Recently I was watching Fiddler on the Roof again, and it hit me during one song that "here was an interesting perspective to explore."
I am a sometime student of history, I find it fascinating! but for many people the subject leaves them cold.
They see History as applying to someone else, some other time, and it has very little bearing on the here and now.
Now, I know otherwise, however getting through to them might be an uphill battle!
Funny thing is that this attitude also applies with the Bible.
When we (Christians) are reading the Bible we really get into the Miracles written there.
But there are many people who will try to explain them away.
(I saw a History Channel episode once that tried to explain how wind drafts could have parted the Red sea, and I recently heard a guy try to explain that the Red sea might have actually been a river that drained into the Red sea, not the sea itself.)
People do not believe the miracles, or they try to explain them away, or they see them as being something for someone else in another time and place.
"What might have triggered this thought?"
Right after the tailor "asks" Tevya for Sidel's hand in marriage (and gets "papa's" blessing) he sings his little song "Wonder of wonders, Miracle of miracles" and I, who like to actually hear AND understand the words in a song, noticed that the tailor was naming a lot of the big miracles listed in the Torah, but the most amazing miracle of all was that, in this matter, he was heard and answered.
Now if you were to ask me (or probably any other person of faith) which was more important or impressive, the parting of the Red sea or a guy getting a wife, we would probably all say "the parting of the Red sea!".
But that was an event that was distant to him. It happened to someone else, somewhere else.
But his prayer/wish being answered was immediate! It was tangible! it was right there and real to him in a way that the parting of the Sea or the Plagues of Egypt, or even the Great flood couldn't be.
The great thing about God is that he still does those works today!
I personally have experienced some really awesome things. Some true miracles.
There are people who would say they were only coincidences but I was there and I KNOW what they were.
So I too know what it is to be blessed like that. so I would suggest to you that you watch for all the miracles going on out there, and when someone has an experience like that, don't "poo-poo" them.
Listen and rejoice!
Because it is often the little Miracles that happen every day that will first convince others of the Almighty.
Let him be real to people in a way that is personal.
This is the difference between "knowing" it in your mind and KNOWING it in your heart.
Knowing it in your heart takes you a lot further... trust me I know!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Why is it so hard to reach people for Christ?
This is going to get a little hairy, so hang on.
There is a problem in reaching people for Christ these days.
Really there has always been a bit of friction between non believers and believers. But I think the problems faced COULD be overcome! Here is the problem... Are you ready?
In order for us to reach the unsaved, we, ALL OF US, have got to stop being hypocrites.
When we all get into arguments over the color of the carpet and what color we think God would rather have, or how the chairs ought to be set up, or whether we should have chairs or if Pews mightn't be better, These are stupid arguments which are divisive and petty, people who see us acting like that are going to say, "why bother?" or "I thought their 'GOD' was supposed to be a God of love and here they are fighting."
On the other hand!!! We DO need to follow Christ fully.
(This is where we find DOCTRINE.)
We often will not agree on the important points of Doctrine, some even try to claim that Doctrine is divisive and "we all should just love each other and stop looking for ways to divide the church of Christ".
But this is a path to destruction.
Then, of course, we do not have a clear understanding of what is really in the Bible! We don't learn it or study it! We just pay lip service to it.
As for an example of hypocrisy; I can think of several...
We say that we follow God and we go to church EVERY Sunday to prove it. Then the rest of the week? Not only do we not follow God's word we rationalize WHY we don't!
We lie to people "oh but it is just a little white lie!".
We Steal! "oh but I needed it more and anyway it wasn't REALLY stealing."
We commit Sexual sins as in premarital sex, adultery or cohabitation. "but I had a really rough week and needed to let off some extra pressure, anyway how am I supposed to KNOW if s/he is the right one if I don't live with her/him first."
And what may seem biggest of all? We act like we are better or more important than everyone else while telling them that we are all servants of Christ.
I Knew a guy who was a good Christian. There was no doubt about his sincerity, there was no question about his walk with God. But he had a real problem with bringing people to God because he just could not relate to others.
One reason for this was because he was a nitpicker. you know the kind... He delighted in finding the Typographical or English errors in letters, He would jump on a single point in a counter argument and hound it to death ignoring the whole picture that people were trying to present to him.
In short he missed the forest for the trees.
People were driven away by his behavior! he had an undeniable ZEAL for the Lord. But he couldn't reach people on their level to tell them about it.
He even drove "Christians" a little batty.
He Might have seen himself as being like one of the judges or prophets of God in the Old testament, I don't know, but there were many who wouldn't listen.
Now for someone FOLLOWING Christ already, this is all well and good! We do need an Elijah, Samuel or even Paul to let us know when we are straying.
But for non Christians there is an attitude that says, "I will not listen to you spewing out about your, apparently, hateful GOD."
We need to reach these people ... differently.
The first thing we need to do is to PRAY for those who do not know Christ, those we are trying to reach.
Then we need to LIVE the life that we are supposed to be following, Show them how different it is and show them the peace that God gives us even in tribulation.
