Life / Religion / Philosophy / Science / Polictics

Category: Life

Discussions of LIFE – as in living life to the fullest. But also LIFE as in purpose, meaning, wisdom, and understanding. This category is all about things that interest me in LIFE.

  • What Are You Going To Hell For?

    Normally a good apologetics case for the truth of the Bible would be built upon a logical foundation.  One might start with the question “Is there a God?” and build from there.  Given the premise that there is a God, one might ask the question “Which god is the God?” or they might ask “Who is God?”  Once a particular god has been settled upon one might ask the questions “What is the personality of God?” or “What is the nature of God?“.  We might progress to the point of asking the question “Do I owe anything to God?” or “Does God expect anything from me?”  And finally we might ask the question “Are there any consequences to not meeting God’s expectations?”

    I haven’t quite built that case over the past couple of years but I need to jump to the end game here.  Hopefully you will see why in a minute.  I would like to consider the question “Are there any consequences to not meeting God’s expectations?” and allow me to express my belief that there are.

    The other day a group of us were sitting around discussing this story about an 18 year old woman who wants to marry her biological father (this story garnered overseas attention here).  This prompted one of the members of the group to make the, rather emphatic, statement “Don’t they know they will go to Hell for that!?!”

    This is always an interesting statement to me because people (all of us here on this earth) tend to establish different levels of criteria for what will get us into Hell and what won’t.  I would like to say a whole lot more about Hell later on.  I believe it is a place.  A very real place.  But for the sake of time in this particular post, lets just agree that Hell (whatever your definition of Hell is – you will note that I have intentionally not provided any links to a definition or description of Hell, this is because I wish to revisit this topic in the future) is the consequence to not meeting God’s expectation.  So if we may agree, for the time being, that Hell is the consequence to not meeting God’s expectations, and it is obvious that we all establish different levels of criteria for what will cause us to end up in Hell, then the obvious question that arises is do we really understand what God’s expectations are?

    In the particular case of the referenced story, some of the group either held a preconceived belief, or else had decided that their own threshold level for going to Hell was incest (this definition is a little broad.  I’m fairly certain the level of impact meant by the statement was sexual intercourse between immediate biological family members).  The implication of the statement is “Hey!  If you engage in this activity you ARE GOING TO HELL!!!” as opposed to some lesser (or perceived to be less offensive) activity.

    If we follow this logic we are left to conclude that if one engages in incest, they are destined to go to Hell.  But is that really the case?  I don’t care what your Life foundations are, if you are an Evolutionist or a Creationist, we are all faced with the fact that at some point in the distant past of human existence, we all gained our bloodlines from a single set of parents.  Actually, if you are a Christian, you should believe this happened twice in human history because you should believe that the great flood wiped out all humans except for Noah and his immediate family.  And from both the initial creation, and the flood, all human existence grew from a very limited set of parents.  Hence, incest, on a fairly large scale.

    The question then becomes, if incest is the criteria for failing to meet God’s expectations and thus ending up in Hell, what about all of those people in the beginning?  It would be a very cruel God to establish one set of rules for one person and a completely different set for another person.  So what are we to believe here?  Did incest used to be OK and pass God’s “stay out of Hell” test and now incest is not OK and actually fails God’s “stay out of Hell” test?  And is that the only criteria?  Because we, as human’s, want to believe that incest will send us to Hell, but a small lie, while not the right thing to do, is not quite enough to send us to Hell.

    Now please don’t get me wrong here.  I am definitely not advocating, nor making a case for incest.  It was only the topic of conversation.  I could use any heinous sin such as murder to make the case.  The fact is, there is a line drawn in the sand with the belief being that when that line is crossed, you have failed God’s expectations and thus are destined to face the consequences of Hell.

    I could make the same arguments about any SIN you want to put before the group for conversation.  There are examples of those that have committed great sin and yet God himself has brought to light their redemption.  Moses committed murder.  He killed a man in a fit of anger and rage.  And yet God himself buried Moses when he died, and when Jesus stood on the mount of transfiguration the disciples looked and recognized him (Matthew 17:1-4).  So here we have a murderer, and Jesus is standing with him on the mount.  That is quite a paradox.

    Rather than focus on what we can, or cannot do to avoid Hell, it might be better to focus on exactly what God’s expectations are with-respect-to our response to him and try and determine if there is a level of expectation that avoids Hell.

    One thing I can absolutely guarantee you of is that we all have met the threshold of SIN to deserve Hell (Romans 3:22-24).  No, I’ve never engaged in incest nor physically murdered anyone, but even that small lie, that moment of ill will toward another, those times when I’ve rebelled against God, those are more than enough to seal my place in Hell.  And you and I are in the exact same boat.  We are ALL headed for Hell from the day we are born.

    So what then is the answer?  It is actually found in Romans 3:22, the beginning of the point where Paul tells us we’ve all sinned and are deserving of Hell.  The answer to the righteousness of God (meeting his expectations) is through Jesus Christ and is upon those that believe.

    Jesus Christ himself told Nicodemus that those who believed in him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).

    It is what we do with the person of Jesus Christ that determines whether or not we meet God’s expectations and avoid Hell.  Not who we lie to or whom we lie with.  We can live our lives by all the guidelines we can possibly establish, but if we miss the person of Jesus Christ, that he is the Son of God, God in the Flesh, and that he died on the Cross paying the penalty for our sins, that he and he alone is our answer to meeting the expectations of God and thus avoiding Hell, that our belief and our faith must be in and through him, then we have missed the mark.

    So what are you going to Hell for?  Because if you feel safe having never committed murder or engaged in incest, you’ve missed the mark.  The one thing in life that will determine whether or not you meet God’s expectations and avoid Hell, is what you do with the person of Jesus Christ.

     

     

  • Expectations In Life …

    Expectations in life can be a roller coaster ride.  A series of ups and downs and twists and turns.  Sometimes you are upside down and other times you are plummeting straight towards the ground.

