3/16/09 By Faith Is Not By Luck, By Vanderkok

MARCH 14, 2008

LIVING BY FAITH IS NOT LIVING BY LUCK:

NO

YES !

Don’t say ‘GOOD LUCK’ to me, say ‘GOOD FAITH’ ; My ‘LUCKY CHARM’ 1

is the CROSS but there’s NOTHING LUCKY about it BY vanderKOK

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen .” Heb 11:1

“Now

faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Heb 11:1 NIV

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“Now faith is assurance of (things) hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.” Heb 11:1 ASV

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see” Heb 11:1 Holy Bible, New Living Translation ®,

“Es, pues, la fe la certeza

de lo que se espera, la convicción de lo que no se ve.” Heb 11:1 (from RVR 1960 © 1960 Sociedades Biblicas en América Latina.)

DEAR FRIENDS, HAPPY PALM SUNDAY ! It is March 14, 2008 and I am in, of all places, PALM DESERT, this morning. I came here to attend the LIVING LORD’s SUPPER worship service at the ROCK CV CHURCH. I’ve never been here before but they advertised this worship 3

service on a BIG BILLBOARD along the 10 FREEWAY which cuts through COACHELLA VALLEY—which I noticed a few weeks ago when I was coming out here for the annual DATE FESTIVAL in Coachella. So here I am, starting out at a STARBUCKS around 7 a.m. before the 9 a.m. worship service. And I’ve been thinking about this message for some time now; given the fact that some people CONFUSE “FAITH” with “LUCK.” The two are NOT THE SAME. In fact, even some of my professors at FULLER SEMINARY may be confused about the difference between FAITH versus LUCK. I was looking back at some of my old papers and one of the professors ( I think it was the wife of MIROSLAV VOLF (who is now at YALE DIVINITY SCHOOL) ) wrote “NICE TRY” on one of the answers that I got wrong; and on a few others something similar—as if it were all just a FANCY CROSS-YOUR-FINGERS GUESSING GAME, as if I was simply hoping to get ‘lucky” albeit given I got “A’s” on MOST OF THE GREEK EXEGESIS PAPERS she should have known better. BUT that is a noticeable DEFICIT sometimes in the ACADEMICFAITH community. FIRST, some say ‘ACADEMIC FAITH” community is an oxymoron; and that the emphasis on INTELLECTUAL or ACADEMIC faith is CONTRARY to DEEP, PASSIONATE HEART FAITH. Some of the professors in the ACADEMIC COMMUNITY (and really that’s what it comes down to—an “academic community” trying to teach “FAITH” almost solely at an intellectual level, which, perhaps, is why FULLER is sometimes known as “THE LOGICAL” SEMINARY”—a play on “theological”; THEO of course is GREEK for GOD—has FULLER SEMINARY taken GOD out of the picture ? I can’t help but wondering sometimes, and couldn’t help but wonder when I was a student there; especially after sitting through NANCEY MURPHY’s class in apologetics (I recently noticed as well that she apparently embraces EVOLUTION as opposed to CREATIONISM); And so it was somewhat DISCONCERTING , to say the least, to arrive at an alleged ‘THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY” and be exposed to alleged “CHRISTIAN PROFESSORS” who seemed to almost DELIGHT in 4

mocking faith and mocking CHRISTIAN PASTORS-TO-BE. In fact, RICH MOUW (the president of the seminary who also still teaches an occasional class and was once a philosophy professor at CALVIN COLLEGE) seemed to enjoy saying the word “pastor” in a SNEERING or JEERING voice. Of course, TO BE FAIR, I can’t say CALVIN SEMINARY was much better, if at all. This is NOT TO SAY that we should DUMB DOWN the seminary; but it is to say that we should not OVERLY EXALT so-called ‘ACADEMIC” LEARNING at the expense of a DEEP ABIDING FAITH IN THE ONE LIVING GOD. I would say that FAITH ALONE can take us much further in life and TRANSFORM communities MUCH MORE than ACADEMICS ALONE. Together, when it is a HEALTHY MARRIAGE faith & academics can do even greater miracles; but if I had to choose one over the other, the FAITH ALONE community would be my instant choice. In fact, some PROFESSORS in the academic community—at the seminary, are simply living PARASITICALLY off of those with TRUE FAITH. And because they are VIRTUALLY GUARANTEED A JOB FOR LIFE once they get tenure (which is another TRAVESTY) it means that several generations of theological students will be taught by some of the same people. The SEMINARY PROFESSOR becomes an “OLD TESTAMENT KING’ of sorts, for BETTER or for WORSE. You ever read the OLD TESTAMENT and go through the books of KINGS and notice how some KINGS were obviously GOOD & GODLY while others were much less so; well, the same seems to go for SEMINARY PROFESSORS; and the effects of being in their presence are LASTING. The GOOD ONES are worth their weight (x 10) in GOLD; whereas the BAD ONES are SETTING BACK the faith community; impeding the progress of GOD’s KINGDOM here on earth. We DON’T NEED to be challenged by NANCEY MURPHY at the seminary level ; to be ridiculed my Murphy about our faith in CREATION BY GOD. We get that EVERYWHERE WE GO in the secular world. If she thinks she is playing ‘DEVIL’s ADVOCATE” – preparing us for what we will inevitably encounter anyways it is pretty short-sighted on her part. We need to be NURTURED and cared for 5

