Answering – and Asking – Jesus’ Questions

I recently found a list of questions Jesus asked. The anonymous author wrote, “Jesus never asked a question because he needed to know the answer.  He used questions the way a surgeon uses a scalpel, to cut delicately into a new level of understanding.”

These powerful, probing questions demand thought and answers still today. As you read them, please leave a comment about one or more that you find among the most interesting and/or challenging.

The better we are able to answer Jesus’ questions for ourselves, the more effective we will be in asking others the questions that will help them follow Him. So first let’s answer Jesus! Then let’s ask others what He would ask!

1.    If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? (Matt 5:46)

2.    If you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? (Matt 5:47)

3.    Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Matt 6:27)

4.    Why do you worry about clothes? (Matt 6:28)

5.    Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? (Matt 7:3)

6.    Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (Matt 7:16)

7.    Why are you so afraid? (Matt 8:26)

8.    Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? (Matt 9:4)

9.    Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? (Matt 9:5)

10. How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? (Matt 9:15)

11. Do you believe that I am able to do this? (Matt 9:28)

12. What did you go out into the desert to see? (Matt 11:7)

13. To what can I compare this generation? (Matt 11:16)

14. If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out?  (Matt 12:11)

15. How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man?  (Matt 12:29)

16. You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? (Matt 12:34)

17. Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? (Matt 12:48)

18. Why did you doubt? (Matt 14:31)

19. Why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? (Matt 15:3)

20. How many loaves do you have?  (Matt 15:34)

21. Do you still not understand? (Matt 16:9)

22. Who do people say the Son of Man is? (Matt 16:13)

23. Who do you say I am? (Matt 16:15)

24. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matt 16:26)

25. How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? (Matt 17:17)

26. From whom do the kings of the earth collect duty and taxes–from their own sons or from others? (Matt 17:25)

27. What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? (Matt 18:12)

28. Why do you ask me about what is good? (Matt 19:17)

29. What is it you want? (Matt 20:21)

30. Can you drink the cup I am going to drink? (Matt 20:22)

31. What do you want me to do for you? (Matt 20:32)

32. John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or from men? (Matt 21:25)

33. What do you think? (Matt 21:28)

34. Which son did his father’s will? (Matt 21:31)

35. Have you never read in the Scriptures? (Matt 21:42)

36. Why are you trying to trap me? (Matt 22:18)

37. What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he? (Matt 22:42)

38. Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? (Matt 23:17-19)

39. How will you escape being condemned to hell? (Matt 23:33)

40. Why are you bothering this woman? (Matt 26:10)

41. Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour? (Matt 26:40)

42. Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? (Matt 26:53)

43. But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? (Matt 26:54)

44. Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? (Matt 26:55)

45. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matt 27:46)

46. Why are you thinking these things? (Mark 2:8)

47. Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? (Mark 4:21)

48. What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? (Mark 4:30)

49. Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? (Mark 4:40)

50. What is your name? (Mark 5:9)

51. Who touched my clothes? (Mark 5:30)

52. Why all this commotion and wailing? (Mark 5:39)

53. Are you so dull? (Mark 7:18)

54. Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? (Mark 7:18)

55. Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it. (Mark 8:12)

56. Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? (Mark 8:17-18)

57. When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? (Mark 8:19)

58. When I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? (Mark 8:20)

59. Do you still not understand? (Mark 8:21)

60. [To the blind man] Do you see anything? (Mark 8:23)

61. Why then is it written that the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected? (Mark 9:12)

62. What were you arguing about on the road? (Mark 9:33)

63. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? (Mark 9:50)

64. What did Moses command you? (Mark 10:3)

65. Why do you call me good? (Mark 10:18)

66. What do you want me to do for you? (Mark 10:51)

67. Why are you trying to trap me? (Mark 12:15)

68. Do you see all these great buildings? (Mark 13:2)

69. Are you asleep? (Mark 14:37)

70. Could you not keep watch for one hour? (Mark 14:37)

71. Why were you searching for me? (Luke 2:49)

72. Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? (Luke 2:49)

73. Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? (Luke 5:22)

74. Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? (Luke 5:23)

75. Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? (Luke 6:46)

