Apart from God

Apart from God
The writer of Ecclesiastes points out,
“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 we look at this life strictly from a human perspective this life can seem meaningless. If all we are here to do is give birth to the next generation then life has no meaning. It’s a repeating endless cycle that ends in death.
I do not believe this. There is far more to life than this world in which we live. Atheist are wrong. People are eternal beings.
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.
Any atheist I’ve known  have generally made up their mind. They have placed themselves if you will as judge and jury, even God.
They say there is no God. They criticize, even verbally attack anyone who disagrees with them.
I as a Christian worship an all powerful omnipresent God. For an someone to say there is no God, is to say they have been everywhere and know all things. In order for that assumption to be true the person would have also had to have gone beyond the grave. And no atheist I’ve ever met has gone beyond the grave and lived to tell about it.
Someone once said,
“Maybe the atheist cannot find God for the same reason a thief cannot find a policeman.” Author Unknown. 
They don’t want to find God.
The Psalmist writes,

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

 the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Day after day they pour forth speech; 

night after night they display knowledge. 

There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” 

Psalm 19:1-3.

The Psalmist is right. If we look at the earth carefully it is perfectly positioned in the universe for life to exist as we know it. I cannot believe it just happened by chance. The universe was carefully crafted by God in order for us to exist.
Abba Hillel Silver points something else out,
“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.
We cannot live as a society without a common set of values to live by. A common set of rules God has laid on the heart of all men. Irrevocable rights such as freedom to do as we wish. Framed with morals telling us not to kill, not steal, and so forth. Without which society cannot function correctly.
I cannot believe ancient man convened a global conference to agree to these universal rules. They had to have come from God.
The Psalmist puts things very bluntly when he states,
“The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1.
C. S. Lewis is more diplomatic saying,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain.
Still as I said God has given man complete freedom to do as he wishes. That freedom includes the right to believe in God or not. The choice is yours.
Please think about it, 

Not Until

Not until
Albert Einstein wrote,
“Not until the creation and maintenance of decent conditions of life for all men are recognized and accepted as a common obligation of all men and all countries—not until then shall we, with a certain degree of justification, be able to speak of mankind as civilized.”
                                                                                                                 Albert Einstein.
Man calls himself civilized but is far from it. The twentieth century began in the middle of the Boer War and proceeded to see two world wars, along with it seems hundreds of small wars. Some historians have said more people have died in the twentieth century due to war than in all the other centuries combined. And it seems like the twenty-first century is starting where the last one left off.
Now while it is true war is causing the death and suffering of millions in the world today. Millions more are suffering, dying and are in need in every country in the world today whether they are at war or not.
Throughout the third world men women and children are dying from curable illnesses and starvation.
In the western democracies with all their wealth there are still people living on the streets. Living well below the poverty line.
In the United States millions are without affordable health care despite the affordable health care act.
In Canada people have to choose between paying rent or utility bills and putting food in the mouth of their Children.
The sad thing is with the right political initiative people could get affordable health care. People need not choose between bills and food. Those living on the streets could be housed and given the help they need.
The trouble is politicians don’t have the motivation to end it. The poor after all don’t contribute to their political campaigns. While corporations can get billions in bail outs the poor are given a subsistence living.
There’s an election campaign going on in the United States. The politicians are saying many fine things, as all politicians do in every country in the world when they want to be elected.
The question however I would ask of all politicians anywhere in the world is are you obeying the words of Jesus who gave us a universal truth we all should live by when he said,
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” 
           Matthew 7:12.
In other words if you have a good health care plan, enough food to eat and a good place to live are you willing to use your place of power and influence to give that to every citizen of your country.
The Talmud makes an interesting statement I believe we all should be doing especially politicians. The Talmud states,
“When a man appears before the Throne of Judgment, the first question he is asked is not, “Have you believed in God?”  Or “Have you prayed and observed the ritual?  “He is asked: “have you dealt honourably and faithfully in all your dealings with your fellow men?”
                                                                                                                 The Talmud
   Both individuals and politicians of every stripe need to be asking themselves are you doing to others as you would like others do to you?
Please think about it.

Peace

Peace

“In the last days the mountain of the LORD'S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 
Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 
He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 
Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.” 
                                  Micah 4:1-4.

I firmly believe that one day all mankind will live in peace with one another. But man cannot do it alone.
Man has shown how selfish and self centred he is throughout history. One statistic I read stated that there has been but a few days of true peace in all the history of mankind. Through the centuries man has become more and more violent. Another statistic states the twentieth century seen more deaths due to violence and war than all others combined and the twenty-first century seems to be continuing to add to the deaths.
Mankind it seems cannot live at peace. Man doesn’t seem to see all men as brothers with rights given to them by God. The right of freedom of speech, freedom of belief, freedom to enjoy life. To as the Americans say, to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
It seems there is always some despot out there trying to impose their will on people. Love seems to be slipping away in our global society.
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.
It seems as our society becomes more secular it is becoming more violent.
Around the world terrorist groups like ISIS, rather than seeing the one true God, they are fashioning a god after their violent twisted beliefs.
Mankind is on a slippery slope that is leading to a lake of fire and brimstone and he cannot stop the slide himself.
Man needs to turn to God.
God sent Jesus into this world to show how much He loved mankind and today there are an estimated 2.2 billion Christians. Jesus has been called the Prince of Peace. Not only that most religious leaders in the world recognize Jesus as at the very least a great moral teacher.
Sadly however the majority of the world wants nothing to do Jesus and his teachings They wish to blunder on doing their own thing and getting nowhere.
Eventually however as the Prophet Micah said,
“In the last days the mountain of the LORD'S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and peoples will stream to it. 
Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. 
He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 
Every man will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the LORD Almighty has spoken.” 
                                  Micah 4:1-4.
It will indeed be a momentous day in history. I know many reading this will not believe it. But it’s what I believe as a Christian.
The Lord God of Jacob will one day make himself known to modern man in the flesh and he will bring peace to all mankind.
Something mankind will never do himself.
Think about it.

