The Skeptical Believer

For the Skeptical Atheist

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Thu, 19 Feb 2015 07:49:00 +0000

On this blog I call myself a skeptical believer. That is, I am a believer but I tend to habitually question everything. I don't go for pat answers or religious cliches. For me this way of thinking is mostly a blessing as it makes me confident that the things I believe in are real, but it doesn't come without cost. There are many times I've wished for a simple uncomplicated faith where I didn't have to wrestle and debate every single point of every single belief like two countries hammering out a peace negotiation line by line.

I know many of you reading this are like me. You are a searcher of genuine truth no matter what it is, and I know that many of you arrive at very different conclusions than I do. This essay then is written for you, the skeptical atheist. The person who genuinely desires to know what is true and real, but leans toward the conclusion that there is no God, that we are alone in a cold, hostile universe. I honestly sympathize with your struggle, and I can respect the reasons you have for believing thusly. They're very compelling. However, I ask you to consider the following:

If atheism is true…
You are nothing but highly-ordered ooze that secretes thought like a stuffy nose secretes mucus.

If atheism is true…
Your love for a spouse/significant other is nothing but chemicals interacting with each other. Your love for your children is an illusion, forced on you by the very cells in your own body for no other reason than to ensure your DNA survives to replicate itself.

If atheism is true…
Good loses and apathy wins. Evil wins. The good guys are wrong and the bad guys are right. Those who cheat senior citizens out of their savings are the true winners of life. A kid who guns down twenty first graders wins. Men who crash airplanes into buildings or cut the heads off those they disagree with…all these guys win if atheism is true. As much as you can win in a meaningless universe, anyway. At the very least, they're not cosmically "wrong" in any real sense.

If atheism is true…
There is no justice. Nothing unfair will ever be set right. Those who escape justice for their crimes truly escape. Rapists get free sex, murderers get away with it. The voices of the oppressed are never heard; their tyrants die warm in bed surrounded by wealth and comfort and mistresses, never to face judgment.

Friend, this can't be true. This can not be true. We all know deep in our bones it can't be true, that somehow someway, goodness and justice are in command and will have the final say. Even if it often doesn't look that way. The insides of even the most hardened atheist cry out and practically scream This is wrong! when they see the horrific atrocities we are capable of.

The problem for an atheistic worldview, however, is that the only basis for morality in a world without God is that things are "bad" because they’re evolutionarily inefficient.

Oh sure, there are all kinds of tortured justifications and rationalizations for being a good person in a world without God. You can spin things any way you choose. In the end, though, when it all comes down to it, those reasons are nothing more than window dressing covering an empty store inside. They're a bunch of deck chairs you're rearranging on the Titanic. A beautiful lie^*.

Actually you can’t even say it’s beautiful, because beauty has no meaning in such a universe. Any beauty or meaning or pleasure that you derive from life is just as illusory and fake as any religion you might decry, if there truly is no god. Everything you've ever loved, admired, or aspired to is all hopeless vanity destined for a cold, silent, permanent death.

If atheism is true, then sentient life is truly the most depressing thing that has ever existed in the entire universe. It means that every single thing you have ever valued is devoid of significance. Life for most is short and brutal, and that's just the way it is. Everyone who has ever lived has died in vain. Your young cousin who died of cancer and never got to "appreciate how precious life is" is gone. My sister's best friend who died of a brain tumor at 19 is gone. Your dad who was killed by a drunk driver is gone. They died for nothing; their sufferings brought nothing and will not be redeemed.

If this is our reality, then Consciousness is by far the cruelest of all possible fates. Better to be a slime than a person!

If you're a true-blue atheist and you believe you've constructed some sort of meaning for your life then I respectfully but forcefully disagree with you. You are fooling yourself. You're not looking at the big picture. Here's the only sensible response I can believe in if there is no God (courtesy of Tommy Lee Jones' character in The Sunset Limited):

Evolution cannot avoid bringing intelligent life ultimately to an awareness of one thing, and one thing above all else. And that one thing is futility.

If people could see the world for what it truly is, see their lives for what they truly are, without dreams or illusions, I don't believe they could offer the first reason why they should not elect to die as soon as possible.

I don't believe in God. Can you understand that? Look around you, man. Can't you see? The clamor and din of those in torment has to be the sound most pleasing to his ear. Your fellowship is a fellowship of pain and nothing more. And if that pain were collective instead of merely reiterative, the sheer weight of it would drag the world from the walls of the universe and send it crashing and burning down through whatever night it might yet be capable of engendering until it was not even ash.

Banish the fear of death from men's hearts, they wouldn't live a day. Who would want this nightmare but for fear of the next? The shadow of the axe hangs over every joy. Every road ends in death, every friendship, every love. Torment, loss, betrayal, pain, suffering, age, indignity, hideous lingering illness...and all of it with a single conclusion for you and every one and every thing you have ever chosen to care for.

You tell me that I want God's love. I don't. Perhaps I want forgiveness, but there is no one to ask it of. And there's no going back. There's no setting things right. There's only the hope of nothingness. And I cling to that hope.

That's some honest atheism right there. That's the only kind of atheism I could get behind, if atheism were the truth.

In light of all this, what I ask of you is to be just as skeptical of your atheism as you are about your spirituality. What's good for the goose is good for the gander. I also urge you to be skeptical about your skepticism. We "skepticals" like to pretend we're above the fray, more intellectual and rational than the ordinary person. Really though, when healthy skepticism becomes an excuse for indecisiveness--or worse, drifts into cynicism--it's just as much an emotional response as anybody else's. Pride, anger, betrayal, or any of countless other woundings are usually the true source hiding behind the intellectual facade.

I'm convinced that we all, even atheists, are desperately searching for meaning. Unless you're completely nihilistic, you want to be part of a story that makes sense of your life and tells you that you matter to this world. Just look at some of the ways great scientists like Neil deGrasse Tyson and Carl Sagan have tried to romanticize a world without a god.^**

With all due respect to their prodigious intellects, I think their inspiring rhetoric is flatly delusional if God isn't there. You can't build a life worth living with honest atheism. There is no story to be part of. If atheism is true, any meaning you give to life is an illusion. If atheism is false, any meaning you derive is reflected light from the life of faith. Either way, faith provides a background tapestry and direction for your life, and atheism provides...well...a cold, dead universe. For this reason alone it's worth applying your skepticism to atheism, if only for the opportunity (no matter how slim you think it might be) to find something real that matters.

So.

You have a choice to make, in the end. Which do you think is the aberration of humanity: our ugliness or our beauty?

Atheism says that all the greatness of humanity is merely an artifact of evolution. Our highest achievements and our best moments as a species are dust in the wind. "Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" Atheism means the sickest depths of human depravity are merely potential evolutionary paths that will either win or lose depending on how efficient they are. It's just the way it is. Sorry if it royally sucked for you, but that's life.

Faith takes a look at that and cries "Hell NO!" It's our evil that's the artifact. The artifact of a Fall that can and will be remedied. Faith contends that you are not an accident. You, the person reading this, are not an accident! You have an important role to play in this world that nobody else in the entire universe can fulfill. Your life matters. What choices you make in life matter. Your suffering matters.

Faith means our goodness is the expected normal and our evil is an unnatural stain that needs to be risen above and done away with. Faith means everything noble, everything pure, everything lovely, everything admirable, excellent and praiseworthy is the way things are supposed to be, and that these things are worth fighting for because they are going to last beyond the universe and exist into eternity.

That's a story worth looking for.

Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

---
This post is dedicated to my sister's husband who loves to pose endless "late-night dormroom-philosophy" questions. Even though we poke fun, his questions are always thoughtful and earnest. Hope you get something out of this, Josh!

^*I give myself points for fitting a Bowfinger reference into an essay about atheism. You get double points if you got it.

^** It's important to note that both these gentleman have described themselves as agnostic, but their views are still relevant because they are almost universally claimed by present-day atheists as champions of their beliefs. Also, I love the Pale Blue Dot speech. It's one of the best speeches ever given, but it only makes any sense in the context of "there is a God".

Guess How Much [My Genes] Love You

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Thu, 22 Jan 2015 05:20:00 +0000

"Daddy, do you love me?"

"Of course I do sweetheart. Higher than the moon is high."

"Daddy?"

"Yes, darling?"

"Why do you love me?"

"Well my little angel...I..I don't really have a choice.
You see, my biology forces me to. My love is really a trick of evolution to make sure my genes survive."

"What?"

"You see honey, we're all slaves to the tiny genes inside our bodies; we're all slaves to evolution. We do what our genes tell us to do, and we feel what they tell us to feel. And then evolution tricks us into thinking that these feelings are real."

"So you don't really love me?"

"That's not what I mean."

"So you mean that you don't really love me, but your evolution genes make you think you do?"

"No of course not. I definitely want to love you, so I do what my genes tell me to do. I choose to follow my genes, and that choice makes my love real. Other people choose to go against their genes, and they don't love their children."

"But why do you want to love me?"

"Well...I mean...it's a lot easier for evolution to happen when humans take care of and protect each other."

"But why do you want to love me?"

"Because you're my little angel, and you have half of my genes in you."

"Ohhh. So your genes tell my genes that we need to stick together so they can keep going on and on."

"Yes, that's right."

"So your genes don't care about us at all. They don't care what happens to us. They only care about themselves."

"Well they definitely care if we die, because then they die."

"So we're only like a car for them. And they trick us into doing things that keep us alive so we can drive them around?"

"I...I guess so."

"So...ummm. I'm confused. Daddy?"

"Yes sweet-pea."

"Your genes seem very mean. Why do you care what your genes say? They control you so much that you don't even know you're being controlled, and then they trick you to think you're the one who's in control. Your genes are terrible people."

"Well...I mean...it sounds bad when you put it like that, but it's...it's actually really good because it helps all humans to survive. Someday you'll pass on your genes to your children and get to experience it as well. The circle of life, you know."

"But it is just like slavery. And we're the slaves. And slavery is bad."

"Oh honey, you'll learn as you get older. It's really not so bad. Our genes work like that because it's the most efficient way of helping all of humanity to survive."

"But I don't care about all of humanity, I care about you. At least I thought I did but I guess it's just my genes."

"Sweetheart please don't say that. You'll understand when you're older."

"I bet God would care about me more than your stupid genes do."

"You know we don't use that word in our house, honey. Go put a quarter in the swear jar."

"'Stupid' is not a swear!"

"That's not the word I meant."

Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

Ludicrous Belief, Go!

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Thu, 24 Jul 2014 07:17:00 +0000

Is this thing on?

Hey there! How's it going? Long time no see! I'm not dead--it's just that when I started this blog years ago I didn't have a full-time job as a writer with two kids...and now I do. It's hard to find the mental energy to think deep thoughts and try to write them down coherently when you've already spent your entire working day writing down other things and your free time doesn't start until 9pm. I'm sure all you parents out there know exactly what I'm talking about.

So anyway, I finally wrote up the rough draft of a post on atheism that I promised months ago. Hopefully that will be out in a few days. Before I post that one, though, I wanted to lay a little groundwork with an aside on what people believe and how we tend to react to others who believe something different than us.

Here's my thesis:

No matter what your spiritual or atheistic beliefs are, you believe something ludicrous and crazy.

Invariably, whenever a debate breaks out among people of differing beliefs, one side accuses the other of being "intellectually challenged" (to put it charitably) for believing or disbelieving what they do about god. This is especially prevalent whenever the debate breaks out in the comments of an Internet article. I do not advise ever reading any comments section on any webpage at any time. Ever. Except for this one. =)

Back to my point, though. Atheists accuse religious people (and for this article I'll restrict it to Christians) of being crazy for believing in an invisible sky-fairy that nobody has ever seen and, when you look around, doesn't even seem to give any credible evidence for his existence whatsoever except for some books written by a bunch of very fallible human men a few thousand years ago.

You know what atheists? You're right. You're absolutely right. Believing that there is an all-powerful deity out there that created all of reality simply by willing it to exist, and who loves humanity more deeply than a father loves his children IS pretty crazy. I mean, this dude (if he even exists) lets deranged teenagers walk into elementary schools and murder dozens of 5-year olds. He lets loving families get smashed into oblivion by a loser who got behind the wheel after drinking too much. He apparently prizes humanity above all else in creation, but placed them in a universe so vast that they proportionately occupy less space in it than a single atom of dust occupies in your own house, and perhaps even caused them to arise through a brutal process of natural selection, entailing survival of the strong and death for the weak.