76. Where is your faith? (Luke 8:25)

77. What is your name? (Luke 8:30)

78. Who touched me? (Luke 8:45)

79. Will you be lifted up to the skies? (Luke 10:15)

80. What is written in the Law? How do you read it? (Luke 10:26)

81. Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? (Luke 10:36)

82. Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? (Luke 11:40)

83. Who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you? (Luke 12:14-15)

84. Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? (Luke 12:25)

85. Why don’t you judge for yourselves what is right? (Luke 12:57)

86. Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? (Luke 14:31)

87. Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? (Luke 14:34)

88. Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? (Luke 15:4)

89. Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? (Luke 15:8)

90. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (Luke 16:11)

91. Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? (Luke 17:17)

92. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? (Luke 18:7)

93. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

94. For who is greater, the one who is at the table or the one who serves? (Luke 22:27)

95. Why are you sleeping?  (Luke 22:46)

96. For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? (Luke 23:31)

97. What are you discussing together as you walk along? (Luke 24:17)

98. What things? (Luke 24:19)

99. Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? (Luke 24:26)

100.       Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? (Luke 24:38)  

101.       Do you have anything here to eat? (Luke 24:41)

102.       What do you want? (John 1:38)

103.       Why do you involve me? (John 2:4)

104.       You are Israel’s teacher, and do you not understand these things? (John 3:10)

105.       I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? (John 3:12)

106.       Will you give me a drink? (John 4:7)

107.       Do you want to get well? (John 5:6)

108.       How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? (John 5:44)

109.       If you do not believe Moses’ writings how will you believe me? (John 5:47)

110.       Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? (John 6:5)

111.       Does this offend you? (John 6:61)

112.       What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! (John  6:62)

113.       You do not want to leave too, do you? (John 6:67)

114.       Have I not chosen you? (John 6:70)

115.       Has not Moses given you the law? (John 7:19)

116.       Why are you trying to kill me? (John7:19)

117.       Why are you angry with me for healing the whole man on the Sabbath? (John 7:23)

118.       Where are they? Has no one condemned you? (John 8:10)

119.       Why is my language not clear to you? (John 8:43)

120.       Can any of you prove me guilty of sin?  (John 8:46)

121.       If I am telling the truth, why don’t you believe me? (John 8:46)

122.       Why then do you accuse me of blasphemy because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? (John 10:36)

123.       Are there not twelve hours of daylight? (John 11:9)

124.       Do you believe this? (John 11:26)

125.       Where have you laid him? (John 11:33)

126.       Do you understand what I have done for you? (John 13:12)

127.       Don’t you know me, even after I have been among you such a long time? (John 14:9)       

128.       Who is it you want? (John 18:4,7)

129.       Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me? (John 18:11)

130.       Is that your own idea, or did others talk to you about me? (John 18:34)

131.       Why question me? (John 18:21)

132.       If I spoke the truth, why did you strike me? (John 18:23)

133.       Why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for? (John 20:15)

134.       Friends, haven’t you any fish? (John 21:5)

135.       Do you love me? (John 21:17)

136.       What is that to you? (John 21:22)

To comment and/or to subscribe,

please email cory247 [AT symbol] live [dot com]. God bless.

Cory Collins
http://corycollins.net/

How was the Thief on the Cross Saved?

Lk 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Those who deny the necessity of baptism for salvation today often point to the thief who died beside Jesus as an example or pattern to prove their point. Many overlook Jesus’ own teaching elsewhere and numerous other New Testament passages that connect baptism with salvation. They seem to think that the entire question is answered by this simple statement: “Well, the thief on the cross wasn’t baptized!” They may go on to stress their conviction that, because we are saved by grace through faith, even God cannot require that we meet any conditions.

A quick mention of the Passover will remind us that God’s conditions do not contradict His grace. According to Ex 12:1-13, the Hebrews were required to take lamb’s blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of their houses. God would “pass over” every house where He saw the blood. The posting of the blood was required. It was a condition of their deliverance. Yet it did not earn their deliverance or contradict the fact that God saved them by grace.

