Spiritual Gifts: Their Meanings and Structures

Here are some snippets from my book.  If you would like more, let me know.  If you want the whole thing feel free to follow this link to Amazon:  Spiritual Gifts: Their Meanings and Structure.  If you do not have an Amazon account, please leave comment (which will not be published) and I can send you a copy at the same price, $9, no shipping costs.  I have limited supply.

• From Introduction chapter:  Why do a study on the spiritual gifts? Because the gifts are something that the church was supposed to be using and I feel that we are falling short of what was expected. Without the gifts being used the church is not fulfilling all of its potential. We wonder why we are not reaching all the lost souls in this world, yet we are not doing all we need to do be doing. We are not doing the one thing that each of us has been called to do.
• From Cessationism vs Continuationism chapter: One major problem with understanding the gifts is that we have to know if the gifts are still available or not.  Some believe that the gifts have died out when the Apostolic Age ended.... When did Scripture end?  Was it perfected in 70 A.D. with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple like Preterism claims?  The Futurists think that Revelation, the last book in the Bible was written about 85 to 90 A.D.
• From the main part of the book:Why did the early church need apostles? They needed someone to carry on the miracles and message of Christ. The message of Christ was new to everyone. The whole world did not know what following Christ meant since He ascended into heaven. The apostle (lower cased) had to be the deliverer of the word and to take care of people who wanted to follow Christ. They chose local leaders to carry on the functions and leadership of congregations while they were away. They started churches and watched over them. They handled problems of doctrines and teachings. They gave authenticity to others. With this in mind let us define in detail the gift of apostle..... Greek-“apo” plus “stellos”. Apo means “from somewhere”. Stellos means “send out”. The word means someone who was sent from somewhere.  Hebrew- “shaliah”.  It means emissary or one sent on a mission, such as a missionary.  Clarification and meaning of this gift: One chosen by God to be sent out with a unique mission. A specific mission might be starting a church, acting and speaking on His behalf.

Each chapter is dedicated to a different gift and follows the same pattern; why did the early church have it, why does the church still have it, what are the types of this gift, what personalities and issues happen with this gift, the etymology, clarification, and some misconceptions.  Loaded with a full inventory at the end.  Great for class studies or personal growth.

For more here on my blogs:  Spiritual Gifts Overview and Gift of gifts

CXVII. The difference between knowledge and wisdom

There is a huge problem in this world today and the reason has finally come to light.  There is a difference between what we know as knowledge and wisdom.  But the world doesn't know the difference and worse yet, it fuses them as one and use them interchangeably.   When the world does this they lose out on the meanings of life and feel they are more superior than they actually are.

First of all what are these things?  Knowledge is just simply gathering of information and collecting details to understand a topic.  Wisdom is the practice of using the knowledge gained and finding ways to succeed with that information.  Most knowledge can be gained by books and studying. Wisdom can be gained by experience and observations.  Knowledge is intellect.  Wisdom is instinct. Knowledge is information.  Wisdom is common sense.

Someone can be very knowledgeable and very wise.  One does not take away from the other.  However, they also can both be lacking in an individual.  An example of this can be seen here:  Knowledge is knowing that electric currents have both positive and negative charged particles.  Wisdom is knowing not to put your finger in a light socket.  To have both of these is best.  To have neither of these will kill you.  To have the knowledge only takes you so far.  To have the wisdom even without the knowledge is a gift.

As dumb as that example was believe it or not there are people in this world that will not understand the difference.  Many people today (especially Millennials) do no have common sense.  That is society's fault.  We have been pushing math and science, which in and of themselves are great, onto our children without teaching them common sense along side these topics.  This age group gets all the information.  They have all the knowledge and think they know everything but when it comes to common sense they lack it all.

Our society doesn't value common sense anymore.  We teach gun laws.  We teach "love".  We teach using computers.  We teach history.  We teach physics.  But we do not teach common sense that is needed with these.  Such as we can pass any kind of gun law we want but if someone still doesn't understand why guns are here and when you should use them then it doesn't matter.  We can teach about love and what it means to people but if we don't teach common sense about what to do in relationships then it doesn't matter.  We can teach with computers but if we don't teach common sense about when you should use them (such as don't use them for every conversation) then it doesn't matter.

What we have done over the years is deny that common sense is of any value.  But common sense is something the human race has always needed to survive.  Where does wisdom come from?  It is supposed to come from our older generations.  This is why the Bible says in Job 12:12 that wisdom belongs to the aged.  And Proverbs 20:29 says the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.  But we disrespect our older generations.  Those who are "the greatest generation", the baby builders, are now the silent generation.  They are now pushing 80 at the least.  We shun them aside.  We make fun of their dementia and wheelchairs.  They have wisdom to pass on.

But the problem started with the baby boomers.  And baby boomers are the largest group of liberlas there are.  They threw away the wisdom their parents had and started down this road of knowledge only.  The technological age had begun.  They started to rely upon their own intellect and disregarded any wisdom, especially spiritual wisdom.  Liberalism stresses intellect or "knowledge".  They come into complete opposition of people of religion that stresses wisdom.  Granted some of the wisdom is misguided.  But the baby boomers became friends to their children instead of parents; allowing their children to "make up their own minds" for fear of interfering with their individuality or for fear of allowing spirituality coming into any conversation.  The Generation Xers are lost and have been skipped over to the generation that is so filled with "information" it consumes them.  The Millennials are eaten alive by their phones and social media.

