Props to Pastor Harry from CRB. I'm lifting some ideas from his message last weekend here; like I said before, I'm not that creative.
The road we choose to travel on determines where we end up. Every day we make choices about what road we're going to travel on. We can choose the broad road that leads to destruction or the narrow road that leads to life.
The choice seems pretty easy doesn't it?
But how do we know what road we're on? Sometimes the signs aren't marked so well. Sometimes we think we're lost and we're not. Sometimes we think we're not lost and we are. Sometimes there's a bunch of fog in the way and we can't see where we're going. Sometimes there's crazy turns, idiot drivers, and bad weather, all at once. Traveling sucks.
You know what we need? We need a really great navigation system.
We need a system that can see our entire destination from start to finish. We need a system that can give us accurate directions on where to go, even if we can't see how those directions make sense sometimes. We need a system that will still help us try go get to the correct destination -- even when we mess up, think we're smarter than the system, and try to take shortcuts.
You know what? We have one of those! God's a really great navigation system. A long time ago, He wrote down 10 important directions to follow, in stone -- and if we slow down enough and pay attention, we can hear our navigation system telling us when we're not listening to His directions well enough and are headed off the road into trouble.
Thanks, God.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Lessons From Geese
This is lifted from a video I saw at church on Saturday (I'm not this creative) and is also online here. Its not exclusively Christian by any means, but we would all certainly benefit if we could remember these lessons in our Christian walk. Plus, I thought it was really cool.
1) As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying range than if one bird flew alone. People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the strength of one another.
2) Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are ahead of where we want to go and be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others.
3) When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position. It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership.
4) The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging, and not something else.
5) When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again, or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation, or they catch up with their flock. If we have as much sense as geese do, we too, will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.
Job 12:7-8 is particularly relevant in light of this: "But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you."
If only I had the sense of a goose!
1) As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird following. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71 percent greater flying range than if one bird flew alone. People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the strength of one another.
2) Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to fly alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. If we have as much sense as geese, we will stay in formation with those who are ahead of where we want to go and be willing to accept their help as well as give ours to others.
3) When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies at the point position. It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership.
4) The geese in formation honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. We need to make sure our honking from behind is encouraging, and not something else.
5) When a goose gets sick or wounded or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help and protect it. They stay with it until it is able to fly again, or dies. Then they launch out on their own, with another formation, or they catch up with their flock. If we have as much sense as geese do, we too, will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.
Job 12:7-8 is particularly relevant in light of this: "But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you."
If only I had the sense of a goose!
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Christianity IS The One True Religion
...and logically so!
One could write entire books on some of these points, but here's the basics condensed down to a post.
1) Let's establish the players. Christianity has Jesus Christ. Islam has Muhammad. Buddhism has Buddha. Hinduism I don't think has a central figure. Sikhism has Nanak. A bunch of other religious have a bunch of other guys. We'll sort the players into two groups for this post: Jesus, and the other guys.
2) Let's look at what Jesus claimed about himself. He claimed to be the son of God, fully God, one with the father, and the Messiah. You can choose not to believe this is true if you want, but let's agree that this is what he claimed about himself, whether you believe it or not. I think some folks would be getting into an argument here already, but Biblically, this is what he claimed.
I don't think the other guys claimed any of this.
3) Jesus backed up his claims with miracles that only God could perform. Often he would forgive people of their sins. That was a problem for some folks, because only God can forgive sins. Well, anyone can SAY "your sins are forgiven". That doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot. Why should you believe that person? Now what if that person was able to cure leprosy, cast out demons, and raise people from the dead, with eyewitnesses who wrote down what he did? I think that gives him a little more clout.
I don't think the other guys did any of that.
4) Jesus fulfilled prophecy and rose from the dead. There are lots of web sites detailing what prophecies Jesus fulfilled and what the odds are that someone could do so inadvertently, so we won't go into those here. Let's focus on the resurrection here. Now, that makes all the miracles pale in comparison. It also supports that whole Messiah claim pretty well.
I don't think the other guys did any of that.
Now, there are lots of arguments against the resurrection, but lets think about this logically.
Disciples of Jesus wrote down that they and many others saw him after the resurrection. There is no evidence of anyone disproving this and having a field day mocking the early Christians who's Messiah failed. Believers preached the gospel to many people who were converting by the thousands, despite being hated and persecuted by others. Eventually many of them were put to death for it. They had no external motivation for doing this.
So, if Jesus DIDN'T rise from the dead:
1) Why would His followers falsely claim to have seem Him? How would you feel if it happened? Really? I'd be like "Man, I got suckered, I guess he WASN'T the Messiah. Crap." I sure wouldn't be out there risking my neck to perpetuate a lie when there is absolutely no good reason for me to do so.
2) Why did so many convert to Christianity so quickly? Why did PAUL convert?
3) Why was there no one who hated the Christians stepping up to provide evidence that debunks the resurrection?
So if Jesus really DIDN'T rise from the dead, then instead a bunch of ordinary guys got together and pulled the biggest scam in history. They somehow stole his body that was under guard. They wrote books that showed a fake Messiah fulfilled prophecy. They convinced thousands and thousands of people to believe something they knew was a lie. They all suffered torture, and in many cases DEATH, for this movement that they knew was a fraud. They gave a large part of their lives to do this without any kind of external reward for it. Yeah, right! NOBODY is going to be tortured and killing for something they KNOW is a lie. The ONLY LOGICAL conclusion is that Jesus in fact DID rise from the dead.
To quote Sir Lionel Luckhoo who spent three years pouring over the evidence: "The evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt.”
The only problem for a lot of people when weighing the evidence is that they are already biased in their commitment to explaining everything by natural causes and natural causes only. That's not objectivity, it's blind faith. I instead put my faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith is NOT blind.
One could write entire books on some of these points, but here's the basics condensed down to a post.
