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Saturday, October 31, 2009

XLI. The Beginning of Man

Were we as humans part of an accident waiting to happen? After the accident occurred were we as humans waiting for our existence to appear after billions of years of evolutionary change? Did we have to wait our turn to become the dominant species or were we always here, in one shape or form? With some exceptions, the following generalization should be pretty accurate. The pure Creationist will tell you that man has always been here since day 6 of God's creation. The Christian scientist may add that man has always been man but it did take billions of years for him to exist. The pure Scientist will tell you that man as we know today had to wait his turn but may have had ancestors being the dominant species for millions of years. The non-believer, non-scientist will not have any idea anyway. What was the beginning of man?

Could man just be an ape like creature that has developed into an intellectual monster over years of genetic change and mutations? Why is man and ape so similar to each other? There has to be a connection. Perhaps there is.

Man is animal-like. But by scientific definition, man is an animal. He belongs to the animal kingdom. He belongs to the primate family. But he does not belong to the same genus and species as with other primates. Here, he is on his own. There must be a reason why we are not closer to each other. Even science claims there is a difference at this point.

Evolutionists claim that we have many ancestors but can not really find that "missing link". Each new find they will use as part of their evolutionary thought process which they will claim makes them right. But with each new discovery there usually is something just not making the complete connection. Evolution means small changes over a long period of time. Most species that have been found are still too far apart in their genetic make up from each other to be that last link. Why? Probably because there is no final link. Usually, when they find a "link" they only find one of its kind. Maybe this one just happened to be the malformed creature of its genus. Sometimes there have been more than one of that link found in one place or even spread out in the world but if you look at the species they claim to be humanoid, homind, or man-like you can judge for yourselves. The following website has concept drawings of what some feel these creatures would look like: http://www.archaeologyinfo.com/species.htm. Perhaps they are just apes that have been extinct. We have killed off many of species of primates already. The mountain gorilla could be one of the next ones to go.

Man may be animal but only because God made man from the same material that he made animals; flesh. But there is a huge difference. Man may be the same on the outside but on the inside, not organs and things but deeper than that, man is completely different.

Life itself varies from its makeup from life forms to life forms. Plants are alive. They reproduce. They have "blood" in them. They "breathe". But they can not think. They do not reason. They are not animals. Fish, birds, Amphibians and reptiles are alive. They are animals but they are cold blooded animals. Their instincts rely on their environment. They migrate due to weather patterns. They feed off each other. They do not reason and therefore are dependent upon their surroundings for survival. Mammals are alive. They are warm blooded. Many can reason and can survive outside their environmental settings. Their brains are larger than the rest and therefore can not only react in a flight or fight mode but can investigate the situation. Man however is beyond all of this. Plants are monochotomous. They have physical reaction but that is it. Animals besides man are dichotomous. They react physically and mentally to its surroundings. But man is trichotomous. We not only have physical bodies for reaction to our environment and mental capabilities to reason and investigate but we have a spirit within us given by God. We have compassion, we can predict outcomes because we have a conscience and can learn from our mistakes. We have a morality system. The problem is many think we are just animals and so we act like animals. We act on instinct instead of values. When we fall on desperate times we act like animals. We fight or fly. When we rely upon God we remain different from the rest of creation. We are not animals in this instance. We are spirits with flesh. Our beginning came from a Creator. Our beginning starts with our Creator. The beginning of man is in God's image.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

XL. Nature of Man

The time period known as the Enlightenment was technically started by the scientific revolution and the likes of Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, and Rene Descartes. But there were others of this time period who thought of human nature not just science and math which those who are mentioned were. These people were called Philosophes and one of the most influential and first of these thinkers was an an Englishman, Thomas Hobbes. He believed that man is naturally selfish. And because of this selfishness man could not be trusted with certain things, so a strict government was needed to ensure man would not destroy himself due to his evil nature. But another Englishman, a little time after Hobbes, was John Locke who said man is naturally free and this is why man has war. He is searching for the solution to stay free. Both had lived through the English Civil War and saw things they never wanted to see again. But are either one of these men right in their final assumptions? Here are the results from last month's poll: What is human nature like? (Note: this poll had been somewhat manipulated by certain atheists who read this blog. Which is fine, the results of this poll do not make any one right or wrong)


  • 50% We are neutral with the ability to be either good or bad.
  • 26% We are naturally bad since we are born into sin.
  • 10% We are naturally good since we are born innocent and can only sin when we reach the age of accountability.
  • 8% We are naturally good since God created us.
  • 4% We are naturally bad since we have the ability to sin.