    There are many religions in the world that teach transcendental meditation as a way of emptying oneself or removing all expectations from ones life.  However, while proclaiming this is the path to fulfilment or completeness, they do little to explain what that state is when achieved, and why it is to be desired.

    For the true atheist there is no good way to manage expectations.  Since this life is all there is, you either go for the gold or you do not.  Either way, you are bound to be disappointed at some point in time.  But it is kind of shallow since whatever your expectations are, they are temporal in the here and now.  The true atheist can only be happy or sad in the present moment and is in a constant pursuit of the next stage of happiness.

    In reality, the true atheist is not seeking the betterment of others because they desire the well being of the other person, but rather because by helping (or perceiving to help) the other person they themselves experience some type of satisfaction or feeling of accomplishment.  But why is that?  Why does generosity or kindness to another bring a sense of fulfilment to the person offering that kindness?

    For the theist the management of expectations and the inequities in life are a much different matter.  The theist should realize that they are part of a much grander plan and that the Master (God) is the architect of that plan.  And for the Christian specifically, they should realize that the grander plan has many different forces at work within it.

    I believe that a majority of stress and anxiety people experience in their lives is due to mismanaged expectations.  Mismanaged expectations lead to the roller coaster ride we experience when we find ourselves in the middle of situations we did not plan for, or places that we believe to be unfair, or a condition outside of our control.  And it is that roller coaster ride that leads to the stress and anxiety within our lives.  And that has a devastating effect on us spiritually, physically, and emotionally.

    Jesus Christ said it like this:

    “7 And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them.  8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him;  9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room.  10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee.  11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.  12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.  13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:  14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”  (Luke 14:7-14)

    But Jesus was not telling us we should not be without hope, rather he was telling us that  we should not assume that place which we are not offered and we should manage our expectations.

    Everyone wants to sit at the head of the table.  The problem with the head of the table is there are limited seats of honor.  If every seat is the seat of honor then we should have no expectations at all.  However since every seat is not the seat of honor (nor can they be), we should manage our desires and seek the lower seat until asked by the Master to move to the head of the table.

    This is contrary to the thinking of the world today.  Everyone wants the best that life has to offer.  Some would view Jesus’s teachings on this point as that of a defeatist attitude or a meek and underwhelming person.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

    It is equally as dangerous to attempt to manipulate the system.  If you sit at the lowest place for the express purpose of gaining the Master’s attention and then you are passed over, you run the risk of becoming angry because you were not noticed.

    It is not how you play the game, it is where you heart is at within the game.  A right heart will manage expectations appropriately and as such will not be offended sitting at the lowest place or the highest.  A right heart will stay in tune with the Master desiring his will and to serve him completely.  A right heart will avoid stress and anxiety in life not by attempting to empty oneself, but rather by putting oneself into a right relationship with God.

    I will be the first to admit that this is one of the more difficult lessons in life.  And one that I sincerely wish God would teach me more about.  It is hard not to want to sit at a higher place at the table.  Even those that have no desire to sit at the head of the table struggle to manage expectations in life.

    But those that do achieve (even on some small level) to place themselves into a right relationship with God have a great reward to look forward to.  It was this same Jesus which also said:

    “29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.  30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.”  (Matthew 19:29-30)

    There are going to be quite a few surprised people in the new life when they learn that their place is not what they thought it was going to be.

    So what are your expectations in life?  Mine are having a right relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

  • Whose Justice Is It Anyway?

    I know a lot of Old Testament Christians.  You know what I am referring to when I say an Old Testament Christian, right?  An Old Testament Christian is one who doesn’t know how to rightly balance The Law and Grace.  The two concepts have never been rightly defined and rightly applied within their own lives.  An Old Testament Christian is one who declares “Kill them all and let God sort them out!” at the most extreme, and those that cry “Good!  I hope they suffer!” at the least extreme.  And to what end?  Do they think their own perceived injuries will be vindicated by the death or suffering of the unrighteous?  Of course they won’t.  If they are looking for justice here on Earth, they are looking in the wrong place.

    A lot of these Old Testament Christians will point out that God is a Just and Holy God and that he cannot stand the wicked to be in his presence.  They are quick to point to passages like Psalm 58:9-11 but then do not believe that Romans 3:9-11 somehow refers to them.  And if there are none righteous (and the passage says “no, not one“) then who is there to rejoice at the vengeance of the wicked?

    And it is not just Christians that fall into the trap of proclaiming their justice to be the definitive balance between right and wrong.  Here in Baltimore, Maryland this week there were protests over the Freddie Gray incident similar to others held around the United States of America the last several months.  A common rallying theme heard at such protests is “What do we want?  Justice!  When do we want it?  Now!” and all the while the vast, vast majority of those that pick up that cry have never received injury from those they seek vengeance from, nor will they ever receive injury within their lifetimes.  And yet they still demand justice.

    Everyone wants Justice.  The problem is, everyone wants their justice (or justice as they perceive it).  When it comes to justice for you or for me or for anyone else, only they are able to judge rightly.  Only they have the right sensibilities to correctly apply justice and to extract the exact amount of payment necessary for the crime.  We all stand around and judge one another seeking justice for those perceived injuries we feel we have received in our lives.

    I have had the sheer joy and pleasure of hearing Dr. Ravi Zacharias speak on several occasions.  One of the most profound things I have ever heard him proclaim (and there have been many) is “If there is no God it makes a mockery of justice“.  And it is true.  Where is the justice for those that died in the Nepal Earthquake?  Where is the justice for those wrongfully persecuted and imprisoned?  Where is the justice for those that are born into impoverished and violent conditions?  Any Atheist who holds to a model of justice in this world is a fool.  Their own model should tell them that the chaos within the system will never allow it to be achieved.  And if it were, Whose Justice Would It Be Anyways?  Yours?  Mine?  Or theirs?  I can certainly assure you it will never be “Ours”.

