Learning of Our Great God

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun…[Psalms 19:1-4]
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During the summers, I usually teach courses in English Literature or Critical Thinking. This summer was no different. For eight intensive weeks I take college and university students on an adventure into understanding that which they think they already know or know how to understand. I see them shy away from poetry, thinking it is too difficult to grasp or make sense of because it is not written in easy to understand prose, as they voice their preference for plays and novels and short stories—literature written, as they suppose, in plain simple language, which they can understand. And while it is true that poetry is the highest use of language (any language) the prose they long to get to instead of poetry is not as clear and unsophisticated as they suppose it is.

In Critical Thinking, many students enter this field of study assuming that because they can talk, they can reason clearly. That is much like the secretary who comes to an English course assuming that since she composes letters and edits documents to perfection for a supervisor she knows the dynamics of the language, as opposed to the mechanics of certain parts; then she discovers that there is far more to it than she/he has supposed.

Usually, I enjoy teaching both of these courses, although teaching is a gift that is burdensome to this teacher primarily because of my harsh experience trying to teach God’s people—often a stiff neck, hard-headed, and rebellious people who reject knowledge to their own destruction. [Isa. 48:4; Ezk. 2:3-5]I started teaching in college primarily because God had gifted me with the spiritual gift of teaching. Let me explain.

As a young minister in God, I was called and anointed into the ministry, in spite of the desires of a particular pastor and co-pastor under whom I was saved with whom I was fellowshipping for some years. They did not want me to preach for whatever reasons. There was the word that a young man cannot teach me anything, even though I spoke under the anointing of God—for I never played with the things of God. But when they saw the hand of God was mightily upon me through the ministry God had given me, the pastor admitted that he and his wife did not want me to preach, but they could no longer deny that God had called and anointed me. As I grew in the ministry, I learned all they had to teach and posed questions about the things of God, which they could not answer; then I realized that it was time to move on that I could learn more. And so I moved and learned, God working with me all the while.

As God was teaching me,* and it was becoming clear to all that heard me that God was in my mouth and heart with the gift of teaching, I was called upon by ministers not threatened by what God had given me to teach.** And the glaring rejection of knowledge by many of God’s people and ministers crystallized within me one Friday night in Richmond, CA.

I had been invited to speak at a young people’s meeting where there was a gathering of several local congregations for a fellowship. The minister who had asked me to speak had been a great inspiration to me and had encouraged me to go to school as God had placed it in my heart to do. The old guard in the church who thought that ignorance was somehow godly had discouraged schooling on my part when I shared with them my plans. But this young man saw what God was doing with me and said to me, “Go on to school, brother. Who knows what God will make out of you? Forget what they are saying--you could be another Apostle Paul; I don’t know. I’m not college material, but you seem like college material. Just don’t forget God.” ***

That Friday night as I was speaking at that church gathering, the host pastor of the church felt it his duty to backtalk me in the pulpit. As I was building up to the thesis of the message, he stated, “This ain’t no history class.” And as I heard his old school crudeness, the young man who had invited me and who was the chair of that gathering also heard it. I slowed my progress and stated that I would discontinue because what I have was too valuable to throw away to those who do not want or appreciate it; after 20 minutes into the message, I sat. The young minister who had invited me saw the outrageous behavior of ignorance the host pastor had perpetrated against me and excoriated him as being disrespectful and a poor host, saying, “I would not do that to anyone.”

That was the first lesson I had consciously recognized about the gross way that ignorance was gripping much of the old guard in the church.**** It would not be the last, but being an apt student, I learned to play down and blunt the edges of this ignorance most of the time. I tended to dumb-down my speech that I not cause the ignorance, feigning itself as godliness, to flurry whenever I spoke. Yet one day, I was offering a mere testimony not in the pulpit, but while sitting in the audience, as I generally sit. And as soon as I completed my testimony of the goodness of God, a sister decided to offer her testimony against me (not to the glory of God but against me, calling me by reference) and diminished my testimony as she said, “I enjoyed the brother’s testimony, as much as I understood with his big words and all.” This chastisement for being learned was made even after I had dumb-down my words for fear of such chastisement. And I saw continual attacks on me because of the knowledge God has blessed me with as I explore the deeper things of God with God’s people.

One day while in a ministers’ meeting, certain a minister who had been preaching longer than I had been living was teaching when three men from Canada came into our midst and posed serious questions to the teacher and put forth erroneous teachings, which the teaching minister could not properly respond to nor had any reasonable reply. Consequently, I helped him, lest those visitors from afar assume their darkness was light and that there was no man of God with the light of God among us.

