Tag: Supernatural

Do Miracles Matter?

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This week we are tackling the second tough question that is sometimes thrown at the feet (or in the face) of followers of Jesus in our series, Confident in the Face of Hard Questions. The Scriptures talk about all kinds of different miracles that were performed by Jesus, the disciples, or one of the prophets in the Old Testament. In a world that prides itself on being modern and scientific and able to explain everything by means of purely empirical methods, these stories represent a pretty stout challenge to accepting the claims of Christianity. It would be easier if we could explain them away or otherwise get rid of them and just stick with the things Jesus said. But is that the best path forward? Do miracles really matter? Let’s talk about it as we move into this second part of our journey.

Do Miracles Matter?

It’s not much of a secret around here that I am a Kansas basketball fan. And, just because I want you to know that I am fully aware of Jesus’ command to love our enemies, I am not going to bring up the 2022 Championship at all…even though it would have worked really well for this illustration. You’re welcome. I want to turn the clock back just a little bit further than that to the 2008 season. That year, KU was playing in the Championship game against a Memphis team everyone knew was going to win. KU had been good all season, but Memphis was just better. And, although the game was close at times, with about 2 minutes left in the game, we were down by 9 and everybody knew it was over. Then we scored, and the gap closed to 7. Then we got a stop. Then we scored again, but so did they. Back and forth it went with our slowly chipping away at their lead. Finally, the clock had ticked all the way down to just seconds remaining in the game. And we had the ball. After a frantic inbounds and scramble to get someone open, freshman guard Sherron Collins (who would go on to have a very successful career at Kansas) got the ball into the hands of junior point guard Mario Chalmers who sunk a three from way beyond the top of the key with 2.1 seconds remaining to tie the game, sending it into an overtime that we won decisively. 

Rest the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 14:19-22

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“Then the angel of God, who was going in front of the Israelite forces, moved and went behind them. The pillar of cloud moved from in front of them and stood behind them. It came between the Egyptian and Israelite forces. There was cloud and darkness, it lit up the night, and neither group came near the other all night long. Then Moses stretched out his hand over the Sea. The Lord drove the Sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the Sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

One of the things that can be so hard for someone who has been thoroughly trained in a secular worldview when considering the Scriptures are stories like this one. I remember watching a documentary years ago on the History Channel (which used to be a very consistent source of demythologizing-the-Bible specials, especially around Christmas and Easter) that was offering up all kinds of natural explanations for how this could have happened. It was entertaining, but not terribly informative. It wasn’t very information because its baseline assumption was a naturalistic worldview. In other words, it started from the position that what Moses wrote wasn’t true, and went from there. The trouble with a naturalistic worldview is that sometimes God simply does a miracle. Let’s talk about this one.

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Digging in Deeper: 1 Corinthians 10:20

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“No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God.  I do not want you to be participants with demons.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Wait, I thought Paul’s conclusion was that eating the meat that came from a sacrifice at one of the local pagan temples was not morally problematic?  Now it’s demonic?  What??

We actually get more clarity on Paul’s final position a couple of verses from now and there is no contradiction.  I’ll deal with that in a subsequent post.  What is worth reflecting on here is not Paul’s main point, but some of the broader implications for what he has said.  Most notably, that the pagan sacrifices were demonic.   Read the rest…