Job: With Friends Like These

Spirituality Column #82
June 3, 2008
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) newspaper

Job: With Friends Like These
By Bob Walters

What does Job teach us about faith and trust?

Job is the oldest book in the Bible. The story predates by several hundred years God’s anointing of Abraham. There is no name for Job’s religion; he simply feared God and shunned evil (Job 1:1).

Conversely, God trusted Job. God tells Satan in Job 1:8, “There is no one on earth like him (Job); he is blameless and upright.”

Satan tells God that Job’s faith can be shaken (Job 1:11), and God says, in effect, OK, it’s a bet. Satan suggests God strike everything Job has, but God simply puts Job’s possessions into Satan’s hands.

Job’s children, servants, herds, oxen, donkeys, camels were all wiped out. Job’s reaction was to fall to the ground and worship God (Job 1:20).

God said to Satan, See? “Job maintains his integrity” (Job 2:3). Satan replied, let’s hurt Job himself, and afflicted him with “painful sores from … his feet … to his head.” Job’s wife tells Job to curse God. Job tells her she is a fool (Job 2:10).

Then Job’s three friends show up (Job 2:11), and for the next 35 chapters try to tell Job, basically, that bad things only happen to bad people, so what has he, Job, done to God?

Job’s celebrated “patience” with God is pretty much over by verse 3:26, “I have no rest; only turmoil,” and with his friends by verse 6:15, “… my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams.” Job and his friends bicker, mourn and lament until God decides to have His say, “The Lord Speaks,” in Chapter 38. God was displeased that Job questioned His intentions.

Notice: Job’s faith wasn’t shaken by what had happened; it was shaken by those closest to him, seeking to divide him from God by saying he was guilty of something.

Key Point 1: No one stopped to think Satan was behind the turmoil.

Key Point 2: Good counsel increases faith and creates focus on God; bad counsel decreases faith and creates focus on ourselves.

Job, who was restored much as we are restored eternally by Jesus Christ, had it right to start with: keeping faith and trusting God always works.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) has learned faith and patience the hard way, and is almost positive there is not an easy way.

The Cross Was an Inside Job

Spirituality Column #89
July 22, 2008
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) newspaper

The Cross Was an Inside Job
By Bob Walters

Here is a picture of Christ Jesus and Christian doctrine that I’ve often heard explaining the crucifixion:

God punished Jesus instead of us. Jesus was sacrificed for our sins. Our sin debt was paid to God. Because of our guilt, we should have been punished – and probably ought to be punished – but Christ took the nails for us.

Y’know … it’s not in the Bible that way.

It makes for a very human story. We understand punishment and death and sin and even sacrifice; they are all very human things. They are among the awful ways we order our incredibly imperfect social hierarchy.

We humans have a power-motivated “do this or else” aesthetic that God can’t possibly share if He is a God of love and if God is truly represented by the Father-Son-Spirit Trinity, which I believe He is.

Why? The Trinity is not interdependent within itself for punishment and death and sin. God has no need for any of these. Yes, Christ sacrificed himself as a human to defeat human death. But how (and why) would Christ – and remember He is co-equal in the Trinity – sacrifice Himself to repay Himself as God?

Jesus died on the Cross to defeat death which was created by God in response to our sins (read Genesis 3). And considering God already owns and shares everything, there is no way on earth to repay a debt to God. We don’t “borrow” things from God.

Within the Trinity there is not what philosophers would call an “other.” God is not “other” from Jesus, nor Jesus from the Holy Spirit. The Trinity is the ultimate, cosmic team effort; It is the relationship of the universe. Yes It is three distinct persons, but the Trinity is One; a wholly loving – and lovingly interdependent – relational community.

That was God’s original plan for all humanity, and remains His eternal purpose.

So the idea of God punishing Jesus, or of Jesus repaying God – an oft-told story – cannot be true; and it is not described in the Bible that way. The Bible says “ … [God] gave his son … that [we] shall not perish” (John 3:16).

The Cross was an inside job; God required the Cross to defeat death, God (Jesus) was on the Cross, and God (Spirit) provides us – if we want it – with our faith in the Cross.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that in the Greek manuscripts, the specific word “punish” does not appear in the New Testament. It has been added by translators.

I'm Just Not That into God, Lent Part 1

Spirituality Column #226
March 8, 2011
Current in Carmel - Westfield - Noblesville – Fishers
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Lenten Series 2011
I’m Just Not That into God, Part 1
By Bob Walters

We are conditioned by our culture to believe that God – especially the person of Jesus Christ – is merely one of life’s extracurricular activities, not the full-time source and center of our humanity and life itself.

There is doubt. God is OK but organized religion is a pain. Yeah I suppose there is a God but until He proves to me he or she exists I’m looking out for No. 1. When I sincerely tried to pray, I got no answer. What’s God ever done for me?

There is reason. Survival depends on my ability to reason, to choose and to judge right and wrong. I’m supposed to deny my powers of reason and “believe” in a God I can’t see? Who allowed his own son to be killed? Who needs a father like that?

There is precedent. I’m free, aren’t I? Don’t Bible-thump me with that Jesus nonsense. Arose from the dead? Loves sinners? Forgives even the stuff I’ve done? C’mon. I’m too smart for that. I know things. And don’t mix faith with public schooling. It’s my God-given right to have church and state separated!

“God-given?” Alas.

