Many Moving Parts and an “Invisible Hand”

Sometimes it is healthy to pause and consider some of the many moving parts and the hands that maintain those parts in order to sustain our lives from day to day.  Think for a moment how many parts, processes, interactions, and hands are at work near and far, seen and unseen, to help us perform even the most mundane of tasks—transportation, groceries, paying bills, fueling our cars, phoning, texting, sending and receiving packages, health care, and automobile maintenance and repair.  All of these are interconnected in a unity or union which is hard for us to comprehend, easy for us to take for granted; and more recently, the target of much criticism and efforts to reform.

Moving Parts and Skilled People
It was time for an oil change in our Toyota.  While sitting in the waiting area, we noticed stacks of auto parts newly delivered by drivers from local parts stores.  As we waited, one driver after another came and went, each bringing a part necessary for the mechanics to skillfully service the vehicles entrusted to their care.  Then, as each mechanic received the next work order on their iPad, they grabbed the appropriate auto part(s) from the stack and disappeared into the servicing area. 

As time passed, we realized that entrusting our car to a mechanic is an exercise of faith.  Our safety, and the safety of tens of millions of drivers on our nation’s highways, depends on thousands of dedicated mechanics who identify worn parts and replace them with precise torqueing of screws and bolts and precision electronic adjustment.  And all of this they do without audience and fanfare each workday.  Without them, our lives would drastically change and our economy would grind to a halt.

We can only imagine the story behind each of the hundreds of auto parts that compose the engine, chassis, and body of every vehicle.  Each part is manufactured from raw materials by injection, molding, and stamping machines, often controlled by a computer program.  Then, each finished part is packed and shipped to a distribution center in readiness for orders from auto parts stores or auto assembly plants.  The machines responsible for producing auto parts are themselves composed of many mechanical parts that must each fit together and function under microscale tolerances.

Besides the complex mechanical side of manufacture and distribution of machine parts there is also the human side.  Although the former is highly mechanical and automated, the human element is the most crucial in producing the final outcome.  Just as we depend upon the integrity and work ethic of mechanics for our personal safety and the function of our nation, so we must also depend upon the men and women who transport them on trucks, barges, trains, ships, and airplanes.  When we consider the vast number of people and mechanical processes that are necessary for the smooth operation of the so-called “supply chain,” we ought to be humbled with awe and thankfulness.  Of course, we also ought to pray for our leaders in government whose policies will either support this vast system or preside over its demise.

Our thoughts about auto parts and the supply chain were interrupted when a mechanic appeared to inform us that our oil filter cover was worn out and needed replacement.  Amazingly, within 20 minutes, a delivery driver appeared with packaged oil filter cover in hand.  Service on our Toyota was completed, and in another 20 minutes, we were on the road, with hundreds of other cars and trucks that depend on a regular supply of energy, auto parts, engine fluids, and proper maintenance to stay on the road.

The “Invisible Hand”

Back home, we placed our auto service receipt in our “maintenance folder” and the credit card receipt in its place.  As we considered all the “moving parts” both mechanical and human, that are necessary to maintain just one automobile, we realized an even more amazing dimension.  It is what Adam Smith, author of Wealth of Nations, referred to as “the invisible hand” of the market system.  Adam Smith believed in an “invisible hand” of God’s providence over human affairs which enabled the market system to accomplish “an orderly and efficient distribution of goods and services….”  This “distribution,” Smith believed, was manifested through “…the generally self-interested acts of people producing, buying, and selling in a market without fixed prices, even though no one intends such an order.”

Jay Richards, whose words we have just quoted, has written the book, Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem (HarperOne, New  York:  2009).  In it, Richards refers to an amusing essay, entitled “I, Pencil,” by Leonard E. Read (Click HERE to read).  The essay personifies a common wooden pencil explaining how it came into being.  Richards summarizes “I, Pencil” as follows:

“We think a pencil is simple. And yet a single pencil requires what Read calls "innumerable antecedents," involving millions of people, from Albania to Zimbabwe, performing all sorts of different tasks.  First, there's the Cedar tree harvested from northern California.  Then there are the saws and trucks and ropes and other equipment, all built in different places; the mill in San Leandro, California; the trains to transport the wood; the processing plant with kiln and tinting; the electricity from the dam to power the plant; the millions of dollars in equipment used to build the pencils; the graphite from Sri Lanka, mixed with clay from Mississippi and chemicals from who knows where; the wax from Mexico and beyond; the yellow lacquer with castor oil; the brass to hold the eraser, forged with metals from mines from around the world; the eraser made with factice from Indonesia and pumice from Italy. Finally, there are the trucks that deliver the pencils and the stores that sell pencils to the public for about ten cents each.  All of this and more is needed to make one yellow pencil.”