    Allow me to illustrate the point this way.  Here in the United States we have an idiom (a saying) that goes “You can’t fight City Hall“.  It is a way of saying that you are going to receive an injustice whether you want it or not and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.  I had an Atheist (self acknowledged) boss once tell me (in almost the exact same breath) that (a) I couldn’t fight city hall.  And (b) that he was the fairest boss in the entire company.  And he didn’t even realize the irony of what he was saying when he said it.  The fact is, he was saying that any justice other than his did not matter and since he was the most just (fair) it didn’t matter that you couldn’t fight it because it was totally righteous to begin with.  Because that is exactly what those two sentences put together mean.  He also didn’t realize that just the mere statement of his own self acknowledgement of being the “most fair“, makes him not fair.

    No, there is no Justice here in this life.  Oh, there are pockets of Justice here and there.  There are times when things seem right and just.  But there are far more times when we want to cry out for justice and it seems fleeting or escapes us.

    What then should our response be here in this life?  My Old Testament friends would point out that we should be like God (at least that is what they mean to say).  But I would point out that we are to be like Jesus Christ.  One might argue that Jesus Christ IS God, and you will get no argument from me on that point.  But Jesus Christ is the expression of God in the form of man (see Philippians 2:7-9) and is the example on how we are to be.  There are some traits of God we will never possess, nor should we, for he alone is God.  But we are to be like Jesus Christ.

    And what was Jesus Christ like?  Well consider the time when he was in the Temple teaching (pretty much minding his own business) found in John 8:2-11.  When a woman caught in the very act of adultery (stop and think of the sheer embarrassment of that for a moment) was brought before Jesus Christ, what was his response?  It is found in verse 11, where he says “Neither do I condemn thee:“.  If the God of Heaven and Earth stands before a woman caught in the very act of adultery (which is a violation of the law) and says to her that he does not condemn her, then who are we to seek our irrelevant justice here on Earth?  Please note the last part of Jesus’ sentence to the woman, “go, and sin no more“.  He said “sin no more“.  Jesus Christ recognized that she had sinned.  He realized that she was in the wrong.  And yet there was no condemnation.

    That is Grace.  That is God’s Grace.  And that is Grace as only God can deliver it.

    Perhaps the world would be a slightly better place if we were to all step back and consider our injustices, and before we seek justice or vengeance ask ourselves the question: Whose Justice Is It Anyway?

  • Are You Walking Through Fire?

    Fire Walking has been a test of a person’s mettle for several thousands of years (or so the claim goes).  The afore referenced Wikipedia article places it at around 3,215 years old.

    Today, many people attend seminars that supposedly help them build confidence by walking across glowing embers.  You can find a number of them with this search here.

    The first one that showed up on my list (your mileage may vary)  (Firewalking Institute of Research and Education) suggests that:

    “In just one four-hour seminar, you can discover your inner strength, power and confidence. Journey with us through the fire, and you’ll discover an exhilarating world where anything is possible. You’ll be guided through overcoming your fears, building your inner strength and finally, after a calm and confident walk across the red-hot coals, claiming the life of your dreams on the other side! You will profoundly understand that you can do anything you want.”

    This quote is from their Seminars page.  Many of the other Self-Help, Motivational, Fire Walking symposiums will tell you the same thing in a very similar fashion, but with different words.  They are all here to help you gain confidence and change your life!

    I can’t help but wonder though, if any of the gurus that guide these self-help events know about the most impressive Fire Walkers in all of history?  That would be my friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  You can read the accurate story of their encounter here.

    You see my friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did not just walk across some glowing embers that someone had spread out on the sand, they were cast, bound, into an oven that was so fiery, and so hot, that it literally consumed those that cast them into it (Daniel 3:22).  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego really and truly knew what it meant to walk through the fire.

    I also can’t help but wonder if any of these self-help gurus are sensitive to the plights of folks all around them that Walk Through the Fire each and every day?  These would be the folks that face life’s most challenging situations head on without any or little support from those around them.

    I know such people.  A coworker and friend actually.  I saw my coworker the other day, as I do most days, and he asked me what my plans were for the weekend.  I began to outline a weekend with family and friends spent at a local area theme park where we were looking forward to fun, and shows, and fine dining.  But I noticed that he had something much more troublesome on his mind.  So I paused and asked him about his plans for the weekend..

    And that is when he relayed to me his story, a story he told me that no one else at work had heard yet.  My friend told me that for the past year he has been struggling to keep his marriage, and his family intact.  His wife has asked him for a divorce and he was facing some very difficult decisions regarding his home, his daughter, and his very future.  This weekend, he told me, he was going to have to sit down and have a discussion with his mother and ask to move back in with her.  And let me add some more relevancy to the story, my friend is an older gentleman and I gather his daughter is college/career age and we are talking an impact of a  marriage that spanned decades coming to an end.

    My friend is Walking Though the Fire right now.  And he is walking through fire that is hotter, and more trying, and more damaging than anything the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education would ever have him walk through (or across, as the case may be).  He is walking through life changing, life impacting, and life scarring fire.  Fire that will try his faith and his very foundations in life.

    So regular readers of this blog may ask the question, what exactly is your friends life foundations?  Well, he is a Theist.  He believes in God.  He gave his life to Jesus Christ some 44 years ago.  And he has grown in the Lord over those years and today serves as a Deacon in his church.  He was raised in a Christian home, and I believe (based upon his active Church life) that he attempted to establish his home as such as well.

    And yet God is allowing him to Walk Through the Fire.  Why?  Why does God allow His children to encounter some of the deepest, darkest, and most trying times in life?  I believe there are several reasons, but one very compelling reason is that when standing before the Judgment Seat of God, no one will be able to claim that God favored those whom he loved in such a way as to provide them an unfair advantage in their path to seek him out.  As in the case of Job of old, God says to Satan (or anyone else who will listen) “Have you considered my servant …”?

