An exploration of the movement within Christianity that describes faith in God as something reasonable, scientific, intelligent, tangible, and practical.
Wednesday, December 30, 2015
Monday, December 28, 2015
Sunday, December 27, 2015
David Berlinski, The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions
“Has anyone provided proof of God’s inexistence?
Not even close.
Has quantum cosmology explained the emergence of the universe or why it is here?
Not even close.
Have our sciences explained why our universe seems to be fine-tuned to allow for the existence of life?
Not even close.
Are physicists and biologists willing to believe in anything so long as it is not religious thought?
Close enough.
Has rationalism and moral thought provided us with an understanding of what is good, what is right, and what is moral?
Not close enough.
Has secularism in the terrible 20th century been a force for good?
Not even close, to being close.
Is there a narrow and oppressive orthodoxy in the sciences?
Close enough.
Does anything in the sciences or their philosophy justify the claim that religious belief is irrational?
Not even in the ball park.
Is scientific atheism a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt?
Dead on.”
― David Berlinski, The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions
Not even close.
Has quantum cosmology explained the emergence of the universe or why it is here?
Not even close.
Have our sciences explained why our universe seems to be fine-tuned to allow for the existence of life?
Not even close.
Are physicists and biologists willing to believe in anything so long as it is not religious thought?
Close enough.
Has rationalism and moral thought provided us with an understanding of what is good, what is right, and what is moral?
Not close enough.
Has secularism in the terrible 20th century been a force for good?
Not even close, to being close.
Is there a narrow and oppressive orthodoxy in the sciences?
Close enough.
Does anything in the sciences or their philosophy justify the claim that religious belief is irrational?
Not even in the ball park.
Is scientific atheism a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt?
Dead on.”
― David Berlinski, The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions
Saturday, December 26, 2015
Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
The Last Revolution: The Coming Awakening of the Millennials
The Last Revolution: The Coming Awakening of the Millennials
The divine overarching story of humanity
and the universe itself are playing out right before our eyes. It's
happening everyday. It's all around us. You can feel it. It's like a
song in the backdrop. It's like a quiet melody on the wind. You can
feel it when you stare down an empty road in the midst of night. You
can sense it as you stand alone in a wooded forest, listening to the
timbers creaking. You feel the enchantment of it, staring up into the
star filled sky. On the way to work it's happening. These are the
moments of life itself. Maybe we'll talk about them in the next life.
Maybe it'll just be written down somewhere, and we'll never think of it
again.
As I watch a group of pigeons fluttering
about on the pavement, I'm amazed. Deep down I know something so
complex couldn't arise from disorder and nothingness. Such harmonious
complexity takes a divine personality. God is at work, now and
especially when I'm not noticing.
The beauty of these wind swept moments
are breathtaking, but just as prescient is the sorrow of the darkness of
this world. By darkness I mean struggle. I can feel that so
powerfully. I have a mind where it takes off, and I can slide down into
it, contemplating the incredible scope of the deceptions in this
world. They are massive, entrenched, and powerful. Over such a short
period of time the truth seems to have been entirely swept aside and
every manner of filth, depravity, sin, and corruption have taken it's
place. So quickly it seems, so quickly. One can build such good, and
it can be circumvented so totally, so quickly.
I am the future generation, the
millennials, generation Y. Yeah, it's interesting. It surely is
interesting. We've grown up, at least I've grown up hearing in the
backdrop of my daily life, adults whispering: "I feel sorry for the next
generation." Or "I'm glad I'll be gone because the future is bleak."
And then there's my generation... well.
They drink and drug and party quite a bit. They think they're
brilliant artistic anti-establishment. But a lot of them are dumb,
brainwashed pleasure junkies who parrot whatever the media tells them to
believe. They puke out liberal sentiments programmed into them by the
television. They go all out on party, wealth, selfishness, and sex.
They are so assured there will be no consequences and they live in
denial when the consequences crash down upon them. It's such a lost
generation. And nothing I can say changes it, at all. I could weep for
them day and night. It wouldn't change anything. Many of them are
nothing more than dead walking. I once was the same.
In sexual encounters at random, in drug
highs, in drunken bashes, the trick was this: We thought we were
taking. But it was taking from us. It's very simple, but profound.
Every single time, every high, every sexual blitz, every crazy night
out, we were losing something. And so many of us have ended up hollowed
out. This world took something precious from us. It took the sacred
from us. The sacred is like a soft wind, a soft calm, a sort of blanket
over the moment. Warm and fuzzy. Why? Because it's true, it's moral,
it's right. It's a peacefulness, a closeness with God. It's a sense
of living in a state of rightness; of being good. And being good feels
so good. It feels so great.
With all the sinful depravity of this
life, we stripped ourselves of the sacred for the sake of trite
pleasures and those pleasures, appearing like sugary treats turned out
to be meat hooks that dug into our flesh and turned us into slaves to
desires we could never truly satisfy. There is no end to the need for
depraved encounters, sex addicts and porn addicts will tell you they
need more and more depraved and twisted imagery to keep themselves
sufficiently titillated. You will hear much the same from the drug
addict. More and more. It's never enough.
We thought we were so wise to turn from
all the foundations, to write our own faustian story. But it wasn't the
real story. It was a lie.
And thank God that I discovered the real
story. The story has to be true to change the world. It has to be
true to change me. That story is the saga outlined in the divine
revelation known as the book. The book changes the world. Yet it's so
hard for us to accept. It was for me. Why? Because it tells me the
unvarnished truth about myself. It tells me all the things I don't want
to hear. It tells me about how I'm the problem. It won't let me play
it off on government, big business, banks, poverty, conditions, or
anything else. It forces me to realize something very simple: What's
wrong with the world is me. I'm the problem. And I've got a just
reward in front of me because of my own selfish choices: total
disconnection from God. That drives people crazy, how could God send me
away from him? How could he send me to "hell"? Well, I suppose God
doesn't want evil people around him. And to be honest, we aren't the
victims of a mean God, we're the ones who have gone astray. Our choices
have set us on this course, and we all know it deep down.
A former drug addict like me knows it quite acutely.
Do you think there's something good
about people? Do you think people are good? I'll quote the famed
atheist scholar John Gray who wrote in his book Straw Dogs, and I quote: "Humanists think there is something good about humanity? Why don't you try reading a newspaper?"
Taking a look at the Fox News website
(I'm a millennial I don't have a physical copy) the current top story on
Fox News is the ongoing investigation into the San Bernardino terrorist
attack. One could pick up a newspaper on any given day and find the
truth about humanity.
The truth about humanity is that we need
a savior. Thank God that we have a savior. This is the truth about
life: I need to reconnect to the divine architect of the universe. I
need God to change me. The right state of me as a human, is to be in
total connectedness to God the creator of life. I'm meant to enjoy
closeness with the Heavenly Father and the enjoyment of his universe.
I'm meant to connect to eternal truths beyond this world. The very
meaning of life itself is to live in permanent relationship with God.
Can you perceive it? Can you sense it? Can you feel it? Can you
philosophically conceive of it? Can you scientifically see the patterns
in supposed chaos? Can you understand the love of God? And the most
important question: Can you humble yourself, to that of a child, to
receive this kingdom that is coming into the wreckage of this world?
It is a divine mystery, the coming of this kingdom.
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” -Luke 17:20-21.
The kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom of God is coming into this world. Can you see it?
Sometimes
when I'm standing there, in the darkness at night, examining the
streets, watching the roads, listening to the wind and the air.. I can
feel it. I can feel the anticipation. I can sense the divine poetry of
the moment. I can sense the poetic mystery playing like a song no one
can learn. It's beauty knows no depths, and it sings out, it shouts
from every corner of the land, the buildings, the concrete, the trees,
the grass, and the waters of the lakes and rivers. It aches bitterly
for the revealing of the sons of God and the final perfection of the
universe for the coming of the King of Kings. I can see it. I can
sense it within, the bitter aching for the rightness of the kingdom of
God.
