A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father , where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect? Says the Lord of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name. But you say, How have we despised Thy name? You are presenting defiles food upon My altar. But you say, How have we defiled thee? In that you say, The table of the Lord is to be despised. But when you present blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And when you present the lame and the sick, is it not evil? Why not offer it to your governor? Would he be pleased with you? Or would he receive you kindly? says the Lord of hosts. “But now will you not entreat God’s favor, that He may be gracious to us? With such an offering yon your part will He receive any of you kindly? says the Lord of hosts. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the gates, that you might not uselessly kindle fire on my altar! I am not pleased with you, says the Lord of hosts, nor will I accept an offering from you. (Malachi 1:6-10)
And now, O priests, this commandment is for you. If you will not hear, And if you will not take it to heart, To give glory to My name," Says the Lord of hosts, "I will send a curse upon you, And I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have cursed them already, Because you do not take it to heart.
(Malachi 2:1-2)
I believe the questions that hit’s the hardest is “Where is the honor due to me?” I cant imagine how it would feel if God himself stopped me in the middle of worship and told me that He would rather I go home than worship Him half-heartedly…ouch. God expects the people to offer the very best of there offerings. Deuteronomy 17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to the Lord your God a bull or sheep which has any blemish or defect, for that is an abomination to the Lord your God”. God is not honored when He is given something that has no value, instead we must give what truly cost us. So why is it that the people refused to give the very best? Malachi 1:13 “you also say, 'Oh, what a weariness!' And you sneer at it," Says the Lord of hosts. And you bring the stolen, the lame, and the sick; Thus you bring an offering! Should I accept this from your hand?
Says the Lord.” The people thought they deserved better (or what they thought was better), so they figured “If God wont give His best, why should we?” What the priests and the people failed to realize is God already had gave His best, Jesus. Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong, Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors”. God wants 100% from us and as we have seen from the previous verse He deserves every bit of it. Now you may be thinking one of two things (or maybe both of them).
1. I am exempt from this because I am not a priest
2. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, I know longer have to offer anything.
Lets address the first, when a person gives there life to Christ they become a priest. We are called to share the gospel with the world with the love and conviction of the Holy Spirit.
“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”.
(1 Peter 2:9)
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”
(Exodus 19:5-6)
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy” Spirit”.
(Matthew 28:19)
Now for the second, What do we have to offer? Though we don’t offer animal sacrifice, when we choose to follow Christ we offer our lives to Him and his grace.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service”.
(Romans 12:1)
If we are called to give our bodies, we must give all of it with a sincere heart. God wants us to want to be with Him. A relationship with someone who feels forced to be with you is not going to be very fruitful. God loves a sincere heart and why should we not be sincere. He does not promise an easy life but He does promise that it will be worth it. The very strength we thrive on to serve the Lord comes from Him. He promises to be the rock that will never be shaken. He does not say we wont face any storms but He will provide as ship that will never sink. May we serve the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul. When you wake up in the morning give the day to God and may it completely be in His hands. The Lord who gave us His life so that we may live deserves our very best. We must not find ourselves clinching to things of this world for that very object is what is keeping us from growing in our relationship with Him.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
(Jeremiah 29:11-13)
In His Grip,
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Exposing "The alternative"
For the skeptic and the learning apologist:
Before applying mathematics and probability to the origin of life, we need to consider seven parameters that will affect the formation of a single protein. First, their oare over 300 different types of amino acids. However, only 20 different amino acids are used in life. This means, that in order to have life, the selection process for building proteins must be very discriminating. Second, each type of amino acid molecule comes in two shapes commonly referred to as right-handed and left-handed forms. Only left-handed amino acids are used in biological proteins; however, the natural tendancy is for left- and right-handed amino acid molecules to bond indiscriminately. Third, the various left-handed amino acids must bond in the correct order or the protein will not function properly. Fourth, if there was a pond of chemicals ("primordial soup"), it would have been diluted with many of the wrong types of amino acids and other chemicals available for bonding, making the proper amino acids no longer usable. This means there would have been fewer of the required amino acids used to build the biological protein. Fifth, amino acids require an energy source for bonding. Raw energy from the sun needs to be captured and converted into usable energy. Where did the energy converter come from? It would require energy to build this biological machine. However, before this energy converter can capture raw energy, it needs an energy source to build it, a catch-22 situation. Sixth, proteins without protection of the cell membrane would disintegrate in water (hydrolysis), disintegrate in an atmosphere containing oxygen and disintegrate due to ultraviolet rays of the sun if there was no oxygen present to form the protective ozone layer. Seventh, natural selection cannot be invoked at the pre-biotic level. The first living cell must be in place before natural selection can function. Considering all seven of these hurdles, how probable is it that a single protein that a single protein could have evolved from a pool of chemicals?
So far the most commonly used argument for the origin of life is Stanley Millers experiment. Unfortunately
this experiment has been given credit by being placed in science books across the nation as how life first
came about. Though convincing at first if looked at carefully this is an extremely improbable and flawed alternative to the origin of life. I have studied this experiment and even if given billions of years it is still dangerously flawed. Miller's construction of sending a bolt of electricity into this container filled with carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor excludes oxygen, why? Because oxygen will oxidize amino acids and destroy them. Even in an early earth if there were no atmosphere then ultraviolet rays would destroy the amino acids. Also you must factor in hydrolysis which is the decomposition of a chemical compound by reaction with water. Now yes he did create some amino acids but it was only because he was able to suck them down into a chamber where the electric current couldn’t fry them if they sat there. Where in the primitive earth would you find such a contraption. It would be like saying a bolt of electricity struck a river bank and made clay, and that clay had the texture and form of a brick, then saying that raw energy could create the empire state building. the few amino acids that were found were 50% racemic where 100% purity is essential. 99% of the compounds were toxic.
To produce even non-functional amino acids and proteins, researchers must highly control the experiment in various ways because the very conditions hypothesized to create amino acids also rapidly destroy proteins. Examples include thermal denaturing of proteins by breaking apart their hydrogen bonds and disrupting the hydrophobic attraction between non-polar side groups. Very few proteins remain biologically active above 50ºC, or below about 30ºC, and most require very narrow conditions. Cooking food is a good example of using heat to denature protein, and refrigeration of using cold to slow down biological activity. As any molecular biologist knows from daily lab work, the pH also must be strictly regulated. Too much acid or base adversely affects the hydrogen bonding between polar R groups and also disrupts the ionic bonds formed by the salt bridges in protein. Miller had to deal with the fact that the common cross-reactions of biochemical reaction products cause destruction or interfere with amino acid production. All compounds that interfere with bonding must be isolated or they will destroy the proteins. Therefore, Miller had to remove many contaminants and impurities to obtain pure compounds that are not normally found in life. Otherwise, his apparatus would have produced many destructive cross-reactions. After more than 50 years nothing better has come about or else we would all hear about it. Only an extremely intelligent and infinitely complex Creator could have brought life into existence…. His ways are incomprehensible. Information comes from an informer, messages come from messengers. We have a magnificent transcending God who has showed us through his creation how His ways are far superior to ours. This will lead us into Gods ways in the next topic. Isaiah 55:9
Before applying mathematics and probability to the origin of life, we need to consider seven parameters that will affect the formation of a single protein. First, their oare over 300 different types of amino acids. However, only 20 different amino acids are used in life. This means, that in order to have life, the selection process for building proteins must be very discriminating. Second, each type of amino acid molecule comes in two shapes commonly referred to as right-handed and left-handed forms. Only left-handed amino acids are used in biological proteins; however, the natural tendancy is for left- and right-handed amino acid molecules to bond indiscriminately. Third, the various left-handed amino acids must bond in the correct order or the protein will not function properly. Fourth, if there was a pond of chemicals ("primordial soup"), it would have been diluted with many of the wrong types of amino acids and other chemicals available for bonding, making the proper amino acids no longer usable. This means there would have been fewer of the required amino acids used to build the biological protein. Fifth, amino acids require an energy source for bonding. Raw energy from the sun needs to be captured and converted into usable energy. Where did the energy converter come from? It would require energy to build this biological machine. However, before this energy converter can capture raw energy, it needs an energy source to build it, a catch-22 situation. Sixth, proteins without protection of the cell membrane would disintegrate in water (hydrolysis), disintegrate in an atmosphere containing oxygen and disintegrate due to ultraviolet rays of the sun if there was no oxygen present to form the protective ozone layer. Seventh, natural selection cannot be invoked at the pre-biotic level. The first living cell must be in place before natural selection can function. Considering all seven of these hurdles, how probable is it that a single protein that a single protein could have evolved from a pool of chemicals?
So far the most commonly used argument for the origin of life is Stanley Millers experiment. Unfortunately
this experiment has been given credit by being placed in science books across the nation as how life first
came about. Though convincing at first if looked at carefully this is an extremely improbable and flawed alternative to the origin of life. I have studied this experiment and even if given billions of years it is still dangerously flawed. Miller's construction of sending a bolt of electricity into this container filled with carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapor excludes oxygen, why? Because oxygen will oxidize amino acids and destroy them. Even in an early earth if there were no atmosphere then ultraviolet rays would destroy the amino acids. Also you must factor in hydrolysis which is the decomposition of a chemical compound by reaction with water. Now yes he did create some amino acids but it was only because he was able to suck them down into a chamber where the electric current couldn’t fry them if they sat there. Where in the primitive earth would you find such a contraption. It would be like saying a bolt of electricity struck a river bank and made clay, and that clay had the texture and form of a brick, then saying that raw energy could create the empire state building. the few amino acids that were found were 50% racemic where 100% purity is essential. 99% of the compounds were toxic.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Aren't we born atheists?