    God has allowed people to Walk Though the Fire since the beginning of time.  God did not take away the fire walk from Shadrach, Meshach, or Abednego, rather he allowed them to pass though it to show that he was God.  And what was their response?  It is found in Daniel 3:16-18.  GOD IS ABLE TO DELIVER US!  They knew that God could deliver them.  BUT (and that is a very important but), If he does not, WE STILL WILL NOT BOW DOWN.  Rock solid Faith.  Even when faced with the fire, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, stood on their Faith in God, no matter what.

    Every time I begin to think my life is not as good as it could be, I come across a friend or a coworker, who shows me what it is really like to Walk Through the Fire all the while keeping their Faith.

    If you are Walking Through the Fire today (like my friend and coworker), I pray God’s Peace, and His Mercy, and His Love, and His Grace would touch you in such a way that you would have to know you have been touched by the hand of God.  And I pray that God would carry you safely to the other side.  BUT, If he does not, I pray that like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego you would KNOW that he still is God.

  • I Am Chief Amongst Sinners

    Let me just be brutally honest with the rest of the world here for a brief moment in time.  I am the worst person I know.  By this I mean that I AM THE FOREMOST SINNER IN THE WORLD.

    And let me be clear as to exactly what I am saying here.  Dictionary.com defines sin as: “transgression of divine law“, which is a fair definition.  Merriam-Webster eventually gets to that in their definition here (see 2a).  A slightly better definition might be Sin: anything that offends God.  A slightly more refined definition might be: Sin: that which is against the nature of God.

    Whereas Evil is defined as: morally wrong or bad; immoral; wicked.  Evil IS sin, however in the humankind preponderance of things, Sin is not necessarily Evil.

    That is to say a Sin is telling a lie.  Telling a lie is a transgression of God’s law.  However, depending on the lie, most people do not think of a lie, in and of itself, as evil.  A serial killer such as Ted Bundy is thought of as Evil, and usually (by most) as a sinner.  Ergo humans have a tendency to separate Evil and Sin, usually equating Sin with Evil, but not necessarily Evil with Sin.  But I’ll get back to this in just a minute.

    To further clarify, just let me say that in order to Sin you must transgress God’s law or offend the nature of God.  And THE God I am referring to here is NOT Buddha, or Allah, or any of the gods of Hinduism, or Gaia, or any of the Greek gods, or any other god, but rather Jehovah God, the God of Abraham and Isaac.  The God of Israel.  The God of the Bible, the Word of God.  The God I refer to here is the great I AM, the one true God known to the world as a triune being in the parts of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.  The Creator, the Alpha and the Omega, the One that was, and Who is, and Who is to come.

    Now I realize that you may have a different god, or no god at all, or perhaps just not agree with my definition or identity of God.  And I need you to understand that I respect that, I really do.  However I need to be perfectly clear here in order for you to understand exactly what I mean when I say I AM CHIEF AMONGST SINNERS.  Because I mean specifically, not generally, and I mean I am a transgressor of God’s law.  THE God’s law.  Because when it comes right down to it, if your God is just a god, or some god, and not THE God, then what does it matter if you’ve sinned against him or not?  After all, eventually it is THE God that matters, not any other god in between.

    So, as I keep saying, I AM CHIEF AMONGST SINNERS.  A violator of God’s law.  And God’s law, when you are referring to Jehovah God, would be the Ten Commandments.  In this context I would be found to be an Idolater, a Liar, a Thief, a Coveter, basically one who has violated all the laws of God.  I am the person on the face of the Earth who has grieved the heart of God more than any other.

    And I constantly have some people who know me tell me “No you’re not.  There are EVIL people in the world.  There are much worse people in the world than you“.  But are there really?  From God’s perspective we are all sinners (Romans 5:11-13) and (from God’s perspective) Sin is Wicked (i.e. Evil) (2 Chronicles 7:13-15).  Note that in 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says that if his people shall turn from their WICKED ways … he will forgive their SIN.  God equates Sin to Wickedness (and recall that our definition of Evil was those that are wicked).  God goes as far as to declare that even though we speak righteousness, we harbor wickedness within our hearts (Psalm 58:1-3).  From God’s perspective, we have all sinned and come short of the Glory of God, and we are all wicked in our hearts.

    OK, but what makes me the most sinful of all the sinners who have ever walked the face of the Earth or who ever will walk the face of the Earth?  Well some two thousand years ago another man, Paul of Tarsus, said that he was chief amongst sinners (I Timothy 1:14-16).  Look at verse 16 there.  The Apostle Paul says: “Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering …“.  The Apostle Paul said “in me first“.  And he said this because he knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that redemption must, by necessity, start with him FIRST.

    You see, if I am championing YOUR redemption, if I am constantly judging YOU to be the biggest sinner, but I have not been redeemed myself, then all is lost for I have not only failed you, but I have also failed in and of myself.  When it comes to recognizing your need for redemption, it must start with you and nowhere else.

    And thus, from my perspective, I AM CHIEF AMONGST SINNERS.  Because the one thing I do know, is that I NEED God’s redemption.  And it begins with me, and nowhere else.

    One other thing about understanding your standing with God and the rest of the world.  And this goes to the heart of something I believe we have lost in today’s world.  And that is understanding the songwriter William R. Newell when he wrote “Oh, the love that drew salvation’s plan!  Oh, the grace that brought it down to man!  Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary!“, because the greater the understanding of my sinfulness, the greater that mighty gulf that God did span At Calvary.

    However, here is the word of encouragement for YOU:  If God would span that gulf At Calvary for one who is Chief Amongst Sinners, as I am, then how much more would God be willing to go for YOURSELF?  I believe the answer is: ALL THE WAY.  I challenge you to check it out and see if I am right.

  • The Greatest Question Of All Time …

    Here it is, Easter of 2015, or Resurrection Sunday.  Many cultures around the world celebrate Easter.  Here in the U.S.A. Easter egg hunts, as well as chocolate bunnies are a great tradition.