1) Let's establish the players. Christianity has Jesus Christ. Islam has Muhammad. Buddhism has Buddha. Hinduism I don't think has a central figure. Sikhism has Nanak. A bunch of other religious have a bunch of other guys. We'll sort the players into two groups for this post: Jesus, and the other guys.
2) Let's look at what Jesus claimed about himself. He claimed to be the son of God, fully God, one with the father, and the Messiah. You can choose not to believe this is true if you want, but let's agree that this is what he claimed about himself, whether you believe it or not. I think some folks would be getting into an argument here already, but Biblically, this is what he claimed.
I don't think the other guys claimed any of this.
3) Jesus backed up his claims with miracles that only God could perform. Often he would forgive people of their sins. That was a problem for some folks, because only God can forgive sins. Well, anyone can SAY "your sins are forgiven". That doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot. Why should you believe that person? Now what if that person was able to cure leprosy, cast out demons, and raise people from the dead, with eyewitnesses who wrote down what he did? I think that gives him a little more clout.
I don't think the other guys did any of that.
4) Jesus fulfilled prophecy and rose from the dead. There are lots of web sites detailing what prophecies Jesus fulfilled and what the odds are that someone could do so inadvertently, so we won't go into those here. Let's focus on the resurrection here. Now, that makes all the miracles pale in comparison. It also supports that whole Messiah claim pretty well.
I don't think the other guys did any of that.
Now, there are lots of arguments against the resurrection, but lets think about this logically.
Disciples of Jesus wrote down that they and many others saw him after the resurrection. There is no evidence of anyone disproving this and having a field day mocking the early Christians who's Messiah failed. Believers preached the gospel to many people who were converting by the thousands, despite being hated and persecuted by others. Eventually many of them were put to death for it. They had no external motivation for doing this.
So, if Jesus DIDN'T rise from the dead:
1) Why would His followers falsely claim to have seem Him? How would you feel if it happened? Really? I'd be like "Man, I got suckered, I guess he WASN'T the Messiah. Crap." I sure wouldn't be out there risking my neck to perpetuate a lie when there is absolutely no good reason for me to do so.
2) Why did so many convert to Christianity so quickly? Why did PAUL convert?
3) Why was there no one who hated the Christians stepping up to provide evidence that debunks the resurrection?
So if Jesus really DIDN'T rise from the dead, then instead a bunch of ordinary guys got together and pulled the biggest scam in history. They somehow stole his body that was under guard. They wrote books that showed a fake Messiah fulfilled prophecy. They convinced thousands and thousands of people to believe something they knew was a lie. They all suffered torture, and in many cases DEATH, for this movement that they knew was a fraud. They gave a large part of their lives to do this without any kind of external reward for it. Yeah, right! NOBODY is going to be tortured and killing for something they KNOW is a lie. The ONLY LOGICAL conclusion is that Jesus in fact DID rise from the dead.
To quote Sir Lionel Luckhoo who spent three years pouring over the evidence: "The evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt.”
The only problem for a lot of people when weighing the evidence is that they are already biased in their commitment to explaining everything by natural causes and natural causes only. That's not objectivity, it's blind faith. I instead put my faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith is NOT blind.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Elderly Woman Witnesses To Robber
I just came across this and was amazed by it.
"A 92-year-old woman from Dyersburg, Tennessee recently turned an attempted robbery into an opportunity to minister to the would-be robber."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDmp967UMds
"A 92-year-old woman from Dyersburg, Tennessee recently turned an attempted robbery into an opportunity to minister to the would-be robber."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDmp967UMds
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Steps To Salvation
Here's a comprehensive program for salvation:
Step 1. Receive Christ as your savior, acknowledging that he paid the price in full for your sins.
Done. You're a new creation, redeemed, justified, and promised eternal life. In fact, here's a list of 37 things that happen when you're saved (interesting to note that the page filename says 39 things):
http://www.momof9splace.com/39things.html
Now, how do you know you really did the 1-step program right? I liked how it was put on this page:
http://www.harborside.com/~ljglazner/q5assrd.htm
Also have a look at this article about repentance and salvation:
http://www.gotquestions.org/repentance.html
It helped me when I thought I came back to this post later thinking I was mispresenting the good news, in that turning from your sin is a requirement from salvation. Yes, you should turn away from you sin, but its through Jesus that you do it -- i.e. turning from sin from sin is evidence of your faith and your salvation, not something you do on your own to earn it.
In the end, good "stuff" comes from salvation, not the other way round!
Step 1. Receive Christ as your savior, acknowledging that he paid the price in full for your sins.
Done. You're a new creation, redeemed, justified, and promised eternal life. In fact, here's a list of 37 things that happen when you're saved (interesting to note that the page filename says 39 things):
http://www.momof9splace.com/39things.html
Now, how do you know you really did the 1-step program right? I liked how it was put on this page:
http://www.harborside.com/~ljglazner/q5assrd.htm
Also have a look at this article about repentance and salvation:
http://www.gotquestions.org/repentance.html
It helped me when I thought I came back to this post later thinking I was mispresenting the good news, in that turning from your sin is a requirement from salvation. Yes, you should turn away from you sin, but its through Jesus that you do it -- i.e. turning from sin from sin is evidence of your faith and your salvation, not something you do on your own to earn it.
In the end, good "stuff" comes from salvation, not the other way round!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Intelligent Design
Today I heard about William Dembski and a work he published called The Design Inference. The basic concept is that if something cannot be explained by a law, and is too statistically unlikely to be explained by chance, then it must have been designed. Dembski says that life itself is such a highly unlikely event that conforms to a discernible pattern, so therefore it, by itself, is evidence of intelligent design.
I completely agree.
Apparently Dembski has been criticized in the past for this by folks who say that if a given event happens with low probability and confroms to a discernible pattern, there are two possible reasons for it: 1) intelligent design or 2) necessity.