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that
the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and
brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not
only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the
redemption of our bodies. -Romans 8:19-23
Yet
this life is so fearful. There are so many giant mountains in the
distance. Just like Atreyu faced on his journey. Just like Luke
Skywalker faced when he hung by a beam at Cloud City. Just like Frodo
examining the gates of Mordor. Just like Jesus at the garden of
Gethsemane. Fear is a deadly enemy to those of making for home. It
captures me at times, and I can't help but feel weaked by it. Yet the
story continues, the saga goes on. After
all, we have narrative minds. We're drawn to the story. We're drawn
to the heroic, the great leader, the great hero on his journey to save
that which as been lost. Our own cinema and books often reflect the
divine overarching meta-saga of paradise lost, humanity lost in the dark
wilderness, and the redemption of mankind through the God-man Jesus
Christ. And the future eternal reign of the King of Kings. It's
beautiful. It's epic. It's the truth about life. It doesn't change.
It's not one of many truths, it's the only truth.
The
stakes are exceedingly high, so high, so high, the souls of mankind
hang in the balance everyday. So many are led astray. So many evil
forces and terrifying strongholds exist. It makes me want to shutter in
fear, and shut down completely!
"Do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." -Matthew 10:26-31
Jesus said, "Don't be afraid, I'm with you." He says the same to you and I today: "Don't be afraid, I'm with you."
Jesus
Christ changed everything in my life. He took me from the king of
clowns, a drug addict with serious mental issues, to putting me on the
front lines of an intense spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of
the people of the world. I found it a bleak situation. The forces of
light are not winning, in fact we're thoroughly losing on just about
every front.
I
entered former strongholds of light and the power of the Spirit to find
the systems of defense crumbling. I found the guards on the walls were
elderly, and no young men had come to take the places of the aged and
infirmed. I found women lost in sex, drunkenness, and selfishness. I
saw beautiful women, with wisdom in their eyes, and zeal for changing
the world, I saw them lost, broken, addicted, driven mad by the half
baked philosophy of this world, run amok, turned into sex toys for
depraved men and destroyed completely. And I can only think why Lord, I
can see the goodness in them, yet they are addicted, lost, emotionally
destroyed, and so far gone. Is there any hope I wondered? I found the
old women passing out of this world, leaving no legacy, because their
children had all turned from the faith of the old. I found broken
lines, crusted entrenchments, empty, all the enthusiasm gone, all the
zeal collapsed, and I found in-fighting, despairing, and crumbling of
the foundations of the hope of humanity, the Christian faith itself!
Yet
I realized something. God is still at work. He hasn't gone anywhere.
And even if I see so few young people, so few millennials willing to
take up the call... I realized. I took up the call. I'm standing
here. I've taken up my spiritual armor, I've taken up the sword of the
Spirit. I've taken up the cause of Jesus Christ in this world, to share
the gospel, to be preservation and moral goodness to this world. Even
if no one else does, I'm here. And I'll keep fighting. God is at work
in the world. He came to my mutilated remains on the fields of darkness
of addiction, and post-modernism and this farce of a culture addicted
to television, fine cuisine, self indulgence, and consumerism. My mind
ripped apart by it. My soul crushed. And he carried my remains to
Jesus Christ who poured his own life into mine, and suddenly from death
itself, from total spiritual decay and physical collapse, I stood anew
redeemed out of the world by the precious gift of the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, his blood for my blood. He changed everything. He woke me
from the dead.
The
story of humanity itself is that of a wayward people fleeing their
creator, and of the pursuit of God toward his people, and the coming of
God into the nightmare of his own people. Jesus Christ appeared in the
haze of the evil planet Earth, bringing redemption. That is the saga of
humanity. Every leader has to understand this over-arching narrative,
this story. But it's not just a story, it's not just a narrative. It's
the truth about life. It's the history and personality of humanity.
It's the full description of the universe around us. It exists and so
do we. So does God. And we need God. Jesus Christ brings us home to
God. In Jesus Christ we can change the world. But when we try to build
a peaceful paradise outside of Jesus Christ, it crumbles in our hands.
So many in this world want peace, but they don't want the prince of
peace. And there can be no peace without the prince of peace Jesus
Christ.
The
time is now friends. This is our great moment. We millennials have
been so led astray by the liberal media, by secular universities in this
country, we've been led astray by philosophical lies, we've been led
astray by arrogance. We've been led astray by drugs, alcohol, by the
sex revolution, and by the selfish consumer society. But it's not too
late! It's not too late! It's not too late! We can stand here. Now.
We can change the world. But we can't do it alone. If and when we
choose to place the Christian faith, Jesus Christ at the center of our
efforts to change this world, then we will bring about the greatness we
wish to see.
We
want change. We want to help people. This is the mission. This is
the message. Millennials must humble themselves and come to Jesus
Christ, for the forgiveness we wish we didn't need. But we do need it.
Call upon Jesus Christ. Take up the banner of the truth! Start a
movement. Start a revolution!
The
hour is late friends. The forces of darkness are moving in all
directions. Our own defenses have been corrupted and crippled. Our
generation has slipped into many traps and deadly snares. But it's not
too late. If you can believe that Jesus Christ really is who he claimed
to be. Then there is a chance. Can you believe? Can you really
believe? Can you accept it? Can you accept that and receive Jesus
Christ the son of God, the redeemer of humanity as your own personal
Lord, comforter, and savior?
Can
you perceive it? Can you sense it? Can you see it in every moment?
Can you read it in the pages of the book? Can you live it? Will you
repent of your old ways? Will you turn to Jesus Christ? Will you take
up your spiritual armor and fight against the lusts of your own
desires? Will you build boundary walls in your mind? Will you fight
your sinful desires which fuel the self destruction of the human race?
Will you receive the son of God as your redemption, your righteousness,
the remover of your sins? Are you ready for a new life? Are you ready
to be born again? Are you prepared to know the deepest truths in the
universe? Are you prepared to encounter God himself?
Today is the day.
There is still hope.
The light shines in the darkness.
And my generation, young people will come to know it.
Because
my generation deserves to know, like our parents and our grandparents
came to know, that they are designed creatures, created beings, designed
and crafted by the beautiful, enchanting artist, an architect, a quiet
being lingering in the backdrop, listening, loving, and caring for us...
the God who made the universe itself. Can you understand the full
weight of that? Can you perceive the expansive meaning behind that?
God is real. You should be free to know him. Like I've been made free
to know. By calling out to Jesus Christ for help, like I called out to
Jesus Christ for help.
I
write this because I want you know in the most sincere way the meaning I
had ached for so desperately that I almost died several times filled to
the brim with pills, drink, and drug. Jesus Christ is the truth. He
is the answer. In him is the real truth of life. It's not a game.
It's not an old superstition. It's really real.
I
want you to know so badly, because it's so hard to see behind all the
televangelist nonsense, the megachurches, the false teachers, and the
way Christianity is portrayed in the media as a sort of backward
superstition of the foolish. But I found something very different.
I
encountered God himself. He's real. You can be with him through his
son Jesus Christ. You don't have to like it, but it's the truth.
Please receive it. Please trust in him. Please call out to him. We
have much work to do, the hour is late in these spiritual battles. We
need you now. Join the resistance, join the revolution.
May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ be yours, always, amen.
Related Posts:
The divine overarching story of humanity
and the universe itself are playing out right before our eyes. It's
happening everyday. It's all around us. You can feel it. It's like a
song in the backdrop. It's like a quiet melody on the wind. You can
feel it when you stare down an empty road in the midst of night. You
can sense it as you stand alone in a wooded forest, listening to the
timbers creaking. You feel the enchantment of it, staring up into the
star filled sky. On the way to work it's happening. These are the
moments of life itself. Maybe we'll talk about them in the next life.
Maybe it'll just be written down somewhere, and we'll never think of it
again.
As I watch a group of pigeons fluttering
about on the pavement, I'm amazed. Deep down I know something so
complex couldn't arise from disorder and nothingness. Such harmonious
complexity takes a divine personality. God is at work, now and
especially when I'm not noticing.
The beauty of these wind swept moments
are breathtaking, but just as prescient is the sorrow of the darkness of
this world. By darkness I mean struggle. I can feel that so
powerfully. I have a mind where it takes off, and I can slide down into
it, contemplating the incredible scope of the deceptions in this
world. They are massive, entrenched, and powerful. Over such a short
period of time the truth seems to have been entirely swept aside and
every manner of filth, depravity, sin, and corruption have taken it's
place. So quickly it seems, so quickly. One can build such good, and
it can be circumvented so totally, so quickly.
I am the future generation, the
millennials, generation Y. Yeah, it's interesting. It surely is
interesting. We've grown up, at least I've grown up hearing in the
backdrop of my daily life, adults whispering: "I feel sorry for the next
generation." Or "I'm glad I'll be gone because the future is bleak."