Jay Richards points out three "marvels" of a free-market system that produces the simple yellow pencil.  First, few among all the people who contributed to the pencil actually knew that their particular raw material would go to making a part of the pencil.

Second, in the words of "I, Pencil, "not a single person on the face of this Earth knows how to make me."   The knowledge of all the steps and materials necessary to make a pencil “is dispersed among millions of different people.”

And third, instead of one or a few masterminds overseeing the process, it is "all coordinated by people working freely in specialized jobs following the price of countless goods and services."   The same is true of every product on the market, whether it is food, home appliances, automobiles, electronic devices; you name it.  Amazingly, there are "millions of people working in seeming unrelated jobs, speaking dozens of languages, all blissfully unaware that they are, in a small way, making…" familiar products possible.

”Free Market” and Faith
Most people know that a truly “free market” is an ideal that does not exist.  In fact, the current market which we are discussing is becoming less and less free as federal and state governments impose regulations, price fixing, corporate taxes, and tariffs that affect availability and prices of energy, food, health care, education, etc.  So, when we say, “free market,” we mean “partially free market.”

What makes a free-market system work?   Consider the following “drivers of an economy:” individual initiative, work ethic, love for one's job, desire to improve one's place in society, professional advancement, a sense of purpose and hope in the future, trust in the justice system, law and order, fair trade, and confidence of fair payment for work well done.   All of these and more influence the health and function of a free-market economy.  No doubt you can think of other factors that may contribute to the workings of Adam Smith’s "the invisible hand."  But there may be something behind all of these “drivers.”

We believe that the foundation of all economic “drivers” is a specific gift of God’s providence—a gift we call “faith?”  In other words, when we "dissect" the "invisible hand," we find God's providence operating through faith to varying degrees in the hearts of people.  The Bible describes faith as "an assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11: 1)?"  Perhaps it is this “faith,” whether in God or in “the system” (think Wall Street, Federal Reserve, etc.), that propels each of the millions of people to work even though each is only a tiny cog within a gigantic economy.  And why is the word, “economy” a fitting choice of terms?

“Economy” is derived from the Greek word, οἰκονομία, translated “oikonomia” (oy-kon-om-ee'-ah), meaning stewardship.  A steward is a person entrusted by his or her master or owner of property to manage it as a “caretaker” of the property.   A “good steward” performs his or her responsibilities with the motivation to honor the best interests of the master-owner.  The concept of stewardship originates in the first and second chapters of the Old Testament of the Bible (Genesis 1: 26-31; 2: 15).

When it comes to servicing our vehicles, a mechanic who does his or her work well is a good steward.  The steward-mechanic doesn’t own the auto service but realizes that being a good steward while “servicing” vehicles pleases his or her employer, makes for a good hourly wage, and ensures job security and long-term success for the owner of the auto service.  It is because of this “stewardship mentality” that millions of cars, each with thousands of working parts humming together under their hoods, can move on our streets and highways without frequent mechanical failures.  The same principle applies to employees at stores, restaurants, schools, clinics, hospitals, etc.  But there are laws that work against the functioning unity within both our economy and our personal lives.  What are these laws?

Market in a “Groaning World”
In the material realm, the Second Law of Thermodynamics describes the tendency of both machines and the human body to “wear out.”  Our cars need new parts and sometimes a total mechanical overhaul.  Eventually, they will be hauled to the scrap pile along with many of our smaller machines and appliances.

Our bodies also eventually “wear out.”  Within our bodies and souls is the operation of the “law of sin and death” (Romans 8: 2) which came as a consequence of mankind’s rebellion (sin) against God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3).  Romans 8: 20-21 tells us that …the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him (God) who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  Romans 8: 22-23 speaks of the groaning of every person and the whole creation under the curse of sin and death.  This principle is made evident to us through the Scriptures and from our own personal experiences.

All cars and other machines need the attention of mechanics.  But mechanics sometimes make mistakes and some are negligent.  None of us are perfect on our best days; nor are we perfect as stewards.  Therefore, a “bad mechanic” doesn’t justify protests against all auto mechanics.  Nor does the relatively few instances of police injustice out of thousands of successful interdictions at crime scenes justify defunding the police.  Likewise, there are thousands of honest, dedicated teachers, pastors, doctors, business owners, and lawyers; but always there are unintended mistakes and some “bad apples” in each profession. 

