Reasons to Believe - Number 4 - Creation

Being a Canadian means I have to live through Canadian winters. But it also means I get to see the glory of God displayed in ways that others may not. I have seen the beauty of gently falling snow first hand.  I have gone skating on a pond on a winter night and enjoyed the time warming up around the woodstove after with a warm drink.  I have seen a side of nature that is both wondrous and dangerous at the same time.

Others of us who live elsewhere have had the chance to sail the oceans or ski on mountains or glory in the Grand Canyon or marvel at the size and heat of a desert.  There is so much variety and complexity in the world around around us.  There are geographic differences.  There are millions of different species of animals.  There are ecosystems we haven't even found out about yet.  And all this is just on this planet.  We have increasingly become aware of the immensity of the universe that our planet exists in.  The more we see of the immense complexity, and at the same time, clockwork like precision, of the universe in which we live the more it should cause us to look for the creator of all this.

Just like a great painting or song or scientific discovery can make us respect and admire the person who made it, so the great beauty and complexity or the world around should turn us to the one who made all of this and believe in the creator of this universe!

Things to pray for - Love

Prayer is important and we should all be spending time talking to God.  I think it is easy to get stuck in a rut as the saying goes, and just repeat the same things over and over. "God bless my family and protect me and forgive my sins and help me to be a better person...."  But prayer can (and should) be so much deeper than that.  There is of course a need to spend time in adoration and thanksgiving for what God is and what he does, but God also delights in hearing the requests of his saints (Matt. 7:7-11) so I am trying to pray for some more specific things in my life.  Things that go beyond the daily functions of life and that affect character. I am praying that God will apply these things specifically in my life and in the life of my wife and also that his church will be increasingly marked by these characteristics. If you would like, feel free to join me in prayer for these items.

The first of these is Love.  Pray that love would abound more and more.  That we would grow in love toward God and each other and that our hearts would expand to include love as God has defined it.  That our love for Christ would overflow into love for those that our lives touch and that we would express our love well in both words and actions.  Pray that we would have a love that is more than a feeling and that is an active living love. Pray for love.

Maybe We'll be ok after all....

I've never been a fan a hysteria politics.  By that I mean the kind of politics that takes a hold of some issue and blows it hysterical proportions (usually so that someone can benefit from they hysteria).  This includes things like Global Warming, Swine Flu, and Peak Oil and of course many other similar issues.  It is possible that there are problems that need to be addressed in these areas but the level of hype that surrounds these types of issues is, frankly, ridiculous. The problem with hysteria politics is that it whips people up into a hysterical response and often leads to foolish or downright dangerous legislation because 'something has to be done.'  Of course if it really is a problem, something will be done eventually even without government intervention.

You may have heard about the company Joule Unlimited, which has come up with a way of producing hydrocarbons (diesel, gas, etc.) from genetically engineered cyanobacterium.  Now, I don't think this will magically 'solve' all our energy problems (I'm no more a fan of hysterical solutions then I am of hysterical problems), but I do think its an illustration of the kind of solutions that are out there and how people will find them eventually. To panic about The Next Great Disaster that is going to destroy the world is counterproductive.  If its really that bad, get to work on a solution.  And yes, there are solutions to be found apart from the government. Joule Unlimited shows that nicely in that the work that it has done even though it did not qualify for government subsidies.

So be cautious when you hear hysteria politics.  Be careful not to pressure you politician to 'do something' without good solid reasonable grounds for it.  The more an issue is hyped and the more emotional it becomes the more cautious you should be about it. Emotions are easily manipulated by those who have money to be made from a certain agenda.

Books I've Read - John Ploughman's Talk

John Ploughman's Talk Plan: Advice for Plain People By C.H. Spurgeon

This little book of simple practical advice from on of the most effective and beloved preachers of all time is a wonderful read.  For a book written over a hundred years ago it still hold gems that are very relevant to our lives today.  This book is easy to read and written from the perspective of John Ploughman, a simple man who give straightforward advice.  No beating around the bush or pandering to the desires of the reader, just honest practical advice for living out your life.  There is also plenty of Spurgeon's trademark humor in this book as well.  I heartily recommend this book.

