Volume 5, Issue 1

Newsletter Date April 18, 2013

CCW is the sole content of the author. If you have enjoyed this please forward without changing the content.

Christian Worldview Weekly

Follow me and others at: www.colsoncenter.org/the-center/columns/

STANDING IN THE GAP

The steadfast love of God endures all the day. 2 Your tongue plots destruction, View the world in love, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. Psalm 7:14 Behold, the wicked man conGregg 3 You love evil more than good, ceives evil and lying more than speaking what is right. Quote of the Week and is pregnant with mischief Selah and gives birth to lies. 4 You love all words that devour, "All that is 15 He makes a pit, digging it out, O deceitful tongue. and falls into the hole that he has made. necessary for 16 His mischief returns upon his own Listening to cable news can be haz- the triumph of head, ardous to your mental health. There evil is that and on his own skull his violence deis rarely good news and it seems the good men do scends. bad news situations are unPsalm 52:1 Why do you boast of evil, O preventable with no one looking for nothing." the solutions to the problems men mighty man? create. (Edmund Burke)
Continued on page 2
The Colson Corner Viewpoint: Who is the Stranger
http://www.colsoncenter.org/thecenter/columns/ viewpoint/19555-who-is-thestranger

Cable News Can Be Hazardous

Headline Story of the Week

considers suffering in the life of a Christian. The video is a little over four minutes long. In this excerpt from his In these difficult times teaching seies, Dealing Dr. Sproul explains how we should rewith Difficult Problems, Dr. R.C. Sproul spond and why good people suffer. Is there R.C. Sproul on Suffering and the Christian Life [Video] a correlation between suffering and disobedience? Hear the answer and the promise.
Click URL to complete story: http:// www.ligonier.org/blog/rc-sproul-sufferingchristian-life/argument-in-the-same-sex-

Change Point: Time Talented?

http://www.colsoncenter.org/ the-center/columns/ changepoint/19570-timetalented Devotion of the Week
The Gospel of Grace http://

marriage-debate

STANDING IN THE GAP CONTINUED

For example unemployment is up, more people than ever are on disability, those out of work are without hope of finding a job, 401ks are a disaster, personal freedoms are vanishing, murders are rampant, weather has become wicked, political correctness has destroyed our ability to debate, the world is so far in debt it will never recover, and fewer people than ever believe in the existence of God; and those who do question if God cares about His creation or is still around to fix the horrible mess we have created for ourselves. The question which keeps coming to my mind is why the leaders of the world seem to be oblivious to the problems they have helped to create and are unwilling to rectify them. I keep going over and over the news looking for some faint sign of hope which will demonstrate the leaders of the world really do care and want what is right. But unfortunately the more I look for hope the more I realize there is none to be had; at least none is to be found in the minds of men. I want stop short of believing that the people we have put into office dont care and they are doing evil with purpose. Thoughts like these cause great anguish and leaves me with the feeling we are all powerless to stop the downfall of all the good in the world. Then I read Psalms 7:14-16 and began to realize there truly are men who are pregnant with evil, creating birthing pains and suffering for everyone who crosses their paths. The psalmist tells us they are wicked liars and they go about conceiving evil and plotting how they will act out the iniquity of their hearts. God makes it plain to us they enjoy their scheming otherwise they would relent. Psalms 52 tells us their hearts are so hard they brag and boast of the destruction they leave in their paths. It is hard for people who want to do right to admit there are people who love evil more than they love good. Why? Because we find comfort in believing there are people who are committed to the truth and refuse to lie and cause chaos. Unfortunately the purpose of evil is to devour all that is good in the world by using the silver tongues of men to spew deceit and hate. Again I ask myself; why are their men who love wrong more than good? Isnt there a reward of joy for those who earnestly help their fellow man? There lies the problem; in our naivet we desperately want to believe the nature of their hearts is good, i.e. their core beliefs are virtuous and honorable. But the history of the world is filled with corrupt and evil leaders and regrettably they continue to infect world order with wickedness and no one or nothing seems to be able to stop them. The amazing perplexity it is if no one is looking and watching, or even caring about what is happening. Oh, we demand the politicians do something, anything to stop the mayhem. We yell and scream for action when little children are gunned down by some crazed psycho and when bombs disrupt our civility. But where are the screams and why have we all but forgotten about the politicians

and their governments which slaughtered 10s of millions of innocent people just in the last 100 years. When we forget the lessons of history we are bound to repeat it. We have to remember these murderers were the very people whom men went to looking for solutions to their problems. Like men from old did before us we seem to deceive ourselves into believing my man, the guy I supported wouldnt do such dastardly deeds. We convince ourselves that no matter how bad things get, it cant be his fault; after all he continually tells us it was worse than he realized and he only wants the best for the folks. But our guy is like the rest of us, evil to the core and will take advantage of apathy and ignorance whenever he can. Again therein lays the quandary, we think of ourselves as basically good natured people; but people who believe they are good can only see the good which dwells in others, if there is any to be seen. Believing man to be evil by nature is anathema to our thinking. Enough about how we deceive ourselves; the question is where do we find hope? The Psalmist tells us the mischief makers will eventually fall into the pit of their own evil making. He goes on to say the evil makers mischief will return on their own heads and their skulls will be crushed. Is it false hope to rely on God to bring