Texting, Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube...information, information information.  Knowledge (or what they think is knowledge) is all around them.  They soak it all in but they have no idea how to use that knowledge.  They think just because they have access to this information that they know it all.  One day their knowledge won't matter.  Maybe this why the Bible says that one day knowledge will cease in 1 Corinthians 13:8.  They will gain so much knowledge that it won't matter anymore.  In Daniel 12:4 it says that knowledge will increase in the end times.  But even with Bible scripture some know what it says but do not understand the wisdom behind it.

This is the last generation.  This generation has no clue about wisdom.  They don't want to hear it.  They think they know everything.

CXVI. Why do School shootings happen?

School shootings are not the problem.  They are a result of something bigger.

As with every new school shooting the two sides of the 2nd Amendment argument start to rear their ugly heads.  And it's the same argument each time.  One side says that guns should be regulated and we wouldn't have these issues if guns were off the streets.  The other side says that these things will still happen even if no one had guns and guns are the only things that stop the criminals.  Both sides are correct and both sides are idiotic.

These things will keep going on because we don't understand the problem.  Most are blaming the wrong things.   We fail to recognize that we are only treating the symptoms without addressing the disease.  Most don't even know the difference.  To every disease there are a few things we need to know about it.  There is a direct cause for the disease.  The disease shows symptoms.  Other factors come into play that affect the way the disease spreads. And then we have to deal with the results.  But just like any disease it could have been prevented if we know the cause.  Like most diseases it can be treated.  Like some diseases we can control the factors.  But once it gets this far, like no disease it can be stopped.

Here are the steps of the disease, in reverse order.

• The results---Death.  We have mass carnage that we have to deal with.  We have families that are torn apart.  We have children who are traumatized for life.  We have schools who feel unsafe and fear grips us.  Others get angry and start to blame the factors or symptoms.  We offer prayers.  We grieve.  And then we move on until it happens again.
• The factors---Blame.  We tend to blame these and feel as though dealing with these is the answer.  This is not to say that we should not be dealing with these because we should, but this will not solve the whole problem.  We shouldn't just blame these and feel justified.  Mental illness is a factor.  We live in a world that has fallen and mental illness is a result of that.  Bullying is a factor.  We live in a world where the stronger feel that they can control others through intimidation  Worshiping the famous is a factor.  We uplift those who are famous and want to be like them.  When others get attention it causes some to desire that infamy.  People get famous for the news they make.  Some even do it on social media and get paid millions of dollars for posting videos of how stupid they are.  That brings in the fact that social media is a factor.  It just adds into the infamy, bullying and worshiping that has already been mentioned.  And perhaps that biggest factor is how lazy we have become with parenting.  Adults who have children are no longer in the lives of their children.  They don't get  involved.  They don't ask.  They don't share in their feelings.  And they don't know what is going no in their lives.  Children have no guidance.  But all of these are results of the symptoms.
• The symptoms---Selfishness.  Guns are a symptom.  But it's not what you think.  The argument of "guns don't kill people, people kill people" and "yes, but if the person didn't have a gun then the gun wouldn't be a problem" is always brought up.  Look, both have good valid points.  If there were less guns then there would be less gun violence, period.  And yes, the gun in and of itself sitting there will not kill anyone. All should know about gun safety.  Blah, blah, blah.  Overall the gun is not the issue.  Freedom to own a gun is not the issue.  The issue about guns and what makes it a symptom is the fact that some feel the need to have a gun.  Guns have been around for 600 years.  It's only the last 50 years that the problem has been around and has escalated in the last 20 years.  The feeling we need to have a gun is the issue and a symptom.  The entitlement attitude is a symptom.  Some feel they need to have things and that they deserve things and the should have it now.  This causes self and instant gratification.  We become disrespectful of traditions, order, wisdom, and authority.  The main symptom is our selfishness.  But this selfishness is caused by the disease.
• The disease---Our culture.  We live in a world that has lost its purpose.  This disease has a cause.
• The cause---We lack love.  But even more we don't know what love is.  We have masked love as tolerance and acceptance.  We say that we love our partners, spouses, significant others, but too many times it's only lust.  We have so many distorted ideas of love that we feel love is only temporal.  Love is conditional.  We treat love as though it is okay to be apathetic.

The problem is that we think we can change the result if we find a cure.  But our cure to all of this is with anger and loud voices.  We can protest, write letters, run for office or whatever all we want.  We blame the factors by making wild claims and forget the other side.  We treat the symptoms by passing laws.  We get paralyzed by the results and settle for non-action.  We need to address the disease by acknowledging the cause.

The cure is true love.  True love is patient, kind, doesn't envy, doesn't boast, and isn't proud.  It's doesn't disrespect, or is self-seeking.  It is not easily angered.  It forgives.  It doesn't like evil but it rejoices in the truth.  It protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.  True love lays down its life for its friends.

Until we know this kind of love, the disease spreads.

