Author Archives: Steve Long

Crippling Emotions

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Q: What do Depression, Anxiety, Fear, Worry, and Anger have in common?

A: They are all emotional responses that can be debilitating. Depression can result in a lack of hope and a lack of motivation. Anxiety, fear, and worry can result in a lack of confidence and an inability to make decisions. Anger can cloud judgment and break down personal relationships.

Emotions, in and of themselves, are good. God gave us emotions and a proper response to emotions should cause us to direct our hearts and our minds towards Him. However, our response to our emotions is often wrong. An incorrect response to emotions can result in being controlled by our emotions, rather than controlling our emotions. When this happens, emotions can become crippling and debilitating.

Depression, anxiety (along with fear and worry), and anger not only share similaries in that they are all emotional responses. I believe they also share similar causes concerning how these emotions can become crippling. In each case, the fundamental reason why these emotions become crippling is the same. The underlying cause is facing a reality (or potential reality) that you believe to be unbearable.

In his book Out of the Blues, Wayne Mack identifies three causes of depression. 1. A refusal to deal with sin and guilt biblically. 2. Mishandling a difficult event. 3. Clinging to unbiblical standards. I think the same three causes could be applied to fear and anger as well. In each case, the result leads to facing a current reality or a potential future that is thought to be unbearable.

The depressed person sees an unbearable situation, and is crushed by it. The fearful or anxious person frets over how they will deal with it. The angry person lashes out at the situation. The response is different, but the cause is the same. There is also a further underlying reason why people struggling with crippling emotions come to see a situation as unbearable. In each case, it can be traced back to a desire to be in control. A person may become depressed when they see that they cannot control the outcome they would like. A person who wants to control a situation, but does not know how (yet thinks they should be able to), becomes anxious. A person who lashes out in anger is trying to control the situation. Sometimes these three responses may overlap, and a person may experience more than one of these emotions. Anger and attempts to control a situation can be expressed passively also. A person who exhibits “passive-aggressive” behavior is attempting to exert control by giving limited control to another person and assigning responsibility to another person for their own actions.

Q: When emotions have taken control, what is the proper response?

A: It starts with a recognition that you are struggling to be in control of your own life. Without a willingness to let go of control and allow God to be in control (and trusting God with that control), none of the other steps toward recovery will be effective.

The next step is to identify the current reality or potential future that you find to be unbearable. What is unbearable and why is it unbearable? Once the situation has been identified (there may be more than one situation; in fact, there may be many–each needs to be identified and dealt with individually), there are only two possibilities. 1. The situation is not unbearable. 2. The supposed situation cannot be true.

I’m not sure which will be harder: identifying the unbearable situation, or believing the right things about the situation. It may take a long time to pinpoint the situation that seems unbearable. However, identifying the concern is necessary to gain an understanding of why the situtation is either not unbearable or not possible. Even when the concern has been identified, it may be difficult to know whether or not the supposed situation is truly possible or not. However, I submit that one of the two cases is true. Either the situation is bearable, or not possible.

Should the latter be true, recognizing that a potentially dreadful situation is precluded by God’s promises means that whatever situation you find yourself in is bearable. Recognizing that an unfortunate situation is bearable does not remove the hardship, but it does offer hope that it’s possible to have peace and joy in spite of the circumstances.

By focusing on these two possibilities (as opposed to focusing on the situation itself), the consequences of accepting and dealing with sin are seen to be bearable; the circumstances of a difficult event are seen to be bearable; letting go of values you have clung to is seen to be bearable.

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Some people like to categorize things; some people hate to be labeled. It strikes me that labels are useful for categorizing similar practices and/or ideas and contrasting them with different practices and/or ideas. However, when it comes to critiquing practices and/or ideas, labels may cease to be useful and actually become a hindrance.

For example, there is no harm in stating that belief in the total depravity of man, God’s sovereign election, His irresistible grace, and His keeping of His elect are common to Calvinism. By way of contrast, the belief that the gift of salvation can be received by anyone who will accept it, and can also be forsaken are common to Arminianism. To say that these beliefs are common, is accurate, but does not imply that all Calvinists believe the same way.

Now suppose an individual who believes that man is incapable of choosing, or even accepting, God without God reaching down and changing his heart, is confronted by another person who believes that God offers salvation to all and it is up to each individual to accept or reject God’s gift. The latter may say, “What you believe is wrong. That is what Calvinism teaches, and Calvinism is false.” The first individual may protest, “I am not a Calvinist.” Or, he may say, “I describe myself as a Calvinist, but what you say Calvinism teaches is not what I believe.”

The second individual should not address whether Calvinism is true or false. He would do better to address whether the particular belief in question is true or false.

