What of science?

Science in our modern age has been put on a pedestal.  The media and our educational systems have succeeded to a very large degree in convincing most people that unless something can be quantified and experienced by our five senses, it cannot possibly be for real.  Or at least this is the argument that science uses to try to discredit the unseen, for example things like spiritual experiences and God and the credibility of the Bible.

Yet it is science that attempts to explain and rationalize ideas like the Big Bang and the Theory of Evolution, ideas that are just that - ideas, not facts.  They have required creative imagination and great "faith" in light of their alarmingly conspicuous absence of conclusive, quantifiable scientific evidence.

Yet proponents of these ideas - these pipe dreams, really - appeal to "science" in order to support their existence.

Call me naive, but when I was a science student in public school and in university, I recall that one's hypothesis in a science experiment had to be backed up by quantifiable, visual evidence resulting from the conducting of the experimental procedure in order for it to be considered "scientific" evidence.  How is such evidence possible when one is trying to scientifically explain or rationalize the Big Bang, the Theory of Evolution, or even the Bible and the existence (or non-existence) of God?

In an article entitled "Can We Still Believe in Demons Today?" by Clinton E. Arnold (Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Talbot School of Theology, California), the argument is made that science "is inherently incapable of answering" the question of whether demons exist.  He further argues:

"Some critics grant science authority to make judgments on issues it is incapable of judging.  Just as science is incompetent to adjudicate on morality, so it is also beyond its jurisdiction in trying to decide the question of demonic existence.  Science seeks to describe and explain natural phenomena.  There is no reason to assume it has the power to answer questions regarding the supernatural, such as whether these beings exist."

This argument can be extended to include the fallacy of using the guise of science to try to explain and rationalize the things I've mentioned above, things like the Big Bang, the Theory of Evolution, and the Bible and the existence (or non-existence) of God.  Science has it limitations, yet its disciples persist in thinking that it is the be-all and end-all of standards by which we can judge something as being true or real.

Scientists and their disciples mock and reject any notion of God or the writings of the Bible because they require non-tangible concepts like faith and belief.  They think that ideas like the empty tomb suggest that Jesus didn't actually exist or that his body was stolen and buried elsewhere.  In their minds, it would be too fanciful to take the Biblical account at face value, to actually accept its claim that Jesus rose physically from the dead and ascended to Heaven forty days later and after being witnessed by over 500 people and even physically touched by a few of them.  They ignore the historical, archaeological, and legal evidences of this and all other Biblical accounts because they can't put them in a test tube or analyze them under a microscope.  Or even if they can, in the case of archaeological evidences, they ignore them and move on to try to poke more holes instead of accepting that they might have been wrong in their assumptions.

In any case, such people are quick to embrace accounts of the Jewish Holocaust of World War II because there are several witnesses to this atrocity who are still alive, who we can still see and touch.  But years after these survivors are gone, you can bet that the detractors, those who deny the Holocaust - who existed even during WW II - will gain followers simply due to the lack of witnesses to stand up against them.

Funny thing, there were still several witnesses to the life and miracles of Jesus - believing and non - while every one of the New Testament letters were being penned, yet somehow none of the skeptics decided to write things contrary to the claims they presented, such as the deity of Jesus Christ.  It has been suggested that there were simply too many witnesses that would have made them appear as fools and thus, knowing they didn't have a case, therefore didn't make one.

So why do skeptics in this day and age think they have a legitimate case against the claims of the Bible?  Why do they think the historical, archaeological, and legal evidences that have always supported its claims are somehow null and void just because two millenia have passed?  It's sure easy to try to discredit something once the living witnesses have all died off, and so the non-believers and mockers of this generation follow in vain the footsteps of those before them, often dredging up old arguments that were put to rest in generations past.

However, their greatest fallacy is the claim that there is no "scientific evidence" for the Bible and therefore the credibility of its God and its claims.  They tend to overlook the scientific evidence that abounds with respect to archaeology, and the historical and legal evidences that many have undertaken through history and found to overwhelmingly support the credibility of the Bible.

But as believers let's face it:  Jesus could appear to each and every skeptic on this planet and perform miracle after miracle and claim after each one that they are the result of being the one and only Son of God - the ultimate display of evidence - but there would still be skeptics not because of lack of evidence, but because of a lack of desire born out of pride and ego that would prevent them from believing.