Yet many teach that teaching the necessity of baptism as a required condition contradicts grace. One well-known author writes regarding this thief:

Self-righteousness means that human beings can do something to merit favor from God. Since this thief was nailed to a cross, what acts of self-righteousness could he do? He could not join a church, do good deeds, or even be baptized. He was in a helpless position. We also are in a similar helpless position since we are incapable of doing any sort of righteous act to merit God's favor. God sees our acts of self-righteousness as a filthy garment, if we are using them to gain favor from Him (Isa 64:6). 

http://www.bibleprophecyblog.com/2011/12/salvation-lessons-from-thief-on-cross.html#

He is saying that, if baptism were necessary to receive salvation, then it must be an effort to merit or earn God’s favor. It must be an act of self-righteousness. That author has concluded that, since we cannot earn God’s free gift by our own meritorious deeds, God cannot require baptism as a necessary expression of faith. God certainly required the Passover blood to be put on the door. Why could He not require other expressions of faith, such as baptism?

So, based on clear biblical teaching, we must challenge the popular belief that baptism is not essential. We will seek to show that baptism, like repentance or even faith, earns nothing. It is neither self-righteous nor meritorious. It is rather a necessary expression of faith which God requires of those who wish to receive His free gift. It is similar to the Passover observance in that baptism applies the blood.

Before we do that we must insist that the thief was saved by grace and not his own merit. He was forgiven by the blood Jesus shed, as a free gift of God. He knew that [1] he was guilty, [2] his death was near, [3] he could not undo his sins, [4] he could not earn forgiveness, [5] Jesus was innocent and undeserving of death, [6] there is a life beyond this life, [7] Jesus was the King who would enter His Kingdom, even though He would die, [8] Jesus had the power and mercy to “remember” him when that time came, and [9] it was not too late to ask.

Of course, since that thief knew about Jesus’ claims and His Kingdom, it is quite possible that the thief had heard Jesus’ teachings in the past. He may have been among the multitudes who actually were baptized – by John the Baptist – for the forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4-5). It is also true that Jesus forgave some individuals directly and personally while on earth (Mark 2:5; Luke 7:48-50; John 8:10-11), before His death and resurrection. The thief was not the only one. Such granting of forgiveness was certainly His prerogative.

However, let’s go back for a moment. Jesus’ promise to the thief came only in response to the thief’s request. The thief asked.

Was that really necessary? It was. If he had not asked, Jesus would not have promised him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” His asking Jesus to remember him did not contradict grace. His question was not meritorious or self-righteous. He did not think he was contributing to his salvation; rather, he was confessing his spiritual bankruptcy and his need for the salvation that he could not earn!

Our point is simply this. Once Jesus gave the Great Commission, one thing is abundantly clear in Acts and in the New Testament letters. In the new covenant era, lost sinners are to repent and be baptized to ask God for the free gift of eternal life by His grace.

Mk 16:15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

Ac 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Ac 16:30 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. 33 And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family. 34 Then he brought them up into his house and set food before them. And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.

Ac 22:16 “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”

In fact, the New Testament even describes baptism as “an appeal to God for a good conscience.” Scripture makes clear that it is Jesus Christ, not we, who can provide this free salvation for which we ask when we are baptized.

1 Pe 3:21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.

Ironically, many who deny the necessity of baptism still instruct others to pray the so-called “Sinner’s Prayer” to ask the Lord for salvation. This is ironic for three reasons.

First, they see no contradiction between salvation by grace and the importance of asking. They would never think that the “Sinner’s Prayer” is an act of self-righteous merit or that it contributes in any way to the price of salvation. Nor do they think that repentance, which the “Sinner’s Prayer” also expresses, earns God’s free gift. Since baptism in the Bible is simply the way God has directed that we ask for salvation, how could it contradict grace, if the “Sinner’s Prayer” does not?

Second, the “Sinner’s Prayer” is not found in Scripture. No one in Acts or elsewhere was ever told to pray this prayer in order to receive salvation. Rev 3:20 is not written to the lost but to those in the church in Laodicea who had excluded Him. How could people ignore the consistent examples of baptism in Acts and substitute something for which there is no biblical example?

Third, what they ascribe to the “Sinner’s Prayer,” the Bible ascribes to baptism. Baptism is not an act of self-righteous merit. It does not contribute in any way to the price of salvation. It is an expression of faith, from a broken, lost sinner, that asks Jesus in effect, “… remember me when you come into your kingdom.” If it’s OK to say, “God will do this when you pray this prayer,” why is it not OK to say, “God will do this when you repent and are baptized?” Strange, isn’t it?

