Watkinsville First Baptist Church is doing this thing on campus at UGA called the 21-Day Challenge starting today. (The 21 days actually don't start until October 1st, but they started preparing for the challenge today.) For the next three days (including today) people from the WFBC college ministry are going to be handing out 500 copies of the New Testament to young men here at the #1 party school in America. With the New Testament comes a challenge: to read through book of John, one chapter a day for 21 days, and to pray each day before reading, asking God, if He's real, to reveal Himself to the reader.
So Watkinsville has a challenge for the rest of the world, a way for everyone to get involved in the 21-Day Challenge, even if you don't receive a New Testament from one of the members of WFBC: pray for those who do receive a copy of the New Testament. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Pray that the Word would move in these young men and convict them to accept the forgiveness of the God who loves us, offered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
And just because you're already a Christian doesn't mean you're too good to take on the challenge yourself. Pick up your Bible every day from October 1st through the 21st and read a chapter a day from the gospel of John. (That doesn't mean that you should stop there. Keep reading even after the 21 days!) And don't forget to pray.
Thanks, and God bless!
Michael
—————————————————
"Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart." ~ 2 Timothy 2:22
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Thoughts from Watkinsville First Baptist 9/19/10
Since my first week here at UGA, I've been going to Watkinsville First Baptist Church each Sunday, attending the college Bible study and the regular service. The usual trend is that the Bible study will be an incredible discussion of the gospel and life applications of the day's passage; and the service will be a sermon on living out our faith. The last couple weeks, I was a little disappointed with the main service (for reasons left unsaid, considering today's message on language and avoiding gossip), but today was a little different. Although the main service was still not quite top-notch, I felt like I got more from it than I did last week, even if all I got from it was directly from God rather than through the actual message. Today's message provided the Scripture, and God provided the interpretation.
I just want to share some of my notes from today, both from the college Bible study and from the main service.
In the college service, we studied Mark 2:1-12, the story of the four friends who lowered their paralytic friend through the roof of a house where Jesus was preaching. (I just realized that my notes on my iPod didn't save for some reason, so this is all from memory. And this blog post is as much for myself as it is for anyone else because I want to remember all of this as clearly as possible, which will probably be easier if I write everything out rather than rewriting my disjointed notes.) Verse 1 says that Jesus came "home" to Capernaum. Jesus was not from Capernaum, but Peter was, which is evidence that the gospel of Mark was dictated by Peter. (There are other reasons biblical scholars believe this, but this is just another additional reason to add to the list.) Verse 3 says, "Some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them." The way this is written, it sounds like the four men cared for the paralytic and believed that Jesus could make him well. This is made even more apparent in verse 4 when the four friends climb up on the roof and dig a hole through it to lower the paralytic down to Jesus inside the house. They must have had a lot of faith that Jesus could heal the paralytic.
Then we come to verse 5: "When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'" There are two interesting points in this verse, and I'm going to start with the second half of the verse because that's how we did it at church today. Jesus said that the paralytic's sins were forgiven. This completely changes Jesus' ministry for the rest of His life. Up until this point, many people considered Jesus to be a prophet. After all, Elijah raised a kid from the dead, Moses turned water to blood, and lepers were healed before Jesus' time. He didn't have to be the Son of God to perform miracles. But He did have to be God to forgive sins. So when the teachers of the law were asking among themselves what authority Jesus had to forgive sins, they were asking a legitimate question. No one but God Himself can forgive sins. So Jesus asked the crowd, "Which is easier to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?" Obviously, it's harder to tell a paralytic to start walking because the effect of the command can be proven: if the paralytic starts walking, then the miracle worked. But only God can forgive sins, and it can't be proven physically that one's sins are forgiven. So Jesus uses the miracle of healing the paralytic to prove that He has God's authority to forgive sins. If Jesus wasn't the Son of God, He would have been a liar, and God wouldn't have given Him the ability to heal the paralytic if He were lying about His identity as Christ.
Now, going back to verse 5 again, Mark says, "When Jesus saw their faith." Why does it say "their faith" instead of "his [the paralytic's] faith"? Well, the five men (the paralytic and the four carriers) must have been friends because the four men had to carry the paralytic around everywhere. One of the four men must have suggested that they go see Jesus, thinking that He could heal the paralytic. The paralytic had to have agreed to go because the four men wouldn't have taken him somewhere he didn't want to go. So their faith was also his own faith. Plus, if the paralytic believed that Jesus could heal him, the fact that the four men agreed to carry him to the house, climb up onto the roof, and lower him down to Jesus shows that they had a tremendous amount of faith that the Man preaching in the building had the ability to make their friend well. "Their faith" is their collective faith: If they didn't all believe that Jesus could heal the paralytic, they wouldn't have gone to Him.
