Watch “Lennox Vs. Dawkins Debate – Has Science Buried God?” on YouTube

A debate was scheduled at the Oxford Museum of Natural History between Atheist Richard Dawkins and Christian Denesh DeSuza, who was called away at the last minute for a family emergency.  Luckily Dr. John Lennox was in the crowd and graciously accepted the offer to take DeSuza’s place. Much to Richard Dawkins shagrin.
You see, the two of them debated once before, and Dawkins has apparently been reluctant to debate Lennox ever since.
You will enjoy this.

Scientists Run Calculations to PROVE the Existence of God

Scientists run calculations to PROVE the existence of God. http://tiny.iavian.net/eu17

The Complete Incompatibility of Islamic Theocracy with Democracy – Islam’s 1400 Year Quest to Fulfill Muhammad’s Prophecy to Dominate the World

John Quincy Adams, President of the United States, served on the Board of Trustees in 1832. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

6th President of the United States of America John Quincy Adams on Islam: 1824-1829

“In the seventh century of the Christian era, a wandering Arab of the lineage of Hagar [i.e., Muhammad], the Egyptian, […..] Adopting from the new Revelation of Jesus, the faith and hope of immortal life, and of future retribution, he humbled it to the dust by adapting all the rewards and sanctions of his religion to the gratification of the sexual passion. He poisoned the sources of human felicity at the fountain, by degrading the condition of the female sex, and the allowance of polygamy; and he declared undistinguishing and exterminating war, as a part of his religion, against all the rest of mankind. THE ESSENCE OF HIS DOCTRINE WAS VIOLENCE AND LUST.- TO EXALT THE BRUTAL OVER THE SPIRITUAL PART OF HUMAN NATURE…. Between these two religions, thus contrasted in their characters, a war of twelve hundred years has already raged. The war is yet flagrant … While the merciless and dissolute dogmas of the false prophet shall furnish motives to human action, there can never be peace upon earth, and good will towards men.”   

Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and from 1951 to 1955. Deutsch: Winston Churchill, 1940 bis 1945 sowie 1951 bis 1955 Premier des Vereinigten Königreichs und Literaturnobelpreisträger des Jahres 1953. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Winston Churchill on Islam:

“How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.”

“A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.”

“Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyzes the social development of those who follow it.”

“No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.”

— Sir Winston Spencer Churchill (The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 (London: Longmans, Green & Co., 1899)

These were not uneducated men who knew nothing of their subject and had simply spoken recklessly. 

Rather, both of these great leaders of the free countries of Great Britton and of the United States of America spoke the real truth.

The word Islam means ,”Submit”. (Choice is ultimately not respected, and force is doctrine).

Qur’an (3:151) “We will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve”

In America we do not understand that Islamic doctrine demands NO SEPARATION between church and state. All Muslims believe Islam must advance until all the world submits to Allah, that apostates must be killed, and what the Quran says must be followed. Unlike old Testament violence in the Bible only in a couple of special circumstances, the Quranic verses that call for violence in the name of Allah do so under all circumstances, even today.
There is no new testament in the Quran.

But in the Bible Jesus said, 

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”(John 8:36)

“He,(Jesus), stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. 

The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 

He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

(Luke 4:17-21)

One religion will bind you, the other resonates, defines, and inspires freedom.

filled in your hearing.”

(Luke 4:17-21)

One religion will bind you, the other resonates, defines, and inspires freedom.

One rules by fear, the other by faith and love.

These representations are based on the central tenets of the religions compared here and not the misrepresentations of said core beliefs. In short, it is when Christianity is misrepresented that violence is perpetrated. Islam is genuine when violence is perpetrated. The confusion comes when we mistake the natural tendancy for evil in human nature with religion in general. Islam is specifically designed to appeal to the darkness in men’s hearts. Genuine Christianity displaces the darkness.

One rules by fear, the other by faith and love. 

Related articles

• http://www.pewforum.org/Muslim/the-worlds-muslims-religion-politics-society-exec.aspx
• Sharia Law versus the U.S. Constitution, No Room Here for a Theocracy! (dcclothesline.com)
• Islamophile Apologist UK PM Cameron On Woolwich Jihad: “Nothing In Islam Justifies This” “A Betrayal of Islam” (ironicsurrealism.com)
• UnMasking Islam: What You Need to Know (thedailysheeple.com)
• Arab Writer: Islam’s Uncivilized ‘Civilization’ Has Accomplished Nothing, ‘Philosophy And Logic Are Considered Heresy In Islam’ (midnightwatcher.wordpress.com)
• Muslims Force Islamic Prayer into Dearborn Public Schools (independentsentinel.com)
• Islam Falsifies All Other Religions: “Jesus is a Slave to Allah” (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)
• Michigan Muslims Attack Off-Campus Bible Studies and Get Permission to PRAY IN SCHOOLS (dcclothesline.com)
• MICHIGAN: On its way to becoming the first Islamic sharia-compliant state in America (iranaware.com)
• At King’s Islamic hearings, Muslim victims warn Congress while Dems question their very participation, and Hamas-CAIR says, “No such thing as Islamism,” Islam is Islam (atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com)

http://www.salon.com/2015/11/14/it_was_probably_not_the_amish_bill_maher_urges_liberals_to_wake_up_about_islam_after_paris_attacks
http://wikiislam.net/wiki/The_Story_of_Umm_Qirfa

80+ dead’ after truck crashes into crowd at Bastille Day celebrations in Nice ‘terror attack’. http://tiny.iavian.net/b8cx

DNA Science is Unraveling Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

Sorry Darwin.
There is no model in science for increasing information through natural selection. Darwin assumed there was.
Modern science proves natural selection loses information and results in degradation. Subtraction cannot result in addition.
You just can’t get 3.2 billion bits of genetic information code in every strand of human DNA that way.
But then if we see a red octagon shaped sign with STOP written on it, we would never assume it got there by random time plus matter plus chance. We would know an intelligent being put that information there.
We have God’s signature in our cells. We know it as DNA. Information with order. Words with meaning.
That is intelligence.