In a groaning world where so many things can upset us, we are prone to criticize and protest.  Yet even in lawful protests there are “bad actors” who use unfortunate incidents to further their political aims or destroy and loot property.  Bad actors even exist among our governing leaders.  Some intentionally or unintentionally influence policy without understanding the tremendous complexity of the amazing market system; nor do they understand or respect the "invisible hand" of Providence.  Corruption in government can go unpunished because of a double standard, causing the diminishing of trust and a disrespect for leaders and law enforcers.  What should the seemingly forgotten and discouraged citizen do?

Stewards of a “More Perfect Union”
Although we may be tempted to groan, complain, and protest, people who profess faith in God must use restraint based on stewardship of the manifold grace that God provides.  The Bible reveals two important points to help us understand God’s grace and how to apply it in our world.

The Apostle Peter, writing to first-century Christians living in the midst of much suffering by persecution, warned that “the end of all things is near” and that they should be alert, prayerful, fervent in love, and hospitable without complaint (1 Peter 4: 7-9).   No one can predict the date of Christ’s return, but we are nearer every day.  Peter summarizes his urgent challenge with these words in verse 10 (emphasis added):  As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 

The Prophet Jeremiah wrote, Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not (Lamentations 3: 22).  For those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ, it is by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God… (Ephesians 2: 8-9).  By grace through faith, the Life of Christ is born within anyone who sincerely claims God’s gift of salvation.  Then, His Spirit will abide in us and empower us to love and obey God, and to love our neighbor.  It is this tradition of the Christian faith that empowered the Framers to write the Preamble of the U.S. Constitution something like this:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a perfect Union…”

But notice there is one word missing?  The correctly stated Preamble clearly reveals the humility and wisdom of its Framers.  Their stated purpose was “to form a more perfect Union.”  They knew from history that no government prior to the 18th century was “perfect.”  And their Judeo-Christian faith tradition gave them the reason why.

The Fall of mankind in the Garden had placed creation and all mankind under the curse of sin, producing imperfect men and women; and, imperfect leaders and followers.  Hence, we find imperfect mechanics, teachers, doctors, pastors, etc.  Yet, the Founders, like many others enlightened by Scripture, believed in a Creator who alone is the source of “certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Therefore, the Framers aimed to form a government later described by Lincoln as being “of the people, by the people, and for the people;” namely, a government designed not to guarantee equal outcomes (equity), but one that is limited and nimble enough to assure each person the freedoms to “pursue happiness.” 

Through much shedding of blood and tears, through much prayer and reliance on the hand of Divine Providence, and through amendments to our Constitution, “the government by the people” has made significant progress toward “a more perfect union.”  Dr. Martin Luther King famously emphasized that we ought to judge our fellow man not by their outward appearance (ethnicity, gender, sexual preference, political party, etc.) but “by the content of their character.”

Eroding the “More Perfect Union”
Unfortunately, the past century in America has witnessed an erosion of the Judeo-Christian faith foundation that was responsible for the founding and preservation of America during its first century.  Biblical moral absolutes are being replaced by moral relativism based on subjective human reason and experience. 

Romans 1: 21-23 explains what happens when we “no longer honor God or give thanks” to Him.  Professing wisdom, we become fools with darkened hearts; and we can easily exchange our identity in God’s image for the image of animals and animal-like behavior.  Today, we are seeing the tragic result of exchanging the biblical revelation of our moral and biological identity for the deception of Satan the great Deceiver.  He is a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8: 44) and he aims to destroy the image of God through deception.  Many are falling for satanic deception which affects our individual identity, our marriages and families, and our churches.

Giving in to Satan’s deception has caused many people to become confused as they pursue their purpose in life, their personal values and identity, and even their gender.  Likewise, the nuclear family is increasingly under attack.  According to a Pew Research Center study, 23% of children in America under age 18 live in single-parent homes.  Witness the trend of church leaders, churches, and Christian educational institutions compromising their stand for biblical truth.  Yet, according to the Bible, God’s only plan for the redemption of mankind is through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, and the witnessing and discipleship by Christ-following believers in Christ’s Name.  Jesus said, “If I be lifted up from the earth (crucified), I will draw all men unto me (John 12:32)."

Greatest Unity—Last Best Hope
What is “the last best hope of Earth?”  Lincoln believed it was America’s experiment in self-government.  According to the Bible, God’s answer seems to be the church.  He placed His “best hope” for His creation and for mankind in the hands and hearts of Christ’s raggedy band of followers who remained behind when the risen Christ ascended to Heaven.  Following Pentecost and their receiving of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2), the powerful unity of witness and purpose of these few followers literally “turned the world upside down” spiritually.  How was this possible?   

