THE GAMBLER'S SHARE . . . OR GOD'S?

Many years ago, when the issue of legalizing casino gambling was tormenting the administration of Detroit’s capable and honest mayor, Dennis Archer, an anti-gambling group posted a huge billboard on I-75 depicting Jesus on the cross with his head slumped down, and at the foot of the cross Roman soldiers were casting lots for Jesus’ robe.  The caption read: “Some very important people have looked down on gambling.”  Casino gambling, of course, was approved.  The arguments in its favor were that it would provide desperately needed employment, tax revenue, and tourism that would result in an economic revival of the troubled city.  Detroit’s recent bankruptcy reveals the folly of that view!  And let’s not imagine that one recent criminal mayor brought down the city single-handedly.

What troubles me is not that the non-Christian world loves gambling, but that some who claim to be Christians excuse it as a harmless form of entertainment.  Since I live in an area surrounded by casinos, an area that depends on gambling resorts for much of its economic security, taking a stand against gambling will not make me popular.  But I’m bound by God’s Word and I have a duty as Christ’s minister to reprove, correct, and instruct God’s flock in the ways of righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Peter 5:2-3).

The first principle against gambling should be enough to convince any true Christian to shun the practice.  Digest this principle and you need not read further:  All that the Christian does must glorify God! 

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1Cor. 10:31)

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17)

Can anyone who claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ seriously say, as they stand at a slot machine or sit at a black jack table in the midst of intoxicating drinks and godless entertainment, “I am doing this in the name of the Lord Jesus and to the glory of God”?  Colossians 3:17 says we should be able to give thanks for whatever we do.  Picture a Christian praying this: “Lord, I thank you for this slot machine, and I now play this money that you have so graciously given me in the name of Jesus Christ.”  When we remind ourselves that we belong to God and our purpose in life is to bring honor and glory to Him, all worldly folly evaporates.  

The second principle is the Christian’s recognition that all he has belongs to God, that he is a steward of the wealth and possessions entrusted to him.  After King David had received voluntary offerings for the building of the temple in Jerusalem, he offered this prayer:

Therefore David blessed the LORD in the presence of all the assembly. And David said: "Blessed are you, O LORD, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. And now we thank you, our God, and praise your glorious name. "But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able thus to offer willingly? For all things come from you, and of your own have we given you. For we are strangers before you and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding. O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.  (1Chronicles 29:10-16, Emphasis added!)

Shall the Christian say, “It’s my money!  I’ll do with it as I please!”? 

The third principle is the danger of seeking riches.  Let’s face it: winning a golf game (a demonstration of skill and practice) is not the same as “winning” at the roulette wheel or the slot machine.  Without the enticement of winning money by “chance” or “luck,” there is no attraction to gambling.  (I’ll deal with the illusion of “chance” or “luck” shortly.)  There’s also the allure of “quick” riches – winning the lottery.  Here are some Scriptures to ponder:

But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things.  Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.  (1Timothy 6:9-11 Emphasis added.)

But godliness with contentment is great gain . . . (1Timothy 6:6)

Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.  (Proverbs 11:4)

Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.  (Proverbs 11:28)

And others are the ones sown among thorns. They are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  (Mark 4:18-19 Emphasis added.)

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!" (Mark 10:23)

Such are the ways of everyone who is greedy for unjust gain; it takes away the life of its possessors.  (Proverbs 1:19)

The fourth and final principle is the presumption of luck or chance.  If gamblers considered the actual laws of probability, gambling would likely lose its appeal.  It’s like the e-Trade™ baby’s comment to the man scratching a lottery ticket: “Uh, Frank . . . You do know that your chances of winning are the same as being mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day?” But gamblers think they can hit a lucky streak!  The Christian must also consider the fact that even the law of probability is God’s law, and He can and does control it or suspend it as He pleases.  God addresses this in His Word:

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD. (Proverbs 16:33)

God is sovereign over His creation.  The above verse tells us that even when we try to decide between two choices by flipping a coin, so to speak, or to choose a person by drawing straws, God is in control of the results.  There is, therefore, no such thing as luck or chance.  And in light of the first three principles, let’s not dishonor God by praying that He will see to it we win!