Of Jesus Christ, John’s Gospel says,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

“He was in the beginning with God.”

“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.” (John 1:1-3, NKJV, The Bible)

This Is Who Jesus Christ Is to Me – An Easter Reflection for All Year

What is it like to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? 

I’m not talking about merely knowing a lot facts about Jesus.

The point of this article is WHO Jesus is to Me, not merely what.

The HOW of Jesus is the Gospel story, but the WHO is the untold reward.

Greater than the gift is the love that gave the gift, but the Giver is greater still.

You can know Jesus, and He abides IN the hearts of all who put their trust in Him.

I will fail to tell all that Jesus is.

But I will make an attempt to share ,as best I can, just who Jesus is to me.

———————-

Jesus Christ is my best thought, my most cherished possession, He is God and man, Savior and Creator, and to know Him more is my greatest ambition.

Oh the height, depth, and breadth of all that Jesus is!

He is the only way , the only truth, the meaning and purpose of life, and the only hope for eternity.

He is the author of the language of the information of life we call DNA, and the undesigned-Designer, eternal and ever-existing, who orchestrated the fine-tuned Big Bang so that our universe could sustain life.

He is the wonder in nature and science, each reflecting His infinite beauty, order, and intelligibility.

His courage to face a grievous death and torture was driven by a boundless love for everyone.
He endured rejection so we could be accepted.

He has borne our shame and by His stripes we are healed.

He died so we could live.

He defeated death for us and rose from the grave victorious.

He hears our most distant thoughts and our most earnest prayers.

He longs for us to know and love Him with all our heart, mind, and strength and all that is in us.

Christ’s love is stronger than sin and death, and mightier than any bonds known to ensnare the hearts and minds of mankind.

Only Christ’s Spirit and love can evoke love so strong in the hearts of sinners that it burns away all other passions.

Jesus is hope when all else is hopeless.  He is love when all around us is hate.  He is the reason to live when faith in all else is gone.

Nothing can drive Him away from any who truly trust Him.
He will never leave us or forsake us.

No desire, temptation, or affection can compare to knowing Christ; and anyone who truly knows Him would never choose to leave His presence – for nothing else compares to knowing Jesus Christ who is God and who is Love.

Though I walk through the Valley Of The Shadow Of Death I will fear no evil, for He is with me.

He so loved us that He came down from His glorious throne and became one of us.
He left majesty to live in humility.

 He humbly worked as one of us with the same hands that formed the universe,

all to save us, even before we knew Him.

He is all powerful, yet for the joy before Him, He endured death on a cross for those who loved Him and those who hated Him.

After three days He opened the tomb they laid Him in and rose from death.
Even now He opens His arms to beckon to all who labor and are heavy laden to give us life and rest.

My heart is bound and accountable to Christ’s heart who gave His blood to cleanse my soul of sin.

Duty as motivation is not worthy of comparison to the intimate resolve to love Christ.
Christ’s love, when realized, goes beyond motivation, discipline, and dedication.

Christ’s love is limitless and the one who knows such love is confident in trials and courageous in tribulation.

The human mind may seek in vain to grasp the full scope of God’s love, but we should continually endeavor to do so.

Jesus Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, and everything in between.

His promises are sure and are anchored in His great love, which He publicly demonstrated on the cross for you and me.

And, believe me, when I say this; words can’t even begin to express to others this inexpressible love Christ is in the hearts of those who know Him.

Jesus is the Most Sacred Flame, the Light of the World, inextinguishable and inexhaustible, burning in the hearts of all who trust Him as Savior.

The totality of who Jesus is to all who know Him cannot be fully expressed because He transcends measure, time, and space.

He alone is worthy of our eternal praise.

 

Evolution – The Theory of Everything – and The Definition of Insanity

The Definition of Insanity is to do the same thing over and over again while expecting a different outcome.

This concept can be true for scientific theory also, adding a multitude of repetitions to a scientifically flawed theory will not eventually make that theory true.

This was Darwin’s missing link in his science, when he made an unfounded assumption that short term adaptation of species eventually amounted to differentiation of entirely new species over millennia.
The fossil record says no.
Our fine-tuned and information rich DNA says no.
In regards to biological origin, we now know the difference between the adaptation of a species and the creation of entirely different species.

If Darwin had known the science that we know now he never would have concluded that adaptation amounted to entirely different groups of species, even by adding millions and millions of years.
Repeating bad science over and over again, even millions of times, and expecting a different outcome is Insanity.

This is also true for the Origin of the Universe.  From the first 3 seconds of creation at the Big Bang to all the conditions that must be precisely as they are to support life on Earth, most scientists agree we live in a truly remarkable and finely tuned existence.

Steven Hawking claims he can explain why our universe is so finely tuned in so many ways. He calls his, “Theory of Everything “, M Theory.

M Theory is what Hawking calls a Multiverse.
In Hawking’s Multiverse, an infinite number of universes are created by gravity, matter, and the laws of the universe. Hawking assumes that infinite repetitions repeated over and over again, we will eventually have a finely-tuned universe, and solar system, and planet with precisely all the conditions needed to sustain life as we know it.
Repeating flawed theory over and over again, even to infinity, and expecting a different outcome is insanity.

Sir Roger Penrose is an equally qualified mathematician of physics who worked with Hawking and shared the 1988 Wolf Prize with Hawking for their work on understanding the universe.
When asked what he thought about Hawking’s Multiverse Theory, Sir Penrose is reported as saying, “M Theory is far from testable”, “it isn’t even science.”  And other notable scientists agree with Penrose.

But what M Theory may be is insanity.
It certainly fits the definition of Insanity better than it fits the definition of science, which is that it must be testable and observable.

I am a Christian and believe God is the most plausible answer to everything.

The science of the fine-tuning of the Origin of the Cosmos above, and the fine-tuning of the information-richness contained within our DNA within each of us reaffirms my belief that,
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”
(John 1: 1-3, 14 NKJV)

Darwin’s Theory Has Evolved into an Epic Fail

Darwin didn’t know in 1838 what we know now after decades of scientific research.

The missing link on which Darwin’s theory depends, never existed.

