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UNPACKING THE TRUTH

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 21, 2019| 1 Comment »

A few months ago, I found an entertaining blog that listed “32 Reasons to be an Atheist (as Opposed to a Christian),” by someone calling themselves ‘Violetwisp’.

I responded to some of them — you can read the response here: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-rT — but Violetwisp’s content is so rich that I’m revisiting it to tell you more about the truth of following Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is God’s Son). So let’s check out four more of those 32 points:

22. You can look at natural wonders and be amazed by them instead of thinking an all-powerful deity made them on a whim or plan.

Fascinating how this is presented as an “either-or” thing. Why can’t I be amazed by natural wonders AND think about their creator? Is it really wrong or backward to simply say “thanks for making this, God,” when I experience a mountain lake or a prairie sunrise?

23. You don’t have to worry that every political shift in the world is a sign of the inevitable end times.

Yes, there are Jesus followers who fixate on the end of the world and how this or that event is leading us to it.

I feel bad for those folks. They seem to forget that even Jesus didn’t know when the world would end. He says “No one knows when that day or time will be. The Son and the angels in heaven don’t know when it will be. Only the Father knows.”

That statement alone should be enough to stop people from wasting time on the unanswerable question – especially when Jesus spent far more of his time telling us the best ways to live in the here and now.

24. You don’t have to worry about dying because there’s no sense that maybe you didn’t make it with your brand of faith (what if the Mormons are right?).

Sadly, there are some people who, despite having accepted God’s gift of His Son (and assurance of eternity in Heaven with Him) still worry about what happens after they die.

Sometimes, I’m one of them. I get caught up in this world’s superficial, ultimately meaningless concerns. I forget that I have nothing to worry about – and you won’t either, if you decide to follow Jesus.

25. You can let your children make up their mind about life, and not brainwash them with a specific belief.

It’s my firm belief that everyone, including me, is brainwashed in some way. (I explain that belief here: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-nb). I also know that as they grow up, children will receive a tsunami of brainwashing about our culture’s likes and dislikes.

Based on that, every parent should equip their children with a solid anchor when that brainwashing takes place. That’s why I write that Jesus followers who don’t tell their children about the benefits (and challenges) of following Jesus are seriously shirking their duty.

These parents are allowing others to twist and shape their children’s beliefs on something of utmost importance. After all, what happens after this life ends is gonna last a whole lot longer than the 70 or 80 years most of us have on planet earth.

So, what do you think about these four reasons and my responses? Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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WHEN ATHEISTS AND JESUS FOLLOWERS SHAKE HANDS

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 6, 2019| 2 Comments »

I discovered this fascinating meme on Pinterest then, after confirming its authenticity (Jillette is half of the renowned Penn & Teller duo of magicians), I decided to see if my life as a follower of Jesus of Nazareth is compatible with his commandments.

Let’s go through the list.

1. Intelligence, creativity and love are wonderful ideals. The last one, in fact, is so important that an ancient Jesus follower wrote “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love”.

2. Putting things or ideas above other people inevitably leads to disaster. Look at the misery caused by ideas like communism and fascism. Look how some people drive themselves into bankruptcy in their pursuit of a bigger house, fancier vehicles and more vacations. So I’m definitely with Penn on this one.

3. Saying what you mean, even when talking to yourself, is a great ‘commandment’; how many of us delude ourselves—and others—through carefully worded deceptions?

4. Putting aside time to rest and think is vital. In fact, it’s a pillar of following Jesus. Not only do ancient writers and prophets depict God as resting after creating the universe, one of the Ten Commandments (#4) tells us “Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don’t do any work.”

5. Loving your parents, partner and children is sometimes hard (given complicated family dynamics), but it’s still a no-brainer for pretty much everyone.

6. Respect and protect all human life. Yes! That’s why most serious Jesus followers are pro-life.

7. Keep your promises. Of course. And this requires us to be very thoughtful about what promises we make.

8. Don’t steal. So glad atheists like Penn agree with #8 in God’s Ten Commandments. 🙂

9. Don’t lie. This one lines up with #9 in God’s Ten Commandments.

10. Wasting time wishing, hoping and being envious? There’s nothing wrong with a little hoping. In fact, one of Jesus’s earliest followers wrote “I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace as you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope.” Envy? Another ancient writer addressed it this way: “A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh, but envy makes the bones rot.”