And then there's my generation... well.
They drink and drug and party quite a bit. They think they're
brilliant artistic anti-establishment. But a lot of them are dumb,
brainwashed pleasure junkies who parrot whatever the media tells them to
believe. They puke out liberal sentiments programmed into them by the
television. They go all out on party, wealth, selfishness, and sex.
They are so assured there will be no consequences and they live in
denial when the consequences crash down upon them. It's such a lost
generation. And nothing I can say changes it, at all. I could weep for
them day and night. It wouldn't change anything. Many of them are
nothing more than dead walking. I once was the same.
In sexual encounters at random, in drug
highs, in drunken bashes, the trick was this: We thought we were
taking. But it was taking from us. It's very simple, but profound.
Every single time, every high, every sexual blitz, every crazy night
out, we were losing something. And so many of us have ended up hollowed
out. This world took something precious from us. It took the sacred
from us. The sacred is like a soft wind, a soft calm, a sort of blanket
over the moment. Warm and fuzzy. Why? Because it's true, it's moral,
it's right. It's a peacefulness, a closeness with God. It's a sense
of living in a state of rightness; of being good. And being good feels
so good. It feels so great.
With all the sinful depravity of this
life, we stripped ourselves of the sacred for the sake of trite
pleasures and those pleasures, appearing like sugary treats turned out
to be meat hooks that dug into our flesh and turned us into slaves to
desires we could never truly satisfy. There is no end to the need for
depraved encounters, sex addicts and porn addicts will tell you they
need more and more depraved and twisted imagery to keep themselves
sufficiently titillated. You will hear much the same from the drug
addict. More and more. It's never enough.
We thought we were so wise to turn from
all the foundations, to write our own faustian story. But it wasn't the
real story. It was a lie.
And thank God that I discovered the real
story. The story has to be true to change the world. It has to be
true to change me. That story is the saga outlined in the divine
revelation known as the book. The book changes the world. Yet it's so
hard for us to accept. It was for me. Why? Because it tells me the
unvarnished truth about myself. It tells me all the things I don't want
to hear. It tells me about how I'm the problem. It won't let me play
it off on government, big business, banks, poverty, conditions, or
anything else. It forces me to realize something very simple: What's
wrong with the world is me. I'm the problem. And I've got a just
reward in front of me because of my own selfish choices: total
disconnection from God. That drives people crazy, how could God send me
away from him? How could he send me to "hell"? Well, I suppose God
doesn't want evil people around him. And to be honest, we aren't the
victims of a mean God, we're the ones who have gone astray. Our choices
have set us on this course, and we all know it deep down.
A former drug addict like me knows it quite acutely.
Do you think there's something good
about people? Do you think people are good? I'll quote the famed
atheist scholar John Gray who wrote in his book Straw Dogs, and I quote: "Humanists think there is something good about humanity? Why don't you try reading a newspaper?"
Taking a look at the Fox News website
(I'm a millennial I don't have a physical copy) the current top story on
Fox News is the ongoing investigation into the San Bernardino terrorist
attack. One could pick up a newspaper on any given day and find the
truth about humanity.
The truth about humanity is that we need
a savior. Thank God that we have a savior. This is the truth about
life: I need to reconnect to the divine architect of the universe. I
need God to change me. The right state of me as a human, is to be in
total connectedness to God the creator of life. I'm meant to enjoy
closeness with the Heavenly Father and the enjoyment of his universe.
I'm meant to connect to eternal truths beyond this world. The very
meaning of life itself is to live in permanent relationship with God.
Can you perceive it? Can you sense it? Can you feel it? Can you
philosophically conceive of it? Can you scientifically see the patterns
in supposed chaos? Can you understand the love of God? And the most
important question: Can you humble yourself, to that of a child, to
receive this kingdom that is coming into the wreckage of this world?
It is a divine mystery, the coming of this kingdom.
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” -Luke 17:20-21.
The kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom of God is coming into this world. Can you see it?
Sometimes
when I'm standing there, in the darkness at night, examining the
streets, watching the roads, listening to the wind and the air.. I can
feel it. I can feel the anticipation. I can sense the divine poetry of
the moment. I can sense the poetic mystery playing like a song no one
can learn. It's beauty knows no depths, and it sings out, it shouts
from every corner of the land, the buildings, the concrete, the trees,
the grass, and the waters of the lakes and rivers. It aches bitterly
for the revealing of the sons of God and the final perfection of the
universe for the coming of the King of Kings. I can see it. I can
sense it within, the bitter aching for the rightness of the kingdom of
God.
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that
the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and
brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not
only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the
redemption of our bodies. -Romans 8:19-23
Yet
this life is so fearful. There are so many giant mountains in the
distance. Just like Atreyu faced on his journey. Just like Luke
Skywalker faced when he hung by a beam at Cloud City. Just like Frodo
examining the gates of Mordor. Just like Jesus at the garden of
Gethsemane. Fear is a deadly enemy to those of making for home. It
captures me at times, and I can't help but feel weaked by it. Yet the
story continues, the saga goes on. After
all, we have narrative minds. We're drawn to the story. We're drawn
to the heroic, the great leader, the great hero on his journey to save
that which as been lost. Our own cinema and books often reflect the
divine overarching meta-saga of paradise lost, humanity lost in the dark
wilderness, and the redemption of mankind through the God-man Jesus
Christ. And the future eternal reign of the King of Kings. It's
beautiful. It's epic. It's the truth about life. It doesn't change.
It's not one of many truths, it's the only truth.
The
stakes are exceedingly high, so high, so high, the souls of mankind
hang in the balance everyday. So many are led astray. So many evil
forces and terrifying strongholds exist. It makes me want to shutter in
fear, and shut down completely!
"Do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." -Matthew 10:26-31
Jesus said, "Don't be afraid, I'm with you." He says the same to you and I today: "Don't be afraid, I'm with you."
Jesus
Christ changed everything in my life. He took me from the king of
clowns, a drug addict with serious mental issues, to putting me on the
front lines of an intense spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of
the people of the world. I found it a bleak situation. The forces of
light are not winning, in fact we're thoroughly losing on just about
every front.
I
entered former strongholds of light and the power of the Spirit to find
the systems of defense crumbling. I found the guards on the walls were
elderly, and no young men had come to take the places of the aged and
infirmed. I found women lost in sex, drunkenness, and selfishness. I
saw beautiful women, with wisdom in their eyes, and zeal for changing
the world, I saw them lost, broken, addicted, driven mad by the half
baked philosophy of this world, run amok, turned into sex toys for
depraved men and destroyed completely. And I can only think why Lord, I
can see the goodness in them, yet they are addicted, lost, emotionally
destroyed, and so far gone. Is there any hope I wondered? I found the
old women passing out of this world, leaving no legacy, because their
children had all turned from the faith of the old. I found broken
lines, crusted entrenchments, empty, all the enthusiasm gone, all the
zeal collapsed, and I found in-fighting, despairing, and crumbling of
the foundations of the hope of humanity, the Christian faith itself!
Yet
I realized something. God is still at work. He hasn't gone anywhere.
And even if I see so few young people, so few millennials willing to
take up the call... I realized. I took up the call. I'm standing
here. I've taken up my spiritual armor, I've taken up the sword of the
Spirit. I've taken up the cause of Jesus Christ in this world, to share
the gospel, to be preservation and moral goodness to this world. Even
if no one else does, I'm here. And I'll keep fighting. God is at work
in the world. He came to my mutilated remains on the fields of darkness
of addiction, and post-modernism and this farce of a culture addicted
to television, fine cuisine, self indulgence, and consumerism. My mind
ripped apart by it. My soul crushed. And he carried my remains to
Jesus Christ who poured his own life into mine, and suddenly from death
itself, from total spiritual decay and physical collapse, I stood anew
redeemed out of the world by the precious gift of the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ, his blood for my blood. He changed everything. He woke me
from the dead.
The
story of humanity itself is that of a wayward people fleeing their
creator, and of the pursuit of God toward his people, and the coming of
God into the nightmare of his own people. Jesus Christ appeared in the
haze of the evil planet Earth, bringing redemption. That is the saga of
humanity. Every leader has to understand this over-arching narrative,
this story. But it's not just a story, it's not just a narrative. It's
the truth about life. It's the history and personality of humanity.