In this article, we have marveled at how innumerable moving parts and millions of people can produce and operate millions of machines, each with billions of moving parts within them, all in some kind of unity that allows our culture to function.  However, more precious and awesome than the humming of a well-oiled machine or our complex market economy is the supernatural unity of mind, body, and spirit within one human being.  Or the unconditional love that binds a man and a woman together in marriage, or the unity of Christians serving together in a local church.  Of course, the unity of the local church depends upon the Spirit-filled lives of individual Christ-followers and the love spilled into the world from a Christian marriage.

According to Francis Schaeffer, the unity among Christians within our churches is the greatest testimony and apologetic for the authenticity of the Christian faith (Curtis Heffelfinger, The Peace Making Church, Baker Books (2018), p. 107).  Schaeffer bases his claim on Jesus’s prayer with the disciples recorded in John 17 in which He prays for His disciples and those who would believe because of their witness of love and unity.  In verse 21, Jesus prays (emphasis added), That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

We are surrounded by the wonders of God’s creation from far distant stars to the subatomic particles in matter; and we are impressed by the workings of engines and economies, and even the human body.  But these are not the most powerful evidence that “God sent His Son the be the Savior of the world.”  The most convincing evidence is display of Christ’s love and unity among Christians who are called to be salt and light.

Comments & Questions Welcomed:
Thank you for reading.  We welcome your responses.  Who knows, one of you may even be able to identify from the first photo in this article the auto service here in Wooster, Ohio that we referenced. To respond with  insights, comments, and questions, just use “Comments” below, or email to silviusj@gmail.com.

Feeling, Knowing, and Believing

Our world is changing.  At an ever-increasing pace, these changes are impacting family and societal relationships, value of our currency, health care, education, employment, and constitutional rights.  All of these can impact our emotional, rational, and spiritual sense of well-being and our outlook on the future.  On any given day or even hour of the day, if we are asked how we are doing, we might choose a different emoji to describe our feelings.

Complexity of issues, sheer volume of information, and politically biased reporting make it more and more challenging to stay accurately informed.  Rational thinking skills and wise decision-making based on objective reporting of information are becoming more and more critical—and harder to find.  In this article, we consider some challenges we face and some factors to consider in order to navigate them wisely. 

To begin, let’s say that someone asks us a question.  There are several ways we might respond:

(1)   “I feel ….”

(2)   “I think ….”

(3) “I believe ….”

When someone asks us how we are feeling, we typically reply with #1, “I feel….”  Responses #2 and #3 are how we might begin to share our opinion or a faith-based answer, respectively.  Let’s consider Response #1 first.

Emotional Responses
Our “feelings” are an important part of our self-awareness and our physical and emotional health.  Our physical and emotional health require that we maintain a relationship with at least one person; or if necessary, with pet animal.  We are strengthened and encouraged through face-to-face communication with others or through letters, phone calls, and social media.  

Many of us have pressed “smiley face” stickers on our letters to convey a wordless message of encouragement.  Now that we have cell phone apps, we can digitally insert our choice of emojis along with our text messages and e-mails to communicate briefly how we are “feeling” about something in a wordless fashion.

Health professionals routinely ask their patients how they feel before or after a medical procedure.  Recognizing the difficulty that some patients have in expressing how much pain they actually “feel,” medical facilities often post a “pain scale” consisting of cartoon faces ranging from very distraught (“worst pain imaginable”) to a smiling face (“no pain”).  Health care professionals and all of us need to be aware that a person’s “feelings” have roots that go deeper than physical pain and reach into our emotional and spiritual state.

For many of us, it is easier to describe “how we feel” when someone asks us about our physical pain than when they ask “how we feel about our pain.”  How we feel about joint-replacement surgery during recovery is affected by both the severity of our physical pain and by the degree of our concern about whether we will ever recover.  Some people recover very quickly and have a positive outlook all the way through their pain and physical therapy.  Others struggle with both the physical pain and the related fear it causes.  Why is this?  The truth is, how we see our condition at a given time depends on our physical condition (1, “how we feel”) and our frame of mind (2, “how we think about” our situation.  The differences in how different people respond to similar situations also depends on how they “choose to think” about their situation.

Rational, Faith-Grounded Responses
Dr. Caroline Leaf, a communication pathologist and audiologist has conducted research for years in the field of cognitive neuroscience.  She believes that God created our minds in His image and has given us the free will to choose “how we will think” and react to our circumstances.  Therefore, Dr. Leaf has based her research on God’s revelation in Scriptures.  In Romans 12: 2, God commands us to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, and in Deuteronomy 30: 19, God lovingly invites us to choose life in order that you may live….