So the question is not just, “Are we saved by grace?” The answer to that question is a resounding, “Yes!” The question is rather, “Are there any conditions we must meet in order to receive God’s grace?” The answer to that question is also a resounding, “Yes!”

Do you need to be baptized? Let’s ask this first. Do you know, as that thief did, that [1] you are guilty, [2] your death is coming, [3] you cannot undo your sins, [4] you cannot earn forgiveness, [5] Jesus was innocent and undeserving of death, [6] there is a life beyond this life, [7] Jesus is the King of God’s Kingdom, even though He died, [8] Jesus has the power and mercy to “remember” you in His Kingdom, and [9] it is not too late to ask?

If so, then yes! You need to be baptized.

Ac 22:16 “And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.”

Cory Collins

The Only People Going to Heaven?

Sometimes, when one says, “I belong to the churches of Christ,” another person will react: “So, you’re the folks who think you’re the only ones going to heaven, right?” What’s the best way to respond to this comment? Here are several suggestions.

Response One

“I’m glad you asked! How would you answer that question? Who do you think will be in heaven?”

After the other person answers …

“Tell me why you answered that way. How did you come to that conclusion? Would you like to see what the Bible says about it?”

Response Two

“I’m glad you asked! Well, one thing is for sure. God knows exactly who will be in heaven, wouldn’t you agree? The Bible says, “The Lord knows those who are His” (2 Tim 2:19). It really does not matter in the long run what you or I say about it. The fact is, most religious people believe that the way they are following is the best. Otherwise they would change. So doesn’t it seem right and safe to say, “It’s the Lord who knows who’s going to heaven?”

Assuming that the other person agrees …

“Since God is the one who knows, how would we learn from Him? Do you believe that the Bible is God’s Word, and that only the Bible tells us how to follow Jesus and get to heaven? There’s not any other sure way to know, is there? We cannot take anyone else’s word on it, whether a preacher, priest, specific religious group, or anyone else, can we? Would you agree?”

Assuming that the other person agrees …

“If the Bible were to contradict clearly some religious belief, tradition, or practice, wouldn’t the Bible be right? Obviously these differing religious groups cannot all be right. Does it make sense to you that we should follow the Bible and give up any teachings or ideas that the Bible does not teach?”

Assuming that the other person agrees …

“Would you like to study the Bible with me and compare it with your thoughts and beliefs? You can ask anything you like, and together we will seek God’s answers. I won’t ask you to believe anything just because I believe it, but you and I can both ask each other to believe and do what we clearly see in the Bible. What do you say?”

Response Three

“There is a lot of confusion today about who’s going to heaven. I’m glad you want to make sure that you yourself will be there. Let me ask you something. If you died tonight, are you sure – nothing doubting – that you would go to live with God? If yes, would you tell me what makes you so sure? If no, would you like to learn about the instructions that God has given in the Bible?”

Cory Collins

Can Saint Joseph Help You Sell Your House?

Jn 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

1 Tim 2:5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

The purpose of this post is not to belittle anyone’s sincerity or devotion to a religious practice. It is rather to question whether the practice itself is compatible with the Bible’s teaching. Can a person today pray to – or through – a faithful Bible character like Joseph and expect results?

In a recent Bible class I described in Acts 19 the practice in first-century Ephesus of selling silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. The Romans referred to her as Diana. Her temple in Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. Her image, enshrined inside, appears to have been a meteorite in which the semblance of a many-breasted female was discerned. Acts 19:35 refers to “her image, which fell from heaven (lit., “from Zeus”).”

The religious wares included miniature silver niches, containing an image of the goddess, which her votaries bought to dedicate in her temple. When Paul came preaching that gods made with hands were not gods, he threatened the business and profits of the silversmiths. Quite a commotion ensued.

A man in our class, a former Roman Catholic raised in New York, spoke up. He explained what he considered to be a similar religious practice today. He said that many sincere Catholics, seeking to sell their houses, buy statues of “Saint Joseph,” Jesus’ adoptive earthly father. They bury these statues in their back yards and pray directly to Joseph, believing that he can obtain God’s help in the matter.

Later, to illustrate and confirm this information, he brought me a box with a small plastic statue of Saint Joseph. It also contained written instructions and prayers. I was surprised by what I saw. You may be surprised as well. I have included several of these printed items below in bold type.