Oh, but wait a minute, Jesus did appear to believers and skeptics alike during his first time here on earth, and guess what:  some of those who saw him and his miracles and heard his claims were also skeptical despite this ultimate display of evidence!  Why?  How could this possibly be the case in light of the overwhelming evidence?  Because - ta da! - they lacked a desire to believe that was born out of pride and ego, not because of a lack of evidence.  Or to put this another way, it's not that they couldn't believe, it's that they wouldn't. 

Some of these people had a lot of worldly status, prestige, and possibly wealth to lose - or so they thought - if they believed that Jesus is the Messiah and the one true Son of God, and so they simply chose not to believe in order to try to protect themselves.  Not to mention their fear of ridicule and the possibility of losing the respect of family and so-called friends.  The exact same is true in this day and age when people are presented with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So what of science and its supposed lack of ability to give credibility to the Bible and thus God and Jesus?  Well, it ultimately doesn't matter.  What matters is individual men and women getting over themselves and making a decision in their heart to accept or reject the claims of the Bible regarding Jesus Christ.  Science can't make this decision for them, but only their desire to believe or not believe can.  And no amount of scientific thought or reasoning will be able to rescue them from their fate should they ultimately choose not to believe.

Not just another holiday

Okay, in the last post I deliberately kept things short and sweet, but I'll probably be back to my old ways this time around.  I have some more thoughts about the significance of this Easter season that have recently struck me, and this time - as usual - I'll use my own words to express them.

I thought this morning about those people who will be working today, not those who basically had to, but those who really didn't need to but did so anyway.  I wondered if any of them will take even a moment to wonder about the significance of this day, Good Friday.  Is it to them some vague holiday like Victoria Day in Canada where no more than a handful of people actually know why it's a holiday?  Will they even think about why some spiritual guy named Jesus died on a cross so long ago?

If they're anything like I used to be, I doubt it.  They're probably thinking about this as nothing more than a great chance to make some holiday overtime pay.  But I so wish that they - and any non-believer just enjoying a 'holiday' - could realize that this Jesus guy they've heard about had each and every one of them individually in mind when he held his tongue in the face of his accusers.  I wish they could understand that Jesus voluntarily gave himself as a sacrifice for our well-being, and that his crucifixion was not some unexpected and tragic end to a promising young spiritual movement.

Jesus was born to die, he was born to pay the penalty of our offenses (sins) against God so that those who accept this gift of Jesus would not have to pay that penalty themselves after their earthly, bodily death.  This has been God's plan since even before our ancestors Adam and Eve destroyed mankind's relationship with God long ago and introduced sin into our world.

Jesus as the one and only Son of the one and only God chose to give up his exalted position for a period of 33 years by living as one of us.  He chose to be born in poor, filthy conditions to everyday people instead of people of power and prestige.  He chose to live a humble existence in full dependence upon his Father who remained in Heaven, humbling himself to the point of death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8).

But why would he die for us?  Who are we that he would die for us?  How could he known those of us who weren't even born at the time?  Suffice it to say that the Bible mentions how God knew each of us before the foundation of time, and that he numbered the hairs on each of our heads.  It also mentions in various parts of the New Testament Gospel letters how Jesus and God the Father are one in essence and nature, so therefore what God knows, Jesus knows.

Each and every one of us is so infinitely precious and important to him that sadly only a tiny portion of humanity - only those who've accepted the gift of salvation that Jesus offers, i.e. Christians - will ever have some idea of this before they meet God face-to-face in order to give an account of their lives to him on the appointed day.

God is independent of time.  He existed before it was even created, and thus time does not control him like it controls his creation.  Thus he, being all-knowing and in all control of everything, knew about the very second and the very circumstances of everything to do with when each and every one of us would be born.  He knew whether he was going to give us to rich or poor parents, loving or abusive parents, or to biological or foster or adoptive parents, and whether we would be born in a time of peace or a time of war.  And he did each of these things not because he was showing favoritism to some or being cruel to others, but for his own good purposes (not necessarily ours!) that we will only fully understand once we all - believer and non - meet him face-to-face - the great inevitability of human existence.