The same comparison can be displayed for the set of beliefs that are common to postmodernism. It may be true that postmodernism in general is inclined to question the validity of conclusions and assumptions that were previously widely accepted. It may be true that postmoderns are generally loathe to take a hard stance on many issues. However, start explaining to someone who is attracted to postmodernism that postmodernism is dangerous and rejects the truth, and they will quickly object that you don’t understand postmodernism. Therefore, it is better to reach acceptance on what they believe, then challenge whether that particular belief is true.

The Purpose of Alcohol

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Search the web, or ask around, and you’ll find lots of opinions about whether Christians should drink alchohol. Some people says it’s wrong (ie, sinful), and they have Scripture to reinforce their opinion. Some people say it’s not wrong (ie, not a sin), but still something to be discouraged, and they have Scripture to reinforce their opinion. Others say it’s not wrong to drink, and there is no reason to discourage drinking; it just needs to be done in moderation (ie, don’t get drunk) and may need to be avoided in certain situations (ie, don’t cause a fellow believe to stumble into sin); these also have Scripture to reinforce their position.

I think these arguments, like so many arguments, miss the point by focusing on the action (ie, the “do” or the “don’t”) instead of the purpose (ie, the “why”).

It is my intent, therefore, to take a Biblical look at the purpose of Alcohol.

In order to find passages discussing alcohol and to distinguish between different types of alcohol, let’s first review the different words used for alcohol in the Bible.

yayin (H3196) – Typically translated as “wine” in the Old Testament. Strong’s definition: “from an unused root meaning to effervesce.”

she?ka?r (H7941) – Typically translated as “strong drink” in the Old Testament. Strong’s definition: “an intoxicant, that is, intensely alcoholic liquor.”

ti?yro?sh (H8492) – Typically translated as “new wine” or “sweet wine” in the Old Testament. Wine which has been freshly pressed.

oinos (G3631) – The New Testament equivalent of “yayin.”

sikera (G4608) – The New Testament equivalent of “she?ka?r.”

gleukos (G1098) – The New Testament equivalent of “ti?yro?sh.”

There are a few other words used for various forms of alcohol, but they are used rarely or are minor variations of the words above. These word forms are sufficient to determine the usage of alcohol in the Bible and the intended purpose of alcohol. If it comes to light that a different word provides significant insight, the list will be revised.

Conversion and Baptism in the Book of Acts

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Salvation expressed through baptism

Three types of baptism:

Baptism of John – water baptism of repentance; precursor to Jesus; getting the heart right through repentance.

Act 13:24 (NIV)
Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit – indwelling of the Holy Spirit

Act 1:5 (NIV)
For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

Act 1:8 (NIV)
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Baptism of Jesus – a testimony of salvation. Water baptism representing spiritual cleansing and rebirth.

There are ten passages in Scripture documenting a conversion to Christ in the early church. All passages in Acts, and in all cases immediately followed by baptism.

1. Acts 2:38-41 – Peter’s sermon; the conversion of 3,000
Act 2:41 Those who accepted his message were baptized.

2. Acts 8:9-13 – Simon the magician
Act 8:13 Simon himself believed and was baptized.

3. Acts 8:26-38 – The Ethiopian eunuch
Act 8:38 Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him.

4. Acts 9:15-18 – the Apostle Paul (Saul)
Act 9:18 He got up and was baptized.

5. Acts 10:47-48 – Cornelius et al
Act 10:48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

6. Acts 16:13-15 – Lydia and her household
Act 16:15 She and the members of her household were baptized.

7. Acts 16:30-33 – The Philippian jailer and his family
Act 16:33 Then immediately he and all his family were baptized.

8. Acts 18:7-8 – Crispus
Act 18:8 Many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized.

9. Acts 19:1-6 – unnamed disciples
Act 19:5 On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.

10. Acts 22:12-16 – the Apostle Paul (flashback)
Act 22:16 Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.

Why don’t we baptize immediately today?

1. Inconvenience; lack of water
2. perceived as a barrier to the gospel
3. desire for the entire church to be witnesses
4. perceived as adding works to the gospel

Generosity vs. Equality

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Equality eliminates generosity. You can’t be generous unless you have an excess. If you disagree with that statement, then consider this: two people have equal resources; Person 1 exhibits generosity by giving some of his resources to Person 2. Result: Person 1 and Person 2 no longer have equal resources.

Think about this the next time you hear someone talk about “redistribution of wealth.”

“Do not steal” implies (and condones) ownership. You can’t steal something unless it belongs to someone else. The Eighth Commandment declares that it is wrong to steal, and by implication declares that it is right for individuals to maintain ownership and control of their resources.

This about this the next time you hear someone talk about “communal ownership.”

See http://instruct.westvalley.edu/lafave/hb.html for an interesting look at these concepts.