That's pretty crazy, I'll admit.

But let's turn that around. Christians accuse atheists of being crazy for believing that all of what we know came into existence on its own, with no creative force whatsoever causing it to be. Every majestic galaxy, every quantum particle, all the infinitely complex and interconnected processes that govern the universe just sort of poofed into being. Every ounce of love you've ever felt for your spouse, your child or your dog, every kindness that's ever been done, every act of sacrifice, it's all nothing more than chemicals in brains moving around and mixing with other chemicals, driven by completely non-sentient genes for the sole "purpose" of surviving to replicate themselves.

Atheists, you gotta admit: that's pretty crazy.

Throw in any other spiritual belief, from pantheism to eastern reincarnationism to "we're all just a computer simulation made for the entertainment of some super-evolved super-being." No matter what it is you're inclined to believe, it's ludicrous and ridiculous. Can we all agree on that?

The job, then, of each of us is not to determine which belief system isn't crazy, it's to determine which one is the least crazy.

Look, there are lots of reasons to be an atheist. I don't disagree with that for one second. Heck, I write a devoutly Christian blog and published a book expressly defending the accuracy of Christian belief and even I feel like being an atheist makes the most sense sometimes. When I look around at the universe, at how cold and lifeless and uncaring towards life it seems to be, and when I realize I've devoted my life to serving and worshiping a being that I've never physically seen with my eyes or heard with my ears...well, sometimes I doubt my own sanity.

When it all comes down to it, though, I ultimately find atheism to be far more unbelievable than a magic sky-fairy. The Christian worldview actually matches up incredibly well to reality (I'd argue that's because it is reality, of course). For one example: Atheists often accuse "religion" of being responsible for untold suffering and atrocities throughout history. Well, there is truth to that, although in my opinion that view is greatly exaggerated, but they fail to grasp the key point that this is exactly what Christianity predicts. Christianity says that everyone who ever lived (save one) is selfish, greedy, lusty, and vengeful. Christianity says that humanity can and does take anything good that exists and twists it into cruelty and evil. Christianity says that people are so flawed in this way, so ruined, that we are utterly incapable of redeeming ourselves.

Doesn't that look like exactly the world you live in?

Christianity also says that the way these things are now is not the way they're supposed to be, and not the way they'll always be. That one day humanity will be redeemed, all evil will be undone, and there really will be a Happily Ever After some day. Deep down we all know that's true. We all know that love is good and hate is bad. We all have a primal need to see justice done and injustice rectified. We all want there to be some meaning, some point to it all. Every story ever told by mankind throughout our history is simply a variation on this theme. Where does this universal shared consciousness come from, if not from reality?

For me personally, though, the next few paragraphs are the deathblow to an atheist worldview.

You see, atheists often venerate the scientific method as the only reliable way to ascertain truth*. However, another key point they fail to grasp is that believing in atheism is completely refuted by the scientific method. Sure, it's true that we can't devise an experiment to empirically test for God's existence, but what we can empirically test for utterly repudiates the atheist belief that there is no creator.

Here's why. We have never observed, ever, something coming into being from nothing. As long as humans have been capable of making observations, we have observed that everything has a cause. Always. Every time. After trillions upon trillions of quadrillions of experiences and observations over thousands or hundreds of thousands of years, nobody has ever once seen something pop into being spontaneously without a cause or creator behind it.

On the other hand, we have observed that same number of trillions and quadrillions of times things being created by other things. Stars beget stars, and life begets life. Technology arises from minds. Art arises from hearts. Every single thing or idea that has ever existed has been borne of something else. The scientific method, by which I mean the process of developing a hypothesis and then testing it to see how well it corresponds with reality, confirms this without fail.

Of course, stating this will always bring up the old objection that if God created everything, and everything is created, then what created God? I won't go into detail here, but the important thing to note is that a Creator God, as understood by Christians and most theists, is by definition outside our mode of reality and is not subject to its laws, just as a computer programmer is not subject to the rules of the software she designs, or a painter is not subject to the style of art he paints in.

And really, that objection is just a smokescreen that hides superficial thought or preconceived biases. Ultimately the question still comes down to: did something create everything we see or did it all just pop into existence out of nothing, by nothing, and for nothing?

Believing that there is no Creator power goes against every single known fact and every single observed phenomenon throughout the entirety of human history and the sum total of all human knowledge. On the other hand, believing that there is a Creator out there, as hard as it may be sometimes, is fully and unconditionally supported by the same.

It's the least ludicrous thing among all the ludicrous options.

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

* I should point out for the record that the scientific method is indeed one of the greatest ideas ever developed and it deserves its high place among human achievement, but from my observations atheists often take this way too far until it becomes something akin to worship

Still Alive

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 03:58:00 +0000

So it's been a long time since my last post. I've actually been spending my writing time in the comments section of an earlier article I wrote titled Your God Sucks. It tends to pop up in people's search results when they type "god sucks" into their search engine, and although I didn't intend this when I first wrote the piece, it attracts the attention of a lot of people who are very angry at either God or Christians, or both.

Consequently, it's very important to me to address their complaints as best I can in the comments section of a blog, and so the time I'd normally spend writing a new blog post has instead been spent responding there. I've also been having a side conversation with one of my commenters on their blog. If you're interested, head over to the bottom of the Your God Sucks page to read what's been going on there over the past several months.

I do have a post on atheism that I've been cookin' up that hopefully I'll write within the next few weeks. Possibly another addition to my Christians Are Today's Pharisees series as well.

In the meantime, I'd like to recommend the book Why the Universe Is the Way It Is by Hugh Ross. I recently rediscovered it on my bookshelf and am enjoying reading through it again. It's a Christian astrophysicist's discussion about many scientific issues such as why the universe is billions of years old, why it's so vast if we're the only people in it, why the laws of death and decay exist, and even a discussion on the physics of the new creation. Very interesting stuff for a modern-day Christian to think about.

See you again soon!

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended is still truth;
Falsehood aptly defended it still false.

Coda

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 04:23:00 +0000

I want to tell you a personal story that illustrates why I get so angry that we’ve allowed ourselves to become known by the spirit of pride and condemnation.

Before I get there, I should recognize that I’m often critical of the church in my writings. People may get the impression I hate it. I don’t. I actually love the church. And like I said earlier, I recognize there are multitudes of us who quietly go about our lives being merciful, showing charity, and being a real light in this world—the whole world, not just our own little Christian circles. I’m fortunate to know lots and lots of you like that. My friends at Journey saved my belief in this.

But like James says, teachers are called to higher accountability, and when it comes to those who don’t follow Jesus, we are all the ones in the role of teacher. Most people in your life will form their opinion of Jesus not by logical, rational contemplation but by watching the news and watching you.

That’s quite a responsibility. And it leads into my next point:

I strongly believe that the most dangerous threat Christians in America face today is not not gay marriage or Democratic presidents. It’s the spirit of the Pharisee within.

Our greatest peril today isn’t them. It’s us.

Now on to my story:

There’s a man I’ve known. I first met him about fifteen years ago when I started working with him. I spent a lot of time with him, and whether he knew it or not he was one of my most important mentors. One of the things I appreciated most about him was that he never mindlessly accepted the Christian party line but was always struggling to be genuinely faithful. He never just followed prevailing Christian groupthink and he wasn’t content with mere Sunday-school Christianity. I learned how to ask myself hard questions from him. I learned how to test everything and hold on to that which was true. My faith in Jesus today is authentic and vital and flesh-and-blood real in no small part because of this guy.

I also learned so much about fatherhood from him. Watching how he loved and related to his baby boy taught me more about being a good dad than he’ll ever know, and today my own son is blessed through his example.

Every single day of my life as a dad and as a follower of Jesus is influenced by what I saw in him.

And then life happened. He moved on and I moved away and I didn’t see him more than once or twice over the following decade. A couple years ago I reconnected with him through the social network. And I learned that in between the time I last saw him and today, he’s turned his back on the faith and become filled with cynicism toward the church. There were multiple factors which contributed to this, but can you guess what one of the big ones was?

That’s right. Other Christians.

Now, yes he is a big boy and he’ll ultimately stand responsible for his own decisions, as we all will. To our own master we'll stand or fall. No one will be able to say “hey it’s not my fault, it's Bob’s” or “it’s because of Sally that this happened.”

This is all true, but how would you like to be the Bob or Sally in a person’s life? The person whose actions provided someone the rationale to give up the race? Woe to him through whom evil comes.

Ultimately we’ll all stand (or fall) alone before God, but the fact remains that at some point in his life my mentor, a precious, valuable child of God, was wounded and needed love.

Instead he was gunned down by his own brothers.

And that’s not even the worst part.

Do you know what the worst part of this is? He’s got two sons now, both teenagers. Instead of learning about the incredibly amazing and exciting rescue mission God undertook in order to win them back, they’re learning cynicism. They’re learning that if there is a God, he’s certainly not the one Jesus believed in.

This man is still a good man. He is still trying (as we all are) to be as genuine as possible. He struggled greatly with giving up his faith in Jesus and he didn't do it lightly. I hope and regularly pray that God would reveal Himself to him all over again and break through all the barriers that have gone up.

He's also still a good father. He’s full to bursting with love for his kids, and I’m sure that he would honor their beliefs if they decided to follow Jesus. But the tragedy is that, instead of living with an example of how a real man of God walks with Jesus, they’re learning that Christians are hypocrites who honor God with their lips but have hearts far, far away from Him. They’re learning that Christians are today’s Pharisees.

Friends, always strive to be a centurion or a Samaritan to your friends and neighbors around you. Be a friend of sinners, not a protestor of sinners (and remember you’re a sinner too). Don’t be a Pharisee.

Brothers and sisters, your actions matter. They have weight. And consequences…even unto the next generation.

--Jeremy

Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

----------
Further resources: There are some great books that deal with this subject with way better words than mine. I can’t recommend them highly enough for your reading:

When Bad Christians Happen To Good People, by Dave Burchett
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism, by Tim Keller

Web articles:

Top 10 Reasons Our Kids Leave The Church
Mercy Not Sacrifice: A Recovering Evangelical’s Manifesto (a bit stuffy but there's some good points in there--I especially love his calling out our "sport's fan mentality" when it comes to faith)
Did Jesus Have A Theology?, Tim Timmons
Manmade Theology Vs. Jesus, also Tim Timmons

And of course you can always try my own book =)

Who's Got God?, by Yours Truly & Jordan Adams

Christians Are Today's Pharisees, pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:39:00 +0000

< --- Part One

In America we Christians, fairly or not, have collectively become known to our culture to be like Pharisees. All of us, Catholics and Protestants alike, need to hear and learn from Jesus here:

“Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matt 9:13)

Jesus calls to sinners. He doesn't convict them. He gives hope, healing, and mercy to anyone. He loves furiously and he offers good news to bad people. And the sinners flocked to him by the thousands.

They still do today, by the billions.

Meanwhile, the respectable, "righteous" religious people couldn't accept him because he wouldn't take a "stand against sin". He wouldn't sign their petitions to "preserve morality". He actually seemed to enjoy partying with corrupt bureaucrats, alcoholics, and hookers.

When someone first learns that you're a Christian, which of these 2 camps do you believe they automatically think you fall into?

How do we get rid of this stain on our character?

In many ways I believe it’s an unfair stereotype of Christians, which may surprise you in light of what I just wrote yesterday. But I say this because for every bad Christian out there, there are a hundred, a thousand, faithful ones, full of integrity, quietly doing the work of God, being a light unto the world and loving their neighbors. The problem is that these saints are not drawn to the spotlight, have no interest in being a television personality or celebrity preacher. They're too busy feeding the hungry, praying for their neighbors, and loving their kids to bother with anything so shallow as love of the spotlight. Unfortunately, it’s the bombastic and narcissistic among us who crave, and often obtain, these large microphones (not all of them are like this, of course).

And then you've got the Internet. Even the gentlest among us can make a stupid comment that's seen by dozens or hundreds of others. I know I have. You can do a hundred loving things every day, but that one stupid Facebook post is what will tend to be remembered.