To answer this question we have to take it with different views.

Let's start with physical evidence. How do we enter this world? Do we live like Orkans (Mork and Mindy)? Do we start by being hatched, fully grown with the potential to do harm to half the population because we are large creatures? No. We are born small. We are born with no protection. We are born naked and vulnerable. We are helpless human beings who need nurturing and discipline. We are born innocent, free of the world's troubles until we hear, see, touch, smell, and feel what the world offers us.

Mental evidence. Do we know what we want when we are born? Do we know what we want when we get older? Do we ever know what we really want? If we had everything we needed would we still try after certain things? Or do we only want these certain things because the world puts it in our minds that we need them? Go back about 100 years ago. What would be considered needed? A stove, a house or roof over our heads (which would include bed and all household items), perhaps some mode of transportation. But now what do we consider needed? A cell phone! Not just one that calls people, but one that can take pictures, maybe even video. One that can hook you up with the Internet, watch movies, play games, and have "apps" for everything you can think of. A house! Not just one with beds and a roof, but one that no one can afford because that is what is being built everywhere so someone can make money. And since we have to keep up with the Jones' then a two bedroom house won't do. A car! For the same reason as the house. And for all of these things we are willing to go into debt beyond our own means of paying any of it back.

Emotional evidence: We all need some sort of love. The original account of love is between man and God. God also created an earthly love between man and woman. But when people can't find love in either of these two ways they have to start creating different kinds of love to fulfill their emotional needs, thereby creating different lifestyles.

Spiritual evidence: Going back to the original relationship, man and God. Of course the more appropriate way is to say God and man. But over time man has decided he doesn't need God and has tried to force Him out of every aspect of life and then wonders why He never helps in times of need.

What does any of this mean? We are born innocent. We are born with the ability to do right and wrong. We have the ability to live a perfect life as in the example that Jesus gave. But since we are flesh, we are imperfect beings and that allows sin to enter. Do we have to choose sin? No, but we do. Why? Because of the things around us that tempt us and we try to push away God and Godly things.

We are born naturally good and innocent (keep reading)! God created us and He creates nothing evil. Yes, He gave us flesh, to interact with the physical world; to allow us to have pleasure in this life with all five senses. But our true identity is not of this world. We are spiritual beings first! We are good! If we were born neutral then we are born without the Spirit of God and that is not what happens. God has given each and everyone of us a spirit to live our lives by. But we choose the easier route; the one that our minds and bodies can get pleasure out of the most (Pleasure is not the problem, desire for the wrong type of pleasure is). If we are born bad, then we are saying that God created all of us to die in hell first, and then only sent Jesus to save us. And that is not the case. We were created innocent. We were created to live for Him. We have the ability to sin because of free will, something He gave us to show how much He loves us. This free will has been tainted by those who do not live by their spirit but by the flesh. This caused the world to die, Genesis 2-3.

We are innocent until we take the first step in the wrong direction and disobey God with our own desire, hence the age of accountability. We all reach this age and it is at this moment we die. Paul said all fall short of the glory of God. But that doesn't mean man is naturally evil, but that God knows man needs help. So, He sent Jesus Christ to help. Sorry atheists, the evidence speaks for itself.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

XXXIX. I'm Sorry.

I usually do not personalize my postings. But I need to tonight. Thinking of you...
 
There is a tragedy that is happening in our country; our own genocide that we keep failing to address. Our children are growing up in a way they were never meant to grow up. Why? One word.
 
 
Men.
 
 
The species that God told to be in charge of the family, to make sure that the bond of love stays strong in his household and to watch over each one in his care so that the devil will not snatch them. We have failed. We have walked away from our responsibility. We have ran when blame came our way. We call children hurtful names. We put them down. We abuse them. We neglect them. What have we done? We need to fall on our knees and ask forgiveness from God and them.
 
 
Young men do not have the examples of what they are supposed to be in their lives and they become over-bearing monsters to the women they marry and to the children they conceive. They follow in the footsteps of the jerks who left them alone and become hateful maniacs willing to hurt those around them because they don't know how to love anyone.
 
 
Young women do not have the love from a man who should be there to protect them from men who are not worthy of their daughters. They "fall in love" with the first man who pays them a compliment because they don't know what love from a man really is. They become lonely people who think no one cares about them and feel like they have no where to turn.
 