Truth is, people generally accept the existence of God. Survey after survey pegs “atheist” as identifying only four percent or so of the US population. Not that God tracks his ratings, He’s there whether we believe in Him or not. But our culture of media and personal esteem makes it far too appealing and easy for us to seek reality elsewhere.

I did that for about 30 years.

I never thought God didn’t exist. Nor did I think Jesus, the Bible and the church were all that important. Just a bunch of old characters, old stories, old thinking. Jesus was a good man, the Bible has lots of good advice … but, the center of all life?

I just wasn’t that into God.

Thing is, I realize now, I wanted to BE God. As I grew to understand that the job was already taken, Jesus – our human-divine connection with God – suddenly became very important.

Lent, the church season of Christ’s passion and sacrifice, begins tomorrow and ends at Easter. Traditionally, many Christians give up something for Lent.

To take the critical step of putting Christ in the center of our lives and recalibrating / downsizing popular culture, let’s give up trying to be God.

That job’s taken, and it’s a full-time gig.

Walters (email rlwcom@aol.com) will look at non-believers through Lent, urging believers not to give up on them.

Caesar Oprah!

Spirituality Column #76
April 22, 2008
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper

Caesar Oprah!
By Bob Walters

Has it ever really sunk in how completely un-famous Jesus Christ was when He was alive on earth?

He was the Son of God, yet very few knew Him. His resurrection didn’t make the public records, only private letters.

His job wasn’t to tell us He was God. Jesus’ job was to tell us we have eternal life with God if we believe in Him as the Christ. Jesus did not have to bluntly say, “I am God.” There is no doubt that He was, and is.

He knew we’d figure it out … and believe. We have.

Subsequently, Jesus has been very, very famous for a long time.

During Jesus’ life on earth, the Caesars were immensely famous and powerful; people thought they were gods. They are all dead now. Jesus died and now lives – so we can live – and scripture breathes that truth.

This brings me to the errant theology of Oprah Winfrey.

Bright-eyed and savvy, Oprah, like the Caesars, is immensely famous and powerful.

There are plenty of preachers around who think they are entertainers. Oprah has become an entertainer who thinks she is a preacher.

Have you been following her Christ-stifling foray into spiritual enlightenment?

Oprah says there are a million ways to salvation. Her guru imagines there is nothing after death. She has completely botched the concept of God’s jealousy for us (God's jealousy is a good thing, folks; not bad). She is preaching about feelings and breathing. She infers that belief is a sucker’s gambit: to wit, God just “is,” therefore we should not believe. Huh?

I wonder what the meaning of “is” is, here.

Oprah is telling us that Jesus was mistaken when He said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” That’s John 14:6. It’s fairly famous. Jesus is famous because lines like that have endured for nearly 2,000 years in a famous place, the Bible.

If you want to see a list of Oprah’s scriptural incursions and misinformation, go to www.seriousfaith.com (Brent Riggs’ blog) and search “Pastor Oprah.”

My point is this: scriptural canon has survived intact for 1,600 years. I have a hunch it is going to survive Oprah.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) figures Oprah will fool very few Christians, but her New Age nonsense is sure to screw up some very sincere seekers. It’s a shame. Pray for her return to Christ.

Reflecting God's Gift

Spirituality Column #113
January 6, 2009
Current in Carmel (IN) Newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) Newspaper

Reflecting God’s Gift
By Bob Walters
Book available at Common Christianity / Uncommon Commentary

We are nearly through Christmas, a gift-giving season when people reflect on Jesus Christ more than any other time of year.

I say “nearly” because the Orthodox (Greek, Russian, Eastern, etc.) Christmas (Julian calendar) is actually tomorrow, Jan. 7. Fans of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” know that yesterday or today, depending on which Christian part of the world you’re in, is the “Twelfth Day of Christmas.”

Today, Jan. 6, marks the start of the ecclesiastical season of Epiphany (Gregorian calendar), celebrating the Magi’s visit to the child Jesus and thereby manifesting Christ to the gentiles (a very big deal … it meant Jesus came for all mankind).

Feel free to Google any of these terms if you care to ingest a larger dose of church history and ecclesiastical tradition. Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Christians all agree on Christ’s position as Son in the Father-Son-Spirit Trinity, but – even congregation by congregation – take vastly different approaches to doctrine, worship, salvation and church organization.

Christianity can look very confusing from the outside; shoot … it can look very confusing from the inside. Yet many of us arrive at a point where faith overrides confusion, and for that we must thank the Holy Spirit.

Especially at Christmas we Christians love to say “Jesus Christ is” this or that: He is Truth, Love, Hope, Joy, Mercy, Salvation, the Way, Light, Good Shepherd, Prince of Peace, Wonderful Counselor, etc. Then we harshly judge and/or argue with those who simply look at us and say, “I don’t understand.”

If there is one thing we should know as Christians it’s that our actions are our real witness, not our words. “No one is argued to faith,” Cal Thomas wrote recently.

As badly as we may want to provide an understanding of Christian faith to others, we can no more do that by ourselves than provide salvation. Helping us understand our faith is the Holy Spirit’s job; Salvation is Christ’s job.

And this is true: We can’t, won’t understand Christ until we involve the Holy Spirit.

When Christmas is over, many people stop reflecting on Jesus. Believers should make it a point every day to be a reflection of Jesus that will make others ask the Holy Spirit to awaken understanding inside of them.

That understanding is a gift God provides every day of the year.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) isn’t missing his own advice about words … that’s why these columns are short.

