Jump Start # 3537

Psalms 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who is good.”

I ran across a little book the other day titled, “1001 Dumbest things ever said.” The title alone is enough to grab the attention of the curious. Here’s a few samplings:

• A zebra cannot change its spots.
• Why did they build the ruins so close to the road?
• Include your children when baking cookies.

  Of course, this made me wonder about dumb things said in the Bible. Now, understand, nothing God says is dumb. God’s word is right, pure and accurate. However, the Bible quotes the statements of men that are dumb.

For instance:

• Nebuchadnezzar: ”Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by my might of my power and for the glory of my majesty” (Dan 4:30)
• Nebuchadnezzar: “What god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” (Dan 3:15b)
• The rich farmer: “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have many good laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry” (Lk 12:19)
• The Jews: “He has a demon and is insane. Why do you listen to Him?” (Jn 10:20)

Our verse today, where the fool says ‘there is no God’ must rank near the top of all time dumb things said. And, yet that dumb statement is repeated over and over and expressed in universities, publications, social media and in the way people live.

That statement is dumb because:

First, it ignores the obvious evidence of God’s presence in the world. The Romans were told, “…His divine attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made” (Rom 1:20). Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them” (Mt 6:26).

Every Spring the world comes alive with trees budding, flowers blooming and it’s a reminder of resurrection over and over. Yet, the fool says, there is no God.

Second, if there is no God, as the fool declares, what’s the alternative? Nature? Evolution? Chance? It just happens? No wisdom. No planning. No design. These things just happen. It just happens that mankind is at the top of the world and not a fish or a pig. Really?

Third, as our verse continues, saying there is no God leads to corrupt and broken lives. No accountability. No standard. No rules. Just do whatever makes you happy. And, we are seeing this in the streets of America today. Chaos. Lawlessness. Crime. Remove God and you remove the reason to be decent, honest and serving.

Fourth, just saying something doesn’t make it so. One can declare there is no God, but that does not mean the Lord goes away. He’s still there. And, many a fool will find out how dumb this statement really is when they must stand before the Lord in judgment.

Dumb things. The more I thought about that, I wondered what would compel someone to put that list together. Why not a collection of “smartest things ever said,” or, “the most helpful things ever said.” Better yet, “The most spiritual things said,” or, “the most encouraging things said.” Now that would be a list.

Dumb things come from people not thinking.

Roger

Jump Start # 2055

Psalms 14:1 “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.”

His name was Martin Jenners. He died 99 years ago. Born in a log cabin in Indiana, he made his living by painting carriages. He was one of the best in the area. He, like most of his generation, would have passed on in obscurity, except for one thing. His grave is one of the most visited ones in the entire state. Fourteen years before Jenners died he had his tombstone erected at Lafayette’s Spring Vale cemetery. This stone caused such a commotion that those owning lots nearby demanded that it be taken down. The cemetery board said there were no rules against what he had done.

On his tombstone, it reads, “My only objection to religion is that is it not true.” Then there are two passages cited on the stone: 1 Cor 15:52 and Isa 26:14. This was Jenners proof that religion was not true.

The Corinthian passage says that the dead shall rise. The Isaiah passage says, “they are dead, they will not live; they are shades, they will not arise…”

At the bottom of Jenners’ gravestone it reads, “No preaching, no praying, no psalm singing permitted on this lot.”

And, our verse today says, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” For nearly 100 years, Jenners has made his declaration and stance with other fools who have denied the existence of God. Turning their backs on Jesus, they die in their sins without forgiveness or hope. What he thought was a contradiction is not. The context of the Isaiah passage is taking about rulers who will no longer rule. God would end their rule and they will not rule again. The eternal status of the soul is not under discussion. What was dead, in the Isaiah passage, was their ability to oppress God’s people. Babylon was coming to an end and they would not rise up again. That’s the idea. Corinthians is dealing with the individual soul. We will be resurrected.