We need to Study God's word, ALL of it. And we need to KNOW it... I have seen and dealt with people who have truly had real questions about the faith. (I once taught a 3rd grade Sunday school class... they had LOTS of questions!)
In order to teach them I had to know what I was talking about. Even more so with evangelism!
People will always have questions, some of those questions will be designed to catch you out, to show the "silliness" of your "religion".
Other questions will be honest representations of struggles a person has with trying to understand, maybe something s/he was taught or heard conflicts with what they perceive the God of the Bible to be, maybe they saw too many Movies or T.V. Shows where Christianity was falsely presented.
In order to teach these people we need to know what the Bible says and we need to be prepared to answer those questions.
We ALSO need to be ready to speak up against the false teachers!
I know that I mentioned the problem with the divisiveness people see in the church BUT one really important point made in the Bible is that we must NOT associate ourselves with those who call themselves followers of Christ but don't obey/follow Christ.
Paul makes that very clear! (1 Cor 5:11)
When we relate to people (hang out with) who do not live according to God's word, we are saying to those watching, that the word I claim to believe doesn't matter as much as keeping my friends and hanging out with them.
We are then condoning sinful behavior.
And at that point the one you are trying to reach will say, " why should I listen to you? You do not have anything different let alone better."
So there you go, a few points of why it can be hard to reach others for Christ.
To review.
In order to reach people with the Gospel we need to...
Pray for those who are lost, and this is the most important step to begin with,
Live our lives FULLY for Christ removing all hypocrisy,
And KNOW what it is that we are talking about, through studying and learning the Bible.
And By the way, another good reason for learning the Bible and understanding it is, when you are talking to a "pastor" who is teaching a falsehood you can gently correct him, or know to find a place where the truth is taught.
O.K. Now you have this info... what are you going to do with it?
There is a problem in reaching people for Christ these days.
Really there has always been a bit of friction between non believers and believers. But I think the problems faced COULD be overcome! Here is the problem... Are you ready?
In order for us to reach the unsaved, we, ALL OF US, have got to stop being hypocrites.
When we all get into arguments over the color of the carpet and what color we think God would rather have, or how the chairs ought to be set up, or whether we should have chairs or if Pews mightn't be better, These are stupid arguments which are divisive and petty, people who see us acting like that are going to say, "why bother?" or "I thought their 'GOD' was supposed to be a God of love and here they are fighting."
On the other hand!!! We DO need to follow Christ fully.
(This is where we find DOCTRINE.)
We often will not agree on the important points of Doctrine, some even try to claim that Doctrine is divisive and "we all should just love each other and stop looking for ways to divide the church of Christ".
But this is a path to destruction.
Then, of course, we do not have a clear understanding of what is really in the Bible! We don't learn it or study it! We just pay lip service to it.
As for an example of hypocrisy; I can think of several...
We say that we follow God and we go to church EVERY Sunday to prove it. Then the rest of the week? Not only do we not follow God's word we rationalize WHY we don't!
We lie to people "oh but it is just a little white lie!".
We Steal! "oh but I needed it more and anyway it wasn't REALLY stealing."
We commit Sexual sins as in premarital sex, adultery or cohabitation. "but I had a really rough week and needed to let off some extra pressure, anyway how am I supposed to KNOW if s/he is the right one if I don't live with her/him first."
And what may seem biggest of all? We act like we are better or more important than everyone else while telling them that we are all servants of Christ.
I Knew a guy who was a good Christian. There was no doubt about his sincerity, there was no question about his walk with God. But he had a real problem with bringing people to God because he just could not relate to others.
One reason for this was because he was a nitpicker. you know the kind... He delighted in finding the Typographical or English errors in letters, He would jump on a single point in a counter argument and hound it to death ignoring the whole picture that people were trying to present to him.
In short he missed the forest for the trees.
People were driven away by his behavior! he had an undeniable ZEAL for the Lord. But he couldn't reach people on their level to tell them about it.
He even drove "Christians" a little batty.
He Might have seen himself as being like one of the judges or prophets of God in the Old testament, I don't know, but there were many who wouldn't listen.
Now for someone FOLLOWING Christ already, this is all well and good! We do need an Elijah, Samuel or even Paul to let us know when we are straying.
But for non Christians there is an attitude that says, "I will not listen to you spewing out about your, apparently, hateful GOD."
We need to reach these people ... differently.
The first thing we need to do is to PRAY for those who do not know Christ, those we are trying to reach.
Then we need to LIVE the life that we are supposed to be following, Show them how different it is and show them the peace that God gives us even in tribulation.
We need to Study God's word, ALL of it. And we need to KNOW it... I have seen and dealt with people who have truly had real questions about the faith. (I once taught a 3rd grade Sunday school class... they had LOTS of questions!)
In order to teach them I had to know what I was talking about. Even more so with evangelism!
People will always have questions, some of those questions will be designed to catch you out, to show the "silliness" of your "religion".
Other questions will be honest representations of struggles a person has with trying to understand, maybe something s/he was taught or heard conflicts with what they perceive the God of the Bible to be, maybe they saw too many Movies or T.V. Shows where Christianity was falsely presented.
In order to teach these people we need to know what the Bible says and we need to be prepared to answer those questions.
