More on Westboro. "Re: Yes, Jesus Would Protest At A Funeral."
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Hello, Mrs. Roper.
Well, I'm sorry to bug you again so soon, but I was reading your blog again, and... well, I just had to say something. As the subject above says, this is in response to your reply to Lisa's letter, to which you said, "Yes, Jesus would protest at a funeral." I'm going to try to go in the order you wrote your response.
First off, you said that Jesus said, "Let the dead bury their dead." That's true, but He was saying this when he was calling people to follow him and one man asked to be allowed to bury his father before following Jesus. He then goes on in the next couple verses, saying that anyone who follows Him but chooses their family over Him when His commands are contrary to their views has sinned and doesn't really know what it means to truly follow Christ. The point of Jesus' comment here is that our heavenly Father comes before our earthly families, no matter what.
But even when we fail, there's still hope, as the woman in John 8:1-11 found out firsthand. The woman was caught in adultery, and the people were preparing to stone her, but Jesus said, "If any of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her " (John 8:10). Nobody stepped forward to stone her, and Jesus said, "[Neither] do I condemn you" (John 8:11). Not only does Jesus offer free forgiveness to anyone who will accept it, He even offered it to the woman who was not seeking forgiveness of sins at all, but only escape from death. All she had to do was accept it. God doesn't give up His children that easily.
And look at John 5:1-15. People were crowded around the pool in Bethesda, and Jesus approached one lame man who had no hope of getting into the pool to be healed. The man believed that the water in the pool had healing powers, and when Jesus came along asking if he wanted to be healed, all he said was that he had nobody to put him into the pool. Even when faced with Jesus Himself, the man still sought healing from a "magical" pool of water rather than from God, the only One who could heal him. But Jesus still chose to heal him. Why? If God hates sinful man, and not merely sin in man, then why did He heal the man who clearly had no intention of following Him?
Secondly, I would like to bring up the issue of judging people again, just like I did in my first letter. You said, "If you REALLY believed you shouldn't judge, you would not have written your Bible-hating email judging us." For one thing, the apostle Paul says in Galatians 6:1, "Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently." Trust me, if I didn't think you might change your ways, I would not be writing you right now, and I wouldn't have wasted my time writing my other three letters (found here). And I believe Lisa had the same mindset. I dare you to find anything blatantly judgmental in my letters. Also, when the disciples ran into a man casting out demons in the name of Jesus—a man who was not physically following Jesus—they tried to stop him, but Jesus said, "Do not stop him, for whoever is not against you is for you" (Luke 9:50). Lisa and I are both trying to obey God. As you would say, we are not remaining silent but openly declaring your faults to you so that you would repent and obey. If that's not judging when you do it, then you can't blame either one of us for judging you. We would like to see you become true men and women of God who are relentlessly preaching the gospel to the world so that all people might receive salvation and eternal life.
Next, in the following paragraph, you said, "You're made in the likeness of Adam, Lisa. If you ever cracked a Bible you would know Adam alone was made in the likeness of God." But I have to disagree. Crack that Bible open one more time for me and read Genesis 1:26-27: "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." "Let us make man in our image... and let THEM rule..." "[Male] and female He created them." God created man(kind) in His image. Although Adam was the only one to be created by God (the rest of us are born according to God's will), we are all made in His likeness. That's why Jesus says, "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). If we were not made to be like Christ—in other words, made in God's image—we would not be able to be holy. And God Himself says the same thing in Leviticus 20:26: "You are to be holy to Me because I, the Lord, am holy." We are to be like God, hence the phrase, "in [His] likeness."
"Lisa, would Jesus start 2 big wars and murder hundreds of thousands of people in cold blood?" Mrs. Roper, would Jesus curse/swear/cuss? Would Jesus call anyone an idiot/fool? If I'm not mistaken, the only insult Jesus makes is calling people hypocrites. He never calls anyone a fool because they're His own creation, and by calling them stupid, He would be calling God Himself stupid. That's blasphemy, attributing to God a fault that does not exist. If you want people to obey God, I suggest you do the same.