CXV. Millennial Preaching

As a follow up to Millennial Christianity;

Although the Millennials are being ruined by liberalism, we have to start to ask ourselves how they got this way.  It is highly understandable that the world has influenced this latest generation.  We see it everywhere.  But what makes it worse is that the liberal tables of lies is now sitting in most of our churches and being served by the pulpit.  Church even though is supposed to be non-political (by "legal" matters) has been highly influenced by the liberal side of politics.  But of course the world doesn't mind that part of church.  The church services we have today are not about God anymore.  They are now focused on us.  Sure, that sounds like a good idea and people should be helped.  But when we lose the focus of worshiping God then we lose the focus of the purpose of the church.  This is just an example of what is being said here: Modern Church Worship.

The world drives our pastors'/ministers' words when it should be Spirit-driven.  The church is now more of a self-help clinic and the Bible becomes more of a self-help book.  We might as well bring in Tony Robbins to do the delivering of the Word or sign up for YouTube ministries.  That is not to say that Tony Robbins is not welcomed or that one should not deliver the message of God on YouTube.  But the point is that it's not how we deliver the message but how we deliver the message.

For the past few years what has been noticed is basically this*:  About half of the service is spent on what people can do to live a better life.  "4 steps to a better relationship", "Learn how to deal with life",  "Answering Life's Questions", "40 days to be a better Disciple".  Yes, these are all good lessons and people should know them but these are not what the church needs.  And of course these are all done in a series--to keep people coming back to hear the next step to be a success.  One third of the service is about worship time (the actual most important part of church) but as the link above shows this is what we get out of it.  The other part of church service is spent on rituals that people don't understand such as communion and tithing.  Only one small part of the service is spent of reading the word of God, mentioning what Jesus did for us, or finding out what God wants us to know.  We talk about life, filled with stories about people and how they deal with things and then throw in some scripture.  That is opposite of what it should be.  We should spend most of the time in the actual word and then figure out what it means to us.  God speaks to us that way.  The service is now watered-down to fit the "needs" of the generation---one that can't focus for more than 10 minutes at a time, one that can't do anything without their phone, and one that doesn't know what God wants them to know because we are too busy trying to feel good about who we are instead of changing who we are.

How can we put all the blame on Millennials when the church watered it all down for them?  Either way, this generation is being taught wrong, and they do not know the truth.

*Based on personal observation from a few churches, either in attendance or viewed in television.

CXIV. Millennial Christianity

There is definitely a generation gap when it comes to life in the United States. There are four prominent age groups in today's world. Strangely enough these generations are gapped due to worldly events. These events shape the value system and the direction the country goes when they are in charge. Each generation has an issue with the others. This has probably always been true throughout human history but the past 100 years has proven to be spiraling out of control.

The oldest, that are disappearing quickly due to natural causes is what many will call the Silent Generation, or the Baby Builders. Give or take a few years this generation are those born anywhere between 1914 and 1945. The events that define this generation are the two world wars. Those who were born in the era had their parents go to a world war; one that was supposed to "end all wars", one that included 3 continents for the first time in history, one that included machines as weapons, and one that saw the human race fight in the air for the first time. It was a time of change. The end of their generation saw them fight in their own war; one that was even worse, one that showed us how bad humans have become. We harnessed the power of the sun and almost wiped out a whole people. We saw governments rise to the extreme. We saw the world divide and the goodness of people was tested. This generation lived through the great depression. They know how to live on a budget and get through it if they could not afford it. They survived. They found fun wherever they could. They danced with swing music. They knew the value of work and how to persevere. They are the ones if you go to their homes they have stockpiles of items they feel they need and even some they do not. They value family. They sat at the table. They listened to the news on radio and discussed what they heard. They know what it is like to love a country and value its freedom. They remained loyal to values. Presidents born during this time period were Kennedy, Carter, and Bush. These were the last of the presidents who actually served a full-time stay in the military. They ruled with their values. They took their generation and tried to preserve it like the way they were taught. And most of all this generation loved God. They took the Bible literally. Many didn't question anything the word said. Unfortunately, they didn't understand what the word said either. But they tried.

The next generation, those who are in charge of the world today (and now you know why it is in despair) is what many will call the Baby Boomers, also as the Hippy "free-love" generation. Give or take a few years this generation are those born anywhere between 1945 and 1965. The events that define this generation is the beginning of the atomic era and ended with the start of the Vietnam War. Those in this era saw reasons for war change. It was fight for democracy and beat the bad guys. But this group only saw one thing--kill the Asian Communists, including that of the Soviet Union. They grew up in the scare of the Red devils. They did not know why they were fighting them. Instead of hearing the news on the radio, they started to see things from the TV set and things in life started to take on different meanings. Instead of hearing about war, they saw it with their own eyes. They started to question things that people fought for in the generation before it. Instead of surviving, they wanted to live more. They found ways to escape the way the world was going. Marijuana was rampant. They took time to find things they wanted to do instead of things they needed to do. The invention of the credit card, do it now worry about it later, became part of the lifestyle. They started to question everything in life. They did not like the way things had gone. They started to change everything. Politics, music, love, family, education, and things like that became less valued. You could hear sex, drugs, and anti-war messages in their songs.  They became more self-righteous. Tradition and authority were challenged. Their "do it now, worry about it later: attitude changed society. Divorce rates started to rise because those who were high in the '60s and '70s because they were loving the one they were with, now realized to survive they had to sober up, but when they did they realized they didn't love the one they were with. AIDs and other STDs were now prevalent because their lifestyles were starting the worrying part of their do it now attitude. Abortion rates grow due to the legalization of it in 1973, but the worse part is the reason they were doing it...hiding their past and their lifestyles, instead of taking the responsibility and owning up to what they do. Presidents born during this time period are Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Trump. And with that one can see why things are the way they are. They used drugs. They didn't serve full time in the military. They divided the country. The worst part is they changed the idea of God and His importance. They started to raise families in the absence of one moral standard. Because of this generation every thing started to have gray areas. Right and wrong started to be blurred. Raising a family now had "procedures" instead of values. They felt like they saved the world but only widened the gap between the savable and the non-savable.  To them the Bible and its values are not needed.  Humanistic ideas took precedent over any religious idea, hence the rise of new age and "spirituality" instead of actual faith.