Some of you might have shaken your fist at God about your lot in life ever since you were old enough to do so.  You curse the day you were born and how a God of "love" could have been so cruel as to let you suffer so much - let alone be born - in the first place.

Yet I have heard more than a few stories of people - and met some - who suffered unspeakable horrors, sometimes for decades on end, but eventually realized the hand of God's protection and provision and comfort during those times.  They decided to no longer shake the fist, realizing that they would have been even worse off if he hadn't been with them during those times!

They realized those times were not so much for building character as for them to realize their desperate need of God in their lives.  So they opened their hearts to allow God to work in their lives, which inevitably lead them to a knowledge of what Jesus' life, death, and resurrection were really all about.  Then they learned about how accepting Jesus into their lives was going to set them free spiritually in this life and beyond even though they might remain in bondage in the here and now:  physical, financial, abusive, etc.

And these things are what God wants you to realize at this special time of year, this Easter season.  He wants you to realize that your life and circumstances are not a mistake, but that they are meant to show your weaknesses in order that you allow him to make you strong.  He wants you to realize that in your own strength you will eventually break or fail, if not on this side of eternity then on the Day of Judgment when you have to explain your life to this Creator of yours that you spent so much time and energy trying to avoid and/or deny down on Earth.

Will you finally accept that the whole plan of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus in order for you to be set free was done with you in mind?  That this plan wasn't reserved for those who show up in church on most Sundays, or give to a church, or belong to a denomination or religion, or live good, moral lives?  That this plan wasn't reserved for those who seem as though they have it all together or all figured out?  This plan was intended for those who realize they need the forgiveness and healing that only God through Jesus Christ alone - and no other person or religious system or amount of money - can offer (read Luke 5:30-32).

This is not only the message of this Easter season, but it's been the message of the Gospel for over two-thousand years, the good news about Jesus Christ and what he has done for you already and what he will do for you if you would simply ask for his forgiveness and then let him into your life.

What "religion" are you?

Several times in my life I've had to fill out forms - on paper or online - that ask me what "religion" I am.  I can't help but be tempted to write "Non-religious Christian" because I can't stand the concept of religion nor do I practice a religion.

Now how's that for a contradiction in terms!  How can one possibly claim to be a Christian yet also non-religious?  Isn't Christianity a "religion", and therefore to be a Christian means you're "religious?"  'How blasphemous', you might be thinking.  Or is it?

There's a reason why it's called the "Christian faith", because a religion and a faith are two entirely different things.  People who have not put their trust in Jesus Christ to save them wrongly call it a "religion" because they have a false understanding of who God is and how people are supposed to relate to Him.  However, people who have put their trust in Jesus Christ to save them - Christians - rightly call it a "faith".  They have realized that the salvation given to them through this faith is the "gift of God", that it can't be earned by anything you do (Ephesians 2:8-10).  Thus, they have been invited and accepted into a relationship - not a religion - with the one true God through Jesus Christ and Him alone.

I've come to realize that a religion is a man-made system designed to try to please their god (or gods).  It's full of rules and regulations and ordinances, most of which have no origin in the Bible.  It's also not a very fun system to try to follow, because failure to live up to its standards is constant and therefore it's a great cause of demoralization.  All too often, there is a push to get other people "converted" in a vain attempt to please or appease their god(s) and thus feel more important and better about themselves. 

Sadly, many denominations and movements claiming to be Christian are in fact religions far removed from what God intended Christianity to be.  They go by different names:  Catholicism, Anglicanism, Lutheranism, and so forth.  Then there are the cultic movements, like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons (Latter Day Saints).  God did not invent denominations or movements; rather, He intended Christianity to be a way to personally relate to Him through Jesus Christ and Him alone - no human intervention required.  However, people unwilling to accept His grace extended through Jesus Christ thought they knew better, and viola - the birth of modern religion.

Unfortunately, a lot of the atheism and agnosticism in this world today stem from those who have felt the pressure to convert to a particular religion.  These mindsets are compounded when these people witness the failure of religious followers to live up to religious standards, such as practicing what they preach.  And when these religious followers fail (not if, but when), they assume - or are told by their religious leaders - that their god(s) will fail to love them.

How the Bible paints a different picture!  If only these people would look past man-made religion and instead to the Bible where they can be told not only of the reality of the one true God, but also His amazing love for them, available without a single religious act on their part!