Finally, about halfway through your second response to Lisa's letter, you bragged, "[He] has stood with us for 20 LONG YEARS EVERY DAY ON THE STREETS, NO TRAUMA TO US. NONE!" But Jesus says in John 16:33, "In this world you will have trouble." And in 2 Corinthians 12:10, Paul says, "I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." If you're just breezing through life, I'm sorry to say it, but I'm pretty sure you're doing something wrong. Hardships make us stronger and force us to rely more on God's power. That's why some of the strongest Christians in the world are those who have faced traumatizing experiences: untimely deaths, cancer, AIDS, severe persecution and torture, etc. I mean this in the least judgmental way possible, but I think that God is keeping you from trouble so that you would realize you're missing something and return to Him. It wouldn't do any good to put hardships on someone who may or may not already be on the wrong path.
I do have to say that I agree with the majority of the paragraph in which you say that this world has done the complete opposite of what God commanded. But despite that, there is still hope. And I don't have to tell you what His name is.
I apologize for anything I've said that may have offended you, and I hope to receive a reply soon. Please. I've been waiting for a response to my other three letters, and I've been disappointed to find every day that you still haven't written back. I would love to hear back from you.
Thank you for your time, once again. God bless!
Michael Watanabe
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" ~ Galatians 2:20-21
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
On Shirley Phelps Roper and the Westboro Baptist Church - Part 3
Well, it's been almost four months since I sent my last letter to Westboro Baptist Church, so I decided to write yet another letter. So here it is.
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Hello once again, Mrs. Roper.
This is Michael, the same one who wrote you twice before, once with my cousin Eddie. I'm sure you remember seeing my ridiculously long letters. If not, feel free to review them here.
Unlike my last two letters, I will try to keep this one relatively short.
I was going through your blog when two particular conversations caught my attention. The first was your conversation with Jeff entitled "A Huge Media Bath Thanks To Weston, MO," and the second, "We Bind This Nation So God Will Destroy Them."
I would just like to start by apologizing for Jeff. Not that that does anyone any good, but I honestly felt bad for you the way he was criticizing you. I do have to admit that he had good reason to criticize, but his method of using insults was not justified.
And one more thing before I get to the main point of this letter: in your response to Jeff's letter, you said, "Now, I must get off email and go make myself presentable for Fox 4." This is kind of off topic, but doesn't Jesus say in Matthew 6:25, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"? And doesn't God say in 1 Samuel 16:7 when Samuel is looking for the next king of Israel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart"? Sorry to throw that at you, but that just stuck out at me as I was reading your blog.
Now on to the real topic of discussion. In your response to the unnamed Jew who is beginning to attend church, you told the unnamed author that you are "binding this nation to the standards/commandments of God so that God will destroy them." But in Mark 2:23-28, when Jesus was confronted for failing to uphold the Sabbath, He explained to the Pharisees how David ate the consecrated bread that was only lawful for consumption by the priests. He told them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27-28). According to the Pharisees, Jesus had broken the commandment that says, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" (Exodus 20:8). But they had forgotten the reason for the commandment: God had blessed the Sabbath so that we would not need to do work, not that we would not be allowed to do work. As stated here, the Sabbath was made to be a blessing to man, not a burden.