when we arrive at the seminary and pay our 1000’s of DOLLARS in tuition (somehow I have to find a way to pay back $70,000 in student loan debt before I die). WE see “LIVING BY LUCK” EVERYWHERE WE GO IN THE WORLD. We don’t need to see it at the seminary as well. Every time I stop in at a convenience store or gas station I inevitably end up waiting in line for somebody who is choosing LOTTO numbers and buying another LOTTERY TICKET. That’s LIVING BY CROSS-YOURFINGER LUCK, NOT FAITH. A few weeks ago after a church service I passed by SANTA ANITA HORSE RACE TRACK—a beautiful racing facility along the foothills of ARCADIA, CA; and stopped in to see what it was all about. SEEING THE HORSES CLOSE-UP and watching a race is a PHENOMENAL experience; very marvelous aspect of GOD’s CREATION; but the environment is IMPAIRED by the fact that 90% of the people there are GRIMLY GAMBLING on the horses; hoping to make money off of the race. I e-mailed my dad and Shirley Zink about this experience—saying “Why can’t they just race for fun ?” And I think back to my brother-in-law ENGELBERTL SLANDERSON and his wife, SISSY, back in St. Joseph, MI and I realize that they too, are LIVING BY LUCK, not faith; and it’s a shame because I believe that at the heart of a LOT OF MENTAL ILLNESS is the LIVING BY LUCK FALLACY. It’s that LACK OF CONVICTION that acquiesces to the notion that all that matters is money and paying the bills, etc; or in other words, in some cases it comes down to TRYING TO BE JUSTIFIED BY LAW; which is also nothing more than a LUCK game —because we know that NOBODY IS JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW ALONE.

“…know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ . So we, too, have put our 6

faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified” . Gal 2:16NIV

“ Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, The righteous will live by faith. The law is NOT based on faith; on the contrary, The man who does these things will live by them. Gal 3:11-12 At the HEART of many illnesses (which includes ALCOHOLISM, both PHYSICAL & MENTAL, may perhaps lie some GLITCH IN LIVING BY FAITH. The NEUROSIS of TRYING TO BE JUSTIFIED BY LAW leads to cynicism and despair, at which point some turn to alcohol or drugs to try to NUMB the pain or emptiness they feel, having admitted DEFEAT to being UNJUSTIFIED BY LAW and not allowing CHRIST TO TAKE OVER in their lives. This applies to CHURCH-GOERS as much as anybody else. Have you ever noticed how some CHURCH-GOERS may HABITUALLY attend the same church ALL THEIR LIVES, always on time, sometimes always in the same place; year after year after year. And this is NOT TO CONDEMN them for attending church (for church is good) but if their 7

attendance is NOT LEADING TO SPIRITUAL GROWTH then YES there is a problem. If you are a CHURCH ATTENDEE—but have not progressed, ask yourself, WHAT’S NEXT in the LIFE OF FAITH ? Can you take the NEXT STEP, and become a LEADER? Take a SMALL STEP at first. DON’T OVERDO IT. But make sure you are taking at least some small step forward. Back at the SEMINARY the problem is TENURE and professors getting STUCK IN THEIR WAYS and relying on the LAW OF TENURE and PUBLICATION for justification. Some of them have FALLEN PREY to the FALLACY that by virtue of being “published” they are justified . And being published often leads to TENURE so they do go hand-in-hand. THE ONLY PROBLEM IS THAT A LOT OF NONSENSE GETS PUBLISHED all the time, both in the faith community as well as the secular community. Back at the CHURCH—maybe you have become a deacon, or an usher, or an elder; and have done that for many years; WHAT’s NEXT ? YES, you can MOVE BEYOND that level too ! No matter what we do in life there is ALWAYS ROOM FOR GROWTH. When we STOP GROWING and rely upon being ‘JUSTIFIED BY LAW’ which is an OXYMORON, people become neurotic and sometimes even psychotic and either hurt themselves or others in the process. Back in St. Joseph, MI my brother-in-law ENGELBERT is an attorney there, but I see PROBLEMS because both he and “his wife” SISSY believe that they can be justified by law alone; and they often LACK THE SPIRIT. I’ve talked about this before. Here in COACHELLA VALLEY where I taught school back in the 90’s —MY FIRST TEACHING JOB I ran into LEGALISM at the administrative level. ONE OF THE LEGALISTS, FOCH PENSIS, is still with the district; and went on to become a superintendent, but did so by WALKING OVER PEOPLE and CHEATING PEOPLE, including myself; his SIGHTS set firmly on becoming the superintendent, but at WHAT COST and AT WHOSE EXPENSE?