Rational Faith

Spirituality Column #101
October 14, 2008
Current in Carmel (IN) Newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) Newspaper

Rational Faith
By Bob Walters

Bill Maher used to be a funny guy. I saw him 20 years ago when he was the hired entertainment at an auto racing banquet in Monterey, Calif. He did a nice job.

He turned up a couple years later on the ABC TV show “Politically Incorrect” and through the 1990s morphed from comic into a savvy political/cultural satirist/wise guy. Generally funny and irreverent, his nightly mix of four oddly-matched guests in group conversation about current issues seemed compelling, relevant and often surprising.

I remember one night his guests were hard-right G. Gordon Liddy of Watergate break-in fame, a verbose and passionate conservative African-American woman activist whose name I cannot remember, pleasant “Brady Bunch mom” actress Florence Henderson, and Satan-worshipping bilge rock musician Marilyn Manson, who by the way is a guy.

Surprisingly, the only guest who consistently made sense was Manson, speaking quietly of his desire, as an artist, to push the limits of what people believed. He didn’t bash Christ or defend Satan. His stage act is truly horrifying (I’ve seen clips and heard stories), but that evening he simply sounded like a thoughtful artist.

Maher moved on to no-holds-barred HBO and renamed his show “Real Time.” I lost track of him because I don’t have HBO. But he’s turned up now in the movies with his intensely anti-God screed of a film, "Religulous." It is a Christian-bashing, God-denying, religion-ridiculing atheist’s delight promoting the irrationality of faith.

Certainly some faith groups will organize boycotts, but it is so over-the-top I doubt many people take the film seriously.

Before its release, I spent quite a bit of time studying the film’s website which has several clips and plenty of explanatory background. I got the gist of the film and probably won’t bother paying to see it.

More than anything, I watch Maher and feel an intense human pang of regret, in a seriously prayerful way, that anyone is so distant from and intellectually hostile toward God and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Maher seems like a scared kid trying to talk his way out of the principal’s office.

I’m happy, joyful and secure in my faith and see Christ as the most consistently rational, intellectually stimulating part of my being.

Rationality dictates that God’s existence depends neither on my saying He does, nor Maher saying He doesn’t. God just is. Faith is that simple.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) notes that so many people try to create God in their own image, and get so mad when God doesn’t cooperate.

Christian Salesmanship: Oh Lord, won't you buy me ...

Column #9
January 9, 2007
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper

Christian Salesmanship: Oh Lord, won’t you buy me …By Bob Walters

I get the creeps when I see Christian salesmanship (some call it evangelism) focused on either sin or prosperity.

Both miss the point terribly, but are understandable sales tactics because they are global concepts.

Sin – everybody has it. Prosperity - everybody wants it.

God, the Bible teaches us, isn’t all that interested in either.

Sin certainly has a theological basis. Christ came from God for our salvation, and preached fervently against the sins which separate us from our relationship with God the Father Almighty.

God’s not that interested in our sin because He doesn’t dwell on our past; guilt has no place in the Kingdom. Satan, on the other hand, has nothing except our past sins and our current guilt to fulfill his lowly aim of controlling us in order to spoil that Godly relationship Christ died for.

So when I hear a Christian selling Christ on the basis of our awful sins that He died for, the Christian is selling the disease (guilt), not the cure.

What’s the cure? That’s easy: Love, and faith in Christ.

God’s power is love and faith; Satan’s power is guilt and fear. Class dismissed.

The Prosperity Gospel, the health and wealth doctrine so tremendously popular today (especially on TV), has preachers selling salvation in a gold box. If your relationship is right with Jesus, they preach, if you pray right and live right, Jesus will reward you with the desirable spoils of this life. You’ll get your best life right now.

That is dangerous baloney. If you “believe” in order to get something material, then what you have isn’t faith. What you have is greed. And your faith is going to take a beating when you lose your job or your health. God isn’t in that stuff; He’s in your heart.

In the Old Testament, God made the Jews His Chosen People. They strove for righteousness with earthly works to win God’s favor. Popular “Capitalist Christianity” finds its scriptural basis in the Old Testament, before the coming of the Messiah.

In the New Testament, in Christ, God’s favor is already won … for eternity. Not only does the New Testament not teach the prosperity gospel (not without a good yank, tuck and a twist, anyway), it very clearly points out the specific perils of wealth (Matthew 19:16-30). Nowhere does it say wealth is bad, certainly; only dangerous. And nowhere does it say being rich, smart, good looking and healthy are a measure of virtue.

Virtue, it teaches, is in your heart, not in your hand. Salvation, it promises, is in your faith in Christ, not in things. Forgiveness of our sins is wonderful, but God’s promise is that we will eventually forget our sins, because He already has. (New Year’s note – Why not go ahead and forget your sins? Satan will have a harder time getting to you.)

Health and wealth? They are false gods. You may have noticed that everybody dies, and there are an awful lot of going-to-glory Christians who will leave little behind.

For God’s love, Christ erased our sin and laid up our real riches in heaven.

Sell that.

Walters, a Carmel resident, has lost faith in most TV preachers.

God and Sportsmanship

Spirituality Column #169
February 2, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

God and Sportsmanship
By Bob Walters

Christianity embodies the ultimate in sportsmanship: loving one’s enemy.

Sportsmanship is also about fidelity to team, obeisance to rules, abhorrence of cheating, discipline of preparation, trying one’s best, reveling in competition, respecting rival competitors, overcoming obstacles, sharing success, perseverance. Lots of stuff.