Similarly, the Law was not established so that we would follow it to gain salvation. It was put in place so that we would realize our inability to keep the Commandments and our need for a Savior. That does not mean we should not strive to keep the Commandments, but it does mean that we are not condemned if we slip up. (See Romans 7:7-13.) As written in Hebrews 10:1-4, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." 1 Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." And in Romans 8:1-4, Paul says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." Jesus died for us so that those who believe in Him would be freed from the power of sin, which is death, and "where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin" (Hebrews 10:18), meaning, once our sin has been forgiven, it stands forgiven permanently and does not need any renewal of forgiveness.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Constantly the Bible reminds us that salvation is not through works, but through faith in Jesus Christ. (Admittedly, these words come from Paul; but if what we believe is true—that the entire Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16)—then if Paul's words are taken as a lie, then the entire Bible is taken as a lie, and God is made to be a liar. To quote the verse you yourself referenced in your response to the unnamed Jew, "The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because He had pity on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against His people and there was no remedy." If you deny Paul's words, you deny the words of God Himself.) We are not saved by works, but unto works; we do not save ourselves by doing good things, but we do good things because we are saved. That's why Paul says in the next verse (Ephesians 2:10), "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God presented the Law to us so that we would see our need for a Savior, and we strive to obey the Law because we are saved so that our salvation would look appealing to others looking in from outside the body of Christ.
As in my previous letters, I ask you again to reconsider your approach to spreading the gospel. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:13, "Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall." I believe this stands true for witnessing as well. If your method of spreading the gospel causes other Christians to develop hatred for you (breaking the Commandment against murder, according to Jesus), then you should strive to witness in a way that would promote love and curiosity from others. Paul became "all things to all men so that by all possible means [he] might save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22).
I would encourage you to read through the book of Hosea. (Not that I think you haven't already. I'm sure you have, but please read it again. It's a great book, as I'm sure you know.) The Bible was not written merely as a history book. It was written so that we would see how it applies to our lives and so that we would strive to obey the words that we can consciously follow. Hosea is all about how God loves His people, even when we turn our backs on Him. He held His hand out to us, even when we tried to slap His hand away. He allowed us to drift into our sin, not because He gave up on us and turned us over to Satan, but in order for us to experience the consequences, in order to teach us and bring us back to Him. And when we come back, like the father of the prodigal son, He takes us back joyfully. As Jesus told the Pharisees in Luke 15:7, "There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
So please, re-evaluate the gospel you are preaching. Put your message to the test: match it up against the Bible and see if it stands firm in the truth. The gospel is a message of love, of grace, of mercy; it's a message of before and after: who we once were, and who we are now; the path we were on, and the path we are on now.
I want to make it clear that I believe you truly are a woman of God. But I believe that you don't quite have all the facts straight. You may very well be on the road to heaven, but your message is not encouraging others to come to the Lord. Jesus told His disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19), and we are His disciples, sent out into the world to bring others to know Christ. We are not to throw people's faults in their faces, but to show them the Savior who can (and wants to) redeem them despite their faults.
I would very much appreciate a reply. I'm getting a little discouraged because I haven't received a reply to my previous letters, and I'd like this to be a two-way conversation, not a monologue.
Thank you for your time, once again. I hope to hear back from you soon. And God bless!
Michael Watanabe
"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." ~ 1 John 4:15-16
——————————————————————
Hello once again, Mrs. Roper.
This is Michael, the same one who wrote you twice before, once with my cousin Eddie. I'm sure you remember seeing my ridiculously long letters. If not, feel free to review them here.
Unlike my last two letters, I will try to keep this one relatively short.
I was going through your blog when two particular conversations caught my attention. The first was your conversation with Jeff entitled "A Huge Media Bath Thanks To Weston, MO," and the second, "We Bind This Nation So God Will Destroy Them."
I would just like to start by apologizing for Jeff. Not that that does anyone any good, but I honestly felt bad for you the way he was criticizing you. I do have to admit that he had good reason to criticize, but his method of using insults was not justified.
And one more thing before I get to the main point of this letter: in your response to Jeff's letter, you said, "Now, I must get off email and go make myself presentable for Fox 4." This is kind of off topic, but doesn't Jesus say in Matthew 6:25, "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?"? And doesn't God say in 1 Samuel 16:7 when Samuel is looking for the next king of Israel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart"? Sorry to throw that at you, but that just stuck out at me as I was reading your blog.