That they might have life

That they might have life

Jesus said,
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” 
             John10:10.
Many none Christians I’ve met tell me Jesus is a crutch for the weak. Quite the contrary he empowers the believer. While at the same time comforts them in their time of trouble.
Paul writing to the Philippians states,
“ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
                                                                                   Philippians 4:13.(NKJV)
While Jesus says,
“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.
I can only testify to my life as a Christian. Over the years I have gone through a lot. I have even made decisions that I regret. Never the less I have never regretted my decision to put my faith in Christ and I am not alone. I know many people who are totally committed to Christ and his teachings.
Christ has given me strength when I was at deaths door as well as when my life was in turmoil.
I know it is hard for someone outside the Christian community to understand the faith I have.
Most people have trouble understanding what they can’t see, feel, or hear. Christianity challenges that. It asks us to trust someone we can’t see. The writer of Hebrews saying,
“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” 
                                                                                                                           Hebrews 11:1
“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.
Over forty years ago now I made that leap of faith after reading the Bible and talking to the Christians I knew.
I must admit I didn’t need a lot of convincing.
What I seen in the history of the world, everything from the elaborate funeral rituals of the Egyptian Pharaoh’s, to the beliefs of an afterlife that occur in every civilization that ever existed. Told me there had to be at least a Kernel of truth somewhere in those beliefs.
I believed also because I seen the world in such order. For me that order came together because there is an almighty God creator of the universe.
It’s unimportant to me whether God created the universe starting with the big bang that set in motion a series of events that led to our being millenniums later or that it took six days.
I believe behind everything there is God and a life beyond this life we are in.
As a Christian I would ask you to consider your life and the world around you. I would ask that you at least read the New Testament if not the whole Bible and make a decision on where you stand with respect to God, Jesus, and life beyond this world.
The apostle John in his Gospel writes,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men...
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—  children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” 
                 John 1:1-4,12,13.
Please think about it.

Foolishness or Truth

Foolishness or Truth
“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.  
For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” 
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?  
For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.  
Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” 
                        1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Paul writing to the Corinthians in the above passage hits the nail on the head. If you are not a Christian the message of a suffering saviour is foolishness.
To those who deem themselves wise to have one man die for the sins of all men is at first glance a convoluted way of thinking.
For God himself in the form of Jesus Christ to come to the earth he crated and enter into society as a low born person does not make sense at all to non-Christians.
Yet Christians realize this was the only way it could happen.
Think about it, religions around the world agree that God will one day judge the world. Will one day judge each person individually But how could he judge the world fairly if he didn’t understand what it was to be a man?
The reason earthly judges can judge is that they know the law and they understand what it is to be human with all the temptations that lie around us.
For us to stand before an almighty, all knowing omnipresent God who has never experienced what it is to be human and be judged would be simply wrong from a moral point of view.
We could even make the statement to God that he didn’t understand what it was to be human and we’d be right in saying it.
The thing is with Jesus coming to this earth God can say I understand. He can say I understand what it’s like to as an infant to run for my life to Egypt to avoid being killed. He can say I understand what it’s like to feel the sun on my face. To stand in the rain to be loved.
At the same time he can say I understand what it’s like to be flogged and put to death for a crime he didn’t commit.
Jesus calls all mankind to himself saying,
“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
Christians believe that we cannot live a life good enough to be judged fit to enter heaven. That’s why Christ died for us.
The apostle Paul writing to the Romans saying,
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” 
Romans 5:8
God can also say Jesus made things clear saying,
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  
Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 
                                                                                              John 3:16-18
That Jesus also said,
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 
John 14:6.
So ultimately the big question is.
Do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God. That he came to this earth to offer the free gift of salvation to all who would believe in him?
Think about it.

The Insignificance of Mankind

The insignificance of mankind
Take a look at the accompanying pictures of Earth taken at various distances from the space probes sent out by N.A.S.A.
From Saturn, Mercury, Mars, the Moon and the voyager space craft at the time 4 billion miles from earth.
It shows  just how insignificant mankind is with respect to the universe.
So can you imagine a group of people saying,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  
He was with God in the beginning. 
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  
In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” 
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
                                                                                                            John 1:1-4,14.

We believe that God himself took one small part of his infiniteness and became flesh. To live on that insignificant mote of dust floating in the universe
That he experienced everything there was to be a man, died in a most hideous way for a crime he didn’t commit, rose again from the grave and ascended to heaven.
As outrageous as it seems we Christians believe it.
The question then is why would we created a God that did such a thing if it were not real.
It seems so outrageous and would be counter productive to our cause if it were not true.
C. S. Lewis a non-believer intellectual, who studied Christianity with an open mind and thus became a convert, states of Christianity,
“I didn’t go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don’t recommend Christianity.” 
            C.S. Lewis.
Christians believe that God convicts us of our sins, our short coming. It asks us to confess those sins directly to God and to do our best to live a life worthy of God with his help.
My favourite quote from C.S. Lewis is,
“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.
God exists I know he exists because all around me I see an ordered universe and ordered wold.
The Psalmist says,
“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” 
                                                                                                              Psalm 19:1
I cannot believe the Universe and everything in it just evolved by chance.
As a Christian I also believes the words of Job who said,
Take a look at this image,
Job said,
“He spreads out the northern  skies  over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.”
                        Job 26:7
Not bad for an iron age man who’d never gone into space.
Think about it.