Here's what the Bible has to say about the Christian faith:

"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope at your calling; one Lord [that is, Jesus], one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all."  (Ephesians 4:4-5)

What this passage implies is that the "one" Christian faith is therefore the only faith that exists.  It is one of those passages that is very exclusive, the kind that annoys and even greatly angers those outside the Christian faith.  In other words, it implies that there is no Muslim "faith", or Buddhist "faith", or Hindu "faith" and so on.  In reality, these are all religions:  the "one God" is revealed only in the Bible and in no other bodies of scripture, and therefore they are all worshipping false gods.  Also, they all have strict, man-made standards that have created a schizophrenic god or gods who can snap and go crazy on their followers at any moment and, worst of all, deny them passage to eternal paradise.

The appeal of Christianity is so much greater:

"Come to Me [Jesus], all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."  (Matthew 11:28, emphasis added)

"Everyone the Father [God] gives Me [Jesus] will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out." (John 6:37, emphasis added)

"... [God] is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9, emphasis added)

"For God loved the world in this way:  He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16, emphasis added)

"For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift - not from works [religious effort] so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9, emphasis added)

I don't know about you, but I much prefer the "one" true faith that accepts everyone - people of all races and colors and, yes, all religious backgrounds - and doesn't require us to be cleaned up and perfect before approaching the "one" true God and humbly and sincerely asking for His mercy to forgive and cleanse and save us.  How about you?

Belief versus trust, Part II

Here are some specific examples of how trusting God in different situations instead of my own ideas and so-called "wisdom" worked out for the better. But first, consider the following passage from Proverbs 3: 5-6:

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths."

EXAMPLE 1: I had been living on my own for about eight months when I realized that I should be putting my rent money towards paying down a mortgage instead of the mortgage of the person I was living with. After viewing nearly three dozen condo properties with a realtor over a one-week period, I viewed one that I had a very good feeling about. The location, although perfect, was in a so-so part of downtown, but everything else - especially the price - was excellent.

Being entirely new to the whole real-estate-purchase thing, I was told that I now needed to put an offer on the property and some money down. So I decided that I wanted possession as soon as possible, but to give the current owners time to move I asked for two weeks. But not realizing that I should have been more aggressive with the money down, I only put $1,000 down.

The meeting with their realtor and mine, including the current owners and I, was set for a Wednesday night. But within only a couple of hours before the meeting, my realtor phoned me with a concerned voice to inform me that another offer had been made, accompanied by $5,000 down. However, these people were looking for possession two-and-a-half months down the road as opposed to my two weeks. Nevertheless, based upon her experience, my realtor was pretty sure that the owners would go for the bigger money down than anything else.

So there I was, if I recall correctly, at a Bible study during a break when I got this news. Perhaps the recollection of what happened next is sketchy not only because 11 years have elapsed, but also because my mind was likely obsessed with whose offer would be better. So I'm not sure if I told the others there about what had transpired so they could pray for me, but in any case after the study ended, I hopped into my car and headed for the meeting downtown.

At the time, I had been "saved", i.e. a Christian, for maybe four years to that point, but I had only gotten serious about pursuing the Christian walk only a couple of years before. I was stuck in old habits like self-reliance that had me wondering how I could manipulate the situation and use smooth and persuasive words to make my offer the better one. But I was also at a point of incredible personal growth due to diving into the Bible, praying, and becoming friends with other believers. So I was also not wanting to resort to old habits, but I didn't know how to let God work this situation out.

So upon entering the car, the old habits of thinking how to manipulate and persuade were causing me to almost panic at the thought of losing out on this piece of property. But then all of a sudden, in an instant, I suddenly realized that if God wanted me to have this property, it would be a done deal and He would give me the words to speak so that my offer was accepted. Conversely, if He knew something bad about this deal that I didn't, I reasoned that He would let the other peoples' offer be accepted.

I was alarmed by this sudden change of perspective; looking back, I wonder if it wasn't the prayers of others in this situation that might have brought it about. But it wasn't a bad kind of alarm, because the rest of my drive can only be described by that verse in Philippians 4:7 that talks about the peace from God that surpasses all understanding. In fact, I was so at peace that God would take care of things that I was no longer the least bit upset at the possibility of my offer being rejected.