Now on to the real topic of discussion. In your response to the unnamed Jew who is beginning to attend church, you told the unnamed author that you are "binding this nation to the standards/commandments of God so that God will destroy them." But in Mark 2:23-28, when Jesus was confronted for failing to uphold the Sabbath, He explained to the Pharisees how David ate the consecrated bread that was only lawful for consumption by the priests. He told them, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27-28). According to the Pharisees, Jesus had broken the commandment that says, "Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy" (Exodus 20:8). But they had forgotten the reason for the commandment: God had blessed the Sabbath so that we would not need to do work, not that we would not be allowed to do work. As stated here, the Sabbath was made to be a blessing to man, not a burden.
Similarly, the Law was not established so that we would follow it to gain salvation. It was put in place so that we would realize our inability to keep the Commandments and our need for a Savior. That does not mean we should not strive to keep the Commandments, but it does mean that we are not condemned if we slip up. (See Romans 7:7-13.) As written in Hebrews 10:1-4, "The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." 1 Peter 3:18 says, "For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." And in Romans 8:1-4, Paul says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit." Jesus died for us so that those who believe in Him would be freed from the power of sin, which is death, and "where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin" (Hebrews 10:18), meaning, once our sin has been forgiven, it stands forgiven permanently and does not need any renewal of forgiveness.
Ephesians 2:8-9 says, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Constantly the Bible reminds us that salvation is not through works, but through faith in Jesus Christ. (Admittedly, these words come from Paul; but if what we believe is true—that the entire Bible is God-breathed (2 Timothy 3:16)—then if Paul's words are taken as a lie, then the entire Bible is taken as a lie, and God is made to be a liar. To quote the verse you yourself referenced in your response to the unnamed Jew, "The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because He had pity on His people and on His dwelling place. But they mocked God's messengers, despised His words and scoffed at His prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against His people and there was no remedy." If you deny Paul's words, you deny the words of God Himself.) We are not saved by works, but unto works; we do not save ourselves by doing good things, but we do good things because we are saved. That's why Paul says in the next verse (Ephesians 2:10), "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." God presented the Law to us so that we would see our need for a Savior, and we strive to obey the Law because we are saved so that our salvation would look appealing to others looking in from outside the body of Christ.
As in my previous letters, I ask you again to reconsider your approach to spreading the gospel. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:13, "Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall." I believe this stands true for witnessing as well. If your method of spreading the gospel causes other Christians to develop hatred for you (breaking the Commandment against murder, according to Jesus), then you should strive to witness in a way that would promote love and curiosity from others. Paul became "all things to all men so that by all possible means [he] might save some" (1 Corinthians 9:22).
I would encourage you to read through the book of Hosea. (Not that I think you haven't already. I'm sure you have, but please read it again. It's a great book, as I'm sure you know.) The Bible was not written merely as a history book. It was written so that we would see how it applies to our lives and so that we would strive to obey the words that we can consciously follow. Hosea is all about how God loves His people, even when we turn our backs on Him. He held His hand out to us, even when we tried to slap His hand away. He allowed us to drift into our sin, not because He gave up on us and turned us over to Satan, but in order for us to experience the consequences, in order to teach us and bring us back to Him. And when we come back, like the father of the prodigal son, He takes us back joyfully. As Jesus told the Pharisees in Luke 15:7, "There will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."
So please, re-evaluate the gospel you are preaching. Put your message to the test: match it up against the Bible and see if it stands firm in the truth. The gospel is a message of love, of grace, of mercy; it's a message of before and after: who we once were, and who we are now; the path we were on, and the path we are on now.
I want to make it clear that I believe you truly are a woman of God. But I believe that you don't quite have all the facts straight. You may very well be on the road to heaven, but your message is not encouraging others to come to the Lord. Jesus told His disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19), and we are His disciples, sent out into the world to bring others to know Christ. We are not to throw people's faults in their faces, but to show them the Savior who can (and wants to) redeem them despite their faults.