We ALSO need to be ready to speak up against the false teachers!
I know that I mentioned the problem with the divisiveness people see in the church BUT one really important point made in the Bible is that we must NOT associate ourselves with those who call themselves followers of Christ but don't obey/follow Christ.
Paul makes that very clear! (1 Cor 5:11)
When we relate to people (hang out with) who do not live according to God's word, we are saying to those watching, that the word I claim to believe doesn't matter as much as keeping my friends and hanging out with them.
We are then condoning sinful behavior.
And at that point the one you are trying to reach will say, " why should I listen to you? You do not have anything different let alone better."
So there you go, a few points of why it can be hard to reach others for Christ.
To review.
In order to reach people with the Gospel we need to...
Pray for those who are lost, and this is the most important step to begin with,
Live our lives FULLY for Christ removing all hypocrisy,
And KNOW what it is that we are talking about, through studying and learning the Bible.
And By the way, another good reason for learning the Bible and understanding it is, when you are talking to a "pastor" who is teaching a falsehood you can gently correct him, or know to find a place where the truth is taught.
O.K. Now you have this info... what are you going to do with it?
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The problem with Generalizing
At least in Christianity's perspective...
The problem is that most generalizing is that it can confuse the issues at hand.
I have heard many sound bites that purport to be total truth, but being a soundbite it lacks the strength to have the WHOLE truth in it.
It can even be fundamentally wrong! And more than anything in the end it merely points out how LITTLE the person who came up with it really understands.
A few more famous examples are… “God is my Co-Pilot.”, “Name it and Claim it.” Or “God can do anything.” Or as I have already addressed here… “ God Loves the sinner but hates the sin.”
See all of these take part of the truth and then flips it into a trite and wrong concept.
My response to the first example is along the lines of “If God is the Co-Pilot you better switch seats!”
You see God has the plan in hand! He knows where we are all going and he knows how everything works! We do not! So if he is in the Co-Pilot’s seat then he is in the wrong seat. He needs to be the one we leave in charge. For that matter that would Make Jesus the Co-Pilot. And the Holy Spirit will Navigate for us and then we will reach our destination safely.
If we have any role on this flight, we are the stewards/stewardesses or flight attendants. We are supposed to serve all the other people flying with us.
We provide for their comfort as best we can, and teach them about the dangers we all face, and how to be safe in God’s care.
AND
Like the Flight Attendants of the Pre 911 airlines we have the amazing opportunity to take others up to see the Pilot (God) giving them the chance to Know him.
Now the next one is… “Touchy” because many of my own friends adhere to this belief BUT…
The “Name it an Claim it” crowd say, “you can have anything/everything you want. All you have to do is ask for it (or rather Demand it.)”
But This is what I also call the vending machine approach.
When you approach God with your list of demands, like this suggests you do, you are going to be disappointed.
God is not a vending machine where you put in your coin and press the button to get what you want.
He is the Lord of the universe. He is the one in control and he will decide what you need.
You cannot put God in a box simply because he is bigger than any box ever made.
As for the “God can do anything.” Thought… My statement immediately prior to this might seem to support this idea, BUT while God created everything and he is control of it all, He cannot do anything against his nature.
It would be more accurate to say that God can do anything... WITHIN HIS NATURE.
I actually had a young man once challenge me on this.
He was not a believer, and he thought he would stump me with his “logical” approach, he asked me Three questions.
The idea being if God can do "ANYTHING" there is nothing he can not do.
But if he makes such a rock then either he is not able to do what I claim (the rock would be stronger).
But if he cannot make such a rock then he is not the all-powerful God We claim he is.
I confess that I was floored because I answered too quickly,without thinking it through, and I was not as learned as I ought to have been.
This is one reason that I wanted to post this, so you all won’t make my mistake, but the fact is that God would not make a rock that he couldn’t move. He won’t/ can’t go against his nature.
This is also why he can not allow sin in his presence. It is against his nature and cannot abide with/in him.
So Please read your Bible/s and get to know WHO God is. That way you won’t have these problems.
The problem is that most generalizing is that it can confuse the issues at hand.
I have heard many sound bites that purport to be total truth, but being a soundbite it lacks the strength to have the WHOLE truth in it.
It can even be fundamentally wrong! And more than anything in the end it merely points out how LITTLE the person who came up with it really understands.
A few more famous examples are… “God is my Co-Pilot.”, “Name it and Claim it.” Or “God can do anything.” Or as I have already addressed here… “ God Loves the sinner but hates the sin.”
See all of these take part of the truth and then flips it into a trite and wrong concept.
My response to the first example is along the lines of “If God is the Co-Pilot you better switch seats!”
You see God has the plan in hand! He knows where we are all going and he knows how everything works! We do not! So if he is in the Co-Pilot’s seat then he is in the wrong seat. He needs to be the one we leave in charge. For that matter that would Make Jesus the Co-Pilot. And the Holy Spirit will Navigate for us and then we will reach our destination safely.
If we have any role on this flight, we are the stewards/stewardesses or flight attendants. We are supposed to serve all the other people flying with us.