In a perfect world, that would all describe the community of Christ.

So … central Indiana … how did you feel a year and a half ago when you heard Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was out for the season with a knee injury?

Or during last week’s AFC Championship game? How do you feel today about the (NFL) Saints? Charitable? At peace? Faithful? Fulfilled?

Send Brady a get-well card did you? Hoping New Orleans has a pleasant and sportsmanship-filled experience vs. our Colts at Super Bowl XLIV?

Sporting endeavor has many faces.

Remember Jake Porter and the “viral video” from late 2006? Jake, a mentally retarded (inherited Chromosomal Fragile-X) high school senior from southern Ohio, scored a late, uncontested touchdown when his team, Northwest, was trailing 42-0 to Waverly, which stood aside as Jake happily ran 40 yards into the end zone.

Loved the moment. Felt warm inside. It’s a righteous world where things like that happen. But, c’mon. Unless one is a class-A jerk, it’s easy to be a sportsman when one is easily winning. The true test of humanity, and of faith, is when times are challenging, not when we’re up 42-0.

Remember the “Cobra-kai’s” whacko sensei in The Karate Kid? Don’t you hate that guy? “Sweep the leg!” Would you ever possibly pray for that guy? How about the opposing coach in Remember the Titans who called Denzel Washington’s character a monkey? Kill the racist with kindness? Or just kill him.

Striving and struggle and decency. Humility and grace. That’s sportsmanship. Winning at all costs for earthly reward and renown … that’s soulless idolatry.

God loves to see his kids play, and “running the race” (Hebrews 12:1) is a vibrant Biblical picture of living our lives for God’s glory. Let’s keep a firm handle on the fleeting, temporary, and earthly glory of sports achievement.

Whether one has just lost a game or won the championship, lost a job or won the lottery, the challenge of eternal victory is equally great.

The best win – a forever kind of win – is when Christ wins our heart.

Be sure Christ has a sporting chance in your life.

Walters (believerbob@blogspot.com or email rlwcom@aol.com) offers a sincere “well done” to Irsay, Caldwell, Manning, Garcon & Co. for their class, grace and humility before, during and after the Colts’ AFC Championship victory over the Jets.

Pope Views Not News

Spirituality Column #39
August 7, 2007
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

Pope Views Not News
By Bob Walters

That the Roman Catholic Church sees itself to be “the one true church” is very old theological news.

The general eruption of media and talk radio indignation since the Pope seemingly reaffirmed the Catholic Church’s doctrine of exclusive salvation – “We are the only ones who are saved” – seems to be more a case of bad journalism than bad church public relations.

All grumbling to the contrary, the Pope said no such thing. The Vatican’s doctrinal theologians (the current Pope used to head that division) drafted a clarifying document stating that the church actually believes what it says it believes, and the Pope accepted that document as being also what he believes.

Somehow, this was international news.

Any “History of Christian Theology 101” class includes the facts that 1) the Catholic Church views itself as the one true church; 2) sees itself as mediator between congregants and Christ; and 3) that Catholic authority and practice emanate from its traditions as much or moreso than from the Bible.

Classic Protestant denominations – Episcopal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, etc. – also provided a degree of Holy mediation and “liturgical” (institutionalized, pre-written) worship, but encouraged scripture reading to such a degree that America at its founding through about 100 years ago was a very Biblically literate culture.

Since then the Bible-totin’ Baptist, independent Christian and other Evangelical churches – a religious out-cropping of recent centuries – have taken to heart what it says in 1 Timothy 2:15 about Christ as the only mediator with God, and Biblically inferred that man needs a church (an “ecclesial community” in Vatican parlance … whatever), a Bible and a personal relationship with Christ, Amen.

Catholic or Protestant or Evangelical, what I know for sure is that Christ doesn’t change, God doesn’t change, and the Holy Spirit doesn’t change.

Maybe if we all tried to be more like them – Christ, God and the Holy Spirit – we’d find similarities among ourselves instead of differences. It would make God smile.

And hey, don’t yell at the Pope; appreciate a guy who understands his job.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) would point out that, unlike the Trinity, each of us must change … and it’s hard.

A Prayer in My Pocket

Spirituality Column #114
January 13, 2009
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) newspaper

A Prayer in My Pocket
By Bob Walters

First in a series on The Lord's Prayer

Having grown up in the Episcopal Church of the 1960s, the Lord’s Prayer was a weekly staple in the worship service:

Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those that trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, For ever and ever. Amen.

It was something you learned as a kid “by heart” (memorized) … like the Pledge of Allegiance or the Boy Scout Oath. You heard it over and over and just knew it in case you ever needed it, but probably never thought seriously about what it meant.

Today outside the liturgical churches such as the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist and a very few other denominations (“liturgy” means standardized worship services and prayers), the Lord’s Prayer is not part of the routine Christian experience. I think that’s sad.

And speaking of routine (and sad), at this point many Christians would routinely begin to argue various points of this example of the Lord’s Prayer:
- It’s “debts” not “trespasses;”
- No, wait … it should be “sins;”
- The “thy” and “thine” language is antiquated;
- “For thine is the Kingdom … ” etc., is a doxology and not part of the Catholic version;
- You should pray what’s in your heart, not some rote bit of archaic liturgy.
- It’s not a prayer, it’s an instruction.

