curse or blame God (Job 1:22; 2:10).

Suffering happens to people all over the world.  Job was a very faithful man and he still suffered greatly.  People seem to be under the mindset that if they are faithful and praise God, then bad will not happen.  God has never promised this.  We are just people.  God is supreme, all-knowing, all-powerful, and almighty.  Do we really ever have the right to blame God for anything?  Does praising God automatically mean He will give us blessings?  Too many people blame God for their misfortune, but God should never be blamed.  We must keep in mind God’s words in Isaiah 55:9, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thought than your thoughts.”  We simply do not know why many types of suffering happen, but one thing is for certain, we should never blame God, nor do we have the right to do so.

Others Before Self

It is dumbfounding how often professional athletes are hailed as heroes. Most of the time this is unfounded and for shallow reasons.  Usually these athletes soak it all in and even egg it on.  Despite these marks of arrogance, there are occasional selfless acts which deserve praise.

When the World Series came to an end this year, shortstop Edgar Renteria was named the World Series MVP.  Renteria is a native of Colombia and has been idolized there for some time.  With this being the case and his recent MVP award, his home country was going to plan celebrations and parades in his honor.  However, Renteria humbly asked that they cancel any parties or parades for him.

Why would he do something like this?  Why not just soak in all of this praise and adoration as a hero?  As it turns out, northern Colombia has been devastated by floods lately.  It is estimated that 900,000 people are currently homeless.  With this in mind, Renteria asked that any available money that would have been spent in his honor instead be used to help out those in need.  In fact, the whole reason Renteria even said this publically was to raise awareness of Colombia’s situation and hopefully encourage others to help as well.

I do not know much else about Renteria’s character, but this was an incredibly selfless act.  It is so easy in this life to become centered on ourselves.  It is all about what “I want,” what “I need,” and what “you can do for me.”  It is nice to see someone putting himself aside for others.

As we know, this is a biblical concept.  We are told to put God first (Matthew 22:37; Deuteronomy 6:5) and others above ourselves (Mathew 22:38; Galatians 5:14; James 2:8; etc).  Now, you probably will not have to turn down a massive celebration thrown by an entire country in your honor.  If you do, I would like to have your autograph.  However, there are little acts we can do everyday to put others before self.  We know ways to do this, but many times we fail to do them.

It is easy to get caught up in ourselves.  We do live in a very self-centered society.  It can be hard to put our own wants and desires aside to help someone else.  But this is exactly what God wants us to do.  Whether it is as big as turning down a country’s celebration, or just helping out our family and friends, let’s look for those opportunities where we can do something good for others and put them above ourselves (Philippians 2:3-4).

Flight – Evolved or Created?

When I was a kid, I often thought about how awesome it would be to fly.  Certainly many others have dreamed of this exact phenomenon in one way or another.  The problem is, flight is remarkably complex.  For thousands of years people have tried to break free from the hold of gravity and soar through the air.  However, they have struggled with design, weight, aerodynamics, and a host of other difficulties.  God has never been limited by such “problems.”  He has always known the correct design and solutions.  This is what makes the seed of the Alsomitra Vine so incredible.

The Alsomitra Vine grows from the forest floor and up the surrounding trees to the highest point it can reach.  Once it is high above the forest floor, it begins developing a football-sized pod.   In this pod there are around four hundred seeds.  The problem is, if all of these seeds just feel to the forest floor, all of these vines would have to complete for soil nutrients and sunlight.  So, it is vital for this vine to send these seeds off as far as possible.  The way this issue is overcome is by flight.  Each seed is encased in a clear, lightweight, perfectly designed glider (See the picture above).  Once the vine’s seedpod is opened, these seeds are able to travel hundreds of feet, or more, depending on the wind.

In the early 1900s, inventers such as Igo Etrich and the Horton brothers used this seed to help create gliders and aircrafts.  About 20 years ago, two Japanese engineers studied this seed and realized its design was absolutely incredible.  In fact, this seeds shape has led to the design of some of our modern day “flying wing” aircrafts like the stealth bomber.  Ok, wait a minute, people have struggled with flight for thousands of years, and yet there has been a seed that has conquered all of these issues this entire time?  Yep.