The picture of the five men can also be a picture of witnessing and one of accountability. In the case of witnessing, the four men represent the witnesses and the paralytic is an unsaved person. The four friends had the mindset of "If we can just get our friend to Jesus, he can be healed." We need to have the same mindset about our own friends, thinking that, if we can introduce them to Jesus, He might touch their lives and save them. And in the case of accountability, we need to carry each others' burdens and pull people along in tough times, helping each other to grow in Christ, even when it seems inconvenient. I've always understood the miraculous nature of this story, but I never saw the modern application of it until today. So that was awesome.
We also looked briefly at Revelation 21:3-7. What stuck out to me in this passage was verse 5, where it says, "'I am making everything new!'" Although Revelation is primarily about the end times, this statement sounds like it is talking about the present. It sounds like it is an image of sanctification, the process of becoming like Christ. Sanctification is not an event, and it appears in the wording of this verse that renewal is not either. We are continually being renewed in Christ until He returns, when we will finally be completely new. Until then, we are constantly being changed into the image of Christ. I just thought that was a cool perspective of that verse. (We didn't actually talk about the verse that much. This was just one of the notes I made on my own because I felt like God was trying to teach me something.)
Then, after the college service, I went to the main service. For the last couple weeks, we have been going through a series on Proverbs. Today's sermon was on speech and language. Honestly, I remember very little from the sermon except that the main message was that we should watch our language in order to show that we are devoted Christians. What I really focused on was what God revealed to me in Proverbs 18:13, 21; and 10:21. Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." At first glance, this verse sounds like it's saying that, if we don't control our language, we will die and possibly lose our salvation. But I don't think that's what this proverb means. "The tongue has the power of life and death" — I believe God gave me a spiritual magnifying glass today so that I could see the fine print in this verse: We, as Christians, hold the key to life for non-Christians, the spiritually dead. We know the way to life—Jesus—and by sharing the gospel with others, we give them the key to life. But when we fail to share the good news with others, we abuse our power and condemn others to eternal spiritual death. Proverbs 10:21 also says something similar: "The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment." The words of the righteous—in other words, the gospel—save people and help them grow in Christ, but fools—the unsaved—die because of our lack of judgment—our failure to realize our dire need of Christ in our lives in order to live and our failure to share the gospel with others.
And on an unrelated note, Proverbs 18:13 refers back to verse 12 of the same chapter by saying that our pride ruins us because we judge others without knowing their circumstances.
So... Those are my notes from today. I really enjoyed writing all of this down, and I hope it helped someone in some way.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
I just want to share some of my notes from today, both from the college Bible study and from the main service.
In the college service, we studied Mark 2:1-12, the story of the four friends who lowered their paralytic friend through the roof of a house where Jesus was preaching. (I just realized that my notes on my iPod didn't save for some reason, so this is all from memory. And this blog post is as much for myself as it is for anyone else because I want to remember all of this as clearly as possible, which will probably be easier if I write everything out rather than rewriting my disjointed notes.) Verse 1 says that Jesus came "home" to Capernaum. Jesus was not from Capernaum, but Peter was, which is evidence that the gospel of Mark was dictated by Peter. (There are other reasons biblical scholars believe this, but this is just another additional reason to add to the list.) Verse 3 says, "Some men came, bringing to Him a paralytic, carried by four of them." The way this is written, it sounds like the four men cared for the paralytic and believed that Jesus could make him well. This is made even more apparent in verse 4 when the four friends climb up on the roof and dig a hole through it to lower the paralytic down to Jesus inside the house. They must have had a lot of faith that Jesus could heal the paralytic.
Then we come to verse 5: "When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, 'Son, your sins are forgiven.'" There are two interesting points in this verse, and I'm going to start with the second half of the verse because that's how we did it at church today. Jesus said that the paralytic's sins were forgiven. This completely changes Jesus' ministry for the rest of His life. Up until this point, many people considered Jesus to be a prophet. After all, Elijah raised a kid from the dead, Moses turned water to blood, and lepers were healed before Jesus' time. He didn't have to be the Son of God to perform miracles. But He did have to be God to forgive sins. So when the teachers of the law were asking among themselves what authority Jesus had to forgive sins, they were asking a legitimate question. No one but God Himself can forgive sins. So Jesus asked the crowd, "Which is easier to say to the paralytic, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up, take your mat and walk'?" Obviously, it's harder to tell a paralytic to start walking because the effect of the command can be proven: if the paralytic starts walking, then the miracle worked. But only God can forgive sins, and it can't be proven physically that one's sins are forgiven. So Jesus uses the miracle of healing the paralytic to prove that He has God's authority to forgive sins. If Jesus wasn't the Son of God, He would have been a liar, and God wouldn't have given Him the ability to heal the paralytic if He were lying about His identity as Christ.