    Over the years (especially the last five or six), I’ve had various Theists (specifically those of the Christian persuasion) come to me and inquire as to whether or not I thought Easter Egg hunts were a good idea.  And I would always ask “Why wouldn’t they be?”  They are children, hunting colorful eggs, some hidden in plain sight, and filling baskets with joy and laughter.  What could possibly be wrong with that?

    It is amazing to me the number of Christians that don’t have a problem with Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy, but the Easter Bunny is of a questionable nature for some reason.  I suppose if you wanted to separate the Easter Egg Hunts from the Church (that is not hold them on Church property), that would be OK.  But I’ve known many churches that have all kinds of secular programs from bingo, to a 1950’s Ice Cream parlor, to even a Halloween Haunted House held on Church grounds.  I am reminded that on a couple of occasions, two great men of God told me that (1) Not everyone is called to be a Saint Francis of Assisi, and (2) God never intended for Christians NOT to have fun.

    Saint Francis of Assisi believed that in order to get close to God he needed to be devoid of all worldly possessions and wait on God to provide for him. But my mentor was saying God hasn’t called everyone to take all their worldly possessions and give them to the poor.  You need look no further than Job to understand that God desires to bless his children greatly.  God also created us to have fun.  He never intended for life to be dull and boring.  And somehow I think that the laughter of little children as they inquisitively run around looking for colorful eggs, warms the heart of God.

    My point here is that we spend all of our time worrying about the less important questions rather than THE important question.  We can have all the holier-than-thou discussions in the world, (i.e. I am holier than you are because I don’t taint Christmas, the celebration of the birth of Christ, with Santa Claus) but unless we have dealt with the MOST IMPORTANT question, we’ve become sidetracked and done ourselves a great disservice.

    And what is the MOST IMPORTANT question you will ever deal with in your life?  It is “Who is the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth to you?”

    Because if he is who he said he was, and if he did what history has recorded he did, and if the eye-witness accounts are correct, he could make the greatest difference to you for all of eternity.

    And of all the claims, of all the acts, of all the accounts recorded of Jesus Christ, the most important one to consider is of him having DIED on the Cross and then having Risen from the dead on the third day.

    Why?  Because surly only God has the authority over life and death, and if he demonstrated such, then the claims he made must be true and real and that would indeed have the greatest impact on all people who ever have lived, who are alive today, and who ever will live.

    The Bible claims that Jesus Christ died on the Cross (John 19:33-35).  The record clearly states that the Roman Soldiers found Jesus Christ to have been dead upon the Cross.  Their JOB was to see that the prisoners were executed.  No Roman Soldier would have risked their own life and reputation by not carrying out their duty.  Roman Soldiers carried out their duties loyally and upon pain of death.  There were witnesses standing around.  John himself records the fact that he was one of those witnesses.  There could have been no chance whatsoever of a cover up or a conspiracy.  The Roman Soldiers came to the Cross containing the body of Jesus Christ and found him to be dead.  And to confirm that fact to themselves, one of them took a spear and ran him through the side.  Blood and water came out, which most medical professionals acknowledge as a clear sign of death.  So the Roman Soldiers found him to be dead, and pierced his side with a spear to confirm that fact, which resulted in an observation that did confirm that fact for them, and the witnesses who saw this also agreed that Jesus Christ was indeed dead upon the Cross.

    Now I realize there are those today who have analyzed this scenario to the extreme.  They have theories that Jesus Christ was not really dead, just near dead.  That he awoke within the tomb and that he was nurtured back to health and that he died later in life.  But all of those theories have one problem, they don’t match the historical record.  They are just theories that are grounded in what people want to believe and not what the facts and the eye witness accounts have to say.  If we are to go with what the historical record says, and what we know to be the facts, we are left to conclude unequivocally that Jesus Christ did indeed die on the Cross and that he was buried within the tomb.

    But did Jesus Christ actually leave the tomb, of his own free will, alive and well?  Dr. Lon Solomon, Senior Pastor at McLean Bible Church in McLean, Virginia has taught somewhat extensively on this subject.  And in this sermon he examines the facts as determined from the historical record.  One is left to conclude that either YES, Jesus Christ did rise from the dead and leave the tomb as the historical account relates, or else the story is the greatest hoax ever perpetrated upon the human race.

    The facts in the case are that Jesus Christ did rise from the dead.  He did fulfil prophesies that were statistically impossible to fulfil, and his claims of being the Son of God were, and are, true and accurate.  Jesus Christ is indeed, God in the flesh and the Savior to all mankind.

    So we can sit around and argue about who is holier than whom on this Easter Sunday, debating on whether or not we should or should not allow our children to enjoy a few colorful eggs and some chocolate bunnies, OR we can deal with the Greatest Question of All Time – Who is Jesus Christ to Me?

    My answer is: He is the Son of God, My Lord and my Savior, the most pivotal figure in all of history.  But you will have to answer that question for yourself.  I only pray that you give it the due consideration that it deserves.

  • Is It Your Time?

    I recently heard a young woman giving a speech during which she proclaimed to all within her age group that today was her generation’s time.  This is a somewhat common phrase heard in most cultures around the world.  The idea that now is your time (or our time) is an expression fairly well understood by most people of the world.  It embodies the sentiment that a generation should seize the moment (carpe deim – as it were) and lead the way into the future.

    Every generation that comes along encounters a point where they (the collective of the generation) believes it is their time.  But what does this really mean?  Does anyone, or any one generation really own time (or even a segment of time)?

    Time is an interesting thing.  We mark time as humans because we know things from a finite perspective.  We experience a beginning, birth, and we at least perceive an end (death).  We know history from this finite perspective as well.

    For the Atheist, especially those that ground their beliefs in an Evolutionary model, time is a critical component.  It is used as both a validator of their model as well as a marker of why we are at the place we are within that model.  By this I mean that time, and lots of it, are necessary for their model to make any sense or to even work.  And time also serves as a marker within their system to explain how we (mankind) got here and to predict where we are going.