I would very much appreciate a reply. I'm getting a little discouraged because I haven't received a reply to my previous letters, and I'd like this to be a two-way conversation, not a monologue.
Thank you for your time, once again. I hope to hear back from you soon. And God bless!
Michael Watanabe
"If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." ~ 1 John 4:15-16
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
A Modern Parable
I was walking back to my dorm from the School of Music (a thirty-minute walk) when I started coming up with a random parable. I guess God wanted to teach me something through it. He kept adding more and more to the parable as I walked, which is great because I had half an hour to think of new stuff to add to it. So here it is.
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The Christian life is like driving to a party at a friend's house. You get to the house, park on the side of the road, and go inside. A few minutes later, you realize you forgot something in the car, so you go back out to get it, only to find a cop standing next to your car with a parking ticket. It turns out you had parked next to a fire hydrant and hadn't noticed it. What's worse is that the cop is your father. Your father hands you the parking ticket knowing you don't have the money to pay the fine, so he pays it for you. Then you give the ticket back, saying, "Let me just stay parked here a little while longer," and then go back inside. Your father has no choice but to arrest you and have the car towed.
In a similar situation, the same thing happens, but you hop in the car immediately to move it out of the way. Unfortunately, the car won't start. So your father calls a towing company to drag the car to the auto shop, where he gets the battery replaced. You then drive home following your father.
The police officer represents Jesus, the fire hydrant symbolizes sin, and the car is your life, while your friend's house represents the world. We are to be in the world, but not of it; we are not to let worldly things consume us. Before the Law was introduced in the Old Testament, sin was undefined; so the Law had to be put in place so that we would know right from wrong (Romans 7:7-9). In the parable, the son/daughter parks next to sin and doesn't realize that it was sin until his/her Father points it out as sin. We then have to pay the price for our sin, which is death; but instead, knowing that we couldn't pay the penalty ourselves, our Father came to us in the form of the Man Jesus and paid the price for us, setting us free (Romans 6:23). God's judgment, the parking ticket, has been satisfied (1 Peter 3:18). But the son/daughter in the first scenario then takes that forgiveness and abuses it by doing nothing to change his/her life and returning to the world. That person is consumed by the world, caring more about the party (the momentary pleasures of the world) than moving his/her car (getting out of sin to benefit him/her in the long run). The price Jesus paid is then worthless to that person because he/she has essentially refused it (James 1:22, 2:17). That person's car (life) is then dragged off, and he/she is put in jail (hell) because he/she has broken the law, and there is no more remedy (John 15:6; Hebrews 6:4-6).
On the other hand, the person in the second scenario gets in the car to move it, making an attempt to get out of sin (James 1:21-22, 25). But he/she finds that it is an impossible task to do alone, so he/she relies on the Father (John 15:5b; Luke 18:27; Philippians 4:13). Only through the grace of God can we dig ourselves out of the hole that is sin. Then instead of being thrown into prison/hell, our Father leads us home to heaven (John 14:6; Psalm 23:6).
———————————————————————
I thought it was really cool how God kept throwing more and more comparisons at me as I thought through this parable, so I just had to share it. I hope this helped someone.
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 Christian life is like driving to a party at a friend's house. You get to the house, park on the side of the road, and go inside. A few minutes later, you realize you forgot something in the car, so you go back out to get it, only to find a cop standing next to your car with a parking ticket. It turns out you had parked next to a fire hydrant and hadn't noticed it. What's worse is that the cop is your father. Your father hands you the parking ticket knowing you don't have the money to pay the fine, so he pays it for you. Then you give the ticket back, saying, "Let me just stay parked here a little while longer," and then go back inside. Your father has no choice but to arrest you and have the car towed.
In a similar situation, the same thing happens, but you hop in the car immediately to move it out of the way. Unfortunately, the car won't start. So your father calls a towing company to drag the car to the auto shop, where he gets the battery replaced. You then drive home following your father.