One last point I need to address: I occasionally hear people compare the stock market to gambling.  The fundamental difference is that when you buy shares of a company, you both have the same goal:  to succeed.  Stock holders are part owners of the company, so the management and the stockholders have a common interest.  Obviously that is not the relationship between the gambler and the house!  Yet some people do gamble on the stock market.  They “play the market,” rather than invest in companies.  These are the folks who are in and out of the market based on their guesses as to whether it will rise or fall.  I address this in my blog article Wall Street and the Word of God: Is It Wrong to Invest in the Stock Market? 

Gambling has destroyed countless lives, encouraged crime and corruption, and blighted city neighborhoods.  Christians have the responsibility to honor and glorify God in all we do, and gambling mocks that lofty goal.

SOME GREAT READING FOR 2014!

Looking for some good books to curl up with on the couch during those cold winter evenings?  Maybe you like adventure stories.  Or is it history you like?  How about drama or romance?  Maybe philosophy, psychology, or inspirational writings appeal to you.

Whatever your preferences, let me recommend one volume that has it all:  The Bible. 

The Bible has been called God’s “Unfolding Drama of Redemption,” and that it is.  The Bible reveals the nature of God and his plan for mankind progressively through the ages.  The remarkable thing is that God used a broad variety of literary forms and authors to accomplish that task.  Here are some of the literary forms and subjects represented in the Bible:

Drama :           Job, Song of Solomon, Jonah

Romance:        Song of Solomon, Ruth

History:           Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, portions of                                 Isaiah and Jeremiah, Acts

Narrative:       Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Ruth, Esther, the Gospels, Acts

Poetry:            Psalms, selected passages from the Song of Solomon and the prophets

Prophecy:        The major and minor prophets, portions of the Gospels and Epistles, Revelation

Letters:           Epistles to churches, General Epistles, personal letters of Paul and John

Journals:         Ezra, Nehemiah, parts of Acts

Philosophy:     Ecclesiastes, Proverbs

Psychology:    Proverbs

Inspirational:  Psalms

Fiction:           (Yes, fiction, used to illustrate spiritual lessons) The Parables of Jesus and of                         some Old Testament prophets. 

 

In the Bible you will find literature that will keep you on the edge of your seat, stir up your indignation, or move you to tears.  I always get a lump in my throat when I read of Jacob’s reunion with his brother Esau (Genesis 33:1-4).  Ruth’s deep, unwavering devotion to her mother-in-law Naomi, and Boaz’s love for Ruth make that book an incomparable classic. 

When I want to reflect on life, to be challenged concerning my values, Solomon always comes through in his philosophical work, Ecclesiastes, and in his book of wisdom, Proverbs.  David and other psalmists give my heart and spirit a voice of prayer and praise, and Job helps me understand God and the reasons for suffering.

The Old Testament prophets inveigh against the same evils that plague our society today, and they offer hope of a new kingdom of righteousness through Messiah. That new hope is unveiled in the Gospels that tell of Messiah Jesus, and in the Epistles that illuminate the deep spiritual meaning of new life in Christ.  God’s plan is consummated in the Book of Revelation, which concludes with a stunning and highly symbolic description of the New Heaven and the New Earth.

It’s safe to say that you won’t find more compelling reading between two covers than you’ll find in the Bible.  I suggest that you read through it in 2014.  Get a translation that is “essentially literal,” that is, one that seeks to be faithful to the original words of Scripture.  Some essentially literal translations are the following:  The New American Standard Bible, the English Standard Version, the New King James Version, and (for those who can handle 17^th century English) the King James Version (still considered the most literary translation ever made).  I must also mention that the Geneva Bible is still in print, and it predates the King James Version.