Not grasping the background of the Bible, it is easy for people to construct what they believe are undeniable contradictions. Their conclusions, without any proof, is that the Bible was written and edited and put together by man. Which men? When? Why? They do not know. How does the Bible tell about things that were not common knowledge? How is there a single consistent thread running all through the Bible? How is it accurate with sciences, history, geography and in areas that ancient writers would not have complete knowledge in? How is it that no other book compares to the Bible? How is it that there were witnesses to Jesus Christ? How is it that there is evidence of a world wide flood throughout the world?

Then, where did we come from? If there is no God, is matter eternal? Modern evolutionists would have us believe that all the right ingredients came together in a primeval pond. And energy, from an explosion, a bolt of lightning, with just the right amount of power caused these ingredients to be stirred and the first forms of life began. Don’t ask where the ingredients came from. Don’t ask how did they all come together at the right moment. Don’t ask how and where did the energy force come from. Don’t ask how did life come from non-life. Sprinkle in billions of years and here we are today. Getting up and going to work, raising families and understanding that shooting people isn’t a good thing to do. Where did morality come from? Fruits and vegetables don’t tell us to be nice.

Finding a couple of verses that seem opposite is a quick and easy way to dismiss our responsibilities and obligations toward God. But it doesn’t answer the where’s and the why’s and the how’s of life. If we are nothing more than a billion years removed from a rock, why is killing someone else wrong? Animals do it all the time. Why do we honor our dead by burying them in cemeteries? Road kill is left on the road.

People don’t like the idea of God. They don’t understand God. They think the problem of suffering is proof that there is no God. If there was a God, He’d stop all suffering. They don’t understand God. Without God, what’s the point? What a dull, lifeless life this is. We are on our own and there is no one to help us. And, this is as good as it gets, if there is no God. The tenants of economic socialism are built around the concept that there is no God.

Logic, science, Biblical proof, external natural evidences all point back to Jehovah. There is a God! We need to be thankful to Him. We need to know Him. We need to be obedient to Him. Poor Mr. Jenners could have found the answers to why those verses do not seem to fit. I wonder what questions we have. I wonder if we are allowing those questions to eat away at our faith or if we are seeking to find the answers. Doubting Thomas, as we call him, stayed around the apostles for a week until he saw Jesus for himself. He wasn’t with critics and deniers. He was with the believers. Don’t you expect he was asking them questions. Don’t you think he was listening over and over. When Jesus appears, he knows. He fed his faith and not his doubts. He sought answers. He didn’t allow his questions to conquer him.

James Jewell, reporting about the unique Jenners grave stone in 1985 said, “visitors to the site will notice only splotches of grass dot the plot. No grass has ever grown on the grave.” How interesting.

I have visited this grave several times. On many occasions I have taken other Christians with me. And, yes, we did sing and pray while on his lot. I fondly remember singing, “There is a God.” I know the Lord heard us. I expect Jenners now wishes he could have joined with us in that song.

Roger

Jump Start # 1927

Psalms 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.”

The fool has said. The fool declares. The fool is wrong. What an interesting and revealing statement, ’The fool has said in his heart…” The word “Fool” is one of the strongest and most condemnable words God uses towards a person. We remember in Luke’s Gospel, the farmer who was going to tear down his barns and build larger ones. He died that night. God declared, ‘You fool. This very night your soul is required of you.” You fool. Here in our verse today, the word ‘fool’ comes from the Hebrew word Nabal, the name of the man who was married to Abigail. She called her husband a worthless man. He was a man of folly.

There are some things for us to note about the fool who declares that there is no God.

• The fool who says this is ignoring evidence all around him. His eyes are closed. There are questions he cannot answer. The heavens declare the handiwork of God. The gentiles were said to be “without excuse” for not knowing God through his creative world. Paul said that these things were “clearly seen.” More than that, how does the fool explain the Bible. A product of man? Really? Legends and stories that have been edited and strung together. Really? Where’s that proof? Why have people died believing this book? Why has this book so shaped the thinking of man, governments, the arts, music, literature as no other book has? How does the fool explain fulfilled prophecy? How does the fool explain the references to things in the natural world that were not known until modern times? The fool declares his ignorance.

