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Posts Tagged ‘Does God exist?’

GOD, BONE CANCER AND BEAUTY

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 9, 2024| 4 Comments »

As you read the meme above, are you nodding your head in agreement? It wouldn’t surprise me in the least. We all know that this world is awash in beauty and pain, love and grief, anger and joy.

The question that occurs to me is: why does British actor/writer/narrator/director/atheist Stephen Fry somehow conclude that this world’s enormous contrasts deny the existence of a creator? And does it lead you in the same direction?

My pastor friend Ross Carkner, who I showed the meme to, agrees that “beauty alone is not a testament to God’s existence.” But then he points out something that I believe is equally true: “God exists in the midst of the beauty and the ugliness.”

Here’s the thing: Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the Son of God, never promised us a life free of bone cancer or acne or leukemia or bunions or even rap music (sorry; this old guy’s gotta have a moment of fun).

In fact, He told anyone willing to listen that “Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, for I have overcome the world.”

I’m sure you’re asking, just as I did when I first read this quote — from one of the four original-source biographies of Jesus’ physical life on Earth — what ‘overcoming the world’ means.

The website GotQuestions.org notes it’s multifaceted:

  • Jesus gives His followers peace to overcome our troubled hearts.
  • He gives His followers strength to turn away from the wrong things we’ve done and right things we’ve failed to do.
  • Jesus gives His followers ultimate victory over the evil spiritual forces that haunt this world and inspire wars, pandemics, pedophilia and so many other ills that plague humanity
  • He gives His followers a share in His victory over death, because after being crucified on false charges, He rose from the dead several days later (Please check out the ‘links to other sites’ tab to read all the evidence supporting Jesus’ resurrection).

All this gives me, and other Jesus followers, tremendous relief and endurance as we deal with life on this planet. In fact, I’ll go so far as to claim this God-fueled relief and endurance gives Jesus followers a source of power that the rest of the world doesn’t have.

If you’re not following Jesus, then do you have any hope to overcome the challenges of life? And if you’re not following Jesus, do you have any hope of life beyond 70+ years of eating, breathing, working and finally expiring?

I have that hope. I’ll go further and tell you I have supreme confidence, that Jesus gives to all His followers, for a good and joyous life beyond this existence — a life that leaves behind all the pain and exhaustion of what we so often experience now.

Do you want in on this blessing? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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FOCUSING ON WHAT’S IMPORTANT

Posted in Me & The World, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 14, 2021| 8 Comments »

Perhaps you’ve had thoughts along the lines of this atheist meme. “No one can even prove God exists. So why should I bother with Him?”

I get that. We can feel foolish for believing something our culture insists is a joke.

But is it? I’m not about to explain all the evidence for a creator. Many websites make that case very well (check out the ‘links’ tab for a few of them). I’ll just highlight one: the existence of this universe and the fact it’s ridiculously fine-tuned to allow life as we know it.

The website Biologos.org explains my point like this: “If the universe had physical constants with even slightly different values, the universe simply could not support life. It would expand too quickly, or never form carbon atoms, or never make complex molecules like DNA.”

I hope this gives you something to think about. But notice the meme is making a different point? It claims God can’t prove He exists. That leaves me scratching my head; just because God hasn’t proven His existence certainly doesn’t mean He can’t.

Consider this: If God proved He exists, then there would be limits on His gift of free-will — in this case, the freedom to be an atheist. If the horrors of human history prove anything, it’s that God champions free-will above everything.

So if you’re beginning to suspect the claims of this meme are not important, then move on to consider a man. Not only did He believe God exists, He believed He was put on this planet to show people God’s new and better way of living and thinking.

His radical philosophy includes:

  • Don’t just try to tolerate those you dislike–actually LOVE them.
  • Don’t fight back against someone who wants to harm you. If they hit you on one cheek, let them hit the other cheek, too.
  • You will be judged the same way you judge others. God will treat you the same way you treat others.
  • If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then God will forgive your wrongs. But if you don’t forgive, then God will not forgive you.

This man — Jesus of Nazareth, who many people believe is the Son of God — made another point that’s even more important than what you’ve just read. He told anyone willing to listen that “you must be perfect, just as your Father in Heaven is perfect.”

Oooo, that’s a tough one — an impossibility for us very imperfect humans to achieve. And the point Jesus is making is that perfection is the only ticket that will get us into Heaven when this life is finished.

So what to do? The solution is to trust in and follow Jesus. Original-source documents of His physical life on earth say that as the Son of God, He was put to death to make up for ALL the wrong things His followers have done and ALL the right things His followers failed to do.

When you trust in and follow Jesus, God sees you like He sees Jesus: perfect in every way. Not only will that get you into Heaven, it also opens the door to God coming into your life RIGHT NOW to help you become the person He always wanted you to be.

Sound like a good deal? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.

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