Now, going back to verse 5 again, Mark says, "When Jesus saw their faith." Why does it say "their faith" instead of "his [the paralytic's] faith"? Well, the five men (the paralytic and the four carriers) must have been friends because the four men had to carry the paralytic around everywhere. One of the four men must have suggested that they go see Jesus, thinking that He could heal the paralytic. The paralytic had to have agreed to go because the four men wouldn't have taken him somewhere he didn't want to go. So their faith was also his own faith. Plus, if the paralytic believed that Jesus could heal him, the fact that the four men agreed to carry him to the house, climb up onto the roof, and lower him down to Jesus shows that they had a tremendous amount of faith that the Man preaching in the building had the ability to make their friend well. "Their faith" is their collective faith: If they didn't all believe that Jesus could heal the paralytic, they wouldn't have gone to Him.
The picture of the five men can also be a picture of witnessing and one of accountability. In the case of witnessing, the four men represent the witnesses and the paralytic is an unsaved person. The four friends had the mindset of "If we can just get our friend to Jesus, he can be healed." We need to have the same mindset about our own friends, thinking that, if we can introduce them to Jesus, He might touch their lives and save them. And in the case of accountability, we need to carry each others' burdens and pull people along in tough times, helping each other to grow in Christ, even when it seems inconvenient. I've always understood the miraculous nature of this story, but I never saw the modern application of it until today. So that was awesome.
We also looked briefly at Revelation 21:3-7. What stuck out to me in this passage was verse 5, where it says, "'I am making everything new!'" Although Revelation is primarily about the end times, this statement sounds like it is talking about the present. It sounds like it is an image of sanctification, the process of becoming like Christ. Sanctification is not an event, and it appears in the wording of this verse that renewal is not either. We are continually being renewed in Christ until He returns, when we will finally be completely new. Until then, we are constantly being changed into the image of Christ. I just thought that was a cool perspective of that verse. (We didn't actually talk about the verse that much. This was just one of the notes I made on my own because I felt like God was trying to teach me something.)
Then, after the college service, I went to the main service. For the last couple weeks, we have been going through a series on Proverbs. Today's sermon was on speech and language. Honestly, I remember very little from the sermon except that the main message was that we should watch our language in order to show that we are devoted Christians. What I really focused on was what God revealed to me in Proverbs 18:13, 21; and 10:21. Proverbs 18:21 says, "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit." At first glance, this verse sounds like it's saying that, if we don't control our language, we will die and possibly lose our salvation. But I don't think that's what this proverb means. "The tongue has the power of life and death" — I believe God gave me a spiritual magnifying glass today so that I could see the fine print in this verse: We, as Christians, hold the key to life for non-Christians, the spiritually dead. We know the way to life—Jesus—and by sharing the gospel with others, we give them the key to life. But when we fail to share the good news with others, we abuse our power and condemn others to eternal spiritual death. Proverbs 10:21 also says something similar: "The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment." The words of the righteous—in other words, the gospel—save people and help them grow in Christ, but fools—the unsaved—die because of our lack of judgment—our failure to realize our dire need of Christ in our lives in order to live and our failure to share the gospel with others.
And on an unrelated note, Proverbs 18:13 refers back to verse 12 of the same chapter by saying that our pride ruins us because we judge others without knowing their circumstances.
So... Those are my notes from today. I really enjoyed writing all of this down, and I hope it helped someone in some way.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Christianity vs. Atheism: Questions and Answers
I've been compiling a mental list of all the questions I've been asked about Christianity by some of my Atheist friends, so I decided I'd write them all down/type them all out. So this post is going to be different from my others because I will be doing this in Q&A format. I hope this clears up some of the questions anyone might have. And if you would like to add anything, please feel free to comment. I want this to be as complete as possible.
A = Atheist
C = Christian
C: Do you believe in sin?
A: I believe in crimes.
C: But not sin?
A: No.
C: Then you believe all people are perfect?
A: Of course not!
C: Then you believe sin exists.
A: I just said I don't believe in sin.
C: You can't have perfect sinful people.
A: Okay, fine. So let's say sin does exist. I still don't believe in an original sin.
C: Then where did sin come from?
A: It just always existed.
C: Then that would make sin perfect because God said everything was good when He made it, which means that, again, you're saying everyone is perfect.
A: Well, Adam and Eve definitely didn't commit the first sin because a snake told them to eat a piece of fruit.
C: Then who did commit the first sin?
A: Nobody. I already told you, sin has always existed.
C: So sin is perfect? It would be okay for me knock you out and steal your wallet?
A: No way!
C: Then there must have been an original sin. In order for the whole human race to be affected by sin, one person had to have committed the first sin to pass it down through the generations. And that person, or those two people, had to be the only people in existence at that time. Otherwise, there would be a group of people who weren't affected by sin. So if it wasn't Adam and Eve, who was it?
A: ...
A: The Bible says the earth is approximately 6000 years old. This has been proven wrong.
C: How?
A: Through science.
C: Okay...?
A: Human fossils have been discovered that date back millions of years.
C: Prove it.
A: Prove what?
C: That the fossils really are millions of years old.