Darwin’s theory has evolved into an epic fail.

Darwin’s”science” can’t pass the test of scientific method.
Darwin’s theory of “Differences of Kind” does not stand up to it’s own test of ,”Observable Evidence”.

Darwin’s theory unravels with the introduction of “millions of years” thus again failing the “Observable Evidence” test.

Darwin’s “finches” show only adaptation, not what Darwin theorized to be “Differences of Kind”.

Neither biology or the fossil record show any proof in the form of “Observable Evidence” of “Differences of Kind” or transitional links in kinds among the 14 species of living things.

As time goes on, the evolution of scientific sophistication and accumulation of scientific evidence only confirms what we were told in the beginning.

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
(Gen 1:1 NKJV)

The Search for Truth and the Prejudice of the Heart

The empirical question we can ask ourselves is this ;
“Do I really want to know the truth?”

But do we know ourselves?

Are we aware that the integrity of the mind can be easily compromised by that which the heart refuses to believe?

The answer to these questions can free us from self imposed restrictions to living life to the fullest now and can lead us to full assurance for all our tomorrows.

The intellect is most often subject to that which we desire to be true and false.

That is the prejudice of the heart.
We often consider something to be true or false based on more than intelligence.

So there must be a component in making the case for truth that appeals to our inner hunger for more than that which is tangible.

The message must contain resonance with our longings and then corresponding claims that cohere with reason.

Is it any wonder then that God initiates a relationship with us through an act of love?

He paid for our sins on the cross because He loves us.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. “
(John 3 :16)

His act of love is directed towards our hearts.

” With the heart man believes and is saved, by the mouth confession is made unto salvation. ” (Romans 10 :10)

When we come to truth we come to a relationship with Jesus, who says to us;
“I am the way the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.”

True Christianity is a relationship that satisfies the deepest longings of the heart and the biggest questions of man’s intelligence.

When we believe and ask Christ to save us, we ultimately come to a person and a relationship with the personage of Jesus Christ.

Do you want to know the Truth ?
He is truth, and He is waiting for you.

“And War Broke Out in Heaven” – The Lasting Implications for Mankind

Did you know there was a war in Heaven?
It’s true, and some of the details of this incredible event are revealed to us in the Bible and have lasting implications for mankind.

“And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,”
“Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death”.
“Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” 
(Rev 12:7-12 NKJV)

Lucifer was said to be the angel who reflected God’s glory. He wanted to be God and tried to overthrow God. One third of the angels followed him in this revolt. It is recorded in the Bible in Isaiah 14.

 “How you are fallen from heaven, 
O Lucifer, son of the morning! 
How you are cut down to the ground, 
You who weakened the nations! For you have said in your heart: 
‘I will ascend into heaven, 
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; 
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation 
On the farthest sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, 
I will be like the Most High.’ Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, 
To the lowest depths of the Pit. “Those who see you will gaze at you, 
And consider you, saying: 
‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, 
Who shook kingdoms, Who made the world as a wilderness 
And destroyed its cities, 
Who did not open the house of his prisoners?’ 
(Is 14:12-17 NKJV)

The implications for mankind from this event have lead to the fall of mankind from relationship with God and the change from an innocent nature in mankind to a moral consciousness of right and wrong.
That also means we have become responsible for our actions, impure, and unable to know our Holy perfect God in our current state.

This happened in the Garden of Eden when the disobedience of first man and woman occurred after Satan tempted the woman saying, “You will be like God,”, the same prideful ambition Satan succumbed to.

And to bolster these claims we also know that the oldest book of the Bible, the book of Job, also portrays Satan as our accuser as he is referenced here, “the accuser of our brethren”, and the unseen reason for many of mankind’s sorrows and trials.

Satan appears to be desperately appealing to every possible scenario to prove that he has been unjustly judged by God as he awaits his sentence to be carried out.

But we have an advocate with Father God who is Jesus Christ His Son. He came from God to be one of us. He alone lived a perfect sinless life. He willfully died a cruel death to pay for our sins. He rose from the dead to defeat death and offer life to all who believe.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” 
(John 3:16-18 KJV)

Jesus said;
“In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. ” (John 16:33)

Trust Him as your Savior today.
Rest in Him for all your tomorrows.

The True Origin of the Species – Will the Theory of Evolution Be One of the Greatest Jokes in the History Books of the Future ?

“I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution, especially to the extent to which it has been applied, will be one of the greatest jokes in the history books of the future. Posterity will marvel that so very flimsy and dubious an hypothesis could be accepted with the incredible credulity it has.” 

~Malcolm Muggeridge ~

I agree with Muggeridge’s prediction.

DNA is at the core of all living things.

And incredibly, the more we learn about it, the more sophisticated we find it to be.

Those who both discovered DNA and those who know it best agree, it simply could not have originated by random chance.

Some of them believe aliens seeded DNA on earth or a comet brought it here but none can begin to explain how it arrived at the present complexity that makes you and I all we are.

It’s just not mathematically possible in 15, 30, or even 300 billion years.

Even if life was seeded here by aliens or brought here from elsewhere by a comet, this much remains unanswered, “Who originally designed our designers ?”
At some point there has to be an Undesigned Designer who always was, and is eternal.

An Original Originator.

And DNA is like an ancient echo from the origin of all living things and reflects an intelligence beyond our modern comprehension.

We have the ancient Biblical records that proclaim ,”God spoke and it was,” and we have the modern day proof of what God said in the scientific evidence of DNA.

Given the undeniably marvelous and miraculous complexity and sophistication of DNA and that it is the most sophisticated of all known languages, and this level of sophistication uses only four biological letters, (I call them letters because that is what geneticists call them), and given the fact that the Bible says that all living and nonliving things came into existence by God’s spoken word, one can say that the known scientific evidence of DNA is observational proof and scientific validation of the Biblical book of Genesis account of God as Creator of this world in it’s entirety.

Don’t be fooled.
Accept only the Original.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
21 “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”
(2Cor 5:17,21 NKJV)

The Cosmos Within – The Greatest Scientific Discovery of All Time – A Highly Sophisticated Language Is at the Core of All Living Creatures

Compare this digital rendering of Human DNA with the stained glass window below it. DNA is magnificently ordered. Information with order is proof of intelligent origin.