Thereafter, one brother still steeped in the old school of ignorance as godliness ethos went home, told his wife of God’s insight and knowledge that was upon me, tried to discern whether it was my education or the inspiration of God upon me that put to flight the flawed teachers. Of course, he concluded that it was God and not my educational learning that had done the job—my education was somehow anathema to him and all them of his school of erroneous thinking. So immature was this minister/brother with weak and unlearned thoughts. Sadly, this ethos of ignorance is still among many in the church. Apparently they have not read or understood Psalms 19:1-4. Nevertheless, the psalmist clearly states that there is no speech nor language where God’s voice is not there and heard. But those whose understanding is open and whose light is of the Lord hear it; others will assume that the voice of God can only be found in the Bible. And many such men and women will say, “All you need is the Bible.” They will assume formal education is the same as what James is talking about when he says this: “This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.” [James 4:15] And they extract it from all above it and that below it and mar this scripture to a distortion against education. Some even slant and distort Paul's words to say that he gave up all, meaning his education, for the excellency of Christ. Surely Paul needed not to give that up because Christ is made unto us sanctification and wisdom--Jesus is the wisdom of God embodied in flesh! That certainly is not what God is saying at all. James says that the man who is wise will not use his knowledge to harm God’s people through envying and strife and other such ungodliness.

Indeed, the faith of man should not stand in the wisdom of man, as Paul tells the Corinthian Church, [1 Cor. 2:5] but we should get as much wisdom and knowledge as we can [Prov. 4:7] because we then learn of God and the things he has made and how through all his creation, God’s voice can be heard. [Psa. 19] We learn that the more we know, the greater will become our faith. [Rom. 1:20] It is a trick of Satan to keep God’s people ignorant because he knows that the more they learn of God and the things God has made, the greater will their faith be in him. This is what God has said about knowledge and acquiring it. Furthermore he says that if we consider/adhere to the things he says, he will give us an understanding in all things. [2Tim. 2:7]

A failure to obtain knowledge, unless we are mentally impaired, is a rejection of knowledge. And when we reject knowledge God will reject us. That is how closely God sees our need to get knowledge, especially during this day of Christianity. Faith is based upon a knowledge and understanding of God and his word, not foolishness. [See Faith: Perfect and Imperfect [Part Two]] And if we are just we live by faith. [Hos. 4:6; Rom. 1:20; Heb. 10:38] When God has distributed knowledge throughout his universe, which HE has made, and in the tongues of all men, our ignorance is inexcusable. We are obligated by his word to learn and not be ignorant as an affirmative action. Not learning about God and his creation is an act of knowledge rejection. [Hos. 4:6] Learning of him goes beyond the Bible. God has made all things, and even the heavens declare the very glory of God; why not learn about them and God's glory therein? Night after night speaks the wisdom of God; why not learn about it? There is no speech nor language where God’s voice is not heard; why not learn to hear God voice in all of them?

Look at the Apostle Paul. He read widely. He read Greek, Jewish, and other scholarly writers; he sought the wisdom of all learned men, even the ungodly greeks, and in so doing he heard and saw the voice of God. Listen to him as he told Timothy to bring the books and the parchments that he left at Troas. [2Tim4:13] Paul heard the voice of God and placed it in Holy Writ. In Acts 17:28, in Athens, on Mars Hill, Paul said this, “…As certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” Paul knew as the Psalmist that of one blood made he all to dwell on the earth and that the truth of God is voiced throughout his creation. And God who has made all things, it is impossible not to have his fingerprints, his DNA, as it were, in all and throughout his creation extolling the fact that God is the creator of all. So why not learn of it? Indeed, God commands us to do so, and as we do so we see the parallels of God. Understanding those parallels we then clearly see the invisible things of God, and that understanding gives us a robust faith that pleases God.

A study of literature, art, archeology, anthropology, religions, language, etc., reveals some of the same patterns of seemingly unconnected and far distant mankind. Men who have not known the cultures or thoughts of other men show uncanny similarities in their patterns, behaviors, myths, ideals and concepts. This is true throughout this planet, regardless of the epochs they have lived in or the conditions they have lived under. That is because of one blood God made all of mankind. Those who try to put a difference between human beings for some special privileges those minute differences bring must stand before an angry God. Throughout God’s creation we see God in all his glory, and what a keen student discovers is this: To learn about creation and the things that exist is to learn and to see God! Why not see God?

The knowledge I acquired in school was also knowledge from God, so the brother’s attempted distinction was artificial and wrong. But not having disciplined himself to study, he stood outside supposing he was seeing inside and made meaningless proclamations about education and God--both he knew nothing about.

That is the church ignorance from which I came. And that ignorance frustrated me to the point that teaching became burdensome; you see teachers are like men who bring forth valuable gifts out of the treasure of their learning and these gifts are new and old, but they are all of great value. And when men reject those most precious things freely given, the teachers are highly disappointed and offended at that rejection; for they know the value and great cost with which these precious things were purchased. Teachers assume others can value the worth of their learning, especially teachers of the things of God. [Mat. 13:52] They assume that the people of God will applaud those who have dug deep to find the good things of God and take those pearls and hid them away in their hearts. But as I saw no value being placed on the deep things of God by many of his people, the word of God cried out to me that I should not give those precious gifts to unappreciative people, when God has labeled them dogs and pigs. [Mat. 7:6] I should stay my hand and allow those who would be ignorant to stay as they wish. [1 Cor.14:38]

Like Jeremiah I had something precious from God that few wanted, but I could not stop teaching. So God fixed something for me and the use of the gift he had/has blessed me with. He took the gift he had given me, which gift I would have freely given to the people of God but they rejected, and opened up an avenue to the world--the things the people of God in their hard-heartedness rejected, God made the world pay me quite handsomely to receive.

