William Chong

 Was good. Our tent (the white one) didn’t leak, which was pretty good for a $50 trademe no-brand 3-person type. Relaxing drive up to Goat Island, 80-cent ice-creams, pasta cooking, card games under torchlight, good friends.

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You know when you are a frequent commuter when you start not only being able to sing the jingles on the radio ads, but harmonise, do the voiceover and bop your head, all while changing lanes and zooming up the Harbour Bridge.

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On the 16th April 2008, most of New Zealand woke up to nonstop coverage of a horrible tragedy – 6 students and 1 teacher from Elim Christian College were killed when overcome by a flash flood in the Mangatepopo River.

How does a Christian come to terms with losing someone they love? Why did these 7 die and not someone else? What was the plan behind it? Is an accident like this punishment from God, or nothing to do with Him? How much control did He exert on the events that took place? I don’t think there are any easy answers.

The best book I could recommend is Philip Yancey’s “Where is God when it hurts?“. It pulls no punches, and it’s honest in saying that no-one can fully understand why the things happen as they do. But it offers a comforting perspective on pain and suffering.

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While the circumstances surrounding the loss may vary, there’s a sombre sense of similarity in the questions that flooded my mind around the time my mother passed away. How did I react when faced with these questions?

• I grieved. It didn’t matter that I was thrown back into friends and family, traditions and rituals I didn’t understand or affiliate with. I was there, I cried and shared in the sorrow of my brothers and sisters, my dad, my relatives.
• I regretted. Times when I could have been a better son. Times when I said and did things which I didn’t mean. Promises that never came true. Hopes and dreams that remain unfulfilled.
• I doubted.  One question I posed to my brother sounded a bit like this: “If I believe in God, will I see her again?” No one can tell me that their faith is not shaken when bad things happen to good people. Even though I knew that God doesn’t change, I still struggled. I questioned why my mother couldn’t have come to known Christ. I didn’t like the answers to my questions. I struggled to accept His plan.
• I was comforted. Many of the Psalms deals with suffering and trusting in God in times of happiness, and times of sorrow. Psalm 23 is beautiful, and comforts me.  “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling.” (Ps 46:1-3).
  
  It’s hard to look back, because you see things that you can’t change besides your own thoughts and perspectives on what, why, and to what end. Pain and suffering? It’s a part of this fallen world. In Philip Yancey’s book, he says: “I hope I do not so insulate myself from pain that I do not feel pleasure.” 

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One thing that these seven were able to cling to: the promise of eternity spent with God. As Christians, perhaps part of you looks forward to the time when you will go to be with the Lord. I recently heard a Sovereign Grace Music song that seems to really drive it home…

“It is not death to die,
to leave this weary road
and join the saints who dwell on high
who’ve found their home with God.
It is not death to close
the eyes long dimmed by tears
And wake in joy before your throne
delivered from my fears…”

The best thing we can do in response? Perhaps it’s just to pray for God’s comfort and shelter for these families and friends. We may not know them directly, or well. But I think each of us can do something about it, no matter how small it seems.

Suffering reminds us that we live in a less-than-perfect world. The circumstances of our suffering is not up to us. Whether we draw closer to or away from the Lord because of it, however, is up to us.

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 “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” (Job 1:21).

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Here’s something for Christians to consider: the Rational Response Squad issued a challenge to all atheists to commit what they termed the “unforgivable sin” – denying the Holy Spirit, by posting a youtube clip online recording their statement of non-belief: http://youtube.com/watch?v=i7QVbJnSPQE.

As you can see, they quote Mark 3:29, which states:

“…but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”

And they make it a dare to publicly do this, and therefore never be forgiven. Sorry to disappoint you all, but if you read the Bible carefully (including other chapters and verses), the general consensus is that God does forgive us of our sins. 1 John 1:9 says that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us of our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Granted, looking at Mark 3:29, it does look pretty contradictory. But the RRS, bless their souls, leave out Mark 3:30, which explains why Jesus said this. 

“…because they said, “He has an unclean spirit.”"

And they also leave out the entire 3rd chapter of the gospel of Mark, which outlines the circumstances surrounding this seemingly shocking claim.

Isn’t it sad to hone in on one or two verses that seem so offensive, your mind becomes irrationally closed? That’s just poor hermeneutics.

I’m not here to push an agenda – atheists are free to make their leap of faith as much as anyone else. But I do want to dispel the myth that Mark 3:29 refers to a sin that can *never* be forgiven.

Context here is crucial – Jesus was responding to the Pharisees and lawmakers that, after seeing for themselves throughout Jesus’s ministry direct evidence of his miracles of healing, bread-multiplication, driving out unclean spirits and so forth, instead of accepting that he was truly the Son of God, they claimed that “He has Beelzebub,” and , “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” (Mk 3:22).

In the next few verses, Jesus then explains why he isn’t demon-possessed by using some good old fashioned logical thinking – “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.” (Mk 3:23-4).

So if these religious leaders came all the way to watch him do miracles, and attributed this power not to the Holy Spirit but to demonic activity… this isn’t just denying the Holy Spirit. This is calling God a demon, calling good evil and mixing it all up – knowingly, and in the presence of Jesus Himself. Unpardonable? It seems so.

But since Jesus isn’t here at the moment, this unpardonable sin can’t be duplicated today. Even if I posted a statement blaspheming the Holy Spirit on youtube, it’s not the same as watching plain evidence of Jesus’s power and nature, and then declaring it to be demonic. What these guys are doing is in fact nothing new, nor special – we’ve all been denying accountability to our Creator one way or another since the beginning of time.

Continued unbelief, it’s fair to say, won’t lead to forgiveness. Posting a youtube clip saying essentially the same thing? It’s about as useful as Ray Comfort’s argument about bananas.

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