How about that? Turns out Jesus followers and atheists have more in common than many folks might think. So, if you’re one of those people who leans toward atheism, maybe it’s time to give Jesus an open-minded second look.

In fact, you might find the ideas that (1) you actually have a soul and it’s vitally important to Someone, and (2) there’s an eternity beyond our 80-or-so years of working, eating and sleeping to be very attractive.

Your thoughts? Post them below and Let’s have a conversation.

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UNPACKING THE REASONS

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 13, 2019| 3 Comments »

Lists are usually easy and fun to read, so I’ve been enjoying “32 Reasons to be an Atheist (as Opposed to a Christian)”, a blog by someone calling themselves ‘Violetwisp’.

Many of his/her points are worth consideration by people who are open to spirituality. Let’s check out a few of them:

1. You don’t have to get up on Sunday mornings if you don’t feel like it. This is referring to attending church services. Well, I’m a church goer and there are Sundays when I don’t go. People who follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) don’t have to go to church—indeed, going to church doesn’t make anyone a Jesus follower, just as going to McDonald’s doesn’t make anyone a Big Mac.

The idea behind attending church is to be surrounded by people who are doing their best to follow Jesus. Together, we learn from each other and from our leaders what it means to be a Jesus follower. And there’s no one taking attendance.

3. You don’t have to fake smile at people and pretend God is making your life wonderful. Sadly, there are lots of Jesus followers who are faking their way through their faith. Sometimes, I’m one of them. The key thing that ‘Violetwisp’ misses here is that Jesus never, ever promised people that following Him would make their lives wonderful.

In fact, sometimes following Jesus makes my life harder—for example, I’m the only Jesus follower in my biological family and that creates some challenges. But that’s OK; I didn’t decide to follow Him to put me on Easy Street. I follow Him because on my own, I can’t make me the person I want to be. But He can and, by the time this life ends, I’ll be much closer to that ideal person.

4. You can stop pretending that three gods are one god. This is referring to the Trinity, a key element of following Jesus that says there is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Do I understand this fully? Certainly not. Does this cause me to lose sleep? Certainly not.

I don’t need to understand how the Trinity works to believe it, just as I don’t need to understand how airplanes defy gravity before taking a flight.

11. You don’t have to worry about your god being racist, choosing only one ethnic group to care about, then deciding Europe and North America are worth it only in recent years, but Asia is a lost cause. Just because God started His mysterious, planet-changing work in the Middle East hardly means he doesn’t care about the rest of the world.

In fact, one of the primary source documents of Jesus’s life fully explains how He thinks about humanity: God loved the world [that means everyone in it, including Asians] so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.

God wants all people—including YOU—to accept the gift of His Son and, through Him, have their sins forgiven and spend eternity in Heaven. Interested? Yes or no, share your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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ARE FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE ENEMIES?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 4, 2018| 20 Comments »

This meme, helpfully supplied by an atheist faith community, left me puzzled.

The viewpoint, from the creator of the animated TV shows Family Guy, American Dad and The Cleveland Show, sets up an adversarial relationship between faith and knowledge.

So let’s ask the question: are faith and knowledge compatible? Does one have to “win” over the other?

Consider the words from thoughtful people of faith:

Blogger Tom Gilson (ThinkingChristian.net) says “belief doesn’t arrive out of thin air, or wishful thinking, or fear, or hopefulness, or (especially) pretending. There is a strong knowledge connection there.”

The website BibleAsk.org goes even further, stating “There is no such thing as ‘blind’ faith. Genuine faith is built on facts presented to the mind. Faith and knowledge are never in contradiction. Knowledge always comes before faith, and where there is no knowledge there can be no faith. Without knowledge, it is impossible to have faith.”

The point here is that thoughtful followers of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the Son of God) have no interest in the either-or relationship between faith and knowledge advanced by Seth MacFarlane and others. And they’re backed up by the ancient writers and prophets. Chew on these examples:

  • Wise people want to learn more, so they listen closely to gain knowledge.
  • Intelligent people want more knowledge, but fools only want more nonsense.
  • Drinking from the beautiful chalice of knowledge is better than adorning oneself with gold and rare gems.