I would also recommend that you read a few chapters in the Old Testament and one in the New every day.  That way you get a breath of grace to relieve some of the heaviness of the Old Covenant and the people’s constant waywardness and sin.

Let’s get into the adventure!  Start today!

CAN A CALVINIST EVANGELIZE?

The title question should be addressed to those Calvinists who in past centuries preached the gospel fearlessly and steadfastly in the face of ridicule and persecution. To those who carried the gospel to hostile lands and persevered in spite of trials that modern American Christians can scarcely imagine.

Can a Calvinist evangelize?

Let’s ask John Bunyan , the author of The Pilgrim's Progress and Grace Abounding to The Chief of Sinners. Bunyan was a tinker by trade, and therefore the established Church of England forbid him to preach. He preached anyway, and a small congregation of faithful believers was formed. For his persistence, Bunyan was repeatedly thrown into the Bedford Jail where he spent a total of twelve years! During one of those imprisonments John Bunyan penned his classic allegory of the Christian life that we know as The Pilgrim's Progress.

What is less known is that Bunyan’s prolific writing fills three thick, oversized volumes of tracts, poetry, books, stories, and Bible expositions. Throughout these works he expounds clearly and fully his Calvinistic theology.

How many of us have languished in prison for preaching the gospel?

Can a Calvinist evangelize?

 Now let’s ask George Whitefield, the 18th century evangelist whose open-air meetings attracted countless thousands of listeners both in England and America. Some estimate the converts from Whitefield’s ministry at nearly one million souls!

Whitefield’s open-air meetings often attracted hecklers and worse. Thugs would throw fruit, vegetables, and sometimes stones. One malicious fellow climbed a tree above where the evangelist was preaching and urinated on him.

How many of us would endure such opposition and keep on preaching?

Yet Whitefield made no secret of his Calvinistic convictions. Because of them, his once good friend, John Wesley, attacked his views in sermons and in print. Whitefield answered Wesley in an open letter entitled, “Why I Preach Electing Grace.” Whitefield correctly observed, “This letter no doubt will lose me many friends.”

So, can a Calvinist evangelize?

 Along with the intrepid George Whitfield, another staunchly Calvinistic preacher was used of God to spark the Great Awakening of the 1740s:
Jonathan Edwards. Edwards also wrote volumes of theological works and is considered by Christian and secular scholars alike to be one of America’s keenest thinkers.

Before delivering his monumental sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” Edwards prayed and fasted for three days. He was overheard crying out in prayer, “God give me New England!” The sovereign God of heaven and earth answered that prayer and revival broke out that changed the course of American history for over a century.

Can a Calvinist evangelize?

Ask William Carey who sailed off with his frail wife and young children to India without financial support. He settled on the disease invested banks of the Hooghli River.

His colleague, a medical doctor who could have contributed to the financial needs of the team, took off for Calcutta leaving Carey in the lurch.

But William Carey believed in a sovereign God, and that faith strengthened him to press on in spite of all obstacles. “Expect great things from God,” he wrote later, “and attempt great things for God.” For Carey, the order was clear: we must look to God before we can do anything for Him.

Dorothy Carey’s mental and emotional state steadily deteriorated until she had to be confined. Still Carey pressed on, opening new stations, publishing more literature, winning more souls.

Carey’s Calvinism, far from hindering his work, emboldened him to attempt every means at this disposal to further the gospel in India. He translated the Scriptures into many Eastern dialects, taught both college and grammar school, preached, printed tracts, books, and Scriptures, and published the first European-style newspaper in the Bengali language.

Carey’s multi-faceted ministry earned him the title, “Father of Modern Missions” and an honorary doctorate from Brown University in Rhode Island, even though he had never visited the United States!

Can Calvinists evangelize? 