That argument does really debunk anything; it just offers another option. Fine, let's roll with it. I'm assuming this argument is for natural selection, but we're not there yet. First of all, I don't see how necessity explains anything about how the universe came from nothing or how life could come from inorganic matter. What necessity could there possibly be here? What about humans specifically then? Necessity could explain our physical bodies and some thought processes, but how could it possibly explain why we have the ability to discover the laws of the universe in which we live and even have this argument?
I am more than star dust, and the evidence for it is that I have the ability to realize it.
I completely agree.
Apparently Dembski has been criticized in the past for this by folks who say that if a given event happens with low probability and confroms to a discernible pattern, there are two possible reasons for it: 1) intelligent design or 2) necessity.
That argument does really debunk anything; it just offers another option. Fine, let's roll with it. I'm assuming this argument is for natural selection, but we're not there yet. First of all, I don't see how necessity explains anything about how the universe came from nothing or how life could come from inorganic matter. What necessity could there possibly be here? What about humans specifically then? Necessity could explain our physical bodies and some thought processes, but how could it possibly explain why we have the ability to discover the laws of the universe in which we live and even have this argument?
I am more than star dust, and the evidence for it is that I have the ability to realize it.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Annoyed
I was annoyed at some people today. I felt that what I said was glossed over without even an "okay, thanks". Proper communications protocols was not followed, I did not get an ACK. It bothered me for a while. I grumbled about it for a while. It was nothing, really, yet it still bothered me.
First, they didn't do anything to deserve me getting annoyed, and second, I was almost certainly trying to manufacture some kind of contribution to selfishly glorify myself, rather than say something for their benefit. So great, I was annoyed for no good reason, it was my own fault, and it had nothing to do with glorifying God at all. Happy day. I guess the first step to being less of an idiot is to recognize you're one, and then ask Jesus to help you.
But it did get me thinking, so there is some silver lining (yes, ME thinking is not always a good thing, but in this case maybe it is):
If I felt this way about something SO trivial, how did Jesus' disciples feel when they went to share the gospel and were persecuted? How do our brothers and sisters in China, Pakistan, Iran, India, etc, feel today? How did/does JESUS feel when he was rejected? These guys all had something IMPORTANT to say, NOT for themselves, and faced, or are currently facing, DEATH for it.
Check this out (we are indeed spoiled in America -- I forget much of the world is NOT so tolerant ):
http://www.christianpersecution.info/
Talk about putting things in proper perspective.
First, they didn't do anything to deserve me getting annoyed, and second, I was almost certainly trying to manufacture some kind of contribution to selfishly glorify myself, rather than say something for their benefit. So great, I was annoyed for no good reason, it was my own fault, and it had nothing to do with glorifying God at all. Happy day. I guess the first step to being less of an idiot is to recognize you're one, and then ask Jesus to help you.
But it did get me thinking, so there is some silver lining (yes, ME thinking is not always a good thing, but in this case maybe it is):
If I felt this way about something SO trivial, how did Jesus' disciples feel when they went to share the gospel and were persecuted? How do our brothers and sisters in China, Pakistan, Iran, India, etc, feel today? How did/does JESUS feel when he was rejected? These guys all had something IMPORTANT to say, NOT for themselves, and faced, or are currently facing, DEATH for it.
Check this out (we are indeed spoiled in America -- I forget much of the world is NOT so tolerant ):
http://www.christianpersecution.info/
Talk about putting things in proper perspective.
Christian Hedonism
A couple times when I was talking with David, the term "Christian Hedonism" (along with John Piper who coined the term) came up. I finally took a cursory look myself at the concept tonight.
John Piper's short and sweet summary is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. That didn't help me a whole lot, but these did:
"Obeying God is the only route to final and lasting happiness."
"Don't do good deeds for worldly advantage; rather do them for spiritual, heavenly benefits."
That last one just summed up something that has been on my mind as of late, especially after watching one of Duncan's talks on storing up your treasure in heaven. I was wrestling lately with these two approaches to doing good deeds: 1) do good deeds solely to please God without thinking about any future heavenly reward or 2) do good deeds because you're seeking to build up your treasure in heaven. Piper answers this very clearly for me, showing that we are in fact commanded to do #2.
I have yet to read Piper's book (Desiring God) or explore the Bible verses he quotes myself, but this was just the answer to the big question running around in my head tonight -- yes it is definitely okay to seek opportunity to build up my treasure in heaven and find joy in it -- in fact, that's what we're supposed to do!
My big problem now is working on finding the joy more and more often, rather than taking a more duty-driven approach; I suspect it will be easier now. :-)
Here is the great article about Christian Hedonism is:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2006/1797_We_Want_You_to_Be_a_Christian_Hedonist/
John Piper's short and sweet summary is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. That didn't help me a whole lot, but these did:
"Obeying God is the only route to final and lasting happiness."
"Don't do good deeds for worldly advantage; rather do them for spiritual, heavenly benefits."
That last one just summed up something that has been on my mind as of late, especially after watching one of Duncan's talks on storing up your treasure in heaven. I was wrestling lately with these two approaches to doing good deeds: 1) do good deeds solely to please God without thinking about any future heavenly reward or 2) do good deeds because you're seeking to build up your treasure in heaven. Piper answers this very clearly for me, showing that we are in fact commanded to do #2.
I have yet to read Piper's book (Desiring God) or explore the Bible verses he quotes myself, but this was just the answer to the big question running around in my head tonight -- yes it is definitely okay to seek opportunity to build up my treasure in heaven and find joy in it -- in fact, that's what we're supposed to do!
My big problem now is working on finding the joy more and more often, rather than taking a more duty-driven approach; I suspect it will be easier now. :-)
Here is the great article about Christian Hedonism is:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByDate/2006/1797_We_Want_You_to_Be_a_Christian_Hedonist/
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Become Less
Trinity asked me what the shirt today I was wearing meant. I gave her a halfway okay answer, maybe, I think, but I wasn't sure it was completely correct. I don't even remember what the answer was now. I'll be able to give her a better one next time, because its kind of cool that it was the focus of today's message at church (even though the verse on my shirt wasn't mentioned): "He must become greater; I must become less." (John 3:30).