The next generation, those who are the parental ages of today is what many will call Generation X, or the baby busters. It is a smaller generation.  Give or take a few years this generation are those born anywhere between 1965 and 1989.  The events that shaped this generation was the Civil Rights movement and it ended when the Wall fell. This is the last of those who would know what "the Wall" means. They stopped listening to the news and started to turn more towards entertainment.  The values of this generation will never be seen.  This is the lost generation.  Perhaps that is why they are called Generation "X".  They feel like they have had nothing.  Their parents divorced.  The end of this generation were children who had to start taking care of themselves.  Their baby boomer parents were too busy catching up on the work they should have been doing when they were younger.  Because of this they became self-centered and started to be introverts.  Music became angry because they hated things their parents did.  Heavy metal, rap, and punk music solidified their feelings.  Instead of working, they turned to parties and having fun.  They became skeptical of institutions.  They lost their faith on government, their parents, their education, and any value system.  They can't understand the difference between a job and a career.  There are no presidents born in this generation and perhaps never will have any.  This is the generation that has been skipped over.  They feel like they don't matter.  And in return things don't matter to them.  Marriage means nothing.  They would rather just live in the moment.  Their parents divorced, they don't even bother getting married.  They are lost in the transition of this world.  They went straight from "changing the world" to a "changed world".  This is known as the "me" generation.  They feel like they had to fight for themselves since no one else would.  They were crack babies.  Instead of marijuana they started to choose cocaine.  They worried about quantity and popularity rather than quality.  They were raised on McDonald's instead of home cooked meals because the family was breaking down.  They don't know how to be financially stable because their parents had the "do it now, worry about it later" attitude, so too many are stuck in credit debt.  They lost hope in God because their parents didn't raise them with any moral standards.  They are all over the place.  That generation feels like whatever happens, will happen.  They don't know what the Bible says because they weren't raised going to church.

The latest generation, those who are growing up and are now starting to find themselves in this world is what many will call the Millennials, even Generation Y.  Give or take a few years those in this generation were born between 1989 and will be over probably around 2009.  The events that define their generation is era of "peace" with the fall of communism to perhaps the Obama administration.  They loved him.  This group will be old enough to run for president next time.  But they will have thrown away the establishment politics completely.  People like Bernie Sanders will also not be able to exploit them next time with his promise of free stuff.  They will reject the Generation X candidates and go straight for people like Kanye West.  They don't value hard work.  They want things the way they want and cannot accept anything if it is not how they want it.  They feel entitled for everything.  They hide behind social media.  They don't listen to radio, or even use TV to get information.  They rely completely on the internet which of course has every kind of truth, lie, propaganda, micro and macro information there which can never be trusted.  If is not digital or high def then they don't want it, yet they are not willing to work for it.  The drug the use is heroin.  They cut themselves.  Thery self-mutilate.  They hate all authority.  They tend to give their views and if anyone else has an opinion they feel that opinion is wrong and you ca't tell them differently.  There is no safe place.  School used to be a safe haven, now shootings are everywhere.  They don't know how to talk to anyone since they hide behind their "profile" and "status".  Real relationships are non-existent.  They have no idea what a career is.  They think money should just be there for them or things should be free.  If it's not easy, they don't want to do it.  They have been told that whatever they do is ok.  They are winners for just trying.  They don't know how to handle trauma.  Everything to them needs drama are they don't feel anything at all.  They are on their phones for everything.  They don't even want game consoles anymore because they can get it on their phones.  School doesn't have to be with any human.  They can do all things on-line, even college.  They don't learn because the answers are out there on the internet already.  They have no motivation.  Teen pregnancies and abortions are down but teen sexual activity is up.  No one is really thinking about real lasting marriages.  They dream of it but they feel it is not a reality.  Family to them is anyone that will love them for who they are and who won't make them change.  This generation knows about God but they do know who He is.  They have a watered down version of scripture because their grandparents rejected God and their parents were never in church long enough to know anything.

What does this all mean?  Millennials are being raised by grandparents who can't control them.  The older generations are coming back to God but they can't accept all the Bible says.  This generation accepts all lifestyles because everyone is "ok".  They pick and choose what scriptures to listen to and those are the ones that make them feel good about themselves.  Liberal ideas will be the death of them and they don't know it, Conservative Paper #22.  Millennial Christianity is not the full gospel.  And because of this the truth is being suppressed by liberalism.

