Category: What do you think?

Do you unintentionally share your faith like a scribe or Pharisee?

Published on by Texas Gospel1 Comment

I’ve talked to people who have very complex ideas about God.  Some of those same people even claim that others who do not understand all of the details of their complex ideas are not really Christians, or at least heretics. Some of their conclusions may be sound deductions, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that their conclusions are correct.  Even faith is a gift, not something that springs from our own ability so that anyone can boast.

Consider, some inferences people make from the Bible are so complex that the average person would have difficulty understanding them, let alone someone with less-than-average intelligence or a mental disability.  That’s not an insult to anyone; people have different abilities. If salvation were dependent on one’s intelligence or ability to decipher complex issues, would it be fair?  If that were true, wouldn’t that make salvation more of a prize than a gift?

I don’t know about you, but I don’t think it’s fair to set a standard for being a “real Christian” that includes agreeing with a complex inference made from the Bible, especially one that excludes anyone with less than exceptional intelligence.

At some point demanding others to agree with a rigid inference made from scripture sounds a lot like that described in 2 Timothy where we are reminded to avoid quarreling over words, saying it only leads listeners to ruin. Around the 16th verse it says to avoid irreverent, empty chatter, which leads to more ungodliness 

Do the things that you post online serve only to undermine the faith of others or make you appear to be just as smart as the scribes and Pharisees?

What are your thoughts?

 

Not all faith is Christian faith

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

Have you ever heard someone claim there is no God?

While some who are against our faith will stipulate that they are simply not convinced there is a God, I have talked to people who claim emphatically that there is no God. You can even go on Amazon and buy T-shirts and coffee mugs that say, “There is no God.”

Oddly enough, many who make that claim also say they reject anything based on faith.  Now, that’s an odd combination.  Science hasn’t proven there is no God, I know of no peer reviewed study that has demonstrated God’s absence, yet there are some who believe God is a myth.

Saying “there is no God,” is a statement of faith because it is a belief that cannot be proven. Christians have Biblical faith; that is, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. To believe in God or to believe there is no God takes faith. One big difference between the two is the Bible tells us Christian faith is a Gift from God.

From where does your faith come?

Sharing the scripture: Do you add to God’s word?

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

Do you choose your words carefully when you share your faith?  What I mean is, are you careful when you talk to others about God’s Word that what you attribute to God is actually what is written in scripture?

Proverbs tells us not to add to His word or face rebuke and be found to be a liar. Revelation says, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book.”  Because of this, I believe we should be careful when talking to others about God especially when you preface a sentence by saying, “The Bible says.”

Most people paraphrase scripture when talking about the Bible.  For example, rather than say, “In the Beginning God created the heaven’s and the earth…” they might say something like,  “God made heaven, then He made earth.” There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with that, as long  as you make it clear that you are describing scripture in your own words. And I don’t think this is a small point.  It’s very easy to accidentally add to the meaning of any written document any time you stray from the words written on the page.  Not only that, you can quote a scripture verbatim out of context making it appear to say something very different than God’s word. Antitheists are quite skilled at intentionally doing this.

Are you careful as you should be when using the phrase, “God said…”?

What are your thoughts?

A misleading and unfair question

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

It’s not uncommon for someone opposed to our faith to ask: How could you believe in God given some of the things science has proven? It’s a misleading and unfair question for several reasons.  It’s usually directed at someone who is not an astrophysicist or even someone who holds some advanced degree. It’s easy to imply that advanced science has proven there is no God when talking to someone who is not a scientist. It’s an unfair advantage that some exploit. One can claim that science has proven anything when talking to someone without such an education.  But doing so speaks more to the intentions of the one making the claim. Science has not proven there is no God.  It’s either a claim intended to deceive, one made from ignorance, or it’s an expression atheist faith.

It’s important to note that the Bible wasn’t written to teach us about the processes by which God created the universe. Its books were written to explain in words we can understand, the nature of God and our need for salvation. The processes by which God created the universe may or may not be something that men and women can understand. When one considers how little of the universe is even visible to us, we would have to make a lot of assumptions to claim we understand it.

Researchers have learned things about the physical world that that appear to be gibberish to common understanding.  I’m talking about things such as subatomic particles that exist in two places at the same time and the universe being made up of mostly dark matter that we can’t see or detect other than its gravitational pull. Something existing in two places at the same time? That doesn’t make sense.  It sounds like gibberish to say most of the universe is invisible, but they’ve demonstrated that as well. Reality is not what we think, and it’s certainly not what our senses tell us.

Researchers and our finest scientific minds have never come up with something that “proves” there is no God.  If anything, they’ve demonstrated we’re going in the wrong direction if our goal is to confirm that our understanding of reality in this universe reveals that the idea of God is hard to believable.  But there are some people who work very hard to try to convince us that science has eliminated God.  Let me restate this.  As top scientists find things that go against our common sense, they find that making sense of God’s creation isn’t as simple as we’d like it to be.  Fallacious arguments such as the “celestial teapot” lose their bite when used to say the idea of God is false because it seems absurd. In fact, Bertrand Russell who devised the argument was intentionally being absurd to demonstrate that the burden of proof lies with the person making a claim, not to “prove” there is no God.  How something seems or feels does not tell us anything about its reality.  As science advances, the  arguments of those calling the concept of God absurd recedes, and the idea that science has eliminated God is revealed as little more than anti-theist faith.

I believe God created the universe, and us, and loves us enough to offer His son’s blood to cover our shortcomings.

What do you believe?

 

 

Who is responsible for the suffering?

Published on by Texas GospelLeave a comment

When one considers today’s headlines about coronavirus and its potential to kill, it’s easy for anyone to ask, “Why is there so much suffering?” It’s a question that has been asked since the Old Testament.  But on whom does responsibility for suffering rest?  What does the Bible say about our corrupt world?  Do we have any choice in the matter when it comes to suffering?

Consider Job and how he responded after losing all his wealth and children. He took his concern to God and asked for understanding. And with that understanding came peace.  Job’s suffering was not because of something he did.  His suffering was caused by the sins of Satan. Doesn’t this teach us that suffering is the result of sin, and those who suffer are not necessarily the sinner who causes the suffering?

God created a perfect world, but man’s sin opened that world to corruption.  Viruses, tornadoes, floods cause suffering.  To be clear, they are the result of the corruption of what was once a perfect world.  We suffer from sin that corrupted the world in the past, and present-day sin that continues to corrupt God’s creation. While the Bible doesn’t tell us in scientific language how the world physically changed, it does tell us the corruption of God’s creation sprouts from man.  It also tells us that we can choose to remain blinded to the cause of corruption and wallow in the suffering, or we can ask that God would open our eyes to His will for us.  We may also ask for the strength we need while surrounded by corruption.

God gives everyone the choice. Which one do you choose?