 
Good job men. What you have done is turn these beautiful innocent little children into waifs. What you have done is turn these pure little lambs into beasts who want to destroy themselves. They drink to forget what has happened. They get high to live in a fantasy away from what has been done to them. They cut themselves thinking the pain they cause themselves is easier to take than the pain that we have caused them because they trusted us and we have let them down. The physical pain will heal but the emotional scars will not. When the cutting isn't enough they feel like they have to do something else. And then the genocide begins...
 
 
Young men, young ladies, it's not much but I am sorry. I am sorry for what has happened to you. I am sorry that someone you loved has abandoned you to the life you have. I am sorry that the man who is supposed to be there as daddy is not there for you or has done things to you that a daddy should not have done.
 
 
(Personal) For those who know what I am talking about, I love you. I wish I could help your daddy be a daddy. I can't take their place but you can always use me if they can not be around. But even more importantly, always remember there is a Father in Heaven who will always love you and wants to be your daddy (Abba) as well. I pray for you.


NOTE: This thought has been referenced in on an athiests blog.  They tried to rip it apart but all they did was misunderstand what the real story is.  They tried to make me sound like a sexist.  When the real message here is that men are jerks!  Men do too many things that are wrong and against women.  If men did the right thing then most actions against women would stop.  Would someone tell me what is wrong with that idea?

Friday, October 9, 2009

XXXVIII. Obama Nation, Part II

The following is of course a play on words from "Abomination" of desolation, which is a term the Bible uses to describe the ultimate evil.
Before you go on please reread the following post from October, 2008
The man who sets himself up as God and desecrates the temple is supposed to be a man of peace. What man is more about peace than the man who wins the peace prize? Hmm????? If the first posting is anywhere accurate then what we are looking at is the opening of the seals. He is supposed to be a man who promises peace yet decieves the world with his lies. And apparently the world has been decieved by him. A man who has done nothing but "campaign" for his own benefit is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Did he get rid of nuclear weapons? Did he solve the Mid-East problem? Did he end any wars? Did he get 50 million people the right to vote? Did he keep our current allies happy by maintaining their security, i.e.; Poland? Did he solve the world economic problem? Heck, has he fixed anything in his own country yet? All of the answers to the questions above is "NO!". This is the same man who campaigned on the promise that he would withdraw our troops from Iraq the same day he would take office and has failed to do so. Which smart Americans knew was a promise that could not and should not be kept. Only stupid Amerikans were duped by that one. This is the same man who right now has no exit strategy for Afghanistan. The same man who criticized President Bush for not having one, is now sitting on his hind end not listening to military leaders about needs to be done (troop surge) and is allowing more and more military to die without cause. And this is the man who gets a peace prize. By the way, no one who has been in leadership of any country should be awarded any kind of distinction of this caliber in only 9 months of work. This is not a political ideolgical argument. This is a common sense fact. But the world has been duped by this man. If those who awarded him this prized did so on account of his dreams and speeches on peace then the world should get a peace prize as well. No one wakes up and says "I sure hope we have war today, it's too peaceful". We all want peace. We all want a better world. Just because one "hopes" for it and promises "change" does not make him the one we all should bow down to. Can any one answer: What has the man accomplished?
In the first posting is a list of a small timeline of events that may happen with Anti-Christ.
  • a leader who rises up and becomes a world leader
  • miracle performer
  • will deceive the world
  • will get rid of religion so he can be worshiped
  • will have a false prophet go before him
  • will come back from a fatal head wound
  • pretends to be a man of peace and prosperity
  • rules for 7 years, 3 1/2 of peace, 3 1/2 of war

Well, when the first posting was written only one of these steps were fulfilled. If he won the peace prize for nothing then he has done three of these steps. In less than a year he is on his way. Watch out Isra'el. Could Joe Biden be the false prophet? He might as well be. He's been a false lawmaker for decades. And he's not good at anything else, so why not?