This is the same generation Paul was talking about in 2 Timothy 3:1-9,

• But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.  For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,  unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,  treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these. For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.

Not one thing in the list above is inaccurate about the world we live in.  This is the generation Jesus was talking about in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 as being the last generation, the one who sees all the destruction. 

The youngest generation which is yet to be defined are still too young to know anything in this world.  As of this writing they are younger than 8 years old.  They will not have the chance to grow up.  

CXIII. The Atheist Dilemma

Is God real?  This is the question that actually makes or breaks all life.  If God is real then we need to find out what He wants.  If God is real then we need to understand what our future holds.  If God is real then we need to try and do what we can to follow Him.  If God is real we have all the answers to life that we need.  If God is real then we have purpose.  If God is real we have a relationship.  And there can be more that is added to the list but, if God is not real then to be honest nothing matters.  If all we have is this life and no consciousness after we die then why even live this life?  But because there is a God, all things matter.  This causes a dilemma for the atheist.  Most atheists believe in nature as the ruling essence of existence (although they will not acknowledge that specifically) with science as their religion (although they will argue they have no religion) and evolution as their savior. But the same three things that are the basis of their beliefs are also the same three things that are their biggest obstacles.

They cannot answer three questions, realistically.  Yes, they can rationalize their thoughts and use human logic to disregard religion and belief in God, but it always falls short and they don't even know it.  Here are the three questions:

1. What lies on the other side of the universe?  Or Where does the universe end?
2. What is the hardest thing to believe in about God?
3. Where did all life begin?

What the atheist will do with these questions is they will take the first one and say it is a misleading question.  They will claim that you are limiting them in their choices, or they will say "the question implies there is something beyond the natural world, so it is invalid", or they will give you some pet answer that atheists are now using about multiple universes.  That will be discussed later.  For the second question, they will give you reasons about what they dislike about God or what they dislike about what the Bible says. That is not answering the question being asked.  Sometimes they will say you can't prove a negative so they will not answer.  And of course some may say the pet atheist answer of "who created God if He created everything" and think they have a valid point.  This will be discussed later.  Then the third question they will usually hijack.  This one they will either answer with, "I don't know and neither do you", or they will say "I don't know...but it doesn't take a Creator to have life".  Or they will go the whole evolutionary route starting with conditions of the universe and amino acids, and RNA, and energy sources.  Again this will be discussed later.

WMAP

Raisin Bread Analogy

So what is the answer to the first question?  There are only a two choices in reality.  Either the universe is infinite or the universe is finite.  There is a problem for the atheist here.  If the universe is infinite then it goes against the science they believe in.  NASA says it is not infinite.  Steven Hawking says it has a beginning.  The latest scientific model explains that the universe is conical. Cone Expansion Earlier models say it was like a loaf of bread, expanding where it can pushing the oldest stars and clusters of the universe out to the brim. Raisin Bread Theory  But both of these go against infinity as a choice. Even worse, if the universe is infinite then it actually explains one of the issues atheists have with God.  How can God be infinite?  Who created Him?  How can atheists believe what they do if something natural can be infinite and not believe something that is more powerful than nature not be infinite?  The second answer by atheists to this question says that the universe came from another universe and those came from other universes, called Multiple/Parallel Universes.  But the issue doesn't change.  One of them has to be the original.  One of them has to be the first and therefore it all had a beginning and is still not infinite.  So the second option is the only option.  The universe has to be finite.  So, what lies on the outer side of the universe?  What is on the outside of the cone or raisin bread?  Their answer:  absolutely nothing.  Well, that is exactly what the Bible says. Thought XLV.  Strike one.

So, what about the second question?  There are infinite (see what just happened) answers here.  But what usually comes up are things like: if God is real then why do bad things happen?  Or, if God is real then why does the Bible say this or that?  Well, the problem is, even though these questions may have actual answers, it is not answer to the question being asked.  The question is, what is hard about believing God exists, not what issues you have with God.  Here is this dilemma for the atheist. Atheists can not use the argument of if God is real then why do bad things happen because how can you blame God for things if He is not real?  Nature to an atheist is the all-powerful force driving life. If God is not real, there would still be death, caused by nature (the essence of all living to the atheist). yet they still believe in nature.  So if nature causes death then by the same argument they gave about God, they should not be believing in nature.  This is not to presume that death is good because "God did it" or say that death is OK.  That is an issue even Christians have a hard time with and even people like Job had issues with this topic.  No one knows why God does things at times.  But that is not the question.  God is still an option of existence no matter what or how you feel about God.  If you believe that way then you are an atheist but a better term for you would be anti-Theist, Atheism. You just hate God, but turn it into a disbelief.  The second answer they say for this question is you cannot prove a negative, so the burden is on the believer.  But if that is the case then why do so many atheists go to the internet, forums, and discussion boards just to say, "there is no God"?  Why do they burden themselves by going to these places?  In both cases, they are really acknowledging the existence of God.  The most common answer is, "if God created all things, then who created Him?". The answer to that lies in the first question.  If space, which is natural, can be infinite then so can a super-natural being.  Strike two.