It's the full description of the universe around us. It exists and so
do we. So does God. And we need God. Jesus Christ brings us home to
God. In Jesus Christ we can change the world. But when we try to build
a peaceful paradise outside of Jesus Christ, it crumbles in our hands.
So many in this world want peace, but they don't want the prince of
peace. And there can be no peace without the prince of peace Jesus
Christ.
The
time is now friends. This is our great moment. We millennials have
been so led astray by the liberal media, by secular universities in this
country, we've been led astray by philosophical lies, we've been led
astray by arrogance. We've been led astray by drugs, alcohol, by the
sex revolution, and by the selfish consumer society. But it's not too
late! It's not too late! It's not too late! We can stand here. Now.
We can change the world. But we can't do it alone. If and when we
choose to place the Christian faith, Jesus Christ at the center of our
efforts to change this world, then we will bring about the greatness we
wish to see.
We
want change. We want to help people. This is the mission. This is
the message. Millennials must humble themselves and come to Jesus
Christ, for the forgiveness we wish we didn't need. But we do need it.
Call upon Jesus Christ. Take up the banner of the truth! Start a
movement. Start a revolution!
The
hour is late friends. The forces of darkness are moving in all
directions. Our own defenses have been corrupted and crippled. Our
generation has slipped into many traps and deadly snares. But it's not
too late. If you can believe that Jesus Christ really is who he claimed
to be. Then there is a chance. Can you believe? Can you really
believe? Can you accept it? Can you accept that and receive Jesus
Christ the son of God, the redeemer of humanity as your own personal
Lord, comforter, and savior?
Can
you perceive it? Can you sense it? Can you see it in every moment?
Can you read it in the pages of the book? Can you live it? Will you
repent of your old ways? Will you turn to Jesus Christ? Will you take
up your spiritual armor and fight against the lusts of your own
desires? Will you build boundary walls in your mind? Will you fight
your sinful desires which fuel the self destruction of the human race?
Will you receive the son of God as your redemption, your righteousness,
the remover of your sins? Are you ready for a new life? Are you ready
to be born again? Are you prepared to know the deepest truths in the
universe? Are you prepared to encounter God himself?
Today is the day.
There is still hope.
The light shines in the darkness.
And my generation, young people will come to know it.
Because
my generation deserves to know, like our parents and our grandparents
came to know, that they are designed creatures, created beings, designed
and crafted by the beautiful, enchanting artist, an architect, a quiet
being lingering in the backdrop, listening, loving, and caring for us...
the God who made the universe itself. Can you understand the full
weight of that? Can you perceive the expansive meaning behind that?
God is real. You should be free to know him. Like I've been made free
to know. By calling out to Jesus Christ for help, like I called out to
Jesus Christ for help.
I
write this because I want you know in the most sincere way the meaning I
had ached for so desperately that I almost died several times filled to
the brim with pills, drink, and drug. Jesus Christ is the truth. He
is the answer. In him is the real truth of life. It's not a game.
It's not an old superstition. It's really real.
I
want you to know so badly, because it's so hard to see behind all the
televangelist nonsense, the megachurches, the false teachers, and the
way Christianity is portrayed in the media as a sort of backward
superstition of the foolish. But I found something very different.
I
encountered God himself. He's real. You can be with him through his
son Jesus Christ. You don't have to like it, but it's the truth.
Please receive it. Please trust in him. Please call out to him. We
have much work to do, the hour is late in these spiritual battles. We
need you now. Join the resistance, join the revolution.
May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ be yours, always, amen.
Related Posts:
- The Illusions of Modern Society and the Gospel
- A Reality Frozen in Anticipation: Moments of Truth
- The Facts on the Ground: Science, God, and the testimony of Great Minds
- Election 2016 & the Mainstream Media: Ben Carson, and Secularism
- Five Videos from 2015 that will Change your Perspective
- Honoring God with our Eating: Sugar, Heart Disease
- The Facts on Christianity: A Quick Examination
- Confronting Sin: A Passion for Being Changed
- Evangelicals, You need to Vote: Here's Why
- All those who Wander are not Lost: A Study in Nothingness
Friday, December 18, 2015
The Last Hopeful Revolution of a Generation Lost
The divine overarching story of humanity
and the universe itself are playing out right before our eyes. It's
happening everyday. It's all around us. You can feel it. It's like a
song in the backdrop. It's like a quiet melody on the wind. You can
feel it when you stare down an empty road in the midst of night. You
can sense it as you stand alone in a wooded forest, listening to the
timbers creaking. You feel the enchantment of it, staring up into the
star filled sky. On the way to work it's happening. These are the
moments of life itself. Maybe we'll talk about them in the future.
Maybe it'll just be written down somewhere, and we'll never think of it
again.
As I watch a group of pigeons fluttering
about on the pavement, I'm amazed. Deep down I know something so
complex couldn't arise from disorder and nothingness. Such harmonious
complexity takes a divine personality. God is at work, especially when
I'm not noticing.
The beauty of the wind swept moments are
breathtaking, but just as prescient is the sorrow of the darkness of
this world. By darkness I mean struggle. I can feel that so
powerfully. I have a mind where it takes off, and I can slide down into
it, contemplating the incredible scope of the deceptions in this
world. They are massive, entrenched, and powerful. Over such a short
period of time the truth seems to have been entirely swept aside and
every manner of filth, depravity, sin, and corruption have taken it's
place. So quickly it seems, so quickly. One can build such good, and
it can be circumvented so totally, so quickly.
I am the future generation, the
millennials, generation Y. Yeah, it's interesting. It surely is
interesting. We've grown up, at least I've grown up hearing in the
backdrop of my daily life, adults whispering: "I feel sorry for the next
generation." Or "I'm glad I'll be gone because the future is bleak."
And then theres my generation... well. They drink and drug and party
quite a bit. They think they're brilliant artistic anti-establishment.
But a lot of them are dumb brainwashed pleasure junkies who parrot
whatever the media tells them to think. They puke out liberal
sentiments programmed into them by the television. They go all out on
party, wealth, selfishness, and sex. They are so assured there will be
no consequences, and they live in denial when the consequences crash
down upon them. It's such a lost generation. And nothing I can say
changes it, at all. I could weep for them day and night. It wouldn't
change anything. Many of them are nothing more than dead walking.
In sexual encounters at random, in drug
highs, in drunken bashes, the trick was this: We thought we were
taking. But it was taking from us. It's very simple, but profound.
Every single time, every high, every sexual blitz, every crazy night
out, we were losing something. And so many of us have ended up hollowed
out. This world took something precious from us. It took the sacred
from us. The sacred is like a soft wind, a soft calm, a sort of blanket
over the moment. Warm and fuzzy. Why? Because it's true, it's moral,
it's right. It's a peacefulness, a closeness with being good. And
being good feels so good. It feels so great. And with all that sinful
depravity we stripped ourselves of the sacred for the sake of trite
pleasures and those pleasures, appearing like sugary treats turned out
to be meat hooks that dug into our flesh and turned us into slaves to
desires we could never truly fulfill. There is no end to the need for
depraved encounters, sex addicts and porn addicts will tell you they
need more and more depraved and twisted imagery to keep themselves
sufficiently titillated. You will hear much the same from the drug
addict. More and more. It's never enough.
We thought we were so wise to turn from
all the foundations, to write our own faustian story. But it wasn't the
real story. It was a lie.
And thank God that I discovered the real
story. The story has to be true to change the world. It has to be
true to change me. That story is the saga outlined in the divine
revelation known as the book. The book changes the world. Yet it's so
hard for us to accept. It was for me. Why? Because it tells me the
unvarnished truth about myself. It tells me all the things I don't want
to hear. It tells me about how I'm the problem. It won't let me play
it off on government, big business, banks, poverty, conditions, or
anything else. It forces me to realize something very simple: What's
wrong with the world is me. I'm the problem. And I've got a just
reward in front of me because of my own selfish choices: total
disconnection from God. That drives people crazy, how could God send me
away from him? How could he send me to "hell"? God doesn't want evil
people around him.
Do you think there's something good
about people? Do you think people are good? I'll quote the famed
atheist scholar John Gray who wrote in his book Straw Dogs, and I quote:
"Humanists think there is something good about humanity? Why don't you
try reading a newspaper?"
Taking a look at the Fox News website
(I'm a millennial I don't have a physical copy) the current top story on
Fox News is the ongoing investigation into the San Bernardino terrorist
attack. One could pick up a newspaper on any given day, and find the
truth about humanity.