The book of Genesis in the Bible records that God spoke all things into existence. God spoke and it was. DNA is an echo of what God said.

The question of origin is one of the biggest questions in life.

The answer to the source of life, our origin, could help answer the other big questions of, meaning, morality, and destiny.

The problem is that ideas and theories formed before the discovery of DNA.

And the facts about DNA unfolded little by little over decades, almost completely without being noticed for the deepest meaning of DNA.

Darwin formed his theory of Evolution long before DNA was even discovered, and even longer before we would discover the complexity of DNA.

DNA is not a complexity that is born out of randomness, but it is a complexity that is highly sophisticated and ordered.

In fact, the complexity of DNA transcends the realm of science and ushers us into the realm of the miraculous. Scientists agree despite themselves.

Sir Francis Crick for instance, who took credit for discovering the incredibly ordered appearance of the Double Helix form of DNA,
believed aliens must have brought DNA to Earth.

But in time we would learn that even Crick’s theory of alien supreme beings sending life on our planet only moves the question of a intelligent engineer / creator back one step without answering the question at all.

We are left to then ask, who was the supreme being who engineered and created the aliens ?

Later Crick would partially concede by calling the presence of life as we know it, Almost a miracle.

The issue here is that the universe is not old enough for random chance to assemble our level of complexity, and the same is then true for all life in the universe, such as alien life forms.

Mathematicians cannot find evidence to support Darwin’s theory of Evolution. On the contrary. When they calculated the odds of time plus matter plus chance arriving at complex human protein formation, they discovered the odds of Darwin’s theory are,”beyond ridiculous”. Even with 13 billion years since the Big Bang, our human proteins could not have formed by chance.

But we have understood far more about human proteins than we understand about our DNA language, which appears far more complex than proteins. Yes, DNA is a language. Remember that God spoke all things into existence?

One recent discovery, for example, is that geneticists recently found another layer of DNA that was previously “hidden” , it works in harmony with the previously known DNA.

And before that, scientists discovered that DNA that was labeled as unnecessary or “junk DNA” , is in fact absolutely necessary and serves functions we could not have previously envisioned.

It took years to map Human DNA, but mapping DNA is not understanding DNA. Scientists who know DNA best say that understanding the DNA language will keep them busy for the next 100 years.

Even if the universe was several times older than 13 billion years, the complexity of DNA could not have formed by random chance.

To put it in contrast, we are told that the universe has 10 to the 85th power total atoms. That’s the number ten followed by 85 zeros. A big number for sure.

Now picture a number 471 times bigger than that. That is the odds that life came into being by Darwinian random chance. It really is beyond ridiculous. That is 10 to the 40,000th power against Darwinian theory.
Even if the the presence of carbon in the universe halved that number, as some proposed, it would still be beyond ridiculous to believe Darwin.

Each strand of DNA contains 3.1 Billion bits of highly ordered information. The recently discovered additional layer of hidden DNA will no doubt increase that number above the 3.1 Billion bits of information. Our universe is 13 billion years old. You don’t have to be a mathematical genius to see evolutionary random chance simply could not have the time to assemble our DNA.

Even Hawking can’t understand the complexity of why the universe goes to,“all the bother of existing”.

Apparently Hawking discovered that in the properties of the laws of physics, the big bang had to be precise withing 1 Quintillionth of a second or the universe would have immediately re-collapsed on itself.

This was only one of some 31 contingent events that all had to happen with such exact properties and in precise correlation to each of the other that it would take more faith to believe the Big Bang happened by mere random chance than it would to believe the Big Bang was carefully orchestrated by God.

Hawking confidently stated that the universe didn’t need God?

Why does the scientific society cling to old scientific theories that have been proven false by newer scientific fact ?

That question is an even tougher one to answer.
What we now know about DNA means that it takes more faith to believe in evolution than to believe that God is our Creator.

As time goes on and scientific gains are made in all areas of proven scientific fact, all facts increasingly support the miraculous and Biblical account of God as Author and Creator.

Science really is discovering how God did it.

God spoke, and it was, and at the core of life DNA echoes what God said. Information with order equals intelligence. The all knowing intelligence of God.

Consider this. God made us for a relationship with Him. And God has gone to even greater lengths to make a way for us back to Him.

As it is written in God’s word about Jesus in the Bible.

“giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.”
(Colossians 1:12-16)

Oxford Scientists Confirm Biblical Account of the Human Conscience – C.S.Lewis said it -“You Don’t Have a Soul – You Are a Soul – You Have a Body”

“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,”
(Genesis 1, The Bible)

Oxford scientists have discovered humans are unique from all species of living things.

The researchers identified two areas of the human brain that are both physically and functionality unique to humans.

Humans alone have physical portions of our brain designated to diserning good and evil.

Discribed as ,”Shaped like small stems of broccoli”, these areas are active when people are asked questions that challenge disernment between good and evil.

The significance of the fact that humans alone have the ability to judge good and evil has literally rocked the scientific and philosophical worlds.

But knowing the difference between good and evil does not mean that we can always choose to do good.

And that is where the issue of responsibility for our actions come becomes Biblical. That is what shows why only a Messiah, Jesus Christ, was necessary. Only Jesus could choose to do good and only the perfect and sinless One could pay for our sin.

The fact that we are physically different a major way confirms our Biblical description and need, and gives even more credence to the Jesus of the Bible.

Humans alone are designed to sense differences between good and evil, sin and righteousness.

We have the capacity to recognize Holiness even though we incapable of perfection ourselves.

Evolutionary theorists can no longer use animal behavior as a model for justification of human behavior and human cultural trends or sexual behavior.

Chimpanzees, Apes and Bonobo monkeys don’t have these uniquely human portions of the brain, nore do and other species of animal or mammal.

“And you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis in The Bible)

This new discovery supports the Biblical account of creation of the world and all that is in it.

Mankind was created by God and unique from all other species of creation to uniquely reflect the image of the Creator.