Finally, the third question is one they think they have an answer to.  Where does life begin?  This is where their savior comes in--evolution.  But some of the other answers may be, "I don't know".  That is a good answer but they will feel the need to add, "and neither do you".  Their ego will not just let them say, "I don't know".  Well, we do.  Another answer would be, "a Creator isn't needed for life to begin".  But, that does not answer the question.  Even if evolution was true, it still had to have its start somewhere.  But, it is not true, Evolution.  And for the Christian, evolution is not an option since God did not use it, Theistic Evolution.  Many scientists have stated that life points to a designer.  The atheists now have come up with new theories like RNA World and the Origins of life,  RNA World but again, they only show life itself, not the actual beginning of life.  In the end they can't admit but nevertheless is true, they don't know where life begins.  But we do.  The Beginning.  Strike three.

CXII. The opposite of Love is not Hate

Word association tests are used by many therapists to see how people feel or what their personalities are like to get answers to some issues they may be dealing with.  Usually people say the opposite of what the word is given to them.  Some other answers are of course acceptable because many can still see the association.  And then there are those weirdos who are not connected with reality and have some kind of strange response that makes the therapists think twice about them.  Such as:

WORD GIVEN	NORMAL RESPONSE	UNDERSTANDABLE RESPONSE	ABNORMAL RESPONSE
Black	White	Color	Neon
Day	Night	Monday	Tooth
Rich	Poor	Money	Polar Bear
Open	Close	Sesame	Clock
Boy	Girl	Scout	Duck
Smart	Dumb	Alec	Verb
High	Low	Dope	Blast

So, if someone did the test with you and gave you the word love, the normal response would be hate. An understandable response would be emotion. An abnormal response could be anything from Aardvark to Zyklon B.  But none of these answers actually tell us what the real opposite or even the real meaning of what love is.

The real opposite of love is not hate.  The real opposite of love is apathy.  Love is not just an emotion so it can't be hate.  Love is not just a feeling, so it can't be associated with food or items we say we "love".  Love defined in the Bible is found in 1 Corinthians 13.

• Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.

Although love is a noun in the essence of our existence, love is a verb when it comes to human interaction.  Love needs to be shown.  It requires action.  The only way to show love is through what you do.  So if that is true then the only way to not show love or to show the opposite of it is to not do anything---apathy.  Parents who neglect their children do not love their children.  Teachers who do not take time out to teach students do not love the ones they ignore.  Spouses who do not SHOW any love to their partner do not love their partner.

Here is the problem with the world.  Some think love is an emotion.  The problem with this is that emotions change with situations.  And when the situation is over they feel they have lost love and they replace it with another emotion.  Or they search for more emotional love and start the cycle all over again.  They will never be satisfied.  The world thinks love means having sex.  They go from partner to partner looking for something that can never be there.  They think love and marriage are interchangeable when they're not.  Younger people think it has to be part of relationship.  They give themselves away only to be hurt when they realize there is more to this world or that their partner no longer wants them in that way.  Guilt and loneliness sets in causing eventually feelings of self judgement and low self esteem.  The world thinks love is conditional.  No.  Love NEVER fails.  It will always be there.  It is there in times of trouble, pain, and disparity.  They try to change things about themselves to fit in.  They go through fads.  They try and "find themselves" because they can't understand that pure love is unconditional and forever but they can't slow down enough to see it, going from situation to situation.  The world thinks love is about tolerance.  No.  Tolerance means you do nothing about something.  And the opposite of love is to not do anything--apathy.  Many think tolerance and acceptance are the same thing but they're not.  You can accept someone for who they are, hence you are patient with who they are.  You are kind to them.  You do not dishonor them for who they are.  But tolerance on the other hand means you give into their actions.  That is apathy.

This is why many people get mad at Christians because we are not tolerant of certain actions, thinking we're not showing love.  No.  We have love and we should should it but intolerance is not hate.  It is just the idea that we do not have to abide by certain standards others want us to live by.  It's the same thing on the non-religious side, only they expect us to have to live by what they say.  They then preach that we are bigots for not tolerating what they do.  But Christians have the biggest hate because we are told to love and yet we neglect those who are hurting.  We see the "wrong doings" in their lives but we forget to see the person.  Christians do not show enough love.  We have the greatest example:

John 15:13

• Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Love is the only thing that will break down barriers.  Laws of man can not do it.

CXI. We live in a Football Mentality World

Watching ESPN from September through December and you see all kinds of news about football.  Even though the World Series happens in this time period and basketball starts in that time period, ESPN fills in air time with football stats.  Watching ESPN from January through April and you see all kinds of news about football.  The Super Bowl happens and the Pro Bowl happens.  Then commentators have to analyze the season with all the mistakes and plays and players issues.  The only thing that brings a lull into the situation is the three week intervention of March Madness. Again within that time period babseball season starts and hockey season and basketball season starts to heat up but we are still hearing all the latest football news.  Watching ESPN from May through August and guess what?  We're still watching all kinds of news about football.  After all, trades, signings, and mid-summer workouts HAVE to be mentioned, not to mention the all important 4 week pre-season events.  Again basketball playoffs, hockey playoffs, the All-Star summer classic happens in the same time period but once again the air waves are filled with football news.  Not to mention the other football game called soccer (but let's just talk about real sports).  It gets even worse when the Olympics are thrown in.  Oddly enough, out of the sports mentioned football is not one of the games held at the Olympics.  But they tend to use football announcers to help cover the sports being televised.  And it isn't more than 10 minutes that one of them will compare the game or match being shown to some football moment. 