    But time is literally a linear thing.  It stretches in both directions from the point we find ourselves within it until it literally out distances itself from our present day means of comprehension.  Consider the fact that some (and I stress some, not all) Scientists place the age of the Universe at approximately 13.77 billion years old.  This “age” is calculated based upon a singularity (in this case the Big Bang event).  But what about time before the Big Bang?  Did it not exist?  Despite the fact that Dr. Stephen Hawking’s lastest work on the subject, The Grand Design, might suggest that you can indeed get something from nothing (a mental and mathematical gyration of adding matter and anti-matter (a 1 and -1) together, he simply cannot erase time.  What was before the nothingness?  What was going on while we were sitting around waiting for the nothingness to combine that matter and antimatter together in order to produce the Big Bang (yes, I’ve greatly simplified the theory and boiled it down to something a layperson can discuss – the essence is still the same)?  What happens after the eventual end to the Universe when everything collapses back in on itself?  Does time suddenly stop?  Just because everything known and unknown ceases to be?  Common sense would dictate not.  If Scientists wanted to be fair about their supposed age of the Universe they would simply proclaim it to be infinite, stretching beyond any hypothesized singularity or event and extending it to limits heretofore uncalculated and unimagined.

    However, if they were honest in doing so, they would also produce an ironical paradox for themselves in that the Evolutionary model is built upon bounded, and calculated, periods of existence.  Once you step into the realm of the infinite, you begin to build a Theistic model, and that is something they reject.

    For the Theist this is not a problem.  When you have a God at the head of your model, you understand that God created (literally started) time himself.  My Theistic model holds that God exists outside of time.  He is not part of it, and thus is not subject to its rules, limitations, and properties.  God, and God alone, is the Supreme being who created the model, including time, that we find ourselves within.  And what existed on the other side of the beginning?  Why God, of course.

    Time is also interesting in that no one person or generation has any more or less time than any other generation or person.  We all mark time exactly the same and we all co-exist within that period of time that we are a part of with others.

    My Theistic model also places us into eternity.  An eternity in which we continue to mark time (Isaiah 66:22-24) (Revelation 22:2) by month, and by extension, by year.

    And given that we all face an eternity of time (although our eternity certainly had a beginning, and yet is without end) one might beg the question “When is your time“?

    From the Theistic perspective, you should seize the day, but not because now is your time, but because what you do today determines the remainder of your disposition throughout all of eternity.

    In reality, it is all of our time, both young and old, and everyone in between.  And our time is only what is allotted to us here in this present life on Earth.  And that time is the determining factor of all of eternity for all of mankind.  It is actually the one thing that makes Atheism such a sad state of affairs.  Because theirs is a gamble that once the perceived end is here, there is no more time (for them) and nothing matters any more (why it mattered before or matters now is a great mystery I have questioned many times before in this blog).  However, if the Atheist gambles incorrectly, and the Theistic model proves true (as I believe the evidence supports), they then have an eternity to exist with the consequences of a life choice made during A Brief History of Time (pun intended).  And during an eternity, 13.77 billion years will seem but a blink of an eye to us all.

    So my rhetorical question: Is It Your Time? should be answered with a resounding “Yes!” and each and every one of us should make the most of it.  Moreover we should all take that time, granted since our beginning, to determine for ourselves, will we, or will we not, care what happens for an eternity?

    The Theistic model says: Yes!  I do!  After all, Its Only Time.

  • God is in control …

    There are mysteries that are paradoxes in life.  And that is by design, we are not meant to understand all things.  This is a difficult thing to accept for most people.  We want to believe we can know it all, discover all things, understand the mysteries of the universe.  But the fact is, we will never have infinite knowledge nor infinite wisdom.  We will always be searching to understand, and to make sense of the great paradoxes we experience in life.  The greatest paradox for me in this life is the reality that mankind possesses free will and God is completely in control at exactly the same time.  One of the hardest concepts for people to wrap their thoughts around is that of their own destiny and the meaning of life.

    For the true Atheist, the ones that are completely honest with themselves and others, there can be no meaning to life.  The fact that one could alter one’s own destiny or that one’s life could hold any meaning when the entire Universe is the random product of physical, chemical, and biological laws is completely ludicrous.  Furthermore the idea of karma within the Atheistic model is completely nonsensical.  There is absolutely no foundation for morals, justice, rewards, or punishment.  How can there be?  Everything that is, or is not, is simply a product of the physical and meta-physical laws of the Universe, be they known or unknown.  Everything we encounter is a product of natural occurrences and the ideas of fate, freewill, or a spiritual life are completely foreign.  So the true Atheist really has no ground upon which to argue destiny or the meaning of life.  And by extension, in the Atheistic model there is no concept of fair, there is no right, no wrong, and justice is pure foolishness.  You live, you die, and you have no control over the process while you are a part of it.  Everything is pre-determined so far in the past it can hardly be comprehended and everything will carry so far into the future there is absolutely no hope whatsoever anyone or anything will ever be remembered.

    For the Agnostic, those that are completely neutral on an Atheistic or Theistic foundation, it really doesn’t matter if there is a destiny or any meaning to life.  And why would it?  The Agnostic doesn’t care one way or the other.  They are simply along for the ride and whatever will be, will be.  There may, or may not, be a destiny and meaning to life but the Agnostic will not care one way or the other.  To do so would actually move them out of the Agnostic camp and into either the Atheistic or Theistic viewpoint.

    And that leaves us with the Theists.  For the Theistic viewpoint, the matter of destiny and the meaning of life is extremely important.  Because it is the bigger picture that counts.  Not just what we see in the here and now, but what is to come and what exists within the Spiritual world.  And it is the Theistic viewpoint that has the hardest struggle with destiny and the meaning of life.  But it shouldn’t.