We provide for their comfort as best we can, and teach them about the dangers we all face, and how to be safe in God’s care.
AND
Like the Flight Attendants of the Pre 911 airlines we have the amazing opportunity to take others up to see the Pilot (God) giving them the chance to Know him.
Now the next one is… “Touchy” because many of my own friends adhere to this belief BUT…
The “Name it an Claim it” crowd say, “you can have anything/everything you want. All you have to do is ask for it (or rather Demand it.)”
But This is what I also call the vending machine approach.
When you approach God with your list of demands, like this suggests you do, you are going to be disappointed.
God is not a vending machine where you put in your coin and press the button to get what you want.
He is the Lord of the universe. He is the one in control and he will decide what you need.
You cannot put God in a box simply because he is bigger than any box ever made.
As for the “God can do anything.” Thought… My statement immediately prior to this might seem to support this idea, BUT while God created everything and he is control of it all, He cannot do anything against his nature.
It would be more accurate to say that God can do anything... WITHIN HIS NATURE.
I actually had a young man once challenge me on this.
He was not a believer, and he thought he would stump me with his “logical” approach, he asked me Three questions.
First “Can God do anything?, and Is he stronger than everything?”
Second Can God make anything?”
Third “then Can he make a Rock that he cannot move?”
The idea being if God can do "ANYTHING" there is nothing he can not do.
But if he makes such a rock then either he is not able to do what I claim (the rock would be stronger).
But if he cannot make such a rock then he is not the all-powerful God We claim he is.
I confess that I was floored because I answered too quickly,without thinking it through, and I was not as learned as I ought to have been.
This is one reason that I wanted to post this, so you all won’t make my mistake, but the fact is that God would not make a rock that he couldn’t move. He won’t/ can’t go against his nature.
This is also why he can not allow sin in his presence. It is against his nature and cannot abide with/in him.
So Please read your Bible/s and get to know WHO God is. That way you won’t have these problems.
Does God truly love the sinner but hate the sin?
Or is it that he just hates both?
I know this has such an obvious answer! But people who are not Christian do not really know the answer. They think they do based on how Christians behave but, let’s face it, they are not being told the truth.
Here we have a generalization; one, which can be misleading.
Many times I have heard People declare that God “Loves the sinner but hates the sin.”
And while there is an element of truth to this statement the reality is a little more… unpalatable for non-Christians.
You see it all hinges on a person’s perception of what love might be.
Christians, if they have been “raised” properly in the faith, understand what God’s love means.
But Non Christians think that love means “I will do anything for you and give you anything you want!” in short they think love is what most people used to refer to as spoiling or being spoiled.
God Does love us even when we are in sin. It is true! But the love he shows is not one which leads to a person becoming spoiled! He wants what is best for us Not what we think we want.
We are after all his children, and like a child might want to eat nothing but Ice cream, cake and candy, we all know that that is not a healthy thing to do.
So if we are good parents then we will enforce a diet more consistent with what is GOOD for them.
And like we see people do towards God, They will scream and cry and rant that we do not love them.
BUT it is PRECISELY because of our love for them that we insist on what is better for them even though they would rather have it differently.
But unfortunately we are also all “adults” now and we do not like to think about our still being immature compared to God.
So we are worse. Because the Child will realize what his or her station in life is more readily than an adult might. Although in today’s society where we have become so permissive that might be a less accurate statement than it once was.
You see?
There is the issue though. God does love the sinner, and God does hate the sin. But God hates the sin so much that the sinner who does not become absolved of sin still cannot come into God’s presence.
He cannot be redeemed! But the statement of God loving the sinner while hating the sin does not address the issue.
It merely gives the sinner the false reassurance that he or she can do whatever he or she wants and he or she will still get in to heaven because, After all, “If God loves me he wouldn’t deny me this”.
But that would be the approach our grandparents have, not our parents! And God IS our father. He has a very large interest in making sure we grow up RIGHT. We need to teach the truth and the WHOLE truth. Not just little bits and pieces in half accurate generalizations.
I know this has such an obvious answer! But people who are not Christian do not really know the answer. They think they do based on how Christians behave but, let’s face it, they are not being told the truth.
Here we have a generalization; one, which can be misleading.
Many times I have heard People declare that God “Loves the sinner but hates the sin.”
And while there is an element of truth to this statement the reality is a little more… unpalatable for non-Christians.
You see it all hinges on a person’s perception of what love might be.
Christians, if they have been “raised” properly in the faith, understand what God’s love means.
But Non Christians think that love means “I will do anything for you and give you anything you want!” in short they think love is what most people used to refer to as spoiling or being spoiled.
God Does love us even when we are in sin. It is true! But the love he shows is not one which leads to a person becoming spoiled! He wants what is best for us Not what we think we want.
We are after all his children, and like a child might want to eat nothing but Ice cream, cake and candy, we all know that that is not a healthy thing to do.
So if we are good parents then we will enforce a diet more consistent with what is GOOD for them.
And like we see people do towards God, They will scream and cry and rant that we do not love them.
BUT it is PRECISELY because of our love for them that we insist on what is better for them even though they would rather have it differently.