The message today started talking about complacent Christians who lost that hunger to really know God and His will, caring more about what the world thinks than what God thinks. Instead of making God big and us small, we make us big and God small. Then it switched up to a great Biblical example of someone who got it dead on: Noah.
Noah must not have cared much what the world thought. He was building an ark for a crazy long time. The nearest body of water was very far away. It hadn't rained yet, ever. People must have thought he was nuts. A good guy, yeah, but nuts! That must not have mattered to Noah; what mattered to him was what God wanted him to do, and he did it. God was number one to Noah.
I get the meaning of the verse better now. It fits in with the pretty common theme of "you know, its really not all about YOU".
The message today started talking about complacent Christians who lost that hunger to really know God and His will, caring more about what the world thinks than what God thinks. Instead of making God big and us small, we make us big and God small. Then it switched up to a great Biblical example of someone who got it dead on: Noah.
Noah must not have cared much what the world thought. He was building an ark for a crazy long time. The nearest body of water was very far away. It hadn't rained yet, ever. People must have thought he was nuts. A good guy, yeah, but nuts! That must not have mattered to Noah; what mattered to him was what God wanted him to do, and he did it. God was number one to Noah.
I get the meaning of the verse better now. It fits in with the pretty common theme of "you know, its really not all about YOU".
Friday, September 19, 2008
No Charge For Love
My Mom sent this to me in her last letter. I don't know where she got it, but its great.
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the four pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy. "Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies." "Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. The reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?" "Sure," said the farmer, and with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.
The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would." With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specailly made shoe.
Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands." With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully, he handed it to the little boy. "How much?" asked the little boy. "No charger," answered the farmer. "There's no charge for love."
The world is full of people who need someone who understands.
A farmer had some puppies he needed to sell. He painted a sign advertising the four pups and set about nailing it to a post on the edge of his yard. As he was driving the last nail into the post, he felt a tug on his overalls. He looked down into the eyes of a little boy. "Mister," he said, "I want to buy one of your puppies." "Well," said the farmer, as he rubbed the sweat off the back of his neck, "These puppies come from fine parents and cost a good deal of money."
The boy dropped his head for a moment. The reaching deep into his pocket, he pulled out a handful of change and held it up to the farmer. "I've got thirty-nine cents. Is that enough to take a look?" "Sure," said the farmer, and with that he let out a whistle. "Here, Dolly!" he called. Out from the doghouse and down the ramp ran Dolly followed by four little balls of fur.
The little boy pressed his face against the chain link fence. His eyes danced with delight. As the dogs made their way to the fence, the little boy noticed something else stirring inside the doghouse. Slowly another little ball appeared, this one noticeably smaller. Down the ramp it slid. Then in a somewhat awkward manner, the little pup began hobbling toward the others, doing its best to catch up.
"I want that one," the little boy said, pointing to the runt. The farmer knelt down at the boy's side and said, "Son, you don't want that puppy. He will never be able to run and play with you like these other dogs would." With that the little boy stepped back from the fence, reached down, and began rolling up one leg of his trousers. In doing so he revealed a steel brace running down both sides of his leg attaching itself to a specailly made shoe.
Looking back up at the farmer, he said, "You see sir, I don't run too well myself, and he will need someone who understands." With tears in his eyes, the farmer reached down and picked up the little pup. Holding it carefully, he handed it to the little boy. "How much?" asked the little boy. "No charger," answered the farmer. "There's no charge for love."
The world is full of people who need someone who understands.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Man And The Monkey
I heard this on Bob Dutko today and thought it was great.
Imagine if you put a man and a monkey in a room with paint and canvas and lock the door. You hire the best security experts in the world to make sure no one goes in and no one comes out. Then you come back 10 hours later and open the door. The man and the monkey are still there, and the canvas has been painted. The painting is a good knock off of the Mona Lisa.
Who painted it? Unless your a nut or messing with me, you would say "the man, of course".
Prove it.
Its not a trick. You can't. All you can really do is look at the evidence before you and come to the most logical conclusion based on that evidence.
The same is true with the existence of God. Many who don't believe in God say that those of us who do are being illogical. I disagree. With the evidence before me, I find that the most logical conclusion based on that evidence is that God exists, and that it takes a much larger leap of faith to believe in a universe that exists without God.
Rom 1:19-20 says "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."
God has indeed given us plenty of evidence for His existence; we just have to open our hearts, open our minds, and pay attention.
Imagine if you put a man and a monkey in a room with paint and canvas and lock the door. You hire the best security experts in the world to make sure no one goes in and no one comes out. Then you come back 10 hours later and open the door. The man and the monkey are still there, and the canvas has been painted. The painting is a good knock off of the Mona Lisa.
Who painted it? Unless your a nut or messing with me, you would say "the man, of course".
Prove it.
Its not a trick. You can't. All you can really do is look at the evidence before you and come to the most logical conclusion based on that evidence.
The same is true with the existence of God. Many who don't believe in God say that those of us who do are being illogical. I disagree. With the evidence before me, I find that the most logical conclusion based on that evidence is that God exists, and that it takes a much larger leap of faith to believe in a universe that exists without God.
Rom 1:19-20 says "For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse."
God has indeed given us plenty of evidence for His existence; we just have to open our hearts, open our minds, and pay attention.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Donkeys And Elephants In The Room
My good friend David and I were talking during lunch the other day when some political talk came up. He brought up a good point to think about -- I'm paraphrasing now from my shoddy memory mind you, so these are not direct quotes, and I pray I don't misrepresent him: How much should we as Christians get involved in the political realm? Many spend a great deal of time protesting against, or campaigning for, laws concerning morality, but in doing so, aren't we just pointing out the "elephant in the room" that the world is sinful?
