Perhaps its true

  Perhaps its true

“In the beginning God 

created the heavens and the earth.” 

                                             Genesis 1:1

Here’s an interesting thought. C. S. Lewis noted,

"Atheist express their rage against God although in their vew He does not exist", C. S. Lewis.

Around the world today there are Atheist, people who say that God does not exist yet they rage against Him and those who believe in Him.

There are atheist governments that ban Christianity yet they say God does not exist. It defies logic. How can someone or something that doesn’t exist hurt you.

And when it comes to Christianity the apostle Paul tells Christians,

“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,  to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and to show true humility toward all men.”Titus 3:1,2.

True Christians make model citizens. They pray for the their government officials. They pray that God will guide their country.

Yet still around the world Christians are thrown into prison, into labour, camps even murdered, simply because they express belief in God.

Like I said it defies logic.

perhaps it’s true what Thomas Aquinas said,

“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” Thomas Aquinas.

Please think about it.

You don't know what will happen tomorrow

You don’t know what will happen tomorrow
James the half brother of Jesus wrote,
“Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  
Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. James 4:13,14.
An atheist once told me there is no God. To which I replied sarcastically, “there must be for to know beyond doubt there is no God, one has to have been everywhere and know everything. These are traits of God. So if you know know for sure there is no God you must have been everywhere and know all things. Therefor logic says you are God.”
The truth of the matter is no one on this earth has been everywhere and knows everything. Thus one of the things we don’t know might be God. And for certain no one living today has gone beyond the grave the very place God is.
James tells us how little we know stating,
“...you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.”
If this is true how can anyone say for certain there is no God.
Blaise Pascal wrote,
Belief is a wise wager. Granted that faith cannot be proved, what harm will come to you if you gamble on its truth and it proves false? If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists.” Blaise Pascal.
I believe God asks what for many people is a very hard thing to do have faith that He exists. The writer of Hebrews stating,

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, 

because anyone who comes to him 

must believe that he exists 

and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 

                                                               Hebrews 11:6

The writer defining faith as,

“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for 

and certain of what we do not see.” 

                                          Hebrews 11:1.

As I said believing in someone you can’t see is very hard for many people. Yet it is what God requires. He asks this I believe because anyone who has faith in anything are usually the strongest of followers. Followers who will endure anything including death for their beliefs.
Thus the question is,
Do you believe in God?
Please think about it.

Until

Until
Rick Warren stated,

You were made by God and for God, 

and until you understand that, 

life will never make sense. 

                                                                        Rick Warren
For me life makes no sense without God. Life has no meaning if all we are here to do is to produce the next generation then die. Those who do not believe in God I believe have it wrong.
Peter John Kreeft make an interesting point when he states,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches, look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value” Peter John Kreeft ph.d.
The Psalmist tells us,

“Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 

Worship the LORD with gladness;

 come before him with joyful songs. 

Know that the LORD is God. 

It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, 

the sheep of his pasture. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; 

give thanks to him and praise his name. 

For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; 

his faithfulness continues through all generations.” 

Psalm 100:1-5.

 I as a Christian believe we were created by God to have fellowship with God.
The choice however to believe in God or not always belongs to you the individual. God did not create robots. He created living beings who have a freewill, a freewill to believe in him or not. Thus the choice is yours.
Please think about it.

All God Requires

All God Requires
A. B. Simpson said,

“All that God requires of us is an opportunity 

to show what He can do.” 

A. B. Simpson.

Part of the problem I find with those who do not believe in God is that they do not give God a chance.
Many atheist that I have met have made up their minds and refuse to listen to even the most logical argument about the existence of God.
Peter John Kreeft states
“Atheism is cheap on people through because it snobbishly says nine out of ten people through history have been wrong about God and have had a lie at the core of their hearts.” Peter John Kreeft ph.d.
True Atheist also set themselves us as the ultimate judge. A god if you will. They in effect say I know everything and have been everywhere. Because if they do not know everything and not been everywhere there exists the possibility that one of the things they do not know about is the existence of God.
Also if they have not been everywhere there exists the possibility that God is in the one place they have never been. And one place they have never been is beyond the grave.
The Psalmist states bluntly,

“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” 

Psalm 14:1.

Likewise the Psalmist tells us,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; 

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” 

Psalm 19:1.  

To my mind without extensively examining the existence of God with an open mind from all perspectives, both the prospective of an atheist and a believer in God. Without looking at the facts that are all around that point to the existence of God is simply a poor way of deciding there is not God.
The choice however is up to you. I as a Christian believe there is a God who gave each person a freewill to choose to believe and act as they wish. That freedom includes whether a person believes in God or not.
The two questions I always ask those who don’t believe in God is are you truly certain that what you believe is true? Are you so certain that you are willing to risk your eternal resting place on that belief?
Please think about it.