This new finding supports a non-evolutionary, Biblical account of creation, not primordial soup theory, or evolution at in any way.

The implications of a physical character of the human brain that is constructed to relate to a being who is the source of all that is good, holy, and righteous, is confirmation that humanity is unique in recognizing God for who and what He is. This is at the core of the truth most important to humanity.

The most important thing to humanity is to know we were created by God and for a relationship with God. And that sin separated us from God, but Christ died in our place to pay for our sin, and offers redemption to all who will only choose to receive Him as Lord and Savior.
“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,
according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
(Gen 1:26-27 NKJV)

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/you-say-lateral-frontal-pole-i-say-that-little-devilangel-that-whispers-in-my-ear-9094043.html

They Gave Christ a Cross, Not Guessing that He Would Make it a Throne

“He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.”

~James Stewart~

———————————

“It is a glorious phrase of the New Testament, that ‘he led captivity captive.’ 

The very triumphs of His foes, it means, he used for their defeat. He compelled their dark achievements to sub-serve his end, not theirs.

They nailed him to the tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to his feet.

They gave him a cross, not guessing that he would make it a throne.

They flung him outside the gates to die, not knowing that in that very moment they were lifting up all the gates of the universe, to let the King of Glory come in.

They thought to root out his doctrines, not understanding that they were implanting imperishably in the hearts of men the very name they intended to destroy.

They thought they had defeated God with His back the wall, pinned and helpless and defeated: they did not know that it was God Himself who had tracked them down.

He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.”

James Stewart (1896–1990) was a minister of the Church of Scotland

—————-

” And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

He has made alive together with Him,

having forgiven you all trespasses,

having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us,

which was contrary to us.

And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.

 Having disarmed principalities and powers,

He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

(Colossians 2:13-15)

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

(John 3:16)

God Required Holiness of Humanity – So God Provided Holiness to Humanity

God said,
“Be Holy because I am Holy.”

Man’s dilemma,
“all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

So God came down to man as a man,Immanuel, God with us.

and the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

after the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life,

Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting ?

 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,

that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 The Lord has shown his holy arm
    in the sight of all the nations,
all the ends of the earth have seen
    the salvation of our God.

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, 

the gospel of your salvation.

Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal,

 the promised Holy Spirit, 

who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance 

until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—

to the praise of his glory.

(Scripture references – 1 Peter 1:16,Romans 3:23,1 Corinthians 15:55, Matthew 1:23,2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 52,53, Ephesians 1:13-14)

Watch “The Cross – Billy Graham’s Message To America”

Witness the power and reality of a man who knows Christ to such a degree that he became God’s prophet to the nations of the world.

Millions have come to know Christ through the ministry of the Reverend Billy Graham.

Watch this video and see how God has used and is still using Billy Graham as His instrument to bring life through Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world.

” For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

The Deconstruction of Absolute Truth and the Arts

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

Imagine a painter throwing away half of his or her color palette.

Or imagine a black and white photograph without white, only shades of dark gray.

Whether the subject is painting,photography,theater, or literature, all the above involve using contrasts to make images or tell stories.

Painters use colors ranging from light to dark.

Photographers use bright sunlight to dark shadows.

Theater and literature use contrasts in good and evil, peace and conflict, justice and injustice, love and hatred,truth and falsehood.

Now imagine a World that no longer accepts or believes in Absolute Truth, where the contrasts between right and wrong are no longer clear, and men stumble in the darkness because they cannot see.

God of Truth – He is the Rock of Absolute Truth

An Absolute Firm Foundation

 

“He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.
For I proclaim the name of the Lord:
Ascribe greatness to our God.”

Deuteronomy 32:4,5

Related articles

• The Deconstruction of Absolute Truth and Unity – The Reason Society Can No Longer Reason (christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com)
• The Deconstruction of Absolute Truth and Creativity – The Loss of Inspiration and Innovation (christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com)
• The Deconstructionism of Truth and the Bible – The Biggest Threat to Any People (christcenteredteaching.wordpress.com)

 

Ethos,Pathos,Logos – The Image of God

Bust of Aristotle. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek bronze original by Lysippos from 330 BC; the alabaster mantle is a modern addition. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

God created man in His image.

Aristotle identified three primary areas of influence and response that comprise the mind, heart, and soul of mankind.

He called them Ethos, Pathos, and logos.

God is sovereign and all Powerful- this is Ethos

God is the author of wisdom and is all knowing- this is Logos

God is Love and so loved the world He gave His Son – this is Pathos

The Psalms puts it this way;

Psalms 139:1-4 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways. For there  is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.”

God knows us, understands us, comprehends us altogether because He loves us.

His pathos brought His ethos and logos to our rescue.

His pathos / love bridged the gap between us and God through Christ.

God wants our love as well.

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6)

The most remarkable thing about what God requires from us is that He gave all of himself for us in Christ first.

He expressed all His ethos, pathos, and logos for our benefit through the cross.

Is God not worthy of all our love in return?

Everything Connects to Everything Else ~ Leonardo da Vinci ~

“Study the art of science and the science of art.”

“Especially, learn how to see.
Realize that everything connects to everything else”

~Leonardo da Vinci~

This quote by da Vinci reveals the primary guiding principles of one of the great minds of art and science.

As a Christian, I can see how da Vinci had discovered that all things were connected.

Connection implies a common origin.

Scripture states that ALL things came from Christ.

In Christ all things find origin and connection.

Colossians 1:17
“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸ And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

(Colossians 1:15-20)

This big wheel of life centers on Christ. He is the one of whom all things begin and end and are held together.

Christ is the Center by which all things are connected.

“How Great is Our God: with Louie Giglio (full video)” 40 min.

( Click here for the full Video )

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. Psalms 33:6

Louie Giglio blows our minds as we try to grasp the enormity of God’s creation.

Just a glance into the massive universe that God has made adjusts our view of God in contrast to our sin and struggles.

Pastor Giglio also tells of what is known of DNA and how it further proves , “we are fearfully and wonderfully made”.