[1] “The Way of St. Joseph”

Over the years, thousands have successfully followed the age-old practice of burying a statue of St. Joseph, with the hope of selling or buying real estate.

The Authentic Way:

1)  Ask St. Joseph to help you sell your home.

2) Believe in St. Joseph to intercede to God, for the granting of your request.

3) Trust. Bury or place St. Joseph's statue on the property, as an outward sign of your belief and trust in his power.

4) Thank St. Joseph for having responded to your call, before, during and after the granting of your favor.

5) Move St. Joseph's statue to a place of honor.

6) Share your experiences with others how St. Joseph has helped you personally.

[2] “A Petition to St. Joseph”

Dear St. Joseph, head of the most perfect household, foster father of Jesus and guardian of His mother Mary, I confidently place myself and all my concerns under your care and protection. I ask that, through your powerful intercession with God, you obtain for me all the help and graces that I need for my spiritual and temporal welfare and in particular, the special favor I now ask (here mention or think of your home sale or any other petition, especially family needs (*)).

Good St. Joseph, I know with confidence, that your prayers on my behalf will be heard by God, and if it is His Will, it will be done.

Thank you St. Joseph, for having responded to my call. Amen.

(*) St. Joseph knows families. He brings family peace and love to each member. Go to him!

[3] Prayer to St. Joseph (Over 1900 years old)

Oh, St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt, before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

Oh, St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession, and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord, so that having engaged here below your heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers.

Oh, St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen.

With Ecclesiastical Approval

Pray to St. Joseph

God's Will Be Done

This prayer was found in the fiftieth year of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Make it known everywhere!

[4] Saint Joseph Home Sale Practice

For this practice to be fully effective, however... sellers must, of course, first do such practical, yet all important chores, as completing all necessary fix-up, properly staging the home and finally, adjusting the price so as to reflect true market value ... then ... Just watch St. Joseph make it happen!

Let’s now return to our original question. Can a person today pray to a faithful Bible character like Joseph and expect results? Should one go through a former “saint” as a mediator to reach Jesus, or should one pray through Jesus to reach the Father?

What does the Bible teach?

Ro 8:34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.

Heb 7:25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

1 Jn 2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

We can be thankful that Joseph, Mary, and many others trusted and obeyed God. We can admire their faith and devotion. We can learn from their example. However, we must not venerate them, pray to them, or make statues of them. We certainly cannot put them in the role of mediator.

That position is already filled.

Cory Collins

The Easy and the Hard

Lk 13:22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."

The Easy and the Hard, by Beverly Heirich

When my husband and I were raising our five children, we taught them everything we knew. Now we know that was not much

If we could do it over, here are some critical facts about human nature that I would start teaching them before they were old enough to brush their teeth without help.

Bad is easy. Good is hard.

Losing is easy. Winning is hard.

Talking is easy. Listening is hard.

Watching TV is easy. Reading is hard.

Giving advice is easy. Taking advice is hard.

Flab is easy. Muscle is hard.

Stop is easy. Go is hard.

Dirty is easy. Clean is hard.

Take is easy. Give is hard.

Dream is easy. Think is hard.

Lying is easy. Truth is hard.

Sleeping is easy. Waking is hard.

Talking about God is easy. Praying to God is hard.

Watching basketball is easy. Playing basketball is hard.

Holding a grudge is easy. Forgiving is hard.

Telling a secret is easy. Keeping a secret is hard.

Play is easy. Work is hard.

Falling is easy. Getting up is hard.

Spending is easy. Saving is hard.

Eating is easy. Saving is hard.

Doubt is easy. Faith is hard.

Laughter is easy. Tears are hard.

Criticizing is easy. Taking criticism is hard.

Letting go is easy. Hanging on is hard.

Secret sin is easy. Confession is hard.

Pride is easy. Humility is hard.

Excusing oneself is easy. Excusing others is hard.

Borrowing is easy. Paying back is hard.

Sex is easy. Love is hard.

Argument is easy. Negotiation is hard.

Naughty is easy. Nice is hard.

Going alone is easy. Walking alone is hard.

Dumb is easy. Smart is hard.

Messy is easy. Neat is hard.

Cowardice is easy. Bravery is hard.

War is easy. Peace is hard.

