- This is part of a series on the theme of character. -

Think about the people you know and admire. Do you know any wise parents, mothers and fathers who demonstrate sound judgment in how they conduct their lives and raise their children? Do you know any grandparents who know when to cheer and when to rebuke, when to be tender and when to use force? Have you ever had a teacher who knew when to give advice and when to just listen, when to instruct and when to let life’s consequences be the teacher? Now try to put a value on those wise insights. How much are they worth?

We all esteem people who possess wisdom in their inward character. If we admire these quality people, how much more should we value the perfection of the living God from whom all wisdom, patience and discernment is derived?

When Moses asked God to reveal his glory to him, the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence” (Exodus 33:18-19). God had to shield Moses from the fullness of his glory by covering him in the cleft of a rock, and as he passed in front of Moses, God accompanied this awesome display by proclaiming the perfection of his own character:

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

Exodus 34:6-7

• Learning to value the perfection of the living God from whom all wisdom, patience and discernment is derived.

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O Lord, give me the wisdom of spiritual remembrance so that I will never take the riches of Your grace and goodness for granted. Remind me to recall all of Your many benefits and blessings over the years and to realize frequently how much You have done for me. You have carried me through difficult passages. You have comforted me in times of despair. You have encouraged me when I was despondent. You have given me hope when all seemed lost. You have blessed me with freedoms, friends and opportunities that I never deserved. As I review Your benefits in the past, let me also reflect on Your process in my present and on Your prospects for my future. In light of all this, I can fully affirm that Your will for me is good and acceptable and perfect. May this gratitude of remembrance give me perspective and peace in the present moment.

• Develop the habit of recalling your benefits and blessings on a daily basis.

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Here is a clear and cogent response to Stephen Hawking’s new book that attempts to explain the universe without God.

John Lennox is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science.

As a scientist I’m certain Stephen Hawking is wrong. You can’t explain the universe without God

By Professor John Lennox  <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Professor+John+Lennox+>

According to Stephen Hawking, the laws of physics, not the will of God, provide the real explanation as to how life on Earth came into being

There’s no denying that Stephen Hawking is intellectually bold as well as physically heroic. And in his latest book, the renowned physicist mounts an audacious challenge to the traditional religious belief in the divine creation of the universe.

According to Hawking, the laws of physics, not the will of God, provide the real explanation as to how life on Earth came into being. The Big Bang, he argues, was the inevitable consequence of these laws ‘because there is a law such as gravity, the universe can and will create itself from nothing.’

Unfortunately, while Hawking’s argument is being hailed as controversial and ground-breaking, it is hardly new.

For years, other scientists have made similar claims, maintaining that the awesome, sophisticated creativity of the world around us can be interpreted solely by reference to physical laws such as gravity.

It is a simplistic approach, yet in our secular age it is one that seems to have resonance with a skeptical public.

But, as both a scientist and a Christian, I would say that Hawking’s claim is misguided. He asks us to choose between God and the laws of physics, as if they were necessarily in mutual conflict.

But contrary to what Hawking claims, physical laws can never provide a complete explanation of the universe. Laws themselves do not create anything, they are merely a description of what happens under certain conditions.

What Hawking appears to have done is to confuse law with agency. His call on us to choose between God and physics is a bit like someone demanding that we choose between aeronautical engineer Sir Frank Whittle and the laws of physics to explain the jet engine.

To use a simple analogy, Isaac Newton’s laws of motion in themselves never sent a snooker ball racing across the green baize. That can only be done by people using a snooker cue and the actions of their own arms.

Hawking’s argument appears to me even more illogical when he says the existence of gravity means the creation of the universe was inevitable. But how did gravity exist in the first place? Who put it there? And what was the creative force behind its birth?

Similarly, when Hawking argues, in support of his theory of spontaneous creation, that it was only necessary for ‘the blue touch paper’ to be lit to ’set the universe going’, the question must be: where did this blue touch paper come from? And who lit it, if not God?

Much of the rationale behind Hawking’s argument lies in the idea that there is a deep-seated conflict between science and religion. But this is not a discord I recognise.

For me, as a Christian believer, the beauty of the scientific laws only reinforces my faith in an intelligent, divine creative force at work. The more I understand science, the more I believe in God because of my wonder at the breadth, sophistication and integrity of his creation.

The very reason science flourished so vigorously in the 16th and 17th centuries was precisely because of the belief that the laws of nature which were then being discovered and defined reflected the influence of a divine law-giver.

One of the fundamental themes of Christianity is that the universe was built according to a rational, intelligent design. Far from being at odds with science, the Christian faith actually makes perfect scientific sense.