Random Quote: (page 66)
Husbands should try to make home happy and holy. It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest, a bad man makes his home wretched. Our house ought to be a little church, with holiness to the Lord over the door, but it ought never to be a prison where there is plenty of rule and order, but little of love and no pleasure

Reasons to Believe - Number 3 - Relationship

There is something sad about seeing someone lonely. We can't help but feel sorry for that guy sitting there in the restaurant eating his dinner by himself or that girl who always sits by herself in the back of the class and doesn't seem to have any friends. We all want relationships and we feel that there is something wrong when they are aren't there. We hate death partially because it means the end of our relationship with that person. Relationships are important to us.

The amazing thing is that God offers us a relationship with himself. He offers to be our Father and our friend.  The King of the universes says come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The righteous God has opened up a path for sinners to be in relationship with him.  God has designed us to desire relationships and he has also provided us the path to the ultimate relationships.  As wonderful as they are our human relationships with our spouses/kids/parents/friends will not fulfill us.  That fulfillment is to be found in a relationship with God.

Animals Have a sense of humor

What good is a Monday if not for a laugh? Nothing like some good British humor to start your week off right ;)

Reasons to Believe - Number 2 - Justice

We all love justice.  We hear of atrocities all over the world with people killing each other, mistreating and abusing each other, lying cheating and stealing from each other and we want something to be done about it.  The news seems to be filled with injustices and we seem helpless to do anything about it.  Is there really justice in the world?  Is there justice for the parents who child was kidnapped and killed?  Is there justice for the town that was destroyed in an act of genocide?  Is there justice for the millions of people that have been abused and killed by their governments? It doesn't seem right! These people are getting away with it!  Where is the justice?

The answer is found in the justice of God.  The justice of God is not a very popular doctrine in general.  Most of the time we hear about the love of God and the peace of God and the joy of God but we don't always like to think of the justice of God.  That's sad, because it is such a wonderful doctrine.  There is justice! All that suffering and horror in the world? God will make it right! Being made in the image of God means we have some of his desire for justice and this desire for justice can only be fulfilled if we look for its fulfillment in God.  He alone has the power to bring about complete justice.

Of course, the reason we don't like thinking about this doctrine is that it doesn't just apply to the child molester and the serial killer.  It applies to me. It applies to you.  Its a wonderful doctrine and a scary doctrine, but the true wonder of God's justice is that it allows him to display so wonderfully his love.  Punishment for our sins will happen, but if we believe in God he fulfills his justice marvelously.  He takes those sins and punishes them completely and thoroughly.  He wipes them away forever.  And he does so through his Son hanging on a cross.  What a wonderful thought!  Justice will be served and love will be displayed!

Warning! - Extremely nerdy and corny.

Science comedy. For nerds only :-p

Reasons to Believe - number 1 - God tells us to

Its very simple isn't it? Why should we believe in God?  Well, he tells us to do so and he knows what is good for us.  I know this isn't some long detailed argument.  I know it isn't even a 'logical' argument.  But its right. Think back to when you were a kid and your dad told you not to do something.
'But why not dad?'  
'Because I said so.'
Maybe you hated hearing that when you were a kid, but there were still two reasons in there to listen to him.  First of all your dad was a lot smarter than you and probably knew what he was talking about, and secondly if you didn't listen there were consequences. Its the same with God.  We can whine and complain about it and maybe even rant against his command, but when it comes down to it God knows better than us and if we don't listen to this command there are consequences!

God says to us 'This is how you are saved.  Believe.'  So do it.  Listen to him.  Believe!

Reasons to believe - Introduction

Everyone believes in something.  There is belief in God, belief in Buddha, belief in self, belief in the government, belief in science and belief in any number of other things.  We all have something or someone that we believe in as our saviour or that gives us meaning in life.  Believing is a part of life. 

The question is, why do we believe what we believe?  Obviously there are a lot of answers to that question.  People might say our beliefs come from what we are taught.  They might say our beliefs come from choices we make or they might even say they come from something external to us.  As I'm sure you know, I believe in God and so I would like to present some of the reasons that I believe what I do.

This series is not intended to prove the existence of God or to be a list of 'evidence' in favor of Christianity. It will merely be a list of reasons that we should believe in God. There are many, many reasons to do so and I am persuaded that this is indeed a reasonable faith so I hope you enjoy the series!

Have we forgotten how to fix the 'foundations of freedom?'

I'm including this video primarily for this quote at about 3.15

'We should avoid pressuring governments for  any new services that aren't absolutely necessary'

I think this gets down to the root of the problem.  Ballooning deficits.  Unconscionable spending.  Ludicrous money wasting.  It all traces back to us always asking and expecting the government to 'do more.'  Nothing comes for free!  someone has to pay for and some freedoms have to be given up.  We need to learn how to be less dependent on the government and stop asking them for things we are perfectly capable of doing ourselves.  Just because its easy in the short run does not mean its good for us in the long run!