Most Jesus followers take these words seriously. In fact, some of those Jesus followers, like author and geneticist Francis S. Collins, are among the most knowledgeable in the world and they work to advance knowledge, not hinder it. You can read about just a few of these people here: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-3o.

So that’s the good news. You can accept God’s gift of His Son — whose sacrificial death and amazing resurrection makes up for all the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do — and also advance the cause of knowledge. Both are utterly, beautifully compatible.

Interesting in knowing more about Jesus and how He can make you into the person God intends you to be? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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THE TRUTH ABOUT ‘BELIEF SYSTEMS’

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 5, 2018| 7 Comments »

As soon as I saw this meme, found in a Facebook atheist group, my “spidey-sense” started tingling because it presents a golden opportunity to tell you the truth about “belief systems”.

First of all, every person on this planet has a belief system, including atheists. I’ve had hundreds of online interactions with atheist people. In almost every encounter, I’ve found:

  1. They believe there is nothing behind all we see and experience
.
  2. They believe humans have no soul, so when we die, all that we are becomes nothing more than rancid worm food (sorry to be so blunt, but it’s necessary).
  3. They believe all people of faith are deluded, lacking in intelligence and even dangerous.

So…do you honestly think (as the meme suggests) that your belief system has submerged you in mediocrity and distracted you from the real dangers of our existence?

Let me toss something else your way. Think about the often horrifying history of humanity. Think about our culture as it is today—the obsession with social media and celebrities, the belief that being “politically correct” will somehow make life better for everyone, the fixation on getting more money, more “toys” and more power.

Does all this make you even slightly confident that humanity can somehow save the world without any help?

You might be feeling a little down now, so let me reveal a belief system that’s shot through with hope for you and for humanity.

This belief system starts with the creator and master of time, space and the universe. He loves every person on this planet, including YOU, He knows you better than you know yourself and He wants to be involved in your life.

What do I base this on? Consider the words of Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is God’s Son:

All who love me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them. My Father and I will come to them and live with them.

From an ancient prophet:

You [God] know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts from far away. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do.

So how can you let God get involved in your life? Accept the gift of His Son. When you do that, God no longer sees the wrong things you’ve done and the right things you’ve failed to do. He only sees His Son’s perfection. And then Jesus comes into your life and starts to make you more like Him. It’s a process that won’t end until you’re in Heaven with Jesus.

Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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WHAT KIND OF GOD CAN YOU RESPECT?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 17, 2018| 6 Comments »

Wow. There’s a lot of heavy stuff to digest here. So let me break it down as best as I can and hopefully help you see things very differently than the atheist who created and published this meme.

1.  As much as followers of Jesus of Nazareth may try, we can’t “save” anyone from spending eternity separated from the creator and master of time, space and the universe. Only God can do that, and thousands of years of history suggests that more often than not, He chooses to do that saving through very imperfect people like me.

2.  God has absolutely ZERO desire to “torture” anyone, even people that you and I may think deserve to be tortured. One of men trained by Jesus to tell people about God describes God’s character like this: God is being patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning.

In fact, God wants every person on this planet to be in Heaven with Him and Jesus, who many people believe is God’s Son. This can be infuriating to some people, because they want particularly nasty people to “burn in hell”.

I’m so thankful that God’s willingness to forgive everyone, for all the wrong things they’ve done and the right things they’ve failed to do, is so much broader than any forgiveness even the best of us humans can ever offer. (Here’s just one astonishing example of God’s unfathomable forgiveness: https://wp.me/p2wzRb-6K.)

3.  Who puts who into hell? Consider the person who created this meme. He or she seems to have pretty good basic knowledge of Jesus. Not only has this person rejected every part of Him, he or she has gone out of their way to make that rejection public.

The only possible conclusion from this is they’ve decided they want to spend eternity separated from their creator. So God will grant that wish, even as He’s patiently hoping they’ll change their minds (see the quote above.)

4.  After everything I’ve written, you shouldn’t be surprised to know that I can’t love, respect, worship or believe in the kind of god this atheist created, then rejected. So we’re absolutely in agreement on this.

I can confidently write that the creator of the universe has a gift for YOU. That gift is Jesus — His life and astonishing teachings, His horrible death on a Roman cross (to make up for the “sins” of everyone who believes in Him and follows Him) and His triumphant resurrection.