Poor is easy. Rich is hard.

Sarcasm is easy. Sincerity is hard.

An F is easy. An A is hard.

Growing weeds is easy. Growing flowers is hard.

Reaction is easy. Action is hard.

Can’t do is easy. Can do is hard.

Feasting is easy. Fasting is hard.

Following is easy. Leading is hard.

Having friends is easy. Being a friend is hard.

Dying is easy. Living is hard.

If you ask why all this is so, why is life so hard, I'll tell you, "It just is. Nothing in life that is good and worthwhile comes without effort.”

We are born, all of us, with a nature that is drawn to the easy rather than the hard. Knowing this about oneself and others softens the heart and builds iron into the will, keeps us going when all around is crumbling, when friends forsake, when the heart breaks, and the courage and confidence shatter.

Knowing that such experiences are part of the deal gives us opportunities to choose to do hard things. Constant challenges make our journery exhilarating, wonderfully fulfilling, never, never boring. As the Arabs put it, "All sunshine makes a desert.

And here's a small secret that most sad and lonely people never learn: Deep down inside we are all asking the question. No matter who you are, life is hard, and we all ask why it should be so.

But there is comfort in knowing we're not alone. So maybe your child - or the person sitting over there - needs to hear from you right this minute that sometimes you question too, but that the One who knows us best and loves us most promises that, for those who choose the hard was, "the dawn gives way to morning splendor while the evil grope and stumble in the dark."

Easy is its own reward. Hard is much finer.

Risky Business: What Non-Christians Say About Gambling

Sometimes it may seem that Christians have over-reacted to the matter of gambling. Is it really that big of a “deal” (no pun intended)? After all, what’s a little bit of harmless entertainment? Why not blow a few dollars and take a chance? Besides, some argue, doesn't the lottery really help education and thus benefit society? Well, it turns out that people with little or no expressed religious interest have recognized, just from a practical perspective, the dangers of gambling.

The January-February issue of the AARP Bulletin printed an article by Peter Jaret and Bill Hogan entitled, “A Desperate Gamble.” The message and the warnings are powerful, though the authors make no reference to God, religion, or the Bible.

Hear the story of San Diego Mayor Maureen O’Connor, heiress to a $50 million fortune, who gambled away her life savings.

"It was like electronic heroin,” O’Connor said of the machine she thought she could beat. “You know, the more you did, the more you needed—and the more it wasn't satisfied.” But in the end it was the machine that beat O’Connor, leaving the former San Diego mayor and heiress to a $50 million fortune all but destitute. At 67, she now lives with her twin sister instead of in the beachfront estate in La Jolla that she and her late husband, the founder of the Jack in the Box fast-food chain, once called home.

O’Connor’s addiction to video poker (“that machine,” she called it) was all-consuming. In nine years she placed more than $1 billion in bets at casinos in San Diego, Las Vegas and Atlantic City. O’Connor, in fact, was such a high roller—a “whale,” to use the industry’s not-so-flattering term—that Vegas casinos would send a private jet to pick her up in San Diego. She didn't disappoint. “I could lose more than a hundred thousand in a day,” she told an interviewer last February.

As her losses mounted—eventually reaching something like $13 million, according to her lawyers—O’Connor did what eventually landed her in a federal courtroom, charged with the felony crime of money laundering: She took $2,088,000 from a charitable foundation set up by her husband in 1966, depleting its assets and leaving it insolvent.

What caused O’Connor—a onetime champion swimmer, San Diego’s hard-charging “Mayor Mo” from 1986 to 1992—to fall into such an abyss? She herself blamed an addiction to gambling made worse by a brain tumor, diagnosed in 2011. Her lawyers noted in court filings that she turned to gambling in a big way sometime around 2001, as she continued to struggle with pain and loneliness following the death of her husband. “The pattern,” her lawyers wrote, “fits the syndrome known as grief gambling.”

Under a deferred-prosecution agreement, O’Connor promised to undergo treatment for gambling addiction, repay the money she took from the foundation and cover the tax liability associated with her misappropriation of funds.

Hear the story of Marilyn Lancelot, whose gambling cost her all she had, led to forgery, and landed her in prison.

