What King Saul, Adolf Hitler, Global Warming, and Kathy Griffin Have in Common

Call it natural, common, or sin nature, we all have it and exhibit it in one way or another.

We are broken people. For some of us, it’s more subtle. We’re followers of Jesus, and our intent is to serve Him even though there are times when we fall so short of who He has called us to be. For others, it’s blatant, in-your-face irreverence and disrespect for God and His Word. There isn’t a person around who doesn’t like to be in charge or in control of at least one (or more) aspects of his/her life. Every one of us, if we chose, could have taken the path of Saul, Hitler, or Griffin. We all have a choice.

King Saul 

The first king of Israel had a problem, and it wasn’t because he started out wrong. Saul was tall and the most handsome man in Israel (which has nothing to do with character, I know.) Saul was also so humble that he actually hid among the baggage when the people wanted to meet him.

Then life happened and Saul started accumulating wealth and wives and concubines. Now he was no longer humble and reserved. Now he wanted power. When that young shepherd boy was chosen (by God) to be the next king, Saul couldn’t handle it. He wanted that man dead and took it upon himself to try to make it happen.

Oh Saul, Saul – how could you not see that if God said David would be the next king, then he would be?

Saul spent years hunting down David, repenting of his sin once and then going right back to the hunt again. Instead of sitting back and recognizing that it was his own sin that cost him the kingdom, he was on a rampage to try to finagle things his own way. Sadly, he lost. He ended up committing suicide in battle. No matter his wealth or his women, he couldn’t change what God said was going to be. David, not one of Saul’s sons, became the next king just as God said it would be.

Adolf Hitler

For whatever reason, Hitler hated the Jews. It’s common for people to choose one sect or race that they feel is superior.  It’s also wrong.

Hitler considered the Jewish race less than human and set out to annihilate them. Citizens, generals, and countries joined forces in order to help Hitler promote the “perfect” race. If they had taken the time to read Scripture, they would have known it was a lost cause. Oh sure, they killed many Jews – but that race was not annihilated because God promised thousands of years ago that these people were His people and that He would protect them. God promised Abraham that his descendants would be that group of people. He promised to bless those who bless His people and curse those who curse them.  I recognize that it’s common for folks to deny the truth of Scripture and to deny the existence of God. It doesn’t change the fact, and denying His existence didn’t change the promise of God that He would protect those people because He had chosen them to be HIS people. It should not surprise us that Hitler lost. He ended up committing suicide when he knew defeat of his Nazi regime was at the door. No matter his expertise, his vision, his following, he couldn’t change what God said was going to be.

Global Warming

How many years has it been since we’ve heard dire warnings about the collapse of this earth?

It’s common for scientists to study the environment and come up with predictions about future climate, population, and hunger. Yet countries aren’t slipping under the ocean and, while there is a serious shortfall of food in some parts of the world, the world supply of food is sufficient for everyone. Sadly, not everyone has access to that food, but it’s there. It’s true that there are countries where there is overpopulation – yet the fact remains that there is no need to build skyscrapers (as I heard predicted when I was a kid) so the land surface would not be overcrowded. There is room for everyone to live. One need only Google this subject to find opinions as widespread as the oceans. It hasn’t happened yet, and I don’t think it will. That’s because I get my reference from the Master of Science and Creation.

You know what God said about this? After Noah’s flood, He promised that, as long as the earth remains, seasons will remain. It’s true that we experience warmer or colder weather depending on where we live; it’s true that in some places winters aren’t as severe as they used to be.

You know what I think? I think global warming is job security for some folks and a cause of worry for others.  You know what else? It’s something I don’t worry about because God said.

God promised, over 4,000 years ago that, as long as the earth remains, cold, heat, summer and winter will continue. Seedtime and harvest will not stop. That’s why I’m not concerned about global warming. I’m not a scientist, an engineer or a mathematician. I don’t need to be one to know this: God’s Word doesn’t change. If He said that seasons will follow each other and that summer and winter will continue, then they will.

Kathy Griffin

It’s common for hurting people to hurt people.

That’s common because it’s part of our sin nature. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, a psychiatrist or a theologian to figure that one out. We see proof around us all the time. It appears that Griffin does not have a relationship with Jesus except to lambast His name when she has an opportunity.

In accepting her Emmy award, she dissed Jesus when she said, “I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus . . . . this reward is my god now!”

From listening to her speech, it seems that she’s quite passionate about her dislike for Jesus. And her audience?  If laughter shows support, then they surely give it. In Griffin’s Bible Belt tour, her words have to be bleeped out frequently and we know why that is. The audience is seen and heard laughing [you can Google youtube for this; I can’t bear to post the link here]. It’s not just the comedian who is wrong; those who laugh at her speech and her language are equally at fault.

The day will come when empty, hurting people who are championed as comedians now will bow their knees to Jesus. I know this because God says so. 

We can laugh all we want now. We can try to finagle our way around what God says, but in the end, our denial will be our downfall. What we think and feel doesn’t change God’s Word one iota. We need only look at King Saul and Adolf Hitler to see that. In time, the outcry about Global Warming will change because people will see that God is the sustainer of this universe. Certainly, we have a responsibility to be good stewards of the earth; however, mankind will not destroy the earth. God will when His plan is fulfilled. In time, Ms. Griffin will answer to the God who created her and she will bend her knee at the name of Jesus because God said so.

Every one of us will do the same.

Our brilliance, our brains, our money, our wealth, and our prestige will only take us down if we are not anchored in Jesus. Our commonality is our sin nature. What we do about it is our choice, and ours alone.

One day, the broken and empty will be restored and whole. One day, every knee will bow.

God said it, I believe it, and that settles it for me.

To hear Ruth Dente sing the song “God Said It, I Believe It,” you can click here.