Good News Sense

I’m a night owl. If I don’t have to be up and about early, I tend to stay up late. Usually, I end up reading, but I started writing this at nearly one in the morning, the same time as I am now posting it. My mind seems to run better at night. That whole “men love darkness rather than the light” thing always seemed to suggest something bad about me.

Of course, it doesn’t really. That verse is refers to spiritual darkness, a place for people to try to hide their sin, and we are seeing entirely too much of it. A senator is in court for breaking the law. A congressman who replaced his disgraced predecessor is himself guilty of shameful behavior. A presidential candidate admires a rapper who writes lyrics filled with profanity. TV is filled with programs that glorify all manner of sinful behavior. Threats of violence from crime and terrorism make the world a frightening place. We live in a country and world where millions of unborn babies die for the convenience of their mothers. Furthermore, no time of the year seems to celebrate horror and darkness like October; no, I don’t mean the election but Halloween. Yet somehow purveyors of much of this spiritual darkness single out Christianity as bad for the country. Will the darkness overwhelm us?

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.” In John 1:5, we read that “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.” Such is the nature of darkness that it takes only a little light to drive it back, but it doesn’t work in reverse. A little darkness has virtually no effect on light. Jesus isn’t a little light. The Son of God, the incarnate Word, Prince of Peace, Promised Messiah, the Savior of all who believe, and the King seated at the right hand of the Father is no flickering candle. He is a Supernova, a spotlight, and a beacon driving back the uncomprehending darkness, illuminating every dark corner, and revealing what the shadows try to conceal. No other would-be messiah can comes close to His brilliance, and we ought to be wary of pretenders. We’ve been warned that the darkness is clever at acting enlightened.

The good news is that we don’t have to fear the darkness, however penetrating and pervasive is seems to be. The Word contains His light, and we can use it to guide us through the dark, shine its light into the dark places, and brighten the gloom in the world around us. This isn’t just a metaphor. Truth is the answer to lies. Its light will expose deceivers. Revelation is more certain than speculation. Wisdom provides better direction than foolishness. Promises offer greater security than wishes and empty dreams. Righteousness leads to contentment while sin leads to guilty dissatisfaction.

Even better, “the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining” (I John 2:8). As we have all seen, the darkness seems worst just before the dawn. The desperation with which those in darkness seek to extinguish the light is clear, but they will never succeed. The theory of evolution is a good example. For a time, its seemed undeniable that creation was an antiquated myth, like believing in the tooth fairy, but today scientific advances in microbiology reveal a complexity within the very cells that no theory can attribute to accidents of chance. Even the most committed “believers” in evolution take a “leap of faith” to avoid the evidence of design. Could the recent rise in books attacking belief in God come from desperation in the darkness at the persistence of the light?

The good news is “out there,” unlike the dubious “truth” about alien life in an old TV show. The reality is that the light of life persists and cannot be extinguished or dimmed. However the next election turns out, the Light of Christ will not go out. Will darkness hover and howl like a wolf at the brick house of the wise pig? Perhaps it will, but we will be safe inside the truth that shines and, rather than diminishing, will shine brighter till it illuminates every shadowed corner and hidden niche.  Nobody’s turning off this light; it’s on for good!

I love answering questions. When I was a pastor, I often began many of my services and classes with “Does anyone have any questions…from the message, from your own Bible study, from a question another person asked you?” When I teach, I do the same thing. Perhaps that’s why I like being a tutor and why I’m a fairly good one. When I address a person’s problem or question, it connects me to them through something they’ve been pondering or that’s been bothering them. If I satisfy their need, I have done more than preaching 20 sermons that don’t grab their interest.

I make the same offer here. I can springboard off news, personal experiences, the Bible, classic theological questions, attacks by skeptics, or something I heard at church; but, if you have some particular bit of “bad news” that is troubling you, I know you will be interested in what “good news” I may be able to give you.

It’s good news, of course, that Christ is the answer. A college student once put that message up in his dorm window. Almost immediately, a student on the floor below posted “What is the question?” in his window. We might better ask how is Christ the answer to a particular question. Most of us, if we are thinking people (and I’m someone who probably thinks too much), find we have a few troubling questions that we cannot quite answer to our own satisfaction. Sometimes, other people ask questions, and we don’t have good answers or explanations, or we can’t think of any, on the spot.

I was a student in Cleveland, and we all knew that the west edge of University Circle was a busy place for prostitutes. I never went there, except to the bookstore in the daytime, since it was also an area that wasn’t particularly safe after dark. One summer, I was moving back into the dorms, and my friend and I drove to a near-by gas station with a tank on empty. We sat in the car while the attendant pumped the gas (This was before self serve), and a woman drove up next to us and asked us if we boys wanted to have a “good time.” Here we were, two Christians guys who were almost never at a loss for words, and neither of us could think of anything but “No,” maybe even “No, thank you!” Of course, after she drove away, we were both really quite clever…

Timing isn’t our only problem. Some questions are difficult. To make matters worse, some of them can really eat at us, if we can’t come up with a satisfactory answer. Unfortunately, we may feel we dare not ask, that a particular question or doubt would identify us a “bad Christians,” or we may fear others will scorn or ridicule us for asking. I hope that most Christians aren’t caught in that kind of situation, but this is a nice anonymous place to for questions. I’m not afraid to tackle tough questions or risk those who disagree. Plus, I assure you that I believe the only bad question is the one you don’t ask!