 

Anyway, this is not a shot towards the game of football.  It is enjoyable, especially when The Ohio State Buckeyes rip into the team up north each year.  But this is a shot towards the mentality of what we have become as a nation and a people.  People love it; you could say obsessed with it.  The Super Bowl actually has the day named after it; Super Bowl Sunday.  We start the day at 8:00 AM with preshows and analysis of each team and how they got there and stories of their families and we uplift them to hero and demigogue status.  We are glued to the TV to see the commercials and the half-time show.  We throw parties and try to impress every one we know with what we serve.  Why are we so obsessed with the game?

 

It's because our society doesn't know how to stop and look at things.  We have forgotten how to take time out and appreciate things around us.  We are filled with hype all the time.  We want action.  We feel we have to be involved and connected at all times with everything around us.   In football every play involves each and every player, both offense and defense at the same time.  With each play there could be something that causes the crowd to change their demeanor and each play could be the play that creates the outcome.  And if this isn't enough stimulation at least there are cheerleaders in skimpy clothing and lots and lots of beer to consume.  So it is with our lives.  Why do feel the need to always be in the middle, or need to be part of the action?  No one is satsified with waiting for an outcome.

 

The problem is when we live our lives like that we tend to miss the things on the side.  We miss out on the little things that help make our life special.  We want immediate action.  We then tend to react to situations instead of thinking about the issue and working through them.  If it isn't immediate satisfying then we don't want to be a part of it.  And if we react right away it means we are responding to our feelings only.  And unfortunatelty, Christians have fallen into this mindset as well.  We are way too much part of the culture instead of driving the culture.  We fall into the traps of this world and get caught in the same problems.  We over react.  We act on impulse like animals.  We feel rage in the moment.  We lose the sight of the love that we are suppose to show.  And then we wonder why so much hate is in the world.

 

Metaphorically speaking we need more baseball thinking in life.  We need to be able to wait patiently "pitch by pitch" and to be able to assess our lives even in those down times.  Baseball is the only team sport that is not timed.  Football, basketball, and soccer all have their time run out on them.  Baseball is based soley on the opportunities to achieve its goals.  Imagine what life could be if we all just took the time to see the whole picture and not just rush to get things in before our time runs out.

 

How about a nice game of chess?

CX. Science in the Bible.

Did you know the Bible is full of scientific facts that even predate all the fields of science?

Physics says that the whole universe is made up of four things; time, space, matter, and energy.  This is something that even Albert Einstein believed in and was even his foundation for his theory of relativity.  But he was not the first person to write about this.  Genesis 1:1-3 says:

• 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
• 2 And the earth was waste and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
• 3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

The very first thing the Bible says in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. So what right? When the Bible says "in the beginning" it is talking about time.  Before the creation there was no time.  He created the heavens (space), and the earth (matter).  Then later God created light.  Light is a form of energy. So the Bible has proven the ideas of Einstein, or maybe Einstein has given scientific validity to the Bible.

Geology says that the all the world's land masses were once connected called Pangaea.  If you look at any map of the world you could see how that works.  Move Africa and South America closer and closer and you can see how the pieces of the puzzle fits.  Alfred Wegener was the first person to have a complete study done on this topic.  But he was not the first person to actually write this idea down.  Genesis 1:9-10 says:

• 9 And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
• 10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Still in the same passage as the ones above Genesis explains the beginnings of the tectonic plate theory.  The whole world was one land mass.  Now, how we got to seven continents is where science and the Bible may disagree but remember which one explained it first.  History says that usually the first source is the best source.  And the Bible says the world was flooded by an underground fountain (the deep) and also rain from the atmosphere.  If the water burst through the ground that would leave voids and breaks in the plates allowing them to slide and collide.  Water is the most destructive force upon the earth, worse than wind or fire.  Water would change the landscape and God would do the rest.

Physics also says that light travels. Again, another idea of Einstein who borrowed the ideas of Ole Roemer, a Danish astronomer in 1675.  James Maxwell from Scotland then discovered that light moves as a wave. And that this movement is constant.  Light is a form of energy and moves at a constant rate.  Were these people the first to write this idea down?  No.  Job 38:19-20 says:

• 19 Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place,
• 20 That you may take it to its territory and that you may discern the paths to its home?

Light has a path?  Light has a home?  Yes, because if you go back to the 3rd verse of the whole Bible God created the light.  It had a beginning and has been moving ever since.  The home of light is from God.  The light spiritually speaking is Jesus.  He is the beginning.  It comes form Him.