On God

“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 
“You shall have no other gods before me. 
“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.  
You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,  but showing love to a thousand  generations  of those who love me and keep my commandments. 
“You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  
Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates.  
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 
“Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. 
“You shall not murder. 
“You shall not commit adultery. 
“You shall not steal. 
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour. 
“You shall not covet your neighbour’s house. You shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbour.” 
Exodus 20:2-17.
The ten commandments a basic set of morals to live by, given by God to man.
Moral absolutes is one thing the atheist cannot explain. If there is no universal absolutes mankind would sink into anarchy.
Every man and woman that has ever been born is born with moral absolutes. We know instinctively what is right and wrong.
The book of Exodus puts down in writing what God would have us live by in the form of the ten commandments.
The first five outlines how God would have us act with respect to him. The last five outlines how we are to act toward our fellow man. It is because of this basic moral code that human society can function correctly.
When these basic laws are broken society starts to fall apart. Nazi Germany is a classic example. Millions of people died because a group of men and women did not fear God and broke His moral code. The Islamic State terrorist and for that matter all terrorist groups are also examples of men who have transcended God’s laws bringing about death and misery for hundreds of thousands.
Man needs moral absolutes. Man needs a God to respect.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society.  Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.
Abba Hillel Silver
I for one believe those who say there is no God are fooling themselves. God and life after death add meaning to life,
Peter John Kreeft states,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches, look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value”
                                            Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
Please think about it.

An Invisible Player

An invisible player

“Human beings vegetables  or cosmic dust. We all dance to a mysterious tune, intoned in the distance by an invisible player.”
                                       Albert Einstein 
I as a Christians believe the invisible player Einstein talks about is God.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society.  Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
             Abba Hillel Silver
A society without God in my opinion cannot survive. God gives man absolute moral principles to live by. God gives man hope. From my way of thinking life without God is a life without hope.
Peter John Kreeft wrote,
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches, look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value”
                                         Peter John Kreeft ph.d 
I know I will not be able to convince the most ardent Atheist that God exists. My hope however is that some people will read what I have to say and believe.
The book of acts records the apostle Paul speaking to the Athenians he said,
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.  
For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands.  
And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.  
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.  
God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.  
‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ 
“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill.  
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.  
For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” 
When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.”  
                                                Acts 17:22-32
Everyone living today must make the same decision those assembled at the Areopagus had to make. It in my opinion is the most important decision one can make in their life.
Ultimately it comes down to what who you think Jesus is.
C. S. Lewis said,
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
                                                                C. S. Lewis
The choice is yours. Please think about it.

About God

About God

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 
                                              1 Corinthians 1:18.
Can I prove God? Of course I can one just has to look around at the ordered universe. The Psalmist states,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” 
                                                                                                     Psalm 19:1.
The world and the universe in general is in perfect order to sustain life here on earth.
I believe that eventually through good science we will prove that there is one mathematical formula that links the universe together, proving it is created.
Atheism says there is no God I cannot buy into such a concept. If there is no God and a life after this one this life has no meaning.
The writer of Ecclesiastes after examining life makes the following statements
“What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun”
Ecclesiastes 1:9
“I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
Ecclesiastes 1:14
If there is no God then the previous statements are true. However the writer after much contemplation writes,
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole  duty  of man. 
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” 
Ecclesiastes12:13,14
For me to simply be born to procreate live a handful of years and die, seems senseless and a waste of that spark that makes us human, the human soul.
I have over the years examined Atheism among other things and find Atheism to be an empty abyss.
I also find the concept of atheism doesn’t hold up to logical thinking. Perhaps one of the best arguments I’ve read about Atheism was written by Wayne Jackson.  Writing in the Christian courier he says this of Atheism,
“Atheism adamantly argues that there is no God. No atheist, though, can consistently affirm emphatically that there is no God, unless he asserts both his omniscience and his omnipresence. Once he concedes that he does not know everything, he opens the door for the possibility that what he does not know may be the evidence for God’s existence. And if the atheist is not everywhere present, it logically must follow that where he is not might be the very place where proof of Deity is to be found! Thus, it is not reasonable to declare: “I know that God does not exist.” Atheism is merely a crude, irrational faith-system. There is — from the principle of cause and effect, universe design, the awareness of morality, the Scriptures, etc. — more than adequate evidence, for the thinking person, that God exists.”
                                                                  Wayne Jackson
Think about it.

On Atheism

On Atheism
“Atheism treats people cheaply. Also, it robs death of meaning, and if death has no meaning, how can life ultimately have meaning? Atheism cheapens everything it touches look at the results of communism, the most powerful form of atheism on earth.
And in the end, when the atheist dies and encounters God instead of nothingness he had predicted he’ll recognize that atheism was a cheap answer because it refused the only thing that’s not cheap the God of infinite value”
                                         Peter John Kreeft PH.D. 
                                                   as quoted in a case for faith by Lee Strobel
I have always contended that there has to be more to life than what I can see, touch, hear and feel. That life is more than an accumulation of a bunch of bobbles bangles and beads. That is why I accepted Christ as my saviour in the first place. He made life make sense.
I truly believe there is life beyond death. That death is not an end. That, that thing that is us, our very soul does not die when our physical body wears out. But travels through eternity.
Abba Hillel Silver wrote,
“Faith in God is the strongest bulwark of a free society.  Human freedom began when men became conscious that over and above society and nature there is a God who created them...who fashioned them in His likeness, and that they are, therefore, possessed of intrinsic and independent significance and are endowed, as individuals, with original and irrevocable rights and authority.”
                              Abba Hillel Silver.
To my knowledge no Atheist or group has ever come up with a moral code to equal that of the ten commandments.
In those few short words the Bible lays down for mankind in brief how to live with respect for both God and our fellow man.
The Bible does not contest the fact that there is a God. It makes it clear there is. End of story.
The Bible make it clear we all have hope. The Atheist offers no hope.
The call of Jesus to the world is,