All you need to do is accept that gift, then watch as Jesus enters into your life and begins to change you for the better, all in preparation for spending eternity with Him. Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FROM SICKENING THOUGHT TO BEAUTIFUL TRUTH

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 1, 2017| 39 Comments »

When I first encountered this atheist graphic, I experienced a moment of heart sickness because there are Christians out there who actually think like this.

I see this kind of horrific mindset every time someone who claims to follow Jesus of Nazareth (whom many people believe is the divine Son of God) almost gleefully tells gay people or atheist people that they’re going to burn in hell.

it’s almost as if they think God WANTS some people to burn. Not only is that a sickening thought, it’s also wrong, wrong, wrong.

Here’s the truth, according to the original-source biographies of Jesus and writings by His earliest followers:

  • God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost, but have eternal life.
  • God is being patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be lost. He wants everyone to change their ways and stop sinning.
  • God wants everyone to be saved and to fully understand the truth.

Does any of this sound like God is holding a lighter, just itching to turn you into a screaming torch?

These ancient quotes point to an important bottom line: every person on this planet has done wrong and failed to do right. No exceptions. And this is serious business because according to Jesus, God is perfect and that’s His standard for judging all of humanity.

When this life is finished, one of his earliest followers wrote that every one of us will appear before God and have to somehow explain away all the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do.

I guarantee you it’s not going to go well. But God offers a solution: Jesus. When Jesus was found guilty of ridiculous, trumped-up charges and crucified on a Roman cross, that death paid the penalty you and I would have to pay for our moral crimes. He took our punishment on His shoulders.

I call that an extraordinary, life-changing gift. And that gift is available to EVERYONE. It doesn’t matter who you are or what you’ve done (or not done). As author Philip Yancey put it so well in What’s So Amazing About Grace, “God gave up His own Son rather than give up on humanity”.

How can you get in on this gift? Just accept it. That’s all.

When you believe that Jesus took the penalty for your moral crimes and decide you want to follow Him, He’ll come into your heart and start a life-long process of making you the person God created you to be. And when this life ends and you stand before God, the only thing God will see is His Son’s perfection.

Are you interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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LINING UP WITH ATHEIST THOUGHT

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 8, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Have you noticed the stereotyping that guides pretty much every thought in this meme?

Yes, famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair (1919-95) was doing a whole lot of spiritual profiling when she made this statement. Let me break it down for you:

1. The clear inference is people of faith will always construct a church before a hospital. Where on earth does this strange viewpoint come from?

I’m sure there are a few misguided followers of Jesus of Nazareth (who many people believe is the divine Son of God) who think this way, but most are smart enough to realize “church” is NOT a building; it’s a body of believers who are doing their imperfect best to live for their creator and be part of the work He is doing in this very broken world.

This accurate definition means a “church” can meet in a school gym (and many do), a community centre or even someone’s living room.

So, I’m glad to conclude that just like Madalyn, I’d rather have a hospital constructed before a church.

2. Why must a deed be done before a prayer said? Why can’t the two happen at the same time? Believe it or not, prayer is often a catalyst to doing deeds.

Through prayer, people who follow Jesus communicate with the creator and master of time, space and the universe. Through prayer, we discern what God wants us to do. Then we get out into the world and do it.

Evidence? check out the websites of groups like Samaritan’s Purse, Christian Blind Mission, World Vision, Compassion Canada, International Justice Mission and many more. All the amazing work these aid organizations do is before, during and after prayer.

3. I guess I need to undertake a search because so far, I’ve yet to encounter even one Jesus follower who strives to “escape into death”. Followers of Jesus are deeply involved in life.

In my family, two stepchildren are parents. While my stepson is being a father, he’s deeply involved in his church, sings in a community choir and performs in local musicals. Can anyone credibly tell me he’s striving to “escape into death”?

4. I’m happy to report that Jesus followers are absolutely in agreement with Madalyn Murray O’Hair: we, too, want disease conquered, poverty banished and war eliminated.

We want this because not only will it make the world a better place, it’s what God wants. That’s why there are Jesus-following doctors, anti-poverty groups and advocates for peace.

So, now that you know some facts about the people who follow Jesus, are you more open to checking out what it means to follow Him? Our culture says don’t waste your time, but this is important stuff — now and after this life ends.