Then Giglio tells how he was approached by a molecular biologist on one occasion after telling of the bigness of God. This man challenged Giglio to tell everyone about the protein, “Laminin”. This protein literally holds us together. Amazingly,under an electron microscope, a single Laminin protein resembles a cross.

Here is the definition of Laminin that I found in Wikipedia.

“The trimeric proteins intersect to form a cross-like structure that can bind to other cell membrane and extracellular matrix molecules.”

Even more amazingly beautiful is the alignment with the Bible as it describes how Christ,,” holds all things together.”

“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:15-20)

This is an amazing sermon about our amazing God who’s love is beyond the vastness of the entire universe, yet reaches to the smallest detail of who and what we are.

God’s signature and compassion is literally everywhere.

“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

( Galatians 6:14 )

The Pathway to Blessing

Commitment on Trial

Genesis 22:4-18

Abraham began walking with the Lord many years before he was asked to offer Isaac on the altar. His first step had been to leave his home and relatives and go to a land God pledged to show him. But now he was being told to give up the person he cherished most. Isaac was the son of promise–the one through whom God would bring forth a great nation and bless the entire world. This was the biggest challenge Abraham had ever faced, yet he obeyed.

The Lord never allows us to rest on a spiritual plateau. That’s why He at times tests our commitment. These stretching opportunities are an expression of His love because He knows that standing still is not what’s best for us. The testing is designed to help us grow in faith, obedience, and spiritual maturity while increasing our dedication. That is the way we become valuable servants in His kingdom.

Abraham’s obedience to this crucial test was determined by his understanding of God. He believed that the Lord would keep His promise to give him descendants through Isaac, even if it required raising the boy from the dead (Heb. 11:17-19). That’s why Abraham confidently declared to his servants, “We will worship and return to you” (Gen. 22:5, emphasis added). He knew the Lord was faithful.

If you’re going through a time of testing, God is seeking to raise your commitment to a new level. He wants to prove to you that He’s faithful to His promises and will greatly bless you for your obedience. The stretching may be painful, but He will wrap you in His love and carry you to victory.

Charles Stanley

These Great Minds Believed in The God and Father of Jesus Christ

There is no shortage of great minds professing belief in God. Let no one insult your intelligence for joining the ranks of these men: Paul of Tarsus, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, John Damascene, Origen, Augustine, John Chrysostom, Boethius, Erigena, Anselm, Abelard, Aquinas, Bonaventura, Scotus, Ockham, Nicholas of Cusa, Cajetan, Luther, Calvin,

Thomas Aquinas

Copernicus

Kepler

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Leonardo Da Vinci

 Michelangelo

BlaisePascal

 Galileo

Sir Isaac Newton

Louis Pasteur

Tolstoy

Dostoyevsky

G.K.Chesterson

C.S.Lewis

T.S.Eliot

Tim Keller

Kepler, Bacon, Ignatius Loyola, Dante, da Vinci, Michelangelo, Descartes, Pascal, Leibniz, Berkeley, Copernicus, Newton, Kierkegaard, Newman, Pasteur, Jaspers, Marcel, Galileo, Tolstoy, Chesterton, Dostoyevsky, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis and Tim Keller.

https://www.facebook.com/Logical.Faith/posts/412949245438955

The Virgin Birth – Christianity Has a Divine Founder Who Is Fully God and Fully Man – Jesus Christ.

The Virgin Birth – Christianity Has a Divine Founder Who Is Fully God and Fully Man- Jesus Christ. 

Whose Son Is the Christ?

(From The Bible) Matthew 22:40-46

^” While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says,

 ‘The Lord said to my Lord:
    “Sit at my right hand
until I put your enemies
    under your feet.”

 If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.”

 

Simply put….

 God didn’t make another God. Jesus is God as fully man and fully God. 

The Holy Spirit of God made life happen in the virgin, Mary’s womb.

God can do anything as big as He wants.

Even if His ways are bigger than our minds can grasp.

 Thats why its called faith….

 

The Road Map For Renewal For America – Gospel Shaped Ministry – By Tim Keller

“Gospel ministry is endlessly creative,it’s ever new,it means that you can preach the Gospel and you never have to be afraid of boring people.”

“The Gospel is what every theological category should be expounding when we do our theology.”

 “Every sermon ought to be about Jesus. It doesn’t matter what passage, or if it’s the Old Testament or the New Testament,it should be Jesus”

“Father, we want to be Gospel shaped people now.”

Tim Keller

This video is 54 minutes long.

If you can watch this video but only  have time for a few minutes of it, I suggest you watch the last 11 minutes, and come back for the rest later.

If you can watch the entire video you may conclude it is one of the best, and perhaps the best sermon I have posted by Tim Keller.

If you cannot watch the entire video, I will be posting more quotes from this video as I find the time. Please come back for more.

Ayn Rand on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, 1967 – She Was An Atheist

Ayn Rand,Author of Atlas Shrugged, First Appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, 1967

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

Part 1 -This is the same interview from a different source in case the first one has been removed again-

Part 2 – This is the same interview from a different source in case the first one has been removed again-

“Mankind suffers from two excesses: to exclude reason, and to live by nothing but reason.” ~ Blaise Pascal~
Faith owns the comprehension of things eternal.
Reason owns the comprehension of things temporal.
The eternal transcends the temporal.

Carson did an incredible job interviewing Rand. Although the video is 26 minutes long, the basis for her beliefs and philosophy are revealed in the first few minutes.

He starts right off by asking her,“What are the basic principles of your definition of objectivity and of your philosophy you believe in ?”

Her answer said it all, “The basic principle of objectivism is that man must be guided exclusively by reason.”

This glaring hole in her philosophy exposes her atheism,which she openly professed to believe.

We all have the right and freedom to choose our own path and destiny, but to deny the laws that govern the means of arriving at our desired destination belong to our creator, whom she openly denies to exist.

“The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17)

The laws of reason and nature do not dictate the actions or ability of the Creator.

Rather, God dictates the laws that apply to us, and He lives beyond those limitations.

To believe in God’s unlimited abilities is to have faith, which transcends reason.

The seeds of postmodernism can be found in her belief that we should arrive at the same moral truth purely by reason.