Marilyn Lancelot lost almost everything, too: two homes, her car and her life savings. But it wasn't until police arrived and led her off in handcuffs that her life finally hit rock bottom. Deep in debt, she’d begun forging her boss’s name on checks and cashing them to feed a runaway gambling addiction. “There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do to get more money to gamble,” says Lancelot, 83. Convicted of embezzlement, she spent almost a year in prison.

A Gamblers Anonymous program was able to help Lancelot, though others never recover from gambling fever. “It saved my life,” says Marilyn Lancelot. After being released from prison, she began attending GA meetings. She slowly paid off her debts and has managed to steer clear of gambling. “For a recovering gambler, there’s always the itch to try it again,” she admits. “But I know now that if I give in to it, I’m dead.”

Are you surprised to learn that Marilyn Lancelot is 83? You may have thought that it was just young people that were tempted to gamble. Older adults ought to know better than to start, right? Not so! Read on.

The number of casinos has exploded over the past few decades. In the 1960s, only Atlantic City and Nevada had casino gambling. Today, casinos operate in more than 30 states. Add state lotteries, Powerball and now Internet gambling sites, and there are plenty of ways to try your luck and lose a little cash. Many adult communities, assisted living centers and even churches organize outings to nearby casinos.

It’s easy to understand why they are a big draw, says Jon Grant, M.D., a professor of psychiatry and behavioral medicine at the University of Chicago. “Casinos are full of sights and sounds where older people can feel safe. They’re handicapped accessible. You can go in any kind of weather.”

In fact, experts say, older Americans are the fastest-growing segment of gambling addicts. For about 8 percent, it’s an addiction that can cost them their retirement nest egg. “About 40 percent of the people we see are over 50,” says psychologist Robert Hunter, who directs the Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas. “Many of them are people who got into trouble after retiring and moving to a place where casinos are a big part of social life.”

The nation’s $40 billion a year gambling industry aggressively targets older customers, as they have accumulated wealth and are especially vulnerable, experts say, to wagering more than they can afford. The enticements range from free bus trips, meals and even discount prescription cards to “comped” hotel accommodations—not to mention the private jets dispatched to pick up high-rollers like O’Connor.

“One of the lessons of the Maureen O’Connor case,” says Philip Halpern, the assistant U.S. attorney who prosecuted her, “is that it demonstrates the extreme lengths to which casinos will go to lure in high-stakes customers.”

Gambling-industry marketers also know that advancing age, and the declining cognition that sometimes goes with it, can reduce a person’s aversion to risk. “With age, there can be a decrease in the activity of decision-making parts of the brain related to executive functioning,” Grant says. “If you have a deficit because of age, gambling may become riskier for you.”

Psychologists also suspect that people are more likely to run into problems if they turn to gambling for the wrong reasons—to escape loneliness, depression or even chronic pain.

“For a lot of the older people we see, it was never about the money,” says Gordon Greco, 62, a compulsive gambler most of his life who now works as a counselor for the Problem Gambling Center in Las Vegas. “They go to the casino to escape regrets, loneliness, isolation, sadness. And when they start losing money, they find themselves with even bigger problems and regrets.”

Video gambling machines, now permitted in more than 40 states, are the overwhelming favorite among older casino-goers, Hunter says. And that puts them at even greater risk. Although any kind of gambling can become addictive, video slot and poker machines are the most seductive because they offer the greatest escape, experts say. “Machine gambling is really the crack cocaine of compulsive gambling,” says Lia Nower, the director of the Center for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Indeed, in Addiction by Design: Machine Gambling in Las Vegas, Massachusetts Institute of Technology anthropologist Natasha Schull argues that mechanical rhythms that lull players into a trance-like state are deliberately built into electronic gambling machines. In what Schull calls the “machine zone,” gamblers quickly lose track of daily worries, social demands and even their bodily needs.

Some psychologists and psychiatrists specialize in treating gambling addiction. Compulsive gamblers, these experts say, suffer from low self-esteem and fall into two broad categories: action gamblers, who relish excitement and believe they can beat the house, and escape gamblers, who seek to forget about pain or trauma in their lives.

The AARP piece also names eight “big losers,” famous people whose gambling cost them extensively. We’ll include that list in the next post. Meanwhile, there’s one choice that involves no gamble at all. It’s the decision to follow Jesus. Trust me. You can’t lose.