If we spent a great deal of energy fighting for a law to make [insert hot button issue of the day] illegal, what have we accomplished? Sure we've probably stopped something from happening, but have we changed any hearts? Isn't the heart what really needs to change ? If we only change the law and not the hearts of many, how long will the change last (prohibition may be a fair example here)?
If I recall correctly, David said he remembered there is some Biblical guidance for this, but not off the top of his head. I was determined tonight to settle the issue (in my mind anyway) from a Biblical perspective and be done with it. I have most likely failed in that respect, but I did come across this paper I liked (and a lot of other junk I'm not linking to):
http://www.valleybible.net/PositionPapers/Politics.pdf
On a final note, I linked to the article before finishing it completely. It made me smile to see, near the end, the phrase "...change only comes from the heart." Very true.
If we spent a great deal of energy fighting for a law to make [insert hot button issue of the day]
If I recall correctly, David said he remembered there is some Biblical guidance for this, but not off the top of his head. I was determined tonight to settle the issue (in my mind anyway) from a Biblical perspective and be done with it. I have most likely failed in that respect, but I did come across this paper I liked (and a lot of other junk I'm not linking to):
http://www.valleybible.net/PositionPapers/Politics.pdf
On a final note, I linked to the article before finishing it completely. It made me smile to see, near the end, the phrase "...change only comes from the heart." Very true.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Role Playing
I've been watching more of Duncan's series of videos going through Matthew, and its very good. One in particular that ties in with the message from Pastor Harry at CRB last weekend is called "Role-play or Relationship", found here:
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=4452205795069909664
The message from this weekend was about being sick of religion but hungry for God. I can testify to being sick of "religion" where I'm just going through the motions, doing what's expected, but not really engaging in it, believing it, or enjoying it. I can also testify to getting further and further from a relationship with God as I withdrew from "religion", thinking it was all the same empty junk. Lastly I can testify to how when I started to have a relationship with God, it changed my heart and my perspective. For me this really started to happen when I repented, accepted that Jesus Christ died in payment for my sins, was raised from the dead, and asked Him to take control of my life.
From the message notes: "You need an Abraham in your life because just going through the motions is never enough to satisfy the heart God put in you!"
And on the same note, the study Duncan went through focuses on the first part of Matthew 6, show various actions, their purpose, and the result. Doing good deeds in public so that others see you only glorifies yourself, and you get no reward from God. Telling people about the gifts you've given to look good in front of other people only glorifies yourself, and you get no reward from God. Praying in public to be noticed by other people only glorifies yourself, and you get no reward from God. And so on.
The point is to ask oneself why do I do things? Do I do them for God's glory or my own? Do I do things just to look like a good Christian to the world, or do I have a relationship with God and do things for HIS glory?
I think it was two weeks ago when Pastor Harry asked why he does a lot of the things he does...and promptly answered (paraphrased, as my memory doesn't function too well): "its not for YOU, its for HIM". May I never forget that in my own life.
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=4452205795069909664
The message from this weekend was about being sick of religion but hungry for God. I can testify to being sick of "religion" where I'm just going through the motions, doing what's expected, but not really engaging in it, believing it, or enjoying it. I can also testify to getting further and further from a relationship with God as I withdrew from "religion", thinking it was all the same empty junk. Lastly I can testify to how when I started to have a relationship with God, it changed my heart and my perspective. For me this really started to happen when I repented, accepted that Jesus Christ died in payment for my sins, was raised from the dead, and asked Him to take control of my life.
From the message notes: "You need an Abraham in your life because just going through the motions is never enough to satisfy the heart God put in you!"
And on the same note, the study Duncan went through focuses on the first part of Matthew 6, show various actions, their purpose, and the result. Doing good deeds in public so that others see you only glorifies yourself, and you get no reward from God. Telling people about the gifts you've given to look good in front of other people only glorifies yourself, and you get no reward from God. Praying in public to be noticed by other people only glorifies yourself, and you get no reward from God. And so on.
The point is to ask oneself why do I do things? Do I do them for God's glory or my own? Do I do things just to look like a good Christian to the world, or do I have a relationship with God and do things for HIS glory?
I think it was two weeks ago when Pastor Harry asked why he does a lot of the things he does...and promptly answered (paraphrased, as my memory doesn't function too well): "its not for YOU, its for HIM". May I never forget that in my own life.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Tasting Death
I came across “But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the kingdom of God.” when reading with Jamie. I thought this was a bit confusing and did some research on it. There is quite an analysis here:
http://precepts.wordpress.com/2007/08/16/contradictions-christ%E2%80%99s-big-mistake-part-2-some-standing-here-shall-not-taste-death/
I think that seems overly complicated. In looking at the many places in which the phrase "kingdom of God" is used, it appears the kingdom of God is what you enter when you are born again by accepting Jesus Christ as your savior. So two things need to be met for the "some standing here": 1) Jesus needs to die and rise from the dead and 2) folks need to accept this sacrifice as their means to salvation.
So despite the above article's claim that I'm most likely incorrect in thinking this, it makes the most sense, to me anyway.
http://precepts.wordpress.com/2007/08/16/contradictions-christ%E2%80%99s-big-mistake-part-2-some-standing-here-shall-not-taste-death/
I think that seems overly complicated. In looking at the many places in which the phrase "kingdom of God" is used, it appears the kingdom of God is what you enter when you are born again by accepting Jesus Christ as your savior. So two things need to be met for the "some standing here": 1) Jesus needs to die and rise from the dead and 2) folks need to accept this sacrifice as their means to salvation.
So despite the above article's claim that I'm most likely incorrect in thinking this, it makes the most sense, to me anyway.
Faith, Works, Paul, and James
I came across an interesting non-existent conflict today, where it appears that Paul claims justification is through faith, and James claims justification is through works. Someone had quoted from James saying that "some religionists today advocate that man is saved by faith only", and I thought "well, yeah, that's right -- and good works come from that -- you're not saved because you do a bunch of good stuff to earn your way into heaven -- if that were true, Christ died for nothing".