The Lord’s Prayer comes from the Bible: Matthew 6:9-13 in the Sermon on the Mount, and again in Luke 11:2-4. Matthew, in the Greek, says “debts” (Gk opheilema), while Luke says “sins” (Gk hamartia). “Trespasses” doesn’t appear in any version of the Bible … the word was inserted in the prayer by Origen of Alexandria in the third century.

Christians often fight and disagree over all the wrong things, but here is why the Lord’s Prayer, to me, is critical:

When I wasn’t going to church and needed a prayer with no idea how to pray, I could say the Lord’s Prayer and know Jesus was listening.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) believes God loves all of us all the time; many of us however do a bad job of loving God. More on the Lord’s Prayer next week.

My Friend George

Spirituality Column #65
February 5, 2008
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper

My Friend George
By Bob Walters

We are, each one of us, unique.

Our Carmel neighbor George Bebawi (beh-BOW-ee), I think you’ll agree, is a little more unique than the rest of us.

Born in Cairo, Egypt, in 1940 to an Egyptian Christian physician and a Hungarian Jewish homemaker, George was raised from the age of 5 by his Hungarian Jewish refugee grandmother Sara … in an Islamic Cairo neighborhood.

As a Jew he studied the Torah and the Talmud in Hebrew, and also memorized the Arabic Koran – all of it – in order not to be too different from his Muslim neighbors and friends.

In his late teens George and his grandmother converted to Christianity, and George studied and became a priest in the Coptic Church, the Christian orthodox sect unique to Egypt.

In 1965 George won a scholarship to Cambridge University in England where by 1970 he completed his MLit and PhD in theology and philosophy. He also studied psychotherapy with Britain’s legendary Frank Lake.

George’s native language is Arabic, but he can speak and/or translate in Hebrew, Greek, Syriac, Aramaic, Latin, Coptic, German and English … and a couple of others I forget. His first “job” at Cambridge was translating the Coptic Bible into German. Because he is distrusting of modern Bible versions, for his Bible classes George typically translates straight from the Greek or Hebrew.

He is among the world’s most recognized scholars on Eastern Christianity, and has taught major world religions at universities in the Middle East, at St. John’s College, Nottingham, England, and Cambridge, from which he retired in 2004. That’s when he moved here to Carmel to marry May Rifka, an American of Lebanese descent.

George is an expert on Judaism, Islam, Buddhism and other religions. He was first assistant to the Coptic Bishop of Cairo. He worked in the Vatican. While at Nottingham he taught Christian meditation to Buddhist monks. He once publicly debated the Dalai Lama in Birmingham, England. He knows exactly what is so miserably wrong with The DaVinci Code … and can explain it.

And he loves to laugh. Recently deceased pastor Russ Blowers, who never missed George’s weekly Wednesday lectures at East 91st Street Christian Church, called George “a completely free man in Christ” … which is to say that George’s deep, passionate, joyous and spiritually profound faith in Christ is free from legalism and sectarian convention.

George is one very smart and unique dude, and it is impossible to ignore the pure power of the Holy Spirit when you’re around him.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) should probably write a book about this guy. Until then, see georgebebawi.com.  [Update 1-10-13 - Or come to his class at E91 Wednesday's 6:30-7:45 p.m..  It's free and open, and George is currently teaching 1 Corinthians. Contact me for details, or just show up!] 

Tough Love, Tough Jesus

Spirituality Column - #14 - February 13, 2007
Current! In Carmel newspaper

Tough Love, Tough Jesus
By Bob Walters

Lambs are gentle and sheep are stupid, but a good shepherd has to be tough enough and smart enough to make up for the weakness of the flock.

An attentive read of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) reveals a critical truth about the incarnate Christ Jesus – God become man – that runs counter to “Gentle Jesus” stereotypes.

Jesus was one tough customer.

Look at it another way … if sins are our weakness, and Jesus was without sin, how far from weakness was Jesus?

Pretty far.

We are the children of a loving God Who created the world to glorify Himself, then gave us freedom to seek Him and to love Him. Given the awesome power of God Almighty, it’s much more comforting for us to look at God in terms of gentle than tough; savior not disciplinarian; because, to tell you the truth, a tough God scares me.

But how tough can God be, if God loves us?

Put that another way – how tough would a Shepherd need to be to love us, to love this world, to love us in spite of our sin, to die a horrific death to redeem our lives in the eyes of God?
Most of the time I think, pretty tough.

So, Jesus … Gentle Lamb of God who died for our sins? Good Shepherd?

Here is the miracle of Christ ... He did the hard part. He was tough so we can receive the gentle gift of His love; a redeeming love that gives us peace and assures eternal salvation. “My yoke is easy and my burden is light … “ says Matthew 11:30.

“O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world …” goes the wonderful hymn. You can’t possibly think that was a gentle job.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com), a Carmel resident, thinks Valentine’s Day is no big deal compared with the redeeming love of Christ.

After Easter - The Season of Seeing

Spirituality Column #178
April 6, 2010
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

After Easter – The Season of Seeing
By Bob Walters

In the hours and days following the Resurrection, those closest to Jesus – those who loved Him, followed him, doubted him, misunderstood Him, denied Him, fled from Him, stood by him, and mourned him – learned their Lord Jesus was indeed God the Messiah, Christ the Redeemer, and the Savior of mankind.

Jesus had defeated death, would soon join the Father in heaven, and promised his followers the same ultimate victory over the flesh and suffering of this world. They too could join eternal communion with God in heaven … if they would trust Him, have faith in Him, love Him, and love people as God loves each one of us.