Humans are the only species that are able to self examine. We ask ourselves “What is my purpose, and why am I here”? Assuming that people are born without the knowledge of God is not provable either. Infants are born without the knowledge of airplanes, but that has no bearing on the validity of airplanes whatsoever. We cannot ignore either the evidence in Scripture. Who are we as a species? The writer of Psalm 8 sees our potential and strives to give us honor and dignity and purpose by making us “a little lower than the angels.” Then how does an atheist reckon with the most powerful description of the gift of love? Concepts such as love, trust, hope, friendship, caring, respect, self-sacrifice and even humor, go to the very heart of our humanity. They are spiritual entities, not intellectual or physical. They introduce us to a sense of the presence of God every day. Life’s experiences are therefore not a matter of will. People get married, for example, not on the basis of arguments but on a determined desire to build a happy, meaningful and fruitful relationship. I do know that not all people get married for the same reason but traditional marriage is based off of these desires. Man and women engulfed in sin do marry for wrong reasons. So it is with our understanding of God. GOD made US. Technically speaking a skeptic says, “I doubt that God exists” and an agnostic says, I don’t know (or can’t know) whether God exists.” But an atheist claims to know or (or at least believe) that God does not exist, which would be a bold assertion whether it be an infant or a young adult. There are many types of agnostics (as I’m sure you know). Some of the types I believe are based off of apathetic ignorance and or arrogance. Some agnostics believe you can’t know anything hardly recognizing they just made a self-contradicting statement. Others believe there is either insufficient evidence or none at all; sadly simple ignorance is the reason for that belief. Socrates said “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing”. Wisdom is the knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action. So if the statement the typical agnostic makes is you can’t know truth then how do they know that’s true? Isn’t that a truth statement in itself? Could it be that we are born children of God but allow the convincing and deceiving world views shift the way we think. Many former Christians I have met made their transition to skepticism based off of weak reasons. There weak faith led to disbelief, disbelief to bias outlook, and bias outlook to their current stance on God.
The canon of Scripture
To add to or subtract from God’s words would be to prevent God’s people from obeying him fully, for commands that were subtracted would not be known to the people, and words that were added might require extra things of the people which God had not commanded.
Deuteronomy 4:2
“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
If we are to trust and obey God absolutely we must have a collection of words that we are certain are God’s own words to us. If there are any sections of Scripture about which we have doubts whether they are God’s words or not, we will not consider them to have absolute divine authority and we will not trust them as much as we would trust God himself. The earliest collection of written words of God was the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 31:18
“And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
The content of the Old Testament canon continued to grow until the time of the end of the writing process. If we date Haggai to 520 B.C, Zechariah to 520-518 B.C, and Malachi around 435 B.C, we have an idea of the approximate dates of the last Old Testament prophets. Roughly coinciding with this period are the last books of the Old Testament history-Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. Ezra went to Jerusalem in 458 B.C, and Nehemiah was in Jerusalem from 445-433 B.C. Esther was written sometime after the death of Xerxes-1 (=Ahasuerus) in 465 B.C, and a date during the reign of Artaxerxes 1 (464-423 B.C.). Thus approximately 435 B.C. there were no further additions to the Old Testament canon.
Josephus (born A.D. 37/38) explained “From Artaxerxes to our own times a complete history has been written, but has not been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records, because of the failure of the exact succession of the prophets” (Against Apion 1.42) This statement by the greatest Jewish historian of the first century A.D. shows that he knew of the writings now considered part of the “Apocrypha” (The Apocrypha is a collection of uninspired, spurious books written by various individuals) but that he and many of his contemporaries considered these other writings “no worthy of equal credit” with what we now know as the Old Testament Scriptures. There had been, in Josephus’s viewpoint, no more “Words of God” added to Scripture after about 435 B.C
In the New Testament, we have no record of any dispute between Jesus and the Jews over the extent of the canon. Apparently there was full agreement between Jesus and his disciples, on the one hand, and the Jewish leaders or Jewish people, on the other hand, that additions to the Old Testament canon ceased after the time of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The fact is confirmed by quotations of Jesus and the New Testament authors from the Old Testament. According to one account Jesus and the New Testament authors quote the various parts of the Old Testament Scriptures as divinely authoritative over 295 times, but not once do they cite any statement from the books of Apocrypha or any other writings as having divine authority. The absence of any such reference to other literature as divinely authoritative, and extremely frequent reference of hundreds of places in the Old Testament as divinely authoritative, gives strong confirmation to the fact that the New Testament authors agreed that the established Old Testament canon, more and no less, was to be take as God’s very words
Deuteronomy 4:2
“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
If we are to trust and obey God absolutely we must have a collection of words that we are certain are God’s own words to us. If there are any sections of Scripture about which we have doubts whether they are God’s words or not, we will not consider them to have absolute divine authority and we will not trust them as much as we would trust God himself. The earliest collection of written words of God was the Ten Commandments.
Exodus 31:18
“And when He had finished speaking with him upon Mount Sinai, He gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God.
The content of the Old Testament canon continued to grow until the time of the end of the writing process. If we date Haggai to 520 B.C, Zechariah to 520-518 B.C, and Malachi around 435 B.C, we have an idea of the approximate dates of the last Old Testament prophets. Roughly coinciding with this period are the last books of the Old Testament history-Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. Ezra went to Jerusalem in 458 B.C, and Nehemiah was in Jerusalem from 445-433 B.C. Esther was written sometime after the death of Xerxes-1 (=Ahasuerus) in 465 B.C, and a date during the reign of Artaxerxes 1 (464-423 B.C.). Thus approximately 435 B.C. there were no further additions to the Old Testament canon.
Josephus (born A.D. 37/38) explained “From Artaxerxes to our own times a complete history has been written, but has not been deemed worthy of equal credit with the earlier records, because of the failure of the exact succession of the prophets” (Against Apion 1.42) This statement by the greatest Jewish historian of the first century A.D. shows that he knew of the writings now considered part of the “Apocrypha” (The Apocrypha is a collection of uninspired, spurious books written by various individuals) but that he and many of his contemporaries considered these other writings “no worthy of equal credit” with what we now know as the Old Testament Scriptures. There had been, in Josephus’s viewpoint, no more “Words of God” added to Scripture after about 435 B.C
In the New Testament, we have no record of any dispute between Jesus and the Jews over the extent of the canon. Apparently there was full agreement between Jesus and his disciples, on the one hand, and the Jewish leaders or Jewish people, on the other hand, that additions to the Old Testament canon ceased after the time of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The fact is confirmed by quotations of Jesus and the New Testament authors from the Old Testament. According to one account Jesus and the New Testament authors quote the various parts of the Old Testament Scriptures as divinely authoritative over 295 times, but not once do they cite any statement from the books of Apocrypha or any other writings as having divine authority. The absence of any such reference to other literature as divinely authoritative, and extremely frequent reference of hundreds of places in the Old Testament as divinely authoritative, gives strong confirmation to the fact that the New Testament authors agreed that the established Old Testament canon, more and no less, was to be take as God’s very words
Challenging Chance
If you look at the individual parts of the eye (wires) as simple organs than yes it would seem plausible that natural selection and random mutation could have brought about the complex eye we have today. However each part of the eye is highly complex, even the proteins which make up the eye are far complex than you make them out to be. The human brain consists of 12 billion cells, forming 120 trillion interconnections. The light sensitive retina which is also part of the brain contains over 10 million photoreceptor cells.
There are 20 different kinds of amino acids that are used to construct the proteins of all living organisms, including man. The average person consists of a string of 500 amino acids. The total number of combinations of 20 different amino acids in such a string is, for all practical purposes unlimited. Each protein in our body however must contain a specific sequence of amino acids if it is to function properly. I urge you to take an honest look at the probability and see if gradual evolution is still a reasonable argument.
The 500 amino acids that make up an average sized protein can be arranged in over 1 x 10^600 different ways (one followed by 600 zeroes). If we had a computer that could rearrange the 500 amino acids of a particular protein at the rate of a billion combinations in a second, we would still stand essentially no chance of hitting the correct combination
There are things that are irreducibly complex (bacterial flagellum) how does gradual evolution explain this. For biological things to operate they need genetic information. My question to you is where did the information of DNA come from how did it arise in the first place. Lots of people have wanted to explain the origin of information by reference to the laws of physics and chemistry or by reference of chemical properties of the constituent parts of the DNA. That would be like saying that you could explain the information in the morning paper by reference to the physics and chemistry of ink bonding to paper. There is a chemical explanation as to why the ink sticks to the paper but that does not explain the way the ink got arranged to convey a message that could be understood by speakers of English language information requires a material medium but it transcends the material medium
Even if every mutation has a positive result (which it doesn’t) an unguided process has far greater odds than that of an intelligent designer. Forgive me for using Occam's razor on this one but to put it simply a designer seems much more probable than chance. There is only one known cause for the origin of information and that is intelligence. It looks like a creator left his signature for us on creation. -Psalms 19
There are 20 different kinds of amino acids that are used to construct the proteins of all living organisms, including man. The average person consists of a string of 500 amino acids. The total number of combinations of 20 different amino acids in such a string is, for all practical purposes unlimited. Each protein in our body however must contain a specific sequence of amino acids if it is to function properly. I urge you to take an honest look at the probability and see if gradual evolution is still a reasonable argument.
