Issue #99
What's the Difference between God and Allah, Why Does God Allow Evil, How Do We Know and Feel God's Love, and more...
Consider Another Perspective 🤔
Why Earth and the Universe Are Designed to the Core | Hugh Ross and Frank Turek 🎧 →
Dr. Hugh Ross is the founder and president of Reasons to Believe and shares many of the insights from his latest books, Designed to the Core, and Weathering Climate Change, to help us see that every tiny detail in the universe is part of God’s grand design. They examine the fine-tuning of the universe and how even the Milky Way galaxy (our home away from home) is special and unique. You’ll also hear a balanced and factual (dare we say…refreshing?) response from Dr. Ross on the subject of climate change, and what we can do (if anything) to help steward the resources of God’s amazing creation.
This conversation comes in two parts. The first is an enjoyable conversation about how detailed the universe’s design is. It’s not just that life on our planet is so radically unlikely, but the very existence of a planet like ours, in a universe like ours, is so radically unlikely that as the Psalmist says, “The skies declare the glory of God.” The more that we learn about the universe, the more in awe we should be of God’s intricately detailed design.
The second part is Ross explaining his view of climate change, what’s happening, what he thinks will happen if nothing changes, and the policy recommendations he’d make to fix it. Turek pushes back with common climate-skeptic responses, which Ross handles (I think) capably.
This is completely optional, and everything that is currently free will continue to be free. Thank you for reading The Garden Weekly.
Church History Corner ⛪️
In Memoriam: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI | R. Lucas Stamps 📃 →
Former pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, died on New Year’s Eve 2022 at 95 years old. This obituary comes from a Protestant perspective, but one that is appreciative of the contributions Ratzinger made to theology. It also doesn’t shy away from the criticisms Ratzinger faced, primarily over his handling of the clergy sexual-abuse scandals of the early 2000s.
If you are a Protestant who doesn’t know much about Ratzinger’s life before and after becoming Benedict, then this article will give you a glimpse of his life.
Listen and Learn 🎧
Why Does God Allow Evil? | Clay Jones, Brian Auten, and Chad Gross 🎧 →
In Issue #73, I linked to an interview that Auten and Gross did with Dr. Clay Jones on his book Immortal: How the Fear of Death Drives Us and What We Can Do About It. This newer interview is actually about an older book: Why Does God Allow Evil?: Compelling Answers for Life’s Toughest Questions (WDGAE). While I haven’t read Immortal, I have read WDGAE, and it’s a wonderful book.
Jones takes a less philosophical approach in the book than in many others that I’ve read. Instead, he approaches it theologically, by showing from history that humans are fallen creatures. Evil, in large part, stems from humanity’s bad decisions. But why does God allow it? Jones argues from the last pages of the Bible that the hope of new creation—and God’s sons being revealed (Romans 8)—is so much better than we’ve dared to think. The good of eternal new creation will wipe away the temporary evils of this world.
This podcast is a great introduction to the book and the questions it asks.
For More:
Christianity Is True ✝️
What’s the Difference between God and Allah? | Ravae Wilson, Brandon Cleaver, and Jacob Ley 📽 →
Is the God of Islam and the God of Christianity the same? Do we worship the same God, just in different ways? This fairly quick video walks Christians through these questions and how to engage in love with our Muslim neighbors.
Living This Christian Life 🤴👸
Faith Involves Your Brain, Too | Bonnie Kristian 📃 →
I believe that many who find that ‘nothing happens’ when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hands.
— C.S. Lewis — On the Reading of Old Books
This quote starts Kristian on the path to changing her perspective on Bible study. Before, she had been a member of many “devotional” Bible studies that she struggled to connect with. Not all people do, though I can certainly resonate with her feelings.
You see, the American church has done an excellent job of catering to a devotional or emotional style of spirituality—and that’s a good thing! But it’s also a bad thing, because it leaves a lot of us, the ones for whom “nothing happens” when we try to grow closer to God that way, out in the cold.
This is a shame, not only because of the feelings of frustration and inadequacy it can cause people like me, who don’t fit the devotional mold, but also because Jesus showed He was more than capable of loving and ministering to both of these spiritual styles.
If you feel like Kristian, she gives some advice on how to engage with your God and your church.
Explore the Scriptures 📖
Why Did Jesus Say, “On This Rock I Will Build My Church”? (Matthew 16) | Dan Doriani 📃 →
When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
“But you,” he asked them, “who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus responded, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven.” Then he gave the disciples orders to tell no one that he was the Messiah.
— Matthew 16:13–20 (ESV)
This is an often debated (especially between Catholics and Protestants) and often misunderstood passage.
Best with a Cup of Tea ☕️
How Do We Know and Feel God’s Love? | Jeremy Linneman 📃 →
I’ve heard of (and experienced) this situation countless times. A Christian is dealing with not feeling God. Some call it a dry season, some may say that it must be sin keeping you from God. And I think those may be true in some cases, but not all the time.
That’s how I feel about God’s love. It can’t be that hard. He says he loves us. We know it. We believe it. But it’s all too possible to know the right doctrines, participate in a healthy church, and even lead others in a loving way yet remain spiritually cold, dry, and detached. I know from experience. I know God loves me and Jesus died for my sins, and I know the Spirit lives within me. But these powerful truths often remain intellectual. Perhaps you relate. The Ephesians could.
Linneman examines Paul’s prayer for the Ephesian church in Ephesians 3:14–21 and how it relates to us feeling God’s love. I’ve never related those two things, and it’s amazing how relevant the passage is to our lives.
That’s how I feel about God’s love. It can’t be that hard. He says he loves us. We know it. We believe it. But it’s all too possible to know the right doctrines, participate in a healthy church, and even lead others in a loving way yet remain spiritually cold, dry, and detached. I know from experience. I know God loves me and Jesus died for my sins, and I know the Spirit lives within me. But these powerful truths often remain intellectual. Perhaps you relate. The Ephesians could.
…
When Paul prays that we would “grasp” all God has for us (v. 18, NIV), this word can mean to “wrestle with,” “sack and plunder” a place, or “overpower” someone. What’s Paul wanting us to wrestle with? With ourselves, with our souls, with our flesh and our inner being?
No, he prays that we may grasp Christ’s love, wrestling it into our hearts.
Keep Your Mind on Things Above
I will be praying for you this week.
Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child — this one is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
— Matthew 18:4 (CSB)
Joel Fischer