Books I've Read - A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind By Sylvia Nasar -- This book is a biography of the brilliant mathematician John Nash, and his fall into schizophrenia. This book has been made into a movie as well. In the book a lot of time is spent establishing the historical background of academia in post war America. A lot of time is also spent on psychological speculation as to the cause of his illness. Although, this was interesting, I found that it slowed the book down a bit. It is an interesting read, but its not for the faint at heart. There are some technical details about his theories included in the book and although the author tries to bring it down to the lay person's level, a little bit of math background is helpful if you care to understand them (otherwise you can always skip those parts of course) On the whole I found this book interesting but not outstanding. This may be one of those rare cases where the movie is actually better than the book!

National Debt!

Has anything really changed? I don't think anyone likes our national debt, and politicians are always talking about how bad it is and how they are fighting against it and how this deficit budget is 'temporary,' but who among them really does anything about it? 

Replicators are next?

Printing real life (3D) objects has been around for a while, but this is pretty cool.  They printed a working flute.  Printed it!! Obviously there are kinks to work out, but this is still amazing advancement.

Huckleberry Finn - Too offensive?

Words matter. If you don't believe me look at the controversy going around the news about the new printing of Huckleberry Finn.  The words 'nigger' and 'injun' were removed from the book and it is creating a heated controversy.  Why such a fervor over two words?  Because word matter.  The words that you use are important.  For example I could have written 'these words were censored from the book' and it would have portrayed the same idea, but given you a different emotional response to that idea.  Changing the word 'removed' to 'censored' changes the meaning in a very small way, but with a pretty big impact.  So we see that words matter.  

In this particular case, there is probably enough arguing about it already so I won't go into to much detail on it, but I do think we should still read the original.  Mark Twain himself said about the book "[it is]...a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat." He is showing us that we do not have to be victims of our culture.

Even though Huck could not put into words what he felt and even though he often thought that he should do certain things that were part of his culture (like turn Jim in) he instead did what was in his heart and treated him like a human.  The whole point of the book revolves around that word nigger.  Even though Huck repeatedly called him a nigger he did not treat him as a slave.  Even though Huck was a product of his culture, he broke out of his cultural bounds.  If you take away the word nigger, he ceases to be truly a product of his culture and he has no cultural bounds to break out of.  You take away much of the point of the book by 'sanitizing' Huck.  All that to say; read the original!

There is however, a deeper lesson here for us.  Just as we see that this word matters in the book (and also for those on both sides of the issue), we are reminded that words matter in all areas of our lives.  The words we use matter.  The words we believe matter.  The words we think about matter.  Words are not merely passive tools that transport concepts from my mind to yours. They carry emotions and ideas that go far beyond what the mere definition of the word expresses.  This leads to two areas we need to be careful of.  We need to carefully choose the words that come out of our mouths, but this is not the only area that words matter.  The words that go out of us matter, bu the words that come into us also matter!

I'm sure most of us have been warned about the dangers of using wrong language and the effect it can have on those around us, but how many of us have stopped to think about the effect of the words that we take in?  If we passively ingest everything that gets fed to us on the radio, tv, news, and even your friends on facebook, are we being careful about our words? Uncritical evaluation of the words we hear can have an influence on us that we are not even aware of.  Ignoring wise words will hurt us.

The wise of heart will receive commandments,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.

But taking in foolishness will hurt us as well.

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,
but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

Be wise!  Think about the words you say and hear.  Fill yourself with good words and you will have good words flow out of you.

What to do with the Christmas tree?

Maybe you just use the magic of the garbage collection system to get rid of your Christmas tree, but have you ever asked yourself if that might be just a bit boring? Don't try this at home (try it in a field).

On the TwelfthDay of Christmas

We remember the 12 tribes of Israel

...because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day.

On the Eleventh Day of Christmas

We Remember the 11 faithful apostles

with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

On the Tenth Day of Christmas

We remember the 10 commandments

And God spoke all these words, saying,

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,  but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work,  but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

 “You shall not murder. 

 “You shall not commit adultery.

 “You shall not steal.

 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

 “You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.”

On the Ninth Day of Christmas

We remember the 9 fruits of the spirit

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;

On the Eighth Day of Christmas

We remember the 8 beatitudes

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.