Poor words can be remedied, though, with an apology. Our true fault begins when we allow modern-day judgmental, hypocritical Pharisees to keep their position and continue to speak for us by following them, giving them money, and repeating their teachings to the world in Facebook comments, in tweets, protests, “stands against sin”, and around the family dinner table.

Christians, we need to stop this. Instead of taking stands on Facebook against liberals, against homosexuality, against Muslims, against atheists, try taking a stand for grace, for peace, for justice. For sinners.

Jesus was called the FRIEND of sinners, for god’s sake. The religious right meant it as a condemnation but He wore that title as a badge of honor. This is what angered Jesus more passionately than anything else—seeing the people who were supposed to be the light and salt of the world instead hoarding his blessings and using them to curse the darkness.

How have we screwed this up so badly? How have we allowed ourselves to become known as the same blind guides who filled him with a truly righteous fury?

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. (1 Jn 4)

Now, none of us are Jesus of course. Every single one of us is wrong and misguided in some way when it comes to spiritual matters. And every one of us, me included, have said something stupid and unloving in the hearing of those who don’t follow him.

But everyone’s got to follow someone. Even if you scoff at Christian beliefs, you still follow someone or something. You allow your thoughts to be shaped by him, her, or it. And as a Christian, you've got to place your trust in some fellow, flawed human being to be your teacher in the way of Jesus.

So the question naturally becomes: from among the multitudes of imperfect teachers and leaders out there, how can we choose who to learn from and represent what we believe?

The best answer I have is that you’ll know them by their fruit. If someone’s teaching causes you to feel morally superior, to detest others, to feel fearful, to feel contempt toward sinners (usually defined as “someone who sins differently than you do”), then they have the spirit of the Pharisees and are offering you rotten apples, no matter how correct their theology may be. Stop following them. Don't buy 'dem apples.

However, if one of these teachers helps you become more merciful, more just, more forgiving, more gracious to “sinners” and more heartbroken over your own sin, more joyful, more peaceful, more kind, more gentle, more understanding, more faithful, more in love with God…

Well I’d say that’s some pretty good fruit.

--Jeremy

Awesome related Web links:

Did Jesus Have A Theology?, Tim Timmons
Manmade Theology Vs. Jesus, also Tim Timmons

----
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

Christians Are Today’s Pharisees

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 07:50:00 +0000

I love Matthew 23. It’s Jesus laying down a no-holds-barred smackdown on the self-righteous Pharisees. It blows the caricature of a flannelgraph, mild-mannered inoffensive Jesus out of the water.

Here’s the thing, though.

Today, he’s speaking those words to us.

We are today's Pharisees.

It’s easy to nod our heads at Jesus as he gives those hypocrites the tongue-lashing they deserve yet completely miss the fact that we stand in their place today.

Think about it. The Pharisees and teachers of the Law worshiped the One True God and they revered the Torah as the Word of the Lord. In fact, each one of them knew their Bible a hundred times better than you do. We feel proud if we can recite a few psalms from memory…these guys had their entire Bible memorized. Our Old Testament.

The Pharisees were the super-Christians of their day.

Jesus even takes care to point out how good they were at believing the right things. He agreed with their religious beliefs. He agreed that they followed the true religion and worshiped the true living God.

Yet Jesus was so furious at these leaders of his own religion that he called them children of hell and announced that the blood of every righteous human being who ever lived was on their shoulders.

We all know why. The Pharisees were supposed to know better. They knew God's words better than anyone else. They were leaders who shaped the people's thinking about what God was really like. But rather than treating this influence with the humility and reverence it merited, they used it just like every other profane worldly power. For their own glory. Their doctrine was pure but their motives were selfish, arrogant and full of pride. On the outside they appeared to be righteous but on the inside they were full of dead men's bones.

Their deeds may have been light but their hearts were dark.

And they were teaching others that this was what following God was supposed to look like.

Friends, this is something to pay careful, sober attention to. Jesus is putting up a giant flashing DANGER sign here to those of us who worship the Father. Especially those in a position of leadership or influence. Self-righteousness is an insidious disease that is extraordinarily easy to fall into.

So easy that Jesus specifically warned us against it. Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, he says. Just as a little yeast works through a whole batch of dough, so just a little bit of pride, a trifle of “I’m better than those other guys,” can worm its way into your entire soul, puffing it up with pride and hypocrisy. In today’s world Jesus would probably have told us to guard against the “cancer” or the “virus” of the Pharisees. Let a little in and soon it will infect the whole body.

I've seen comments on Facebook and heard people say things in conversation like “but they’re not doctrinally pure” to disparage those who don’t agree with their interpretation of secondary issues. Fellow Christians, please hear this and remember:

It wasn't the followers of Jesus who were doctrinally pure…it was the Pharisees.

Understand this! It is absolutely vital to the life of the American church today that we recognize this truth. When we look at Jesus and how he violently laid into those spiritual leaders, it couldn't be clearer that "doctrinal purity" is not to be the central, defining focus of our relationship to God.

Am I saying that knowing the right things about God are unimportant? Of course not. Jesus himself instructs his listeners to heed the scriptural teachings of the Pharisees:

The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.

But then he immediately turns the argument and gets to the heart of the issue:

But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show.

Hypocrites! For you [Pharisees] are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith.

So yes, knowing the right information about God is important, but it's not the most important. These guys were scrupulous about following the letter of the law when it came to their spice racks, but they completely ignored vastly more important things. Justice for the oppressed. Mercy toward your neighbor. Healing for the wounded. Hey, it's a hell of a lot easier to measure out a tablespoon of dill for God and call it a day, I get that. But this is what Jesus is telling us:

If you have a judgmental, superior, unmerciful heart, God does not care how right your beliefs are.

He does. not. care.

Do you think the Good Samaritan was doctrinally pure? Absolutely not. The Samaritans had all kinds of wrong thinking about God and were religiously despised. Imagine Jesus telling a story of the good Mormon, good Jehovah's Witness, or even (gasp) the Good Muslim while the two Christians ignore the wounded man to get an idea of the point he was making.

But no, it was the Jewish priests who earned the disapproval in Jesus’ story. The guy who had the Bible all wrong was the one he praised.

What about the Roman centurion? Was he doctrinally pure? His culture worshipped different gods completely, for goodness sake! Yet Jesus said that this leader in the enemy’s army had more real faith than anyone in Israel.

He couldn't be any clearer about this. One of the very few times Jesus gave a direct answer to someone's question was when they asked him what was most important to God. His answer was blunt and to the point. It wasn't knowledge. It wasn't church. It wasn't being right. It was A) Love God. B) Love your neighbor. This from the guy who never met a question he didn't like to obfuscate.

Try this: read through the gospels, and anytime Jesus talks about the Pharisees or teachers of the law, substitute the word “Christians”. As Tim Timmons loves to say, you’ll find the Bible sheds a lot of light on Christianity.

Helping the hurting. Caring for the sick. Being compassionate to everyone, even the “immoral and godless”…these are all things we understand intuitively as children. Yet somehow we manage to over-complicate life so much as adults. This is part of the meaning of “unless you come to me like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven”.

Tomorrow I’ll offer my own humble advice on how we can get begin to get rid of this Pharisaical spirit.

--Jeremy
On to Part Two! --- >

Awesome related Web links:

Did Jesus Have A Theology?, Tim Timmons
Manmade Theology Vs. Jesus, also Tim Timmons

----
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

The Good Friday Deception?

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 07:57:00 +0000

What’s so Good about Friday?

There are those out there who believe Jesus’ crucifixion was in fact the crushing, final defeat it appeared to be.

"My god, my god, why have you forsaken me?" (Eloi eloi lama sabachtani?)

Evidence, they say, that Jesus realized in the last few minutes of life that his naive belief in a loving Father was no match for the powers and systems of the world. They believe that Jesus was experiencing the abject horror of one who realizes he is about to die in vain.

I say these people couldn’t be more wrong.

It seems they haven’t read Psalm 22.

Jesus was a rabbi. He lived, breathed, ate and drank the Scriptures. He knew that the Scriptures permeated every aspect of his people’s life, so that when he quoted one his listeners intimately understood the context and where it fit in the larger story of God told through the Torah.

With just one phrase Jesus could call up two thousand years of imagery, storylines, beliefs and cultural identity. It’s kind of like when you tell someone “The Force will be with you”, you hold six hours of Star Wars movies and decades of cultural memory in mind all at once.

When Jesus echoes the opening of David’s psalm on the cross, he’s not reciting one line in isolation but is packing 31 verses into those four words and calling forth a thousand years of messianic expectations.

Let’s go through some of these other verses to see what was running through his mind:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?

O my God, I cry out by day but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. (vv. 1-2)

Hmm, it appears that the skeptics may have a point after reading the first paragraph. But hold the phone! Let’s read the next one:

Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.

In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted you and you delivered them.

They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. (vv. 3-5)

That pretty much chuffs the “despair” theory right there. This is a psalm about a man in deep distress yet continuing to trust in God. And a confident, powerful trust at that. Keep reading:

But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads.

“He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him! Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” (vv. 6-8)

Far from despairing at the people’s sharp turn against him, Jesus thinks of this psalm and remembers that this is exactly how it’s supposed to happen. Which means that, not only is he not defeated, but everything is going according to plan.

Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on you; from my mother’s womb you have been my God.

Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. (vv. 9-11)

Again, both he and David trust in God when everyone else has failed them.

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me.

My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. (vv. 14-15)

John clearly understood what Jesus was getting at when he asked for something to drink.

Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. (vv. 16-17)

This one needs no explanation, except to say that David wrote this roughly a thousand years before crucifixion was invented.

They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. (v. 18)

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all picked up on the significance of this verse.

I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly I will praise you.

You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!

For he has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help. (vv. 22-24)

This is about as far from a feeling of abandonment as you can get. I love how passionate David’s psalms are, how human! He starts off in deep depression and despair, but then seems to remind himself in the middle of writing that this view is all wrong, that God never abandons his children.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows. (v. 25)

I’m also sure Jesus was sharply aware that he was minutes away from successfully completing the ultimate fulfilling of his vows.

The poor will eat and be satisfied; those who seek the Lord will praise him—may your hearts live forever!

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. (vv. 26-28)

No my friends, eloi eloi lama sabachtani is not at all the defeated, despairing cry of a man who realizes his entire life has been a lie.

It’s the exact opposite.

This is a battle yell in mockery and contempt of overwhelming, unmasked evil. This is a declaration that the enemy has unwittingly played right into his hands.

It’s a triumphant cry of victory.

If you’re not convinced yet, read and judge for yourself…here are the final sentences of the last thing Jesus thought about before he died:

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord.

Future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn--for he has done it.

He has done it.

It is accomplished.

Friday is so Good.

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

New Facebook Like & Follow on Twitter buttons in the top right of the blog!

Get my book for only $1

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 06:17:00 +0000

In celebration of Easter week, the E-book version of Who's Got God is on sale for just a dollar! You can read it on any e-reader, your phone, your tablet, your computer, or you can just print it out!

Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, I promise you'll find something in there to make you think more deeply about your own spiritual journey.

To purchase the E-book, go to this link: http://www.lulu.com/shop/jeremy-seely/whos-got-god/ebook/product-17469182.html

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.
New Facebook Like and Twitter buttons in the top right of the blog!

The War On Christmas Needs You!

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 08:28:00 +0000

Seems like there’s a lot of talk on American news these days about The War On Christmas. I don’t know if regular people actually believe in this or whether it’s just something that the cable news channels drum up to manufacture ratings, but certain news personalities seem to have confused the changing cultural landscape of our society with an active assault against God Almighty.

My view is that if your god is weakened or threatened by the changing cultural standards of the country you live in, he’s a pretty puny, tribalistic god. A god you believe in for much the same reasons you root for your favorite sports team—because you live close to it (this is a red-blooded Angels fan writing, so I know all about tribalistic loyalties). Anyway, a weak god. Not the living God of the universe whose immense power spoke all things into existence. No, the real God is not on His throne worried, His plans are not threatened, and His will is not thwarted by any so-called “war on Christmas”.