A: Scientists already have. They used radiocarbon dating to estimate the half-life to show. (I really don't know the rest of what they did but) the point is, it's been proven.
C: How do you know radiocarbon dating isn't fallible? Key word: estimate. Has anyone ever lived a million years? I'm sure they would be able to say whether or not radio carbon dating is accurate. Unfortunately, no one has ever lived that long, not even Methuselah in the Bible, who lived 969 years. Who says the half-life of elements can't change over long periods of time? Besides, if the earth is billions of years old, like scientists say, how is it that our solar system has survived relatively unchanged for that long? If you look at the life of stars, our sun could not have survived for as long as you and your "proof" claim.
A: ...
A: The events in the story of Noah's ark are impossible.
C: What makes you say that?
A: The ark couldn't have fit two of every animal in the world and still been able to float.
C: Who says every animal in the world was on the ark? The Bible says there were two of all the creatures of the earth and birds of the air "according to their kind." That could easily mean that Noah had two owls, two dogs, two bears, two snakes, two elephants. It doesn't have to mean that he had two horned owls, two snowy owls, two German shepherds, two black labs, two golden retrievers, two anacondas, two boa constrictors, and two fully grown African elephants. It's more likely that Noah took two of every animal according to its kind, meaning that, if he had a choice between a beagle and a wolf, it didn't matter which one he took. And for the larger animals like elephants and giraffes, he probably took younger, smaller animals. After all, Noah and his family could raise a young elephant, but what good would an old elephant do them if it died while they were still on the ark?
A: ...
A: Why do you waste your time preaching to people? It's not like being Christian is going to make your life any better.
C: I don't think it's a waste of time. I'm spreading the good news of hope, the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, who was fully Man and fully God, who came down to earth to die (and be resurrected) for our sins so that we could have eternal life. Without Jesus, we are all separated from God. But through faith in Christ, we can be reunited with Him forever. I think that's definitely worth sharing. And you're right: being a Christian doesn't make life any easier. In fact, it gets harder because you begin to see the sin in your life, and you know you should turn away from sin. Battling temptation is a struggle. But it's the most worthwhile struggle anyone could ever go through.
A: Why would you want to make your life harder? Are you some kind of masochist?
C: James, the brother of Jesus, wrote in the Bible that we should rejoice in our sufferings (James 1:2-4). And even Paul, former Pharisee and persecutor of Christians, was glad when he was put in jail for the sake of the gospel. When we maintain our positive outlook on life despite our trials, it makes people wonder what we have that makes us so ridiculously joyful all the time. God loves everyone, and He wants everyone to be free of sin so that we can all live with Him in heaven. Obviously, that won't be the case for everyone. But we evangelize so that as many as possible can reach the goal of heaven.
A: Can't you just get to heaven by being a good person?
C: The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Sin separates us from God, and we have all sinned. Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). We cannot be with God except through Jesus Himself. Not even being a good person can earn you a place in heaven. John 15:4 and Romans 7:18 say that nothing good can come from us apart from Christ. And Isaiah 64:6 says that even "our righteous acts are like filthy rags." So no, you can't get to heaven by being a good person because no person is good without Christ. Jesus is the only Way.
A: Prove God exists.
C: Prove He doesn't.
A: ...
A: How do you know God exists?
C: The Bible says so. And there's a kind of hole inside me that needs to be filled. It's inside all of us. Nature itself is too amazing to not have been made by an all-powerful Creator. When you look at the biology and chemistry and physics of things, the way everything works out is too perfect for it to have happened just by chance. It had to be organized by Someone. For example, look at laminin, the protein that holds cells together. It can't be coincidence that it's shaped like a cross, the tool that killed our Savior, whose sacrifice holds all things together (Colossians 1:17).
———————————————————————————
Well, that's all I have for now. So until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
A = Atheist
C = Christian
C: Do you believe in sin?
A: I believe in crimes.
C: But not sin?
A: No.
C: Then you believe all people are perfect?
A: Of course not!
C: Then you believe sin exists.
A: I just said I don't believe in sin.
C: You can't have perfect sinful people.
A: Okay, fine. So let's say sin does exist. I still don't believe in an original sin.
C: Then where did sin come from?
A: It just always existed.
C: Then that would make sin perfect because God said everything was good when He made it, which means that, again, you're saying everyone is perfect.
A: Well, Adam and Eve definitely didn't commit the first sin because a snake told them to eat a piece of fruit.
C: Then who did commit the first sin?
A: Nobody. I already told you, sin has always existed.
C: So sin is perfect? It would be okay for me knock you out and steal your wallet?
A: No way!
C: Then there must have been an original sin. In order for the whole human race to be affected by sin, one person had to have committed the first sin to pass it down through the generations. And that person, or those two people, had to be the only people in existence at that time. Otherwise, there would be a group of people who weren't affected by sin. So if it wasn't Adam and Eve, who was it?
A: ...
A: The Bible says the earth is approximately 6000 years old. This has been proven wrong.
C: How?
