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
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