Saturday, September 5, 2009

XXXVII. Go out into All the World

One of the biggest commandments we are given in the NT is found in Matthew 28:19-20. Most people would know these verses as the Great Commission. Now Jesus said that the two Commandments that are most important are Love God and your neighbor, which are summaries of the Ten Commandments found in the OT. But how do we show love for our neighbor? Sure, don't lie about them, don't covet what they have, don't murder them or steal from them. But what is the greatest thing you can do for them? Show them Christ. How? The following is a result from the latest poll, "How Should We Witness?""
  • 71% said our lifestyles should be an example
  • 65% said in everything we do should be a witness
  • 60% said through charity
  • 40% said through sermons and church
  • 37% said something else besides the choices
  • 31% said by mail
  • 28% said through politics
  • 17% said through church activities only
  • 14% said door to door
  • 2% said we shouldn't try and leave them alone

This was actually quite sad to see these results. At least 4 of the choices should have been 100% with maybe even one more. If you are a Christian, you are called to live a life that is an example. Be holy for He is holy, 1 Peter 1:16. If your life is not an example of what Christ called you to be then you are NOT witnessing. You are destroying. This goes for choice #2 as well. In everything you are to be witnesses. This goes beyond just your reputation. This is about your character. The difference is this: Your reputation is about what people think about you when they are around you. Your character is what you do even when they are not around. Are you still the same person? In everything be a witness. If you can't witness to yourself how are you supposed to witness for Him? Of course we will all fall short. We will all sin and not be perfect but that doesn't mean we have the freedom to not care and not try. We are called to give to charity. We are supposed to be good stewards of our money and one of those ways is to care for others. This is different than being forced into charity. We are supposed to give with a cheerful heart out of our own discord. Only 40% said be witnesses through sermons. Yet, most of the church today is focused on seekers. How can you focus on those who are wanting to know more about Christ if you do not have a sermon that tells about Christ? Now church is more than just the sermon and the sermon should have something in it that makes even the mature Christian think and want more. But too many sermons and programs deal with "40 days of purpose" and "how to be a better person". If you teach about Christ these points will be hit anyway. Why have a six week program called "if you only had 30 days to live"? Last time this was checked, 30 days is shorter than six weeks. Teach Christ and the rest will follow. These are the ones that should have been 100%. Ashamed.

Mail, politics, and door to door. Three things that probably bug people to either see or talk about or have happen to them. But are they witnessing tools? Yes! However, if you get something in the mail that does not spark your interest or seems like it is just junk mail, do you actually read it or throw it away in the nearest recycle bin? Exactly. Are churches spending way too much money on mailing and advertisement through the mail? Perhaps not because a life is worth it, but maybe create something more readable and interesting to the public. People can't stand politics in discussion and many think it should not be used with religious ideas. But we are also called to a royal priesthood and a holy nation. Now this is not exactly what this verse means but it still can be used as an example. We are a "nation", a universal nation of believers. We need to take a stand against the ideologies that take a stand against Godly values. We need to be active and vote for those who lift up Christian morals as well as a sound policy, not just for those who give empty promises of change and economic prosperity. What is wrong with door to door evangelism? People are always going door to door trying to sell things such as window replacement, newspaper circulation, lawn care and stuff. They have a product they believe in and want to show people. What happened to this idea in witnessing? We are too complacent in our own homes and think all of that should happen in the church. If we can't get them into church then that idea will not work.

Who knows what the 37% of other would be so if you have an idea let all of us know. And the 2% who said leave them alone are probably my friends who do not believe in God yet still go to all of the Christian blogs and websites to argue their case. Which actually is a good thing because maybe we are all they have which is another reason why we have to be a good witness.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

XXXVI. Pastorized

(Some confusion of my statements caused others not to understand, so this has been edited. Hopefully it makes better sense. If not, I have two watching over my words and will guide me more. Some of the comments now may seem like they don't belong, but I used them in my editing)

There are four characteristics of a good pastor. To understand how these four describe a pastor we need to know what a pastor really is. The word that is used in the New Testament we get pastor from is the Greek word "poimen", which means to shepherd. However, there is a more direct translation into English from Latin (spelled the same way). To put it into clarification, it is one chosen by God to guide His people and watch over them spiritually, such as a shepherd does with sheep.

There are two types of pastors or shepherds. There is the preacher/teacher who is hired as the giver of the Word every Sunday morning to a local congregation. He is a spiritual leader. He feeds the sheep the Word of God. And there is an elder. An elder is also a spiritual leader but also needs to run the affairs of the church. He sheperds by making sure things going on in the congregation is sound, biblical, and correct in doctrine. An elder also has different titles that he can go by: bishop, overseer, episkopo, presbyter, even congregational leader. They all mean the same thing, i.e., shepherd.

