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The World’s Wisdom Is Foolishness

The World’s Wisdom Is Foolishness

“Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20 NIV84).

What is the basis of all wisdom? God and the knowledge of God, which means His character, His design laws, His methods, purposes, protocols – how reality works and why

Satan is the father of lies, and this world is his domain. This world is the lair of liars, the domain of deceivers, the fountain of frauds – the dark hole of deceit where God’s kingdom of truth and love is obscured. What this world considers wisdom is foolishness because it is contrary to reality, contrary to the way God’s kingdom works.

Examples of the world’s wisdom being foolishness:

  • There is no God; godless evolution is how life originated.
  • There is no male or female; gender is based on how one feels.[*]
  • There is no objective truth; what I think or feel is truth.

Examples of God’s wisdom being seen as foolishness to the world and how the world is truly foolish:

Giving to Others

Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:8 NIV84), and Luke wrote in Acts, “… remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35 NIV84).

God’s kingdom is the kingdom of love, of beneficence, of giving to others. It is the principle upon which our God of love has built life to operate. The more you give, the more you receive – the more we love others, the more we grow in love and the more of God’s love flows through us to others. This is the circle of love, of life, of giving that health is built upon, such as our breathing – we get more air by exhaling and giving away what we have taken in. Every living system only lives as it gives; the more one gives, the more one lives.

But this is foolishness to the world, which is based upon fear and selfishness. The wisdom of the world says that the more one takes, hoards, and stores up, the more one has. To the world, giving away what you have means that you have less, not more. Thus, the world promotes taking from others to advance self. That is why in all kingdoms of the world, throughout all history, the masses are taken from to support a few ruling elites. It is only God’s kingdom where the ruler leaves His throne and gives all that heaven has to uplift the masses.

Dying to Self

Jesus said, “Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it” (Luke 17:33 NKJV).

The kingdom of God is the kingdom of love, of other-centeredness, of loving others more than self. Satan’s kingdom is the kingdom of fear and selfishness, of survival of the fittest, of me-first, of kill or be killed. Eternal life is found in surrendering self to Jesus and dying to fear, dying to selfishness, of trusting one’s existence to God. This is what the Bible means when it talks about being crucified with Christ. It is about surrendering our need to protect self in trust to God, of dying to the selfish motives that seem so right to this world, and being reborn with heart motives that love others more than self.

Thus, those who lose their sinful, fear-ridden, selfish life in a trust relationship with Jesus will receive a new heart and right spirit and be reborn into God’s kingdom of love and receive eternal life – they find their true life. But those who, consumed by fear, cling to selfishness and continue to advance the survival drive of “me first” and refuse to die to self – but instead are willing to coerce others, dominate others, control others, take from others, and ultimately kill others to “save” their own lives – will lose their lives because they will remain infected with selfishness and die eternally.

The world’s wisdom is truly foolishness to God.

Most Christians have no problem acknowledging the wisdom found in the Bible stories and taught by Jesus and applied to the people of His day. Where we struggle is in taking those same Bible principles and applying them to ourselves – to our situations and circumstances. In the next section, we are going to do just that: apply God’s wisdom to expose worldly foolishness regarding recent events.

Judging Others

Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matthew 7:1, 2 NIV84).

And God said through his spokesman Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1Samuel 16:7 NIV84).

Over the past several years, I have seen a lot of Christians writing and speaking about judging the “character” of a certain political leader. I have been frustrated to watch this because it has had the appearance of wisdom and, therefore, many honest-hearted seekers of truth have listened to them. But was it the wisdom of God or the foolishness of this world?

I purposely chose not to address this issue prior to the recent election because I was concerned that my words would be too easily misconstrued as being political, advocating or promoting a particular political candidate, which I had and have no intention of doing. Despite what I saw going on, I have waited until now to address it so that my comments will be taken in their intended light: to help people develop discernment skills and become efficient in applying God’s methods.

In the next four sections below, I breakdown why it is foolish to think that we could know the character of a politician and how to apply godly wisdom to discern through the hyperbole.

Public Persona

One of the principles of God’s kingdom is that man looks on the outward appearance – the behaviors, the deeds, the history – but God looks on the heart. This means we cannot truly judge another person’s character or heart; only God can. But more than this, we cannot know a person through the media, we cannot know someone through the reports of others, and we cannot know someone without actually knowing someone.

During the recent election season, many Christians conducted lectures and wrote articles about the character of one of the candidates, but as far as I know, not one person doing so personally knew him. This means that they were making their conclusions based on a public persona filtered through various media outlets with imperfect and partial information; these conclusions were often further distorted by the biases of the reporters.