As I walked through the doors and entered the meeting, I was surprised to not see anyone representing the people who had made the other offer; I only saw the current owners and their realtor. When I asked when they might arrive, my realtor gladly announced that my offer was the better one because I wanted such quick possession. I almost couldn't contain my excitement! This was perhaps the biggest lesson to that point of my young Christian walk of how just leaving everything up to God was better than any scheme I could come up with. I didn't even have to perform one act or say one word of manipulation or persuasion! God took care of everything for me.

Not even six years later, my wife and I sold that condo after making a 40% return, and this provided a sizeable down payment for the property that we now own.

EXAMPLE 2: After getting serious about my commitment to Jesus in 1997, I naturally wanted to meet and marry a woman who was also a Christian at least as passionate as I about her walk with God. After pretty much exhausting the limited possibilities at the smaller church I was attending by early 1999, I kind of mused to myself (and perhaps others, if I recall) that if I was going to meet anyone, it probably wouldn't be at the church I was attending, or at least not for a number of years!

Not long after this, I was at a Wednesday night Bible study for college and career aged people when in walked a fine-looking young lady who had never been there before. That and her very attractive personality drew me to her right away. I was even more intrigued (and surprised) by how she laughed at all my attempts at humor.

Anyhow, my approach to Christian dating had been much the same as how I had approached dating when I was a non-Christian (minus the sexual sin). I was concerned about getting to the altar, and never mind this "friend" stuff. So as a result, my impatience was leading me to consider some young ladies who weren't exactly my type or who were at a totally different place in their walk with God, some calling themselves "Christian" who lived a lifestyle that was anything but! Fortunately, God gave me the strength to not give in to their seduction and I thereby avoided more things to regret.

For some reason, I had resolved not long before I met my bride-to-be that next time I was going to let God direct things. I was going to just get to know ladies I was interested in strictly as friends and be totally casual about everything. I just didn't realize that the first lady I would try this with would end up being my wife!

So when she entered the picture around February 1999, I was so afraid to screw things up this time around that I limited my conversations with her after studies to only a few minutes. Then we would break the conversation off and rather nonchalantly say, "Well, see you next week."

But whenever she didn't show up, I would wonder if I'd ever see her again. And when she did and we'd talk afterwards, I'd find it harder with each passing time to end the conversation. But I was so afraid of screwing things up and being outside of God's will that I wouldn't even consider asking her to, say, go for a coffee.

So near the end of June 1999, about four months after our first conversation, we had a church service at the zoo in the city where we lived. An open-air tent was booked, but when I saw her walk in, I'll be the first to admit that things were a more than a little distracting! After the service, I made it a mission to not let her too far out of my sight because I couldn't wait to talk to her again. However, I lost track of her because my parents were there, and she began wandering the zoo with another group.

My mind was constantly on her that whole time until after an hour or so when her group and mine finally met up. We even have a group picture from that day that we still have framed. Now I was still afraid of making the wrong decision and screwing up God's plan for me, so no way was I going to ask her to break away from the crowd and do something alone with me. Besides that, such a move would have aroused too much curiosity!

So what did God do instead? Over the course of the next hour, the dozen or so people in our group decided to do other things. With dark rain clouds looming, many decided to head indoors or to leave altogether. Others got hungry while yet others got tired. Before we knew it - and I'll admit that I wasn't going to leave unless she did - this lady and I were the only ones left! So we hung around the zoo for a while, but then realized that now was the perfect time to ask if she wanted to leave the zoo and go get something to eat. She willingly obliged.

After we arrived back at the zoo parking lot at 10:30 that evening so she could get her car, I realized on the drive home that by refusing to force the issue and to leave this relationship in God's hands, things worked out in strange ways that I could have never imagined or concocted myself!

My wife and I have been married for over 9 years now, and I give God all the credit for setting us up and for bringing our marriage to where it is now.

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I could tell a few other great stories of how God has worked in my life and that of my family, but I hope these two are a great inspiration to give the control of your life into God's hands and no longer your own.