A common mistake by too many churches is that they say the preacher is an elder. And that is not necessarily accurate. A preacher can be an elder but doesn't have to be one and is not automatically one. Or to sum it up: an elder is a always a preacher, but a preacher is not always an elder. The scripture that people will distort for this view is 1 Timothy 5:17
  • The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

Somehow the words pastor and preacher became the same word and excluded elder and that would not be completely accurate. That is not what this passage is saying. It is saying that some preachers will come from the eldership. Not all elders preach. But one who does preaching is especially worthy of a high honor. Too many times churches that are small or ones with weak leadership allow the "pastor" or even claim the "pastor" to be the chairman of the elders when in actuality the "pastor" is only the preacher and is also under the authority of the elders.

Pastors (both types) are visionaries. They see the way a church can grow and be lead. But they present their ideas to the eldership. The eldership should pray about it and see if the vision is from God or from man. Too many times the visions come from man and his own ideas and that causes pride. It becomes his project instead of God's. So with this in mind let's look at what a good pastor does (in this case, this is referring to both types of pastors).

  1. Preaches Christ-centered sermons. 2 Corinthians 4:5 says that when we preach so to speak, we should do so not to uplift ourselves but to spread the word that Jesus is the Christ. If a pastor preaches about how well the church does all the time and what it stands for then that pastor is not fulfilling his job. If a church is doing well, it doesn't needed to be patted on the back. It is supposed to be doing good things. What the pastor should do is always have a sermon that makes Christ the center of all things. That doesn't mean that once on a while they can talk about problems we all face but they still need to make sure that Christ is somewhere in the lesson. Some pastors (preachers, ministers) spend too much time on just prophetic messages or financial freedom. These are fine to talk about but too many focus on those things.
  2. Shepherds the flock with a tender heart. If you take Jeremiah 3:15, Ezekiel 34:23 and Acts 20:28 it is easy to understand this. Acts says it clearly that we need to watch out for ourselves and for all the flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed us over as overseer. Be shepherds. But when they do lead as Jeremiah says, they should do so with understanding and knowledge. In other words they shouldn't be judgemental and/or harsh when they are pastoring. They need to lead such as a shepherd does with his flock. He doesn't whip the sheep, he gently nudges them back into the herd.
  3. Watches over people and keeps them accountable. Hebrews 13:17 says that leaders need to be obeyed because they watch over us in a spiritual way. And we need to be careful for them as well because they will be held accountable for us. Too many times people leave the church due to some situation, whether it be a physical, emotional, or spiritual problem that has risen. But even worse, when a spiritual matter arises and the pastor does nothing about it and the person leaves then bad blood, if you will, has been spilled and no one cleaned it up. If it is a spiritual matter then it is the job of a pastor to clean it up. If it is a emotional problem, then it is someone with the gift of counseling to intervene. If it is a physical problem, then most of the time it is the problem of that individual and nothing really can be done.
  4. Teaches and gently instructs. 2 Timothy 2:25 says that if someone is hurt or needs help that we should teach them (or oppose them) gently. Because the person may have gone through a lot to get to where they are at and if they see a spiritual leader take them down just like the world did then what separates us from the rest of the world? A pastor needs to be able to take some of the heat yet not dish any of the heat out.

So in essence a pastor needs to be a spiritual example that leads with compassion, understanding and knowledge. He needs to be tough yet gentle in his ways. The ego needs to be checked yet the vision needs to be explored. He does not have to come from a Bible Seminary but has to be God-lead. He is a spiritual leader but not the spiritual leader.

Monday, July 13, 2009

XXXV. The Tithe

Last months poll asked: What effects your attitude the most about giving to the church financially? Most churches like all of the other institutions dependent upon finances are hurting economically. But the church should be different. First of all it is not an organization like so many leaders try and make it. It is an organism! It lives and breathes. Secondly, the church is not dependent on the product. It doesn't have to sell anything to survive. Third the church is also not dependent upon any advertising. All of these of course financially speaking. The church is commanded to give as an Old Testament law. One tenth of all we own is supposed to go right back to God. Abraham set up this action in Genesis 14:20 before it became a law.
  • 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Abraham did it out of faith. Then when the Israelites left Egypt, many had no clue what faith really was so God put into law for them to understand. And from here on is was etched in stone.

  • 30 A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.

Remember a tithe is a tenth of what you have. But there are other references needed to understand what the tithe really means. It's not only a tenth of what we own, but it's the first tenth of what we own. We are given examples of what this means when we see Cain and Abel. Cain gave his portions to the Lord, but Abel gave his first portions and the Lord blessed him.