Some years ago, the scientist Joseph Needham made an epic study of technological development in China. He wanted to find out why China, for all its early gifts of innovation, had fallen so far behind Europe in the advancement of science.

He reluctantly came to the conclusion that European science had been spurred on by the widespread belief in a rational creative force, known as God, which made all scientific laws comprehensible.

Despite this, Hawking, like so many other critics of religion, wants us to believe we are nothing but a random collection of molecules, the end product of a mindless process.

This, if true, would undermine the very rationality we need to study science. If the brain were really the result of an unguided process, then there is no reason to believe in its capacity to tell us the truth.

We live in an information age. When we see a few letters of the alphabet spelling our name in the sand, our immediate response is to recognise the work of an intelligent agent. How much more likely, then, is an intelligent creator behind the human DNA, the colossal biological database that contains no fewer than 3.5 billion ‘letters’?

It is fascinating that Hawking, in attacking religion, feels compelled to put so much emphasis on the Big Bang theory. Because, even if the non-believers don’t like it, the Big Bang fits in exactly with the Christian narrative of creation.

That is why, before the Big Bang gained currency, so many scientists were keen to dismiss it, since it seemed to support the Bible story. Some clung to Aristotle’s view of the ‘eternal universe’ without beginning or end; but this theory, and later variants of it, are now deeply discredited.

But support for the existence of God moves far beyond the realm of science. Within the Christian faith, there is also the powerful evidence that God revealed himself to mankind through Jesus Christ two millennia ago. This is well-documented not just in the scriptures and other testimony but also in a wealth of archaeological findings.

Moreover, the religious experiences of millions of believers cannot lightly be dismissed. I myself and my own family can testify to the uplifting influence faith has had on our lives, something which defies the idea we are nothing more than a random collection of molecules.

Just as strong is the obvious reality that we are moral beings, capable of understanding the difference between right and wrong. There is no scientific route to such ethics.

Physics cannot inspire our concern for others, or the spirit of altruism that has existed in human societies since the dawn of time.

The existence of a common pool of moral values points to the existence of transcendent force beyond mere scientific laws. Indeed, the message of atheism has always been a curiously depressing one, portraying us as selfish creatures bent on nothing more than survival and self-gratification.

Hawking also thinks that the potential existence of other lifeforms in the universe undermines the traditional religious conviction that we are living on a unique, God-created planet. But there is no proof that other lifeforms are out there, and Hawking certainly does not present any.

It always amuses me that atheists often argue for the existence of extra-terrestrial intelligence beyond earth. Yet they are only too eager to denounce the possibility that we already have a vast, intelligent being out there: God.

Hawking’s new fusillade cannot shake the foundations of a faith that is based on evidence.

God’s Undertaker: Has science Buried God? by John Lennox is out now (Lion Hudson, £8.99).

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1308599/Stephen-Hawking-wrong-You-explain-universe-God.html#ixzz0yabn9HCT <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1308599/Stephen-Hawking-wrong-You-explain-universe-God.html#ixzz0yabn9HCT>

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- This is part of a series that has been adapted from my study of A. W. Tozer’s spiritual classic, The Pursuit of God. -

Tozer confesses: “I have one fear: that I may convince the mind before God can win the heart. For this God-above-all position is one not easy to take. The mind may approve it while not having the consent of the will to put into effect.” That is, it is possible for your mind to go along with a decision for which your heart is not quite ready. Tozer well understood human tendencies when he wrote, “While the imagination races ahead to honor God, the will may lag behind and the man must make the decision before the heart can know any real satisfaction. God wants the whole person and he will not rest until he gets us in entirety. No part of man will do.”

Your Prayer

Tozer concludes chapter 8 of The Pursuit of God with the following words: “God will unveil his glory before his servant’s eyes, and he will place all his treasures at the disposal of such a one, for he knows that his honor is safe in such consecrated hands.”

Are you ready for God to consecrate the hands of your heart? If so, he’s willing to entrust to those hands his greatest treasures. This prayer is a good place to start:

“O God, be thou exalted over my possessions. Nothing of earth’s treasures shall seem dear unto me if only thou art glorified in my life. Be thou exalted over my friendships. I am determined that thou shalt be above all, though I must stand deserted and alone in the midst of the earth. Be thou exalted above my comforts. Though it mean the loss of bodily comforts and the carrying of heavy crosses, I shall keep my vow made this day before thee. Be thou exalted over my reputation. Make me ambitious to please thee even if as a result I must sink into obscurity and my name be forgotten as a dream. Rise, O Lord, into thy proper place of honor, above my ambitions, above my likes and dislikes, above my family, my health and even my life itself. Let me sink that thou mayest rise above.