A: Through science.
C: Okay...?
A: Human fossils have been discovered that date back millions of years.
C: Prove it.
A: Prove what?
C: That the fossils really are millions of years old.
A: Scientists already have. They used radiocarbon dating to estimate the half-life to show. (I really don't know the rest of what they did but) the point is, it's been proven.
C: How do you know radiocarbon dating isn't fallible? Key word: estimate. Has anyone ever lived a million years? I'm sure they would be able to say whether or not radio carbon dating is accurate. Unfortunately, no one has ever lived that long, not even Methuselah in the Bible, who lived 969 years. Who says the half-life of elements can't change over long periods of time? Besides, if the earth is billions of years old, like scientists say, how is it that our solar system has survived relatively unchanged for that long? If you look at the life of stars, our sun could not have survived for as long as you and your "proof" claim.
A: ...
A: The events in the story of Noah's ark are impossible.
C: What makes you say that?
A: The ark couldn't have fit two of every animal in the world and still been able to float.
C: Who says every animal in the world was on the ark? The Bible says there were two of all the creatures of the earth and birds of the air "according to their kind." That could easily mean that Noah had two owls, two dogs, two bears, two snakes, two elephants. It doesn't have to mean that he had two horned owls, two snowy owls, two German shepherds, two black labs, two golden retrievers, two anacondas, two boa constrictors, and two fully grown African elephants. It's more likely that Noah took two of every animal according to its kind, meaning that, if he had a choice between a beagle and a wolf, it didn't matter which one he took. And for the larger animals like elephants and giraffes, he probably took younger, smaller animals. After all, Noah and his family could raise a young elephant, but what good would an old elephant do them if it died while they were still on the ark?
A: ...
A: Why do you waste your time preaching to people? It's not like being Christian is going to make your life any better.
C: I don't think it's a waste of time. I'm spreading the good news of hope, the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ, who was fully Man and fully God, who came down to earth to die (and be resurrected) for our sins so that we could have eternal life. Without Jesus, we are all separated from God. But through faith in Christ, we can be reunited with Him forever. I think that's definitely worth sharing. And you're right: being a Christian doesn't make life any easier. In fact, it gets harder because you begin to see the sin in your life, and you know you should turn away from sin. Battling temptation is a struggle. But it's the most worthwhile struggle anyone could ever go through.
A: Why would you want to make your life harder? Are you some kind of masochist?
C: James, the brother of Jesus, wrote in the Bible that we should rejoice in our sufferings (James 1:2-4). And even Paul, former Pharisee and persecutor of Christians, was glad when he was put in jail for the sake of the gospel. When we maintain our positive outlook on life despite our trials, it makes people wonder what we have that makes us so ridiculously joyful all the time. God loves everyone, and He wants everyone to be free of sin so that we can all live with Him in heaven. Obviously, that won't be the case for everyone. But we evangelize so that as many as possible can reach the goal of heaven.
A: Can't you just get to heaven by being a good person?
C: The Bible says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Sin separates us from God, and we have all sinned. Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). We cannot be with God except through Jesus Himself. Not even being a good person can earn you a place in heaven. John 15:4 and Romans 7:18 say that nothing good can come from us apart from Christ. And Isaiah 64:6 says that even "our righteous acts are like filthy rags." So no, you can't get to heaven by being a good person because no person is good without Christ. Jesus is the only Way.
A: Prove God exists.
C: Prove He doesn't.
A: ...
A: How do you know God exists?
C: The Bible says so. And there's a kind of hole inside me that needs to be filled. It's inside all of us. Nature itself is too amazing to not have been made by an all-powerful Creator. When you look at the biology and chemistry and physics of things, the way everything works out is too perfect for it to have happened just by chance. It had to be organized by Someone. For example, look at laminin, the protein that holds cells together. It can't be coincidence that it's shaped like a cross, the tool that killed our Savior, whose sacrifice holds all things together (Colossians 1:17).
———————————————————————————
Well, that's all I have for now. So until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Christianity vs. Atheism: Some Thoughts
I was walking back to my dorm from class just a few minutes ago, and I saw a group of people holding signs that said, "UGAtheists." I've had this thought before, but the signs refreshed my memory: What good can come from atheistic evangelism?
I don't mean that in an offensive way. It's a serious question because I really don't understand what good it would do anyone to preach that God doesn't exist. Okay, so there's the argument that Christians pray too much and never get around to doing anything, and atheists are better off because they supposedly control their own lives. But that's not true at all. Yeah, Christians pray, but that doesn't mean we sit around waiting for God to do something. We believe that we can't do anything without God. So we pray and ask God to help us, and then we do whatever it is we need to get done with His help. Part of being a Christian is going out and doing something in order to benefit the kingdom of God. We take control of our own lives too, but we believe that "our" lives really belong to God, and God alone. We believe that God can do anything without our help, but we also believe that that wouldn't serve His purpose in most cases. More often than not, God wants us to step out and get to work so that He can work through us, not just for us.