The truth about humanity is that we need
a savior. Thank God that we have a savior. This is the truth about
life: I need to reconnect to the divine architect of the universe. The
very meaning of life itself is to live in permanent relationship with
God. Can you perceive it? Can you sense it? Can you feel it? Can you
philosophically conceive of it? Can you scientifically see the
patterns in supposed chaos? Can you understand the love of God? And
the most important question: Can you humble yourself, to that of a
child, to receive this kingdom that is coming into the wreckage of this
world?
It is a divine mystery, the coming of this kingdom.
Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” -Luke 17:20-21.
The kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom of God is coming into this world. Can you see it?
Sometimes
when I'm standing there, in the darkness at night, examining the
streets, watching the roads, listening to the wind and the air.. I can
feel it. I can feel the anticipation. I can sense the divine poetry of
the moment. I can sense the poetic mystery playing like a song no one
can learn. It's beauty knows no depths, and it sings out, it shouts
from every corner of the land, the buildings, the concrete, the trees,
the grass, and the waters of the lakes and rivers. I can see it.
Yet
this life is so fearful. There are so many giant mountains in the
distance. Just like Atreyu. Just like Luke Skywalker. Just like
Frodo. Just like Jesus. We have narrative minds. We're drawn to the
story. We're drawn to the heroic, the great leader, the great hero on
his journey to save that which as been lost. Our own cinema and books
often reflect the divine overarching meta-saga of paradise lost,
humanity lost in the dark wilderness, and the redemption of mankind
through the God-man Jesus Christ. It's beautiful. It's epic. It's the
truth about life. It doesn't change. It's not one of many truths,
it's the only truth.
The
stakes are exceedingly high, so high, so high, the souls of mankind
hang in the balance everyday. So many are led astray. So many evil
forces and terrifying strongholds exist. It makes me want to shutter in
fear, and shut down completely!
"Do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do
not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows." -Matthew 10:26-31
Jesus said, "Don't be afraid, I'm with you." He says the same to you and I today: "Don't be afraid, I'm with you."
Jesus
Christ changed everything in my life. He took me from the king of
clowns, a drug addict with serious mental issues, to putting me on the
front lines of an intense spiritual battle for the hearts and minds of
the people of the world. And we're not winning, in fact we're
thoroughly losing on just about every front.
I
entered former strongholds of light and the power of the Spirit to find
the systems of defense crumbling. I found the guards on the walls were
elderly, and no young men had come to take the places of the aged and
infirmed. I found women lost in sex, drunkenness, and selfishness. I
saw beautiful women, with wisdom in their eyes, and zeal for changing
the world, I saw them lost, broken, addicted, driven mad by the half
baked philosophy of this world, run amok, turned into sex toys for
depraved men, and destroyed completely. And I can only think why Lord, I
can see the goodness in them, yet they are addicted, lost, emotionally
destroyed, and so far gone. Is there any hope I wondered? I found the
old women passing out of this world, leaving no legacy, because their
children had all turned from the faith of the old. I found broken
lines, crusted entrenchments, empty, all the enthusiasm gone, all the
zeal collapsed, and I found in fighting, despairing, and crumbling of
the foundations of the hope of humanity, the Christian faith itself!
Yet
I realized something. God is still at work. He hasn't gone anywhere.
And even if I see so few young people, so few millennials willing to
take up the call... I realized. I took up the call. I'm standing
here. I've taken up my spiritual armor, I've taken up the sword of the
Spirit. I've taken up the cause of Jesus Christ in this world, to share
the gospel, to be preservation and moral goodness to this world. Even
if no one else does, I'm here. And I'll keep fighting.
Every
leader has to understand this over-arching narrative, this story. But
it's not just a story, it's not just a narrative. It's the truth about
life. It's the history and personality of humanity. It's the full
description of the universe around us. It exists, and so do we. So
does God. And we need God. Jesus Christ brings us home to God. In
Jesus Christ we can change the world. But when we try to build a
peaceful paradise outside of Jesus Christ, it crumbles in our hands. So
many in this world want peace, but they don't want the prince of
peace. And there can be no peace without the prince of peace Jesus
Christ.
The
time is now friends. This is our great moment. We millennials have
been so led astray by the liberal media, by secular universities in this
country, we've been led astray by philosophical lies, we've been led
astray by arrogance. We've been led astray by drugs, alcohol, by the
sex revolution, and by the selfish consumer society. But it's not too
late! It's not too late! It's not too late! We can stand here. Now.
We can change the world. But we can't do it alone. If and when we
choose to place the Christian faith, Jesus Christ at the center of our
efforts to change this world, then we will bring about the greatness we
wish to see. We want change. We want to help people. This is the
mission. This is the message. People need to humble themselves, and
come to Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness we wish we didn't need. But
we do need it. Call upon Jesus Christ. Take up the banner of the
truth! Start a movement. Start a revolution!
The
hour is late friends. The forces of darkness are moving in all
directions. Our own defenses have been corrupted and crippled. Our
generation has slipped into many traps, and deadly snares. But it's not
too late. If you can believe that Jesus Christ really is who he
claimed to be. Then there is a chance. Can you believe? Can you
really believe? Can you accept it? Can you accept that and receive
Jesus Christ is the son of God, the redeemer of humanity, can you
perceive it? Can you sense it? Can you see it in every moment? Can
you read it in the pages of the book? Can you live it? Will you repent
of your old ways? Will you turn to Jesus Christ? Will you take up
your spiritual armor and fight against the lusts of your own desires?
Will you build boundary walls in your mind? Will you fight your sinful
desires which fuel the self destruction of the human race? Will you
receive the son of God as your redemption, your righteousness, the
remover of your sins? Are you ready for a new life? Are you ready to
be born again? Are you prepared to know the deepest truths in the
universe? Are you prepared to encounter God himself?
Today is day.
There is still hope.
The light shines in the darkness.
And my generation, young people will come to know it.
Because
my generation deserves to know, like our parents and our grandparents
came to know, that they are designed creatures, created beings, designed
and crafted by the beautiful, enchanting artist, an architect, a quiet
being lingering in the backdrop, listening, loving, and caring for us...
the God who made the universe itself. Can you understand the full
weight of that? Can you perceive the expansive meaning behind that?
God is real. You should be free to know him. Like I've been made free
to know. By calling out to Jesus Christ for help, like I called out to
Jesus Christ for help.
I
write this because I want you know in the most sincere way the meaning I
had ached for so desperately that I almost died several times filled to
the brim with pills, drink, and drug. Jesus Christ is the truth. He
is the answer. In him is the real truth of life. It's not a game.
It's not an old superstition. It's really real.
I
want you to know so badly, because it's so hard to see behind all the
televangelist nonsense, the megachurches, the false teachers, and the
way Christianity is portrayed in the media as a sort of backward
superstition of the foolish. But I found something very different.
I
encountered God himself. He's real. You can be with him through his
son Jesus Christ. You don't have to like it, but it's the truth.
Please receive it. Please trust in him. Please call out to him. We
have much work to do, the hour is late in these spiritual battles. We
need you now. Join the resistance, join the revolution.
May the grace and peace of Jesus Christ be yours, always, amen.
Related Posts:
- The Illusions of Modern Society and the Gospel
- A Reality Frozen in Anticipation: Moments of Truth
- The Facts on the Ground: Science, God, and the testimony of Great Minds
- Election 2016 & the Mainstream Media: Ben Carson, and Secularism
- Five Videos from 2015 that will Change your Perspective
- Honoring God with our Eating: Sugar, Heart Disease
- The Facts on Christianity: A Quick Examination
- Confronting Sin: A Passion for Being Changed
- Evangelicals, You need to Vote: Here's Why
- All those who Wander are not Lost: A Study in Nothingness
Monday, December 14, 2015
Tuesday, December 8, 2015
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Sunday, November 29, 2015
Saturday, November 28, 2015
Thursday, November 26, 2015
Christian vs. Secular Ideology: The Power of the Resurrection
Christian vs. Secular Ideology: The Power of the Resurrection
There is a war on today. It's not a war
of guns or bombs, but a war of ideas. The war is about worldview. The
war is about the course of human history. The war is about religion
and the eviction of God from modern society.
Battles rage on the horizon at this very
moment. We can hear the echoes and thuds in the distance. We can feel
the reverberations. We can smell the tension in the air.