The 500 amino acids that make up an average sized protein can be arranged in over 1 x 10^600 different ways (one followed by 600 zeroes). If we had a computer that could rearrange the 500 amino acids of a particular protein at the rate of a billion combinations in a second, we would still stand essentially no chance of hitting the correct combination
There are things that are irreducibly complex (bacterial flagellum) how does gradual evolution explain this. For biological things to operate they need genetic information. My question to you is where did the information of DNA come from how did it arise in the first place. Lots of people have wanted to explain the origin of information by reference to the laws of physics and chemistry or by reference of chemical properties of the constituent parts of the DNA. That would be like saying that you could explain the information in the morning paper by reference to the physics and chemistry of ink bonding to paper. There is a chemical explanation as to why the ink sticks to the paper but that does not explain the way the ink got arranged to convey a message that could be understood by speakers of English language information requires a material medium but it transcends the material medium
Even if every mutation has a positive result (which it doesn’t) an unguided process has far greater odds than that of an intelligent designer. Forgive me for using Occam's razor on this one but to put it simply a designer seems much more probable than chance. There is only one known cause for the origin of information and that is intelligence. It looks like a creator left his signature for us on creation. -Psalms 19
Saturday, January 9, 2010
The Moral Argument
The moral argument begins with the fact that all people recognize some moral code (that some things are right, and some things are wrong). Every time we argue over right and wrong, we appeal to a higher law that we assume everyone is aware of, holds to, and is not free to arbitrarily change. Right and wrong imply a higher standard or law, and law requires a lawgiver. Because the Moral Law transcends humanity, this universal law requires a universal lawgiver. This, it is argued, is God.
In support of the moral argument, we see that even the most remote tribes who have been cut off from the rest of civilization observe a moral code similar to everyone else's. Although differences certainly exist in civil matters, virtues like bravery and loyalty and vices like greed and cowardice are universal. If man were responsible for that code, it would differ as much as every other thing that man has invented. Further, it is not simply a record of what mankind does—rarely do people ever live up to their own moral code. Where, then, do we get these ideas of what should be done? Romans 2:14-15 says that the moral law (or conscience) comes from an ultimate lawgiver above man. If this is true, then we would expect to find exactly what we have observed. This lawgiver is God.
To put it negatively, atheism provides no basis for morality, no hope, and no meaning for life. While this does not disprove atheism by itself, if the logical outworking of a belief system fails to account for what we instinctively know to be true, it ought to be discarded. Without God there would be no objective basis for morality, no life, and no reason to live it. Yet all these things do exist, and so does God. Thus, the moral argument for the existence of God.
Check it out at Gotquestions.org
In support of the moral argument, we see that even the most remote tribes who have been cut off from the rest of civilization observe a moral code similar to everyone else's. Although differences certainly exist in civil matters, virtues like bravery and loyalty and vices like greed and cowardice are universal. If man were responsible for that code, it would differ as much as every other thing that man has invented. Further, it is not simply a record of what mankind does—rarely do people ever live up to their own moral code. Where, then, do we get these ideas of what should be done? Romans 2:14-15 says that the moral law (or conscience) comes from an ultimate lawgiver above man. If this is true, then we would expect to find exactly what we have observed. This lawgiver is God.
To put it negatively, atheism provides no basis for morality, no hope, and no meaning for life. While this does not disprove atheism by itself, if the logical outworking of a belief system fails to account for what we instinctively know to be true, it ought to be discarded. Without God there would be no objective basis for morality, no life, and no reason to live it. Yet all these things do exist, and so does God. Thus, the moral argument for the existence of God.
Check it out at Gotquestions.org
The Teleological Argument
The word teleology comes from telos which means "purpose" or "goal." The idea is that it takes a "purposer" to have purpose, and so where we see things obviously intended for a purpose, something had to have caused it for a reason. In other words, design implies a designer. We instinctively do this all the time. The difference between the Grand Canyon and Mount Rushmore is obvious—one is designed, one is not. The Grand Canyon was clearly formed by non-rational, natural processes, whereas Mount Rushmore was clearly created by an intelligent being—a designer. When we are walking down the beach and see a watch we do not assume that time and random chance produced it from blowing sand. Why? Because it has the clear marks of design—it has a purpose, it conveys information, it is specifically complex, etc. In no scientific field is design considered to be spontaneous; it always implies a designer, and the greater the design, the greater the designer. Thus, taking the assumptions of science, the universe would require a designer beyond itself (i.e. supernatural).
The teleological argument applies this criteria to the whole universe. If designs imply a designer, and the universe shows marks of design, then the universe was created. Clearly, every life form in earth's history has been highly complex. A single strand of DNA equates to one volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The human brain is approximately 10 billion gigabytes in capacity. Besides living things here on earth, the whole universe seems designed for life. Literally hundreds of conditions are required for life on earth—everything from the mass density of the universe down to earthquake activity must be fine-tuned in order for life to survive. The random chance of all these things occurring is literally beyond imagination. The odds are many orders of magnitude higher than the number of atomic particles in the whole universe! With this much design, it is difficult to believe that we just got lucky. In fact, top atheist philosopher Antony Flew's recent conversion to theism was based largely on this argument.
In addition to being used to demonstrate God's existence, the teleological argument also exposes shortcomings in the theory of evolution. The Intelligent Design movement in science applies information theory to life systems and shows that chance cannot even begin to explain its complexity. In fact, even single-celled bacteria are so complex that without all of their parts working together at the same time they would have no survival potential. That means those parts could not have developed by chance. Darwin recognized that this might be a problem someday just by looking at the human eye. Little did he know that even single-celled creatures have too much complexity to explain without a creator!
Check it out at Gotquestions.org
The teleological argument applies this criteria to the whole universe. If designs imply a designer, and the universe shows marks of design, then the universe was created. Clearly, every life form in earth's history has been highly complex. A single strand of DNA equates to one volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica. The human brain is approximately 10 billion gigabytes in capacity. Besides living things here on earth, the whole universe seems designed for life. Literally hundreds of conditions are required for life on earth—everything from the mass density of the universe down to earthquake activity must be fine-tuned in order for life to survive. The random chance of all these things occurring is literally beyond imagination. The odds are many orders of magnitude higher than the number of atomic particles in the whole universe! With this much design, it is difficult to believe that we just got lucky. In fact, top atheist philosopher Antony Flew's recent conversion to theism was based largely on this argument.
In addition to being used to demonstrate God's existence, the teleological argument also exposes shortcomings in the theory of evolution. The Intelligent Design movement in science applies information theory to life systems and shows that chance cannot even begin to explain its complexity. In fact, even single-celled bacteria are so complex that without all of their parts working together at the same time they would have no survival potential. That means those parts could not have developed by chance. Darwin recognized that this might be a problem someday just by looking at the human eye. Little did he know that even single-celled creatures have too much complexity to explain without a creator!
Check it out at Gotquestions.org
The Cosmological Argument
The cosmological argument derives its title from observing the world around us (the cosmos). It begins with what is most obvious in reality: things exist. It is then argued that the cause of those things’ existence had to be a "God-type" thing. These types of arguments go all the way back to Plato and have been used by notable philosophers and theologians ever since. Besides being philosophically evident, science finally caught up with theologians in the 20th century when it was confirmed that the universe had to have had a beginning. So, today, the arguments are even powerful for non-philosophers. There are two basic forms of these arguments, and the easiest way to think of them might be what are called the "vertical" and the "horizontal" forms. These titles indicate the direction from which the causes come. In the vertical form, it is argued that every created thing is being caused right now (imagine a timeline with an arrow pointing up from the universe to God). The horizontal version shows that creation had to have a cause in the beginning (imagine that same timeline only with an arrow pointing backward to a beginning point in time).
The horizontal is a little easier to understand because it does not require much in the way of philosophy to grasp. The basic argument is that all things that have beginnings had to have causes. The universe had a beginning; therefore, the universe had a cause. That cause, being outside the whole universe, is God. Someone might say that some things are caused by other things, but this does not solve the problem. This is because those other things had to have causes, too, and this cannot go on forever. Why not? Let's take a simple example: trees. All trees began to exist at some point (for they have not always existed). Each tree had its beginning in a seed (the "cause" of the tree). But every seed had its beginning ("cause") in another tree. See where this is going? You can't have an infinite series of tree-seed-tree-seed because no series is infinite—it cannot go on forever. All series are finite (limited) by definition. There is no such thing as an infinite number because even the number series is limited (although you can always add one more, you are always at a finite number). If there is an end, it is not infinite. All series have two endings actually—at the end and at the beginning (if you don't see why this is true, try to imagine a one ended stick!). But if there were no first cause, the chain of causes never would have started. Therefore, there is, at the beginning at least, a first cause—one that had no beginning. This first cause is God.