Time has proven Rand is wrong.

She believed that altruism and self interest were in opposition to each other and that society must choose one or the other.

Yet she even conceded to Carson that philosophy had many definitions for morality and what is ethical.

Rand believed in capitalism. What she failed to see was that capitalism only works so long as democracy is sustained.

Democracy is dependent on freedom, and freedom requires personal responsibility.
Personal responsibility requires a moral standard. Jesus is that standard, and His sacrifice is our model.

A moral standard is sameness.

This is where Ayn Rand has been proven wrong.

The predominate philosophy today is postmodernism, the belief that,”what you believe is okay for you and what I believe is okay for me.”

Postmodernism does not fulfill Rand’s vision of a single standard for morals and ethics.

Having come from an extreme socialist country, Russia, she clearly disavowed forced altruism,which is what socialism is.

But Rand however did not disavow Communism’s atheism. For had she embraced Christianity, she would have seen in Christ, the inspiration for self sacrifice that most of our founding fathers saw and followed.

Jesus Christ is the supreme symbol of moral standard many signers of our Declaration of Independence followed when they willfully gave their lives and possessions for a higher ideal.

Ayn Rand’s philosophy is anti-socialistic, which would appeal to fiscal conservatives who do not have a well developed religious philosophy.

The problem is that Ayn Rand’s philosophy is also fatally anti-democratic.

Selfishness leads to greed, which is not only morally wrong, it is killing our politics, banking system, government and people.
And when self becomes the god of a nation, democracy fails.

John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (NIV Bible)

Proverbs 19:17 “He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord,
And He will pay back what he has given.”

“Mankind suffers from two excesses: to exclude reason, and to live by nothing but reason.” ~ Blaise Pascal~

“Counterfeit Gods”- Video Summary of Tim Keller’s Book By The Same Title – Jeff Bethke – 5 min.

Based on Tim Keller’s book ,”Counterfeit Gods”, this may be Jefferson Bethke’s best work yet.

They say ,”Counterfeit God’s”,may be Tim Keller’s best work yet.

And the two combined make for a powerful video with a strong Christian message.

We all worship something. We are hope based creatures, and all place our hope or happiness in something or someone.

But even the best of us will let you down.

But Jesus never will.

If we pin our hopes or happiness on it, that is a clue it is a counterfeit god.

If we can’t give it up, we don’t own it, it owns us, and is a counterfeit god.

Counterfeit Gods take many forms like jobs, money, possessions, duty,style,sex,drugs, pleasure,ease,companionship, power, accomplishment,even religion.

None of these things would die for us.

None of these things give ultimate hope.

But Jesus did die for us.

All other things, if you serve them, will take everything from you.

He is the only God who gave everything for you.
Why not give everything to the only true God who will never betray you?

You Shall Love The Lord Your God

“Whatever your heart clings to and confides in, that is really your God.” ~MartinLuther~

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.” (Deuteronomy 6:3-6)

We are commanded to love God.

The command is actually the context for the Ten Commandments.

As Martin Luther pointed out,“We do not disobey any of the other commandments until we first disobey this, “You shall love the Lord your God.”

God gave this command in the old testament. God gave Christ, the ultimate reason to love Him, in the new testament.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. ” John 3:16

If an all-powerful, all-knowing God would give everything for, why would you not trust Him and love Him?

He knows suffering, because He suffered.

What more could He do?

Cling to Jesus Christ.

The NEW Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept that you can do anything, Courage to believe I can do all things through Christ, And wisdom to believe it is so.”– God Came Down

“The Spirit which rests upon Jesus must anoint us also, or the measure of faith will not be enlarged.”
Breathe then the prayer to God, my brother, “Increase my faith:” this will be a far wiser course than to resolve in your own strength, “I will believe more,” for, perhaps, in rebuke of your pride you will fall into a decaying state, and even believe less. After having made so vainglorious a resolution, you may fall into grievous despondency: do not therefore say, “I will accumulate more faith,” but pray “Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief.” Herein is your wisdom.”– C.H.Spurgeon —

God Grant Me Faith – Prayer

Lord thank you for the faith to change what I can, the courage to believe nothing is too hard for you, and the wisdom to know that for sure. — God Came Down

“The Spirit which rests upon Jesus must anoint us also, or the measure of faith will not be enlarged.”
Breathe then the prayer to God, my brother, “Increase my faith:” this will be a far wiser course than to resolve in your own strength, “I will believe more,” for, perhaps, in rebuke of your pride you will fall into a decaying state, and even believe less. After having made so vainglorious a resolution, you may fall into grievous despondency: do not therefore say, “I will accumulate more faith,” but pray “Lord, I believe, help my unbelief.” Herein is your wisdom.”– C.H.Spurgeon —

We Will All Stand Before God, And Adore Him

“Look unto me, and be you saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.”(Isaiah 45:22 45:23)

To behold God is to behold Perfectly complete beauty.

To behold God is at once to be amazed in rapture and awe.
All of nature’s glory combined can’t come close to the glory of the one Creator.

We will see God.
Everyone will behold His glory and splendor, and will desire nothing more than to bask in His presence forever.
We will kneel before Him and His perfect majesty.

I personally believe that even the unquenchable torments of the fires of Hell will not compare with the eternal torment of having witnessed God in all His splendor, and not being able to partake in His eternal presence, but being eternally cast from Him whom we were created to adore.

The Book of Life will be opened, and all who’s name are not written in it will be cast into the Lake of Fire.
But I can’t help but believe that the thing that will be even worse than Hell’s fire will be the experience God’s presence and then being torn away from Him and His perfect love,perfect beauty and glory forever.

John 1:12
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:”

His name is Jesus

The Lonely Sparrow -The Prince of Preachers Reflection on Psalm 102

English: A male House Sparrow in Victoria, Australia in March 2008 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

This stood out in Spurgeon’s commentary on the first part of Psalm 102:

 

Can you relate?