We cannot know a person’s character from the media; even when we see that person speaking, it is still a public persona, acted and presented for effect. We still don’t know the heart.

Consider the way some take God’s actions in the Old Testament and God’s own words, which were sometimes thundering and threatening, and have created a false picture of God – why? Because they don’t actually know God.

Remember Moses standing on Sinai when God thundered and all the people trembled, but Moses told them that they didn’t need to be afraid of God (Exodus 20:20). Why wasn’t Moses afraid when God thundered? Because Moses knew God personally, knew His heart, character, methods, and motives, and the people had only heard about God – they didn’t yet know Him for themselves.

When we come to know God personally, we will become friends of God, and like Moses, we too will no longer be afraid of Him even when He thunders. We will be able to read all the stories in the Old Testament and see a God of love acting in mercy to save all who will let Him.

Or consider the actor Bill Cosby before his public trial and conviction – what was the common public perception of his character? But peoples’ views of him were all based upon a carefully crafted public persona, which the evidence presented at his trial exposed as false.

Historic Facts

Let’s now consider taking historic facts of confirmed sin as evidence of someone’s character today; for instance, confirmed visits with a prostitute.

Is it wisdom or foolishness to think we can use someone’s historic sins as evidence of their character today?

Many Christians during this last election cycle thought it was wisdom to use past sins as evidence of character. If this were truly wisdom, what if we had a case of a confirmed murderer? Wouldn’t that be proof positive of bad character and reveal that we should not accept the murderer as our leader? Then what about when Moses returned to lead the Hebrews out of Egyptian bondage; should the Hebrew captives have rejected him for having “bad character” because he was a known murderer? Or what of King David, after Bathsheba and Uriah? When was David’s character the most godly, the most mature – before or after the Bathsheba and Uriah incident? It was after! That incident brought him to the point of true repentance, and it was then that he became a man after God’s own heart.

The Christian who looks to past mistakes, without asking the question of whether there is evidence of Christian repentance and maturing of character, is being foolish.

Interpersonal Style, Demeanor, Conduct

What about when we see with our own eyes that someone is being rude, blunt, insensitive to others; wouldn’t that be reliable evidence of bad character? After all, the Bible says that the fruits of the Spirit are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23 NIV84); thus anyone who is blunt, direct, doesn’t seem to have a lot of empathy, or says things that come across as hurtful or rude must have bad character, right? Not necessarily – again, if you don’t know them personally, if you don’t know their heart, you simply don’t know.

What if the person has Asperger’s syndrome? I have many patients with this disorder, and they are good-hearted people who have high morals. They want to do the best job they can, but they have brains that don’t see interpersonal cues. They don’t empathize like others do, so they are direct. In their mind, it is important to do things right; to them, it is about the tasks, the fixing of problems, the solutions, the goals, the outcomes, or the mission; they don’t process feelings or the importance of relationships or how others will react. In their mind, if the goal is achieved, it is a win. And most of the time, with good hearts, intending to help, they come across to others as blunt, rude, uncaring, and even mean, when they are not meaning to be so – and the higher their intelligence, the worse their interpersonal style typically is, even when their motive is to help people because they care about them.

Have you ever seen the television program Bones? The main character, Temperance Brennan, is an anthropologist who is very compassionate but who is depicted as someone with Asperger’s-type syndrome, and even though she intends well, she frequently speaks bluntly, without regard to feelings, and comes across as rude and offensive.

To judge someone else’s character without actually knowing them personally is foolish – yet many Christians get caught up in doing this and, thus, are easily manipulated by the media and others.

When choosing people to do certain tasks but with whom you haven’t built a personal relationship over time, a better approach than foolishly thinking we know their character is to assess the person’s ability for the position for which they are being considered, based on the evidence of their effectiveness to fulfill that role.

For instance, consider that you need a heart surgeon for one of your parents who needs emergency bypass surgery, and the two surgeons available the night you must consult one are:

Surgeon one, who has a proven record of the lowest post-surgical infections, shortest hospital stays, fewest days on a ventilator, and highest percentage of survival in the region. But he is also a known philanderer. He has been divorced three times, having had multiple affairs, and it was even reported that he had visited prostitutes; he is also reported to be blunt and rude to the nursing staff.

Surgeon two, who has higher post-surgical infections than surgeon one; his patients spend an average of five days longer in the ICU and a week longer in the hospital; and his patients have a slightly lower survival rate. But he is also an elder in his church and, by all accounts, is happily married to his only wife for 30 years; the hospital staff also rave about how kind he is to everyone.

Which surgeon would you consult for your parent? Would your concerns about character determine your choice?