There are so many problems this seed creates for evolution.  How did the vine know it needed to get its seeds away?  How did it know to use flight to get the seeds away?  How did it know what material to use for the wings?  How did it develop the perfect flight design, weight, material, etc?  How did it know it needed to get high in order to use the wind for flight?  Every time this plant would have attempted to achieve some of these feats, it would have ended in disaster.  Either the Alsomitra Vine is a genius, or the all-knowing, all-powerful being in this universe just simply designed it this way.

So, did flight evolve over millions of years, or was it created by God?  There is simply no factual evidence that anything has evolved to achieve flight.  There is no proof of it in plant life, and beyond this, there are not even any “transitional fossils” of birds.  All of the facts say that flight was created, not evolved.

Psalm 104:24 says, “O LORD, how many are Your works!  In wisdom You have made them all; The earth is full of Your possessions.”  God is unfathomably wise.  It was in this wisdom that he made the Alsomitra Vine.  Clearly flight was something God created.  It has taken people thousands of years to figure out how to fly.  Yet all of these flight “problems” were conquered when God made plants on the third day of creation (Genesis 1:11-13).  The Alsomitra Vine’s seed is yet one more unsolvable problem for evolution.  The earth is truly “full of his possessions,” and this seed is just another proof of that fact.

Delayed to Death

Here is a thought provoking account told by Dr. George Sweeting in his book Special Sermons for Special Days:  “Several years ago our family visited Niagara Falls.  It was spring, and ice was rushing down the river.  As I viewed the large blocks of ice flowing toward the falls, I could see that there were carcasses of dead fish embedded in the ice.  Gulls by the score were riding down the river feeding on the fish. As they came to the brink of the falls, their wings would go out, and they would escape from the falls.  I watched one gull which seemed to delay and wondered when it would leave.  It was engrossed in a fish, and when it finally came to the brink of the falls, out went its powerful wings.  The bird flapped and flapped and even lifted the ice out of the water, and I thought it would escape.  But it had delayed too long so that its claws had frozen into the ice.  The weight of the ice was too great, and the gull plunged into the abyss.”

This bird on Niagara Falls was certainly in a dire situation, but the problem was that he delayed until it was too late.  He literally delayed himself to death.  He might have been able to escape had he flown off earlier.

In Acts 22, Paul was speaking to the Jews about his conversion.  He tells the men about his previous life as a persecutor of Christianity.  He explains what he saw and heard from Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus.  He describes how he came to meet a man named Ananias, who taught him the truth.  Then, as Paul began to see the sinful life he had been living and the great need for a change, Ananias uttered those powerful words, “Now why do you delay?  Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name” (vs. 16).  In this chapter Ananias helped Paul realize the dire situation he was in and the urgency to change it.

Far too many people get stuck to sin because they do not turn away quickly; they delay.  As we know, we have the Bible to help keep us away from sin and its traps.  Sometimes even when we know of these enticing prisons, we still delay our escape.  No one knows when Christ is coming (1 Thess. 5:2-3; Matthew 24:36; 2 Peter 3:10); therefore, no one knows when it will be too late.

The bird obviously did not realize how much danger he was in until nothing else could be done.  Ananias wanted Paul to see the urgency of his situation and the dire need to change it.  Likewise, there may be sins in our lives that we know we need to escape from before it is too late.  If this is the case, then this begs the same question Ananias asked Paul, “Why do you delay?”

“Salvation is a Prayer Away”

When my wife and I moved into our house, we noticed a “church of God” right across the street from us.  Since we had never been in this church, we really had no idea what they taught or believed in.  Since they do have a biblical name (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 1:2; etc), we did not know if they were teaching the truth and striving to be like the New Testament church.  They have a marquee sign outside the building which usually has a well crafted and thought provoking statement.  I found myself reading their marquee sign often.  However, one morning as I was driving by, their sign read, “Salvation is a Prayer Away.”  These five little words said a great deal about this church.

We live in a time of great religious confusion.  Which church is the correct one?  Which church is teaching truth?  Where is the church of the New Testament?  Are all churches equal in God’s eyes?  While there is much religious debate and confusion, hopefully one statement can be agreed upon: If a church does not teach/practice what the Bible teaches, then it simply cannot be the church found in the New Testament.

Throughout Scripture, people are being warned to watch out for false teachers and doctrine (Matthew 7:15; 2 Corinthians 11:13-14; etc).  In 1 Timothy 6:20, Paul said to Timothy, “O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called “knowledge”– which some have professed and thus gone astray from the faith….”  Scripture shows there is false knowledge, false teachers, false doctrines, and even false religions.  This also must mean there is a true church.