We are also given a promise of what happens when we tithe. Malachi 3:8-12

  • 8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings.
  • 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me.
  • 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
  • 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty.
  • 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

If we do what we are supposed to do then the body of God (Christ) will flourish. So why is the church in economic problems like the rest of the world? Here is the result of the poll:

  • 35% say that they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. Nothing hinders them. They give their tithe.
  • 30% say that something is getting in the way but it was not a choice given.
  • 20% say they do not like the programs that are going on with their local congregation.
  • 5% say the church is only worried about money.
  • 5% say giving isn't just about finances.
  • 5% say they can't afford it.

All of the above are either misinformed about what they do or are excuses not to give. Even if 35% do what they are supposed to do and the rest only do half then the church wouldn't be in the economic situation it is in. God has promised this! So, there must be more to it. The New Testament also talks about giving. But it goes into more detail in a way. The Old law also in Deuteronomy tells us we need to give according to the portions the Lord has blessed us. So if we make a lot then we should give a lot. But the New "law" says we need to give so much that our left hand doesn't know what our right hand has done. And since we have freely received stuff then we should freely give. Jesus also says that even though money is not the most important part of giving in Matthew 23, He says that we should not forget the law about it. Paul later tells that we should give according to our hearts. But our hearts are supposed to be filled with compassion for others. So why is the church still in economic despair? How about those excuses? The 20% who say that they do not like the way the church is running programs is not a valid reason. If they do not the way that local congregation is running then they need to give it somewhere else. The 5% that say the church is only worried about money is only showing selfishness and the fact that they do not know what the church actually does. This type of person is the one on the fence who wants to believe but can not find it within themselves to do so. So, they look for an excuse of not to give. This is also why some will fall from the curch because they get focused on the the money over the substance of what church is really about. The 5% that say giving is not only about finances is true but do not miss the law of giving! Give with a cheerful heart, money is part of the "game of life".


But even if these would be valid excuses the leadership needs to take these things into account. If 20% are not giving due to the fact that the church is not doing what it is supposed to be doing. Then why not look at that and see if changes are needed? Sometimes leadership gets bogged down with treating the church as an organization. But as it has been said before, the church is NOT an organization, it is an organism! If 65% are not giving or doing what they are supposed to be doing then maybe the leadership needs to look into that and be more open about the finances and how we are supposed to treat it. The 5% that say they can't afford it do not know what they actually can or can not afford. Maybe they have never tried it. These are also the ones who are young in their faith.

Ahh...faith. It comes back to this again as it started with Abraham. Giving is about faith. When you give have faith in what is done. Have faith that God will keep His promise.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

XXXIV. The Atheist

When you talk to an atheist it seems like the conversation always goes back to a couple of things. So this posting is to any person who calls themselves an atheist. The main question is just out of curiosity so please do not think this is coming at you with a curled fist. But when you talk to atheists who pride themselves with science and the intellect, they all say the same thing:

Prove God exists.

So here is the question: What proof do you want? Let's see if the answer can be guessed of what you want.
  1. You want DNA proof. Unfortunately, that is not going to happen. We can't get DNA from anyone born 4000 years ago unless they have been mummified. And even today according to Maury Povich, DNA is only 99% accurate with all the science we have. So how do you expect to get this?
  2. You want physical proof besides DNA. Be honest how can you prove anything physical? Touch, smell, taste, hear, sight. You can find millions of people who say that the life of Christ was real and that the events in the Bible are real. The Bible is considered a history book. It's funny how some will take one author such as Homer and believe his stories and say that he dipicted his time period perfectly or at least close. Yet, the Bible through the NT had four views (eye witnesses) to the life of Christ and not one of them contradict each other and still people claim it's not real. So if they don't beleive that then how can you prove Jesus Christ lived? We can't find Jimmy Hoffa and he lived in our time. Does that mean he didn't live?
  3. You want to able to add him up and find him mathematically. Are you 2+2? No one can be added up and say ahhh, you live because math says so.
  4. You want to define him grammatically. There are too many words that can describe him as there can be for you and everyone else as well.

These are the proofs demanded from those of the science age. But even science hasn’t caught up to what we want to know about our own world let alone a God who created everything. So no matter what, the answer isn’t going to be satisfying to someone who is not open minded about it.