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

 and you will find rest for your souls.  

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

                                                                         Matthew 11:28-30.

Here’s something to think about.
 The one thing no Atheist has ever been able to explain, is why do so many people around the world who are going through all kinds of pain and suffering still have an unwavering faith in a just and loving, almighty God.
I believe the answer is simple. There is a just, and loving, almighty God.
Think about it.

Man's Way

Man’s way

I would recommend that we straighten out a few things before we contemplate any interplanetary transportation system.  Suppose a man from Mars should suddenly appear on Earth?  I think it would be terribly embarrassing if he learned that a second-rate singer in a night club makes four thousand dollars a week, and a high-school teacher makes three thousand eight hundred and ninety dollars a year.  This and many other things should be straightened out first if we intend to maintain our dignity when planet folks start visiting us.
                                                                                                    Harry Golden
I came across the above quote and realized just how profound those words are. Our priorities as a society are royally messed up.
Take for example the Ebola epidemic in Africa. One of the reasons it can’t be contained is because very little priority was given to finding a vaccine for it. Someone noted to me the big pharmaceutical companies couldn’t make a lot of money on developing it so it took a back seat to other research.
The same is true when it comes to looking for cures particularly for rare illnesses. People are dying due to rare illnesses daily, illnesses that a cure could be found for if only there was the financial resources available.
Look at world hunger. There is enough food in the world to feed the world but politics, war and money symbols of man’s selfishness, stop the food from getting to where it’s needed.
The group calling itself the Islamic State (ISIS) has become a major threat to the world, why? Because of political inaction. It was the problem of someone else.
Young men and women are becoming radicalized by ISIS and other groups because society particularly in the west doesn’t seem to have anything to offer them.
Over the centuries the western world in particular has fallen away from the Christian faith and for that matter faith of any kind to be replaced with Atheism and materialism
Materialism and Atheism offers little in way of true fulfilment except a few theories and platitudes.
 In the middle east with the exception of Israel, Christianity has been restricted, banned out right, and even persecuted.  At the same time society in those countries in which Christianity has fallen out of favour, seems to have become a harsher place to live.
What is needed is a firm foundation based on the love of one’s fellow man whoever he may be.
The book of Matthew records Jesus answering the following question,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
This is the first and greatest commandment.  
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 
                                                                       Matthew 22:37-40.
It is this ethic that is needed in society today.
In his book, "Essentials in Christian Faith" published in 1958 John B. Harrington, quotes from Paul Gallico writing in Esquire magazine in 1948. It something that could have been written today.
"A writer in a popular magazine has written the following words; 'We are all, if you will pardon the expression, Headed for Hell in a handbarrow. If, ever the people of the world stood in need of a spiritual revival, it is now. We are beginning to poison the face of the earth with our miserable presence. The brakes are off. The cart of the world is sliding down the way greased with hatred, ambition, lies, self-seeking and avarice toward the pit.’"
Harrington notes that Gallico makes no pretense of being "a religious man" noting that    "...for him it is precisely religion in its organized forms which has in part caused the situation he deplores. He is careful to state that it is not "religion" for which he is looking. For in his opinion, religion throughout the history of our culture has advanced its control over human beings by the investment of bigotry and persecution. 
   Yet, out of despair over the current human situation he says; ‘The voice for which my heavy spirit is yearning must reach us all... For if it is not heard, we are lost. Something beyond our material enrichment and lust for power and position, some rewards founded on good will, selflessness, and the innate dignity of the human spirit...honour, humility, decency  courage."
Another Paul writing to a member of the first century church wrote the following,
"But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God"                                                                                                                                              2 Timothy 3:1-4
I would agree with Gallico, religion in all it’s organized forms has in part caused the situation in the world today. The members of ISIS may be religious but they are not men of true faith.
No one has to fear a man of true faith be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim or any other faith in the world today. Men of faith may differ in their beliefs but they will always be open to discuss their differences without fear.
I as a Christian believe the teachings of Christ are truly the answer to what this world needs. The teachings of love for God and for our neighbour whoever they may be.
It is the lack of love and a sense of belonging that are driving these young people to ISIS and groups like them. We need to change all that.
For me as a Christian the answer lies in Christ who said,
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 
                                             Matthew 11:28-30
Think about it