The Danger of Fad Diets

By Seth Mauldin & Joshua Cleveland

“Have nothing to do with worldly fables…discipline yourself 
for the purpose of godliness…Prescribe and teach these things…Give attention to 
the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” (1 Tim. 4:7,8,11,13)

        Have you heard of the grapefruit juice diet? Its heyday may be long gone, but back in the 1930s it was all the rage. Grapefruits, or so it was said held the magical key to lasting health and putting off those pesky extra pounds. Eventually this made way for other revelations like the blood type diet: Whether you were O-Neg or B+ was what really unlocked the secrets of your nutritional needs. Of course, this was nothing compared to the fat shredding power of the ketogenic diet; which was nothing compared to the Paleo diet; which was nothing compared to the Mediterranean Diet…etc.

        There is a strange phenomenon that tends to occur shortly after each of these lifestyle choices reach their apex. The nutritional powers that be will release a study that confirms everyone’s worst fear: The best way to lose weight and maintain health is a combination of regular physical activity and the common-sense consumption of healthy foods. We are reminded that there is no silver bullet other than to simply do the things we know we ought to do.

        So where exactly does this relate to matters of faith? Could I suggest to you that one of the dangers we need to be aware of is the prevalence of spiritual fad diets. Just as each of these nutritional plans purport to have found the one thing that is wrong with our eating habits, there has recently been a plethora of voices who claim to know the one thing that is wrong with our churches. Recent books have all claimed to have the answer! One book claims that churches are falling apart because they are neglecting the work of the Holy Spirit—a supposedly forgotten God. Another comes along and declares that we just aren’t being radical enough; we just don’t understand discipleship like we should. Still another has come along to let us know that church woes are rooted in our neglect of the Ten Commandments. If you keep looking you’ll find that the list goes on and it runs quite long.

        On the one hand, various religious books can be quite helpful in stirring up our thoughts. While we must be cautious to engage in doctrinal sifting, there’s something to be gained by reading through the study efforts of others. And yet, in this pursuit we must practice extreme discernment. A great deal of what’s churned out is not worth the paper it’s printed on. While this may be obvious with books that promise “Your Best Life Now”, it is equally true of each new book that comes along claiming to have solved the problem. These are fad diets for Christians. While it may not excite the masses, the answer to church problems is much less mysterious. As Paul reminded Timothy: Stick to the basics. Prescribe and teach. Proclaim sound doctrine. Read the Scriptures. Exhort and teach.

God’s Promised King 

by Joshua Cleveland

In Jeremiah 23, YHWH speaks to His prophet of the coming judgment on the “shepherds of Israel” for their sinful living and refusal to speak the truth of His word to Israel. What becomes a lengthy rebuke of the prophets begins with a very clear promise of God’s love for His people and His faithfulness to His covenant with King David: “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord, “When I will raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land.  In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell securely; And this is His name by which He will be called, ‘The Lord our righteousness.’” (Jer. 23:5-6 NASB)

What this prophecy teaches us about God’s promised “righteous Branch” is that he will reign as a wise, just, and righteous king, it will be in His day that Judah is saved, and He will allow Israel to dwell securely. These three great promises were not made to Israel because they were worthy of such a king. Far from it! God, through Jeremiah, consistently rebuked Judah for their rebellious, sinful living and spoke of coming judgment. So, why was God going to do these things for Judah and Israel? Because of King David and His covenant with him.

Note that God says He will raise  “for David a righteous Branch,” so it was not because of Judah that God would send the Branch, but for David. This is because of God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:12-13. The Branch, the righteous king, would fulfill God’s promise to establish David’s throne forever. How would God fulfill this promise to David of an eternal throne?

Ultimately, it was in Jesus of Nazareth that God fulfilled His promise to David, Judah, and Israel. Peter preached in Acts 2 that Jesus was attested to by God’s power (Acts 2:22-24) and that David also prophesied about Jesus (Acts 2:25-35). Then he declared that Jesus, the righteous king, had been crucified by His people (Acts 2:36). All of this happened so that through the death of the Righteous One, God might exalt Him to His eternal throne in heaven (Eph. 1:3-14, 18-23), and thereby fulfill His promise to David of an eternal kingdom. One where all of God’s people, Jew and Gentile alike, can dwell in the righteousness, justice, wisdom, and salvation of the righteous Branch, Jesus the Christ. Jeremiah 23:5-6 was not just a reminder of God’s covenant with David; it was a message for God’s people of His loyal love, His covenant-keeping, and His grace that would forgive sins and remember them no more. These two verses should be a source of hope and joy for the saved, resulting in the offering of praise to God and His Righteous King.

