We No Longer Need You

One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go tell Him they were done with him. The scientist walked up to God and said, "God we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."
God listened very patiently and kindly to the man and after the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well. How about this. Let's say we have a man-making contest." To which the scientist replied, "OK. Great!"
But God added, "Now we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."
The scientist said, "Sure; no problem," and bent down to grab a handful of dirt.
God just looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own dirt."

Quoted, Author Unknown

Tuesday - Faith Works by Love

Well you should be into the swing of things now in this new week. I trust all is going well for everyone. This week I have begun another job and I have finals for yet another term - ever in pursuit of the Bachelor's Degree. We'll get there eventually.

Then I'll be out of school for about three weeks and I have lots of home projects to accomplish in that time. Hopefully, we will be able to see some of our family too. We will have to wait and see. Here's the post for today.

"Next to love in importance comes faith. Love is the driving force. Desire (love pure or perverted) controls, contrives, creates all that ever comes to pass. Emotion, not reason, is at humanity's helm. Love motivates, but faith acts. Faith is action. By faith alone can a man act. Faith carries out the urges of love. Faith works by love."

- Norman Grubb

Higher Power

"I found no comfort in any of the philosophical ideas which some men parade in their hours of ease and strength and safety. They seemed only fair-weather friends. I realized with awful force that no exercise of my own feeble wit and strength could save me from my enemies, and that without the assistance of that Higher Power which interferes in the eternal sequence of causes and effects more often than we are always prone to admit, I could never succeed. I prayed long and earnestly for help and guidance. My prayer, as it seems to me, was swiftly and wonderfully answered."

- Sir Winston Churchill

From p. 182 of Never Give In, by Stephen Mansfield ISBN: 1-888952-19-9

The End of Reason

I just finished an excellent book, The End of Reason, by Ravi Zacharias. I sat down to read a brief excerpt and didn't put the book down until I had read it cover to cover. In an eloquent response to atheists everywhere, Ravi systematically reveals the bankruptcy of atheistic arguments and demonstrates yet again why Christ is worthy of consideration. I encourage anyone who sees this blurb to read the book. It will challenge and deepen you on whichever side of the fence you are.

The Chinese Church

A friend sent this video to me and it is worth viewing. We should take the time to consider our brethren worldwide and lift them up to God in prayer. Have you taken time to care for a missionary or humanitarian worker recently? If possible, take the time to write a letter, record a message, or send a package to show you care.

Rest.

I guess this would be a single bed!

These days there are lots of new-fangled ways of helping people sleep. Some are psychological, some physiological, and some chemical. All are supposed to help you achieve that perfect number of hours of deep restful sleep. I have no doubt many of these accomplish their goal. However, I think we often overlook the greatest reason for sleeplessness: the spiritual one.

This can be for two reasons:
1. Lack of peace;
2. Lack of trust.

Lack of spiritual peace comes from carrying guilt for one's wrongdoings and failures. This one is easily solved. Jesus said, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." This was a promise of rest from carrying the burden of guilt.

This promise also applies to the second reason for rest-less-ness: lack of trust. Often we worry so much about how the bills are going to be paid, how long our job will last, how safe we are, how good the economy is, etc., etc., that we can't rest. our minds are too full of anxiety to properly rest in Christ.

Christ not only wanted us to lay our burdens of sin on His shoulders (He died for them), He also wanted us to cast our cares upon Him because He cares for us. He promised He would take care of us and supply our needs. We just need to trust Him to do so.

I know from personal experience, this is much easier to say than do. However, every time I have put God to the test, He has never failed. Last year, my family and I went for 6 months with no guaranteed income. We never went hungry. Our bills were all paid, and we never missed a house payment. That was just the mercy and grace of God. We were forced to trust in Him and we found Him sufficient in some pretty amazing ways.

I encourage you to cast yourself and your cares upon Him, and REST. He will never fail you.

Seeing The Invisible

This is another funny picture...at least it made me laugh! The irony of it is just humorous. However, it makes me think of an important truth. When was the last time you thought of the invisible: that which you cannot see?

There are a lot of different beliefs out there about God and death and the afterlife. These are beliefs about Someone and some things that we cannot see. Whether you believe in them or not is really a position of choice because neither the atheist nor the Christian can unequivocally prove 100% his position.

While logic and science can demonstrate much, they are limited to the finite reach of the human mind. Thus faith is required whichever position one might hold. That faith is in something invisible, intangible. Every moment of living is staked on one's belief. That makes it pretty important to consider the invisible and be as certain as possible about the outcome.

I believe in an invisible all-powerful God. I have done much thinking and considered many positions. I have read many books and talked with many people. In the end, I have staked my living and afterlife on that belief. On what do you stake yours?

Some good books to read about this line of thinking:
A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism, by Ravi Zacharias
Seeing the Invisible, by A.B. Simpson

Experiencing the Faith of Another Culture

The next several posts will be about my trip to Okinawa in 2007. My unit was there for approximately 100 days. We accomplished our mission and had some great experiences in the process. Here I want to share some of them.

This is me in front of a Shinto shrine on Okinawa. To me Shintoism would is a very empty and frustrating religion. Trying to appease all the various deities of earth, air, fire, and water, and everything in, on, and around them would be frightening, exhausting, and impossible. (If you wonder why my shirt looks funny...it had been raining...we were a bit damp.)

Our tour guide (born in a cave around the time of the U.S. invasion of Okinawa if I understood correctly- and a very fascinating lady!) is showing us prayers written on little painted boards (which are purchased for approximately 500 yen at the temple - cheaper prayer materials may also be bought) and hung before the shrine all year long. On January 15th every year, the prayers are collected and burned so that they may ascend to the gods.

Among the lessons I have learned from these experiences (and some others), is a very valuable one. When interacting with other cultures and particularly other religions, it is important to remember that these people believe what they believe as sincerely as you believe what you believe. They often have gone through as critical a process in formulating their faith as you have yours, some times even more. With this in mind, one must always respect other cultures and the individual religious beliefs of its people...even if you or I believe them to be wrong. To immediately begin degrading or attacking deeply held beliefs is disrespectful to the person and to the environment from which they come.

It is much more profitable to enter into meaningful dialogue based on mutual respect, that each might understand the other better, and on such a foundation begin to address the crucial issues that really matter. Once this occurs, even disagreement can be a dynamic environment for progress as each individual is confronted with new paradigms. Ultimately, truth itself will be given opportunity to demonstrate its validity in such a context.

I am a Christian. I believe the words of Jesus when He said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." However, just because I have accepted this to be true, does not give me the right to abuse others with my faith. Rather, I am compelled to practice the compassion of Christ Who never scorned or belittled sinners. In fact His greatest moments of compassion and deepest acts of mercy were directed to those who often did not believe in Him.

One of the greatest discourses of all time was late at night to a man who desperately wanted truth. But it challenged his entire understanding of faith, religion, culture, and very identity. Jesus said to Nicodemus, "You must be born again." and "God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten son...." (John Chapter 3)

So when you interact with the people in your life, respect them, respect their journey, and compassionately share what you trust to be true. Also plan to listen in return to better understand them and their journey and to develop a friendship foundation for faith.