Is it true? No.

Other versions of this adage are “All truth is God’s truth,” “Despoil the Egyptians” meaning make something good out of the bad; “Eat the meat and spit out the bones,” meaning that one should hold on to the good but leave the bad parts behind; or “God can speak to me through anything.” A guy in my Christian youth group claimed, “God can even speak to me even through a Satanist bible.” I wish I’d thought quickly enough to respond, “Right, and he’d say, ‘Put that down!”

But the apostle John said, “no lie comes from the truth”. (1 John 2:21) So how could the truth come from a lie? Jesus, in his warning about false prophets, said, “a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17) He added that people don’t pick grapes from thorn bushes. (Matthew 7:16)

Too many Christians are looking for truth “in all the wrong places,” in thorn bushes instead of looking to Jesus who is “the way and the Truth and the life.” (John 14:5) Why waste time on the false when you can go straight to genuine? (This is not to say that we shouldn’t know what’s going on. I’ll cover this part in another listing.)

Part of the problem is their definition of “truth”, which comes out something like, “whatever works.” Lots of lies “work”—for a time; ask the Roman Emperors, Hitler, even former President Nixon. What they did “worked” for a time but that doesn’t mean they were operating in truth! Jesus spelled out the way to know the truth, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31,32) How much better to be set free than to choke on bones!

Is it true? No.

As one preacher put it, “If you have moderation in all things, that would mean moderation in sin—that it’s okay to sin as long as you didn’t do too much of it and this cannot be!” This saying has nothing to do with the Bible in content or principle!

Instead, Jesus urged the Laodiceans–and us, to be hot or cold (refreshing) and not lukewarm. (Revelation 3:15,16) Our prayers are to be fervent (James 5:16) and persistent (Luke 18:1) and we are to love one another deeply. (1 Peter 4:10)

Jesus was continually behaving in ways that were anything but moderate—healing ALL the sick (Matthew 8:16), and on the Sabbath (Mark 3:2). When he fed the multitudes, he didn’t just feed them a snack but enough to satisfy every one and have a large amount of food left over! (Mark 14:20)

In addition, Paul insisted that there shouldn’t be,“even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed,” (Ephesians 5:3)—no moderation there! He further urged that followers of Jesus are to “ have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,” (Ephesians 5:8) not even a little bit.

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. (Romans 12:11)

(Fervor: great warmth of emotion. Zeal: intense enthusiasm. Webster’s New World Dictionary)

Is it true? No.

“Miracles don’t happen everyday or they would be called ‘everydays’ instead of miracles.”

The problem here starts with word usage and the definition of that word. “Miracle” comes through French from the Latin “miraculum”, which literally means, a wonder or wonderful thing, but Daniel Webster (Webster’s 1828) went on to define, “in theology, an event or effect contrary to the established constitution and course of things, or a deviation from the known laws of nature, a supernatural event.”

Therefore, when we think of “miracles” it’s easy to think that God wouldn’t “violate” his own laws except for very special occasions. (It’s curious that the same people who used to teach that miracles don’t happen anymore—dispensationalists, now admit that they do happen but only rarely and usually only to pastors. Nevertheless, that is some progress!)

However, when we look at the literal Greek translation, we find different words, “powerful deeds.” Strange isn’t it, to translate from Greek to Latin to French to English instead of directly from Greek to English?

Does the Lord God still do powerful deeds through and around his people today? Absolutely! Reports of healings, rescue from danger and even raising of the dead come in regularly from many parts of the globe. My husband and I have experienced and/or witnessed quite a few of these powerful deeds ourselves. Just open your eyes and believe the power of the Lord!

I tell you the truth; anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12-14

Keith Greene, the Christian singer and songwriter, in his journal put it well, (something like) “If the only way I can learn is through bad times, then that’s the only kind of times I’ll ever have.” Similar to the teaching that God makes us sick/allows us to be sick to “teach us something”, this one indicates that the only way to really learn anything or become close to God is to have horrible or tragic events come into their lives. Therefore, if you follow this line of thinking through, studying the living Word of God (the Bible), listening to Bible teachings, spending time in prayer and observing Creation would all be a waste of time or at best, second-rate.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  2 Timothy 3:16

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” Romans 10:14,15 emphasis added

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9,10

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. James 1:5 emphasis added
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

…since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:19,20 emphasis added

The idea that the only way to really learn is through bad things sounds an awful lot like what the Serpent said to Eve…You know Eve, being surrounded here by God’s Creation, walking closely with God himself, hanging on his every word is fine, but if you want real knowledge, real wisdom, you need to know evil (the knowledge of good and evil). She should have said, “Forget it! I have God to teach me! Be gone!” I guarantee that her life did not get better or her relationship closer to God by the presence of evil (bad times) in her life! The only thing she learned from the knowledge of evil is that she didn’t want it after all!

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”
The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ” “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Genesis 3:1-6 emphasis added

To the woman he (God) said,
“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, `You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” Genesis 3:16-19

Don’t go looking for wisdom and learning “in all the wrong places,” be like Mary and “sit at his feet” (Luke 10:39).

Note: I’m aware that the New Testament has much to say about God’s use of suffering to discipline his children and to build our character. However, ALL of these verses are in the context of persecution for Jesus’ name’s sake–not general difficulties, tragedies or sicknesses.

It’s often said in our times, “Pray for something once and let it go. Trust that God heard you and that he will do what’s best for you. To keep on praying for the same thing is a lack of faith—you’ve got to just trust God.” It sounds reasonable. But it’s not what Jesus said.

“Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, `Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, `Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!‘ “And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.” Luke 18:1 (emphasis added)

Jesus told us (as his disciples) to keep on praying for the same thing (within Biblical boundaries of course) and to not give up until we get it. He wants us to be so engaged with him, so involved in asking him for things that when we get them, there is no doubt that our Father did it!

The Hindus of India said something similar to Mother Teresa when she began helping the poor and dying in Calcutta. Of course, they referred to karma (paying for one’s sins from another life—another version of “suffering the consequences”) yet what I hear from many Christians stems from the same root.

Jesus, on the other hand placed a high value on our helping others–to the point of assigning eternal punishment to those who don’t. (Matthew 25:31-46 I didn’t write it. You’ll have to take it up with him!) He placed no qualifications on that help, saying, “Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.”(Matthew 5:42)

But doesn’t the Bible say that trials and suffering build character? Yes, but the context is always that of suffering persecution for being a follower of Jesus, not the day to day difficulties of life that God’s people are to band together to alleviate (Acts 2:44,45; 2 Corinthians 8:13-15) When Paul could avoid even the “beneficial” kind of suffering, he did. (Acts 9:25)

The “elder brother” in Jesus’ parable of the runaway son would have liked to have seen his little brother “learn a lesson” from God (represented in the parable by his father) after his bad behavior. (Luke 15:30). I suppose he thought it would be more appropriate to have him sleep in the barn in his rags. Instead, to what must have been the elder son’s utter astonishment, his father didn’t punish his runaway son, but celebrated his return, welcoming him with open arms!