The vertical form is a bit more difficult to understand, but it is more powerful because not only does it show that God had to cause the "chain of causes" in the beginning, He must still be causing things to exist right now. Once again, we begin by noting that things exist. Second, while we often tend to think of existence as a property that things sort of "own"—that once something is created, existence is just part of what it is—this is not the case. Consider a simple example of the triangle. We can define the nature of a triangle as "the plane figure formed by connecting three points not in a straight line by straight line segments." Notice what is not part of this definition: existence.
This definition would hold true even if no triangles existed at all. Therefore, a triangle's nature—what it is—does not guarantee that one exists (like unicorns—we know what they are, but that does not make them exist). Because it is not part of a triangle's nature to exist, triangles must be made to exist by something else that already exists (such as I drawing one on a piece of paper). But it also does not exist simply because of what I am. So, I have to be given existence as well. This cannot go on forever (no infinite series, remember?). Therefore, something that does not need to be given existence must exist to give everything else existence. Now apply this example to everything in the universe. Does any of it exist on its own? No. So, not only did the universe have to have a first cause to get started; it needs something to give it existence right now. The only thing that would not have to be given existence is a thing that exists as its very nature. It is existence. This thing would always exist, have no cause, have no beginning, have no limit, be outside of time, be infinite . . . sound familiar? It should! It is God!
Check it out at Gotquestions.org
The horizontal is a little easier to understand because it does not require much in the way of philosophy to grasp. The basic argument is that all things that have beginnings had to have causes. The universe had a beginning; therefore, the universe had a cause. That cause, being outside the whole universe, is God. Someone might say that some things are caused by other things, but this does not solve the problem. This is because those other things had to have causes, too, and this cannot go on forever. Why not? Let's take a simple example: trees. All trees began to exist at some point (for they have not always existed). Each tree had its beginning in a seed (the "cause" of the tree). But every seed had its beginning ("cause") in another tree. See where this is going? You can't have an infinite series of tree-seed-tree-seed because no series is infinite—it cannot go on forever. All series are finite (limited) by definition. There is no such thing as an infinite number because even the number series is limited (although you can always add one more, you are always at a finite number). If there is an end, it is not infinite. All series have two endings actually—at the end and at the beginning (if you don't see why this is true, try to imagine a one ended stick!). But if there were no first cause, the chain of causes never would have started. Therefore, there is, at the beginning at least, a first cause—one that had no beginning. This first cause is God.
The vertical form is a bit more difficult to understand, but it is more powerful because not only does it show that God had to cause the "chain of causes" in the beginning, He must still be causing things to exist right now. Once again, we begin by noting that things exist. Second, while we often tend to think of existence as a property that things sort of "own"—that once something is created, existence is just part of what it is—this is not the case. Consider a simple example of the triangle. We can define the nature of a triangle as "the plane figure formed by connecting three points not in a straight line by straight line segments." Notice what is not part of this definition: existence.
This definition would hold true even if no triangles existed at all. Therefore, a triangle's nature—what it is—does not guarantee that one exists (like unicorns—we know what they are, but that does not make them exist). Because it is not part of a triangle's nature to exist, triangles must be made to exist by something else that already exists (such as I drawing one on a piece of paper). But it also does not exist simply because of what I am. So, I have to be given existence as well. This cannot go on forever (no infinite series, remember?). Therefore, something that does not need to be given existence must exist to give everything else existence. Now apply this example to everything in the universe. Does any of it exist on its own? No. So, not only did the universe have to have a first cause to get started; it needs something to give it existence right now. The only thing that would not have to be given existence is a thing that exists as its very nature. It is existence. This thing would always exist, have no cause, have no beginning, have no limit, be outside of time, be infinite . . . sound familiar? It should! It is God!
Check it out at Gotquestions.org
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Why Christianity?
If there was the ultimate question at final jeopardy this would be it. First of all there is a question you must ask your self and that is, is truth important? Christianity claims to be the Truth, In fact, Jesus claims to be the “Exclusive Truth” meaning the only way to God is through Him. Secondly, Jesus said those who believe on him will not perish but have eternal life, be saved. These are strong, clear-cut statements, but are they True? Is there evidence behind the claims of Jesus being truth?
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6
“that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
John 3:15-17
“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he“.
Deuteronomy 32:4
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:32
We have all fallen short to the glory of God. Jesus died for our sins so that we are forgiven. By Gods amazing grace we are saved when we submit our lives to him. I ask you to imagine this. You are in a courtroom standing before the judge. The only difference here is you did not sin against the community but to him. He looks at you and reads off everything you have done… He then leans over and says I am going set you free and I will pay the price for you. The first thing that comes to your mind is “I don’t deserve this.” But God loves us so much that he does not wish to see anyone perish. We have an infinitely loving God who has called us to do the same. To love the unloved, to be there for those when no one would.
“Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.”
Proverbs 10:12
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
John 15:13
"In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.
Exodus 15:13
God, who calls us friend, and children of His, loves us so much. Though we walk away from him and curse His name whether out of anger or ignorance He still loves us this unconditional love that will never die. This is God, this is Jesus who was crucified on the cross so that we may have eternal life and salvation in the kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6
“that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
John 3:15-17
“He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he“.
Deuteronomy 32:4
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
John 8:32
We have all fallen short to the glory of God. Jesus died for our sins so that we are forgiven. By Gods amazing grace we are saved when we submit our lives to him. I ask you to imagine this. You are in a courtroom standing before the judge. The only difference here is you did not sin against the community but to him. He looks at you and reads off everything you have done… He then leans over and says I am going set you free and I will pay the price for you. The first thing that comes to your mind is “I don’t deserve this.” But God loves us so much that he does not wish to see anyone perish. We have an infinitely loving God who has called us to do the same. To love the unloved, to be there for those when no one would.
“Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.”
Proverbs 10:12
“Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
John 15:13
"In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.
Exodus 15:13
God, who calls us friend, and children of His, loves us so much. Though we walk away from him and curse His name whether out of anger or ignorance He still loves us this unconditional love that will never die. This is God, this is Jesus who was crucified on the cross so that we may have eternal life and salvation in the kingdom of Heaven.
Right and wrong (Part 2)
Right and wrong Part 2
There are two main feelings someone faces when making a decision. What I ought to do and what I ought not to do. A lot of the time if the task undesirable or even dangerous the “ought to” is the weaker of the two decisions. For example someone you do not know is hanging from a cliff screaming for help. By helping them you put your own life in danger yet you don’t even know the person. The first reaction and sadly the weakest is “I ought to do something” immediately after that comes the rationalizing on if saving this person is worth the risk of your own life. There is one standard that stands alone in this and this is the little voice inside of all of us telling us to do the weaker of the two decisions. Even though we would be putting our own lives in danger the desire to rescue or to do good hits all of us it comes naturally almost as if written in our DNA. Now you may argue that this is nothing but a “Herd instinct” doing things for the good of society is the only reason why we do good, but this is false. C.S Lewis once said in his book Mere Christianity “Now I do not deny that we may have a herd instinct: but that is not what I mean by Moral Law. We all know what it feels like to be prompted by instinct-by mother love, or sexual instinct, or the instinct for food. It means that you feel a strong want or desire to act in a certain way. And, of course, we sometimes do feel just that sort of desire to help another person: and no doubt that desire is due to the herd instinct. But feeling a desire to help is quite different from feeling that you ought to help whether you want to or not.” So where does this come from? Not from us, C.S Lewis goes on by saying “The law of Human Nature, or right or wrong, must be something above and beyond the actual facts of human behavior. In this case, besides the actual facts, you have something else-a real law which we did not invent and which we know we ought to obey” This law which is above man comes from God, who has put in all of us this desire to do good. God is all true and all loving. He blessed us with free will and loves to see us use it to glorify him. We all know the good we ought to do and the conviction it carries. Your next question may be well there are so many religions out there why Christianity? Lets dive right into that on the next topic.