As such, I felt compelled to look up the part from James he was talking about. The quoted part is only 2:24 -- "you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone". Well, that by itself didn't sound right. Taken in context its pretty clear that in James 2, good works do come through faith, and James' point appears to be that if you're just claiming "yeah, I have faith"...well, you really are probably just saying that and not backing up your statement with your actions.
2:17-18 sums it up nicely I think -- "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
I still decided to take a further look and came across this link that discusses the (non-)controversy:
http://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/CarterJ01.html
Worth a read if after reading James you still think there is disagreement.
As such, I felt compelled to look up the part from James he was talking about. The quoted part is only 2:24 -- "you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone". Well, that by itself didn't sound right. Taken in context its pretty clear that in James 2, good works do come through faith, and James' point appears to be that if you're just claiming "yeah, I have faith"...well, you really are probably just saying that and not backing up your statement with your actions.
2:17-18 sums it up nicely I think -- "So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, 'You have faith and I have works.' Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."
I still decided to take a further look and came across this link that discusses the (non-)controversy:
http://www.biblicaltheology.com/Research/CarterJ01.html
Worth a read if after reading James you still think there is disagreement.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Faith
Joy brought up something that sounded very bogus that she heard someone say once: "Even those who have never heard about Jesus are condemned to hell". That doesn't sound very fair; however, God IS fair. So either the statement is wrong, or God isn't fair. I'm not about to tell God that He is not fair, so I went to examine what's wrong with the statement. Here's a good answer to the question "What about the person who never heard of Jesus?":
http://www.rapturealert.com/whataboutfaq.html
The gist of it is: If someone has heard the gospel and rejects Jesus, bad news for them. This include skeptics, atheists, etc, who have heard and don't believe. If someone hasn't heard the gospel then God in His fairness judges them according to what they do know. If they were the village murderer, probably not so good for them.
A really good example is Abraham. He didn't have the old testament law (it didn't exist yet!), nor did he have the new testament gospel. He had faith in God.
http://www.rapturealert.com/whataboutfaq.html
The gist of it is: If someone has heard the gospel and rejects Jesus, bad news for them. This include skeptics, atheists, etc, who have heard and don't believe. If someone hasn't heard the gospel then God in His fairness judges them according to what they do know. If they were the village murderer, probably not so good for them.
A really good example is Abraham. He didn't have the old testament law (it didn't exist yet!), nor did he have the new testament gospel. He had faith in God.
Essentials
Thought I would summarize what I got from the first 10 essentials videos Duncan put together:
1. The Purpose Of Life. The purpose of life is to glorify God.
2. What's man's problem? Man's big problem is he always breaks God's moral law and falls short of God's glory. We're all in the same category, lawbreakers, sinners.
3. The Substitute. God does have to punish lawbreakers; He does not have to forgive anyone; however, He loves us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice [propitiation] for our sins. Propitiation = a sacrifice that turns away God's anger, and makes him favourable to us.
4. Redemption. Jesus bought slaves [us] on the cross, for we were slaves to sin, the result of which is death. This is an inescapable prison for us. The ransom price is too high for us, but not for Jesus. He gave his life as a ransom for many so that our sins may be forgiven. Our response should be to accept what He did, put our trust in Him, and glorify God!
5. Justification. Justification is a legal delcaration of "not guilty". The opposite is condemnation. If you trust Jesus to save you, then you are justified before the Father. The two parts to justification are 1) the forgiveness of sins (taking away the -s) and 2) imputation of Christ's righteousness (adding on +s). Justification is entirely by grace (unmerited favour -- given something you don't deserve), not by works -- so no one can boast.
6. Adopted. Contrary to myth, we're not all God's children Biblically. We get the right to become children of God when we have faith in Jesus. I.e. faith is the means by which we are adopted. God relates to us as a father by loving us, showing compassion to us, knowing our needs, giving gifts to us, giving us an inheritance, disciplining us, leading us by His spirit, and making us aware of our adoption. We relate to God as His children by praying to Him, asking for forgiveness, imitating our Father, and suffering for God. Remember also that other believers are family.
7. Conversion. Someone becomes a Christian by 1) trusting in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and eternal life and 2) repenting (turn from sin) and turning to God, performing deeds in keeping with his/her repentance. The point isn't to clean things up and then turn to Jesus -- turn to him and ask Him to help you!
8. Unable to come. Man is unable to come to God on his own. Man is spiritually dead, does wrong from birth, has evil thoughts, has a heard heart, is under the power of the devil, suppresses the truth, does not understand God, and does not seek God. Without God's work in a person's life, they will never come to Jesus (you can't manipulate people into being Christians -- God does that, not men -- nor can you boast that you turned to Christ).
9. Drawn by the Father. Man is unable to come (to believe). The Father can draw people to Jesus. Salvation is a work of God. God opens hearts, gives repentance, and gives faith. Its all God. No one can boast about turning to Christ; therefore, no Christian should ever look down on a non-Christian. Also, since its all God, this means everyone should be given the gospel, not just people that WE think might accept it.
10. Chosen by Grace. You did not choose God, He chose you. It was not based on anything good you would do. It was based on grace and mercy. God is free to distribute mercy as He wants. If He did not choose anyone, then no-one would ever turn to Christ. This doctrine should lead to praise.
Note that 9 and 10 deal with the doctrine of election. This is a tough one to get my head around. The following articles helped me understand it better:
http://www.albatrus.org/english/theology/soteriology/salvation_doctrine.htm
http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=1551
1. The Purpose Of Life. The purpose of life is to glorify God.
2. What's man's problem? Man's big problem is he always breaks God's moral law and falls short of God's glory. We're all in the same category, lawbreakers, sinners.
3. The Substitute. God does have to punish lawbreakers; He does not have to forgive anyone; however, He loves us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice [propitiation] for our sins. Propitiation = a sacrifice that turns away God's anger, and makes him favourable to us.
