Praise you, Lord, that you are the God of communication, laying out before all mankind the message of your existence: the Almighty One who is there. As it says in Psalm 19:1,

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”

[Even in its fallen and twisted state, all creation shouts out that there is a good and wise Creator. Anyone honestly looking at the way things are, has to see that them as intentionally designed–made, not the result of chance. The beauty, the complexity, the rhythms of life, the power, the expanse—all speak of a Creator.
Psalm 19:2 “Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.”

[We are constantly surrounded with the message of the skies and stars, of birds and butterflies, ants and elephants, blooms and babies. Plan and purpose are everywhere, beauty abounds, colors bring joy–the happy yellow of a daffodil, the royal purple of an iris, the bright blue of the sky all shout, “There is a Creator and He is wise and wonderful, powerful and present!”]

Psalm 19:3,4 “There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” There is no one who has not heard about God, but are they responding to the message?

Starting today I will resume posting excerpts from my autobio on Sundays. Here’s the first one.

In 1993 we were due for a furlough, and this was also a natural juncture for us to leave the fellowship in the hands of the local believers. Our departure also seemed to be the right time to accept a position in the Overseas Department of the home office. The leadership of our company had been asking us to consider it for the past eight years.

We arrived at our new home in Eastern Pennsylvania during August of 1993. The house we moved into, owned by our company, was located in a nice middle class suburb.

What a contrast from the densely populated, heavily polluted city of Ankara! There had been ten times more people just in our one neighborhood of our other city than were in the whole county of our new location!

In another contrast, everything here was so green, lush and well kept as compared to the browns and greys of the Middle East—a gracious gift prepared by the Lord just for us.

Moving here also opened up new possibilities for the boys that were totally missing in our other home. First was some help in the transition into a new culture. The guidance counselor at their school met with us and warned the boys about two things that would help their transition into American high school.

“No one is going to be interested in where you’ve come from,” she said. “I was an army brat, living in Europe and other places; when I returned to the States for school, no one wanted to hear my stories. They won’t want to hear yours, either.”

She paused. “And keep away from watching too much TV, especially MTV. It’s not a healthy way to spend your time.” These were good points of advice and the boys took them to heart.

God’s second provision was through the high school cross-country coach. In our first visit to the city, Coach Hetrick came to the office to talk with Nat. He checked Nat’s shoes for wear to determine his running style, and talked about developing his abilities.

Nat had never run competitively, but was fast, and Mr. Hetrick picked up on this potential. He turned out to be not only a great coach for Nat, but became his mentor as well.

Running provided a niche for Nat and he was quickly accepted by the other runners, giving him an instant sense of belonging in this new environment.

He went on to excel, being named the best runner in the county his senior year and placing 8th in the Pennsylvania State Championships.

Nat’s performance inspired others to try running. In his freshman year there were only 6 male runners, but by his senior year ten percent of the entire student body of eight hundred were running cross-country.

Josh’s experience was very different. After finishing his sophomore year in the German school in Ankara, Josh had transferred to a boarding school for MKs in Germany for his junior year.

Now, his senior year would be spent in yet another high school. But the Lord provided just the right niches for Josh also, first in a singing group and later in the drama club. He even landed a major role in the main production for that year, an unusual accomplishment for a newcomer.

Josh was not afraid to speak up in class, which the teachers appreciated, since most of the other students didn’t find class participation cool. The fear of man ruled, but Josh ignored it. He also was not afraid to talk openly about his faith and was quickly dubbed as “God boy.”

During that year Josh, Nat and a couple of other MKs from our company started a student prayer group that has continued on after their departure for at least another fifteen years. It was usually led by an MK from our company.

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Is God fair? Part 2

As stated in part one, fairness, as defined in our age of tolerance, is that everyone should to get the same thing. In light of this, we have to answer the question, “Is God fair” with “No,” “Yes” and “No.” We looked at the first “No” in part one–God is not fair, in that He doesn’t give us what we deserve, rather He gives us mercy. Now we will look at this from another perspective.

“Yes, God is fair.” As you know, He has provided a way of salvation and in this we see His “fairness:” He gives the same potential to everyone. Here are several points of this fairness.

–In creating all human beings in His image, God bequeathed to all the same worth and possibility of relationships (Gen. 1:26,27).

–Jesus confirmed this worth when He died and provided the potential for salvation for all who have ever lived and ever will live. “Christ Jesus…gave himself as a ransom for all people.” (1 Tim 2:6, as well as 1John 2:2, Heb. 2:9, 4:10)

–We can only be saved by faith; this is true for everyone, no matter what his or her age, intelligence, education, religion, status, wealth, health, strength, home or family. It’s the same for all. (Eph. 2:8, Rom. 1:17)

–The Holy Spirit works in the life of every person in the whole world to convince each one of his or her need for Jesus as Savior. The Spirit “will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment…” (John 16:7-11).

–Every person has the revelation of God’s character in creation “…what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Rom. 1:19,20).

–God watches over each person, is aware of the heart condition of each, and loves each with the same great love. (Psalm 33:13-15, Psalm 145:10-16,)

–God has the same desire for everyone: that all be saved, although because of their unbelief, many will refuse His salvation. “God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” (1 Tim 2:4, also 2 Peter 3:9, John 1:7)

–God will condemn all sin, and anyone who clings to it rather than accepting His offer of grace and protection, will condemn themselves, along with the sin they chose and loved. (John 3:18)

In this non-exhaustive list of Scriptural points, God offers to all the same possibility of having eternal life, of becoming His child, of entering His Kingdom and Family and of receiving the same gifts and privileges He has for them. And the way to accept them is the same for all: by faith, a gift He also offers to all.

In His mercy God is fair in offering salvation to all, and I am thankful for it! This is the God we can trust wholeheartedly. Help us to do so today, Lord!

Is God fair? Part 1

Fairness, as defined in our age of “tolerance,” is that everyone should get the same thing, be given “what we deserve.” In light of this, when we ask the question, “Is God fair?” we have to answer the question, with “No,” “Yes” and “No.” We’ll look at the first answer today.

So, is God fair? “No!” If God were fully fair and gave us what we actually and naturally deserved, all people, as sin-twisted rebels, would immediately be sent to Hell. As the Word says, we are by nature children of wrath (Eph. 2:3), and in our natural selves there dwells no good thing (Rom 7:18).

Since God is righteous, He must punish sin–if He did not punish it, there would be no justice, with no hope of change for the good, and no solution to the problem of evil. Before a just God, we would naturally all go to Hell right now–if He acted only from fairness.

However, praise God, His character is not limited to the low and simplistic standard of being fair. Nor is He limited to being only righteous. He is also merciful (not giving us what we deserve), loving and full of grace (giving us the opposite of what we deserve). Therefore, in this area, He chooses not to be fair; that is, He does not give us what we deserve, but instead offers the possibility of pardon. A wonderful truth that gives us hope, meaning, life and a future.

Picture: Mercy (like these flowers) triumphs over justice (unyielding as the stone wall).