But unfortunately we are also all “adults” now and we do not like to think about our still being immature compared to God.
So we are worse. Because the Child will realize what his or her station in life is more readily than an adult might. Although in today’s society where we have become so permissive that might be a less accurate statement than it once was.
You see?
There is the issue though. God does love the sinner, and God does hate the sin. But God hates the sin so much that the sinner who does not become absolved of sin still cannot come into God’s presence.
He cannot be redeemed! But the statement of God loving the sinner while hating the sin does not address the issue.
It merely gives the sinner the false reassurance that he or she can do whatever he or she wants and he or she will still get in to heaven because, After all, “If God loves me he wouldn’t deny me this”.
But that would be the approach our grandparents have, not our parents! And God IS our father. He has a very large interest in making sure we grow up RIGHT. We need to teach the truth and the WHOLE truth. Not just little bits and pieces in half accurate generalizations.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Creation, VS. Evolution? or is it Science, VS. Church?
"Why is this really an issue?" you might ask.
Well let me tell you.
The problem many people have is that they see Science and Christianity as opposing. When they really don't.
See when you look at real science it does not have a problem with true Christianity, and Christianity doesn't have issue with REAL science.
Science is supposed to use the scientific Method in order to know what is going on.
Scientific Method is defined as,
I have found that when you apply the Scientific Method to the word of God, it all fits. It works, the Bible has turned out to be historically accurate and from all observations it seems to be scientifically accurate too.
part of the problem with Evolution is that you cannot apply the scientific method to it, mostly due to this bit.
no one can go and observe Evolution because it either takes to long or it happened to long ago.
"Scientists" will say they observe the stars to arrive at a time frame. but even Science, when it is being honest, admits that light can be altered (slowed down or moved/bent) and so observing the stars, or rather the light from the stars is not conclusive.
They claim they can observe the fossil record to determine the process by which Evolution occurs. But they don't tell you that in order for the fossil record to work certain things have to be taken for granted.
They say that they can use modern technology to date fossils, but they won't tell you what assumptions have to be in place first.
The other night on a talk radio show, the guest was a scientist who received abuse from other scientists. He believed in S.H.C. or Spontaneous Human Combustion. He pointed out that his views were unpopular because the scientific community didn't understand how S.H.C. Could happen, and because they didn't understand they refused to believe in it.
Then he said something VERY interesting to me.
He chose to compare the Scientific community to the "church" of the middle ages,he said, "scientists seem to be the new priesthood, they have their view of who God is and how everything works and you better believe them or you will be labeled a heretic."
See the reason why people want to deny God is because the church once had a problem in that the people in the church were, people.
Flawed, prideful, self motivated, self aggrandizing people. People who were so determined that they had to be right, that they refused to believe in anything that wasn't in line with what they WANTED to believe.
Now the science community seems to be going the same way, only they want to say the "Church" of today is still wrong, "I mean after all look at their track record with Galileo", and they will not see that even though there was a mistake once there could be grounds for truth here.
After all if the church was wrong then they must always be wrong. The problem is that what they are arguing isn't the real issue.
When the Catholic church condemned Galileo, they based their argument on the point that "if the Bible doesn't say it happened then it didn't happen." And yes I understand there are still people today who think that.
The thing is that, that is a very arrogant view point.
I like the way C.S. Lewis said it. "that is someone else's story and you do not need to know it [now]."
The point is that there are some things in the universe that God may or may not have done, that he did not see fit to tell us about, so the argument that, it isn't in the Bible so it doesn't exist, is not a good one.
On the other hand, here we have something different. God DOES tell us what he did to create the world and all on/in it.
And that actually makes sense for him to do! I mean think about all that we have to learn in school today. and we are still discovering how things work! if God had written down every single little thing he ever did, how every atom and molecule worked, how quantum physics worked, etc... then we would never be able to get through the whole thing. But we do need to know what he did in creation and where we stand in the plan.
He gave us enough that we could function, much like you have to teach the basics first.
If you dumped an Algebra or trigonometry textbook in the lap of a first grader that child would be unable to grasp what is going on.
See just because a first grader's books don't mention Advanced Calculus doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Conversely this does not invalidate what first grade textbooks teach! there is still value to be found in the books that "science" wants to cast off, there is still truth.
As far as it goes. The idea of Evolution is nothing more than a theory, and theory is not proven fact! as you can see by Merriam-Webster's definition.(please pay close attention to the italicized points.)
The Thesaurus offered by Merriam-Webster is even more telling.
The thing is that Evolutionists want to state that theory is actually fact, just named differently.
We need to stop throwing out all that we have in favor of new ideas that don't fit the facts, and we ought to all be working together to find the real truth, all of it.
For a look at the definitions from Merriam webster online please click on these links. Scientific Method, Theory, Theory according to the thesaurus.
Well let me tell you.
The problem many people have is that they see Science and Christianity as opposing. When they really don't.
See when you look at real science it does not have a problem with true Christianity, and Christianity doesn't have issue with REAL science.
Science is supposed to use the scientific Method in order to know what is going on.