Think about this: Christians believe that God exists, that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins (and rise from the grave) so that we could live with Him in heaven for eternity. Atheists believe there is no God, and that heaven doesn't exist; there is no life after life here on earth. (At least, as far as I know, that's what they believe.) Christians have hope for a future. In fact, most other religions do too. Atheists, on the other hand, are content to live for 70 or so years and then stop existing altogether. And it seems to me that that should be a scary thought for evolutionary atheists (or anyone who believes that the earth is actually billions of years old). If you look at a timeline of the history of the universe, each of our individual lives would be just a speck compared to the rest of eternity. What's the point in appearing randomly on a planet in the middle of nowhere, only to live for a moment and then disappear forever?
And why would you want to spread that kind of information? Christian evangelism makes sense to me because we are trying to spread the gospel, the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. Atheists are spreading the news that there is no hope for the human race. People will just keep coming into existence and then disappearing. Millions of years from now, Albert Einstein will be nothing more than a legend. Harriett Tubman will be long forgotten. And chances are, only the major historians will know the name George Washington. If these famous men and women will barely be remembered, what hope do I have of being remembered even a thousand years from now?
And why do we remember these names anyway? If they have disappeared from existence, why do we keep track of their marks on history? It's not like they can appreciate the fact that we remember them. It's not like they can be proud of their accomplishments. If there is no hope for a future after life on this earth, everything is meaningless. The world might as well come to an end now.
Christians believe that we can gain eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Even if it turns out that Christians are wrong, at least we can still go through life with a hope for a future. If we live as if there is life after death on earth, there are two possibilities: 1) we are proven right, and we get to spend eternity in heaven, or 2) we are proven wrong and we stop existing, so we're not around to care anymore. But if we live as if there is no life after death, then we also have two possibilities: 1) we are proven right and we stop existing, so we're not around to care anymore, or 2) we are proven wrong, and we spend eternity in... well, you know. So either way, following Christ has more benefits than giving Him the cold shoulder.
College is a time and place for decisions. I've made mine. It's time to make yours. And I pray that you would consider the options wisely.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
I don't mean that in an offensive way. It's a serious question because I really don't understand what good it would do anyone to preach that God doesn't exist. Okay, so there's the argument that Christians pray too much and never get around to doing anything, and atheists are better off because they supposedly control their own lives. But that's not true at all. Yeah, Christians pray, but that doesn't mean we sit around waiting for God to do something. We believe that we can't do anything without God. So we pray and ask God to help us, and then we do whatever it is we need to get done with His help. Part of being a Christian is going out and doing something in order to benefit the kingdom of God. We take control of our own lives too, but we believe that "our" lives really belong to God, and God alone. We believe that God can do anything without our help, but we also believe that that wouldn't serve His purpose in most cases. More often than not, God wants us to step out and get to work so that He can work through us, not just for us.
Think about this: Christians believe that God exists, that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), and that He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins (and rise from the grave) so that we could live with Him in heaven for eternity. Atheists believe there is no God, and that heaven doesn't exist; there is no life after life here on earth. (At least, as far as I know, that's what they believe.) Christians have hope for a future. In fact, most other religions do too. Atheists, on the other hand, are content to live for 70 or so years and then stop existing altogether. And it seems to me that that should be a scary thought for evolutionary atheists (or anyone who believes that the earth is actually billions of years old). If you look at a timeline of the history of the universe, each of our individual lives would be just a speck compared to the rest of eternity. What's the point in appearing randomly on a planet in the middle of nowhere, only to live for a moment and then disappear forever?
And why would you want to spread that kind of information? Christian evangelism makes sense to me because we are trying to spread the gospel, the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. Atheists are spreading the news that there is no hope for the human race. People will just keep coming into existence and then disappearing. Millions of years from now, Albert Einstein will be nothing more than a legend. Harriett Tubman will be long forgotten. And chances are, only the major historians will know the name George Washington. If these famous men and women will barely be remembered, what hope do I have of being remembered even a thousand years from now?
And why do we remember these names anyway? If they have disappeared from existence, why do we keep track of their marks on history? It's not like they can appreciate the fact that we remember them. It's not like they can be proud of their accomplishments. If there is no hope for a future after life on this earth, everything is meaningless. The world might as well come to an end now.
Christians believe that we can gain eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Even if it turns out that Christians are wrong, at least we can still go through life with a hope for a future. If we live as if there is life after death on earth, there are two possibilities: 1) we are proven right, and we get to spend eternity in heaven, or 2) we are proven wrong and we stop existing, so we're not around to care anymore. But if we live as if there is no life after death, then we also have two possibilities: 1) we are proven right and we stop existing, so we're not around to care anymore, or 2) we are proven wrong, and we spend eternity in... well, you know. So either way, following Christ has more benefits than giving Him the cold shoulder.