Dr. Leaf integrates this Scriptural principle with neuroscience in her book entitled Switch on Your Brain (Baker Books, 2013).  She writes,

Free will and choice are real, spiritual, and scientific facts. Your mind (soul) has one foot in the door of the spirit and one foot in the door of the body; you can change your brain with your mind and essentially renew your mind.

The author cites scientific research pointing to a cause-and-effect relationship between “what we believe” (Response #3 above) about God and our capacity to overcome challenges to physical health. 

As we have cited in a March 22, 2020 Oikonomia article, Dr. Leaf describes a University of Miami study of patients being treated for (Human Immunodeficiency Virus).  The researchers concluded that the most significant factor affecting healing in HIV-infected patients “was their choice to believe in a benevolent and loving God.”  These kinds of scientific findings emphasize the important link between “how we think” (2), how we “choose to think,” and “what we believe” (3).  [Note:  We also recognize that in the eternal span of time before each of us came into being as creatures in God’s image, capable of making choices, He chose us in Him (Christ) before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him.  In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will…(Ephesians 1: 4-5). The "Doctrine of Election" is a subject for another time, but those who wish to study the subject can begin HERE with a resource by Dr. John MacArthur.]

Although feeling, thinking, and believing are interconnected, “feeling” is heavily based on our physical senses; whereas, “thinking and believing” are heavily based on our rational ability, our faith, and our worldview that forms through our experience and learning.

How would you respond if someone were to ask you, “Do you believe there is a God?”   Which of the following would your choose to begin your response:
(1) “I feel ….”
(2) “I think ….”
(3) “I believe ….”

Clearly, our response to “the God question” cannot be based solely upon “what we feel” or “what we think.”  Unless we claim to be God, we have no capacity to claim whether or not God exists.  However, it appears that more and more people are presuming to take the place of God when they deny the existence of objective truth.  The term objective truth applies to a proposition that is considered true no matter what we believe to be the case.

Worldview by "Cut-and-Paste"
We have amassed great knowledge, yet increasing numbers of people question whether objective truth even exists.  This trend is supported by a recent study.

Based on a survey of 2,000 adult Americans (1,000 by phone; 1,000 online) taken in February, 2021 by George Barna, over half (54%) embrace the postmodern idea that all truth is subjective and there are no moral absolutes.  Barna concludes (emphasis added), “We’re just at a place in our country’s history now where that’s the default view.  Most people would say all truth is subjective and there’s no kind of objective truth based on an external standard.  They would say they’re the standard that determines what truth is.”

Barna’s survey, conducted through the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University, offered a series of questions designed to determine the personal worldview of each respondent.  The results, reported in the American Worldview Inventory 2021, are very disturbing, not because of the views expressed but because the views were not based on well informed and coherent thinking.

Based on the respondents’ answers to the questions, only 6% were identified as truly holding to a “biblical worldview.”  Given this low percentage, it is at first puzzling that the biblical worldview was “the most prolific of the seven worldviews tested.”  Another approximately 6% of respondents were scattered among six other worldviews with no more than 2% qualifying to be assigned to any one of the six particular worldviews (see table).   What about the remaining 88% of respondents?

Instead of “developing an internally consistent and philosophically coherent perspective on life,” 88% of Americans are adopting points of view or actions that feel comfortable or seem most convenient” – i.e. using a cut-and-paste approach to making sense of, and responding to life.”   As a result, most Americans who claim adherence to a given belief system are insufficiently developed in both their intellectual understanding and in their behavior and lifestyle to qualify them as being true representatives” of that particular worldview.  For example, 9% of respondents “have a moderately strong set of beliefs and behaviors related to Marxism, Eastern Mysticism, or Nihilism, but “an insufficient breadth of such beliefs and behaviors to qualify as being a true representative of any of those worldviews.”

Feelings Rationally Grounded
Returning to our range of responses, feeling, thinking, and believing, we can explain at least one cause of the troubling trend detected by George Barna’s 2021 worldview inventory; namely, emotion-driven reactions and decisions are replacing those based on careful exercise of critical reasoning.  At the very time when our culture faces both great societal challenges and great tools for addressing these challenges, we seem least prepared to respond emotionally, rationally, and spiritually.

The table below lists seven major societal issues followed by a brief statement we might commonly hear in the media or in conversation.  Notice the prominence of an emotional component in the responses.  However, even though compassion and empathy are important qualities we ought to express toward those who are struggling, these qualities must be guided by rational and moral policies if we are going to solve these problems.