Belief versus trust, Part I

God has been really challenging me the past few months. In particular, He is continually speaking to my heart about the need to trust Him. (As an aside, He only ever spoke audibly to those He entrusted with the writing of the Scriptures that make up the Bible. Since that time, He has "spoken" to believers through other means, like a person or a situation. Christians often refer to getting a revelation from God as Him having "spoken to my heart".)

One thing He has made me notice a lot more in order for me to realize this need is reminders of all those times that I haven't trusted Him, all those times where I've become worried and even scared about how certain things in my life will work out. I've learned that whenever I become this way, it is a sure sign that I actually don't trust God to work my situation out.

He has also made me realize that this lack of trust is a plague amongst Christians in the western world and not just a problem unique to me. I've realized just how much I get caught up in the mindset that I'm supposed to be the provider of my family, how I'm supposed to work out problems at home and on the job. But whenever we're facing a difficult financial or home or work situation, the Bible emphasizes over and over and over and over again how we need to just stop, take a breather, and ask God for His wisdom and insight in that situation. We need to trust Him to be our ultimate provider and for Him to provide us with the answers to our problems.

Far too often, Christians don't stop or back away long enough - or even at all - to find out if the idea they have to handle a situation is even the right one, "right" meaning what God would have them do. For a while a few years back, it was a Christian fad to wear the "WWJD" bracelet, which acted as a reminder for a Christian in a difficult situation to stop, take a breather, and ask what Jesus would do in that situation. (The wiser instruction would have been to ask Jesus what to do, not try to imagine what He would do, which implies figuring it out ourselves instead of relying upon Him.)

Anyhow, my point is that like this fad, it seems that the body of Christ - i.e. those who claim to believe in Jesus, or Christians - particularly in the western world, has gotten back into the same habit that has served to make us as indistinguishable from non-believers as we've been all too often throughout history: we've gotten back to the mindset where we believe in Jesus for our salvation, that He has saved us from having to pay the penalty of our sins so that we can spend eternity with Him in heaven, but yet don't trust Him (i.e. God) with our lives while here on earth.

Some Christians might argue with me on this point, that if you have belief then trust is just a natural outgrowth. But both are an act of the will. We must choose to believe that God exists and that His claims in the Bible are for real, and then we must choose to trust God with the situations in our lives. This trust doesn't 'just happen' no more than belief 'just happens'.

To put this another way, whenever a non-believer reaches the point of realizing that unless they "get right" with God by being forgiven of all they've thought, said, and done to offend Him (our "sins"), then they will be punished for our sins for an eternity, often they're encouraged by a Christian to "pray a prayer" of forgiveness in order to be "saved", or to attain "salvation". Often, in that prayer, the person is asked by the Christian who is helping them to pray if they're willing to make Jesus their "Lord and Savior".

My point is that Christians seem to have no problem with making Jesus their Savior (trusting Him for their salvation), but they struggle immensely throughout the rest of their earthly lives with trusting Him to be their Lord - to put Him in charge of their lives so that He can show them how to get through the day-to-day, moment-to-moment situations that they face.

So why is this? Why are Christians so willing to trust Jesus for their "hell insurance" yet so stubbornly defiant or oblivious about trusting Him with finances, relationships, temptation struggles, etc? Here are the top reasons:

1. Old habits die hard - Especially if one is saved at a later age, the programming that s/he has received about being self-sufficient from the time of their birth is extremely difficult to change. It doesn't happen overnight, and only results from daily asking God to show them how to rely upon God instead of upon themselves any longer.
2. We're afraid of what others might think - If a non-Christian friend gives you advice about money or relationships, it's often true that the Bible's advice will be to do the opposite. Until one is grounded in their faith (which is the direct result of one's time spent reading the Bible, praying, and hanging out with other grounded Christians), it's very difficult to go against the grain. Christians in this day in age unfortunately worry far too much about what other people think than to obey what God wants them to do.
3. We think we know better - I've heard far too many stories about Christians who are convinced that God has spoken to them about doing this or that, then they do the opposite because God's way seems too illogical, uncomfortable, inconvenient, or will supposedly take too long. So off they go, marrying the first person who comes along instead of waiting for God's best, or buying that home too soon or buying a far bigger home than what is needed, or extending themselves financially far beyond what they earn, etc. What's even worse is when the Christian then gets mad at God when the foolishness of their plan blows up in their face.
4. We don't spend time getting to know God - And with lack of knowledge comes lack of understanding about how He thinks and operates. The greatest reason for the slow death that the western Christian church is dying right now is that we are too caught up with living life the way non-Christians do that we don't have time to spend with God, which occurs through reading the Bible, praying, and spending time with other Christians. The devil has us right where he wants us - too busy chasing that bigger/newer/more cool _____, or spending our time and money on leisurely, self-centered pursuits instead of getting to know God. And because we don't know and understand Him, we're unable to explain the Gospel - the "good news" about Jesus - in a way that's attractive and compelling to the non-believer. The non-believer is told that they need to "go to church", for example, rather than how they could experience a mind-blowing personal relationship with their Creator and the Creator of the entire universe who will provide them with a life and an eternity beyond anything they could ever imagine.
   