In the end, all this talk really boils down to fear. Fear that our country is headed in the wrong direction. Fear that God is going to strike us down nationally for “turning our backs on Him” and “taking Him out of our schools” (never mind the fact that God no longer judges “the nations” as a whole, but writes his law onto each individual heart). Fear that the ideals and values of It’s A Wonderful Life are being replaced with raunch, crudity, and disrespect.

I understand these fears, and I respect them. I also worry about the coarsening of our society and the fraying of our communities’ bonds. But let’s not conflate these cultural issues with the idea that God is in trouble and needs our help to save him. And if there's to be a war on Christmas in America, let's make it a war against the commercialization and crass consumerism that it's devolving into. That's a war I'm signing up for.

In any event, we shouldn’t be frightened to see our country changing. We are called to be ambassadors of Jesus. And what is the defining characteristic of an ambassador? That they live in a foreign land. So whether there really is a war on Christmas, whether our nation does actually turn hostile to Christianity, none of this should matter. After all, Jesus wasn’t born into the dominant culture; in fact, his culture was dominated by the world’s sole superpower at the time. And His way of faith was certainly not the dominant religion of his nation; in fact, it was so counter-cultural that it got him crucified.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a real war on Christmas, though. In fact, the very first Christmas was, in the cosmic realm, nothing like the serene, tranquil nativities we often think about. It was anything but a silent night:

Something important appeared in the sky. It was a woman whose clothes were the sun. The moon was under her feet, and a crown made of twelve stars was on her head. She was about to give birth, and she was crying because of the great pain.

Something else appeared in the sky. It was a huge red dragon with seven heads and ten horns, and a crown on each of its seven heads. With its tail, it dragged a third of the stars from the sky and threw them down to the earth. Then the dragon turned toward the woman, because it wanted to eat her child as soon as it was born.

The woman gave birth to a son, who would rule all nations with an iron rod. The boy was snatched away. He was taken to God and placed on his throne. The woman ran into the desert to a place that God had prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for one thousand two hundred sixty days.

Michael Fights the Dragon
A war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels were fighting against the dragon and its angels. But the dragon lost the battle. It and its angels were forced out of their places in heaven and were thrown down to the earth. Yes, that old snake and his angels were thrown out of heaven! That snake, who fools everyone on earth, is known as the devil and Satan. Then I heard a voice from heaven shout,

“Our God has shown
his saving power,
and his kingdom has come!
God’s own Chosen One
has shown his authority.
Satan accused our people
in the presence of God
day and night.
Now he has been thrown out!

Our people defeated Satan
because of the blood
of the Lamb
and the message of God.
They were willing
to give up their lives.

The heavens should rejoice,
together with everyone
who lives there.
But pity the earth
and the sea,
because the devil
was thrown down
to the earth.
He knows his time is short,
and he is very angry.”

When the dragon realized that it had been thrown down to the earth, it tried to make trouble for the woman who had given birth to a son. But the woman was given two wings like those of a huge eagle, so that she could fly into the desert.

This made the dragon terribly angry with the woman. So it started a war against the rest of her children. They are the people who obey God and are faithful to what Jesus did and taught. Revelation 12

The birth of Jesus was more like the first troop transport landing at Normandy than anything else. I know that when people are going through suffering, tragedy, loneliness and loss, it can feel like Christmas isn’t for them. Like Christmas is only for the happy. The true Christmas story, though, is that it is precisely for the broken.

Jesus was born into a broken world. A dangerous world. A world full of blood and fear and evil. He was born into a world where precious, innocent children were slaughtered at the whim of a dark, troubled soul.

In short, Jesus was born into our world.

And after some of the things that have happened over the last few weeks, that’s exactly the kind of Jesus we need.

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

What Can I Do?
There are some great ways to help join the war on Christmas and make real the fact that it’s about more than getting stuff. One of our favorites is to join the Advent Conspiracy. Their whole mission is to reorient our focus on what Christmas is supposed to mean to a follower of Jesus. Their motto is:

Worship Fully
Spend Less
Give More
Love All

One of the things our family has begun doing is to devote a substantial amount of our Christmas gift-buying budget for a “present for Jesus”. Each year we go through the Samaritan’s Purse gift catalog and decide as a family what to donate to. Samaritan’s Purse is a wonderful, highly-respected charity devoted to providing aid and relief to the world’s suffering. Through them you can buy milk-producing animals for hungry families, water-filtration systems and wells for villages with no clean water, provide literacy programs and education for children, protect young boys and girls from human trafficking, and more. It’s a great way to get kids involved, as you can make decisions as a family to give money to areas that speak to you the most.

Samaritan’s Purse isn’t the only place to give a present to Jesus, of course. World Vision is another great organization, as is Habitat For Humanity, Doctors Without Borders, Red Cross and countless others.

Particle God, pt. 2

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 01:31:00 +0000

Part 1 talked about whether you believe in something or nothing. Many people I know believe that there is indeed something out there, but they're kind of vague and unspecified in just exactly what that something is. Their definition doesn't go much farther than "a Higher Power". Many of them believe this power is a sort of innocuous, vaguely beneficent Energy that directs and guides us.

A belief very similar to the following, if you'll allow me to quote some sage wisdom from a venerable master:

It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together.
-Obi-wan Kenobi

Old Ben's not entirely wrong.

Although to me that's a shallow and woefully inadequate conception of the higher power that's really out there, there is some truth to it. With the confirmation (mostly) of the existence of the Higgs boson, there is empirical evidence to support this view. Here are two humorous descriptions for the layperson of what the "god particle" actually does:

New York Times:

the Higgs boson is the only manifestation of an invisible force field, a cosmic molasses that permeates space and imbues elementary particles with mass. Particles wading through the field gain heft the way a bill going through Congress attracts riders and amendments, becoming ever more ponderous.

BBC News:

The way the Higgs field works has been likened to the way photographers and reporters congregate around a celebrity. The cluster of people are strongly attracted to the celebrity and create resistance to his or her movement across a room. In other words, they give the celebrity "mass".

To put it bluntly: there actually is an energy field that surrounds us and penetrates us. This Higgs field gives the entire universe its mass and in a very real sense binds it all together.

Who knew George Lucas was such a brilliant particle physicist?

Here's the thing, though. This energy we're talking about isn't just a faceless, nameless Thing. It's more than just "the Force". It is actually the Word of God. Consider the opening of John's gospel:

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. (John 1:1-3)

John hints at it here, but you just need to read a few more verses to see him declare outright that the Word of God is actually a personal being, someone with a personality--with intention, with purpose:

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (v.14)

Paul later amplifies this truth, and you may consider the following sentences--written 2000 years ago--in a whole new light:

For in him [God the Son] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. (Col 1:16-17)

You might say the god particle really is God.

Now don't get me wrong; I'm not a pantheist. I'm not proposing that God literally is the Higgs boson or the Higgs energy field. But I don't think it's too far off the mark to say that this energy field is in some mystical, supernatural way a physical expression of the creative, sustaining life-force of the Word of God...Jesus.

This may seem really weird to both believer and non-believer alike, for different reasons. But if your convictions about God and ultimate reality include nothing that unsettles you, nothing that baffles you, nothing that exceeds your own understanding, then take care to examine your convictions. It's possible you have constructed god (or the universe) in your own image--a god that'll fall over if you don't nail him down.

To be sure, it can be difficult to believe in an invisible God or a risen Jesus, I won't argue that one bit. But this God in the Bible, this is a God to be reckoned with. A God who's always surprising. A God you can grapple with. A God you can personally interact with.

And in the end don't we all want that to be true? That there is a Something out there who cares whether you live or die?

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 reveal knowledge.
Their words aren't heard,
their voices aren't recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

Indeed. Three thousand years later, they're still declaring.

Particle God

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 02:00:00 +0000

It was announced today that physicists had found almost certain evidence confirming the discovery of the Higgs boson, aka the "God particle". It might not seem like that big a deal to us plebians, but to describe it as a massive, momentous achievement in the realm of quantum physics is a major understatement.

Events of this magnitude present a great opportunity to step back from the day-to-day grind and think big, fundamental thoughts about What It All Means. Let's think big here. I mean really big. Pull the lens wayyyyy back. Let's not even think about religion or science. Think past Jesus or Mohamed or Buddha or evolution. Let's think about the universe itself. The physical universe of stars and galaxies, interstellar gas, quasars, black holes and the like. Let's just ponder the mere fact that it is. That it exists.

And let's think about the fact that this universe we live in is finite. From our vantage point it is incomprehensibly vast...but it does not go on forever.

The universe has boundaries, has ending points. There is an actual point at which the Universe stops. Which of course begs the question....what lies on the other side of the Universe?

What would the signpost read? Now entering......what?

It can't be more universe. No stars, no dust, no matter at all. But it also can't, as far as I know, be empty vacuum either, because empty vacuum is still something. It's just more space that hasn't been filled up by anything. But there can't be any more space beyond space. Otherwise it's just....more space.

We also know that the universe had a beginning. It hasn't been around forever. A specific event occurred at one point in time¹ in which the entire universe of atoms and asteroids exploded furiously into existence.

And here's the bigger question. The Big Question, in fact. The one that I'm sure (I hope) every one of you has spent some serious and weighty time contemplating.

Why is there Something instead of Nothing?

Where did it come from?

I don't mean "it came from an inconceivably dense point of matter and energy which exploded and became our Universe." I'm thinking past that. The Prime Origin. The ultimate starting point. Where did that "point of matter and energy" come from? I'm not even talking about God or any specific religious belief yet. This question comes before you get there. And there's only two answers to it: either a) something or b) nothing².

If you're an atheist, or leaning that way, do you really truly believe at the end of the day that the answer to that question is "nothing at all"? That a mind-bogglingly dense singularity of matter just spontaneously happened? Like.....pop, there it is! That all of us, this entire universe so intricately woven and delicately balanced came:

From Nothing
By Nothing
For Nothing?

I applaud anyone for being able to believe that to the very end, for it takes far more faith than I can muster.

On to Part Two!

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

¹ I am aware that before the universe began there was no such thing as time, and so this phrase is not really accurate. Trying to describe that, however, completely broke up the flow of the post and only detracted from the clarity of my main point so I decided not to belabor the issue.

²In modern times it's become vogue (at least, according to some of the scientific layman's magazines I read) to try to have it both ways by theorizing about "the multiverse". Basically, the idea that there are an infinite number of universes, which all exist in different dimensions, and we just happen to live in this one which has at least one planet that can support life.

This is just kicking the can down the interstellar road, however. It actually makes it even harder to believe in nothing, because now you've got to account for the existence of not one, but billions and trillions of universes. And it eventually boils down to the exact same question anyway: where did the multiverse come from? Believing in a multiverse is blind faith in its purest essence--believing in something with absolutely no evidence at all.

Your God Sucks

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Sun, 20 May 2012 22:24:00 +0000

A few months ago USA Today ran an article detailing the growing dilution of spiritual belief in America and general apathy towards anything beyond the material.

It came as no surprise to me. I know a lot of people who are cynical about god, disillusioned, disappointed and angry. Perhaps that is you. Maybe you ended up here by typing "god sucks" into a search engine. If so, please keep reading--it may not be what you expected but I hope you'll find some thoughts worth pondering.

However, I also know many, many people who aren't necessarily angry at God but simply uninterested. This group tends to believe in a curious blend of romanticized Eastern mysticism and shallow platitudes. “The Universe will guide me where I’m supposed to go.” That sort of custom-religion stuff where we create our own “god of what we feel like today.” Often a combination of the Force and a jolly old Santa Claus: a god who never relates to us, never asks anything of us, never challenges us to become more than we already are.

If God is just some mystical energy force with no personality and no real intent, then you my friend have already out-evolved God.

Think about it: you yourself have a personality—an identity. You strive to live your life with purpose, and meaning, and direction. If God does not possess an identity, then you are a higher being than It. That kind of Star Trek/Star Wars god is a flabby, wimpy thing and you’re probably right not to spend a lot of time thinking about how to relate to It.

This is one of the things I love most about the actual God, the God of all gods. He has a fierce personality, clear intentions, and he moves with absolute purpose in everything he does. He fights for you. And He knows you. The real You.

He’s also got a terrific sense of humor. I can just imagine God speaking with a chuckle in his voice the following words to the prophets:

Don't follow the customs of those nations who become frightened when they see something strange happen in the sky.