Each of these societal concerns have grown out of a history of what many believe are deviations from God’s commands revealed in the Bible.  The Old Testament, in Exodus 20, reveals how God gave His chosen people, the Israelites, the Ten Commandments, or the ten “Thou shalt not’s.”  God’s purpose was not to “steal their joy” but to give them a moral foundation for a society that would protect them from evil and help them become a “shining city on a hill” for the rest of the world to see and want to copy.   To the extent that Israel followed these commands, they prospered.  But deviations from these spiritual laws gradually caused the Jewish nation to lose their godly distinctions and eventually to be exiled by pagan nations.

Out of His mercy in order to redeem His people Israel, God came in the incarnate form of His Son, Jesus Christ.   Jesus came not to replace the Law but to fulfill the Law through His sinless life, atoning death on the Cross, and resurrection in victory over death that whoever believes in Him as their Savior from sin “should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3: 16).”  Jesus added,

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil (John 3: 17-19). 

God has already come to us with objective truth claims in the Bible that He is the Creator, His creation reveals His power and nature, and that it is so obvious that we are without excuse if we deny it (Romans 1: 20).  The Apostle Paul elaborates about how the tendency of mankind has been to reject and suppress God’s truth (Romans 1: 18).  Those who reject God’s truth, will fall prey to accepting nonsense and be morally and spiritually corrupted to the core of their lives.  Paul described this awful result in Romans 1: 21-23:

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

The rest of Romans 1 reveals the tragic downward path of those who reject God’s authority and absolute truth.  They are left to live in the darkness of moral relativism in which “truth” is what each individual deems it to be.  Returning to the seven (7) commonly heard statements above we can see how each cultural problem results from a deviation from the moral standards given in Scripture.  Each statement is also rooted in one or more misconceptions expressed by a person who has rejected or is ignorant of God’s moral and ethical principles.  In each of the seven, we briefly point out how the problem can be corrected by addressing the deviation from God’s ideal.  However, in no way do we want to imply that the solutions are simple.

Summary: Feeling, Thinking, Believing
In summary, each of us have physical, emotional, rational, and spiritual dimension to our lives.  All of these are interrelated components of our personality; but by itself, each is limited as a way of knowing and judging truth and reality.  We may answer a question about “how we feel” in words, or by our facial expression, or by pointing to a cartoon face or an emoji.   However, to answer questions related to “how we feel about” or “how we choose to react” to our situation, we must draw more heavily upon our rational and spiritual components.  We must be aware of our worldview and what we are basing our reasoning upon.   Recall Barna’s statistics on poorly grounded worldviews?

Thinking carelessly and communicating with tweets and emojis will not be adequate.  And problems in family, church, community, and government resulting from rejection of God’s revealed wisdom in the Bible will certainly not be solved by atheistic, humanistic approaches.  First Corinthians 2: 14 states, the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The proper function of family, church, school, private corporations, and government depends upon documents such as the U.S. Constitution as well as various bylaws, legal codes, and covenants, all written in words in a rational manner.  Most of these in turn, rest upon the objective revelation of the Bible concerning the nature of man.  Due to our tendency to lust for power, there is a need to avoid the concentration of power and its corrupting influence, and to incorporate ways to hold individuals morally and spiritually accountable. 

God’s Word makes clear that ultimate reality is not this physical, temporary universe which we can see, hear, touch, taste and smell.  We can only discern spiritual reality when we submit to the Word of God and His Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 2: 13) to renew our minds (Romans 12: 2) and teach us to discern spiritual truth (John 14: 26).  Then, the Peace of God will replace our anxious feelings, and His love and care will uphold us for the challenges we face.

We hope this article will help you toward better discernment of issues in our world through proper exercise of your capacities for feeling, knowing, and believing.  As always, we welcome your “Comments” using the link below; or, please write privately to silviusj@gmail.com.  You may want to express how you feel, or what you think about this article, and share what you believe and why. 

WHO Is Really Sovereign?

World     Health     Organization

These three words encompass almost everything that determines the quality of our lives.  Don’t we all want a “better world?”   Who doesn’t want “good health?”  And “good organization” is as much valued as “mother” and “apple pie.”  Put them all together, and bingo!  We have the “World Health Organization,” the WHO. 