God purposely made it so His church would stand out from the rest.  He gave specific commands to be followed.  If one is truly looking for the church found in the New Testament, it can be discovered by what the church does and teaches.  A church is either following God’s commands or not.  Since the Bible is the only inspired guide we have to tell us what is truth and is not truth (2 Timothy 3:16-17), God has given a divine promise that people who seek can, and will, find which church is the true church (Matthew 7:7; John 8:31).

I knew nothing about the church across the street, but just from those five little words, volumes were spoken.  It said they were not the church of the New Testament and they were not teaching the truth, at least about salvation (Acts 2:36-38; 1 Peter 3:21; Galatians 3:26-27; Romans 6:3-4; etc).

We live in a culture that presses heavily for religious unity and acceptance.  God clearly wants unity and acceptance, but not at the expense of His commands (Mark 16:16; Matthew 7:21; etc).  With a plethora of different religious thoughts and philosophies, the only way one can determine truth is through the Bible (John 17:17).  God’s word reveals everything people need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).  All of the answers are there.  May we always use His Word to determine not only which church is the true church, but also what truth is, and how it applies to each of us.

Authority

Christian Herter was the governor of Massachusetts in the 1950s.  One day, after a busy morning chasing votes, and no lunch, he arrived at a church barbecue.  It was late afternoon and Herter was famished.  As he moved down the serving line, he held out his plate to the woman serving chicken.  She put a piece on his plate and turned to the next person in line:

“Excuse me,” Governor Herter said, “do you mind if I have another piece of chicken?”

“Sorry,” the woman told him. “I’m supposed to give one piece of chicken to each person.”

“But I’m starved,” the governor said.

“Sorry,” the woman said again. “Only one to a customer.”

Governor Herter was a modest and unassuming man, but he decided that this time he would throw a little weight around. 
”Do you know who I am?” he said. “I am the governor of this state.”

“Do you know who I am?” the woman said. “I’m the lady in charge of the chicken. Move along, mister.”

Authority is a funny attribute.  No matter how much authority we think we possess, there is only so much we truly have authority over.  Even if a person becomes powerful and prominent, his authority only goes so far.  Christian Herter was a man of authority, but the chicken lady showed him just how much he really had authority over.

Authority is overwhelmingly important in this life.  The level of authority one possesses usually determines how vital it is to obey his/her commands.   For example, a person is much more likely to respect a judge’s authority over that of a bus driver.  See, we know if we break the law then the police can arrest us and then the judge has the authority to give a very serious punishment.  We understand the concept of authority, but even the most prominent figure on earth has limited authority.  So this bears the question, who is the ultimate authority?

It seems like the people in Jesus’ time were struggling with this very question.  Even though they had extremely authoritative people like the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, and the chief priest, they still realized this authority was limited.  One of the main points of the New Testament was to show Christ’s authority.  Throughout the Bible, Jesus Christ is intimately linked with this idea of authority (Remember that Christ is God in the flesh).

- Jesus taught with authority (Matthew 7:29; Mark 1:22, 27; Luke 4:32, 36).  We even see that people are going to be judged in the end by the words Jesus spoke (John 12:48).

- Jesus had authority to forgive sins (Matthew 9:6; Mark 2:10; Luke 5:24).

- Jesus had the authority to “execute judgment” (John 5:27).

- Jesus gave authority to others (Matthew 10:1; Mark 3:14-15; 6:7; Luke 9:1; 10:19).

- Jesus had “all authority” (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 2:10).

There are some incredibly powerful figures in our world.  Some have the authority to carry out unspeakable actions.  Unfortunately, people try to use this authority to get their way and gain followers.  Some day, men may have the authority to put us in jail if we speak against homosexuality, adultery, and who knows what else?  However, everyone’s authority is limited.  The only reason people have their limited authority in the first place is because God has allowed them to have it (John 19:10-11; Romans 13).  Does this not give God more authority?

People do have authority in this life, but they do not have authority beyond this life.  Luke 12:4-5 states,  “I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do.  But I will warn you whom to fear: fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him!”  This person is God.  No matter what happens in this life, we must make sure God is our ultimate authority.  And if He is our ultimate authority, then we must obey His commands over all others.