Scientific Method is defined as,
scientific method
Function:
noun
Date:
circa 1810
: principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses
I have found that when you apply the Scientific Method to the word of God, it all fits. It works, the Bible has turned out to be historically accurate and from all observations it seems to be scientifically accurate too.
part of the problem with Evolution is that you cannot apply the scientific method to it, mostly due to this bit.
"the collection of data through observation and experiment"
no one can go and observe Evolution because it either takes to long or it happened to long ago.
"Scientists" will say they observe the stars to arrive at a time frame. but even Science, when it is being honest, admits that light can be altered (slowed down or moved/bent) and so observing the stars, or rather the light from the stars is not conclusive.
They claim they can observe the fossil record to determine the process by which Evolution occurs. But they don't tell you that in order for the fossil record to work certain things have to be taken for granted.
They say that they can use modern technology to date fossils, but they won't tell you what assumptions have to be in place first.
The other night on a talk radio show, the guest was a scientist who received abuse from other scientists. He believed in S.H.C. or Spontaneous Human Combustion. He pointed out that his views were unpopular because the scientific community didn't understand how S.H.C. Could happen, and because they didn't understand they refused to believe in it.
Then he said something VERY interesting to me.
He chose to compare the Scientific community to the "church" of the middle ages,he said, "scientists seem to be the new priesthood, they have their view of who God is and how everything works and you better believe them or you will be labeled a heretic."
See the reason why people want to deny God is because the church once had a problem in that the people in the church were, people.
Flawed, prideful, self motivated, self aggrandizing people. People who were so determined that they had to be right, that they refused to believe in anything that wasn't in line with what they WANTED to believe.
Now the science community seems to be going the same way, only they want to say the "Church" of today is still wrong, "I mean after all look at their track record with Galileo", and they will not see that even though there was a mistake once there could be grounds for truth here.
After all if the church was wrong then they must always be wrong. The problem is that what they are arguing isn't the real issue.
When the Catholic church condemned Galileo, they based their argument on the point that "if the Bible doesn't say it happened then it didn't happen." And yes I understand there are still people today who think that.
The thing is that, that is a very arrogant view point.
I like the way C.S. Lewis said it. "that is someone else's story and you do not need to know it [now]."
The point is that there are some things in the universe that God may or may not have done, that he did not see fit to tell us about, so the argument that, it isn't in the Bible so it doesn't exist, is not a good one.
On the other hand, here we have something different. God DOES tell us what he did to create the world and all on/in it.
And that actually makes sense for him to do! I mean think about all that we have to learn in school today. and we are still discovering how things work! if God had written down every single little thing he ever did, how every atom and molecule worked, how quantum physics worked, etc... then we would never be able to get through the whole thing. But we do need to know what he did in creation and where we stand in the plan.
He gave us enough that we could function, much like you have to teach the basics first.
If you dumped an Algebra or trigonometry textbook in the lap of a first grader that child would be unable to grasp what is going on.
See just because a first grader's books don't mention Advanced Calculus doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
Conversely this does not invalidate what first grade textbooks teach! there is still value to be found in the books that "science" wants to cast off, there is still truth.
As far as it goes. The idea of Evolution is nothing more than a theory, and theory is not proven fact! as you can see by Merriam-Webster's definition.(please pay close attention to the italicized points.)
the·o·ry
Pronunciation:
\ˈthē-ə-rē, ˈthir-ē\
Function:
noun
Inflected Form(s):
plural the·o·ries
Etymology:
Late Latin theoria, from Greek theōria, from theōrein
Date:
1592
1: the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another
2: abstract thought : speculation
3: the general or abstract principles of a body of fact, a science, or an art
4 a: a belief, policy, or procedure proposed or followed as the basis of action
b: an ideal or hypothetical set of facts, principles, or circumstances —often used in the phrase in theory
(in theory, we have always advocated freedom for all)
5: a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena (the wave theory of light)
6 a: a hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation
b: an unproved assumption : conjecture
c: a body of theorems presenting a concise systematic view of a subject
The Thesaurus offered by Merriam-Webster is even more telling.
Entry Word:
theory
Function:
noun
Text: an idea that is the starting point for making a case or conducting an investigation (set out to prove her theory that people canʼt really taste any difference between colas, so they buy according to the product's image)
Synonyms: hypothesis, proposition, supposition
Related Words: assumption, concession, premise, presumption, presupposition; generalization, guess, guesswork, inference, speculation, surmise; proffer, proposal, suggestion; feeling, hunch, impression, inkling, notion, suspicion; abstraction, concept, conception
The thing is that Evolutionists want to state that theory is actually fact, just named differently.
We need to stop throwing out all that we have in favor of new ideas that don't fit the facts, and we ought to all be working together to find the real truth, all of it.
For a look at the definitions from Merriam webster online please click on these links. Scientific Method, Theory, Theory according to the thesaurus.
God: The great physician.
Something we often seem to miss is that God Is perfect; And, as I said before, he is unchanging. This creates a dilemma for most People (yes even Christians). I mean, How do you describe perfection? I mean Honestly, c'mon how do you do it?
Nothing in our lives or this world is perfect, so what can you compare with to describe perfection?