There are two main feelings someone faces when making a decision. What I ought to do and what I ought not to do. A lot of the time if the task undesirable or even dangerous the “ought to” is the weaker of the two decisions. For example someone you do not know is hanging from a cliff screaming for help. By helping them you put your own life in danger yet you don’t even know the person. The first reaction and sadly the weakest is “I ought to do something” immediately after that comes the rationalizing on if saving this person is worth the risk of your own life. There is one standard that stands alone in this and this is the little voice inside of all of us telling us to do the weaker of the two decisions. Even though we would be putting our own lives in danger the desire to rescue or to do good hits all of us it comes naturally almost as if written in our DNA. Now you may argue that this is nothing but a “Herd instinct” doing things for the good of society is the only reason why we do good, but this is false. C.S Lewis once said in his book Mere Christianity “Now I do not deny that we may have a herd instinct: but that is not what I mean by Moral Law. We all know what it feels like to be prompted by instinct-by mother love, or sexual instinct, or the instinct for food. It means that you feel a strong want or desire to act in a certain way. And, of course, we sometimes do feel just that sort of desire to help another person: and no doubt that desire is due to the herd instinct. But feeling a desire to help is quite different from feeling that you ought to help whether you want to or not.” So where does this come from? Not from us, C.S Lewis goes on by saying “The law of Human Nature, or right or wrong, must be something above and beyond the actual facts of human behavior. In this case, besides the actual facts, you have something else-a real law which we did not invent and which we know we ought to obey” This law which is above man comes from God, who has put in all of us this desire to do good. God is all true and all loving. He blessed us with free will and loves to see us use it to glorify him. We all know the good we ought to do and the conviction it carries. Your next question may be well there are so many religions out there why Christianity? Lets dive right into that on the next topic.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
No such thing as right and wrong
There’s no such thing as right and wrong its and there is no such thing as truth, it is only opinion….. I’m sure most people if not all have heard this statement. This “idea” has no foundation and is dismissed in virtually all arguments because of how self-defeating it is. For any Christian struggling in this area of evangelizing here is what you can do. This will be brief but I will be happy to go into more detail upon request.
First of all lets check out something’s in the past that both non-believers and believers can agree on. The mass extermination of Jews which was led by Adolf Hitler was definitely wrong to do. If there were no such thing as right and wrong the definition of murder(to kill or slaughter inhumanly or barbarously) turns into… population control. Those who do not believe in morals do not realize that we live by them everyday…Have you ever thought about that? When someone yells at you for something you didn’t do you would say “that’s unfair or that’s not right”. You would not sit and be silent. We know right and wrong best not by our actions but our reactions. Lets dive into truth, a guy I work with once told me that he does not believe in truth. Such a trap because he is oblivious to the fact that he just made a truth statement. Recognizing this he said “things may be true for you but not for me”. Once again no foundation under this statement. Truth does not change depending on who believes it. Why is it that we demand truth from doctors, lawyers, employers and friends but when it comes to religion we cast it off by saying “well that’s true for you but not me”. There is only one truth and it is immovable whether we like it or not. If you are like him and believe that truth may work for some but not all then I have a mission for you. Go to a bank, and write yourself a check for an amount that reaches beyond your balance. When you do go to the teller and ask her to cash it… When she says “I’m sorry sir/ma’am but I cannot cash this for you because you have insufficient funds”. Use your statement “well that may be true for you but for me” and see how far that gets you. Later on in the week that same guy said to me “If there is anyone who deserves vacation its me”. Another truth statement. How do you think he would react if the supervisor looked at him and said “That may be true for you but not for me, get back to work”. Not only do we subconsciously live by right, wrong and truth but also judging. The definition of judge is to decide or settle authoritatively. When we decide what we want to eat we are judging one restaurant versus the other. When we choose to hang out with a group of people over the other we judge both options of people. When a person commit’s a crime we hope that he is judged accordingly and given the punishment he deserves. If you take an honest look around we live by this standard of right and wrong, just and unjust but where does it come from…. We will go over this tomorrow.
First of all lets check out something’s in the past that both non-believers and believers can agree on. The mass extermination of Jews which was led by Adolf Hitler was definitely wrong to do. If there were no such thing as right and wrong the definition of murder(to kill or slaughter inhumanly or barbarously) turns into… population control. Those who do not believe in morals do not realize that we live by them everyday…Have you ever thought about that? When someone yells at you for something you didn’t do you would say “that’s unfair or that’s not right”. You would not sit and be silent. We know right and wrong best not by our actions but our reactions. Lets dive into truth, a guy I work with once told me that he does not believe in truth. Such a trap because he is oblivious to the fact that he just made a truth statement. Recognizing this he said “things may be true for you but not for me”. Once again no foundation under this statement. Truth does not change depending on who believes it. Why is it that we demand truth from doctors, lawyers, employers and friends but when it comes to religion we cast it off by saying “well that’s true for you but not me”. There is only one truth and it is immovable whether we like it or not. If you are like him and believe that truth may work for some but not all then I have a mission for you. Go to a bank, and write yourself a check for an amount that reaches beyond your balance. When you do go to the teller and ask her to cash it… When she says “I’m sorry sir/ma’am but I cannot cash this for you because you have insufficient funds”. Use your statement “well that may be true for you but for me” and see how far that gets you. Later on in the week that same guy said to me “If there is anyone who deserves vacation its me”. Another truth statement. How do you think he would react if the supervisor looked at him and said “That may be true for you but not for me, get back to work”. Not only do we subconsciously live by right, wrong and truth but also judging. The definition of judge is to decide or settle authoritatively. When we decide what we want to eat we are judging one restaurant versus the other. When we choose to hang out with a group of people over the other we judge both options of people. When a person commit’s a crime we hope that he is judged accordingly and given the punishment he deserves. If you take an honest look around we live by this standard of right and wrong, just and unjust but where does it come from…. We will go over this tomorrow.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Trying or Traning?
John Ortberg said this perfectly "Then it dawns on you: Right now you cannot run a marathon. More to the point, you cannot run a marathon even if you really try really, really hard. Trying hard can accomplish only so much. If you are serious about seizing this chance of a lifeftime, you will have to enter into a life of training. You must arrange your life around certain practices that will enable you to do what you cannot do now by willpower alone. When it comes to running a marathon, you must train, not merely try."
A buddy of mine in class awhile back, told me that he tried but everyone and everything around him tempted him into going back to his old ways. I pray for this guy everyday. The devil will throw at us temptations that are so hard for us to drop. Whether it be one night stands, getting hammered, drugs, or even pornography. These are all corrupting temptations. We must remove ourselves from these situations and stay away from them until we feel strong enough to slowly come back and face them. I didn’t give up everything over night it took time and yes I did slip up several times but I am forgiven. Time with God, time in prayer and time in reading the bible is the training we need. I removed myself because I knew if I stayed I would not have turned into the man God wants me to be. In Matthew 11:29-30 says "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” What a wonderful picture, Jesus is giving to those who are exhausted, weary and burdened from carrying the load by themselves! What a comfort, peace, joy and rest it is to know that Jesus is right with us, walking with us, teaching us and strengthening us side by side With the love and help from God I was able to train myself into the follower of Christ that doesn’t give in to meaningless things. The greatest thing to remember is, is God is right there waiting for you to come to him wholeheartedly. He is ready to shoulder the massive stack of worries, pain, and doubts that you have. The real question is are you ready? Are you ready to take that step and change your life forever? I can honestly tell you I’ve been there, I’ve hit rock bottom. The only thing that brought me to my feet was God who was right there with me. I’m going to close this one with a story for all of you.
Footprints
One Night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you you'd walk with me all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me." The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
A buddy of mine in class awhile back, told me that he tried but everyone and everything around him tempted him into going back to his old ways. I pray for this guy everyday. The devil will throw at us temptations that are so hard for us to drop. Whether it be one night stands, getting hammered, drugs, or even pornography. These are all corrupting temptations. We must remove ourselves from these situations and stay away from them until we feel strong enough to slowly come back and face them. I didn’t give up everything over night it took time and yes I did slip up several times but I am forgiven. Time with God, time in prayer and time in reading the bible is the training we need. I removed myself because I knew if I stayed I would not have turned into the man God wants me to be. In Matthew 11:29-30 says "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” What a wonderful picture, Jesus is giving to those who are exhausted, weary and burdened from carrying the load by themselves! What a comfort, peace, joy and rest it is to know that Jesus is right with us, walking with us, teaching us and strengthening us side by side With the love and help from God I was able to train myself into the follower of Christ that doesn’t give in to meaningless things. The greatest thing to remember is, is God is right there waiting for you to come to him wholeheartedly. He is ready to shoulder the massive stack of worries, pain, and doubts that you have. The real question is are you ready? Are you ready to take that step and change your life forever? I can honestly tell you I’ve been there, I’ve hit rock bottom. The only thing that brought me to my feet was God who was right there with me. I’m going to close this one with a story for all of you.
Footprints
One Night a man had a dream. He dreamed he was walking along the beach with the Lord. Across the sky flashed scenes from his life. For each scene, he noticed two sets of footprints in the sand; one belonged to him and the other to the Lord. When the last scene of his life flashed before him, he looked back at the footprints in the sand. He noticed that many times along the path of his life there was only one set of footprints. He also noticed that it happened at the very lowest and saddest times in his life. This really bothered him and he questioned the Lord about it. "Lord, you said that once I decided to follow you you'd walk with me all the way, but I have noticed that during the most troublesome times in my life, there is only one set of footprints. I don't understand why when I needed you most you would leave me." The Lord replied, "My precious, precious child, I love you and would never leave you. During your times of trial and suffering when you see only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."
Saturday, October 31, 2009
No struggle for our God
“ Many people have to admit that most of what they really needed for success in life came to them through their most difficult and painful experiences.”
-Timothy Keller
Struggle its something a lot of us experience but none of us wish to go through. God said that this life will not be easy. Evil and suffering. A buddy of mine once asked me if I thought that God was fair. I feel all to often when something doesn’t go our way to exactly we let that two year old come out again and throw a big temper tantrum. We try manipulate God to fit our wants and needs when really we should be molding our lives around him. C.S. Lewis said explained this perfectly:
“ My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of “just” and “unjust”?… What was I comparing this universe with then I called it unjust?… Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too-for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies… Consequently atheism turns out to be to simple”.