Their religion is worthless! They chop down a tree, carve the wood into an idol, cover it with silver and gold, and then nail it down so it won't fall over.

Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. (Jeremiah 10:2-5)

Can’t you just hear Him practically busting up as He’s saying this? “Hey, did you hear the one about the people who prayed to the god they dragged out of the forest? They had to nail the dang thing down so it wouldn’t fall on top of them!”

Or this one:

"Present the case for your idols,” says the LORD. “Let them show what they can do,” says the King of Israel. “Let them try to tell us what happened long ago so that we may consider the evidence. Or let them tell us what the future holds, so we can know what’s going to happen.

Yes, tell us what will occur in the days ahead. Then we will know you are gods. In fact, do anything—good or bad! Do something that will amaze and frighten us.

But no! You are less than nothing and can do nothing at all. (Isaiah 41:21-24)

You want a one-liner? Look to Hosea:

[My people] consult a wooden idol and are answered by a stick of wood. (Hosea 4:12)

Perhaps I’m taking it a bit too far, for God’s heart certainly is not in insulting His children...but I gotta believe He at least had a twinkle in His eye when He spoke those words.

And yes he does eventually get around to performing a serious idol-smackdown:

Those people who make idols are nothing themselves, and the idols they treasure are just as worthless.

Worshipers of idols are blind, stupid, and foolish. Why make an idol or an image that can't do a thing?

Everyone who makes idols and all who worship them are mere humans, who will end up sadly disappointed. Let them face me in court and be terrified. (Isaiah 44:9-11)

The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!”

They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand. (Isaiah 44:12,17-18)

Aren't you glad that we've evolved enough to move beyond worshipping the man-made?

Compare those pathetic man-made non-gods with the actual Lord of the universe:

The LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.

When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. (Jeremiah 10:10, 13)

To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. (Isaiah 40:25-26)

And in stark contrast to an impotent god carved out of wood or a nameless, faceless “Universe”, God shows power and involvement. And passion:

Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.

When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

To me, you are very dear, and I love you. Don't be afraid! I am with you. From both east and west I will bring you together. I will say to the north and to the south, "Free my sons and daughters! (Isaiah 43:1-7)

Listen, I respect how difficult it can be to read those words and believe them, especially when everything around you is burning. I don't have the final answer to questions like "Why didn't god stop ____ from happening to me or someone I cared about?" What I do know is that God doesn't say if you go through deep waters, he says when. And he doesn't say "I will prevent you from going through the fire," he says "I will be with you when you do go through the fire."

I respect those of you who know what you believe and why you believe it, even if you completely disagree with me. At least I can have a conversation with someone like that (see the comments section of The Dog Ate My Jesus! for a great example).

But I have a real hard time understanding how people can go for so long with such a superficial, unexamined belief about ultimate meaning. Is it a product of the steady fatalism of our scientific age, in which we are just collections of matter that came from nothing and have no purpose except whatever we make up? Is it a reaction to fanatics and zealots who make us want to avoid any serious beliefs for fear we might turn into one of them?

It certainly is easier to have a casual spirituality, that’s for sure. How could it not be? But a god you make up yourself is worse than worthless. It cannot save you when your life begins to fall apart. A god you build with your own hands can do absolutely nothing to comfort you when your husband leaves you, or when you lose your job or get the bad news from the doctor. Or when a gunman opens fire on you at the movies. A god you have to nail down to keep from falling over can’t empower you to face your addiction, or your greed or your bitterness or your arrogance. These are exactly the times when you NEED a Strong God who stands on His own.

Do you really want to entrust the care of your eternal spirit, of what makes you you, to a cafeteria-god that you hand-picked and chose yourself? I hope the answer is no, but even if you do—you’re kinda out of luck. God IS. You don’t get to make your own custom god like creating an orc in World of Warcraft.

If you're open to exploring this matter further in your own life but you have trouble believing that the god from a 2000-year old book is in any better to believe in: well, first of all I think that’s a great place to be. The real God doesn’t want unthinking drones who just go through motions anyway--“I desire mercy, not sacrifice,” he says. Rituals and tradition mean absolutely nothing to him if the heart offering them up is empty.

Secondly, I urge you to borrow or purchase any of the books linked just to the left of this column. I don’t care if you buy them through this site or not, just get one and start reading it. Or read through my series on why I personally follow and worship Jesus.

I can guarantee you that if you attempt to find the living God who’s really there, He’ll meet you. He'll reveal himself as the Strong God Who IS. He’ll challenge you and some of your deeply-held beliefs. But more importantly, He’ll accept you. He’ll tell you that you belong here, that you have a valuable place in this world and an important place in his family that no one else can fill.

And when things get really bad for you in this world, as they invariably will, you won’t have to prop him up with nails to keep him standing.

You see, Jesus already did that to himself.

But it wasn't to keep him from falling over…it was to keep you.

Selection from "Who's Got God?"

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 05:03:00 +0000

Twelve years ago as my colleague Jordan Adams and I traded deep, lengthy emails back and forth, I never imagined I would one day collect them into a book. I think I've become a much better writer than I was then, and if I was writing these today I would approach the task much differently. When I seriously began to put these letters together, though, I made a commitment not to change a single word in any way, other than to correct misspellings and obvious mistakes of grammar. It was very important to me to present our words honestly and accurately.

What I'm proud of, however, is that while I may have changed my style of writing, I would change very little (almost nothing, actually) of the substance of what I wrote. I've been through a lot since the days when we wrote our letters, many highs and many lows, but after all that I still believe that "on the third day, He rose again."

Without further ado, a true story of my first profound spiritual experience--the first time I heard God speak directly to my heart. From Who's Got God? pp.136-137:

October 15, 2001
Subject: The essence of your suggestion.

Jordan, you said you couldn’t be more sure that the whole thing was a crock.
Well, I couldn’t be more sure that it’s not, because of the experiences
I’ve had in my life as a result of making this choice, day by day
(and also because of the experiences I’ve had when I do not make the
choice).

One day when I was about eighteen or nineteen, I was feeling
adrift at sea with my life. I was going through one of the many crises, as
we all do, of “What am I going to do with my life?” I had just rediscovered
God and knew that there was something He had
created me for and put me here to do. But at this particular moment in
my life I had absolutely no idea what it was, and I was in a deep depression
over it.

As I sat on the couchbed in the room
I was using while staying at my mom’s house (this was during a holiday
time and the dorms were closed) I closed my eyes and began to pray
and ask God for help. I imagined a box, suspended and slowly spinning,
inside my chest. Inside that box, I asked God to place what it was He
wanted from me. I told Him I was going to count to three and open
the box. I slowly started counting in my head, imagining this spinning,
floating box, and part of me thought to myself “This is so lame. What
are you doing? You expect God to jump out of this imaginary box and
tell you What To Do With Your Life? Sigh.” But I ignored the voice
and went on counting anyway.

As I got to three and opened the box in
my mind, something happened to me totally unexpected and without
my bidding or unconscious psychological projection. The box melted
away and three words flew confidently and boldly out—big, bold, glowing
words all in caps. Three words that literally changed my life. They
were:

SEARCH FOR ME

I cannot describe how I knew this, but I knew-that-I-knew that these
words had come from Outside me. They completely surprised me—
floored me even—and hot tears of what, I don’t know—thankfulness,
awe, inspiration, something!—poured down my cheeks. It was the first
spiritual experience I had ever had, and still the most intense. It contin-
ues to guide me to this day.

Since that time, I have become convinced
that the One who gave me those words was the God who is described—
not totally explained, but described and revealed—in the Bible and by
Jesus. As I have drawn closer to this God, I have seen and experienced
many wonderful things. I have been instantaneously healed of a physical
affliction (no, not at some ridiculous faith-healing convention but in
the privacy of my bedroom) which has never recurred to this day [Author's
Note--and still hasn't more than 10 years later], I have
received specific and real answers to prayer (stuff like the exact amount
of money I desperately needed arriving at my doorstep totally unexpected
by me, or struggling mightily with a specific issue or doubt or
depression only to have my pastor speak a message on that exact subject
the next day, etc.), I have seen others be blessed in the same way, and
most important I have been given (and I use the words ‘been given’ very
deliberately) a sense of peace, purpose, and “blessed assurance” in the
reality, the actual nuts-and-bolts reality, of this God I have been striving
to draw near to.

This is not to say I have become a saint since that day. Far from it. Since
then, I have done some horrible deeds, thought some ugly thoughts.
And I don’t say that in a romantic sense, as if to put myself on a higher
pedestal by showing how humble I am. There are some truly evil things
about me, some disgustingly black corners of my soul. I am a sinner, in
the fullest and nastiest and messiest sense of the word. I think if you’re
honest about yourself, Jordan, you too would agree with this about
your own life.

But this also confirms my belief in the God I worship
and love! Because the depths of ugliness I surprise myself with…he’s
already told me about in the Bible. He already knew it! And I have also
experienced the incredible grace and completely unmerited forgiveness
that He offers, and that I read about in the Bible. I’ve said this so many
times in my conversations with God: “God, I don’t know how or why
you do it. If I were you and saw me acting and thinking the way I do,
I would have vaporized me in a flash of totally justified anger LONG
ago! WHY in the world do you love me?!?”

Knowing the ugly part of
my self, and knowing that God loves me anyway, never tires of forgiving
me and always ecstatically welcomes me back into His presence, knowing
that He even DIED for me...while I was rejecting Him!..., makes me
literally fall on my knees in humble gratitude and unexclaimable adoration.
Paul’s letter to the Romans (5:7-8): “Very rarely will anyone die for
a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare
to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were
still sinners, Christ died for us!”

To this I can only be speechless.

Shalom,
Jeremy

Who's Got God?

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 20:00:00 +0000

When I first started The Skeptical Believer, it was meant to be in conjunction with the publication of my first book. I originally saw the blog as a supplement to the book, and a way to expand on some of the issues raised in it. Here is the introduction from my first post here:

I started this blog in tandem with the upcoming publication of my first book (details to be released soon!). Co-written with a colleague, it's an honest exploration of faith, truth, and finding common ground with those who see the universe differently.

The Skeptical Believer is all about taking an honest look at faith. Let's face it--all of us have questions and doubts about our worldview no matter what we believe in. My premise is that it's vital to meet these challenges, confront them head-on, and be able to admit that we don't have all the answers. And just as importantly, to never settle for pat, skin-deep cop-outs when it comes to the most profound and sometimes troubling issues of life.

Well, life has a funny way of getting in the way sometimes and now I find that nearly two years have gone by. But wait, there's more!

I am very excited to announce that, at long last, my book Who's Got God? is now available for purchase!!!

It can be had at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell's in paperback version, or through Lulu.com in either hardback, paperback, or super-cheap downloadable PDF. In addition, you can request a copy from most brick-and-mortar bookstores like Barnes & Noble. Check out the Google link for you international readers in the UK or Australia.

Lulu is offering 25% off the purchase of any number of copies of my book (up to a maximum savings of $50) from now through December 14. It could make a great Christmas present for the spiritual seeker or honest skeptic in your life. Simply enter the code BUYMYBOOK305 during checkout to receive the discount.

From the Book Description:Many people today live unexamined spiritual lives, never questioning or exploring their own faith. Whether we’re too busy or just plain lazy, too many of us don’t know why we believe what we believe. Readers of this book will get a glimpse into two active spiritual lives, one Christian and one New Thought, and get an inside look at what drives them to their belief.

While profound differences do exist, there is so much in common that we can focus on. In an age where reality television is the role model for airing grievances, this book shows how one can be openminded to opposing ideas, see the truth in the other side and even give ground when needed, all without feeling that one’s own cherished ideas are being overthrown in the process. In the end, the question isn’t ‘Who’s Got God?’ but rather ‘Who’s God Got?’

Next I'll post a sample chapter. Stay tuned!

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

REVIEW: Love Wins, pt 3

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:33:00 +0000

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

I’ve been promising a wrap-up to my review of Rob Bell’s Love Wins for some time now, so let’s get ‘er done. This will dovetail nicely with the last post I made for our church blog, How Can A God Of Love Send People To Hell?

Let’s talk about the image of hell that most of us, Christians and non-Christians alike, are brought up to believe the Bible teaches.