Ride forth upon me as thou didst into Jerusalem mounted upon the humble little beast, a colt, the foal of an ass and let me hear the children cry to thee, ‘Hosanna in the highest.’” Amen.

• “I have one fear: that I may convince the mind before God can win the heart.”

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- This is part of a series on the theme of character. -

As we dig, we must ask God to provide us with insight and understanding. Ultimately, only God can open our eyes to see spiritual truth and then enable us to apply that truth to our lives (Ephesians 1:18). As God fills our minds with wisdom, our character will develop so that we’ll possess the ability to consistently make right choices – choices that are just, fair and moral. As Henry Blackaby and Claude King note in their book Experiencing God:

Once you come to believe God, you demonstrate your faith by what you do. Some action is required…. You cannot continue life as usual or stay where you are, and go with God at the same time…. To go from your ways, thoughts, and purposes to God’s will always requires a major adjustment. God may require adjustments in your circumstances, relationships, thinking, commitments, actions, and beliefs. Once you have made the necessary adjustments you can follow God in obedience. Keep in mind – the God who calls you is also the One who will enable you to do His will.[1]

As we seek to possess God’s wisdom, we’ll be able to move beyond simply expressing the vision and values of a leader. We’ll possess the kind of character from which lofty visions and values flow, the kind of character that isn’t swayed by public opinion or fear but pursues true greatness and knows Who the real audience is. Our character will be truly godly, so that others will delight in following us.

• Once you come to believe God, demonstrate your faith by what you do.

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God of glory and grace, when I reflect on the beauty and diversity of Your created order, I marvel at Your genius, Your creativity, Your personal care, Your exquisite aesthetics, Your glory and order and excellence. May I aspire to excellence in all that I do, in each arena of my influence, so that others would encounter the fragrance of Your manifest presence and lordship. Nothing less than my utmost for Your highness will do. Give me the wisdom to expose myself to those things that build up and nourish the soul rather than those things that denigrate and diminish. Let me be careful and prayerful about what I see, read and do, so that I will not be corrupted by that which is beneath Your vision for my life. Teach me, my God and King, in all things Thee to see, and what I do in anything to do it as for Thee.

• Attune yourself more to notice the beauties of the natural world, since it points to its Creator.

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- This is part of a series that has been adapted from my study of A. W. Tozer’s spiritual classic, The Pursuit of God. -

The audience to whom you play presents a defining moment in the life of every Christian. For either you choose to honor him above all else and thereby press on toward Christlikeness, or you choose the plaudits of others over God and stall out in your Christian walk. You have to ask yourself yet again, “Which audience are you performing for?” It cannot be both God and somebody else, for it is impossible to simultaneously please God and impress people. The temptation will be to choose the downhill path, for it’s easy and both sides are lined with adoring crowds cheering you on. But intimacy with God does not lie at the bottom of the hill. It lies at the top. And it can only be reached by taking the uphill trail, the one Jesus took to the cross and then to glory.

Touching the Void is the title of a recent film about two young climbers. Joe Simpson and Simon Yates set out to climb the west face of the Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985, a feat that had previously been attempted but never achieved. With an extra man looking after base camp, Joe and Simon decided to climb alpine style – in one long push over several days.

Statistics show that 80 percent of the deaths and injuries in climbing occur on the descent rather than the ascent. Their decent was added to that 80 percent. They reached the peak with few problems, but on the way down Joe fell and broke his leg. Despite the hopelessness of the situation, the two continued the descent with Simon slowly lowering Joe down on a rope for 300 meters, then descending to join him and repeating the process. At one point Joe is lowered over a vertical abyss, with nothing below and no ability to climb back up. Simon is forced to make an agonizing decision – to cut the rope, so that both of them don’t die. Joe fell into a crevice covered in deep snow. Simon, assuming he’s dead, continued on down. However, Joe had survived the fall by landing on a ledge within the crevice.

The rest of the film tells the story of how Simon discovers that Joe is still alive and so lowers himself into the crevice, with no apparent way to climb out. In a last ditch effort Simon descends further into the crevice, hoping to somehow find a way out. He does. Eventually he makes it back to the original camp, enlists the help of others, and rescues his friend. It is quite an amazing story with a miraculous outcome.

Yet, what struck me most about the story was that in the face of certain death, neither man once appealed to God for help. In the book by the same title, Joe describes his early exposure to the Catholic faith tradition and his rejection of it. In time, he became hostile to God, considering him to be totally irrelevant to his life. He had willfully become a person beyond the point of no return, a man with a heart that had been hardened toward God.