The WHO was founded in 1948 within the United Nations for the good purpose of “connecting nations, partners and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.” Many believed it would play a valuable part in improving human health around the world.  But the current WHO mission statement is much more ambitious as stated on the WHO website (emphasis added): dedicated to the well-being of all people and guided by science, the WHO leads and champions global efforts to give everyone, everywhere an equal chance to live a healthy life.  Had the WHO been able to achieve this mission during its nearly 75-year history, some would think the world would be nearing a state of utopia.  Indeed, for many years, the WHO was respected as an organization that could provide accurate health information on a global scale and devise approaches to health concerns that would save lives.  However, the COVID-19 pandemic has unmasked the troubling fact that the WHO has been hijacked by unsavory elements that are playing for keeps at the international level.

Who Controls WHO?
The WHO is greatly influenced if not controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).  The CCP is the third largest donor to the WHO followed by the United States.  The Bill Gates Foundation comes in third.  Not surprisingly, the CCP is implicated in the origin of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the early outbreak of the virus, and its rapid spread in the following weeks.  We have discussed the reasons why many suspect that China was deliberately responsible for these events.  The WHO has also injected contradictory and unscientific recommendations for how to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. [See “If We Had Only Known: But Why Didn’t We?” CLICK HERE.]

In recent months, many Americans have become more aware that policies of the WHO in the name of a “public health emergency” only pretended to “follow the science.”  Instead, they “followed the money and the politics” as is evident in the centerpieces of the WHO recommendations to address the COVID-19 pandemic.  These centerpieces included (a) strict lockdowns; (b) vaccine mandates in spite of possible adverse collateral health effects while opposing use of more time-tested therapeutics such as hydroxychloroquine; and (c) mandates for wearing masks in spite of the fact that extensive scientific research has revealed that forced masking produced no significant decrease in the spread of coronavirus.  [See HERE (SCIENCE Journal with faulty analysis of data), HERE (critique of SCIENCE article with corrected statistical analysis).]  Thankfully, in recent months large numbers of Americans are realizing that all three centerpieces of the WHO’s COVID policy have caused great harm while failing in many cases to protect the most vulnerable.

Americans have demonstrated amazing patience in the hope of saving lives, even in spite of news reports of the suspicious origin of the virus, lockdowns that have cost the lives of many of our elderly, retarded educational progress in our schools, threatened small businesses, furthering the disadvantage of struggling minorities, threats to religious freedom, and daily news of governments moving further and further toward tyrannical control of its citizens.  However, now is not a time for freedom-loving Americans including this writer to spike the ball and say, “We told you so.”  Rather, it is a time in which we should all pause in sober reflection and new resolve to adopt policies that will work to protect human health while also protecting or cherished freedoms.  A recent development underscores this need for vigilance.

Surrender of National Sovereignty
In what many see as a threat to the sovereignty of the United States and other nation states, the Biden administration in cooperation with our Department of Homeland Security is about to hand to the WHO a series of amendments to the current International Health Regulations.  When the 75th World Health Assembly convenes at the United Nations (U.N.) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland this week, delegates from 194 nations will vote on the Biden administration’s amendments.

Some analysts, including Brett MacDonald, maintain that the Biden amendments stop short of ceding US national sovereignty to the WHO [Click HERE.]   Others, including the Liberty Counsel argue that the amendments would grant the WHO and its director, Tedros Adhanom, the unrestricted power to declare ‘international health emergencies’ at will in any nation, and then to implement WHO interventions that override national sovereignty and restrict human freedom, all in the name of protecting human health.  For example, the WHO could declare an “international health emergency” for any perceived threat, including energy usage practices that are believed to contribute to “climate change.”  

Eric Schmitt, Attorney General of the State of Missouri articulated his concern about the proposed amendments in a May 20 interview on Tucker Carlson Tonight.  [Click HERE.]

What Can We Do?
We strongly recommendation that you read the proposed amendments and the sources cited above representing both sides of the issue.  Those who conclude that the Biden amendments are threat to our freedom may choose dutifully to write to their U.S Senators.  However, amazingly U.S. Senate is powerless to stop the amendments because President Biden does not require Senate approval by a 2/3 vote.  Therefore, appeals to our Senators must aim at requesting that the U.S. Senate consider every effort to remove the United States from the WHO, an action already taken by President Trump in July, 2020 but reversed by President Biden.  Anything short of separation from the WHO would seem to fall short as an effort to protect our national sovereignty.

Surrender to the Real Sovereign
The COVID-19 pandemic with its associated mandates and lockdowns has brought major changes to our lifestyles.  Then, there is the increased emotional burden that has arisen from our personal health concerns, concern for loved ones, fear of the growing government overreach into our constitutional freedoms, and frustration over the apparent corruption, confusion, and political rancor that is institutionalized within our federal government.  Many have begun to feel powerless, vulnerable, and disregarded by the leadership and policies of the current administration.  What are we to do aside from keeping informed and voicing concerns to our leaders?