We should learn to look at rough times as opportunities for growth with God. When we hurt we should turn to our rock, our strong pillar to lean on that does not budge. Better to have a shack on a rock than a castle in the sand. Would you rather have a solid foundation or a castle in the sand that will slowly sink? God is that rock that never moves. He is that pillar of support that will never snap. He is the strength that flows through us when we seek him in times of trouble. Maybe your nest question is, “If God doesn’t want to see us hurt why does he allow these bad things to happen to good people”. The answer is fairly simple. A lot of the bad things that happen to us fall back on sin and the corruption of free will. God does not like to see us hurt but He love it when we come to Him for the guidance that we all need. He does want to see us grow strong. When we turn to him we grow spiritually and when the next battle comes we know how to react and we aren’t afraid because we know that He is right there with us. Sometimes its hard for us to see what God is doing or if he is even there. He is always there watching you grow, Let him enter your life and you will see the fulfillment that comes with it. Id like to end this with a prayer...
Father God, We would like to thank you for how you have carried us thought out our lives. Lord we ask that you please forgive us for giving in to these common temptations and we ask that you please bless us with joy that this world cannot offer. God we ask that please be patient with us as we grow spiritually with you and Lord we ask that you wipe away the sorrow that we have felt. God we know that there will be a day when there will will be no tears and no more pain, and no more fears. God we thank you for the good you have done for us and the good you have planned for us. Its in the name of Jesus that we pray, Amen.
-Timothy Keller
Struggle its something a lot of us experience but none of us wish to go through. God said that this life will not be easy. Evil and suffering. A buddy of mine once asked me if I thought that God was fair. I feel all to often when something doesn’t go our way to exactly we let that two year old come out again and throw a big temper tantrum. We try manipulate God to fit our wants and needs when really we should be molding our lives around him. C.S. Lewis said explained this perfectly:
“ My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of “just” and “unjust”?… What was I comparing this universe with then I called it unjust?… Of course I could have given up my idea of justice by saying it was nothing but a private idea of my own. But if I did that, then my argument against God collapsed too-for the argument depended on saying that the world was really unjust, not simply that it did not happen to please my private fancies… Consequently atheism turns out to be to simple”.
We should learn to look at rough times as opportunities for growth with God. When we hurt we should turn to our rock, our strong pillar to lean on that does not budge. Better to have a shack on a rock than a castle in the sand. Would you rather have a solid foundation or a castle in the sand that will slowly sink? God is that rock that never moves. He is that pillar of support that will never snap. He is the strength that flows through us when we seek him in times of trouble. Maybe your nest question is, “If God doesn’t want to see us hurt why does he allow these bad things to happen to good people”. The answer is fairly simple. A lot of the bad things that happen to us fall back on sin and the corruption of free will. God does not like to see us hurt but He love it when we come to Him for the guidance that we all need. He does want to see us grow strong. When we turn to him we grow spiritually and when the next battle comes we know how to react and we aren’t afraid because we know that He is right there with us. Sometimes its hard for us to see what God is doing or if he is even there. He is always there watching you grow, Let him enter your life and you will see the fulfillment that comes with it. Id like to end this with a prayer...
Father God, We would like to thank you for how you have carried us thought out our lives. Lord we ask that you please forgive us for giving in to these common temptations and we ask that you please bless us with joy that this world cannot offer. God we ask that please be patient with us as we grow spiritually with you and Lord we ask that you wipe away the sorrow that we have felt. God we know that there will be a day when there will will be no tears and no more pain, and no more fears. God we thank you for the good you have done for us and the good you have planned for us. Its in the name of Jesus that we pray, Amen.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Man Vs. Chimp
The book of Genesis describes the creation of man. Genesis 2:7 “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. God also created animal or “beast” the same way, Genesis 2:19 “Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to Adam to see what he would call them. This is where the similarities as far as; anatomical, physiological, and biochemical come in to play. Notice, though both man and animal were created by God it was Adam who God gave divine breath into his nostrils. Genesis 1:26-27 says “Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Only humans display unique nonphysical characteristics that reflect the image of God.
Lets talk about the similarities between chimp and man. The sub-cortical structures of the brain are located below the Cerebrum You have the Basal ganglia which involves motor control. The Limbic system which is not one structure but several; the hippocampus, amygdala, septum, cingulate gyrus, and others. The middle of the septum is where the pleasure centers are located. The amygdala is involved with emotions, fear, defensive and aggressive behaviors. The hippocampus interacts with the temporal lobe to help establish event memory. You also have the thalamus and the Hypothalamus. The thalamus which deals with control in sleep and attention. The Hypothalamus which involves the basic functions like eating, sex, temperature control, sleep, and aggression. It produces sex, growth and stress-related hormones carried down to axons to the pituitary gland, released from there into the bloodstream to activate and organize distant body systems. If you stop here you would definitely agree that Monkey and Man are virtually identical (excluding physical appearance). HOWEVER chimpanzees differ considerably in the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. Increasing Scientific evidence reveals that genetic similarity has no bearing on the biological and behavioral disparity between humans and chimpanzees. The way genes are regulated and expressed corresponds to the profound dissimilarities in human and chimpanzee brain structures and cognitive abilities (behavior), thereby explaining the crucial differences between humans and the great apes. I have only skimmed the surface of this topic but I will later talk about the significant differences between the Law of Nature and The Law of Human Nature. We will also go over the term “The herd instinct” which many non-believers hold onto as evidence for how society today has grown.
Lets talk about the similarities between chimp and man. The sub-cortical structures of the brain are located below the Cerebrum You have the Basal ganglia which involves motor control. The Limbic system which is not one structure but several; the hippocampus, amygdala, septum, cingulate gyrus, and others. The middle of the septum is where the pleasure centers are located. The amygdala is involved with emotions, fear, defensive and aggressive behaviors. The hippocampus interacts with the temporal lobe to help establish event memory. You also have the thalamus and the Hypothalamus. The thalamus which deals with control in sleep and attention. The Hypothalamus which involves the basic functions like eating, sex, temperature control, sleep, and aggression. It produces sex, growth and stress-related hormones carried down to axons to the pituitary gland, released from there into the bloodstream to activate and organize distant body systems. If you stop here you would definitely agree that Monkey and Man are virtually identical (excluding physical appearance). HOWEVER chimpanzees differ considerably in the cerebral cortex. The cerebral cortex is a structure within the brain that plays a key role in memory, attention, perceptual awareness, thought, language, and consciousness. Increasing Scientific evidence reveals that genetic similarity has no bearing on the biological and behavioral disparity between humans and chimpanzees. The way genes are regulated and expressed corresponds to the profound dissimilarities in human and chimpanzee brain structures and cognitive abilities (behavior), thereby explaining the crucial differences between humans and the great apes. I have only skimmed the surface of this topic but I will later talk about the significant differences between the Law of Nature and The Law of Human Nature. We will also go over the term “The herd instinct” which many non-believers hold onto as evidence for how society today has grown.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Fear Not
A lot of the time we push Christ aside because we are afraid of what others me think of us. The saying “Fear God not man” goes along way. For if God is with you who in the world can be against you. Think about that. God created the Heavens, the universe, and the world. He has overcome the world. He is in control of all things good and bad. Nothing can be hidden from him. So when something bad happens to us it wasn’t something that slipped through his fingers and fell on you. There is a reason behind it, a reason for good. God wants us to be fearless when it comes to spreading the truth about Christ. We must have unyielding faith that God will protect us all the time. We are the light in the darkness that must shine so others may see.
Philippians 2:13-15
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God.” A lot of people hate Christians because Christians values differ from the worlds. Because Christ’s followers don’t cooperate with the world by joining in there sin. They are living accusations of the worlds immorality. The world follows satan’s agenda, and satan is the avowed enemy of Jesus and his people.
Jesus said in John 17:16 -18 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world”.
As Christians we face persecution. We face it fearlessly because we know God is there protecting us as we glorify him by enduring. With Christ all things are possible. So I urge you to be fearless and not let the evil of the world prevent you from growing into the person God wants you to be. All you need is faith the size of a mustard seed and it will grow. So for the first time I’m going to close this with a prayer…..
Dear God, We come to you right now thanking you for the wonderful things you have done for us. We ask that you please forgive us for the wrong we may have done or said that may have upset you. God we ask that you reach down and bless us with the strength to work through each day. For we will not worry about tomorrow because we know that you have already overcome it. Lord bless us with the wisdom to properly discern what is right and what is wrong. And lastly God we pray for the opportunity to grow strong and share your word without fear and without shame. We love you so much and We pray in the might name of Jesus who willingly died for our sins, Amen.
Philippians 2:13-15
“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God.” A lot of people hate Christians because Christians values differ from the worlds. Because Christ’s followers don’t cooperate with the world by joining in there sin. They are living accusations of the worlds immorality. The world follows satan’s agenda, and satan is the avowed enemy of Jesus and his people.