Christ died on Good Friday and rose from the dead on Easter. Today the ensuing seven weeks mark the official “Easter” season of the church calendar. The Gospels recount the many physical visits of the resurrected Christ …

- To the 11 remaining disciples (Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:14-19),

- On the road to Emmaus and as “flesh and bones” sharing a meal with the disciples (Luke 24:13-53),

- In the locked room to the doubting disciple Thomas; on the shore directing the fishermen; and by telling Peter to “feed my sheep” (John 20:19 – 21:25).

Following Christ’s Ascension to the right hand of God weeks later, Pentecost marked the descent of the Holy Spirit into the disciples and the establishment of the fellowship of believers (Acts 2).

It was during these Easter weeks that the flesh and blood Jesus, in multiple ways, proved that He was Who He said He was … and is. Replacing Jesus on Earth, into our hearts came the Holy Spirit, also fully God, and the perfect completion of the Communion of the Holy Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The disciples, with their own eyes, saw the Truth of, and promises kept by, Jesus. Today, it is the Holy Spirit Who is with us, Who abides in us, and of Whom we ask in the words of the popular Christian song, to “open the eyes of my heart.”

These weeks are when the death and resurrection of Jesus are most fresh in our minds and hearts. It is a most opportune time to ask the Holy Spirit to teach us, as Christ taught the disciples, that God’s love and gift of salvation are truth marked in faith.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com) notes that the Holy Spirit has the toughest job in the Trinity … living with us.

Beside the Point

Spirituality Column No. 73
April 1, 2008
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

Beside the Point
By Bob Walters

Since today is April 1, naturally I Googled “April Fool’s Day” to find out whether it has some traditional, hidden or even spurious religious etymology.

It doesn’t, really, unless you want to count the fact that in 1582 Pope Gregory XIII declared in force the new Gregorian Calendar which, throughout the Holy Roman Empire, standardized January 1 as the start of the new year instead of at the end of March. This replaced the old Julian Calendar and the big joke was to fool people into thinking April 1 was still the start of the New Year. A tradition was born.

Ha ha. But seriously, much of the Western world already had January 1 as New Year’s.

Still, maybe today is a good day to contemplate the foolish things we do in our faith; the things we do that make us take our focus off our relationship with Christ.

Non-foolishness is to understand one thing: it’s all about Him, Jesus Christ. When we focus on anything but Him, we very quickly start counting deeds, and when we count deeds, our human nature insists we keep score, and when we keep score … well, it gets foolish.

I don’t know how one can possibly keep score against God.

Christians in the same pews of the same churches will wrestle mightily over definitions of Bible words, over which version of the Bible is best, over how the Spirit comes and goes and resides, over which songs to sing and how to sing them, over communion practice, over worshipping with dance, over table decorations at the ladies’ retreat, over the inextricability of salvation (can you lose it?), who is called to be saved, who is going to Heaven, who is going to Hell, whether Genesis 1-2-3 can possibly be accurate …

The list is not necessarily foolish, but beside the point. The point is, fighting about this stuff is foolish.

Christ loves each of us in our uniqueness, so anything that prevents us from loving other believers in their uniqueness seems, well, foolish.

Shall we endeavor to discern the truth? Of course; lies are Satan’s weapon.

But keep it about Jesus, not about keeping score.

That’s the wise thing to do.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) thinks judgment is one of the great gifts God gives any of us. We just need to not try to do God’s job for Him.





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God's Word Keeps Up with the Times

Spirituality Column # 22
April 10, 2007
Current! In Carmel (IN) newspaper

God’s Word Keeps Up with the Times
By Bob Walters

Words change in meaning or even disappear over time and generations.

Gay meant happy during my youth. Groovy means something to me that is opaque to my teenage sons. Going back further, thee and thine have been you and yours in popular parlance for a couple of centuries now.

Words change and languages evolve. Yet God’s word, the Bible, does a remarkable job of keeping up with the times.

To a Christ-centered believer – pick any denomination: Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, all the Baptist and Bible-based Christian independents – the Bible is the living, infallible, eternal word of God. Traditions endure, liturgies and worship styles come and go, but the Bible’s message lives and breathes (Hebrews 4:12) with us.

Still, the Bible “changes” with new translations constantly. BibleGateway.com currently has 69 versions of the Bible in 30 languages, including 20 in English. There are literally hundreds of versions in existence.

How does God do that? How can they all be right? How can we trust something that changes so often?

And here’s a better question: how can we believe in a God that gives us so much advice that is so difficult to follow?

The living and personal God that occupies ones heart and mind doesn’t have a tough time keeping up with cultural idiom. He knows what we’re up to. Bible versions can be spiritually and theologically solid whether the Catholic Bible’s 73 books or the King James and its Protestant iterations with 66 books (Catholic and Protestant each has 27 New Testament books).

The eternal truth of Christ Jesus crucified, dead and risen for all mankind is the same in both. People and technology change, but God – our relationship with Him and what He has to say to us – doesn’t change.

Why is following God’s word so difficult?

I’m not sure. But I’m glad He wrote it down.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) lives in Carmel and hasn’t used the word “groovy” in a sentence for several years.

At a Loss for Words

Spirituality Column #147
September 1, 2009
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) newspaper

At a Loss for Words
By Bob Walters

“I wish I were better at expressing my Christian faith to people …”

Sound familiar? How often we Christians lament our shortcomings in this area.