He is not just 99.9 percent pure this is the real deal.
But here is the thing, being perfect no sin or evil can be in his presence, period.
I suppose you could look at it like the “Black Plague”.
The Plague, or Black Death, was spread by Infected fleas, which lived on rats and then spread to humans.
Once a person was infected there was the chance of the disease being spread in a form called pneumonic plague, which attacked the respiratory system and was spread by breathing the exhaled air of the victim.
It decimated the known world in 1348 with some reports stating that up to half of the people existing then died.
Now in order to stop the disease, you either have to stop the carrier or destroy the disease.
Usually it is easiest to stop the carrier of the disease, this does not require anything special in training or fabrication and the disease, hopefully, will not spread any further.
In order to do that you might kill the carrier, the rats or fleas (or even the people)that spread the illness, or you can quarantine the infected until the disease has passed and is no longer virulent.
Sin is a lot like disease, and all of us are infected. So to keep God from being contaminated he might keep us away. But there is also the second possibility… antidote/vaccination or destroying the disease itself.
God offers us a way to do this. We just have to accept it.
And that is what Jesus did on the cross. His blood acts as the vaccination for our sins. He died that we might be saved. We were not allowed in God’s presence (quarantine) because of our sin but because of God’s love, and Jesus' sacrifice (antidote) we are able to come into his presence.
And that is probably the closest I can come to offering you the chance to see what Sin is like compared to God.
Now the question is... will you accept the antidote? Or do you think that is too harsh?
If you went to a doctor and he said you need to have a certain medicine or you will die, would you accept the medicine? or would you turn around and walk away saying... "I do not like death and for you to give me that ultimatum makes you mean and harsh."?
I hope for your sake that you choose the medicine.
Nothing in our lives or this world is perfect, so what can you compare with to describe perfection?
He is not just 99.9 percent pure this is the real deal.
But here is the thing, being perfect no sin or evil can be in his presence, period.
I suppose you could look at it like the “Black Plague”.
The Plague, or Black Death, was spread by Infected fleas, which lived on rats and then spread to humans.
Once a person was infected there was the chance of the disease being spread in a form called pneumonic plague, which attacked the respiratory system and was spread by breathing the exhaled air of the victim.
It decimated the known world in 1348 with some reports stating that up to half of the people existing then died.
Now in order to stop the disease, you either have to stop the carrier or destroy the disease.
Usually it is easiest to stop the carrier of the disease, this does not require anything special in training or fabrication and the disease, hopefully, will not spread any further.
In order to do that you might kill the carrier, the rats or fleas (or even the people)that spread the illness, or you can quarantine the infected until the disease has passed and is no longer virulent.
Sin is a lot like disease, and all of us are infected. So to keep God from being contaminated he might keep us away. But there is also the second possibility… antidote/vaccination or destroying the disease itself.
God offers us a way to do this. We just have to accept it.
And that is what Jesus did on the cross. His blood acts as the vaccination for our sins. He died that we might be saved. We were not allowed in God’s presence (quarantine) because of our sin but because of God’s love, and Jesus' sacrifice (antidote) we are able to come into his presence.
And that is probably the closest I can come to offering you the chance to see what Sin is like compared to God.
Now the question is... will you accept the antidote? Or do you think that is too harsh?
If you went to a doctor and he said you need to have a certain medicine or you will die, would you accept the medicine? or would you turn around and walk away saying... "I do not like death and for you to give me that ultimatum makes you mean and harsh."?
I hope for your sake that you choose the medicine.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
What is Heaven like?
Recently while "surfing the web", I came across a statement that I found to be... unnerving.
Someone actually declared that heaven was (essentially) nothing more than A giant cosmic waiting room.
The gist of what he was trying to say, as I understand it, was that everyone who is saved goes to Heaven and just sort of hangs out until Jesus returns to earth and restarts everything in his millennial kingdom.
Well to tell you the truth this has me floored! I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where it makes this declaration. I think he is looking at the book of Revelation, well I guess he would HAVE to be. but I think he might have misinterpreted things a bit.
But on the other hand it does raise an interesting question... "What is Heaven really like?"
Many people have contemplated what Heaven is. From Cartoonists to Authors, From singers and songwriters to movie producers.
But Really... WHAT is it really like.
Well the first thing to do seems to be dispensing with the idea that it's just a big Waiting room.
The Bible tells us quite a bit about it.
For example, it is God's Home/where God resides... (Deuteronomy 26:15, 1 Kings 8:30, Matthew 6:9, Colossians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and Revelation 11:19.)
It is where God rules from... (Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 7:21, 19:14, 26:18, Acts 7:49)
It is where our rewards (or even punishment) are held for us... (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 5:12, 6:20, 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 10:20, 18:22.)
It is where the Angels (celestial beings, not the baseball team.) reside... (Luke 15:7)
And it is our future home... (Matthew 19:14, 19:23, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Philippians 3:20)
In short it is a place where we will want to be. (Matthew 23:13)
But what is it like?