Jesus said in John 17:16 -18 “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world”.
As Christians we face persecution. We face it fearlessly because we know God is there protecting us as we glorify him by enduring. With Christ all things are possible. So I urge you to be fearless and not let the evil of the world prevent you from growing into the person God wants you to be. All you need is faith the size of a mustard seed and it will grow. So for the first time I’m going to close this with a prayer…..
Dear God, We come to you right now thanking you for the wonderful things you have done for us. We ask that you please forgive us for the wrong we may have done or said that may have upset you. God we ask that you reach down and bless us with the strength to work through each day. For we will not worry about tomorrow because we know that you have already overcome it. Lord bless us with the wisdom to properly discern what is right and what is wrong. And lastly God we pray for the opportunity to grow strong and share your word without fear and without shame. We love you so much and We pray in the might name of Jesus who willingly died for our sins, Amen.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Mountains Moved
Id like to start this topic off with a scripture, Ephesians 2:8-10 “ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good work, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” God does not have a tally of scores for the good things we have done in our life. Were are not given tasks that we are obligated to do. Why would God want that? Because what God truly wants from us is a genuine loving relationship with him that is not lukewarm. We would put ourselves on a pedestal for our actions and blow God out of the picture if actions are what got us into heaven, instead of God we would thank ourselves. There is no love when we go about each day saying to ourselves “Ok, I need to do this, that, and this to make sure God allows me into heaven”. That’s what is so wonderful about being a follower of Christ is because YOU have a unique one on one relationship with God. Unyielding faith in him that he is your father is what he asks. In the book of Matthew Jesus talks about if you have the faith of a mustard seed you could tell a mountain to move and it will…. I can see how an unbeliever would argue against this so allow me to explain. Yes , God does perform miracles to glorify him, however we are not to test the power of the Lord. If God revealed miracles like this Christianity would turn into a life insurance policy and faith would die. You may also ask “Well if all of these things happened back then why are his miracles so absent now?” God performs miracles everyday but we overlook them and shun them labeling it as coincidence or luck. When really it was God who intervened. Don’t be discouraged if you do not always see results as you faithfully teach the Word. Belief cannot be forced to follow a mathematical formula. Rather, it is a miracle of Gods Holy Spirit as he uses your words to lead others to him. We must endure the outside influence of the world which only contaminates the love between you and God. You may notice in the bible that peace will always follow grace. For it is by the grace of God in which we are blessed with peace. During my last few weeks of med school I worked in the geriatrics psych ward. I sat down and spoke with a very nice old man by the name of James Fitzgerald who I chatted with for about a half hour. He paused and glanced at the T.V. then looked at me and asked “Matt do you read the bible much?” I was blown away. This was not coincidence this was not luck that out of the entire hospital I was chosen to work in this area, and out of all the people I sat next to this man who wanted to talk about God. I was thrilled, we sat in his room and read scriptures from Galatians to Romans and even Proverbs. By the Grace of God this man was blessed with Peace even in a place that is not recognized for joy. This only one of the many miracles that God has done. Take the step and if you have drifted away from God I pray that you shake the worlds secular ideas off of your back and come back to Christ even closer than before. I’ll close this with a prayer.
Dear God, we come to you right now Lord just asking if you would help us find the courage and the strength to come to you wholeheartedly. God we ask that you forgive us of the many sins that we have committed against our brothers and you god. Lord we reach out to you God because you are the way. God we ask in the times that the world brings us grief we ask that you bless us with the endurance to persevere and grow even stronger with you as we are carried. Lord we love you and we thank you for these miracles, Its in the name Jesus we pray, Amen.
Dear God, we come to you right now Lord just asking if you would help us find the courage and the strength to come to you wholeheartedly. God we ask that you forgive us of the many sins that we have committed against our brothers and you god. Lord we reach out to you God because you are the way. God we ask in the times that the world brings us grief we ask that you bless us with the endurance to persevere and grow even stronger with you as we are carried. Lord we love you and we thank you for these miracles, Its in the name Jesus we pray, Amen.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Its time to Forgive
I’m sure someone has done something to you that came out of nowhere and you didn’t deserve any bit of it. I’m sure that person may have gotten away with it and left you there to take on the pain by yourself. I’ve well over my share of people stepping on me. There are a few cases where I ask myself why, why when I tried so hard to be good to them do they leave me high and dry not even looking back to see the devastation they brought me. Do we retaliate? Do we attempt to enforce the whole "Eye for an Eye" process. I’ve got a challenge for all of you who have been hurt by somebody for no reason at all.....Forgive them. Truly forgive them with all of your heart. Easier said than done I know. But let me tell you this story from the book of Matthew.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back. "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
For those of you don’t know back 1 talent was equal $840,000 and this guy owed 10,000 talents! So for the Master to forgive the servant of his debt of that amount was massive. But as soon as the servant was free he immediately forgot of how lucky he was. When the servant found the man who owed him 100 denarii which is maybe $10,000 dollars our time, He through the guy in prison for not being able to pay him. Believe it or not we tend to this all the time. God forgave our massive list of sins that we have committed against him, and we still insist on going after our brothers and sisters of Christ over that 100 denarii. We forget how wonderful God is to us and is blessings go unnoticed. I forgave that person who hurt me so bad because I was reminded of how bad I hurt God every time I sinned against him. Forgiveness the strength of Christianity is forgiving others that no one will. So I urge you to forgive that person who hurt you, forgive that guy who stole from you, forgive those who sin against you. Forgive as God forgives us everyday. If you really wish to live for God take the first step and Forgive. If you ever want to send me a message or talk in private id love to answer any questions you may have.
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt"The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. "But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back. "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart."
For those of you don’t know back 1 talent was equal $840,000 and this guy owed 10,000 talents! So for the Master to forgive the servant of his debt of that amount was massive. But as soon as the servant was free he immediately forgot of how lucky he was. When the servant found the man who owed him 100 denarii which is maybe $10,000 dollars our time, He through the guy in prison for not being able to pay him. Believe it or not we tend to this all the time. God forgave our massive list of sins that we have committed against him, and we still insist on going after our brothers and sisters of Christ over that 100 denarii. We forget how wonderful God is to us and is blessings go unnoticed. I forgave that person who hurt me so bad because I was reminded of how bad I hurt God every time I sinned against him. Forgiveness the strength of Christianity is forgiving others that no one will. So I urge you to forgive that person who hurt you, forgive that guy who stole from you, forgive those who sin against you. Forgive as God forgives us everyday. If you really wish to live for God take the first step and Forgive. If you ever want to send me a message or talk in private id love to answer any questions you may have.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Loving the Unloved
There were three friends who were about to catch a train. They talked about what they were going to do after breakfast. This was the last weekend that all of them would hang out again so they wanted to plan the day well. Still waiting they noticed a guy who they worked with. This guy was known for having such a negative attitude towards things, he would swear all of the time. This guy was a social outcast. The three then looked at each other and made sure they were out of sight from him because they didn’t want anything to get in the way of there last day together. Each one quickly gave reasons on why he shouldn’t come. What it really was is three guys giving nothing but excuses to make sure that they had there fun even if it meant this guys spent the day alone. The three guys hopped on the train and were able to successfully avoid him….
We tend to formulate excuses for our wrong doings, we lean on these excuses while we commit the act. These acts could be anything; drinking away our sorrows, stealing because we wanted something at that very moment, doing drugs because we want to forget our problems. Unfortunately we as people have a nasty habit of putting ourselves before other people. We want to benefit ourselves before even thinking about the other guy. Being a Christian means loving others unconditionally when others wouldn’t. Its taking the time to serve when others wont. Its going against the flow of traffic and the ways of this world and allowing God to work through you, and lastly its weighing your temporary discomfort with anothe persons eternity. John Ortberg said this well “The ministry of bearing with one another is more that simply tolerating difficult people. It is also learning to hear God speak through them. It is learning to be “for” them. It is learning that the difficult person I have most to deal with is me.” Here’s a small story from this same book, “The Life you’ve always wanted.” “In an ancient Greek myth, Zeus and Hermes came down to earth for a brief time disguised as poor slaves. They did this to fool human beings, to get a reading on the level of homage people pay to the gods. When Zeus and Hermes found out what they had wanted to know, they threw off their rags and revealed themselves in all their Olympian Splendor. It was Clark Kent and Superman all over again. They took on the outward form of a servant, but that was just a disguise. When Jesus came in the form of a servant, he was not disguising who God is. He was revealing who God is. Serving others, Instead of constantly asking God what can he do for us, we should start asking him what can we do for him here on earth. Letting him work through us and giving him glory at the same time. Our God is awesome not only has he made everything we need but he is here at our beckoning call at the same time. It is pretty cool being able to tell people what my occupation is. I will honestly tell you though there is no greater feeling serving God, who has created eternity. We can all do this. The 3 guys enjoyed there day, but what about the one who they avoided. What about the people we turned away from because we feel we have better things to do or don’t want to be seen with that person. Extend a hand to those who no one will but do it humbly. Do not do it to seek the approval of others. If you are pulled aside and asked why you did what others wouldn’t, you can say “Because we have been called to love like God loves us, because the Lord has be graceful and merciful to me so I will be the same to others.” I’m going to close with a prayer…
Father God, We come to you Lord asking that you please forgive us for our brothers and sisters we have hurt. Lord we ask that you bless us with opportunities to serve others in a loving way. God we know you are good, we know you are merciful. Help us to overlook what others see in someone, teach us to love them unconditionally as you love us. And Finally God we ask that as each day goes by we grow closer to you. Its in the name of Jesus that we pray, Amen.
