Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Archive for May, 2016

Aiden-WastedSpaceDoncha just love how arrogant we human beings can be sometimes?

That’s the first thought that went through my head when I saw this graphic in an atheist internet community. The quote is from an American author, blogger (we have something in common!) and atheist activist.

Think about his statement for a minute. Then think about all the things humanity DOESN’T know. Like what is consciousness? How do we store and access memories? Does life exist anywhere else in the universe? Why are moths attracted to light? Who is responsible for creating hip-hop? (OK, that last one might show my bias.)

This little list is just the start. Spend some time researching on the Internet and you’ll find a universe of articles delving into the myriad of other things we humans simply don’t know or understand.

So ye gotta give Hemant Mehta for his audacious ego. I mean, who is he — or anyone else, for that matter — to declare that if humanity is God’s special creation, then the universe is full of a “lot of wasted space?” How would Mehta credibly define “wasted space” in the universe?

I do believe humans are God’s special creation. To our limited knowledge, no other creature has anywhere near our level of self-awareness. Or awareness of a world beyond our own. Or awareness that something, or someone, must have created it all.

To me, all these “awarenesses” are a gift from the creator and master of time, space and the universe. The One who decided there would be air to breathe, music to hear and way, WAY too much reality TV. (OK, God didn’t decide that last one. “Reality” television is a cunning and diabolical Hollywood initiative.)

As God’s special creation, most of us have a clear knowledge of right and wrong. It’s called the Moral Law and without a creator, it simply wouldn’t exist.

Most of us also know we’re a long, LONG way from anything resembling “perfect”. Indeed, humanity can’t even agree on what is perfection.

From my faith perspective — I follow Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is God’s Son — I’m relieved that I don’t have to address that idea. Jesus followers like me know that perfection is established by our creator. And it’s utterly out of our reach, no matter what we do or how hard we try. It’s like hoping a certain U.S. business mogul and politician will develop class and empathy. Not gonna happen.

Those of us who follow Jesus are blessed in that we don’t have to be perfect to satisfy our creator. Oh, we still have to strive for it. But even as we fall short (it’s called “sin”), God offers all of humanity a gift — the life, teachings, sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus.

God wants perfection. That’s a fact. And when we accept the gift of Jesus, when we make Him our Lord and Saviour, God doesn’t see the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do. He sees only the perfection of His Son. Then he welcomes us to spend eternity with Him.

Sound appealing? Yes or no, post your comments below and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »

Elegance Richard Dawkins If you’re not sure there’s a god, but you’re open to spirituality, then give this graphic (kindly supplied by an atheist internet community) a moment of thought.

Am I crazy? Or do you also think the message seems….contradictory? I mean, how can ANYTHING be elegant if it’s just random?

Toss a handful of potato chips on the ground. According to Richard Dawkins – one of the world’s best known and most provocative atheists – the scrambled, disorganized puzzle you see is somehow elegant. And all on its own.

I was extraordinarily blessed to visit the west coast of Canada’s Vancouver Island recently. As I walked along the glorious beaches, I came across a sand dollar. You can see one of the photos I made of it just below.

Now Wikipedia describes this exquisite creation as “a species of extremely flattened, burrowing sea urchins belonging to the order Clypeasteroida”.

But look at that unfathomably artistic pattern. Wikipedia’s clinical explanation says “The petal-like pattern in sand dollars consists of five paired rows of pores. The pores are perforations in the endoskeleton through which podia for gas exchange project from the body.”

SandDollarLook at that sand dollar pattern again. Did it really have to be organized like this? Centuries ago, only the most Rembrandt-like artist could have come anywhere close to conjuring up this design out of nowhere.

Today, the rest of us couldn’t do as well with a Spyrograph (the geometric drawing toy). And yet, there are people in our world who will insist, to their dying breath, that this is utterly random.

Bringing up unfathomable artistry leads me to the comments of Ross Carkner, my wise pastor friend to whom I showed the graphic that inspired this blog.

I immediately think of painting by Rembrandt or VanGogh … when I do, the statement in this graphic just seems to be so stupid! Their paintings had a master who gave them elegance.

Symphonies and operas that move people and touch deep parts of the soul have a passionate composer, gifted musicians and a talented conductor – they work together to give paper with ink blotches elegance.

Even a snow flake is not random. Its elegance is created by forces outside of itself – temperature and moisture. But Richard Dawkins wants to see no consistency in life … nature is random but humanity is somehow organized. Where did human beings get the compulsion to organize everything? Why do we not live out the random existence found in creation??? We don’t, because creation was organized, not random.

So what am I getting at? Not only is there a creator, there is a creator who regularly conjures up unique and fantastical creations. That includes me and YOU.

However, by living our lives as if we have no creator, we inevitably do wrong and fail to do right.

How can we fix this problem? On our own, we simply can’t. But God can. He offers us Jesus – His divine son whose life, sacrificial death and glorious resurrection makes up for all the wrongs of anyone who accepts the gift of Him.

Follow Jesus and He’ll change your life, for the better, for now and for all eternity. Interested? Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

Read Full Post »