Finally, we should ask the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul? How could he be a Calvinist? Well, because Calvin, like Augustine centuries before him, took his doctrine from Paul’s epistles. Paul's letter to the Romans, Chapter 9, expresses boldly the Apostle's conviction that a person's salvation does not depend upon human will, but upon God's sovereign mercy: "I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy," He says.

Jesus Himself made it very clear in John 6:44 –

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.

Can a Calvinist evangelize?

It is the assurance that God is sovereignly working to draw people to His Son that emboldens the evangelist to persevere in the face of all opposition.*

* (See Acts 18:9-10)

Copyright 2013 by Thomas L. Jones

LET PAUL BE PAUL

I’m sure you’ve known people whom you could identify solely by certain features of their speech.  When I enrolled in my senior high school English class, a former student of the teacher said, “Don’t let him utilize you.”  I thought that was a strange remark until, during a rather warm spring class period, that teacher looked at me and said, “Mr. Jones, could I utilize you to open a window?” I’ll always remember Mr. Daly by that word – utilize.

Certain authors are especially skilled at developing characters by their speech patterns.  John Grisham is one.  Those authors can record pages of dialog without a dialogue tag and we know just who is talking.  Bible writers have their peculiar expressions, too.  When the Holy Spirit moved upon the writers of Scripture, he guaranteed the result without destroying the writers’ style.  Yet that rich expression of individuality is all but obliterated in most modern translations because the translators (more accurately paraphrasers) felt they had to explain the meaning of the texts rather than faithfully convey the text itself with all the original authors’ stylistic words and phrases.

One important example is the Apostle Paul’s use of the Greek word for “flesh,” sarx, especially in the phrase “according to [the] flesh.”[1]  This is a common phrase in Paul’s writings; in fact, the exact phrase that Paul uses, kata sarka, “according to flesh,” is only found in Paul’s epistles.[2]  But the NIV translators seem to be repulsed by the word “flesh,” as though it were a cross in the face of a vampire! Using their license called “dynamic equivalency,” the translators interpret for the reader what they think Paul meant by the phrase “according to flesh” in its various contexts.  Here’s how they render it:

“as to his (Christ’s) human nature”  (Romans 1:3)

“according to the sinful nature” (Romans 8:4, 5, 12, 13)

“of my own race” (Romans 9:3)

“the human ancestry” (Romans 9:5)

“by human standards” (1 Corinthians 1:26)

“in a worldly manner” (2 Corinthians 1:17)

“from a worldly point of view” and “in this way” (2 Corinthians 5:16)

“by standards of this world” (2 Corinthians 10:2)

“as the world does” (2 Corinthians 10:3)

“in the way the world does” (2 Corinthians 11:18)

“in the ordinary way” (Galatians 4:23, 29)

“earthly” (Ephesians 6:5; Colossians 3:22)

How would anyone guess that these “translations” were of the same phrase in the original Greek? Not only do the translators completely obliterate this characteristic of Paul’s writing, but in so doing, they obscure some important biblical truths.  I am amused when I see advertisements for “exegetical” commentaries “based on the NIV”.  That seems to be akin to a literary analysis of Shakespeare’s Hamlet based on Cliff’s Notes! 

It’s time to end the dictatorship of the NIV and get back to what God actually said! Essentially literal translations, like the NKJV, ESV, and NASB, those that seek to be faithful to the words and expressions of the biblical authors, give us a window through which we may interact with God's Word as He inspired it. I urge everyone to procure one.[3]

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[1] Paul’s phrase is actually “according to flesh” in the Greek, but it is translated “according to the flesh” in essentially literal translations.

[2] Late manuscripts include the phrase in Acts 2:30, with variations, but that reading does not appear to be the original reading.  Even if it were to be accepted as original, the would be understandable that Paul’s companion, Luke, who wrote Acts would use the phrase.

[3]For an excellent discussion of the difference between Dynamic Equivalent and Essentially Literal translations I recommend the following: Choosing a Bible by Leland Ryken and the longer book, The Word of God in English: Criteria for Excellence in Bible Translation by Leland Ryken.