We tend to formulate excuses for our wrong doings, we lean on these excuses while we commit the act. These acts could be anything; drinking away our sorrows, stealing because we wanted something at that very moment, doing drugs because we want to forget our problems. Unfortunately we as people have a nasty habit of putting ourselves before other people. We want to benefit ourselves before even thinking about the other guy. Being a Christian means loving others unconditionally when others wouldn’t. Its taking the time to serve when others wont. Its going against the flow of traffic and the ways of this world and allowing God to work through you, and lastly its weighing your temporary discomfort with anothe persons eternity. John Ortberg said this well “The ministry of bearing with one another is more that simply tolerating difficult people. It is also learning to hear God speak through them. It is learning to be “for” them. It is learning that the difficult person I have most to deal with is me.” Here’s a small story from this same book, “The Life you’ve always wanted.” “In an ancient Greek myth, Zeus and Hermes came down to earth for a brief time disguised as poor slaves. They did this to fool human beings, to get a reading on the level of homage people pay to the gods. When Zeus and Hermes found out what they had wanted to know, they threw off their rags and revealed themselves in all their Olympian Splendor. It was Clark Kent and Superman all over again. They took on the outward form of a servant, but that was just a disguise. When Jesus came in the form of a servant, he was not disguising who God is. He was revealing who God is. Serving others, Instead of constantly asking God what can he do for us, we should start asking him what can we do for him here on earth. Letting him work through us and giving him glory at the same time. Our God is awesome not only has he made everything we need but he is here at our beckoning call at the same time. It is pretty cool being able to tell people what my occupation is. I will honestly tell you though there is no greater feeling serving God, who has created eternity. We can all do this. The 3 guys enjoyed there day, but what about the one who they avoided. What about the people we turned away from because we feel we have better things to do or don’t want to be seen with that person. Extend a hand to those who no one will but do it humbly. Do not do it to seek the approval of others. If you are pulled aside and asked why you did what others wouldn’t, you can say “Because we have been called to love like God loves us, because the Lord has be graceful and merciful to me so I will be the same to others.” I’m going to close with a prayer…
Father God, We come to you Lord asking that you please forgive us for our brothers and sisters we have hurt. Lord we ask that you bless us with opportunities to serve others in a loving way. God we know you are good, we know you are merciful. Help us to overlook what others see in someone, teach us to love them unconditionally as you love us. And Finally God we ask that as each day goes by we grow closer to you. Its in the name of Jesus that we pray, Amen.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Why do we have to suffer?
Why would a good God let us suffer?
The question that is in every non-believers arsenal is this one. “If there were such thing as a good God or even a God why would he permit suffering in the world.” Lets take a few steps back before we go ahead and make such an accusation. Suffering can be explained as both physical and emotional. One can be in agonizing pain do to suffering from a broken bone from falling from a roof, The emotional/mental suffering would be the mourning of a lost family member or even witnessing of others misfortunes. Lets go over mental and emotional suffering. Have you ever thought to yourself about “free will” and the fact that it has a large hand in our world of suffering. C.S Lewis writes
“We can, perhaps conceive a world in which God corrected the results of this abuse of free will by his creatures at every moment; so that a wooden beam became as soft as grass when it was used as a weapon, and the air refused to obey me if I attempted to set up in the sound waves that carry lies or insults. But such a world would be one in which wrong actions were impossible, and in which, therefore, freedom of the will would be void; nay, if the principle were carried out to its logical conclusion, evil thoughts would be impossible, for the cerebral matter which we use in thinking would refuse its task when we attempted to frame them.”
C.S Lewis then goes on by stating “Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself”. Could it be that the centuries of corrupting our free will, that some of this suffering is our own doing? Lets dive into things beyond our control such as mental disabilities and amputees. You may ask “Why then would God allow them to carry this burden, and what glory could God possibly seek out of this?” By asking that you immediately speak for that person without putting in the careful thought of their own views on suffering. A buddy of mine and I were walking down main street Huntington Beach the other day and we walked up on a wooden cross that was staked into the ground on it a man wrote how he is a one legged amputee walking around the coast of the United States praying for everyone and wanted to let the world know that a physical disability does not keep anyone from carrying out the will or plan God has for them. In the letter he asked if whoever found the cross to pass it on and share the love of God that he continues to feel, so we did just that (the man left a cross as a mile marker, we found mile #7606). Lets talk about mental disabilities in fact let me tell you a little about Jack. Jack, lives in a residential facility for the developmentally disabled in suburban Chicago. In his book “The unexpected adventure” Lee Strobel shares his experience with the young man named Jack who led one of the home attendants, Michelle to Christ through persistent invitations to go with him to Church. One thing Jack said in the book which was so profound was “ I come here…and hear…about Jesus…and I think about all the pain…He went through… for me…and I think this was nothing” pointing to the injury on his arm. Too often our pride gets the best of us and we judge others based on their mental capacity and we carelessly speak on there behalf whether they are suffering or not. Jack was persistent because he loved Jesus and wanted Michelle his attendant to experience that love as well. Gods work is not limited, He works through everyone even with physical and or mental disabilities. We have a great God who is incomprehensibly wise and beyond our understanding. God is good but we have grown into a “finger pointing” society and blame God based off of human error. Attempts to disprove God wrong are futile when the argument against Him is based off of “human error”. We are not perfect but God is. Ill close with what C.S Lewis says in his book The problem of Pain, “Any consideration of the goodness of God threatens us with the following dilemma. On the one hand, if God is wiser than we His judgment must differ from ours on many thing, and not least on good and evil. What seems to us good may therefore not be good in His eyes, and what seems to us evil may not be evil.”
The question that is in every non-believers arsenal is this one. “If there were such thing as a good God or even a God why would he permit suffering in the world.” Lets take a few steps back before we go ahead and make such an accusation. Suffering can be explained as both physical and emotional. One can be in agonizing pain do to suffering from a broken bone from falling from a roof, The emotional/mental suffering would be the mourning of a lost family member or even witnessing of others misfortunes. Lets go over mental and emotional suffering. Have you ever thought to yourself about “free will” and the fact that it has a large hand in our world of suffering. C.S Lewis writes
“We can, perhaps conceive a world in which God corrected the results of this abuse of free will by his creatures at every moment; so that a wooden beam became as soft as grass when it was used as a weapon, and the air refused to obey me if I attempted to set up in the sound waves that carry lies or insults. But such a world would be one in which wrong actions were impossible, and in which, therefore, freedom of the will would be void; nay, if the principle were carried out to its logical conclusion, evil thoughts would be impossible, for the cerebral matter which we use in thinking would refuse its task when we attempted to frame them.”
C.S Lewis then goes on by stating “Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order of nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you find that you have excluded life itself”. Could it be that the centuries of corrupting our free will, that some of this suffering is our own doing? Lets dive into things beyond our control such as mental disabilities and amputees. You may ask “Why then would God allow them to carry this burden, and what glory could God possibly seek out of this?” By asking that you immediately speak for that person without putting in the careful thought of their own views on suffering. A buddy of mine and I were walking down main street Huntington Beach the other day and we walked up on a wooden cross that was staked into the ground on it a man wrote how he is a one legged amputee walking around the coast of the United States praying for everyone and wanted to let the world know that a physical disability does not keep anyone from carrying out the will or plan God has for them. In the letter he asked if whoever found the cross to pass it on and share the love of God that he continues to feel, so we did just that (the man left a cross as a mile marker, we found mile #7606). Lets talk about mental disabilities in fact let me tell you a little about Jack. Jack, lives in a residential facility for the developmentally disabled in suburban Chicago. In his book “The unexpected adventure” Lee Strobel shares his experience with the young man named Jack who led one of the home attendants, Michelle to Christ through persistent invitations to go with him to Church. One thing Jack said in the book which was so profound was “ I come here…and hear…about Jesus…and I think about all the pain…He went through… for me…and I think this was nothing” pointing to the injury on his arm. Too often our pride gets the best of us and we judge others based on their mental capacity and we carelessly speak on there behalf whether they are suffering or not. Jack was persistent because he loved Jesus and wanted Michelle his attendant to experience that love as well. Gods work is not limited, He works through everyone even with physical and or mental disabilities. We have a great God who is incomprehensibly wise and beyond our understanding. God is good but we have grown into a “finger pointing” society and blame God based off of human error. Attempts to disprove God wrong are futile when the argument against Him is based off of “human error”. We are not perfect but God is. Ill close with what C.S Lewis says in his book The problem of Pain, “Any consideration of the goodness of God threatens us with the following dilemma. On the one hand, if God is wiser than we His judgment must differ from ours on many thing, and not least on good and evil. What seems to us good may therefore not be good in His eyes, and what seems to us evil may not be evil.”
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sweetly Broken
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