• The fool isn’t dumb. It’s easy to put the two together. But the fool who declares that there is no God may well have several academic degrees. He may have authored books. He may lecture at prominent universities. He may be well known. He may have a following. He may be on TV often. His name may be a household name. Yet, he is still a fool because he declares there is no God. All his learning has not helped him to know the Lord. He has mastered in the very things that destroy faith.

• This fool most times influences others, especially if he is a professor at a university. His closed eyes have led others to closing their eyes. His misunderstanding of the Bible has led him to conclude that God does not exist, because if He did, the world would be a better place. He doesn’t understand sin. He doesn’t understand the consequences of sin. He doesn’t understand that he is part of the problem in all of this. He proudly believes that matter is eternal, even though there is no proof of that. Without any explanation, he believes things started moving and all the elements were lined up at the right moment for a big bang to take place that started all of the evolutionary models. What he can’t answer is “Who was the big banger?” How did these things just get lined up and started? Like the ole’ pied piper, thousands dance to the song that the fool plays.

• The theology of the fool is do whatever makes you happy. Transgender, same-sex marriage, abortion, suicide, all of these fit easily into the thinking of someone who has no responsibility to anyone else. If there is no God then ultimately there are no rules. Do what you want. Nothing is ever wrong. Truth is never absolute. This sounds awesome for a world that leans toward the selfish side of life. Drink it if you want. Smoke it if you want. Do whatever you want. Get all you can get and do all you can do. In the theology of a fool, we are not much different than a dog and when we die, that’s it.

For the Hollywood set and the elite, that flourishes in riches, this foolish gospel is what they live for. But for everyone else, it is a life of misery. This is as good as it gets? We struggle. We suffer. What is there to hope for? What is there to live for? The life of the common fool is long, hard and without much to look forward to. It ends in a nursing home and a few friends that show up at the funeral and that’s it. What’s the point? What’s the purpose? The fool doesn’t know.

• The fool will find out five minutes after he has died that he was truly a fool. He will know that Jesus was right. He will know that the Bible spoke the truth. He will know that eternity is real and it’s so different than here. And, he will know that he is responsible for where he is. It will be too late for the fool to change. The footprints that he has left will lead others to follow in his same foolish ways. Too proud to admit he was wrong. Too smart to need God. Too intellectual for the Bible. After he dies, he will see what a fool he has been. What a mistake he made. What a wasted life he lived. He didn’t have to die like a fool. He didn’t have to be cast away from God forever. But his hard heart and closed ears refused to consider anything else. He lived thinking he was on top of the world. He lived mocking those who believed in God. He loved to point out the failures of Christians. He loved to discredit the Bible. Now, he would take it all back. Too late. Too late to warn others. Too late to save himself. What a fool he was.

• Because the fool says, does not mean that he is right. He is not right. The evidence against him is huge. Not only is he not right, because the fool says, does not mean we need to give him a listening ear. The fool will use social media to proclaim his foolishness. He will line up friends to stack the deck against the believer. He will find safety in numbers. The fool isn’t right and the fool doesn’t need to be listened to.

Life without God seems like freedom for many people. But “no God,” means we are on our own. It means there is nothing beyond us to help us. It means this is it. Life without God is sad. There is no one to pray to. There is nothing beyond the grave to hope for. It is a long struggle that ends in nothingness.

I like the story of a guy who went to the funeral of an atheist. He looked in the casket and said, “He’s all dressed up with no place to go.” That’s the thinking of the fool. But the Bible says otherwise. Believe it or not, death isn’t the end. There are things much worse than dying and that’s being thrown into eternity without God. No prayers. No comfort. No hope. Nothing but punishment.

The fool has said. Maybe it’s time for the fool to stop talking and do some listening. Maybe it’s time for the fool to ask some real questions. Maybe it’s time for the fool to look into the Bible and think for himself. It’s time for the fool to declare that the Lord is God. Then and only then, will he stop being a fool.

Roger

Jump Start # 1138

Psalms 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.”

