Not Again!?

In an effort to ensure that both those who subscribe to this blog and those who are following this blog are both "notified" of recent changes, I thought it appropriate to post a quick update. Subscribers to this feed should have been notified last night.

So...here's the news...

This site is moving....yes, again.

While the blogger site has served us well, I felt it was about time to get this whole thing onto it's own site and combine some of the efforts that I've been working on.

To that end, there is a new web site call n-ology.net of which this blog will be a part of. You can find new posts for this blog here.

Come by the new site and thanks for reading.

Grace, love and peace. Read more!

Delusion?

Recently I started on an endeavor in response to some challenging questions from a family member who is a professed atheist. I was asked how much research and study I have done by skeptics of Christianity.

Mostly, I have spent a lot of time reading and listening to scholars such as Dr. William Lane Craig or Craig Blomberg or J. P. Moreland and other “big name” Christian historians, theologians, philosophers and such. But, most of my research has been from the pro-Christian perspective. This might not be all that surprising since I am, myself, a Christian.

To be fair to both sides of this debate, however, I recently decided to look at the opposing view. Therefore, I just began reading noted atheist Richard Dawkins’ book, “The God Delusion.” In beginning this book (thus far I have read the soft-cover Preface, the original Preface and Chapter 1), I thought I’d put down my thoughts as I progress through.

Given that I’m also continuing my journey through the Psalms and am currently reading through Psalm 5, there is also an opportunity here to kill two birds with one stone. I should mention, for the sake of any PETA members who may see this, that this is merely an expression. No avian creatures were harmed in the writing of this post.

To begin with, I was somewhat impressed with how Dawkins explained in the Preface some of the definitions of terminology he would use throughout the book. He seems to have taken great pains to clarify his views as distinctly as possible in order to avoid excessive twisting around of his words and thoughts. For this, I must commend him.

As I said, I am only through Chapter 1 and only briefly began looking at Chapter 2. So, I will first work with Chapter 1. In this chapter, Dawkins spends half of the chapter correcting some false claims regarding the faith of Albert Einstein. He spends some time clearing up some misconceptions that Einstein was a Christian and describes the “God” that Einstein truly believed in, which was not the supernatural God as described in the Bible, the Torah or the Qur'an.

The second half of the chapter seemed to have gone into a long list of hideous actions that could best be described as “hate crimes” committed by any of the three major world religions; Judaism, Christianity & Islam. He spends considerable time attempting to show, it seems, the damage done by religion in general.

The problem with this, as I see it, is two-fold. First, Dawkins seems to completely ignore any of the many benefits that religion has brought to the world and focused solely on destructive, self-centered, greedy, political, power-hungry and utterly non-biblical crimes committed in the name of the church. Just recently, I had written a guest article on only looking at the negative impact of religion without taking into account any of the positive contributions religion has made.

Certainly, these atrocities should not be swept under the rug. However, if one is going to evaluate, as an example, Christianity…one should look at what the Bible teaches and not look at what some corrupt, opportunistic individuals have done in the name of Christ. When a “Christian” commits a hate crime, is it because of a flaw in Christian doctrine? Or is it because that person is acting un-biblically?

To determine that, all one must ask is…what does the Bible say about such actions? The great thing about this is, most of these questions can be weighed against one short passage in the Bible. I’ll use the Matthew 22 text for this reference:

³⁴Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. ³⁵One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question:
³⁶"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" ³⁷Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
Matthew 22:34-40

So, when some sort of hate crime or other violence is done in the name of Christ, simply ask whether such action follows both (not one or the other) of these commandments. Does this action show that the individual loves God with his/her heart, soul and mind? Is this an act of love for the other person? If the answer to either of these questions is “No!” then the person is not acting according to the teaching of the Bible and therefore is not representative of Christianity.

Unfortunately, I can’t speak much for Islam as I am not well-versed in their beliefs. However, in the case of Judaism, they can actually site the same teaching. Why? Because this is not a “New Testament” teaching. Jesus, here, is quoting from the Hebrew scriptures, Deuteronomy 6:5. (OK, it’s only verse 37 being quoted, but you get the idea.)

Now, at this point, you’re probably asking yourself…”What does any of this have to do with Psalm 5?” If you are asking that, it’s an excellent question. If you are not asking that, it’s still an excellent question.