down the evil makers of the world? Did the Psalmist of long ago live in a world of idealism where he falsely sought some sense of a consolation of hope? No, no, no! This is not idealistic poetry of a day dreamer wishing things would get better. This is Gods word telling us we are not forgotten and He will bring evil to its own demise. We should believe in this hope for two reasons. First the history of man has shown us the evil of this world eventually comes to its own ruin. God rises up someone for a short period of time and quenches the fires of hate and destruction. In the last century men like Churchill and Roosevelt stood in the gap and lead the world through the horrors of WWII to extinguish the flames of Nazism and Fascism. Unfortunately millions died because they didnt have the means to defend themselves. But more importantly they died because they did not see potential of the awful evil which lies in the hearts of men. Thus the hope discovered in history is the lessons it teaches; but only if we will listen and learn. The second reason we have hope is found in Psalms 52:1a where God tells us His love endures all the day. The psalmist is giving us the promise of Gods love even in times such as these, when there seems to be little or no hope.
More on nest page

Visit gocomics for a great selection of your favorite comic strips.

http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes

People often ask why we should study the history of the Jewish people found in the Old Testament. The reason is found in Gods love for His people and how He continually delivers them from the evil of this world. God does this over and over demanding nothing from us except our love for Him in return. But as long as Gods people sit in the luxury of their personal salvation caring modestly about the plight of the world, evil will rage on with its lies and devastation. The truths all men must come to grips with are; man is evil by nature and will continue to plot to destroy and maim. But it is hard to define which is the greatest evil; men who enjoy doing evil, or men who say they hate evil but do nothing about it. There is a saying, evil flourishes when good men do nothing. The second great truth is, God loves us and will redeem His people when they turn from their evil ways to Him. But as long as we tolerate evil we credit ourselves with condoning what we claim to hate. Toleration and excusing evil then becomes passive participation. How can we expect God to bless us with hope when we sit by with little concern and watch good be overcome by evil? You might be asking what can we do and what should we do next? But who am I to tell you what needs to be done; all us are familiar with enough truth to know right from wrong. The real question is, are there people with the desire, who have the willingness and the courage to do what needs to be done? History says yes and I believe our time is no different than the times of the past. You can be the next person to stand in the gap bringing good to bear against evil. You can be the person demanding justice. You can do this in your household, in

your neighborhood, in your community, and in the world. God honors those who seek His righteousness. Please respond with a comment on how you intend to stand in the gap. If you dont feel the need for action let us know why you dont and what you think needs to be done next, if anything.

Running Toward Chaos

Making the Invisible Kingdom Visible
Eric Metaxas April 18, 2013

Scarcely a day goes by without yet another reminder of the ancient Roman phrase, Homo homini lupus est: man is a wolf to his fellow man. The terrible bombing at the finish line of the Boston Marathonwhich, at the time of this recording, killed three people, including an eight-year-old boy, and injured at least 140 othersis just the latest graphic piece of evidence. And the bombing is also further proofas if we needed moreof what Christian writer Ed Stetzer calls the brokenness in our fallen world. Yet Christians know that this is, at best, an incomplete depiction of man. Fallen men are capable of incredibleor, perhaps, all-toocrediblecruelty towards each other. But even in our fallen state, we are capable of just the opposite: overcoming evil with good.

If you are receiving this and wish not to, email cuddysark@gmail.com and put unsubscribe CWW in the subject line. If you have received this as a forward and wish to get it regularly, send an email with the words subscribe CWW in the subject line.

As one of my colleagues pointed out, one of the most striking and certainly the most moving images coming out of Boston was of people rushing forward toward the sites of the explosions to help the injured. The Archbishop of Boston, Sean OMalley, spoke for many of us when he said that the citizens of the City of Boston and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts are blessed by the bravery and heroism of many, particularly the men and women of the police and fire departments and emergency services who responded within moments of these tragic events. But it wasnt only those in uniform. Carlos Arredondo, a peace activist whose son was killed in Iraq, became a national hero when he jumped over the security fence and started helping the injured. And he wasnt the only civilian who ran towards the chaos when common sense dictated running away from it. Watching the coverage, another colleague was not only inspired by the actions of those who rushed to the aid of the injured but also saw in their actions a metaphor of what it means to be the Church in a broken and fallen world. As Ed Stetzer wrote, its not enough for Christians merely to recognize that the world isnt what it ought to be and that people are suffering in ways they shouldnt have to suffer. Instead, our sorrow and indignation should prompt us to act in ways that subvert that brokenness. Our task is to work to make this world more as God would intend it to bewith justice, peace, and more. Or as Chuck Colson used to put it, our task is to make the invisible Kingdom visible.

Chuck loved to tell the story of how, when the great plagues struck ancient Rome and the doctors fled the city, Christians stayed behind and cared for the sick, even though as a result some contracted the plague themselves and died. They saw this as part of what it meant to be Gods people in a suffering world. As a result of their witness, many pagans became Christians because they saw in this sacrificial love something that paganism could not offer. That something was the invisible Kingdom now made visible. Think of Mother Theresa. While other people abandoned the sick and dying of Calcutta, she embraced them. In doing so, she and her Missionaries of Charity made the invisible Kingdom visible one dying person at a time. Every time Prison Fellowship volunteers reach out to a different kind of pariahprisoners they announce that this worlds brokenness is not final. God is at work setting things right. One day, because of the resurrection of Jesus, it will all be set right. But for now, we keep running toward the chaos making visible to the world the invisible Kingdom of God that will one day fill the whole earth.

Site of the Week

http://www.xenos.org/classes/ schaeffer/index.htm