 

“He who has felt himself to be so weak and inconsiderable as to have no more power over his times than a sparrow over a city, has also, when bowed down with despondency concerning the evils of the age, sat himself down in utter wretchedness to lament the ills which he could not heal. Christians of an earnest, watchful kind often find themselves among those who have no sympathy with them; even in the church they look in vain for kindred spirits; then do they persevere in their prayers and labours, but feel themselves to be as lonely as the poor bird which looks from the ridge of the roof, and meets with no friendly greeting from any of its kind,”

 

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

 

 

Psalm 102:1-7

A prayer of an afflicted man. When he is faint and pours out his lament before the Lord.

^{1 “}Hear my prayer, O Lord;
    let my cry for help come to you.
² Do not hide your face from me
    when I am in distress.
Turn your ear to me;
    when I call, answer me quickly.

³ For my days vanish like smoke; 
    my bones burn like glowing embers.
⁴ My heart is blighted and withered like grass; 
    I forget to eat my food. 
⁵ Because of my loud groaning
I am reduced to skin and bones.
⁶ I am like a desert owl,
like an owl among the ruins.
⁷ I lie awake; I have become
like a bird alone on a roof.”

“Verse 5. By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. He became emaciated with sorrow. He had groaned himself down to a living skeleton, and so in his bodily appearance was the more like the smoke-dried, withered, burnt-up things to which he had previously compared himself.”

“It will be a very long time before the distresses of the church of God make some Christians shrivel into anatomies, but this good man was so moved with sympathy for Zion’s ills that he was wasted down to skin and bone.”

“Verse 6. I am like a pelican of the wilderness, a mournful and even hideous object, the very image of desolation. I am like an owl of the desert; loving solitude, moping among ruins, hooting discordantly. The Psalmist likens himself to two birds which were commonly used as emblems of gloom and wretchedness; on other occasions he had been as the eagle, but the griefs of his people had pulled him down, the brightness was gone from his eye, and the beauty from his person; he seemed to himself to be as a melancholy bird sitting among the fallen palaces and prostrate temples of his native land. Should not we also lament when the ways of Zion mourn and her strength languishes?”

“Were there more of this holy sorrow we should soon see the Lord returning to build up his church. It is ill for men to be playing the peacock with worldly pride when the ills of the times should make them as mournful as the pelican; and it is a terrible thing to see men flocking like vultures to devour the prey of a decaying church, when they ought rather to be lamenting among her ruins like the owl.”

“Verse 7. I watch, and am like a sparrow alone upon the house-top: I keep a solitary vigil as the lone sentry of my nation; my fellows are too selfish, too careless to care for the beloved land, and so like a bird which sits alone on the housetop, I keep up a sad watch over my country. The Psalmist compared himself to a bird,—a bird when it has lost its mate or its young, or is for some other reason made to mope alone in a solitary place. Probably he did not refer to the cheerful sparrow of our own land, but if he did, the illustration would not be out-of-place, for the sparrow is happy in company, and if it were alone, the sole one of its species in the neighbourhood, there can be little doubt that it would become very miserable, and sit and pine away.” 

“He who has felt himself to be so weak and inconsiderable as to have no more power over his times than a sparrow over a city, has also, when bowed down with despondency concerning the evils of the age, sat himself down in utter wretchedness to lament the ills which he could not heal. Christians of an earnest, watchful kind often find themselves among those who have no sympathy with them; even in the church they look in vain for kindred spirits; then do they persevere in their prayers and labours, but feel themselves to be as lonely as the poor bird which looks from the ridge of the roof, and meets with no friendly greeting from any of its kind.”

Heavenly Father,

Turn our hearts toward you in Christ.

Break our hearts with what breaks yours.

Open our eyes to Jesus and everything we are and have in Him!

Save us as a people and a world who needs you.

In Jesus name.

Amen

 

What the Church Has to Offer – Jesus The Lamb of God – The Huffington Post?

“What the Church has to offer must center on an enactment of the life of Jesus. Inexplicably, the churches of the right, left and middle have tended away from Christ’s vivid example of living and dying, offering church-likeness instead of Christ-likeness.” (The author)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mobileweb/mark-labberton-phd/what-the-church-has-to-offer_b_1681111.html?utm_hp_ref=religion&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000008

Defending The Faith – Sometimes The Best Answer is a Question

” A question that allows the questioner to think through their own logic is a good question.”

Tim Keller- Hell: Isn’t the God of Christianity an Angry Judge?” Video – 35 Min.

http://wp.me/p1Lr49-er

Tim Keller, D.A.Carson and John Piper Talk About Christianity Part 6 of 6 (10 Min.) Video

Tim Keller, D.A.Carson and John Piper Talk About Christianity Part 5 of 6 (10 Min.) Video

Tim Keller,D.A. Carson and John Piper Talk About Christianity Part 4 of 6 (10 Min.) Video

Tim Keller, D.A.Carson and John Piper Talk About Christianity Part 2 of 6 (10 Min.) Video

God is a Father to the Fatherless

 

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. “( Psalm 68:5)

To anyone and everyone who ever had a father and for whatever reason he is no longer present,

To all who never knew what it was like to have a father there for them when they needed him,

To all who did have a father there but he only made them wish he was not there because he was not a good father,…

God is a father to the fatherless.

No matter if you are young or old, God will be the father to you that you need.

He is love,

He is ever-present,

He is all-knowing,

He is all-powerful,

Nothing is too hard for Him,

He has provided our greatest need,

He will never forsake you.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6,7)

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

Written by Martin Luther in 1529, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, is a reflection of the heart , mind ,and faith of The Father of The Reformation of The Church of Our Lord and God Jesus Christ. Reading the lyrics to this song reveal what Luther valued most.

I have memorized this song and found it to be of great encouragement, for at times these words ring true for for me and I’m sure for all believers almost 500 years after Luther wrote them.

Enjoy!

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing: For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; His craft and pow’r are great, and, armed with cruel hate, On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, Were not the right Man on our side, the Man of God’s own choosing: Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is He; Lord Sabaoth, His Name, from age to age the same, And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us; The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly pow’rs, no thanks to them, abideth; The Spirit and the gifts are ours through Him Who with us sideth; Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; The body they may kill: God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever.