In This Issue
Insights Magazine is published by Insight for Living Canada, the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles (Chuck) R. Swindoll. Pastor Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading program in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry. We hope this publication will instruct, inspire, and encourage you in your walk with Christ.
When it comes to the Bible, keep trusting. But when it comes to people, be discerning.
Cover & Article Photo: Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
The Only Thing Incapable of Error
by Charles R. Swindoll
Ever since I was knee-high to a gnat, I have been taught and have believed in the infallibility of Scripture.
Among the upper echelons of doctrinal truths, this one ranks alongside the Godhead, the deity of Christ, and salvation by grace. We may fuss around with a few of the events in God’s eschatological calendar or leave breathing room for differing opinions regarding angels and local church government...but when the subject turns to infallibility, the inerrancy of Holy Writ, there’s no wobble room. Can’t be. Take away that absolute and you’ve punched a hole in your theological dam. Given enough time and pressure, it wouldn’t be long before you and everything around you would get soggy and slippery. Make no mistake about it; the infallibility of Scripture is a watershed issue.
But wait...let’s stop right there regarding infallibility. Before I make my point, allow me to quote Webster’s definition: “incapable of error... not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint.” That is certainly true of Scripture, but it is not true of people. When it comes to humanity, fallibility is the order of the day. Meaning? Meaning this: there is not one soul on this earth who is incapable of error, who is free from fault, who is unable to make mistakes, or who is absolutely reliable. Can’t be. Depravity, mixed with limited knowledge and tendencies to misunderstand, misread, misquote, and misjudge, should keep all of us from two very common mistakes: first, deification of certain individuals (including ourselves, of course) and, second, disillusionment when we discover faults and mistakes in others.
Just as infallibility assures us that each page of the Bible is without error or deception, fallibility reminds us that each person is capable of both. The implications are equally clear. When it comes to the Bible, keep trusting. But when it comes to people, be discerning.
This includes all people. The page isn’t long enough to complete a list, so I’ll mention only one group. I choose this group because, more often than not, it’s one we tend not to question. I’m referring to those professionals whom we trust with our bodies, minds, and souls—namely, physicians, psychologists, and pastors. What influence these men and women possess! What good they do! How necessary they are! Most of us, if asked to name 10 people we admire and appreciate the most, would include two or three from this group. How gracious of God to give us such splendid people to help us through this veil of tears! Yet each one has something in common with everyone else—fallibility. Those whom we most admire can remind us of human fallibility from time to time; nevertheless, everything in us cries out to resist such reminders. Of the three, quite likely it is the minister whom people tend most often to put on a pedestal.
It is certainly an unscriptural practice. The Berean believers are to be commended for listening to Paul; they “searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth” (Acts 17:11). Apollos and Paul are referred to merely as “servants through whom you believed the Good News” (1 Corinthians 3:5) and later given a rather insignificant place,
“it’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow” (3:7). It’s easy to forget all that, especially in a day when we hunger for spiritual leaders whom we can respect, and we come across some whose lives are admirable, whose leadership seems to be blessed of God, and whose instruction is biblical, wise, and dynamic. Everything’s great until one such minister teaches something that is different from another minister who is equally admired. That never fails to send groupies into a tailspin.
I could just as easily have used an illustration regarding a physician’s diagnosis or a therapist’s counsel. The issue is identical, and it brings us back to where we started. If I could change a term and put it in the language of
Lincoln: all humanity is fallible. Yes, all. If you remember that, you’ll have fewer surprises and disappointments, greater wisdom, and a much better perspective in life. Rather than slumping into cynicism because your hero showed feet of clay, you’ll maintain a healthy and intelligent objectivity. You’ll be able to show respect without worshipping. And when you really need to know the truth, you’ll turn to infallible Scripture with firsthand confidence.
Why? Because Scripture is the only thing that’s incapable of error...not liable to mislead, deceive, or disappoint.
Copyright © Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
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One-String Symphony: How Attitude Orchestrates Life
by Charles R. Swindoll
The colourful, nineteenth-century showman and gifted violinist Nicolo Paganini was celebrated for his extraordinary command of the instrument. One legend has him standing before a packed house, playing through a difficult piece of music. A full orchestra surrounded him with magnificent support. Suddenly one string on his violin snapped and hung gloriously down from his instrument. Beads of perspiration popped out
on his forehead. He frowned but continued to play, improvising beautifully.
To the conductor’s surprise, a second string broke. And shortly thereafter, a third. Now there were three limp strings dangling from Paganini’s violin as the master performer completed the difficult composition on the one remaining string. The audience jumped to its feet and filled the hall with shouts and screams, “Bravo! Bravo!” As the applause died
down, the violinist asked the people to sit back down. Even though they knew there was no way they could expect an encore, they quietly sank back into their seats.
He held the violin high for everyone to see. He nodded at the conductor to begin the encore and then he turned back to the crowd, and with a twinkle in his eye, he smiled and shouted, “Paganini...and one string!”
After that he placed the single-stringed Stradivarius beneath his chin and played the final piece on one string as the audience (and the conductor) shook their heads in silent amazement. “Paganini...and one string!” And, I might add, an attitude of fortitude.
united in spirit, intent on one purpose. (Philippians 2:1–2 NASB)
What does all this mean? Well, let’s go back and take a look. There is encouragement in the person of Christ. There is love. There is also plenty of “fellowship of the Spirit” for the Christian to enjoy. Likewise, affection and compassion. Heaven is full and running over with these things even though earth is pretty barren at times. So Paul pleads for us to tap into that positive, encouraging storehouse.
This may shock you, but I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a day-to-day basis is my choice of attitude.
This may shock you, but I believe the single most significant decision I can make on a dayto-day basis is my choice of attitude. It is more important than my past, my education, my bankroll, my successes or failures, fame or pain, what other people think of me or say about me, my circumstances, or my position. Attitude is that “single string” that keeps me going or cripples my progress. It alone fuels my fire or assaults my hope. When my attitudes are right, there’s no barrier too high, no valley too deep, no dream too extreme, no challenge too great for me. Words can never adequately convey the incredible impact of our attitude toward life. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how we respond to it.
Paul had much to say about our mindset in his letter to the Philippians. In chapter two, he wrote: Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion, make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love,
Because our choice of attitude is so important, our minds need fuel to feed on. He gave us a good place to start in Philippians 4:8: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true , whatever is honorable , whatever is right , whatever is pure , whatever is lovely , whatever is commendable , if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise , think about these things. (NASB, emphasis added)
Good advice. “Think about these things.” Fix your attention on these specifics in life and you won’t regret it.
Strings on your instrument may snap and hang loosely—no longer available or useful— but no person and no situation can force you to have one attitude or another, to walk off the stage or to keep playing with verve. That choice is strictly up to you.
Adapted by Insight for Living staff from Charles R. Swindoll, Strengthening Your Grip: How to Be Grounded in a Chaotic World (Brentwood, TN: Worthy Publishing, Kindle ed., 2015), 225–338. Copyright © 2015 by Charles R. Swindoll.
Crucial Questions: How Can I Overcome My Fear?
by Insight for Living Canada
Q. I was hurt in the past by bad relationships and now I’m afraid of starting new ones. I feel caged by my fear. What should I do?
A. Fear is powerful. It feeds on itself and grows so that you feel controlled by it. Let’s look to God’s Word for some guidance on how to overcome fear.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what
you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you
learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing.
Then the God of peace will be with you.
(Philippians 4:6–9)
These verses encourage you to pray right, think right, and act right while managing your fear. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.