Boundaries

Finally, let’s address the issue of boundaries – utilizing information where it is intended to be utilized and not where it was not meant to be used. The Bible gives standards on character for church leaders and spouses. In both circumstances, it is understood that we are able to apply this Bible standard because we have personal relationships with the people whom we are choosing for church leadership or as a spouse. This means we actually know them and can make judgments about their maturity of character for the roles for which we are considering them.

However, the Bible gives no such instructions (standards for character) when choosing a politician for office in a worldly government – why? Because we will almost never know them personally and will not have accurate information to assess their character. Therefore, we are to decide based on the objectives of their public policy platform, track record of accomplishment in achieving what they said they would accomplish, and evidence of possessing the skill set necessary for the role.

So, by all means, use the biblical standards for character when choosing elders, deacons, pastors, and spouses – but don’t be duped into believing you can know the character of people you don’t actually know.


[*] This is not a reference to homosexuality, but male and female gender. Gay men are male. Lesbian women are female. Homosexuality is about attraction, not gender.


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Testimony 31

It was very touching to hear the testimony of your class share how viewing God’s true character has changed their lives. My feelings are the same – there is so much freedom in knowing that God LOVES me – regardless of my… just, REGARDLESS! I’m still blown away by the true gospel, the fact that God is not ready to strike us when we fail. He is not arbitrary. He simply loves us and warns of the natural consequences because He can’t stand to see us suffer. I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS GOD!!!

Ceil V.,  UT, USA

 

Testimony 27

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 59

I’m a native Ghanan, but am currently in France for my master’s degree. Prior to this, during my final years at undergraduate studies in Ghana, I was introduced to your ministry and I’ve been immensely blessed by what you share, especially about the Design and Imposed Laws. God richly bless you for that.

One of the first things I did when I arrived in France was to buy all four of your books. They not only helped me, but those I shared them with. I shared the message with an atheist student and I marveled at how God worked mightily in his life. Today this person shares the Love of God with others and debunks theories of who God is not. I want to share what you present in your “Heavenly Sanctuary and Investigative Judgment” pamphlet, because the message brought rest to my soul and I live today as a healthy person.

God bless you so much and your ministry.

Michael A., Ghana

 

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I was invited over a friend’s house to see the “God and Your Brain” seminar today. I became [a christian] 36 years ago at the age of 19, but have struggled with the concept of God taking His ‘pound of flesh’ out on His Son to be appeased. Wow. Your seminar has been an incredible revelation and breath of reason and fresh air! I have your book, “The God Shaped Brain,” and it is SO eye opening. Finally, after 36 years enlightenment has come! Praise the Good Lord! What can I say, but that the Real Gospel is truly “Good News!” Thank you for your efforts in giving the Gospel a clear sound!

Paul C.,  Springfield, MA, USA

 

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I personally download and listen to each of Come And Reason Ministries Bible study class lessons and PDF study notes to use when teaching my class. Really appreciate the class especially when Dr. Jennings is teaching. Thank God there are persons like him doing His work and traveling to share His beliefs.

B. L.M., North Plains, OR, USA

 

Testimony 47

I can’t even begin to thank you and your ministry enough for introducing me to the Truth about a loving and merciful God! I have my daughter and her in-laws to thank for sharing with me “The God-Shaped Brain” as well as your website. I listen to the Bible study class lessons on my daily walk. May God continue to bless your thirst-quenching ministry!

Liz H., Port Angeles, WA, USA

 

 

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I am absolutly on fire with the message at Come and Reason! I can’t get enough! I’ve read your book, blog, and articles. I’ve listened to your Bible study podcasts, your radio show, and your series – all excellent! It wasn’t until the past couple of years that I have I like I’m becoming “healthy,” with more to share with others than just beasts and commandments! I used to be a Bible worker and preached when the pastors were gone until I had had enough. I didnt realize at the time what the problem was, but i know now… the message wasn’t properly focused. Now my flame is rekindled. All of your little examples are so perfect in explaining something “complicated” and making it easily understood! Now I’m trying to shape it into a life changing evangelistic series! Thank you!

M.T., USA

 

Testimony 15

I have been sharing Come And Reason Ministries Bible study lessons with several folk. You have such a beautiful view of the plan of salvation. If we had this message preached when I was young, my generation would still all be in church.