In so doing I was able to better take care of my family and perfect my ability and gift. How marvelous and great are the mysteries and wisdom of God: The stone the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. [Psa. 118:22]

Furthermore, God opened this teaching ministry to me that his word can be taught by me to those who want his word worldwide. For those who come to this ministry week after week (some 7,000 to 12,000 readers) are those who want the truth of God. I nor any minister need not be crippled and hindered by some weak ministers afraid that the truth of God that he is unfamiliar with may get to God’s people and they grow to the point of posing serious inquiry into God’s word that they may grow and go beyond their control that binds them.

The truth is that many people have been held in states of spiritual and mental retardation in many churches with ministers who should be taught rather than their teaching the baby food they are giving, even if they are giving that. The people of God should not be eating dry and moldy bread, but every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. [Heb. 5:12-14] Baby food and dry and moldy bread keep God’s people babies and spiritually and mentally delayed--a place God does not want them to remain. [Eph. 4:11-15; Phil. 3:10-15; Heb. 5: 12-14; 6:1-2; 1Pet 2:2]

There is no speech nor language where God’s voice cannot be heard and found, so why not learn as much about this great God of ours as possible? After all the philosopher and playwright Sophocles wrote that God's crowning gift to man is man's mind. On the natural stage that is also the wisdom of God. So why not use and develop the gift God has given us? One with a talent/gift that does not develop it so that it grows will have that talent taken from him/her and given to one who does.

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*The expression, “God was teaching me,” is not some process of coming to epiphanies and knowledge through osmosis, knowledge by mere association, if such a thing can happen. Instead, I was studying the word of God intensely, reading what scholars and the few ministers of God who had something in print were saying, and asking hard questions while reasoning the word of God among those capable of reasoning it. There were a few men of God who were not afraid of hard questions, for those questions prompt greater study and build stronger ministers/minds. Weak ministers are threatened by difficult questions that they cannot give fluff answers to.The prophet Isaiah labels these type of ministers lazy, greedy dogs, who love to slumber!

I have observed a close parallel between the spiritual and the academic, and I have seen the above parallel among some of my weaker professor colleagues. We have guest speakers on campus (a frequent occurrence at colleges and universities) and colleagues and students are allowed to pose questions; on several occasions colleagues have asked such impotent questions that I have posed more serious questions, being ashamed of their weak representation of scholarship and as a demonstration to students in attendance at these occasions what serious questions are—knowing that a good question can be better than an answer.

One particular guest was the actor and activist Danny Glover; teachers posed such weak questions that it was embarrassing; so I posed meaningful questions to him to ward off his presumption that there was not a scholar among us. After the session was over he sought me out and thanked me for asking serious questions worthy of the supposed scholarship of the college. Serious and intelligent people want serious and intelligent questions worthy of their scholarship and station in life; weak men wants weak questions that they can give fluff answers to. Those weak ministers/men do not want to do the hard work of study! [Eccl. 12:12] Strong questions strengthen a minister/mind because it forces him/her to greater study. Often I chide my students when they merely accept what I say without questioning me. They will never get the best from me in classroom or in a church Bible study when there are no serious questions.

Williams Strafford, a writer, once argued that writing in a process that allows and prompts him to discoveries that he would not have come to if he had not started to write. The parallel of that is the question. By serious and significant questioning we discover things that we would never know were we not to pose serious questions of ourselves and any teacher who stands before us to teach.

**There are many whose darkness is what they consider light. Jesus, seeing this anomaly of sight/intelligence, said this, “If, therefore, the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” He explains this by examining the scribes and Pharisees who thought they were intelligent and full of light but were, instead, full of darkness. He said to them that they go across land and sea making followers and those followers of their teachings become twice as much more children of hell than the ones who teach them. [Mat. 6:23; 23:15-16] Their followers have a truth they think is light, but it is really darkness and they cling to their darkness with great tenacity, even with a reprobated mindedness that cannot be overcome because they have not received the love of truth but the love of an error. [2Thes. 2:10-12] This, sadly, is the way of many today!

***Indeed, God blessed me in college beyond my dream sand beyond what the schools had seen: At U.C. Berkeley I had to get special permission to take two years in one; when working on my doctorate, I did my orals in record time and finished my Ph.D., in two years--a process that could have taken many more years. But by the time of my working on my PhD, my brother and I had started a church and taught the people that school is no threat to godliness and that they should pray for me. And they actively prayed for me, and I knew that God was working with me to work the intellectual exploits that I worked in school.

Yes, I gave myself to long, rigorous hours of study, but it was God who gave me the discipline and mind for it; it was God who opened my understanding that I might understand. [Luke 24:45] The glory is all God’s!

*****The old guard were not guarding the principles of the doctrine of Christ but their own turf of ignorance by which they stayed in power and held an ungodly sway over the unlearned and blind people of God.

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