First, whenever you feel anxious, pray to the Lord. The Psalms are a great model for our own prayers. King David lived with all kinds of fear from real dangers. He learned to pour out his heart to God until he was able to rest in a confident, joyous peace. Read through the Psalms—maybe one each day—and then respond honestly to God about what you read. You’ll soon start to feel the benefit. Keep a notebook in which you record your responses in the form of prayers.
Replace these negative thoughts with truths from Scripture:
1. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)
2. We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ. It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God. (2 Corinthians 3:4–5)
3. We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. (2 Corinthians 4:7)
As you focus more on what Christ has done in you and can do through you, your thoughts will shift away from yourself.
Second, be vigilant over your thought life. Memorize Scripture. Choose verses that minister to you while you’re reading your Bible. When you find your mind racing with anxious thoughts, review those Scriptures.
Another important element to controlling your thought life is to control what goes into your mind. Negative thoughts feed fear, giving it power. Identify your negative, self-limiting thoughts and stop them before they enter your heart. Here are some common negative thoughts that you may have experienced:
1. Comparison: “I’m not as likable as that person.”
2. All-or-Nothing: “If I can’t have a close friend, then I just won’t have any friends.”
3. Exaggeration: “That experience completely devastated me. I will never recover.”
4. Catastrophe: “If I go to that social event, it will be a disaster.”
5. Self-limitation: “I can’t…”
As you focus more on what Christ has done in you and can do through you, your thoughts will shift away from yourself.
The third key to managing fear and cultivating a peaceful mind is to do the right actions. Build a disciplined, godly, and active lifestyle. Join a small group Bible study where others can pray for you and hold you accountable for praying the right prayers, thinking the right thoughts, and doing the right deeds.
You know that your fears are not from the Holy Spirit, because “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7). Fears come from within and may be exaggerated by the influence of Satan and his hosts. However, you can overcome these fears by strengthening your prayers, refining your thoughts, and aligning your actions with your growing godliness.
Threads: The Significance of Gardens in Scripture
by Steve Johnson
The garden in Scripture is a touchstone for numerous motifs and a picture of a richly nourished life. Next to heaven, it is the preeminent image of human longing. Woven throughout the Bible, it is a significant thread, representing life at its fullest.
Humanity has always envisioned perfection as an enclosed, lush, and tranquil garden. This image reflects the Bible’s depiction of how God intended human life to be lived. The garden of Eden is more than a place—it represents a way of life, a state of the soul. Because God planted it, the imagery of the garden is not only descriptive but also prescriptive.
The term paradise originates from the Persian word for a walled garden. Eden is the Bible’s version of Paradise. It is a place of secluded protection—an idea reinforced after the expulsion of Adam and Eve, when a flaming sword barred re-entry, implying the presence of a gate leading into the garden.
The enclosed nature of the perfect garden itself captures its essential quality—its distinction from ordinary life. The simplicity of life in the garden sets it apart from the complexities of civilization, a contrast that is reflected in the unashamed nakedness of Adam and Eve.
Another motif of the garden thread is provision. Because gardens are watered, they are
places of abundant vegetation. Such a garden is a picture of the perpetual abundance and nourishment of nature, similar to the tree of Psalm 1 that never withers. A garden is also a place of natural beauty, pleasing to the eye (Genesis 2:9), and also provides nourishment through its fruits. It is timeless and a place to be visited in the mind often.
Eden also serves as an image of human work and striving, as gardens require cultivation. Adam was “to work it and take care of it” (Genesis 2:15 NIV). The terms used for plants and animals in Genesis 2 are different from those used in Genesis 1. They refer to humans’ role in cultivating and controlling plants and animals, in contrast to the cosmic, broader scope described in the previous chapter. In this way, Eden reflects humanity's active participation in God's creation and its care.
These two themes of relaxation and human labour suggest that God continually provided spaces of rest and nourishment while also promising new and more perfect places to come. Humankind is called to collaborate with God, participating in the unfolding divine purpose through obedience. The progression from Eden to Canaan to heaven represents a sequence of gifts from a loving, providing God—each one contingent on humanity’s acceptance and obedience.