4. Redemption. Jesus bought slaves [us] on the cross, for we were slaves to sin, the result of which is death. This is an inescapable prison for us. The ransom price is too high for us, but not for Jesus. He gave his life as a ransom for many so that our sins may be forgiven. Our response should be to accept what He did, put our trust in Him, and glorify God!
5. Justification. Justification is a legal delcaration of "not guilty". The opposite is condemnation. If you trust Jesus to save you, then you are justified before the Father. The two parts to justification are 1) the forgiveness of sins (taking away the -s) and 2) imputation of Christ's righteousness (adding on +s). Justification is entirely by grace (unmerited favour -- given something you don't deserve), not by works -- so no one can boast.
6. Adopted. Contrary to myth, we're not all God's children Biblically. We get the right to become children of God when we have faith in Jesus. I.e. faith is the means by which we are adopted. God relates to us as a father by loving us, showing compassion to us, knowing our needs, giving gifts to us, giving us an inheritance, disciplining us, leading us by His spirit, and making us aware of our adoption. We relate to God as His children by praying to Him, asking for forgiveness, imitating our Father, and suffering for God. Remember also that other believers are family.
7. Conversion. Someone becomes a Christian by 1) trusting in Jesus for forgiveness of sins and eternal life and 2) repenting (turn from sin) and turning to God, performing deeds in keeping with his/her repentance. The point isn't to clean things up and then turn to Jesus -- turn to him and ask Him to help you!
8. Unable to come. Man is unable to come to God on his own. Man is spiritually dead, does wrong from birth, has evil thoughts, has a heard heart, is under the power of the devil, suppresses the truth, does not understand God, and does not seek God. Without God's work in a person's life, they will never come to Jesus (you can't manipulate people into being Christians -- God does that, not men -- nor can you boast that you turned to Christ).
9. Drawn by the Father. Man is unable to come (to believe). The Father can draw people to Jesus. Salvation is a work of God. God opens hearts, gives repentance, and gives faith. Its all God. No one can boast about turning to Christ; therefore, no Christian should ever look down on a non-Christian. Also, since its all God, this means everyone should be given the gospel, not just people that WE think might accept it.
10. Chosen by Grace. You did not choose God, He chose you. It was not based on anything good you would do. It was based on grace and mercy. God is free to distribute mercy as He wants. If He did not choose anyone, then no-one would ever turn to Christ. This doctrine should lead to praise.
Note that 9 and 10 deal with the doctrine of election. This is a tough one to get my head around. The following articles helped me understand it better:
http://www.albatrus.org/english/theology/soteriology/salvation_doctrine.htm
http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=1551
Friday, September 12, 2008
E-Sword
I must plug this E-Sword application I just downloaded tonight. Its free Bible study software with free modules (different translations, commentaries, graphics (maps), etc). It lets you search. Its lets you take notes. It lets you compare side by side. It lets you sync up the gospel accounts. Its great!
http://www.e-sword.net/
Props to my buddy David for telling me about it.
http://www.e-sword.net/
Props to my buddy David for telling me about it.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Stand Up For Jesus
First I have to throw out some lyrics from the Newsboys:
---
Living for Jesus is the way I will go
I’ll follow Him always, don’t care what men say
I’ve been on both sides and I know where I’ll stay
The light He has shown me will not fade away
Stand up, stand up, stand up for Jesus
Oh can’t you hear me, He’s the way
Stand up, stand up, stand up for Jesus
Oh can’t you hear me, He’s the way
Where are you standing if you were to fall
Religion won’t help you if He calls on you now
Stand up and be counted say I’m for the Lord
Don’t keep so quiet, go forth and be bold
---
I think that song is just great. I was listening to Duncan again today and paid some attention when he was talking about preaching the gospel and being the light. Matthew 5:14-15 for example: "You are the world's light; it is impossible to hide a town built on top of a hill. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a bucket. They put it on a lampstand, and it gives light for everybody in the house."
The above song came to mind as he was talking.
Later in the day, something else came to mind. There was another Trinity in Trinity's kindergarten class last year. I remember ONE thing that she ever did on work I saw all year long. It was an assignment to write about yourself to the class (I think), and her sentences started something like "My name is Trinity. I'm a Christian. And...".
We sure can learn a lot from kids. This 5 year old girl stood up proudly for Jesus. If she can do it, so can anyone else. I pray that I don't dim or hide my light.
---
Living for Jesus is the way I will go
I’ll follow Him always, don’t care what men say
I’ve been on both sides and I know where I’ll stay
The light He has shown me will not fade away
Stand up, stand up, stand up for Jesus
Oh can’t you hear me, He’s the way
Stand up, stand up, stand up for Jesus
Oh can’t you hear me, He’s the way
Where are you standing if you were to fall
Religion won’t help you if He calls on you now
Stand up and be counted say I’m for the Lord
Don’t keep so quiet, go forth and be bold
---
I think that song is just great. I was listening to Duncan again today and paid some attention when he was talking about preaching the gospel and being the light. Matthew 5:14-15 for example: "You are the world's light; it is impossible to hide a town built on top of a hill. Men do not light a lamp and put it under a bucket. They put it on a lampstand, and it gives light for everybody in the house."
The above song came to mind as he was talking.
Later in the day, something else came to mind. There was another Trinity in Trinity's kindergarten class last year. I remember ONE thing that she ever did on work I saw all year long. It was an assignment to write about yourself to the class (I think), and her sentences started something like "My name is Trinity. I'm a Christian. And...
We sure can learn a lot from kids. This 5 year old girl stood up proudly for Jesus. If she can do it, so can anyone else. I pray that I don't dim or hide my light.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Heart Disease
I watched some of Duncan's videos going through Matthew and the following stuck enough to prompt a post about it: The pure in heart will enjoy God in their life. Lots of our hearts are hardened, but we can fix that.
First, confess your sins to Jesus.
Second, avoid things that contaminate the heart. This could be places, people, things you watch, things you listen to, etc.