This story serves as a cautionary tale for our spiritual journey. For even as God’s children we can willfully harden our hearts. And while this does not place our eternal salvation at risk, it does place our earthly lives and our eternal rewards at risk. I urge you to choose to humble yourself, exalt God, and thereby strengthen your heart, while you still have the opportunity. Resist the temptation to go the other way by exalting yourself and hardening your heart. We can only lift God up in our hearts by bowing them down in humble submission.

• Even as God’s children we can willfully harden our hearts.

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- This is part of a series on the theme of character. -

Solomon, who is credited with authoring the book of Proverbs, provides us with an excellent jumping off point for developing the character qualities essential to good leadership:

My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

Then you will understand what is right and just and fair – every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you.

Proverbs 2:1-11

Leaders cultivate character by acquiring wisdom and understanding. Of course, those possessions don’t come without a price. They require the kind of dedicated and patient labor exercised in mining for gold and silver. Leaders must diligently “search” for the wisdom that is buried within God’s Word like treasure covered by layers of earth and rock. That means using the right tools and exercising patience and diligence as we spend time immersed within this life-changing book. As Marjorie Thompson writes, “It would be nice if we could simply ‘practice the presence of God’ in all of life, without expending energy on particular exercises. But the capacity to remember and abide in God’s presence comes only through steady training.”[1] You cannot pay someone else to develop your character strength any more than you can pay them to develop muscles for you. If you want to grow stronger, you will have to push the weight yourself.

Neither can you expect to have a muscular character overnight. It requires effort and time. Douglas J. Rumford says, “Character is like physical exercise or any form of learning; you cannot ‘cram,’ hoping to do in a day or week what can only be accomplished by months and years of consistent practice.”[2] This is why the writer of Proverbs uses words that call his readers to energetic and passionate action.

[2] Douglas J. Rumford, SoulShaping: Taking Care of Your Spiritual Life (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1996), p. 354.

• Leaders must diligently search for true wisdom.

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Dear Father, I rejoice in the revelation that You want to be with me and me with You. The depths of Your grace are unfathomable—I cannot see how You could wish to have such intimacy with me. Yet daily I seem to forget this glorious truth and turn my heart instead to lesser goods that compete with the one thing most needful. Why do I clamor after other affections above Yours? How did I get betrothed to your enemy? I ask that you would untie me and break that knot, and take me to Yourself. Only when I am enthralled by You will I ever be free. Knowing this, I ask for the grace of holy aspiration, so that I will treasure what You declare to be important and stop giving myself to lesser things that cannot satisfy, but only entrap. By Your grace, I would break free from the bondage of the flesh, the world and the devil.

• Asking for the grace of holy aspiration.

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- This is part of a series that has been adapted from my study of A. W. Tozer’s spiritual classic, The Pursuit of God. -

Look at the lives of people who chose to honor him. Notice how God winks at their weaknesses and overlooks their failures. Notice how he lavishes his grace and blessings upon servants who exalted him. Consider men such as Abraham, Jacob, David, Daniel, and Elijah. These were certainly not perfect men. In fact, in many ways they were people with feet of clay, just like us. Yet, in spite of their weaknesses and failures, they were men characterized by having hearts that exalted God above all else. Or as Tozer puts it, “Not perfection, but holy intention made the difference.” And that’s the key.

Only in our Lord Christ was this principle lived out in holy intention and simple perfection. In his manhood he never sought his own honor, only the honor of the One who sent Him. In John 8:54 Jesus says, “If I honor myself, it is nothing; it is my Father who honors me. I honor him and because of that he will honor me.” The Pharisees struggled mightily with this truth because they couldn’t conceive of a person who would honor God at their own expense. And it was this failure that ultimately led to their disavowal of Jesus.

In John 5:39-44, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, and says, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that testify about me.” Here Jesus confronts them with their hypocrisy. They claim to be diligently searching the Word of God for eternal life, but miss the main point: only in Jesus can eternal life be found. So, Jesus continues, “You are unwilling to come to me, that you may have life.” The critical element is their willingness. Either they really are searching for eternal life and are therefore willing to come to him, or they are not really looking for it and are therefore unwilling to come to him. Finally Jesus concludes,

“I do not receive glory from men; but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in my Father’s name and you do not receive me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”

Commenting on this passage, I believe Tozer is correct when he tells us that “. . . the desire for honor among men makes belief impossible.” How true that is. I’ve seen this throughout all human disciplines, but especially in academia. I’ve seen graduate students who, at one time, showed interest in spiritual matters before entering an academic career. But because they wanted to be viewed favorably by their scholarly peers, they began to compromise their integrity in order to fit in with the prevailing worldview. Others went so far as to alter their core beliefs so that they better matched their behavior. The price of having the respect of your peers may well be the death of your convictions. Your beliefs are shaped by the audience to whom you play.

• The desire for honor among men makes belief impossible.

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