The police officer represents Jesus, the fire hydrant symbolizes sin, and the car is your life, while your friend's house represents the world. We are to be in the world, but not of it; we are not to let worldly things consume us. Before the Law was introduced in the Old Testament, sin was undefined; so the Law had to be put in place so that we would know right from wrong (Romans 7:7-9). In the parable, the son/daughter parks next to sin and doesn't realize that it was sin until his/her Father points it out as sin. We then have to pay the price for our sin, which is death; but instead, knowing that we couldn't pay the penalty ourselves, our Father came to us in the form of the Man Jesus and paid the price for us, setting us free (Romans 6:23). God's judgment, the parking ticket, has been satisfied (1 Peter 3:18). But the son/daughter in the first scenario then takes that forgiveness and abuses it by doing nothing to change his/her life and returning to the world. That person is consumed by the world, caring more about the party (the momentary pleasures of the world) than moving his/her car (getting out of sin to benefit him/her in the long run). The price Jesus paid is then worthless to that person because he/she has essentially refused it (James 1:22, 2:17). That person's car (life) is then dragged off, and he/she is put in jail (hell) because he/she has broken the law, and there is no more remedy (John 15:6; Hebrews 6:4-6).
On the other hand, the person in the second scenario gets in the car to move it, making an attempt to get out of sin (James 1:21-22, 25). But he/she finds that it is an impossible task to do alone, so he/she relies on the Father (John 15:5b; Luke 18:27; Philippians 4:13). Only through the grace of God can we dig ourselves out of the hole that is sin. Then instead of being thrown into prison/hell, our Father leads us home to heaven (John 14:6; Psalm 23:6).
———————————————————————
I thought it was really cool how God kept throwing more and more comparisons at me as I thought through this parable, so I just had to share it. I hope this helped someone.
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, October 26, 2010
The Way, the Truth, and the Life
I was riding the bus to class this morning when thoughts started running through my head. They were more of those Christianity vs. Atheism questions I had been compiling, and God was finally starting to give me answers—or, at least, questions to counter with. So since it's been so long since I've written anything, I decided I'd share what God was telling me.
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C: Jesus is the only way to heaven. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
A: There's more than one way to heaven. Truth is all just relative.
C: ... Relative to what?
A: ...
A: Wow. That guy is evil. He murdered his own family. I know I'm not perfect, but at least I'm not as bad as he is.
C: Really? What makes you say that?
A: That guy killed his own family! That's horrible!
C: Have you ever lied to someone? Have you ever been so mad at someone that you actually hated them for a while?
A: Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?
C: What are the seven deadly sins?
A: Wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
C: Is murder ever mentioned?
A: No, but...
C: But wrath is. Does rage come from the fact that you killed someone, or do you kill someone because you hate them?
A: ... You kill them because you hate them.
C: So which is worse: wrath or murder?
A: Murder! Come on! The guy KILLED people! That's evil!
C: Yeah, but wrath caused him to do it. So wrath is the source of that evil, which makes wrath worse than murder in the long run.
A: Who cares about "the long run"? We're all going to die and disappear anyway.
C: Then why is murder so bad? The guy just gave his family an early trip to where they were going in the first place. If we're all going to die and disappear, why do we try to live and make a difference? Why does it matter? If there's no ultimate goal in life, no final resting place, no life after death, then there's no reason to do anything. We should all just die now. The book of Ecclesiastes talks about this in saying that everything is meaningless without God. And it's true. The only reason any of us does anything is that we all realize, whether consciously or subconsciously, that there is something more to life, something more after death, a reason to live life to the fullest. And that reason is God.
A: ...
A: There's no absolute good.
C: Then who determines what good is?
A: It's relative. I'm better than that bully over there because I give money to the poor.
C: But how do we know charity is good and bullying is bad?
A: You get punished for doing bad things and rewarded for doing good.
C: I understand that, but who made that rule?