Bleak Times? Look to God
Times when things look most bleak are often the very times when we come to realize where our true source of freedom lies.   The Bible, from cover to cover, speaks of the One who is the ultimate Sovereign of all creation—Almighty God.  The God revealed in Scripture is Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign ruler over the universe. 

King David honored God with the following words to the great assembly of Israel on the occasion of the dedication of materials for the construction of Solomon’s temple:

Blessed are You, O LORD God of Israel our father, forever and ever.  Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. (1 Chronicles 29: 10b-11)

Savior, Helper, Comforter
In the New Testament Letter to the Colossians 1: 15-17 we read about Jesus Christ who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.  He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

This Jesus, King of all creation, just before He was crucified, buried, and rose again in victory over death:  But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you (John 16: 7).

Take a few minutes to meditate on these Scriptures that speak of the Sovereign God in three Persons:   God the Father is so well described in King David’s praise as LORD over heaven and Earth.  God’s Son, Jesus Christ in whom the whole universe holds together gave His life as a sacrifice for our sin, rose again, and ascended to Heaven; then, sent His Holy Spirit as our Helper and Comforter.  It is God through Jesus who invites us to surrender our “personal sovereignty” and yield to Him as King, Savior, and Comforter when He invites us to come unto me all of you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my load is light (Matthew 11: 28-30).

How to Yield Your Sovereignty
What does it mean to surrender our personal sovereignty over our lives to the Sovereign of the Universe?  As we often do, we offer this link to a Cru publication called “Have You Made the Wonderful Discovery of the Spirit-Filled Life?”  This resource explains how you can yield the “throne of your life” to God’s authority and find meaning and purpose through New Life in Christ with His Spirit as your Helper.  Then, as the Apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2: 6-7 (emphasis added):

Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk in Him,
having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him
and established in your faith, just as you were instructed,
and overflowing with gratitude.

God’s invitation to receive Christ includes our surrender of sovereignty to the most gracious King Jesus who invites us into His yoke and thereby to walk in Him daily.  Somewhat ironically, as we learn to “walk in Him” we become “firmly rooted” and “built up in Him, established in our faith.”  This requires that we daily feed upon His Word, the Scriptures of the Bible.  My friend and brother in Christ, Dave Garver, has shared with our church small group an excellent resource from Calvary Chapel, South Bay, Gardena, CA called “How to Rest in God’s Promises Every Single Day” [Click HERE.].  Of special value from this resource is its three daily activities to “Rest in God’s Promises Every Single Day:”

Step #1:  Have a Devotional Life
Step #2:  Remember What God’s Already Done
Step #3:  Self-check to See What Exactly it is You’re Carrying

Check out the above website to read the rationale for each of the three steps.  The benefit of walking daily with Christ is that no matter the challenges and fears that confront you (and they will), you can be overflowing with gratitude as Paul wrote (above) and His Joy.  King David’s words of worship in 1 Chronicles 29: 14-15a continue when he praises God as Giver of all things; whereas, he as king and his subjects are all simply stewards of what really belongs to God (emphasis added):

But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to offer as generously as this?  For all things come from You, and from Your hand we have given You.  For we are sojourners before You, and tenants…

When we rest in God’s gracious and generous sovereignty, and recognize we are simply stewards of His creation and the provisions He grants to us for our needs, we can rest secure even in frustrating and fearful times when we see threats to our political and religious freedom, and even our national sovereignty on a global scale.  The World Health Organization is a human creation that offers “health.”  But as we have seen, the choice to surrender American sovereignty to a world organization may not be a “healthy choice.”  Far better to be sure we have surrendered our personal sovereignty to the Sovereign God and seek His provision of spiritual health through daily disciplines of feeding on His Word that in turn strengthens our mind, heart, and soul.   As such, we can be light and salt in our homes, churches, schools, communities, and government in a confused and darkened world where the only human hope is to yield to the Sovereign God who loves and provides for now and eternity.

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RESOURCE:
The Yoke of Jesus

Relevant to our spiritual application of the notion of sovereignty in this article is a message given this morning at West Hill Baptist Church, Wooster, OH by Pastor Eric Fairhurst.  In his message from Matthew 11: 28-30, Pastor Fairhurst states, “The yoke of Jesus can ultimately be none other than the fulness of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.  To come under His yoke is to surrender yourself to His Lordship in all matters.  To strain against or refuse His yoke is to show that we do not truly love and trust Him to do what is best in and through us."  Listening to this message will give you much spiritual insight.  Click à HERE to watch online.