College is a time and place for decisions. I've made mine. It's time to make yours. And I pray that you would consider the options wisely.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Monday, August 30, 2010
College Life: Monday Morning
So I went to do laundry in my dorm at 10:30 last night and didn't finish until 1:30am because of the dryers... (You have to run them at least three times to get everything dried. I probably should have run it again, but I was too exhausted to wait another twenty minutes.) I was planning on getting up at 5:30 to go to a trumpet studio warm-up, which one of the trumpet graduate students has been doing three mornings a week. But when my alarm went off, I got out of bed, turned it off, and decided I was too tired, so I went back to sleep. I got up at 7. The warm-up was at 7:15. Class starts at 8.
So I walked to the School of Music (a thirty-minute walk) and got there at 7:55, only to find out that the building was locked because of a power outage last night. (All the doors in the SOM are controlled electronically, so the system that unlocks the doors in the morning reset in the middle of the night, and the doors didn't open until 8 instead of 7.) So the warm-up I would have missed never happened. Then when the doors finally opened, everyone rushed to their classes, and the Dean of the SOM came to my class and announced that class was canceled.
So it was kind of bittersweet: I got to sleep longer than I would have if I had gone to the studio warm-up, but I still got up earlier than I needed to. And I didn't have class until 11:15, so I could have spent another two or three hours sleeping. But I'm just glad I didn't miss anything, and I'm thankful that God made me go back to sleep instead of needlessly getting up at 5:30.
I just felt like sharing that because God is awesome! Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
So I walked to the School of Music (a thirty-minute walk) and got there at 7:55, only to find out that the building was locked because of a power outage last night. (All the doors in the SOM are controlled electronically, so the system that unlocks the doors in the morning reset in the middle of the night, and the doors didn't open until 8 instead of 7.) So the warm-up I would have missed never happened. Then when the doors finally opened, everyone rushed to their classes, and the Dean of the SOM came to my class and announced that class was canceled.
So it was kind of bittersweet: I got to sleep longer than I would have if I had gone to the studio warm-up, but I still got up earlier than I needed to. And I didn't have class until 11:15, so I could have spent another two or three hours sleeping. But I'm just glad I didn't miss anything, and I'm thankful that God made me go back to sleep instead of needlessly getting up at 5:30.
I just felt like sharing that because God is awesome! Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Baptized with Fire
Well, God did it again: He revealed the meaning of another verse that had remained hidden to me up to this point. I was at youth group today, and the last song we sang before the sermon was Fire Fall Down, by Hillsong United. Then the pastor got up on the stage, and he said something that made something click in my mind. I don't remember what he said, except that it was about fire.
The Bible talks about fire in a lot of places. Hebrews 12:29, which quotes Deuteronomy 4:24, calls God a "consuming fire." One of my personal favorites is the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 18:18-39, where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to see whether the Lord God or Baal was real. Elijah and the prophets of Baal both set up their own altars with several requirements added to the challenge. God completely consumed Elijah's altar in fire, while the altar of Baal stood untouched, proving that the Lord is the one true God. And of course, everyone knows the story of Moses and the burning bush.
But today I want to go to Matthew 3:11, which I have been hearing repeated several times over the last couple weeks: "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Whatever it was the pastor said today, something finally put another piece into the puzzle that God has given the world in His Word. Up until the sermon, I had only understood the part about being baptized with the Holy Spirit: the apostles had been told to wait in Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection until they had received the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit came upon them, "tongues of fire" appeared above them, and they began speaking in tongues. But that's not what John the Baptist meant when he said that Jesus would baptize with fire.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:19: "Do not put out the Spirit's fire." When I finally made the connection between this verse and Matthew 3:11, I realized that the fire of Jesus' baptism is the holy passion the Spirit gives us when He comes and begins moving in us. John the Baptist's statement finally makes sense to me: "But after me will come One who... will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with [passion]." We know that we have been baptized by Christ because we can feel the fiery passion of the Holy Spirit burning within us.
I really have nothing else to draw from that. I just felt like sharing my discovery because it excited me so much! You could say it "set me on fire." Anyway...
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
The Bible talks about fire in a lot of places. Hebrews 12:29, which quotes Deuteronomy 4:24, calls God a "consuming fire." One of my personal favorites is the story of Elijah in 1 Kings 18:18-39, where Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to see whether the Lord God or Baal was real. Elijah and the prophets of Baal both set up their own altars with several requirements added to the challenge. God completely consumed Elijah's altar in fire, while the altar of Baal stood untouched, proving that the Lord is the one true God. And of course, everyone knows the story of Moses and the burning bush.