Bible reading is a daily discipline that helps us draw closer to God. By feeding ourselves on God's word, we can grow in faith and love for the Lord, becoming more like Him each day. Don't approach your daily Bible reading plan like a challenge or checklist. Remember that the importance of reading the word is to meditate on God's words, to let them change you and mold you in His righteousness. May God bless you this coming year as you grow through His word.

They Hear Your Words

by Joshua Cleveland

When God spoke to Ezekiel 33:30-33, He made abundantly clear how effective his prophetic work was. God tells His prophet that the people “…talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses…saying, ‘Come now and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD.’” (Ezek. 33:30b) “They come to you…and sit before you as My people and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.’” (Ezek. 33:31), “Behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice…for they hear your words but they do not practice them.” (Ezek. 33:32)

So, why was it that Ezekiel, who spoke so well and drew such a large crowd, couldn’t produce obedient faith in his listeners? Consider what God told Ezekiel when He first called him as His prophet in Ezekiel 3:4-11. In this passage, God describes the work ahead for the prophet and what his audience would be like. They would speak the same language (3:5a), they were capable of understanding his words (3:6), and they were the ones who should listen to the prophet (3:6b). However, they were a people who would be unwilling to listen to Ezekiel just as they had been reluctant to hear God (3:7a). They are stubborn and obstinate people (3:7b). 

In the face of such a reception, God commands Ezekiel, “Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint, I have made your forehead. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” Moreover, He said to me, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely.  Go to the exiles, to the sons of your people, and speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not, ‘Thus says the LORD God.’” (Ezek. 3:8-11) Even though the people would not listen and would intentionally ignore the word of God Ezekiel brought, he, as God’s messenger, was still to speak the word of YHWH God to them. As God’s watchman (Ezekiel 3:16-21; 33:1-20), his duty was to warn God’s people regardless of how they responded. 

Though not everyone we meet and share God’s word with will listen or obey, it is still our duty to all men to share the gospel with them. As God’s people, we are to share in seeking and saving the lost so that those willing will respond obediently. Let us also examine our attitudes to see whether or not we are stubborn and obstinate like Israel was to hear God’s message. Do we practice God’s word, or is it all just a sensual song?

The Rumors of Canaanite Destruction by Joshua Cleveland

In 2017, the Internet was flooded by news reports that greatly exaggerated the results of a study.  The remains of 4 Canaanite bodies, some 3,700 years old, were shown to have DNA connections with modern-day Lebanese. These results sparked a whirlwind of articles and news reports that all claimed that the biblical account of Joshua has been soundly disproven because there are descendants of the Canaanites still alive today. Here are a few examples of the titles to these reports:  

• “Study disproves the Bible’s suggestion that the ancient Canaanites were wiped out” (The Telegraph)
• “Bible says Canaanites were wiped out by Israelites but scientists just found their descendants living in Lebanon” (The Independent)
• “Bronze Age DNA disproves the Bible’s claim that the Canaanites were wiped out: Study says their genes live on in modern-day Lebanese people” (Daily Mail)

The problem with these articles is that they show a lack of understanding about the actual biblical account of Joshua and the book of Judges. At Joshua’s death, the people had taken a good portion of the promised land, however they had failed to take all of it. Thus, when Joshua died the people asked YHWH, “Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?” (Judges 1:1) It was Judah that YHWH chose to go up against the Canaanites, and for a time Judah and the other tribes were successful at destroying the nations of the land.

The problem arose later when in Judges 1:27-36 each of the tribes failed to fully destroy the nations of the land. This led to the people of Israel living in the land with many of the very people God condemned, “…so the Canaanites persisted in living in that land. It came about when Israel became strong, that they put the Canaanites to forced labor, but they did not drive them out completely.” (Judges 1:27b-28) So, unlike many of the articles claim, this DNA testing has resulted in confirming God’s word to be true.

But more than giving us further confidence in the truth of God’s word, this whole event should be a moment for us to consider the dangers of half-measures in our service to God. Israel failed to fully drive out the nations of the land, and this resulted in them adopting their customs and idolatry. When we only remove sin from our lives with half-measures we are only setting ourselves up to fail God and fall prey to worldly propaganda. We must serve the Lord fully, and not fail to bring about the obedience of faith in our lives.