  The words from this old, old Psalm seem alive and fresh today. The arrogant and offensively opinionated opposition to things decent and right seem to be on the rise. Stand up for God and one will be the target of tons of hate emails and posts on facebook. Our county is being pulled to polar opposites in politics, ideology and beliefs about morality and decency. A Baptist church in the Louisville area proudly announced that they will conduct same-sex marriages. The fact that a church from the Baptist background took that position is surprising. Grabbing headlines. Free PR. Edgy. Attracting people more interested in same sex marriage than God. Why stop there? Why not announce that they are going to support and condone marriages between 50 year old men and 14 year old girls? Why not support a man marrying 3 women at the same time? Why not marry a woman and her dog? Some will say, “that’s sick.” It’s not, once God is tossed out of the discussion, the Bible is closed and we do what ever we want. It will happen sooner or later.

A society without God becomes drunk on pushing the limits of wrong. Drugs are in. Abortion is in. But God is out. Our passage shows the natural bridge from corrupt and abominable deeds and a denial of God. Without God, every person becomes their own judge. Without God guilt is removed and wrong becomes right. Without God, our times do not become better but worse. More self centeredness. More apathy toward others.  More misery. Less optimism and hope. More greed. More materialism. Shallow thinking. Superficial relationships. The worship of image and style.

I once thought that the extreme liberal theology and ideology was held by a few powerful movers in Washington and Hollywood. I don’t anymore. I believe the influence has affected many. Many have drunk from those poisoned waters and now fallen prey to the mindless arrogance of liberalism. It’s hard to imagine that people actually believe tossing God out of society is a good thing. It’s hard to imagine that they believe legalizing drugs will be good for a nation. That’s where we are at. The extreme liberal thinking is spreading into all areas of life. There will be more and more ads and commercials featuring homosexual couples, because that is being accepted as “normal.” More nudity is finding it’s way on TV. The censors are going to sleep and allowing more and more filthy words to be aired.

These folks are happy, happy, happy, that they don’t have God in their life. Later this week, I go to bury a friend. He was not like this. Not at all. He believed with all his heart. His funeral will be filled with Scripture, hope and faith—the foundations of my friends life. Tears will be shed, but not in despair and anger. We miss but we know. We know, by faith that he lives. We know by faith that he dwells with God. We know by faith that he is doing well.

What do those who toss God out do at funerals? I can tell you. Years ago I bought a set of books that were stuffed full of articles and newspapers clippings. I bought the books just to get all the things stuffed in them. Among the items was a newspaper clipping, from 1899, reporting on the funeral of the great Robert Ingersoll. He was a famed politician and arrogantly ridiculed religion and belief in God. He willed that at his funeral, no Bible was to be read, no prayers said no hymns sung. And thus it happened just that way. The newspaper report of the funeral said it was most strange thing the writer ever witnessed. Purely secular, just as Ingersoll wanted. But the end of the article was most telling. The funeral was over and it was time to bury the body. Ingersoll’s wife and two daughters clung to the body. They refused to release him to the grave. This continued through the night and into the next day. Having no hope of seeing him again. Having no hope of the eternal. Those that deny God come to the reality of their beliefs that death is the end. The cemetery is as far as the journey goes. In those dark moments, there is no one to appeal to. There is no compassion. There is no hope. Only the blackness of despair awaits those have lived without God. This is how their belief system ends. It’s an ugly picture.

There must be a call to reason and hope. Evidence must be sounded forth that God is. The righteous of God must stand up, speak out and call forth the Gospel message. “Ring it out,” is a hymn for God’s people. The nation will continue to be more and more secular. Fewer and fewer people today crack open a Bible. A generation has come that never darkens a church building and never has a spiritual thought. It’s all about today. Tomorrow never enters their mind. Consequences, decisions and hope are not thought of because they involve thinking beyond today. You will find more and more people whose only concept of Noah is from a movie that is fictional. We live with people who do not know God. These are teaching times for God’s people. It’s time to quit fussing about ourselves and get busy teaching the world. God needs you to be his voice, hands and feet this day.