Thankfully, it is generally not up to us – neither by our courage of engagement nor talents of elocution – to awaken in others the soul-saving stirrings of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is above our mortal, um, pay grade; it comes from the top – the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Salvation is Jesus Christ’s job.

It is, however, very much up to us to “…set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope you have. But do this with gentleness and respect …”

That’s 1 Peter 3:15. We never know when it will be our words or actions that God will use to begin His work in another person’s heart. All we can do is tell of our own faith, and then see if the sown spiritual seed takes root in productive soil.

So, on the one hand, the pressure’s off. We can’t save anyone with our words or deeds, no matter how dazzling. On the other hand, the pressure seemingly couldn’t be greater … as believers we are called by God to “always give an answer” for our faith; our love demands it.

But is there pressure, really? Pressure comes from fear, and love of God dissolves fear. When fear is gone, what we have left is love’s best companion: freedom.

And when we are free in Christ – not fearful of man – our answers for our hope in Christ flow freely.

Still, it can be tough to describe our faith because our relationship with God is so spiritually personal; very real, but mystical and hard to explain – especially to non-believers. What “did it for me” probably won’t do it for you.

For example, the action that triggered my first trip to church in 30 years – and led to my faith, baptism and study – was my almost-13-year-old son asking at the dinner table, “Why don’t we go to church?” It was an innocent and legitimate question, not a suggestion or trick. He was just curious.

Next thing you know, I’m in the back pew at a church, crying quiet tears as my heart awakened to the Holy Spirit and love of Jesus Christ.

There was my answer, before I’d asked a question.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com) was baptized in 2001.

Nothing Left to Ask For

Spirituality Column #118
February 10, 2009
Current in Carmel (IN) newspaper
Current in Westfield (IN) newspaper

Nothing Left to Ask For
By Bob Walters

Fifth in a series on The Lord’s Prayer

After the salutation, “Our Father, who art in heaven,” – essentially, “Hello, Creator God Almighty” – there are seven petitions in the Lord’s Prayer. Three are “thy” requests about God; four are “us” requests about people.

Hallowed be thy name: God please let me care for Your holy name enough to lift myself and others up toward You, to recognize Your love for this world, and not drag You down into our earthly filth.

Thy Kingdom come: Your kingdom is truth and good. If You are absent, O God, nothing can be good, our hope is gone, and the world will be in ruins. Give us a listening heart; it is Your kingdom, not ours.

Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven: With the freedom you alone give to us, help us learn to love You and our neighbors, not just ourselves. Help us to make Your will our first priority. In heaven, Your will is absolute; may earth become heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread: You acknowledge our earthly needs; how can the presence of Jesus, the bread of His body, teach us a greater truth than this? Help us to turn our cares over to You, and to renew our trust and faith in You each day.

And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us: Forgiveness is what You give us through Christ and, to honor You, what we must learn to continually give to others. Whether we say trespasses, debts, or sins, only Your loving forgiveness solves the destructive guilt of our human and earthly transgressions.

And lead us not into temptation: Jesus, Job and countless saints have suffered, but the Great Tempter is Satan … and Satan alone, for the Evil One hates God’s righteousness. In our human suffering, O God, You purify our lives or glorify Your name with trials, but let our faith in You reside steadfastly. You are the source of all strength.

But deliver us from evil: O Lord, do not give the Evil One more room to maneuver than we can bear; we can only lose ourselves when we have lost You. Our faith enables us to see You; do not let evil take faith from us.

As St. Cyprian famously said, “When we pray, ‘deliver us from evil,’ there is nothing left to ask for.”

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) recommends a thoughtful read of Chapter 5 (on The Lord’s Prayer) in Pope Benedict XVI’s 2007 book, Jesus of Nazareth, which inspired this five-part series and heavily informed this final installment.

Looking Out for Number One

Spirituality Column #106
November 18, 2008
Current in Carmel (IN), Current in Westfield (IN) newspaper

Looking Out for Number One
By Bob Walters

Who or what is “Number One” in your life?

Think about it for a minute and be honest. What gives your life its ultimate meaning?

Is it your self? Your spouse? Your children? Your family? A celebrity? Who do you love the most?

Sometimes it’s a thing. Is it your money? Your job? Your talent? Your property or possessions? A sports team? Politics? Your country? Security? What do you love the most?

Some people put their religion first, or their church or the Bible or prayer or mission work. What do you worship the most?

You Christians out there likely already know where I’m going with this.

If any of these things are “Number One” in your life or worship, guess who, by default, can be no closer than runner up? That’s right … Jesus Christ.

Don’t put Jesus – God Incarnate, the source of life, our only available concrete definition of “good” – as “runner up” to anything.

Modern culture encourages the sin of pride, telling us to “look out for Number One.” This is code for “I’m going to get mine; you worry about getting yours.” “Outreach” in this case can amount to little more than “You can get yours, as long as I get mine.” It’s not exactly selfless.

Nearly 50 years ago President John F. Kennedy closed his inauguration speech with “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Too often today that wonderful ideal – personally, politically and religiously – has turned into the exact opposite:

“What have you done for me lately?”

Do you ever ask that selfish question of others? Of government? Of Jesus? Of God?

Life’s ultimate meaning is neither worldly nor within ourselves. Christ died on the Cross to show us life’s ultimate meaning: that God loves us enough to save us. He gives us the freedom to be imperfect, yet sent Christ to show us the way – through faith in Him – to stand eternally in God’s perfect presence.