The good news isn’t just that Christ is the answer, but that by his Word and his Spirit, he leads us to the answers we need. Seeking wise counsel, and I think I somewhat qualify as that, is the best way to lay down the burden of troubling doubts, difficult questions, and moral dilemmas. You gain insight for yourself, and you will probably ask a question that others were too shy to ask. I hope you will share the blessing of your “bad news” that we might convert it to better news.

One of my favorite passages is Matthew 18. Jesus begins by saying we must have the simple faith of children to get into heaven. Then he charges us to care for every child as if it were the one lost sheep of the flock. In the middle of the chapter, he commands that we go to the one who has offended us and seek, not expulsion but restoration; it is the foundational passage for Biblical peacemaking in which I have invested considerable time and energy. He finishes his message with the amazing idea that we should forgive others as often as necessary. When asked if 7 times is enough (How many of us have every forgiven another person even 7 times?), Jesus says, “No, not just 7 times but 70 times 7!”

God is the God of 70 times 7 chances, not just second chances. That is the ultimate in new beginnings. It means a fresh start, as often as we need it. He doesn’t command us to do more than he does, not by any means. That is good news beyond my comprehension because it is so amazing.

If you’ve visited here before, you may wonder what has happened. The familiar expression is “technical difficulties.” During necessary maintenance on the GNS website, we lost the blogs we had posted. I had most of them stored on my own computer, but I will have to re-post them. I saved some of them after I had finished editing. Others were just first drafts; those will need a bit more work. I can’t promise I will post in the same order, but that’s all right. Who knows what the Lord may reveal in the process!

If we haven’t met before, I’m Roger Wilson. I am the author of this blog called Good News Sense. I hope we have a nice long friendship. Mostly I will try to offer encouragement, good news to counter the unrelenting bad news in our world. I will share with you, from time to time, about the ministry of GNS, the Good News Station, and those who work to make it possible. I also hope to tell you about the good things that are happening in our community, especially the Lansing-area “Community of Christ.”

If you check at the bottom of each of these “posts,” you will find a button that says “comment,” I hope you will feel free to use it. We look forward to hearing from you.

(originally posted July 30, 2008)

A blog, short for weblog, can be many things from a personal diary to a commentary on news. As I begin a blog for GNS, the Good News Station, I will probably do both, as a day warrants, but I hope to maintain a sense, always, of the good news that comes through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

A sense of promise, deliverance, and hope should always support and influence how we see the things of our lives, both personally and politically. If one believes, as I do, that God is sovereign over all His creation, then we should see His hand beneath, behind, and around everything that happens. Of course, people, believing and unbelieving alike, have pondered why evil and unfortunate events occur, but we should not allow our questions to obscure the truth. God is good, and He is patient. He hates sin, but He forgives sinners. He tolerates evil, but He has already defeated it. He has made promises that await fulfillment, but He will fulfill them.

Jesus promised never to leave us, yet we still feel alone and apart. He died for our sins, but we still must wrestle with sin’s power. He is, by right, and is not yet king in fact. He defeated death in His resurrection, but death still touches us for a little while longer. The news in this world seems ever more grim; still the good news of his deliverance is our sure and certain hope.

Perhaps, one of our biggest problems is that the incessant and persistent flow of information, increased by the technologies of publishing, radio and television broadcasting, cable and satellite transmission, and now the Internet overwhelm us. Who has the time to read, listen, or watch enough truth to balance those loud, persistent voices?

However, no matter how often we hear lies, truth is stronger. My desire is to supplement and reinforce the truth of the good news that you hear at church, read in the Bible, and perhaps watch on resources like GNS. One of my students recently asked me a question many have asked before, “Why do we only hear about the bad things?” It seems a perverse principle of our fallen human natures that what is ugly, unfortunate, strange, or terrible fascinates us. For many, it is a confirmation of John 3:19 that says, “Men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” As the media have learned and demonstrate: Bad news sells! Praise God that “light has come into the world!“

I hope you will come here often, perhaps even daily, to refresh you mind in the good news. Truly, God has provided us with an abundant source and an unending supply, and I will try to point it out to you. It will be good for me because I am prone to the same weakness, and I hope that it proves to be good for you as well.

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Who am I? I’ve been around the area for a long time. I used to broadcast on WUNN, Family Life Radio. I have been a teacher and substitute at New Covenant Christian and Lansing Christian Schools. I was a pastor for nearly 10 years in Leslie, I have preached in numerous area church, and I have served as an interim pastor in several of them. I have been a peacemaker with Christian Conciliation Service and served as executive director, most recently. Lately, I have become deeply involved with tutoring refugees and hope to start a school for immigrants. I post several other blogs, and you can find me on Facebook.