First of all, are any of you parents? And if so, do you love your children? If not parents, do you have a pet that feels almost like a child to you? Do you have brothers and sisters, parents and grandparents, close friends who you love more than anyone else in the world?

Allow me to tell you a true story.

I have a 3-year old son. He is the greatest joy of my life, and the highest fulfillment of the dreams I had for when I grew up. I love him so much that it’s hard to even imagine having a second child and feeling that same amount of love and “fatherliness”.

And yet one day I heard myself say something to him in anger that I swore I would never say to my children. My own father said it to me once, and I remember what a cruel thing it was, how it unfairly wielded a father’s authority as a weapon. And so I told myself that day I would never be the kind of person who would say that to his own son.

Well, I’m sure that every single parent reading this knows what’s coming. Fast forward 30 years or so. My son was misbehaving and being willfully rebellious. I had placed him in the corner where he continued his angry rebellion, physically striking out at my face and without thinking I said in a loud voice, “Do you want to stay in the corner forever?”

Exactly what my dad had said to me that day.

I realize that in the grand scheme of things, in this world where some fathers brutally terrorize their families and perform horrible evils to their own flesh and blood, this really doesn’t even rate a blip on the radar screen. Every parent gets angry and loses their patience with their kids from time to time. But all the same, it hurt me when it was said to me as a child. I remember it to this day. And I had made a promise that I wouldn’t say it.

In a way, isn’t this how we are trained to look at God and His salvation? Isn’t this how many of us grow up thinking Hell is all about? That unless you sinners stop misbehaving, unless you start to believe the right “doctrinally-pure” articles of faith, God is going to put you in the Corner for all eternity?

And not just any old timeout corner. In this Corner that we think God supposedly puts us in, we will be tortured forever. Either physically, like being burned alive every day for trillions upon trillions of years without end, or spiritually, where we are actively tormented and assaulted psychologically for the rest of eternity.

Is that the God we serve?

Would you do this to your child?

“Son, you’ve got until you’re 18 years old to clean up your act. On the day of your 18th birthday, if you haven’t graduated high school and gotten a job, and if you haven’t started to obey me, I am going to take you to the dirtiest, foulest, most toxic sewer on the planet. You think you’ve seen disgusting filth before? You ain’t seen nothing until you’ve seen this place. It’s worse than your worst nightmare.

This sewer is run by a man who used to be my right-hand man until I had him sent to jail for being a merciless, savage, violent felon. He was sent to work there as punishment and pretty much just took over the place. I am going to take you there, and I am going to throw your body right into that raw sewage and tell that man to light it on fire until it burns out.

And then I’m going to tell him to do it again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

I will never listen to your cries of pain, your entreaties, your sobs of repentance. I gave you enough time. And I told you ahead of time what the consequences would be. It’s only fair.”

“By the way, did I ever tell you how much I love you?”

If you think that’s horrific, that is nothing compared to what some (well-meaning) people say God will do to you unless you shape up and accept His Son before you die.

Is that the kind of Heavenly Father you believe in? Someone who, if he were an earthly father, would be arrested within minutes and very likely executed for crimes against humanity? He would be the worst, most vile scum of a human being ever to walk the earth, someone who could do that to his own child.

Does this sound ANYTHING like the Father that Jesus taught about? The God that he called “Papa”? If so, then he was one incredibly twisted person with a heavily damaged psyche, and I would call on everyone to stop following him immediately, even if what he said was true. Better to be crushed in a rebellion against that kind of God than to fall in line behind Him.

“But what’s the point of ‘being saved’ then? Are you saying it doesn’t matter if you believe in Jesus or not?”

I think this kind of question is completely understandable given the anemic spiritual education we get in most churches on this topic. However, it misses the point of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection entirely.

Yes, believing in Jesus is immensely, eternally important, but things aren’t so black and white. For if we say that we are saved by believing, and damned for not believing…isn’t that salvation by works? If you believe the right thing you will be saved? If you don’t believe the right thing, you won’t be saved?

I thought we were saved by grace, through faith, and this not of ourselves. Grace, by its very definition, is not in your control. If you are going to heaven because you believed the right thing, then this is something you did yourself. And if you are to be condemned for not believing the right thing, this is something you failed to do yourself.

I don’t have all the answers. Nobody does. My point is that the reality of salvation is so much more than what we have made it.

So much more complex.

So much more simple.

Isn’t that just like God, though? God’s grace, His character, and His message to humanity is so simple that a small child can understand it, yet so complex that the wisest of men can spend their entire lives plumbing its depths and barely even scratch the surface. I mean really, where in the universe do you find reality being black-and-white? The physical universe is made up of matter, but also energy. Light is a wave, but also a particle. Your body is solid, but the atoms that make up your body don’t actually touch each other.

Huh?

This is the world that the Lord has made. He is apparently extremely comfortable with paradox.

And isn’t this just like Jesus? Where in the gospels did he ever give a straight-up answer to a question?

“Good teacher, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Whoa, stop the presses and hold the phones! In fundamental American Christianity, this is the only question in the universe that matters. This is the entire reason Jesus came to earth, packed right here in these twelve words. So here’s his chance to let us know. Here is Jesus’ chance to be unambiguous. Here’s his chance to give a direct, clear answer to the most important question any of us can ask. If the whole reason Jesus came to Earth was to make sure we knew how to get our spiritual fire-insurance card, then you can be confident that He’d make sure to answer this question as bluntly and directly as possible. Something like:

“My son, to inherit eternal life you don’t have to do anything. You’re saved by grace, through faith in me. Believe I’m the Son of God, that’s it!”

But he didn’t say that.

Instead, he answers this man’s very direct question by asking: “Why do you call me good?”

What???

If God’s mission was to send Jesus in order to give us all the Three Easy Steps To Getting Out Of Hell And Getting Into Heaven, then he blew it big-time. And if he wouldn’t just answer the dang question with the obvious, easy answer…well maybe there’s more going on than we’ve been taught to believe. That is the underlying message of Love Wins. That when it comes to the Infinite and Eternal, the only black-and-white answer we should have the temerity to give is that God loves us infinitely and eternally.

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

ASK: How Can A God Of Love Send People To Hell?

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:54:00 +0000

This can be one of the most troubling and serious questions that you may ever wrestle with, whether you're still considering following Jesus or have been a disciple of His for 50 years. The very notion of hell is unsettling and, quite frankly, disturbing.

This is exactly how it is supposed to be.

Hell is an aberration, an abomination, a place that was never meant to be. Hell was not a part of the original creation. In fact, hell is not even meant for humankind. Hell is made as the banishment awaiting Satan and his angels. The tragic tale of humanity is that there will be some of us who will choose to join him there. But the fact that the idea of hell seems so out-of-place and "wrong" speaks to this truth that it is not where we are meant to go. Hell is supposed to shock the mind and the senses. However, don't let that unease keep you from considering the claims of Jesus. If we preached a God that made complete and perfect sense to us, we'd be preaching a man-made god, not the Infinite Creator of the Universe who so vastly exceeds our intellect and imagination that we can't even think or imagine the extent of how much He does.

But back to the question: how can a God who claims to be perfect and infinite Love send people to a place of infinite punishment and torment??? There's no way I could possible hope to cover all the relevant aspects of hell in one short blog post. If you didn't make it to church this Sunday, I highly recommend watching Steve's message. In addition, I'll post some resources at the end for further study. So instead of a full discussion of hell, I want to focus in on only this aspect of it, the question asked in the title.

First off, a giant misunderstanding about hell is that it's a place God angrily throws people who didn't do things the way He wanted them to, or simply believed the wrong things about Him.

Hell is not a place where people are consigned because they were pretty good blokes, but they just didn't believe the right stuff. They're consigned there, first and foremost, because they defy their maker and want to be at the center of the universe. Hell is not filled with people who have already repented, only God isn't gentle enough or good enough to let them out. It's filled with people who, for all eternity, still want to be the center of the universe and who persist in their God-defying rebellion. --D.A. Carson

Hell is the place for people who don't want to be with God, who don't want to bow to anyone but themselves, who don't want to serve others but want to be served and to oppress others for their own gain. When Jesus returns to end our present mode of history, God will finally shout ENOUGH! to the world. When he comes back, He will be saying "From now on there will be no more rape, no more murder, no more child abuse, no more hatred, no more oppression, no more condemnation. That is finished with, now and forever." Justice and peace will finally reign and all wrongs will finally be righted.

Unfortunately, that won't be good news for everybody. That type of world will not be desired by all.

You may (perfectly reasonably) object, "But perhaps God could just change them so that they see the light and realize how wrong they are." The problem is that these hell-bound people already have seen the light, and they consciously rejected it, knowing full well what they were rejecting. Consider this: to be "cured" against your will by God of pride, selfishness, and total independence would be a sort of divine cosmic rape of your very soul. As Chesterton said, "Hell is God's great compliment to the reality of human freedom and the dignity of human choice." We are not programmed robots but powerful beings with self-determination and free will. True free will demands the possibility of rejection of God's love and way of life.

What are you asking God to do? To wipe out their past sins and, at all costs, to give them a fresh start, smoothing every difficulty and offering every miraculous help? He has already done so, on Calvary. To forgive them? They [do not want to be] forgiven. To leave them alone? Alas, I am afraid that is what He does. - C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

It is theorized that the gates of hell are not locked from the outside by God, but rather from the inside by its own inhabitants. It may be possible for a being in hell to leave it any time they wish and join God in heaven, but because of its very nature, the type of souls that go to hell will never want to enter God's presence. It would be like a vampire walking into the bright noonday sun. For someone whose whole existence is wrapped up in self-worship, self-centeredness, and "getting what's mine", the sacrificial, servant-love of God that will characterize heaven would be like bright, powerful rays of burning painful light. Heaven would be hell for those types of people.

"Milton was right…'The choice of every lost soul can be expressed in the words 'Better to reign in Hell than to serve in Heaven.' There is always something they insist on keeping even at the price of misery…" - C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce

The only kind of people in hell will be the kind of people who agree with that statement...even if all it means is to reign over the flies of the garbage dump (see Steve's message for that neat insight). But imagine a whole nation populated with only those types of people. That's why hell will be misery and torment--not from any external punishment by God, but because their own wretched, selfish desires will constantly be frustrated by all the other people there who will also be trying to become "lord of the flies". Or imagine it like a drug addict who is so totally addicted that no amount of drugs bring them even the smallest high anymore, yet they're still addicted. That is the misery of hell.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that God doesn't send people to hell. People send themselves there, and they want to be there. Nobody will be in hell who doesn't want to be, and nobody will be weeping behind hell's gates because they realized just a bit too late how wrong their life was lived. There won't be a single person in hell lamenting that they're not in heaven because they 'missed it by that much'. "All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell . No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find."

I truly believe that if you are the kind of person who wants to be kinder, gentler, more loving, more compassionate, more self-controlled, more giving, and truly wants to be with God and live in a place where agape reigns supreme and is the normal mode of existing, then you will be in heaven. The caveat is this: you can't do it on your own. Anyone who's seriously tried to will themselves to being a better person solely by their own power knows keenly well how impossible this is. I'll let God sort out the details, but if you are not yet a follower of Jesus, then read His love letter to all of humanity, written in the blood of Jesus' sacrifice. The Spirit of God is the only power in this universe that can transform you into that type of person and guarantee your inclusion in that community with a seal of ownership.

In closing, the best quote that I have ever read on this, one which so completely captures the essence of the doctrine of hell in one solitary sentence comes, again, from C.S. Lewis:

There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "Thy will be done." - The Great Divorce

For further study and reflection on the reality of hell, I recommend the following: (and please forgive me for pimping my own works ;)

The Great Divorce, C.S. Lewis
The Problem of Pain, C.S. Lewis
Handbook of Christian Apologetics, Peter Kreeft & Ronald Tacelli
Who's Got God?, by Yours Truly [pages 69-74]

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

ASK: Isn't Christianity A Straitjacket?

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Sun, 16 Oct 2011 21:57:00 +0000

"Freedom is the ability to do what you want and define life on your own terms. Christianity takes both of those away."