The battle is waged by major media
outlets, television networks, church organizations, charities,
psychology organizations, scientific think tanks, atheist groups,
corporations, big businesses, banks, neighborhood churches,
universities, seminaries, and a thousand other institutions and
enterprises.
The ideologies are extremely wide
ranging within such a massive expose' of entities. But one side seeks
to quietly evict God from all aspects of modern society. They want to
put any of religious leanings out of government, out of the public
sector, and simply out of society. You could call it secularization,
the eviction of religious thought. It's a battle of ideology. The
other side wants to keep reference to God in government. They want the
freedom to practice faith in public, at any time they choose. They want
religious people to have a respected and honored place in society.
They want the freedom to share their faith while at work, or at home, or
at the store or anywhere else. They want a nation that honors God.
We see the battle on the national stage
on a daily basis. It seems to be a constant battle for the moral high
ground. Who is abusing who? Which side is right and which side is
wrong? Who is the victim? Who needs to be protected? Both sides fight
for the moral high ground, for the sympathy of the great silent
majority.
Who will win? I have no idea. Maybe
left, maybe right, maybe neither. Throughout the history of the United
States there have been great divides within the ranks of the citizenry.
Think of the revolutionary war and the contentions between loyalists
and revolutionaries. Think of the great debate over slavery. Think of
the war between the north and the south during the civil war. Think of
the civil rights movements. And think of today, in the war of ideas
fought between the progressive left and the conservative right.
There are certainly noble causes on both
sides of the aisle. In the past I supported mainly liberal causes. I
was a member of the Sierra Club. I helped with the Wal Mart protests
and helped workers fight for wages that were fair so they wouldn't all
have to be on welfare while working full time hours at a rich business.
I've helped with causes on Moveon.org. I fought against the citizens
united ruling. I stood up for Net neutrality. Those were and are all
good and noble causes. I participated at the local protest against the
corrupt business practices of Monsanto in my hometown of Wausau,
Wisconsin. I'm skeptical of GMOs, and I'm also skeptical of groups who
say more government is the answer to some of these issues. I've also
supported anti-war groups and stood against unnecessary wars and
excessive military spending.
Yet I've also stood for many
conservative causes. I donate to and support Alliance defending
Freedom, Liberty Institute, and the ACLJ. I stand for religious liberty
and the right to practice faith in all areas of life. I'm an advocate
for the organization "Abolish human abortion." I support Gospel for
Asia and Compassion International. I receive newsletters from the Ethics
and Religious Liberty Commission. I also support the causes behind
Liberty Counsel, and I receive their newsletter. I've given to CRU, and
advocated for groups like the Veritas Forum, RZIM, Reasonable Faith,
and Cross Examined. I've stood against Planned Parenthood. I've
advocated for conservative economic policy. I've fought for a natural
view of marriage, of one man and one woman. I'm a firm advocate of
Liberty University. I support conservative organizations like the
Salvation Army, St. Vincent De Paul, Thrivent Financial, and the
Heritage Foundation.
We have to
ask ourselves, what spurs us to do right and to do wrong? Is it
conditions? Is it society? Is it our upbringing? I'm sure those
things do contribute. Yet there is one factor that seems to build into
everything. It upsets every system. It corrupts every process. It
pushes every nation off course from prosperity. That is the human
capacity for evil. We have an inordinate desire to do wrong. But it's
more complicated than that. It's not that we're just simply evil. Most
of us want to do the right thing. We really really do. But there is
another force in there that upsets our good intentions. There is an
allurement that takes us off course, every time. And terrible things
happen as a result.
The point
is simple: We want to do the right thing. But we can't. Something else
is at work within us. The truth is we need a savior. We need a spirit
beyond our spirit to come within us, and help us to overcome our own
harmful desires. It's not an easy thing to admit. But it's the truth.
Thankfully
we do have a savior and his name is Jesus Christ. The power of the
resurrection is the power of Jesus Christ to give life to those who are
in need of it. All of us fear death, but in Christ we need never fear
again.
The power
of the resurrection has changed the world forever. It led to the birth
of orphanages, hospitals, and universities. It led entire generations
to turn from their selfish desires and seek to live in a God-loving
biblical manner. It led to the founding of organizations like the Red
Cross, Goodwill, YMCA, and of course the Salvation Army.
Without
the resurrection the world would be a very different place. It would be
a very dark place. We can only imagine what it might be like.
Western
civilization has come together in a way where there is a great deal of
prosperity and liberty. Think back to the time of the birth, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The world was chaotic and
authoritarian. Then came the disciples of Christ, the followers of the way,
bringing salt and light to an ancient civilization called the Roman
empire. At first followers of the way were persecuted, hated, murdered,
and eventually exterminated in massive persecutions. But eventually
the Roman empire was transformed by the power of the gospel.
In the
United States in the 1700s something very special happened. The
persecuted of Europe took to the United States to be free to conduct
their religious beliefs in the way they saw fit. The grand experiment
took place, of a free nation, creating their own Constitution. The
result was one of the most prosperous and free nations the world had
ever seen. In all these things was the power of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, the power to change the character of people. One person
at a time the message transformed cultures and societies. Today we live
in the result of the power of the resurrection to guide a nation. If
our nation ever turns from the gospel, the results could be terrible.
Think of the secular revolution in France just after the American
revolution. What did they often say? "Heads will roll" and they
certainly did. Without an outside reference to base all beliefs on,
natural law, then there is nothing but a subjective vacuous morality
pinned to the changing moods of the populous of a nation. Hope and pray
that America never turns from her foundation, which is the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
The power
of the resurrection is to transform cultures and nations. Yet even more
so the power of the resurrection is the power to make dead people live
forever. Amen.
Related Posts:
 |
| Chicago, IL - CC, no attribution required via Pixabay |
of guns or bombs, but a war of ideas. The war is about worldview. The
war is about the course of human history. The war is about religion
and the eviction of God from modern society.
Battles rage on the horizon at this very
moment. We can hear the echoes and thuds in the distance. We can feel
the reverberations. We can smell the tension in the air.
The battle is waged by major media
outlets, television networks, church organizations, charities,
psychology organizations, scientific think tanks, atheist groups,
corporations, big businesses, banks, neighborhood churches,
universities, seminaries, and a thousand other institutions and
enterprises.
The ideologies are extremely wide
ranging within such a massive expose' of entities. But one side seeks
to quietly evict God from all aspects of modern society. They want to
put any of religious leanings out of government, out of the public
sector, and simply out of society. You could call it secularization,
the eviction of religious thought. It's a battle of ideology. The
other side wants to keep reference to God in government. They want the
freedom to practice faith in public, at any time they choose. They want
religious people to have a respected and honored place in society.
They want the freedom to share their faith while at work, or at home, or
at the store or anywhere else. They want a nation that honors God.
We see the battle on the national stage
on a daily basis. It seems to be a constant battle for the moral high
ground. Who is abusing who? Which side is right and which side is
wrong? Who is the victim? Who needs to be protected? Both sides fight
for the moral high ground, for the sympathy of the great silent
majority.
Who will win? I have no idea. Maybe
left, maybe right, maybe neither. Throughout the history of the United
States there have been great divides within the ranks of the citizenry.
Think of the revolutionary war and the contentions between loyalists
and revolutionaries. Think of the great debate over slavery. Think of
the war between the north and the south during the civil war. Think of
the civil rights movements. And think of today, in the war of ideas
fought between the progressive left and the conservative right.
There are certainly noble causes on both
sides of the aisle. In the past I supported mainly liberal causes. I
was a member of the Sierra Club. I helped with the Wal Mart protests
and helped workers fight for wages that were fair so they wouldn't all
have to be on welfare while working full time hours at a rich business.
I've helped with causes on Moveon.org. I fought against the citizens
united ruling. I stood up for Net neutrality. Those were and are all
good and noble causes. I participated at the local protest against the
corrupt business practices of Monsanto in my hometown of Wausau,
Wisconsin. I'm skeptical of GMOs, and I'm also skeptical of groups who
say more government is the answer to some of these issues. I've also
supported anti-war groups and stood against unnecessary wars and
excessive military spending.
Yet I've also stood for many
conservative causes. I donate to and support Alliance defending
Freedom, Liberty Institute, and the ACLJ. I stand for religious liberty
and the right to practice faith in all areas of life. I'm an advocate
for the organization "Abolish human abortion." I support Gospel for
Asia and Compassion International. I receive newsletters from the Ethics
and Religious Liberty Commission. I also support the causes behind
Liberty Counsel, and I receive their newsletter. I've given to CRU, and
advocated for groups like the Veritas Forum, RZIM, Reasonable Faith,
and Cross Examined. I've stood against Planned Parenthood. I've
advocated for conservative economic policy. I've fought for a natural
view of marriage, of one man and one woman. I'm a firm advocate of
Liberty University. I support conservative organizations like the
Salvation Army, St. Vincent De Paul, Thrivent Financial, and the
Heritage Foundation.
We have to
ask ourselves, what spurs us to do right and to do wrong? Is it
conditions? Is it society? Is it our upbringing? I'm sure those
things do contribute. Yet there is one factor that seems to build into
everything. It upsets every system. It corrupts every process. It
pushes every nation off course from prosperity. That is the human
capacity for evil. We have an inordinate desire to do wrong. But it's
more complicated than that. It's not that we're just simply evil. Most
of us want to do the right thing. We really really do. But there is
another force in there that upsets our good intentions. There is an
allurement that takes us off course, every time. And terrible things
happen as a result.
The point
is simple: We want to do the right thing. But we can't. Something else
is at work within us. The truth is we need a savior. We need a spirit
beyond our spirit to come within us, and help us to overcome our own
harmful desires. It's not an easy thing to admit. But it's the truth.
Thankfully
we do have a savior and his name is Jesus Christ. The power of the
resurrection is the power of Jesus Christ to give life to those who are
in need of it. All of us fear death, but in Christ we need never fear
again.
The power
of the resurrection has changed the world forever. It led to the birth
of orphanages, hospitals, and universities. It led entire generations
to turn from their selfish desires and seek to live in a God-loving
biblical manner. It led to the founding of organizations like the Red
Cross, Goodwill, YMCA, and of course the Salvation Army.
Without
the resurrection the world would be a very different place. It would be
a very dark place. We can only imagine what it might be like.
Western
civilization has come together in a way where there is a great deal of
prosperity and liberty. Think back to the time of the birth, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The world was chaotic and
authoritarian. Then came the disciples of Christ, the followers of the way,
bringing salt and light to an ancient civilization called the Roman
empire. At first followers of the way were persecuted, hated, murdered,
and eventually exterminated in massive persecutions. But eventually
the Roman empire was transformed by the power of the gospel.
In the
United States in the 1700s something very special happened. The
persecuted of Europe took to the United States to be free to conduct
their religious beliefs in the way they saw fit. The grand experiment
took place, of a free nation, creating their own Constitution. The
result was one of the most prosperous and free nations the world had
ever seen. In all these things was the power of the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, the power to change the character of people. One person
at a time the message transformed cultures and societies. Today we live
in the result of the power of the resurrection to guide a nation. If
our nation ever turns from the gospel, the results could be terrible.
Think of the secular revolution in France just after the American
revolution. What did they often say? "Heads will roll" and they
certainly did. Without an outside reference to base all beliefs on,
natural law, then there is nothing but a subjective vacuous morality
pinned to the changing moods of the populous of a nation. Hope and pray
that America never turns from her foundation, which is the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
The power
of the resurrection is to transform cultures and nations. Yet even more
so the power of the resurrection is the power to make dead people live
forever. Amen.
 |
| Source via Google Images CC 2.0 by Jubilee Lewis |
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Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
Sunday, November 22, 2015
Saturday, November 21, 2015
Thursday, November 12, 2015
Tuesday, November 10, 2015
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Election 2016 & the Mainstream Media: Ben Carson, Secularism, & Christian Faith
Election 2016 & the Mainstream Media: Ben Carson, Secularism, & Christian Faith
Election 2016 the Mainstream Media: Ben Carson, Secularism, & Christian Faith http://lifestyleofpeace.blogspot.com/2015/10/election-2016-mainstream-media-ben.html #bencarson #election #POTUS #ccot #god #christianity #faith #media #msm #pcpolice
Election 2016 the Mainstream Media: Ben Carson, Secularism, & Christian Faith http://lifestyleofpeace.blogspot.com/2015/10/election-2016-mainstream-media-ben.html #bencarson #election #POTUS #ccot #god #christianity #faith #media #msm #pcpolice
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Friday, November 6, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Monday, November 2, 2015
Saturday, October 31, 2015
The Facts on the Ground: Science, God, and the testimony of Great Thinkers
The Facts on the Ground: Science, God, and the testimony of Great Thinkers
“Discoveries of the last half of the 20th century have brought the scientific community to the realization that our universe and our planet in the universe are so remarkably unique that it is almost impossible to imagine how this could have happened accidentally, causing many agnostic scientists to concede that indeed some intelligent creative force may be required to account for it.” –Dr. Walter Bradley, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at Texas A & M University
Is it reasonable to believe in God? Can we confidently believe? This is a quick description of some of the keys to unlocking the truth hidden in plain sight.
Science or God is a false choice. Don't subscribe to that. The Christian faith inspired some of the greatest scientists in history. That continues today. Is it reasonable to believe in God? Based on a great deal of inquiry, into multiple disciplines and from the testimony of great men and women over the ages, I do believe it is highly reasonable to believe in God.
There are a lot of lies and distortions out there. Don't believe it. They try to push this agenda, that it has to be science vs. God. But that is nonsense! God and science are not in conflict. People want to divide and conquer in that area though. Be careful for the bias in the media, in the sciences, history, philosophy, and in culture all together. Many of these quotes I'm sharing here do not fit the media narrative and the cultural narrative.
“Atheism is so senseless. When I look at the solar system. I see the earth at the right distance from the sun to receive the proper amounts of heat and light. This did not happen by chance."
–Sir Isaac Newton
In my view the best argument for the existence of God is the argument from design. It screams very loudly from every angle, from the smallest cells in our bodies to the galaxies surrounding the milky way. Every small and large part of life testifies that God exists. Why? Because harmonious complexity does not come from random chance, it never has and it never will. Entropy, and the second law of thermodynamics.
To illustrate the the argument from design: It's like admiring a beautiful painting, of a lush forest with great mountains in the background. It's awe inspiring and magnificent. As you walk nearer to inspect the design you start to spot the brush marks on the canvass where the artist, the painter, the designer, brought the painting to life. In the same way, when we inspect the vast, incalculable complexity of the universe, and the cells of the human body, of nature, and the union of intersections all precisely tuned to allow for a natural order, we understand that we are seeing the paint brush strokes of a grand designer, we're seeing the handiwork of God himself.
“It's natural to be skeptical of a story like Noah. However, the greatest miracle in the Bible is not Noah and the flood. The greatest miracle in the Bible is recorded in the first verse: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." If that miracle is true, then every miracle in the Bible is at least possible (including Noah's Ark). If God created the universe, then He can do whatever He wants inside it.” –Frank Turek
Quite parallel to the argument from design is the Kalam cosmological argument. This argument basically indicates that something can't come from nothing. Travel back with me to the birth of the universe. The big bang if you believe in such a thing, where did it come from? Who generated the explosion? Nothing can't trigger a big bang. The universe can't pop into existence from nothingness, it makes no sense. The cosmological argument indicates that the best explanation for the existence of the universe is that a timeless, eternal, all powerful being created the universe.
To escape from this obvious conclusion atheist scientists will speculate that well, perhaps an infinite number of possible universes all exist at the same time in parallel dimensions and we just happen to be in the one where a perfect harmony was developed to allow for human life to flourish and sustain itself on a planet bearing natural plant life edible to humans with a perfect ecosystem to allow for life, plants, animals, and the planet itself all to sustain one another in a perpetuating circle of life.
They call this the multiverse theory. And the multiverse theory isn't just ridiculous, it's down right embarrassing. First, it's purely speculative to suggest an infinite number of universes all exist. There is no way to test such a theory. Second, Occam's razor cuts it off immediately as being much too far fetched and exceedingly complicated. It neglects a much more simple, and workable explanation: God. Third, the theory engenders a logical fallacy called special pleading. When cornered with a finely tuned universe, this is the special case scenario being entirely preposterous, is still suggested as an alternative to the elephant in the room: God.
“Is it really credible that random processes could have constructed a reality...which excels in every sense anything produced by the intelligence of man?” –Michael Denton
A God created the universe. Fair enough, which God? Let's look at the Bible. Is it credible? Is it really the word of God, inspired through the minds of men? Is there evidence outside the Bible to testify to it's truthfulness?