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When I talk about GROWTH I don’t necessarily mean you have to ASPIRE to a formal position in the church or other organizations. In fact, sometimes the FORMALITY of creating positions and then keeping these positions SECURE creates more LEGALISM problems in and of itself. People are granted LARGE SALARIES in formal positions and become COMFORTABLE and over time a sort of HARDENING OF THE ARTERIES sets in and GROWTH STOPS; and the ENTIRE BODY becomes infected after a while. This is why JESUS CHRIST as well as the APOSTOLE PAUL USED THE ‘BODY’ (and SPIRIT) analogy so often:

Your eye is the lamp of your body . When your eyes are good, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are bad, your body also is full of darkness Luke 11:33-34

This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." Luke 22:19

A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you. "

John 13:10

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“But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness” Rom 8:10

“ If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? “ 1 Cor 12:17-18

“ Now you are the body of Christ , and each one of you is a part of it.” 1 Cor 12:27 To NOT TRULY UNDERSTAND how we are the BODY OF CHRIST, or NOT TRULY BELIEVE IT can cause neurosis or psychosis, including ALCOHOLISM to numb the pain of being SEPARATED from the love of CHRIST and the wear-and-tear OF the endless quest to try to be justified by law, which is IMPOSSIBLE. When we LIVE BY FAITH and allow ourselves to be JUSTIFIED BY FAITH (as opposed to ‘KICKING AGAINST THE GOADS” so to speak) we BECOME THE BODY OF CHRIST COLLECTIVELY and this CURES AILMENTS & ILLNESSES because it is according to GOD’s PLAN & PURPOSE for our lives :

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“ It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Eph 4:10-13 There is NO LUCK in the FAITH LIFE. “Assurance” is a deep conviction WAY BEYOND cross-your-finger luck. If you have ever been in the presence of TRUE, DEEP, FAITH, you will know the difference. “Hoped for” or “assurance of” in Hebrews 11.1 comes from the GREEK “elpizo” and means “EXPECTATION” with UTMOST CONFIDENCE > NT:1679 elpizo (el-pid'-zo); from NT:1680; to expect or confide:KJV (have, thing) hope (-d) (for), trust. (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

And this kind of HOPE or CONFIDENCE is QUALITATIVELY DIFFERENT than the type of HOPE or CONFIDENCE that is found in the LAW, which is sometimes closer to the game of “luck” we think about in more stereotypical ways. The HOPE we have as believers is a CONFIDENCE that comes from the SPIRIT within us (which comes from KNOWING CHRIST in a relational way), and IS

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EVIDENCED by the FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT , against which there is ‘NO LAW.” Likewise “substance” of things hoped for comes from the GREEK hupostasis and refers to something with STRONG SUPPORT, like a well-built building or even skyscraper which you enter and go to the top of without any fear whatsoever of it falling. : NT:5287 Upostasis or hupostasis (hoop-os'-tas-is); from a compound of NT:5259 and NT:2476; a setting under (support), i.e. (figuratively) concretely, essence, or abstractly, assurance (objectively or subjectively): (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)

It’s ABSOLUTE UNWAVERING CONFIDENCE but again, not the type of “CONFIDENCE” given by the law—that’s a MAN-MADE artificial form of confidence that is ultimately HOLLOW (albeit in good courts of law (the few & between that exist out there) it is, at least, somewhat HONEST). This CONFIDENCE we have as BELIEVERS comes from the SPIRIT OF GOD in us, individually and collectively; and CANNOT BE SHAKEN. Again, the evidence ARE THE F RUITS OF THE SPIRIT:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Gal 5:22-23

And so I will leave it at that for now. Since I began this message at 7 a.m. subsequently I’ve been to THREE CHURCHES, including the LORD’s LIVING SUPPER at the 12

CV ROCK CHURCH , and I also stopped by the annual LA QUINTA ARTS FESTIVAL (my first time ). Also happening in CV (Coachella Valley) this weekend (and next) is a PROFESSIONAL TENNIS TOURNAMENT featuring some of the top names (both men & women). I inquired about a ticket —they’re about $30 each this weekend. I’ll let you know if I end up going. Meanwhile, REMEMBER that WE, the BODY OF BELIEVERS, live by UTMOST FAITH (which is UNWAVERING CONFIDENCE) in the promises of GOD as we CONTINUE TO GROW IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST AND THE BODY OF BELIEVERS. ! IT’S ST. PATRICKS DAY !DON’T LIVE BY THE ‘LUCK OF THE IRISH”! LIVE BY STEADFAST FAITH JOHNNY TOMMY PHILIP CHRISTMAS KOK PASTOR KOK III

CHIEF BIG FAITH

DON’T SAY GOOD LUCK TO ME SAY

GOOD FAITH”

“

LIVING BY FAITH IS NOT BY LUCK 3/14/08

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TAGS: FAITH, LUCK, assurance, conviction, exegesis, greek, nancey murphy, sissy, prophets, evangelist, FULLNESS, KOK, justified, alcoholism, hypostasis, Greek, Pensis, neurosis, psychosis,

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