So when the conversation and the intellect is shut down and you get no answer the atheist always turns to “well, if God exist then why all of the death and destruction”. And there is no great answer for that because we will never understand why anything happens. Sometimes we can’t even understand why we do the things we do when we don’t want to do them. It may not be the best answer but a starting point is found here at an older posting on this site: http://ideasoftimreligion.blogspot.com/2008/09/xi-death-becomes-us.html. Again, it will not suffice the close-minded but it’s a start.

Then it seems when that answer doesn’t help, the atheist always starts to reveal something wrong in their life. A father left. A mother died. A child is sick. They were abused when they were younger. It always ends up with experiences in their own life. So they start to question WHY?! That is when they all turn to intellectualism, because they are trying to find the answers to their own life. And when they can’t find it on their own they blame God for all of the problems and decide there must not be a God.

And for some reason many decide to get involved with Christians in discussion groups to try and prove them wrong. Why? Why can’t you just let someone who believes in Christ just believe in him and let them go? Do you go to Muslim sites and argue with them? Do you go to satanic sites, Buddhists sites, or any other and argue? The best guess is no. If this is wrong then let us know.

Here is the actual answer to the last question: It’s a cry for help. Otherwise why waste all of your valuable time arguing about something that does not exist? Do you go to fairy tale sites and take all that time to argue if pixies do not exist? If God doesn't exist then there is nothing to argue about is there?

You are looking for answers. And that is great. You are intellectuals. That is great. But sometimes God is simple. Sometimes God is not in the earthquake, he is in the whisper. Sometimes he is not in the sky with a lightening bolt waiting to throw it, but he is in your deepest, darkest room, in the loneliest of spots waiting for you to ask to show who he really is. If this is wrong, then tell us why are all of you on these sites? If this is right then why not just leave these sites and comment on your own and invite people to read. It is understandable that some want discussion but when it comes down to this topic, it becomes words of insult and brutality. It no longer becomes a discussion.

Ahh...but you won't answer the question anyway.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

XXXIII. What are we up against?

Do you know what you are up against in this world? First of all, 2000 years ago Jesus said that the world will hate you because of Him. Two thousand years have passed and His words ring true.

If you are a Christian, you are hated!

If you talk about God in public, it has to be a generic god. It can be a supreme being. It can be an intelligent designer. It can even be a creator in a sense. You can mention Mohammed. You can give facts about Buddha. You can quote Confucius. But mention Christ and you are an idiot.

You can become a Muslim terrorist and you are separated from other Muslims. But if an abortion clinic bomber happens to be "Christian" then all of a sudden we are thrown into the same bunch as that one person.

You can be a liberal and you are considered passionate. You can be a moderate and you are considered mainstreamed. You can be a conservative and just be considered old. But if you are a Christian conservative then you are a right-winged fanatic.

You can teach science and you are allowed to because you are helping someone learn fact. You can teach language arts to help develop some one's speaking abilities. You can teach history because you are using the past to explain the present and future. You can teach all of these because you are teaching someone how to better themselves. But if you use this education to teach about Christ then you are "preaching" and forcing it down other's throats.

You can send someone to a psychologist because they need help with their mind. You can send someone to a physical therapist because they need help with their body. You can send someone to see a psychiatrist because they help with their feelings. But you can not send someone to see a minister, even though they need spiritual help (and they usually need spiritual help first) because apparently God doesn't intervene or the problem is with our surroundings and has nothing to do with spirituality.

Have you ever tried to surf the net for blogs and/or discussion groups? The following is not an endorsement: but there are mock presidential election sites that let you run for president by allowing you to develop your own platform, debate, and run against others. Blog sites are filled with angry people who are missing life. Many are those who have become atheists in their walks of life. If you take time to read some of these people's ideas, you would realize how sick of a human race we have become. You would learn how distorted true relationships with the eternal God are. You would see hatred come across in so many ways and you feel so alone with your thoughts because once someone finds out that you are a Christian, you become a target for their hostilities.

Stand strong. Keep your faith. Learn what you can and do not become content with where you are. Be passionate and show compassion. Be encouraged and be encouraging. Live to learn. Love to live. Learn to love. Because you may not know what you are up against.

Monday, June 15, 2009

XXXII. Only Mature Christians Read

Not many people did the poll this time around (lowest in site's history). But what was told was that most people who read this site has been a Christian for quite some time. Everyone who answered has been a believer for at least 10 years. That is okay but if you know someone who has questions, steer them this way. If you read this site then please take 5 seconds to do the poll.