Where this ties in, for me anyway, is that as I continue through Dawkins’ book, I can’t help be keep part of this Psalm in mind:

 

⁹ Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.
¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.
Psalm 5:9-10

This passage can serve as a warning for any of those who may, like me, be dumb enough to entertain the thoughts and teachings of those who do not profess to have faith in the Living God. As I keep this in mind, it helps me to stay grounded and stay objective so that, even if the skeptics sound like they make sense (and often it does seem that way at first glance), I have to then go back and see if objections to the Christian faith are actually valid, or if it is just a misleading diatribe to lead an obedient servant of Christ away from the truth.

With that, I suppose you can expect more updates as I continue my way through this book. As I do so, I will attempt to be as fair and objective to Dawkins as I am able (though I am already sensing that he is not extending that same openness in this book) and will do my best to explain where I agree with him and where and why I disagree with him.

Grace, love and peace.

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Guest Post: One-Sided

Just posted another guest article regarding a tendency for people to isolate and group together all of the bad things that the Church has ever done while, at the same time, completely disregarding those good things that the Church has contributed to society and the world during times when they were actually acting in-line with scriptural teaching.

So often, people with personal agendas of power or wealth manage to attain positions of power within the Church and then abuse that power citing "God's commandment" to them when the actions they are pushing do not line up with how the Bible tells us we should treat one another. This has a major negative effect on how the Church is seen from the outside and makes it very difficult to overcome objections when people associate these atrocities with biblical teaching. Read more!

Once Again...A Poll

Once again, I am coming to you for your feedback on the future of this blog. For some time, now, I have wanted to make this blog an "official" website by registering a domain name and having it hosted by a web hosting service.

But, as with my yet-unborn daughter, I struggle to arrive at a final decision regarding a name. I've posted the first few options that came to mind on a poll and am encouraging you to bring your feedback so that it may help me with this decision.

So, come on by and cast your vote. Polls close at the end of the month and I'll probably be chomping at the bit to get things moving along. This means that I'll probably try to justify after the first couple votes that I should just go for it.

Regardless, I will be trying very hard to make sure the subscription feeds don't change so that any subscribers getting these updates today will not experience any downtime and miss any of the great things that I'll be posting in the future as I continue to get more smarter. :-)

Grace, love and peace!
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Answering Prayers

Have you ever known a non-Christian to pray to God for something during a time of crisis in their lives? How often does God seem to answer those prayers? How do those people react when their prayer seems to go unanswered? What, specifically, were they praying for?

My guess is, yes, hardly ever, as if they expected nothing, and for some specific thing that they really wanted at that moment (usually material things or a particular relationship or job).

This is a popular excuse for people to disown God. They claim that their prayers go unanswered. Yet, are they truly praying for the right things? How is their relationship with God? Is this just a random shout-out to a God that they only hope (for that moment) maybe actually exists?

I’ll preface this the way Jesus so often did….”Have you not read…”

¹ Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
² But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
³ For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken lies,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
Isaiah 59:1-3

In Psalm 4:1, the psalmist (presumably David who is described as “a man after God’s own heart) starts of by asking for his prayer to be heard. He doesn’t assume it will be. Though I do think he believes it will be. That, to make a distinction, is different than expecting.

Next, he writes about how ungodly men view his faith. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 1:18. They cling feverishly to their disbelief (and, incidentally, accuse those who cling to their faith just as fervently as “fanatics” or worse) and continue to seek something that will allow them to continue in sin without having to be held accountable for it.

But the author tells them to search their hearts. It seems David, like Paul in Romans 1:20, knew that the evidence of the Creator was obvious to everyone. He knows that if they search their hearts, they’ll be aware of God’s existence and then they’ll have to answer to Him. I guess they figure if they disbelieve, they won’t be held accountable. Well, I guess people can be wrong about all sorts of things, can’t they?

He implores them not to ignore this knowledge and to turn to the Lord. Even if it’s in the privacy of their homes, while lying in their beds he asks them to “search your hearts and be silent” so that the truth can be revealed to them.

Finally, in Psalm 4:6-8, he contrasts the doubt and reliance on worldly things with his own reliance on God and how his trust in the Lord gives him peace and rest.

So, if you want your prayers to be heard, first of all…ask! Second, be obedient. God likes obedience. It grabs His attention much more than disobedience…especially when you’re looking for favorable attention.

What areas are you obedient/disobedient in? Have you had God answer your prayers? Please let us know about them.

Grace, love and peace.

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Re-Post: What's Your Idol

Here it is, once again. Unedited and in its original form...a re-post from the old blog as I continue to clean it out in order to eventually decommission that blog. Enjoy.

The First Commandment tells us to take no gods before the Lord God. When it is put so succinctly and explicitly, most of us would probably say that we are in obedience with this commandment. But, disobedience is not always quite as obvious as we think it is.