This is a very American (and modern) objection to Christianity. After all, the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is in the Declaration of Independence. It's in the very DNA of our country (I'm not going to get off track here and delve into politics and all that, but it's my belief that this phrase is widely misinterpreted today and has become a selfish and superficial attitude rather than the ground-breaking statement of political freedom it was meant to be).

So when a person becomes a Christian, do they have to give up their freedom? Don't you become a slave to one group's view of morality? Do you have to give up your voice and become just another sheep in the crowd?

Many people think becoming a Christian means just that.

I'd like to address this by looking at it in a couple different ways. First, what does the word "freedom" really entail? Is true freedom being free from all constraints and letting me do what I want? I think not. I think that exercising this kind of freedom is an illusion and actually leads to less freedom. For example, you're perfectly free to eat anything and everything you want to without restraint, but acting on this kind of freedom inevitably leads to slavery. Soon you'll weigh 300 pounds, have high cholesterol and diabetes, and very possibly die. This freedom will eventually take everything from you.

The movie Pinocchio has some great wisdom in this regard. On Pleasure Island, kids have complete freedom to do anything they want to do. Eat nothing but candy, play all day and stay up all night. Smoke, drink, and gamble. For awhile, it's heaven on earth but as we all know, it's really a trap. The boys eventually turn into donkeys (or jackasses, wink wink) and are sent off to be slaves, working in the mines or sent off to the circus.

We're all slaves to something. Even the free-est of thinkers give their allegiance to something. The important thing is not to escape being a slave, but choosing what (or who) will be our master.

Being a Christian means giving our allegiance to the God who made us and designed us. This is the only kind of slavery that makes sense, since God knows how we work best. Choosing God as our Master and living the way He says is best actually leads us to more freedom, because we align ourselves with the way the Universe actually works, and the way human relationships were meant to function.

Think of a train. If you dump a train in the middle of a field, it gets stuck and can't move anywhere. But put that same train on the tracks it was designed to run on, and see how far it can go. The train finds its freedom on the tracks, not off of them. Human beings are just like this.

Another way in which people object to Christianity is to say that the Christian community is too constraining. They have certain ideas about morality, and to be a part of the group you must follow them or risk being ostracized. This is true, I won't deny it. But why people think that this only applies to Christianity or other organized religions has always kind of baffled me. The fact is that every community has standards. That's part of what defines any community--a shared set of values. As Keller says in The Reason For God:

Any community that did not hold its members accountable for specific beliefs and practices would have no corporate identity and would not really be a community at all. We cannot consider a group exclusive simply because it has standards for its members. (p. 40)

Perhaps a better yardstick to judge a community by is not how stringent its moral standards are, but the results of living in that community. If a community leads its members to be more loving, more charitable, more neighborly, then I think we can agree it's a positive community. It doesn't really matter how strict its standards are if it leads its people to become better, kinder people. Conversely, a community which leads its members to condemn outsiders and attack those who disagree with them is not a good community to be in. They may have the loosest rules in the world, but if the spirit of it is arrogant and divisive, then that's a negative community and makes the world a little (or a lot) darker.

You can find both types of community in the world today, and you'll find them among all belief systems. Any Christian community that is ungracious and accusatory rightly deserves criticism for their attitude, as does any other community. And we know that this is clearly not the way Jesus intended His followers to live. His community was to be marked by love and compassion. Any Christian community who denies this (and they are out there) is simply wrong. It doesn't take a rocket scientist of degree in Biblical Studies to understand what Jesus means when He says "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (Jn 13:34-35)

True freedom, then, is not the freedom from all rules and standards. True freedom is freedom for. For aligning yourself with the way the Creator designed you. For fulfilling your destiny. For loving others the way God has loved you.

All of us are a slave to something. Our freedom comes in choosing what we will allow to be our master. You must choose: choose whether to be a slave to sin, or to be a slave to the One who takes away all sin.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. (2 Cor 3:17)

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

ASK: How Can You Say There Is Only One Way to God?

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 20:59:00 +0000

My latest blog entry for our church.

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

ASK: Isn't the Bible a Myth?

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 05:32:00 +0000

Hi gang,

I'm writing a series of posts for my church's blog to mirror our pastor's next series on apologetics. Check it out at http://www.journeyoc.com/blog/. I still have more thoughts on Love Wins, so that'll be coming Soon™.

And if you live in the Orange County, CA area, come on down and visit us at Journey Christian Church. We're a place where everybody is welcome, nobody is perfect, and anything can happen!

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

Ah heck, I'm just gonna copy the post over here after the jump =P

As Christians (and especially Protestants) we rely on the Bible as the primary source of our information about God. Indeed, we believe that the Bible is the ONLY fully complete and accurate revelation from God to His people.

It would behoove us then to understand why we believe that, don't you think?

After all, in an age where machines can read your mind and men can travel to the moon, what sane, rational person could possibly believe in a 2000 year old book filled with fairytales? One of the most common objections you'll hear from a skeptic is the 'game of telephone' argument. You know how it goes:

Isn't the Bible really just like the children's game of telephone? One person whispers a message to the person next to them, who then repeats it to then next person, and on and on in a circle. By the time the message gets back to the original person, it's changed so much that it's completely unrecognizable! And the Bible has been copied and copied for thousands of years, and translated into so many different languages, there's just no way that the Bible we have today is the same one that was originally written.

That's actually a completely reasonable assumption to make...as long as you don't know the facts behind how the Bible we have today came to be. In reality, the Bible is the most reliable ancient text in all of history in any culture. No other ancient book even comes close to matching the Bible's reliability. Consider the following: in determining the authenticity of ancient writings, two of the main pieces of evidence that scholars look at are how many copies of that manuscript still exist, and how long these copies were written after the original. For example, here are the numbers for some of the most famous and influential writers of antiquity:

Author, Title	# of Copies	Time Gap
Homer, Iliad	643	400 years
Tacitus, Annals	20	1000 years
Caesar, Gallic Wars	10	1000 years
Herodotus, History	8	1350 years
Plato	7	1300 years

It's important to note that each of these works is regarded as firmly reliable by historians. By contrast, the wealth of manuscript evidence supporting the Bible is almost embarrassing. For the New Testament, we have 24,970 manuscripts available, with the earliest fragments within 50 years of the original writing.

For the Old Testament, there are fewer manuscripts in existence, but this actually serves to increase its reliability in this case. The reason is because each copy of the Old Testament was regarded as absolutely sacred by the Jewish scribes; after all, they believed they were copying the very words of God. If a scribe made one single error while making a copy of the Torah (Old Testament), if they made one letter wrong, they burned the entire copy and started over from the beginning. This was in the days when you had to do it all by hand!

Let's go back to the game of telephone, but add one simple rule to it. Instead of listening to the message once and then passing it on, let's say you can now repeat the message back to the person whispering it to you and ask them if you got it right. And you can do this as often as you want until you get every single word right. Wouldn't you think this would vastly improve the accuracy of the message?

In fact that's exactly what we see with the Bible. Do me a favor and read Isaiah 55 really quick. Does that sound like anybody you know? Yeah, I thought so. In fact, this passage so closely mirrors the life of Jesus in the New Testament that for a very long time, skeptical scholars said that it was obvious the early Christians had rewritten that passage to force it match up with their beliefs. And for a very long time, there wasn't much a Christian scholar could do to directly disprove this claim, because the earliest manuscripts we had of the Old Testament were dated at 900 A.D.

But then a funny thing happened. In 1947, a young shepherd boy threw a rock into a small cave. Instead of banging off the wall, he heard the rock shatter some pottery. Inside these clay jars was an astounding treasure: what we know today as the Dead Sea Scrolls. The scrolls were dated at 125 B.C. In one fell swoop we gained a thousand years of proximity to the original Old Testament, and more importantly, found copies that predated the birth of Jesus.

Upon comparing Isaiah 53 from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the next earliest copy, about a thousand years later, only seventeen letters were different. And not a single one of those differences changed the meaning of the passage. In fact, most of those differences were simply a matter of spelling the same word differently, kind of like 'theater' and 'theatre'.

By the way, does anybody else think it's incredibly awesome at the poetic ways in which God continues to reveal Himself to us? Think about it: a young shepherd boy who's proficient at slinging rocks? Treasures in (literal) jars of clay? Our God is gracious, elegant, and likes to give us a playful, knowing wink every now and then. How could you not love that?

So the next time someone says you can't trust what you read in the Bible, tell 'em about Homer and Caesar, telephones, and shepherd boys throwing rocks.

-Jeremy

REVIEW: Love Wins, pt 2

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 04:56:00 +0000

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

Whatever you’ve heard about Love Wins, whether positive or negative, Rob’s main thesis in the book is simply this: that God’s love is far bigger and more powerful than any human being can conceive of. Infinitely bigger. Eternally more powerful.

I think that’s something we can all get behind. Right?

Rob urges followers of Jesus to practice opening their minds a bit, and to be okay with asking questions. To imagine that perhaps God’s plan for humanity’s ultimate destiny is more complex and bigger than the binary saved-or-condemned-forever belief that is pounded into us. He asks the question, “if God’s love is the most powerful thing in the universe, and He wants all people to be saved and reunited with Him, does He fail in the end? Does God get what God wants or not?”

He doesn’t come out and answer the question directly, but it seems clear his belief is that eventually all people will be won over by the love of God. He posits the notion that perhaps Heaven has an eternal open-door policy and that you will be welcome to enter it if you desire to be a citizen of the kingdom.

Even if you’ve died and “gone to hell”.

To many that idea will sound simply ridiculous, even heretical. Indeed, that is exactly the word that some have used in describing this book. After all, I can hear many of you thinking right now, “But how can we even be discussing this? ‘It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,’ ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved,’ and ‘Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire,’ and many others! Scripture is quite clear on this!”

This is the peril of using solitary verses, without taking the full context of Scripture into account, to base a theology on. Using this same logic it is absolutely equally acceptable to say, “But Scripture is quite clear on this—salvation is through works alone! ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father…for I was hungry and you fed me, thirsty and you gave me something to drink, naked and you clothed me. And depart from me, you who are cursed…I was hungry and you fed me nothing, thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, naked and you did not clothe me,' ‘Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.’ And that “book of life” verse from Revelation? Read just a couple lines before that—apparently you get your name in it by your good deeds: ‘Another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.’”

Hmm, you see the dilemma? Perhaps God’s ways aren’t quite as easily grasped as we tend to think. Perhaps the Bible isn’t a textbook of facts to extract one by one. All I’m asking is that you keep your mind open to how the Lord works. Very likely it’s completely different from anything we can imagine. Rob Bell may be completely wrong on this, and you may be completely right. That’s fine. Just don’t become crusted over with an inflexible view of doctrine that has been debated among Bible-believing, Jesus-following Christians for centuries. Remember the Pharisees, how they were unwilling to change their mind of what God truly was like.

“The wind blows wherever it pleases.” Jn 3:8

That is an image of freshness and ever-changing-ness, not static stagnation and rigidity.

---

Objection: But that’s not fair!

Of course it’s not fair. God has never been fair. The whole Christian faith is built on the premise that God doesn’t treat us how we fairly deserve.

Jesus takes great pains to spell this out for us. He tells the story of a Prodigal Son, but throws in a brother character—the Good Son—who sulks because the Father treats the runaway with just as much love as him. He tells the story of workmen who get paid the same wage regardless of how long they actually worked in the field that day. He promises a dying criminal who only has moments to live that they will see each other in Paradise. And he refers to Jonah, the reluctant prophet, who was actually furious at God for saving the depraved people of Nineveh.

So you’re right. It’s not fair. Nothing about God’s ways are fair. So what if it’s “unfair” that a murderer’s deathbed repentance wins him the same salvation you who’ve followed Him all your life have? If that’s your attitude, then I fear you have missed the entire point of Jesus altogether. Shouldn’t you instead be glad that one more person has chosen the light? Isn’t it good news, glorious news, when one more lost child finds their way home?

---

Objection: What's the point of following Jesus now if you can get into heaven after you die?

As before, I believe this question misses the point entirely. Jesus never was in the business of handing out passes to heaven. Salvation, properly understood, is about this life now and the life to come...which will also be here on Earth. I'm not sure exactly where this idea sprung from, but most people today seem to think that Heaven and Hell are spiritual places that our souls go to and occupy for eternity.