Well according to Ms. Watson in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is a place to sit around playing Harps, according to Calvin from the Comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, it is a place where you always behave, According to Star Trek it is a vast Desert Planet in the heart of the galaxy, and according to country/western singer Andy Griggs it is, simultaneously... Twilight,his home town, a fast train, a piece of cherry pie, and his last tear.
According to C.S. Lewis it is a place where all that was good that ever existed remains, safe from harm and everything you experience, see, taste, touch, hear or feel is better than anything we have ever experienced before.
Most of us consider Heaven to be a destination, a place to get to, but I wonder if that really ought to be the focus; I think we miss the point.
All these ideas are Human Perspective; and all of them are rather slanted.
While Twain's Ms. Watson LIKES the idea of floating around playing a harp, Huck Finn would rather not go there! Calvin could not see the point in going to all the effort of Behaving if the only thing he got in return was having to behave even more (for Calvin Behaving = no fun).
Some people would rather see forest and grass than a desert so Star Trek's version wouldn't suit them, AND there are a lot of people out there who prefer the dawn over the dusk, Hate where they live, would rather fly or even drive than take a train (or conversely would rather be on a slow train so they can enjoy the journey), would prefer key lime pie for it's crisp citrus taste, and would rather not tear up in the first place.
Of Course Lewis' ideal is probably the best because it is the vaguest and allows people to put they're own interpretation in there.
I think the problem with all of this though is that we are so worried about the destination place and not the COMPANY we are going to meet.
When I was a young boy My mother and I went to England, and we had a great time. I enjoyed the sights and the sounds, the food and the newness of everything, but best of all were the people (Mostly the family members) we went to see.
See the point is in Heaven is God. when we are there we will be fully in his presence and that will trump all.
God created it all, and therefore he is BETTER then it all. I think we will be focused on who we are with so much that WHERE we are isn't going to matter so much.
Someone actually declared that heaven was (essentially) nothing more than A giant cosmic waiting room.
The gist of what he was trying to say, as I understand it, was that everyone who is saved goes to Heaven and just sort of hangs out until Jesus returns to earth and restarts everything in his millennial kingdom.
Well to tell you the truth this has me floored! I cannot find anywhere in the Bible where it makes this declaration. I think he is looking at the book of Revelation, well I guess he would HAVE to be. but I think he might have misinterpreted things a bit.
But on the other hand it does raise an interesting question... "What is Heaven really like?"
Many people have contemplated what Heaven is. From Cartoonists to Authors, From singers and songwriters to movie producers.
But Really... WHAT is it really like.
Well the first thing to do seems to be dispensing with the idea that it's just a big Waiting room.
The Bible tells us quite a bit about it.
For example, it is God's Home/where God resides... (Deuteronomy 26:15, 1 Kings 8:30, Matthew 6:9, Colossians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, and Revelation 11:19.)
It is where God rules from... (Isaiah 66:1, Matthew 7:21, 19:14, 26:18, Acts 7:49)
It is where our rewards (or even punishment) are held for us... (Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 5:12, 6:20, 19:21, Mark 10:21, Luke 10:20, 18:22.)
It is where the Angels (celestial beings, not the baseball team.) reside... (Luke 15:7)
And it is our future home... (Matthew 19:14, 19:23, 2 Corinthians 5:1, Philippians 3:20)
In short it is a place where we will want to be. (Matthew 23:13)
But what is it like?
Well according to Ms. Watson in Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, it is a place to sit around playing Harps, according to Calvin from the Comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, it is a place where you always behave, According to Star Trek it is a vast Desert Planet in the heart of the galaxy, and according to country/western singer Andy Griggs it is, simultaneously... Twilight,his home town, a fast train, a piece of cherry pie, and his last tear.
According to C.S. Lewis it is a place where all that was good that ever existed remains, safe from harm and everything you experience, see, taste, touch, hear or feel is better than anything we have ever experienced before.
Most of us consider Heaven to be a destination, a place to get to, but I wonder if that really ought to be the focus; I think we miss the point.
All these ideas are Human Perspective; and all of them are rather slanted.
While Twain's Ms. Watson LIKES the idea of floating around playing a harp, Huck Finn would rather not go there! Calvin could not see the point in going to all the effort of Behaving if the only thing he got in return was having to behave even more (for Calvin Behaving = no fun).
Some people would rather see forest and grass than a desert so Star Trek's version wouldn't suit them, AND there are a lot of people out there who prefer the dawn over the dusk, Hate where they live, would rather fly or even drive than take a train (or conversely would rather be on a slow train so they can enjoy the journey), would prefer key lime pie for it's crisp citrus taste, and would rather not tear up in the first place.
Of Course Lewis' ideal is probably the best because it is the vaguest and allows people to put they're own interpretation in there.
I think the problem with all of this though is that we are so worried about the destination place and not the COMPANY we are going to meet.
When I was a young boy My mother and I went to England, and we had a great time. I enjoyed the sights and the sounds, the food and the newness of everything, but best of all were the people (Mostly the family members) we went to see.
See the point is in Heaven is God. when we are there we will be fully in his presence and that will trump all.
God created it all, and therefore he is BETTER then it all. I think we will be focused on who we are with so much that WHERE we are isn't going to matter so much.
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