    The Theist really should start with their definition of God.  Consider the base definition for God: as the sole Supreme Being, eternal, spiritual, and transcendent, who is the Creator and ruler of all and is infinite in all attributes; the object of worship in monotheistic religions.  If we were to parse this definition we would quickly realize that God, by definition is the sole – the only one, unique, unsurpassed, matchless, Supreme – highest in rank, authority, paramount, sovereign, chief, foremost, Creator – the one who creates.  And if God is indeed the one and only matchless sovereign Creator, then the Theist is forced to ask the question (as did the Psalmist) who can be compared to God?  Psalm 89:6 “For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?” KJV.  And the only possible answer the Theist is left with is a resounding: “No one can!”  For he is God.  He is the Almighty.  He is the one Supreme Creator who is Infinite in ALL of his Attributes.  The Theist is left with the realization that their God is the one encompassing Deity in all of existence.

    And for the Theist, that means that God is in control.  And how could he not be?  He is God after all.  Let’s try and illustrate the point this way, answer the question “Is there any scenario or outcome in all of creation or the Heavens where God could either lose the battle between good and evil or be surprised by the results?”  Let me ask this question, “Is there anything that God does not know about, is not happy with, or cannot change?”  If there is, then he surly is not God.  Everything that occurs is because it is part of God’s great plan and it is just the way he wants it to be.  If it were not, wouldn’t he change it?  Of course he would.

    But this creates a dilemma.  If God is completely in control, then what about our, mankind’s Free Will?  Do we not have the freedom to choose our own path?  Of course we do.  God himself says we have a choice.  Revelation 3:20 says “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” KJV.   Does this not sound like a choice?  Of course it does.  We do have choices in life.

    But can we ever surprise God with our choices?  No, I don’t think so.  Can we ever make a choice that would alter God’s plan or be a choice that he does not want us to make?  Once again, I would have to say no.

    And yet that makes no sense whatsoever.  It is completely and utterly contradictory and cannot be explained.  So what is the explanation?  For today, there is none.  But wouldn’t you rather be a part of the model where God allows you a choice even though he is in control, instead of the model where there is no hope of a choice because we are all simply random matter bumping into each other and are following a set of described laws?

    I know I would.  And that is why I absolutely assure you these two things are true:  (1) You have free will and you choose your own destiny in the halls of eternity, and (2) God is completely, absolutely, 100% in control and it is his plan that has been executed, is being executed, and will continue to be executed forever and ever.

    Despite your free will and all of the things we see within the world today, GOD IS IN CONTROL …

  • A Woman’s Right To Choose

    A couple of weeks ago, in the U.S.A., on January 22, 2015, the passing of the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade anniversary was marked.  This National case, decided on January 22, 1973, found that a woman possessed the right to choose an abortion as a legal means of terminating an unwanted pregnancy.

    A human pregnancy, despite requiring the participation of a male member of the species to accomplish, is a uniquely feminine condition.  To date, it has only been accomplished by those who are naturally born women.  Despite those male members of the species who believe they were somehow cheated and should have been born a female (a fantastic argument for a God by-the-way – WHO cheated them?  Surely not the evolutionary process.  It has no choice but to follow the laws of physics and the natural sciences.  Ergo, if they were cheated, they must have been cheated by God.  And for that to happen, there must first be a God.) but as usual, I digress.  The point is, we have yet to be able to create a reproductive woman through our own means even with all our science and understanding.  Only women, who have been born as women, have had the trait of being able to become pregnant and bear offspring.

    There have been many arguments over the so called “rights” of a person and perhaps those could be debated another time (indeed, I have considered human rights before, just search this blog).  Today I’d rather focus on whether or not a woman should exercise her right to choose when choosing in the affirmative (to terminate a pregnancy with an abortion).  I will pause here to mention once again though, that it continues to amaze me that we, as the human race, continually debate the right of a person, usually without acknowledging where those rights come from.  Specifically WHO granted a woman the RIGHT to an abortion?  It certainly wasn’t me.  I don’t agree with it.  In the case of the U.S.A. it was decided in the highest court of the land.  And that cannot be absolute, because there are people who do not agree with it.  Therefore, without a God, there can be no justice (a point Dr. Ravi Zacharias has made much more eloquently than I).  However, today I simply wish to debate the point as to whether or not a woman should exercise this so called right she has.

    If the woman is an Atheist, whether she has an evolutionary theory world view or not (which would be most odd if she did not), she should consider the ramifications of limiting the population pool.  Evolutionary theory, if you are to follow its primary tenant of natural selection, actually needs a wide descendant base.  I quote:

    “Evolution by natural selection is a process inferred from the observation that more offspring are produced than can possibly survive, along with three facts about populations: 1) traits vary among individuals with respect to morphology, physiology, and behaviour (phenotypic variation), 2) different traits confer different rates of survival and reproduction (differential fitness), and 3) traits can be passed from generation to generation (heritability of fitness).[8] Thus, in successive generations members of a population are replaced by progeny of parents better adapted to survive and reproduce in the biophysical environment in which natural selection takes place.”

    Ergo, by actually aborting potential offspring, one is actually defeating the evolutionary process.  Even worse than that, evolution needs diversity within its hereditary base.  That is to say the gene pool actually needs diversity within it in order to carry forward.  A shocking 85% of abortions within the U.S.A. are performed because some type of genetic defect has been detected in the unborn child during the pregnancy.  By removing these genetic defects from the gene pool through abortion, we are actually harming the evolutionary process,  And anyone who actually believes we know enough to steer the evolutionary process on our own should talk to an animal breeder.  Before you try and help the human evolutionary process along, consider a purebred animal first.  Again, I quote:

    “However, breeding from too small a gene pool, especially direct inbreeding, can lead to the passing on of undesirable characteristics or even a collapse of a breed population due to inbreeding depression. Therefore there is a question, and often heated controversy, as to when or if a breed may need to allow “outside” stock in for the purpose of improving the overall health and vigor of the breed.”