This is not what the Bible teaches.

Heaven will be right here. In this universe. As a physical reality. The Bible speaks of God redeeming this earth, and this cosmos. If our souls are conscious after our death, it is only temporary until He fulfills His plan for history, at which point we will be returned to physical bodies. Fundamentally different than what we can conceive of now, but physical all the same. The body that Jesus had after His resurrection gives us glimpses, hints. After all, he is called the "Second Adam" and the first of the new kind of humanity.

And “salvation” is quite often referred to in the Bible as a process, not a one-time event. Not a black & white, binary either/or system. Consider the 12 disciples. They weren’t “believers” in Jesus until after he rose from the dead, and they spent 3 years living with him! Even Paul himself states cryptically,

“continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Phil 2:12-13).

If there’s one thing I’d want you to retain after reading these posts, it’s this: Remember the Pharisees. As a follower of Jesus, there are only a small handful of things that you must believe at all costs, and as strange as it may seem, a correct belief about every detail of heaven and hell isn’t one of them.

Don’t become so rigid in your thinking, so sure of your knowledge that you close down your mind and stop probing the mystery of God’s love. That’s what the Pharisees did. They weren’t evil people. In fact, they were far more devoted to following God than you or me. But they exchanged the glory of God for their traditions and their doctrines—which they got directly from the Bible. They backed up their false righteousness from Scripture.

Remember the Pharisees.

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

REVIEW: Love Wins

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 06:42:00 +0000

Part One
Part Two
Part Three

I know this review is a bit late to the party, but since this book has attracted so much attention even outside of Christian circles, I thought I'd write my thoughts on it.

I’ll get it out of the way right now instead of beating around the bush and say that I absolutely loved this book. It’s a rare quality when someone can teach about Hell and cause you to love God even more than you already did.

Let me also make two upfront statements regarding this book:

1) I do not 100% fully agree with every single detail that Rob Bell writes in this book.
2) Nowhere in this book does Rob Bell state or imply that ALL people who ever lived will “go to Heaven” and that nobody will “go to Hell”. I fear that anyone who is saying these things in criticism of the book simply has not read it, or has badly, badly misunderstood (perhaps willfully) his entire point.

I don’t say those things out of a need to “defend” or “justify” the fact that I loved this book. I say them because I’m afraid that a lot of people—Christians—immediately shut their ears and stop listening to what you have to say when you say you like Rob Bell, and I really want you to give him a fair shake. Don’t you hate it when someone hears that you are a Christian and immediately makes all kinds of assumptions about you? That sword cuts both ways.

You don’t have to agree with Rob Bell. You are totally free to think he is 100% wrong. Just don’t condemn him as a heretic for discussing the issue. Remember the Pharisees!
One of the things I love most about the book is that he has taken concepts that I have struggled to explain to others many times, and sheds light on them in such a simple way. Reading this book was one of those rare times when I kept saying to myself “This is exactly what I’ve believed and apprehended all along, yet I could never quite find the right words.” C.S. Lewis is one of the only other writers who has ever done that for me—take immensely complex subjects and transform them into ideas so easily understood that you marvel at how you never thought of that before.

Not that Bell provides tidy, bow-tied answers to the questions of Heaven and Hell, and “the fate of every person who ever lived.” In fact, in many ways he raises even more questions. More on that later.

The sad fact is that a staggering number of people who follow Jesus and claim to love the Bible have their theology all messed up when it comes to the afterlife. I really don’t have an idea where it all comes from, but for some reason most everyone’s idea is that Heaven and Hell are spiritual places that our souls go to after death and and that this is how you will spend all eternity.

Did you know that’s not what the Bible teaches?

What we think of as “Heaven” today is only a temporary place, and there is even some biblical evidence that everyone including Jesus-followers will not even be conscious as a spirit until Jesus comes back. I don’t know if that’s true, but there are verses to support that idea.

Let me be clear on what I do know. You are not going to spend all of eternity as a soul with no body.

The Bible is crystal-clear on this fact. The redeemed universe is going to be a PHYSICAL universe. Just like the one we now live in, but more. Better. The way it was intended to be. This isn’t even a “hidden teaching” of the Bible. It’s plain as day. Do you really think God made this universe—which he called good— just to vaporize it once it’s used up?

Where is there any place anywhere in the Bible in which God operates like that?

No, God has never been a God who gives up on what He created just because it becomes used and abused. Including you.

Ever since the very beginning, God has taken dirty rags and made them white as snow. He has taken leaky pens and written majestic poetry. He has taken broken instruments and played glorious music.

God is the master weaver, able to take the black threads of life’s tapestry and weave them into a beautiful, redeemed whole. He takes lives of destruction and turns them into vessels of love.

Our God is not a “throwaway” God.

{Part Two is found here}

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

Ground Control To Major Tom

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 06:28:00 +0000

I’ve been meaning to check in for awhile now just to give an update on the blog. Right now I’m working on a review of Rob Bell’s new book Love Wins. It’s almost finished, but a very exciting work project came up and has been causing me to burn the midnight oil so I haven’t been able to put the finishing touches on it.

I’m hoping to have a new post up within the next week or so. Check back then for my thoughts on the book that’s got so many Christians talking!

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

Resurrection Post-Script

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Sun, 22 May 2011 19:00:00 +0000

Just a few thoughts I wanted to tack on to the end of my Easter series, Resurrection is Go!

What's Your Faith In?
You’ve all heard Jesus’ saying about having the faith of a mustard seed:

I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20

What does that actually mean, and what does it have to do with the Resurrection?

Faith, you see, depends not on how much of it you can muster up. As Eugene Peterson says, “You don't need more faith. There is no 'more' or 'less' in faith.”

Faith is not a matter of degree or quantity; it is a question of object.

It doesn’t matter how much faith you have in something if it’s not real or not capable of saving you. As my good friend and spiritual mentor Tim Timmons says, you can have all the faith on earth that a quarter-inch of ice will support your weight should you decide to go ice-skating on a frozen pond in Ohio. But your amount of faith means absolutely nothing, because the simple fact is that a quarter-inch of ice is not enough to hold you up. If you decide to act on that faith, you’re going to get very wet, maybe even very dead!

On the other hand, you can have only the smallest, tiniest, barest smidgen of faith that four feet of ice will hold you up on the same lake. You may skate out into the middle in fear and trembling, sure that at any second you will crash through to the water below and freeze to death. And yet you will be safe. Your faith has been well-placed in a trustworthy object—no matter how little of it you have.

This is what Jesus means. You may have faith only as small as a mustard seed, a seed so tiny that it is almost invisible to the naked eye. Yet if you place that faith in Jesus, anything will be possible, for the object of your faith is Something and Someone real. Someone powerful. Someone who created the universe and has the power to save you.

So Sit Down Already!
There’s another aspect to faith, however, that can keep you from experiencing its power, even if you have placed it in the right object.

Imagine a chair. It’s a good chair, you think to yourself. Sturdy. Well-constructed. Whoever made this chair knew what they were doing. Yes sir, it could definitely hold your weight.

“So sit down then,” someone says.

“Ahhh no thanks, that’s okay,” you reply, “I know it can hold me up, but I’m cool just standing here and admiring it. I’ll eat dinner standing up, thank you.”

How foolish is that? Faith is the same way. You may possess the faith, and your faith may be in something solid, but if you don’t lean on it, then you’ll never experience the benefits of it! And you’ll be left standing at the dinner table while everyone else sits and enjoys their meal.

So sit down!

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not it's falsity.

On The Death Of An Evil Man

noreply@blogger.com (Skeptical Believer) — Tue, 03 May 2011 08:22:00 +0000

So Osama bin Laden has finally met the end promised to him almost 10 years ago, and it looks like he ran out of time to become an Apostle bin Laden.

As followers of Jesus, how should we view this momentous event? I think there are a few ways.

First, as an American, I am exultant and jubilant. An evil man who perpetrated the gruesome murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children, inspired many others to do the same, and indirectly caused the death and maiming of many American servicemen and women, has met his maker and paid the earthly price for his actions. It is a completely unexpected and stunning victory for our country. The fact that the mission went off flawlessly, with no innocent Pakistanis being hurt, and no American soldiers being killed, just makes it that much sweeter. The good guys won one. As a matter of state, the killing of Osama bin Laden was justified, appropriate, and necessary.

And on a visceral level, I am extremely gratified that the last thing this scumbag saw on earth was not the comforting faces of family and followers gathered around his deathbed, but the face of a brave American soldier, pointing an assault rifle at his face.

It's a great day to be an American. For the first time in quite a long time.

But how should we look at such an event from the point of view of a follower of Jesus? Should it be any different? Here is my humble opinion:

First, the God of the Universe is on the side of the innocent and the downtrodden. A man reaps what he sows, and those who live by the sword shall die by the sword. Jesus said it would be better "to be thrown into the sea with a large stone around your neck than to cause one of these little ones to sin." (Lk 17:2) That phrase "little ones" does not only refer to children, but also to those of weak or stumbling faith. This man certainly preyed on people like that, didn't he? And fittingly, almost prophetically even, his body was in fact dumped into the sea with heavy weights tied around it. Seriously people, you can't make this stuff up!

The very real forces of evil were dealt a blow today, and I don't believe there is anything sinful in the act of killing bin Laden. I also don't think it is wrong to feel good about his death as the just deserts of an evil life. As long as those sentiments aren't born of revenge or "blood honor" I think they're perfectly fine.

On a deeper level, though, I think we must also grieve at the loss of yet another of God's beloved children meeting their demise while embracing hatred, poison, and terror. Whatever happens on "the other side," Osama bin Laden willfully and repeatedly chose a path of evil, of inhumanity, and of anti-God while here on earth. He had an entire lifetime full of opportunities to turn around, to humble himself, and to learn mercy and grace. His was a life lived in vain and utterly wasted, and that is an eternal tragedy.

Think about this: our Lord loved (loves) Osama bin Laden exactly as much as he loves you. He made Osama bin Laden, planned his exact DNA sequence and lovingly knit him together in his mother's womb. God gave him all kinds of wonderful gifts--wealth and privilege, good looks, and a forcefully magnetic charisma. He could have done so much good with his life. God does not delight in Osama's death:

As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die? Eze 33:11

God is not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9) and embrace eternal life--the life that is truly life, full of grace and hope and peace. Osama bin Laden totally rejected that view and instead threw his lot in with the father of lies.

So in our joy and happiness, let us at least keep a small corner in the back of our thoughts that weeps for the man who could have been. But wasn't.

I personally believe that each one of these emotions I am feeling--the joy, the triumph, the satisfaction of justice delivered, and the grave awareness of the awful spiritual tragedy--each one of them is right, appropriate, and good.

But you know what really excited me about witnessing this event? It has very little to do with bin Laden himself.

Just take a look at all the people singing, dancing, and celebrating in the streets at Ground Zero and the White House last night upon hearing the news. All that joy being expressed, all those chants and spontaneous outbreaks of patriotic and victorious singing? All that unity and shared sense of right being done?

All that was being expressed over just one evil, directed mainly against one nation, being erased from the earth.

My friend, can you imagine what that day will be like when God finally stretches out His mighty hand across time and space and once and for all says "NO MORE!" to every wrong, every heartache, every cruelty, every exploitation, every humiliation, every injustice, every rape, every murder?

Can you just picture every tribe, every tongue, every nation, in every corner in all the universe, joining together, throwing inhibition to the wind in glorious victory, singing with one voice the praises of Good finally and for all time triumphing over evil?

I think I finally begin to dimly understand what the coming Day of the Lord will be like.

It's going to be rapturous.

--Jeremy
Truth poorly defended loses not its truthfulness;
likewise Falsehood aptly defended loses not its falsity.

Did you feel the mountains tremble?
Did you hear the oceans roar?
When the people rose to sing of
Jesus Christ the risen one?

Did you feel the darkness tremble?
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokeness?

And here we see that God You're moving.
A time of Jubilee is coming,
When young and old return to Jesus.
Fling wide your heavenly gates,
Prepare the way of the risen Lord...

Open up the doors and let the music play!
Let the streets resound with singing!
Songs that bring your hope,

Songs that bring your joy,

Dancers who dance upon injustice!

-- Delirious?

Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?