Harmony is a central theme of the garden thread. Adam and Eve are in harmony with the plants and animals of nature, with each other, and with God. In a very real sense, the Garden of Eden is the first temple, a sacred space where God visits and communes with them. However, when they are expelled from the garden, they lose more than just their physical home; they lose their spiritual communion with God. This separation marks the disruption of the original harmony that God had designed.
Eden is also a place of continuous moral testing, as indicated by the presence of a forbidden tree in the middle of the garden. The garden is a place of radical choice, where the first humans were faced with a pivotal decision that shaped the course of history. In that choice, paradise was lost. Progressing through Scripture, threads from Eden emerge again. For example, the motif of the abundant growth and therefore human prosperity is referred to in Genesis 13:10 when Lot “took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley…The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord.” The Tabernacle is described as a mobile “garden of God” in the wilderness (Exodus 25-27). And Solomon decorates the temple in a garden theme (1 Kings 6).
trees” (Ecclesiastes 2:5). It is noteworthy that the Bible makes no sharp distinction among the terms garden, orchard, grove, and park.
A main theme of the garden paradise is love, with the Song of Songs being the most famous. The paradisal motifs are transformed into romantic realities. The beauty of the garden surroundings becomes an extension of the beauty of the beloved, while the sensory pleasures of the garden mirror the joy and fulfilment the couple experience in their mutual love.
Humankind is called to collaborate with God, participating in the unfolding divine purpose through obedience.
The abundance and provision of the garden are metaphoric of the richness and value the two lovers find in each other. The enclosed nature of the garden of love captures the seclusion, privacy, intimacy, and security that the couple feel in their love, symbolizing how they are a world completely to themselves. The harmony the couple shares with their environment reflects the deep harmony in their relationship with each other.
When Isaiah envisions Zion restored, he says, “Her desert will blossom like Eden, her barren wilderness like the garden of the Lord” (Isaiah 51:3). While Eden was directly planted by God, the gardens of the world are often symbols of human status, achievement, and cultivated beauty associated with the courtly life. For example, when Solomon lists his material accomplishments, he says, “I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit
In the New Testament, there are two gardens associated with Jesus, who is the Tree of Life, with His Father being the gardener (John 15). First, the Garden of Gethsemane is a place of temptation for the second Adam, Jesus. It is also a place of ultimate anguish, suffering, betrayal, arrest, and violence. It is like an “antigarden”—an inversion of expected qualities of a garden. However, like Eden, it is a sacred space where a radical decision was made that reverses the course of human history.
The other garden is the resurrection garden, where Jesus was entombed and where Mary Magdalene mistakes the risen Jesus for the gardener (John 20:15). The first garden accommodated the first gardener, Adam. The Easter garden accommodated Jesus, the second Adam.
The Resurrection offers a new horizon for humankind, with a world defined not by death
but by life, with the promise of growth into the fullness of the stature of Christ. All of this is enriched when we allow the conventional meanings of the garden—abundant provision, human longing satisfied, harmony achieved, love triumphant—to flow into this one.
Finally, the garden thread in the Bible also makes Paradise a heavenly reality. In Revelation 22:1–2, we are given a vision of the New Jerusalem, a walled city with paradisal features, including a river with the tree of life on either side, yielding fruit for the nations. This heavenly paradise is not inhabited by just two people but is instead more populated and open (Revelation 21:25). Both the heavenly paradise and, to a lesser extent, the original paradise are built around a paradox: they are closed and yet open.
In the first garden, we lost our connection to God. In the second garden, God is found in the midst of our suffering. In the third garden, hope is found in Resurrection. The final garden is the place of ultimate victory and overcoming. Paradise regained!
The garden thread in the Bible presents an image of the ideal that elevates whatever activity occurs in it. It symbolizes nature, romantic love, human well-being, and spiritual reality all at their best. It serves as a moral and spiritual norm against which our fallen experience is judged and toward which our hearts aspire.