If someone were to ask you what god you worship, most people who profess a believe in a supreme being would say that they worship God. For the large majority of Americans, this would be the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It would be the God of the Bible. But the Bible gives us some very profound insight as to who or what we are truly worshiping.

According to the First Commandment, found in Exodus 20:3...

You shall have no other gods before me.

The Bible teaches us that God needs to be the central focal point of our lives. He is not only the means, He is then end. We are to serve Him and Him alone. As it says in Matthew 6:33, we are to seek His kingdom and His righteousness and He will give us the things we need.

But so often, it is so easy to put other things first. So often we do not even realize that we are putting something other than God in a higher position than God Himself. This is not anything new, this has been going on for thousands of years.

Take, for example, the Pharisees. When confronted with the signs that Jesus was performing, which clearly pointed to Him as being the Messiah, how did they react? When Jesus went so far as to bring Lazarus back from the dead in John 11, they said in verse 48...

"If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation."

So, what was their god? Position and political status! Their nation was placed higher on their list than God. Here was the Christ, sent by God Himself. But the Pharisees did not trust in God and instead clung to their positions so tightly that, as it says in verse 53, they started plotting Jesus' death!

If you would have asked these Pharisees who was their god, they would have told you that they followed the Living God, the One God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob who led them out of Egypt and gave them the land of Israel. They would have said that. They probably even would have believed it. But, as we saw from verse 48, He was not truly their God. Not in the sense that the First Commandment talks about.

What about us, today? How often do little things take precedence over God? How often does a headache keep us from going to church? Or we choose to sleep in because it was a long week? Or we get invited to do something with family and/or friends. Church gets skipped so easily.

I know that I am just as guilty as anyone else. Sometimes, perhaps, I will try to justify it by saying that it was someone else's fault or that I did not have a choice. But that is not really true. Every week that I do not go to church, it is because I chose not to. There is nobody to blame but me. Just my own weakness.

What about Bible study? Who has the time? There is so much to do. We are so busy. By the time we get to bed, it is later than we expected and we just cannot stay up for another 15 minutes to read His Word?! Would you be able to stay up for 15 more minutes if your wife offered to make love to you? Would you be able to stay up for 15 more minutes if your husband was talking with you and opening up his heart to you? Would you be able to stay up for 15 more minutes if your child was sick?

Then, why not give God that same level of respect? Why not just spend 15 minutes reading His Word. It could be the very most important 15 minutes of your day, or even your life!

What other things are there that keep you from God? What things do you choose in your life that cause you to be so busy that something has to be sacrificed...and the first thing that gets cut from the list is time with God? What is it for you?

God deserves everything we have got. In fact, whatever it is we have got, we got it from Him in the first place. Every breath we take is a gift from Him. It happens because He wills it to happen. If you knew and understood that your very existence is completely dependent on the fact that He wills you to exist, what else could ever possibly be more important than Him?

Read more!

The Final Say

It is interesting to me how often skeptics will try to use certain tactics to shake the faith of believers. While I’m not entirely certain why they feel it’s necessary to do so, some of them put a lot of time and energy into it.

A popular tactic is to convince us that we are “beyond redemption.” For any of you who, like me, have “a past,” you may know what I’m talking about. If it wasn’t a skeptic who tried to convince you that you weren’t saving, often times it might have been you.

¹ O LORD , how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
² Many are saying of me,
"God will not deliver him."
Psalm 3:1-2

If you buy into this, it can rock your world, spiritually speaking. And, if you’re in a phase where you’ve heard this from someone, or are thinking it yourself, think again. No man or woman is in a position to decide who gets saved and who does not. There is only One who can make that call.

³ But you are a shield around me, O LORD ;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
⁴ To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah
⁵ I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
⁶ I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.
Psalm 3:3-6

God decides who is and is not beyond salvation. Not you. Not me. Not the Pope. Not a Bible-thumper on a street corner shouting out scripture and threatening everyone with eternal damnation. God has the final say.

⁸ From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Psalm 3:8

If deliverance comes from the Lord, then shouldn’t it be up to Him whom He chooses to deliver? Just look at some of the people He chose to save. Adulterers, murderers, thieves, crooked business men, prostitutes, slaves. The list goes on and on. And if you were to have known some of these people, you probably would not have imagined that they would ever be saved. But God saved them.

Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re beyond salvation. Don’t let yourself be convinced that you’re not worth saving. God saves all who accept His Son, Jesus. No matter how bad you think you are, you can still do that. And that is all that is required.

Grace, love and peace.

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