Geography (and satellites) tells us the earth is round.  Well, duh, we can see that now.  But many people from the past, and some may have been believers, had thought the earth was flat.  But, that was mostly a theory by seafarers and not the average person.  But that's not the point.  Galileo and Copernicus were two scientists who first started to publish their ideas about this topic.  Unfortunately, there were many religious leaders who denied this claim and punished Galileo and they were wrong to do so.  If the religious leaders really knew what the Bible said Galileo may have made even more discoveries.  But was he the first to write this all down?  No.  Job 26:7-10 says:

• 7 He stretches out the north over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.
• 8 He wraps up the waters in His clouds, and the cloud does not burst under them.
• 9 He obscures the face of the full moon and spreads His cloud over it.
• 10 He has inscribed a circle on the surface of the waters at the boundary of light and darkness.

There was a circle on the surface of the waters.  This circle is referring to the rest of the earth and its atmosphere. The boundary of light and darkness shows the separation between the atmosphere of the earth and the rest of space.  But what about the earth's location compared to the rest of the universe?  Verse 7 says the earth hangs on nothing.  Sure sounds like space.  And later on in Job it even names two specific stars, Pleiades and Orion.

Chemistry says that all matter has weight and mass.  Mendeleev put together our first periodic table labeling the elements in order of mass in 1869.  He claimed all elements had an atomic weight based on protons and neutrons. Even air, or oxygen, hydrogen and nitrogen if you will.  Was he the first to say that air has mass? No.  Job 28:25 says:

• 25 When He imparted weight to the wind and meted out the waters by measure

God gave weight to air and He set the gases into motion.  We all know from meteorology and Frances Galton in the 1860's that air masses move in two patterns; high pressure systems and low pressure systems. One moves clockwise, the other moves counter clockwise.  Was he the first to say this?  No.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  Ecclesiastes 1:6 says:

• 6 Blowing toward the south, then turning toward the north, the wind continues swirling along; and on its circular courses the wind returns.

Oceanography says the ocean currents moves in circular patterns such as clockwise and counterclockwise. called sea currents.  Well guess what?  Psalms 8:8 says:

• 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

The seas have paths.  Matthew Maury in 1825 discovered this.  But not before the Bible mentions it.

There is even more that can be added, such as the Bible stating there are physical laws of the universe, explains the 2nd law of thermodynamics, that we are in a 3 dimensional existence, there are seasonal changes, and last but not least even explains the big bang.  Genesis 1:1 says that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. But where and from what?  The answers are from somewhere in His power and from nothing.  All of a sudden there was light, time, matter, space, motion, energy, laws, everything we know...from nothing, hence a big bang.

And get this, most of this is found in the Old Testament in either Genesis or Job, the two oldest books written. Almost 3500 years before Newton wrote his laws. Before any field of science was developed. Before we knew anything about the stars and gravitational pulls God had already written down or explained these things to us.  All we need to use is trust the Bible is real because if it isn't then neither is science.  So the answer to the title question is the Bible, but don't exclude science.

CIX. What happens when you take Christ out of Christmas?

Watching television, seeing all the commercials.  Walking at the local Walmart, Kohl's, and Meijer, seeing all the ads and displays.  Listening to the radio and hearing about the "holiday season" and how we should start planning on events.  Each one of these hammered with hints of competition.  And the worse thing, it was two days before Thanksgiving.  Why have we taken such a time of hope and relations of kin and have turned into such a competitive, anti-Christian, free-for-all event?  The word "season" used to mean a special time set aside for making memories and the collectiveness of sharing our lives and dreams together.  But now it just means beat everybody to the punch, in more ways than one.  Somehow, somewhere the true meaning (yes, a cliche) of Christmas has been lost.  No more wishing anyone a heartfelt "Merry Christmas" for fear of offending people.  No more Christmas carolers walking the streets perhaps for the same fear, or because it takes time away from shopping, or maybe even perhaps because no one feels safe in their neighborhoods. Christmas parties at work are now held in bars and after hours instead of taking time to celebrate with each other at work.  Lights on homes have been replaced with overgrown inflatable lawn decorations.  No more down home, silent nights filled with hugs and baking cookies.  Even churches have to put on elaborate plays to try and show the community how "hip" they are to bring people in instead of just sharing the Gospel and being examples of what we should be.  In all of these things one thing is missed.  The word Christ is still there.  But by our actions we would never know it, except atheists (who probably still celebrate it though).

If you take Christ out of Christmas you are left with "mas", the Spanish word for "more".  This is exactly what happens in our lives when we take Christ out of it, or out of anything for that matter..   Yes, this is a play on words but the premise and thought behind the words still remain true.  There are two ways you could look at it. 

1. When we take Christ out, then at Christmas all people want is mas; more.  They want the best products. They want the most expensive products (at the cheapest price, nevertheless), and they want more products.  All in the name of love; love that is bought or earned.  Throughout the year they could have had these products but choose to wait to fulfill the hole left in their hearts during this time of year.  And that brings us to the second point.
2. When we take Christ out, then all people can do is want more.  When they finally realize that the gifts that they bought are opened and shunned losing their hype just a few days later they have to start building up their own hype again only to feel the same way one year later. They are left empty in life and wonder why the Christmas season was not as cheery as it should have been.

People have to understand what the season is all about.  It's not about getting the most, or the best, out of life.  It's also not about cookies or carols.  It's about having hope.  It's about love, but not one that is bought with money, but bought by blood.  This celebration is here to remind us that we can't do it on our own.  One was born into this world to give us all we need.  The gifts are extra.

Merry Christmas, with no strings attached, or regrets...