Third, remember that, if you have accepted Him, Jesus paid for your sins on the cross with His blood. He has paid the price in full, so don't doubt Him by letting guilt overwhelm you and take over your life. We are all in the same boat, we just need to trust in Him.
Fourth, pray that God would improve your heart.
If you want the full message (I recommend it, three minutes of my rambling is not as effective), you can check it out through the New Life Church web site. Here's the direct link (as of this post anyway):
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1779473642795303380
First, confess your sins to Jesus.
Second, avoid things that contaminate the heart. This could be places, people, things you watch, things you listen to, etc.
Third, remember that, if you have accepted Him, Jesus paid for your sins on the cross with His blood. He has paid the price in full, so don't doubt Him by letting guilt overwhelm you and take over your life. We are all in the same boat, we just need to trust in Him.
Fourth, pray that God would improve your heart.
If you want the full message (I recommend it, three minutes of my rambling is not as effective), you can check it out through the New Life Church web site. Here's the direct link (as of this post anyway):
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-1779473642795303380
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Bob Dutko
I listen to the Bob Dutko show most of the time when I'm driving home between 5 and 6. In fact I listened to his show before I accepted Jesus as my Lord and savior and considered myself a Christian. His show played some part in my journey I'm sure, and its interesting how I came across it in the first place.
About a year ago, a friend of mine happened to mention the John and Ken show (which I don't listen to much any more) which is at 640AM. About six months ago I started listening to that show fairly regularly; however, there were a lot of commercials, so I found that at 760AM there was another show that was equally interesting. I think it was the Savage Nation, but I'm not 100% on that. Now since these two were so close together, I'd often just hit the seek button to flip between the two when one would go to commercial.
After a bit of time at that, I noticed that on this station between the two, 740AM, there was this guy Bob Dutko who had a show where he would defend Christianity using logic and science, and he would actually have discussions with his guests, many of whom shared completely opposite viewpoints (as opposed to screaming like a lunatic at the guests like...I don't know...politically oriented shows on Fox).
After I while I got tired of the other shows and just left it at 740AM and got a dose of great information -- all starting with a 5 second comment about some loudmouth guys on the radio a year ago. That's pretty cool.
About a year ago, a friend of mine happened to mention the John and Ken show (which I don't listen to much any more) which is at 640AM. About six months ago I started listening to that show fairly regularly; however, there were a lot of commercials, so I found that at 760AM there was another show that was equally interesting. I think it was the Savage Nation, but I'm not 100% on that. Now since these two were so close together, I'd often just hit the seek button to flip between the two when one would go to commercial.
After a bit of time at that, I noticed that on this station between the two, 740AM, there was this guy Bob Dutko who had a show where he would defend Christianity using logic and science, and he would actually have discussions with his guests, many of whom shared completely opposite viewpoints (as opposed to screaming like a lunatic at the guests like...I don't know...politically oriented shows on Fox).
After I while I got tired of the other shows and just left it at 740AM and got a dose of great information -- all starting with a 5 second comment about some loudmouth guys on the radio a year ago. That's pretty cool.
Serving Others
I came across the card ministry link under the volunteer section on our church's website last night. I'll have to admit, I didn't get it, and I thought "What kind of good work is that, putting together cards? That seems pretty trivial."
So on the radio this morning I heard part of a sermon from Pastor Jeremiah at Shadow Mountain where he talked about how at the last supper, Jesus' disciples were arguing about who was to be the greatest when Jesus, their leader, got down and washed their feet, which turns out was one of the most menial tasks in that culture, given to the lowliest of servants.
Jamie mentioned to me later in the day that she was thinking of helping with the card ministry and explained what it was in more detail. In fact, I didn't connect the two events above until she mentioned it.
If Jesus can wash the feet of his disciples, who am I to say that "I'm above"?
So on the radio this morning I heard part of a sermon from Pastor Jeremiah at Shadow Mountain where he talked about how at the last supper, Jesus' disciples were arguing about who was to be the greatest when Jesus, their leader, got down and washed their feet, which turns out was one of the most menial tasks in that culture, given to the lowliest of servants.
Jamie mentioned to me later in the day that she was thinking of helping with the card ministry and explained what it was in more detail. In fact, I didn't connect the two events above until she mentioned it.
If Jesus can wash the feet of his disciples, who am I to say that "I'm above
Monday, September 8, 2008
Creation: Blog and Universe
I have a blog now, scary. So out of the millions things to write about in the first post, I will write about this argument I heard on the Bob Dutko show today that I liked (the gist of it anyway):
You have three options for the creation of the universe:
1) The universe is eternal.
2) The universe was created some time in the past without any supernatural event.
3) The universe was created some time in the past with a supernatural event.
#1 violates the second law of thermodynamics. It cannot have lasted forever or it would have used up all the energy available for work. The universe must have been created with a lot of usable energy and is now running down.
See http://www.answersingenesis.org/Docs/370.asp for more.
#2 violates the first law of thermodynamics. It cannot have been created from nothing.
See http://www.direct.ca/trinity/1law.html for more.
#3 is left, where some supernatural event happened outside the bounds of these laws that caused space-time and matter to be created. In the face of that, I'll say it was God. If you don't want to say it was God, then what do you say caused this supernatural event?
You have three options for the creation of the universe:
1) The universe is eternal.
2) The universe was created some time in the past without any supernatural event.
3) The universe was created some time in the past with a supernatural event.
#1 violates the second law of thermodynamics. It cannot have lasted forever or it would have used up all the energy available for work. The universe must have been created with a lot of usable energy and is now running down.
See http://www.answersingenesis.org/Docs/370.asp for more.
#2 violates the first law of thermodynamics. It cannot have been created from nothing.
See http://www.direct.ca/trinity/1law.html for more.
#3 is left, where some supernatural event happened outside the bounds of these laws that caused space-time and matter to be created. In the face of that, I'll say it was God. If you don't want to say it was God, then what do you say caused this supernatural event?
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