    I don’t care how you slice it, under an evolutionary model, abortion is bad, limiting the gene pool, and removing viable stock from the propagation of the species.  So despite the so called right of the Atheistic woman to seek out the termination of a pregnancy through an abortion, she should consider the fact that the human race is slowly headed towards extinction.

    And don’t argue with me that a certain number of controlled abortions are OK and will not affect the overall population.  Before you try and bring any such argument to the table, I’d like to know several things (not the least of which is the stats on the number you believe could be sustained given the current birth rate) such as who in the world is the controlling authority?  World wide?  Because there is none, and you cannot possibly show that we are either safe or unsafe given the current stats of countries around the world.

    For the Theistic woman, her world view should embrace a God who is the origin of all life.  Given this world view, the Theistic woman could not possibly encompasses any right to terminate a life through an abortion.  Only the God who is the author of that life would hold that right.

    And for the Agnostic, it really doesn’t matter because either side you come down on, it ends up being harmful.  It is either harmful to the evolutionary advancement of the species, or it is harmful in your overreach of rights held only by the God who granted life in the first place.

    A woman’s right to choose?  You may believe such a right exists, but not all choices are healthy choices.  Every one of us has the right to eat nothing but chocolate for every meal for the rest of our lives.  But if you were to exercise that right, how long do you think you would live?

  • My Tastes In Food

     

    Have you ever known a picky eater?  And by picky I do mean finicky.  I have.  Some peoples culinary standards simply cannot be met.  Other people are fastidious in their selections of food as well as its preparation.  Many people in America will cite health reasons as the primary driver behind their particular eating habits.  Some people go absolutely nuts counting calories, checking sugar content, evaluating ingredients on packages, and carefully questioning food preparation (was this dish grilled or fried?).  Some folks stick with what they know and are comfortable with, they are not willing to branch out into new areas and try new things.  Some people only eat according to religious guidelines and govern their eating through close religious standards.

    The commercial world plays off of these eating peculiarities in advertising and marketing.  The Food Network has programming in 150 countries around the world and 24 hour programming in America, Great Britain, India, Asia, and Africa.  Japan has its Iron Chef, Julia Child’s was billed as The French Chef (even though she was American), while All Recipes will bring you cooking techniques from around the world.  And check out this organic food craze from World Cuisine.

    Food.  It is a stable of our lives.  We need food to survive and yet at the same time we immensely enjoy good food.  For the Judeo Christian world food is an interesting thing.  Most Christians around the world do not stop and think about the very first commandment given by God to mankind.  Many hundreds of years (perhaps as long as two or three thousand years) before the Ten Commandments were given to Moses and the nation of Israel, a commandment was given to Adam and Eve (Note: the Wikipedia article erroneously and foolishly refers to Adam and Eve in conjunction with creation myths.  The same weak thinkers that unequivocally establish the story of Adam and Eve as mythical, will just as quickly point out that most mythical stories have some basis in fact.  Except for, apparently, Adam and Eve.  Although they may never quite establish either the basis or the fact in the other stories.  In reality, they believe what they want to believe without any basis in fact simply because it meets their world view.  The difference between them and the religious people of the world is they are not brave enough to admit it.  But I’m chasing rabbits here.)  in the Garden of Eden.  And that commandment was “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it:” Genesis 2:16-17.  This is greatly interesting to me.  The very first commandment ever given is embodied in the words “thou shalt not eat“.  And the one thing God said could not be eaten was the fruit of a tree.

    This must have been greatly perplexing to Adam and Eve.  After all, God had told them that he had placed every herb bearing seed and every tree that had fruit that yielded seed, on the Earth for them to eat.  Genesis 1:27-30.  And all of a sudden God is telling them ‘ What I really meant was you can eat of just about any tree in the Garden.  Just don’t eat of this one.  Because this one is kind of poison and if you eat of it, you will die’ (my paraphrase).  Talk about a setup.  The Garden of Eden must have been the equivalent of putting a child in a candy shop and telling them they may eat any of the candy in the entire shop, except for the chocolate bars on this one rack in the center of the store.  Unfortunately Eve’s taste in food was pretty open and she saw the fruit and thought it must be good.  Genesis 3:6.

    And thus the very first commandment ever broken was eating food!  Have you ever considered why food is so important?  And why in the world would God structure the very first test mankind was ever to face around eating, and refraining from eating, food?  And here we are, six thousand years later, still wrapped around our culinary peculiarities.

    I believe the answer is because God specifically designed us to be creatures of replenishment.  God designed us to be renewed in so many ways.  Both Spiritually, Emotionally, and Physically.  And eating is one of the primary ways we are renewed physically.  We are dependent upon food for survival.  And yet Jesus tells us to take no thought of what we are to eat.  Matthew 6:25.  Why?  Because our Father in Heaven knows we need these things and wants to be the supplier of them in our lives.  Matthew 6:32.

    God knows, and God wants to supply the very needs of our lives.  And he wants us to keep coming back to him over and over and over again to have those needs fulfilled.

    Choosey eaters turn me off to some extent.  Because if people display habits or traits in one area of their lives, you can pretty well bet that they exhibit those habits and traits in other areas of their lives.  If we are hard to please in our Physical lives, we are probably hard to please in our Spiritual lives as well.

    God wants us to be renewed in all facets of our beings.  And that means being renewed Spiritually.  Constantly, and consistently, and through wondrous experiences he has designed specifically for us.  And just like eating, when we come to God’s table for Spiritual replenishment, we can get ourselves into trouble.

    We can miss out by being picky and not experiencing all God has for us.  We can over indulge by being chocoholics and not eating our vegetables.  And we can end up unhealthy by not eating a well balanced meal.

    So are you a picky eater?  Because I believe God wants us to be hungry and then filled, hungry and then filled, over and over again.  Each time enjoying a great meal that he has prepared just for us.  And if we are picky eaters, we might miss out on God’s specific treats for our lives.

    As for myself, I’ll eat just about anything.