Snippets: Providence in Afflictions

In my teens when I was diagnosed with myopia and required prescription eyeglasses, I was bitter and angry. The diagnosis shattered my dreams of joining the military in an active combat role. Night after night, I would pray to the Lord to heal my eyes so that eventually I would be able to seek honor and glory defending the country from commies in China and Islamists in Pakistan, but the Lord never granted my request. Over time, I accepted reality but never understood why God would shatter my dreams and afflict me in that way.

The New Testament and the Magistrate

Since the transformation of this present world is a key goal of Dominionism and Postmillennialism, its adherents consider influencing the civil magistrate to be an important part of the Church’s witness. Hence, they appeal to several passages of Scripture to support their goals. These passages are often in the Old Testament and involve a flawed hermeneutic of reading covenantal statements outside of their context, applying what was meant for Israel to modern nation states. The New Testament on the other hand doesn’t provide any support for their tendencies so their appeals to it tends to be quite limited.

Evangelicals Today and Authority

I'm often surprised by the extent of disrespect for governing authorities in Christian circles. My Facebook feed is often filled with diatribes, snarky remarks, snide comments and boisterous criticisms levied by Christians against the governing authorities of the nations in which they have been Providentially placed (Acts 17:26). The charge of "Tyranny" is oft-levied against anything inconvenient and the assumption is made that every inconvenient action that apparently infringes on one's freedom to do as one pleases is a stepping stone to an absolutist authoritarian autocracy. John Knox's famous quote, "Resistance to tyranny is obedience to God" has become a rallying cry of many a Christian to engage their governments in a cold war.