The fool says there is no God. The righteous know differently. They know, believe and live with God every day. That difference, is all the difference in this world, and the next.

Roger

Jump Start # 369

Psalms 14:1 “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds. There is no one who does good.”

   The designation of a  “fool” is the strongest language in the Bible. In the book of Proverbs there are many contrasts between the fool and the wise man. The fool is called lazy. The fool doesn’t live beyond the present. The fool is constantly in trouble.

  In the gospels, Jesus told the story about the farmer who wanted to tear down his barns and build larger barns. His intentions were to sit back and relax. He never included God in his plans. He lived as if he was always going to live. He died that very night. God called him, “a fool.” In the story of the ten virgins, the five who ran out of oil and had to go and buy some and missed the groom and missed the wedding were called, foolish.

  To be called a fool by God is about as bad as it gets. Our passage reveals the declaration of the fool. He says in his heart, or we would say, “he thinks to himself,” yet God hears him. He proclaims that there is no God. Now why would someone do that?

 Could it be that his eyes have been closed all through life and he has refused to see the actions and words of God? Does not nature point to God? Does not life yearn to find someone outside of us? How does the fool ignore these things? How can he not see them?

  Maybe, he has experienced trials and troubles in life and he cannot accept that there is a God, if injustice abounds. If there is a God, he reasons and thinks, then life ought to be good, troubles few, and calm waters to sail upon. But life isn’t like this. Not at all. It seems we go from one crisis to another. There are always issues, problems and things hanging around that irritate, mess up and generally ruin a good day. If there is a God, where is He? The easiest explanation is to say, “there is no God.”

  Perhaps, as the rest of the passage indicates, this person is engaged in wrong behavior. Guilt would make him stop. Instead, he denies God. With God out of the picture, the things associated with God are gone as well. If there is no God, then the Bible can’t be from Him. If there is no God, there cannot be a judgment, nor a Heaven or a Hell. They can’t exist because the fool thinks God doesn’t exist. And if God doesn’t exist, this is it. There is no life after death. There is nothing after death.

  The thinking of a fool is foolish. He has no proof. He has no leg to stand upon. He reasons from his foolish mind. Although he is called a fool, don’t for a moment assume that he is dumb. He’s not. He’s well educated, well trained, and lives in a world in which all around him do not believe in God. The fool writes books and produces documentaries that deny God. Worse than the fool who utters these things, is the person that listens to the fool and is convinced that the fool is right. Some how the fool always gets an audience. His prideful boasts sounds of assurance, confidence and evidence. The reality is he is opinionated, arrogant, closed minded and prejudiced. The fool convinces those who will not think for themselves. The fool preys upon those who will not take the time to think, study and reason for themselves. The arguments of the fool sound right. It seems he is right.

  The fool fails in that he has not proven any of this theories. God is. God has proven Himself. The fool is left with empty ideas, unproven claims and a life that is void of hope, grace, and a future. Living in denial about God does not make God disappear. God is—whether we believe it or not. Paul told the Thessalonians not to grieve as others do who have no hope. There is a hope, even in death for the Christian. Heaven awaits.

  Because a fool states something emphatically, does not mean it is so. While the fool is certain there is no God, the child of God declares that God is. Unlike the fool, the child of God has proof. The Bible for one—explain that book, it’s unity, it’s accuracy, it’s history, it’s specific prophecies fulfilled. Only one explanation—God. The heavens declare the handiwork of God, the book of Psalms says. Look around—see the beauty, the complexity, the order in the world. There is only one explanation—God. Look at the design of things—God. Look at the desire of mankind to worship, found in all civilizations—God. Look at the innate sense of right and wrong—God.

  The fool says, “nope. There’s no God.” He’s a fool. He doesn’t get it. He doesn’t want to get it. He may mock those who believe in God, but he’s the one to be pitied, living alone and with sin in his life, with a loving God who wants to forgive him, help him, and include him in Heaven, right there. Just open your eyes. Just open the book.

  Don’t be like that! You know better!

Roger