H. R., New Zealand

Testimony 64

I’ve been reading the bible and walking with Jesus since I was around 16. I’m 42 now. I’ve mostly been alone in my walk although I went to several churches in different denominations. For the past 3 years God has been showing me His character of agape. It’s been a blessing and changed how I view God and my walk with Jesus. About a year ago I came across the power of love and the principles of design law. These teachings changed how I read scripture and have been such a beautiful blessing. I’m very excited and grateful for these truths. We share these truths of agape, design law and the reality of the principles of the two trees in the garden of Eden with people on Facebook and YouTube. People all over are learning to trust God and His agape design law which makes life possible. Thank you for everything you shared with me. May God continue to bless your ministry and lives.

Bradley M., Hinsdale, NY, USA

 

Testimony 62

I would like to express my thanks to the C&R team for creating a platform from which people can learn to trust in God and grow. My life is a witness to the effectiveness of this ministry. Without believing the truth about God as you have shown, I don’t know what my life would be like. I had given up on God helping me with certain sins – it was all useless. Given that the scripture is clear and God is so good, how could I have betrayed him so many times? I was a yo-yo christian; spinning up and down. My faith and enthusiasm was driven by discoveries/threats that prophecy is about to be fulfilled. But when I watched your “Healing the Mind” seminar, it was like a light finally went on. I could see God had no plan to hurt me, the danger came from sin, and that He is working to protect me and strengthen me. Thank you for allowing God to use you. The message God gave C&R saved my life!

Antony N. – Hobart, Australia

 

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The message [of Come And Reason Ministries is] for all Christians (and those who may become Christians) and not just Adventists or any other group. It is difficult to imagine why any [anyone] with intellectual and spiritual honesty could find fault with the way you explained the healing substitution concepts and the truth about God’s character, though I know some will reject and criticize. On behalf of those in our group near Tacoma, WA, thank you and your staff for all of the hard work and for sharing the Gospel in this manner. God’s message of healing love will be carried to the whole world and then Jesus will come – He promised it.

Terry U., Tacoma, WA, USA

 

Testimony 66

I am incredibly grateful for the transformative impact you’ve had on my life, and words cannot fully express my appreciation. Over the years, I have been an avid listener and follower of C&R and extend my heartfelt thanks for creating the C&R mobile app. It has allowed me to immerse myself in your lessons repeatedly, enabling me to grasp the profound significance about the Character of God, Design Law, the protocols for life, the reasons behind the current chaos, and Christ’s mission to restore everything. They have deeply touched me. Having studied with various churches, I came away with the perception that God is no different from the deities of ancient Greek or Roman mythology—demanding sacrifices and taking pleasure in bloodshed. Thanks to your transformative teachings, I have experienced a profound awakening to the true nature of God and the immense power of His love. It is truly a remarkable and liberating sensation to finally grasp the truth and embrace the empowering nature of God’s laws. My self-perception has become brighter and more infused with love. My journey of growth continues on a daily basis.

Chris P., Lake Mary, FL, USA

 

Testimony 13

I borrowed “Healing The Mind” DVDs from a friend and showed them at my home for a small gathering of women friends. Neither of my friends are Adventist, but they both enjoyed and embraced the messages you taught. In fact, one of the ladies prayed out loud in our group and that was the first time she had ever had public prayer.

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Testimony 55

I was born [into the church], then I left it for many years. 10 years ago, I came back, but I could not take the hypocrisy and the lack of answers to the missing pieces. I struggled, but I did not abandon my commitment to know the truth. God is leading me to the simple understanding of his relevance and I am relearning what the church taught me as a youth… that he loves me, that he has led me to a knowledge of him such as I have never known. He is using Dr. Jennings to connect the dots that are now so apparent and hiding in plain sight!

Dean P., Arlington, TX, USA

 

Testimony 40

I was brought up in a different faith and have been petrified my whole life of God. I believed that I would burn in hell for eternity. When I was 12 I started pursuing the things of this world, but for the next 45 years the Spirit was always calling me, as I knew there was a God through nature. I could see the vast sea of stars in the universe and knew there was something bigger out there. Five years ago, through a Revelation seminar, I was blessed to learn about God’s character and government.

Then I found Come and Reason Ministries and have come under some extreme pressure when I speak about the ministry. One time a member sent me an internet article titled “Whats wrong with Tim Jennings?” I asked her what she thought of it and she said “I don’t know, I didn’t read it.”

I have always wanted to find out for myself the truth about God, so I stayed with the Design Law construct and have been liberated to understand the big picture. Once we consider Design Law, all other Bible stories and prophecies seem to fit perfectly. It is truly beautiful to see people grasping how God operates this Universe of Love and the liberation it has provided in their lives. It blows my mind to see how consistent Design law is with what our founders believed. I hear statements like “This makes so much sense.”

Tom W., Mt. Pleasant, MI, USA