One area that testifies to the truth of the Bible is archaeology.
“It is not too much to say that it was the rise of the science of archaeology that broke the deadlock between historians and the orthodox Christian. Little by little, one city after another, one civilization after another, one culture after another, whose memories were enshrined only in the Bible, were restored to their proper place in ancient history by the studies of archaeologists…The over-all result is indisputable. Forgotten cities have been found, the handiwork of vanished peoples has reappeared, contemporary records of Biblical events have been unearthed and the uniqueness of biblical revelation has been emphasized by contrast and comparison to the newly understood religions of ancient peoples. Nowhere has archaeological discovery refuted the Bible as history.” –John Elder, archaeologist (Quoted in Don Stewart, The Ten Wonders of the Bible, 1990, p. 58)
What about the Bible itself? Is it reliable? We must remember that many, if not most who expel skepticism at the biblical documents are working from an extreme bias against the supernatural. They are defending their worldview, which is naturalistic. Naturalism is the doctrine that the physical world and universe is all there ever was or will be. It's entirely unproveable. It's a worldview. Is the Bible reliable? Listen to the testimony of the experts:
“There exists no document from the ancient world witnessed by so excellent a set of textual and historical testimonies, and offering so superb an array of historical data on which the intelligent decision may be made. An honest [person] cannot dismiss a source of this kind. Skepticism regarding the historical credentials of Christianity is based upon an irrational bias.” –Dr. Clark Pinnock, Skeptics Who Demanded a Verdict, Josh McDowell, p. 84.
“It's ironic that Isaac Newton, discoverer of the laws of motion that were later used by others to attempt to contradict parts of the Bible, was one of its greatest defenders. He wrote several papers supporting the accuracy of the text and spoke out against the Biblical critics of his day.” –Ralph O. Muncaster, The Bible: Scientific Insights, p. 20.
“Is the Bible the Word of God? Then let us all resolve from this day forward to prize the Bible more. Let us not fear being idolaters of this blessed book. Men may easily make an idol of the Church, of ministers, of sacraments, or of intellect. Men cannot make an idol of the Word. Let us regard all who would damage the authority of the Bible, or impugn its credit, as spiritual robbers. We are traveling through a wilderness: they rob us of our only guide. We are voyaging over a stormy sea: they rob us of our only compass. We are toiling over a weary road: they pluck our staff out of our hands. And what do these spiritual robbers give us in place of the Bible? What do they offer as a safer guide and better provision for our souls? Nothing! absolutely nothing! Big swelling words! Empty promises of new light! High sounding jargon; but nothing substantial and real! They would fain take from us the bread of life, and they do not give us in its place so much as a stone. Let us turn a deaf ear to them. Let us firmly grasp and prize the Bible more and more, the more it is assaulted....God has given us the Bible to be a light to guide us to everlasting life. Let us not neglect this precious gift. Let us read it diligently, walk in its light, and we shall be saved.” –J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)
“Born in the East and clothed in Oriental form and imagery, the Bible walks the ways of all the world with familiar feet and enters land after land to find its own everywhere. It has learned to speak in hundreds of languages to the heart of man. Children listen to its stories with wonder and delight, and wise men at its warnings, but to the wounded and penitent it has a mother’s voice. It has woven itself into our dearest dreams; so that love, friendship, sympathy, devotion, memory, hope, put on the beautiful garments of its treasured speech. No man is poor or desolate who has this treasure for his own. When the landscape darkens, and the trembling pilgrim comes to the Valley of the Shadow, he is not afraid to enter; he takes the rod and staff of Scripture in his hand; he says to friend and comrade, ‘Goodbye; we shall meet again’; and confronted by that support, he goes toward the lonely pass as one who walks through darkness into light.” –Henry Van Dyke (Quoted by Don Stewart, The Ten Wonders of the Bible, 1990, p. 9)
We have to be careful about the society around us. In going to public schools and then attending the liberal university of Wisconsin colleges network I found that I was being indoctrinated into a worldview. It was a worldview that encouraged skepticism toward the Bible and unquestioning faith in other areas, like liberalism, evolution, post-modernist philosophy, and many other areas. I'm not saying those worldviews and ideologies are necessarily entirely fallacious, but I am indicating that I was taught a sort of devotion to them. A devotion much like the devotion a Christian might have for his worldview.
In my life I've found that I must peel away many misconceptions from my mind. I must unlearn so many things that I've already learned. I held an unwavering skepticism toward the Bible and an unwavering faith toward my own judgment and discernment. I wanted life to be what I wanted it to be. I ignored the truth. Western society pushes a secular ideology at every turn. You may not realize that many of the beliefs you hold are ingrained from a secular perspective not based on facts, but based on faith in naturalist presuppositions, and secular approaches to all disciplines of life, from psychology to family, to finances, philosophy, and of course science.
I'll give you just one example out of many. I was watching the History channel, an influencer of tens of millions of people, if not more. On the show I was watching they were trying to show how the events in the Bible could be explained by scientific means. When I clicked onto the channel they were discussing the star the wise men followed to find the recently born Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. The historians, scientists, and archaeologists on the show were trying to show that perhaps the "star" they saw was a meteor or some sort of trick of light based on science. See, they know the biblical accounts are historically reasonable, but they must absolutely refuse any reference to the supernatural. Later they were discussing the escape of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. They were trying to explain that perhaps the river become clogged further upstream creating a sand bar along the water so they could pass over safely. I kept wondering, why won't they consider the possibility of a supernatural occurrence? The screen switched to an speaker who indicated that the text says Moses called upon God to make the waters split, but "that's a fantasy." And I wondered, how do you know it's a fantasy? You've provided no proof that it's a fantasy. You've indicated no evidence that the supernatural is impossible. You've simply acted on an unfounded presupposition that the supernatural is impossible. Which is unacceptable, especially when your giving off an air of objectivity.
“The excessive skepticism of many liberal theologians stems not from a careful evaluation of the available data, but from an enormous predisposition against the supernatural.” –Millar Burrows, former Yale University Professor
“All I am in private life is a literary critic and historian, that's my job...And I'm prepared to say on that basis if anyone thinks the Gospels are either legends or novels, then that person is simply showing his incompetence as a literary critic. I've read a great many novels and I know a fair amount about the legends that grew up among early people, and I know perfectly well the Gospels are not that kind of stuff.” –C. S. Lewis
Have you ever heard that before? "The Bible is just a book of legends." The only problem with that statement is it's completely false. The Bible is accepted by the vast majority of historians as reliable accounts of historical events. Explain that one to an atheist, they will go crazy. They don't like to bring up history though, or science for that matter. Unless of course it's in relation to a strawman of the Christian faith, matched with a false dichotomy of religion vs. science.
“It is generally the man who is not ready to argue, who is ready to sneer.” –G.K. Chesterton, as quoted in The Christian Research Journal, Vol. 32, No. 1, 2009, p. 44.
In conclusion, there is strong, powerful evidence for faith in the God of the Bible. The testimony stretches from presidents, to nobel prize winners, to the best scientists of history, and to some of the greatest minds today. They all indicate that the God of the Bible is real. There are excellent arguments, like the cosmological argument and the argument from design. You may rest assured that Jesus Christ is Lord, and he is alive today. You may rest assured that the Bible is the word of God, and we may place all our trust in the God who cares for us and keeps us in his protection until the day of Christ Jesus. Amen.
“Therefore, when a person refuses to come to Christ it is never just because of lack of evidence or because of intellectual difficulties: at root, he refuses to come because he willingly ignores and rejects the drawing of God's Spirit on his heart. No one in the final analysis really fails to become a Christian because of lack of arguments; he fails to become a Christian because he loves darkness rather than light and wants nothing to do with God.” –William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith: Christian Truth and Apologetics, p. 35-36.
Related Posts:
- Expert Testimony: The Existence of God, the Problem of Evil
- Expert Testimony: The Anthropic Principle, Anthropology
- Expert Testimony: Intelligent Design, Archaeology
- Expert Testimony: the Demise of Evolution, Complex in DNA
- Reasonable Evidence for Christianity
- Seven Objections to the Bible and Seven Reasonable Responses
- Quick Fact Sheet: Four Points to Consider
- 10 Answers to Common Questions Raised by Skeptics
- Believing in the Miraculous: The Work of Jesus Christ on the Cross
- Philosophy, Science, Logic, and History: Presentations on the Truth of Christianity from Multiple Disciplines
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