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THE FACTS ABOUT ‘BRAINWASHING’

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 18, 2017| 2 Comments »

Oh boy; there’s a lot of fabulous content in this atheist meme. So let’s get started.

1. Brainwashing: Is there brainwashing in among people who follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many believe is the Son of God)? Sadly, yes. I’m sure if you search long enough, you’ll find some parents who, in effect, brainwash their children to ensure they grow up without ever, ever questioning their beliefs.

Gee, wouldn’t that also apply to parents in other faiths, as well as atheist parents? YES.  In fact, whether Matthew Laramore likes it or not, all of us — including him — are brainwashed in some way. To deny that is to ignore reality.

2. Has the history of Jesus followers been marked by violence? Unfortunately, yes. People who are opposed to this faith often bring up the Crusades (a series of violent wars, in the 1100s and 1200s, aiming at retaking the Middle East from Islamic rule).

What most critics ignore, however, is at least some of the Crusade campaigns were a response to large-scale violence instigated by Muslim forces against Jesus followers. Investigate for yourself, if you don’t believe me.

Either way, except for the occasional lone-wolf lunatic, Jesus followers left violence behind many centuries ago. I thank God that Jesus followers understand that love, not violence, is the way to tell the world about Him.

3. The whole “wearing a half-naked dead man nailed against a crucifix” thing has nothing to do with promoting Jesus as non-violent.

It wasn’t Jesus followers who nailed Jesus to a cross; it was soldiers of the Roman Empire, acting on the orders of their leaders. Those leaders were responding to pressure from religious authorities, who believed Jesus was a threat to their power and the religious laws they forced on people. They were right.

This leads to a wonderful truth: Jesus came to free us from brainwashing, from violence and from religious laws.

Looking for evidence? Consider these passages from the ancient writers:

Give the Lord a chance to show you how good he is.
In other words, don’t be brainwashed; check out God for yourself.

Don’t fight back against someone who wants to do harm to you. If they hit you on the right cheek, let them hit the other cheek too. (from one of the four original-source accounts of Jesus’s physical time on earth).
In other words, don’t resort to violence, even if someone is violent against you.

Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. (the words of Jesus.)
In other words, it’s not about “religion”. It’s about a relationship with the Son of God that can start now and stretch into all eternity.

Consider all this carefully. Jesus is about good news, not about anything advanced by Matthew Laramore. Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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A CASE OF BAD TIMING?

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 4, 2017| 2 Comments »

JesusFollowing Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the divine Son of God, can lead to a transformed life, now and for all eternity. So this graphic, posted on an atheism internet community, brings up a very good point.

Did the millions of people who lived and died before Jesus was physically on this earth, about 2,000 years ago, have any chance of going to Heaven? Maybe that’s a question that’s occurred to people like you, who are open to spirituality.

Ancient writings, including four original-source biographies of Jesus, do not provide an absolutely clear answer – as I’ve discovered while researching the question.

Depending on which website you visit, there are long essays that quote various parts of the Bible to make this or that point. I gotta admit, reading some of this stuff made my eyes glaze over.

But in the end, each website came to the same conclusion: people were granted admission into Heaven, where they will spend eternity with their creator, through faith. Not in themselves. Not in their ability to live good lives, to be kind to others and/or to attend church regularly.

They went to Heaven based on faith only in God. One of Jesus’s earliest and most influential followers explains how this faith thing worked in the life of Abraham, who (1) lived and died thousands of years before the arrival of Jesus, and (2) is often considered the common denominator in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths:

If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we’re given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story.

What we read in Scripture is, ‘Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own.’

Another ancient writing from an early Jesus follower mentions a number of other faith-filled people who were prominent in the centuries before Jesus arrived:

Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world.

People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted.

But they were after a far better country than that—Heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City [a place in Heaven] waiting for them.

I think it’s pretty plain, from these writings, that the atheist who created the meme that inspired this blog didn’t bother to research the character and principles of God before asking the question.

So what’s YOUR viewpoint? If you believe there’s a glorious life after this one, how do you think you’ll get in on it? By just being a “good person”? (If that’s where you stand, who defines “good” and how good is good enough?)

What about faith in Jesus of Nazareth? Does it make sense to you? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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