But today I want to go to Matthew 3:11, which I have been hearing repeated several times over the last couple weeks: "I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come One who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." Whatever it was the pastor said today, something finally put another piece into the puzzle that God has given the world in His Word. Up until the sermon, I had only understood the part about being baptized with the Holy Spirit: the apostles had been told to wait in Jerusalem after Jesus' resurrection until they had received the Holy Spirit. When the Spirit came upon them, "tongues of fire" appeared above them, and they began speaking in tongues. But that's not what John the Baptist meant when he said that Jesus would baptize with fire.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:19: "Do not put out the Spirit's fire." When I finally made the connection between this verse and Matthew 3:11, I realized that the fire of Jesus' baptism is the holy passion the Spirit gives us when He comes and begins moving in us. John the Baptist's statement finally makes sense to me: "But after me will come One who... will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with [passion]." We know that we have been baptized by Christ because we can feel the fiery passion of the Holy Spirit burning within us.
I really have nothing else to draw from that. I just felt like sharing my discovery because it excited me so much! You could say it "set me on fire." Anyway...
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Pray continually.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 is probably my favorite verse in the Bible. It's short and gets straight to the point: "Pray continually." Two simple words that, when put into action, can accomplish the impossible.
I am currently studying the book of Galatians (click here to see my notes up to this point), but God put Colossians 4:2-6 on my mind today. For now I just want to focus on verse 2. It says, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." At first, I read that and thought, "Okay, great. I need to pray a lot and keep an eye out for things to pray about." But I missed the word "thankful." I never really understood why thankfulness was thrown into this verse until now. And when I finally understood, the whole verse came together for me.
Paul tells us to be watchful in prayer, which does not simply mean that we should be aware when something major comes up that we should pray about. It means that we should go looking for things to pray about. Look at a picture or listen to music, and pray about whatever you think of. Trust me: look, and you'll find something. In fact, I just thought of something right now, just by listening to the sound of construction down the street. And something else popped into my head as I was thinking about college life. If you're reading this now, I'll make things easy for you: please pray for me, that I would stay strong in my faith here at the number one party school in America, and that I would have the boldness to step out and share the Word with others here; and pray that someone would listen and be influenced by the changing power of Christ, whether it be through me or through someone else. (That's actually Paul's request in Colossians 4:3-4.)
But now we get to the part about thankfulness. What exactly does Paul mean by saying that we should be thankful in prayer? Obviously, we should thank God whenever something good happens. We should thank Him when someone turns his or her life over to Christ, when we make a good grade on a test we weren't prepared for, when we win a prize we were almost guaranteed to not win. But there's more to this verse than that. I think Paul's point in telling the Colossians to be thankful in prayer was this: look for something to pray about, and be thankful that you found something when you find it. Be thankful that God has given you something to pray about. Be thankful that He has given you the opportunity to be a positive influence in someone's life, whether directly or indirectly. And be thankful that He answers all our prayers. (They may not always be answered the way we would like, but as we grow stronger in Christ, we learn to be thankful even when things don't go our way, and we allow God's will to take over our own.)
So I thank God for anyone who reads this, and for the opportunity to pray for you, as well as for those who don't read this.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
I am currently studying the book of Galatians (click here to see my notes up to this point), but God put Colossians 4:2-6 on my mind today. For now I just want to focus on verse 2. It says, "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." At first, I read that and thought, "Okay, great. I need to pray a lot and keep an eye out for things to pray about." But I missed the word "thankful." I never really understood why thankfulness was thrown into this verse until now. And when I finally understood, the whole verse came together for me.
Paul tells us to be watchful in prayer, which does not simply mean that we should be aware when something major comes up that we should pray about. It means that we should go looking for things to pray about. Look at a picture or listen to music, and pray about whatever you think of. Trust me: look, and you'll find something. In fact, I just thought of something right now, just by listening to the sound of construction down the street. And something else popped into my head as I was thinking about college life. If you're reading this now, I'll make things easy for you: please pray for me, that I would stay strong in my faith here at the number one party school in America, and that I would have the boldness to step out and share the Word with others here; and pray that someone would listen and be influenced by the changing power of Christ, whether it be through me or through someone else. (That's actually Paul's request in Colossians 4:3-4.)
But now we get to the part about thankfulness. What exactly does Paul mean by saying that we should be thankful in prayer? Obviously, we should thank God whenever something good happens. We should thank Him when someone turns his or her life over to Christ, when we make a good grade on a test we weren't prepared for, when we win a prize we were almost guaranteed to not win. But there's more to this verse than that. I think Paul's point in telling the Colossians to be thankful in prayer was this: look for something to pray about, and be thankful that you found something when you find it. Be thankful that God has given you something to pray about. Be thankful that He has given you the opportunity to be a positive influence in someone's life, whether directly or indirectly. And be thankful that He answers all our prayers. (They may not always be answered the way we would like, but as we grow stronger in Christ, we learn to be thankful even when things don't go our way, and we allow God's will to take over our own.)
So I thank God for anyone who reads this, and for the opportunity to pray for you, as well as for those who don't read this.
Until next time, God bless!
Michael
—————————————————————
"I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing." ~ 1 Timothy 2:8
"I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to live is Christ and to die is gain." ~ Philippians 1:20-21
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