Does that mean any one of us will ever be perfect in this life? Nope. Christ was the only perfect human, and His perfect life was defined by giving himself, even unto death, for others.

Putting Christ first; that’s what “Looking out for Number One” – really – is all about.

Walters (rlwcom@aol.com) points to John 14:6 for comfort, and Romans 8:28-39 for assuredness.

Binding Arbitration

Spirituality Column #152
October 6, 2009
Current in Carmel - Current in Westfield - Current in Noblesville
(Indianapolis North Suburban newspapers)

Binding Arbitration
By Bob Walters

Sorry if this upsets any well-meaning prayer warriors out there, but what in the Devil – if you’ll excuse the phrase – are we talking about when we pray to “bind Satan”?

It sounds sincere, comforting and authoritative to pray to “bind Satan,” “bind the enemy” or “bind demons,” but it is an arrogant, gross misreading of scripture – and a violation of scripture – to think we as Christians have that kind of power.

Jesus Christ, and only Jesus Christ with the authority of the Cross – i.e., God – has the power to bind Satan. And Satan is as “bound” as he is going to get until Christ binds him completely forever and ever in the lake of fire (Revelation 20:10). Until then, Christ has bound Satan only to the extent that the Gospel can not be extinguished.

On Earth few of us will personally deal with Satan; he has bigger fish to fry. Still, we have no power to further bind Satan or even the lesser demons who most definitely “mess” with us any time we give them an opening.

What we can do is bind ourselves to Christ, talk to Christ, praise God and stay as far away as we possibly can from addressing Satan or demons or evil spirits. Even the Archangel Michael, who handles Satan (Jude 9, Revelation 12:7), is careful to only rebuke Satan, not accuse him. Accusing Satan is exclusively God’s job.

Yet Christians bend Bible verses to errantly claim Godly authority over Satan.

For example, the commonly cited “bind” and “loose” language in Matthew 18:18 is specifically about early church discipline, not empowering humans to enforce prohibitions on Satan. That Heaven will “bind” or “loose” the unrepentant or repentant describes the authority of the early church to discipline its members.

In context, Matthew 18:15-22 has nothing to do with Satan, or for that matter, with binding/loosing sickness, wealth, angels or poverty.

Christ uses the same words in Matthew 16:19, describing the establishment of His church. Heaven will respect the founding of the church, not give Christians individual dominion over Satan.

Other misinterpreted “binding” verses include Revelation 12:11, James 4:7, 1 Peter 5:8-9. The Biblical message isn’t “bind Satan;” it is “resist Satan.”

It’s smarter, then, to pray fervently in Christ’s name for wisdom and discernment in detecting Satan’s lies; but we should never, ever think our prayers bind Satan.

Look around; are anyone’s binding prayers working?

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com) suggests Googling “binding Satan,” or searching the topic at BrentRiggs.com. Cling to Christ; rebuke Satan. Amen.

Shrugging Off Selfishness

Spirituality Column #237
May 24, 2011
Current in Carmel - Westfield - Noblesville – Fishers
(Indianapolis north suburban home newspapers)

Shrugging Off Selfishness
By Bob Walters

Hang with me for a minute … this is a book / movie review, sort of.

I’m old enough to remember the economic malaise of the late 1970s and no, the Disco era was not an adequate off-setting cultural pick-me-up.

I was just out of college making $10,000 a year as a sportswriter. Gas was a dollar a gallon, unemployment was high, American automobile quality was low, inflation hovered near 9 percent, home mortgage rates chased 20 percent, gold prices were astonishingly north of $800 an ounce, President Jimmy Carter was cheerless, and the nightly news – still with Walter Cronkite – offered “the Misery Index” (unemployment rate plus inflation rate) instead of hope.

With institutions failing us, we maturing baby boomers constructed a self-absorbed culture that appropriately became known as “The Me Decade.” Certainly in my mind, the world revolved around Me; I was unmarried, unchurched, unbelieving and unconcerned with salvation, damnation, justification, sanctification or glorification. I didn’t own a Bible, and even my old Episcopal Book of Common Prayer (a gift from my dad when I was confirmed in 1965) was out of sight somewhere in a dusty box.

Please understand, I was “a perfectly good person,” I just didn’t need all that Jesus jazz. I had friends and an interesting job … what else was there? I knew the church “story,” but it wasn’t worth getting out of bed for on Sunday; there wasn’t anything at church about “Me.”

In the late 1970s I read a book that unveiled for Me many comforting mysteries of the Me life: “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand, first published the year I was born, 1954.

Rand (1905-1982) was an atheist, ardent anti-communist, “objectivist” (her word) and, if her TV interviews are an indication of the woman, a very, very bitter human being. Our highest moral duty, Rand taught, is to care for ourselves. Service to others is a self-immolating charade. God is an empty promise wrapped in ultimate disappointment. Jesus Christ, Rand wrote, presents an unsolvable contradiction; subordinating one’s ego and soul to the needs of others is impossible.

I bring this up because Atlas Shrugged, recently released as a widely-panned movie, often carries near-scriptural authority for unchurched political conservatives.

Play some defense. Understand. The May 2011 issue of “First Things” magazine offers a brilliant Christian review of both the book and the movie (free access at www.firstthings.com).

Don’t ever shrug off Jesus.

Walters (www.believerbob.blogspot.com, email rlwcom@aol.com) wrote about Rand and atheism April 8, 2008, column #74 at this blogspot archive site.