Steve Johnson is the executive director and pastor at Insight for Living Canada.
Beneath the Surface: Biblical Stewardship
by Steve Johnson
There are some verses in the Bible that are so far-reaching in their implications I have difficulty getting my head around them. Psalm 24:1 is one of those verses: “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.” It is a foundational verse for understanding the Bible’s teaching on stewardship and surrender. It stops me, at least intellectually, in my materialistic pursuits by telling me I do not own anything. None of us do.
The New Testament delivers the second blow of this one-two punch by revealing that, as followers of Jesus, we are not our own. Paul writes, “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to
yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20).
This means we belong to the Lord twice over—first because He made us, and second because He bought us. Everything we have— our bodies, money, and possessions—belongs to Him and is entrusted to us according to His will for the purpose of eternal investment. How we steward the money and possessions entrusted to us in this life echoes in eternity.
It seems simple. So why is there such confusion, sensitivity, and a range of diversity among Christians when it comes to the issue of money and possessions? There’s a whole spectrum of beliefs and behaviour.
On one end of the spectrum are those who take vows of poverty, believing it is sinful to have any possessions. On the other end are those living with a sense of entitlement in lavish luxury, spending more for a single meal than many in the world earn in an entire year! On both extremes, there can be an unhealthy obsession with material things.
Over the years, I’ve grappled with the multitude of verses that touch on money, generosity, poverty, stewardship, surrender, and things related. I believe I have solid understanding of what the Bible says about these matters. But knowing the truth is one thing—living it out is another.
him to the Lord. Abraham possessed nothing, yet he was rich. Everything he had owned before, including his sheep, camels, herds, and goods of every kind, remained his to enjoy. He still had his wife, his friends, and best of all, his son Isaac safe by his side. He had everything yet possessed nothing. There is the spiritual principle.
How we steward the money and possessions entrusted to us in this life echoes in eternity.
This is where the inconsistency lies for some of us today. We give mental assent to the verses I’ve referred to above, yet it often makes little difference in how we live. We’re still swept up in the relentless pursuit of bigger, better, newer, and more. We live like those in the world who disregard what God has revealed to us in His Word—that this life isn’t all there is. Instead of surrendering money and possessions, we pursue and place our trust in them instead of God. It is as though our motto isn’t “In God we trust,” it is “In gold we trust,” feverishly laying up treasure on earth in a desperate bid to possess.
The answer to this lies in what A.W. Tozer called “the blessedness of possessing nothing.”1 Tozer used this phrase to describe the state that Abraham finally came to when he obeyed the Lord’s command to surrender his greatest treasure on earth—his only son, Isaac (Genesis 22:1–19).
When Abraham placed Isaac on the altar and was moments away from sacrificing him, the Lord stopped him. Then, God gave Isaac back to Abraham.
Abraham received Isaac back, but from that point on, everything was different. Isaac was no longer Abraham’s because He had surrendered
Abraham named that place Jehovah Jireh , meaning “the Lord will provide.” How fitting, especially when we wonder if we ourselves will have enough as we seek to be generous to others. When we release our grip on whatever we are tightly possessing, we will experience Jehovah Jireh. When we intentionally choose to surrender back to God all that He has given us in this life and remain faithful to that commitment each day, we will experience the blessedness of possessing nothing. We will steward material things with an open hand, not loving or trusting in them but in the One who provides. We will be free from the tyranny of possession, free to give generously from the heart, and free to lay up treasure in heaven.
Martyred missionary Jim Elliott understood this. His words seem appropriate here. He wrote in his journal, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” 2
A life of true stewardship and surrender.
Steve Johnson is the executive director and pastor at Insight for Living Canada.
1. Tozer, A.W. The Pursuit of God. Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1948.
2. Elliot, Jim. The Journals of Jim Elliot. ed. Elisabeth Elliot. Grand Rapids, MI: Fleming H. Revell, 1978.
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