A: Nobody. That's just how it is. Nobody had to make that rule. It was just built into our nature.
C: So that's why little kids are inclined to steal things they want? Why they tend to throw tantrums and hit people when they don't have their way? Their internal sense of right and wrong is telling them to do bad things to get something out of it? Why do we have to learn to do good things to get what we want if we already know that rule?
Think about this: We're both trying to get to Atlanta. You're in Miami, and I'm in San Francisco. Who's closer to Atlanta?
A: I am.
C: How do you know?
A: Because I'm in the state right next to it, and you're all the way across the country. You have more distance to cover.
C: Now what if Atlanta didn't exist? Who would be closer to Atlanta then?
A: Neither one of us because you can't be closer than someone else to something that doesn't exist.
C: It's the same with good. If there's no absolute good, how can someone be better—more good—than someone else?
A: ...
———————————————
I hope that helps someone somehow. I'll probably make more Christianity vs. Atheism: Questions and Answers posts as I hear more questions.
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
———————————————
C: Jesus is the only way to heaven. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
A: There's more than one way to heaven. Truth is all just relative.
C: ... Relative to what?
A: ...
A: Wow. That guy is evil. He murdered his own family. I know I'm not perfect, but at least I'm not as bad as he is.
C: Really? What makes you say that?
A: That guy killed his own family! That's horrible!
C: Have you ever lied to someone? Have you ever been so mad at someone that you actually hated them for a while?
A: Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?
C: What are the seven deadly sins?
A: Wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony.
C: Is murder ever mentioned?
A: No, but...
C: But wrath is. Does rage come from the fact that you killed someone, or do you kill someone because you hate them?
A: ... You kill them because you hate them.
C: So which is worse: wrath or murder?
A: Murder! Come on! The guy KILLED people! That's evil!
C: Yeah, but wrath caused him to do it. So wrath is the source of that evil, which makes wrath worse than murder in the long run.
A: Who cares about "the long run"? We're all going to die and disappear anyway.
C: Then why is murder so bad? The guy just gave his family an early trip to where they were going in the first place. If we're all going to die and disappear, why do we try to live and make a difference? Why does it matter? If there's no ultimate goal in life, no final resting place, no life after death, then there's no reason to do anything. We should all just die now. The book of Ecclesiastes talks about this in saying that everything is meaningless without God. And it's true. The only reason any of us does anything is that we all realize, whether consciously or subconsciously, that there is something more to life, something more after death, a reason to live life to the fullest. And that reason is God.
A: ...
A: There's no absolute good.
C: Then who determines what good is?
A: It's relative. I'm better than that bully over there because I give money to the poor.
C: But how do we know charity is good and bullying is bad?
A: You get punished for doing bad things and rewarded for doing good.
C: I understand that, but who made that rule?
A: Nobody. That's just how it is. Nobody had to make that rule. It was just built into our nature.
C: So that's why little kids are inclined to steal things they want? Why they tend to throw tantrums and hit people when they don't have their way? Their internal sense of right and wrong is telling them to do bad things to get something out of it? Why do we have to learn to do good things to get what we want if we already know that rule?
Think about this: We're both trying to get to Atlanta. You're in Miami, and I'm in San Francisco. Who's closer to Atlanta?
A: I am.
C: How do you know?
A: Because I'm in the state right next to it, and you're all the way across the country. You have more distance to cover.
C: Now what if Atlanta didn't exist? Who would be closer to Atlanta then?
A: Neither one of us because you can't be closer than someone else to something that doesn't exist.
C: It's the same with good. If there's no absolute good, how can someone be better—more good—than someone else?
A: ...
———————————————
I hope that helps someone somehow. I'll probably make more Christianity vs. Atheism: Questions and Answers posts as I hear more questions.
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, September 28, 2010
21-Day Challenge
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
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
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).
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Well, that's all I have for now. So until next time, God bless!
Michael
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"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
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