Here's what I do now whenever I get worried about a situation or think I have a better plan. I simply stop, take a breather, and ask for God's wisdom and insight in that situation. As soon as I'm tempted to think that my family's financial situation won't work out the way I want it to, for example, I go back to all those countless times where God never let us fall short. I also force myself to keep doing what I'm doing if God hasn't made things clear to me and wait until He leads me to do differently. I also ask Him if the way I want it to go is His best for us or not, and to give me the patience to let Him work it out the way He sees fit.

As soon as I encounter a home or work situation that stumps me, I throw up a little prayer (when I remember to do so!) and ask God to show me the way through it. If it's a situation that doesn't have a deadline, I back away and wait for Him to give me the answer or to work out the situation Himself.

In part II of this topic, I'll give some specific examples of how trusting God in different situations instead of my own ideas and so-called "wisdom" worked out for the better.

Faith involves the unknown

I made the argument in a previous post that everyone has faith, but that not everyone has faith in God. At the end of that post, I brought up the objection that some non-believers make about how it's hard to believe in a God that you can't sense and experience, one that you can't see, touch, hear, taste, or smell.

The problem with us as humans is that we rely too much on our five senses. Unless we can quantify something and wrap our brains around it and neatly 'put it in a box', we tend to dismiss it altogether. We call it myth, or folklore, or superstition and the like. So because God doesn't make Himself known through our five senses, because He isn't quantifiable, because what we read about Him in the Bible is so mysterious and unlike the ways of mankind, and because we can't boil Him down into a formula or simple means of understanding and put Him in a 'box', we relegate Him to being the figment of an over-active imagination. We make fun of his believers as needing a "crutch" like their imaginary God to get them through life instead of bucking up and fighting through it on their own strength.

I find it interesting how people will dismiss the existence of God for these reasons, but they'll believe in alternate theories about why we're here, even when there is minimal "evidence" to support that theory and the proponents of the theory are greatly divided in their stance.

Perhaps you know where I'm going with this, so here goes. The most popular theory that non-believers use to explain the origin of life is the Theory of Evolution. Non-believers will tend to accept what its proponents say without question because, among other things, it gives them an excuse to reject the Biblical notion that they are created beings accountable to their Creator. They can reject the Biblical teaching about how they will meet God face-to-face at the start of eternity and have to give an account of their lives. They can reject what the Bible says about how we need to be forgiven of our sins by coming to Jesus - God's only appointed mediator between God and man - and asking to be forgiven. They can reject the Biblical description of heaven and hell and instead assume that we have no soul or spirit and will eventually die out and become nothing, much like a dead flower or blade of grass.

They will grasp at anything that stands defiantly in the face of God, thinking that some body of man-made thought will somehow destroy this God or render him impotent.

To believe in the Theory of Evolution takes a great deal of faith, and the evolutionist has made Evolution their god inasmuch as the believer has made God their god. The evolutionist has made the assumption that the believer has operated strictly on blind faith, when the reality is the evolutionist is the only one who has done this.

That the meagre scraps of inconclusive evidence and non-cohesive assumptions collected over 150 years have yet to elevate this theory to the level of the "Fact" or the "Law" of Evolution are evidence that faith involves the unknown. The evolutionist simply cannot go back in time and prove that their assumptions are true; they can only have faith in them. They have to assume that this-or-that fossil represents proof that one species suddenly decided to become another even though no conclusive evidence has ever been found of a "transitional" species. But on and on they plod because the death of their belief system would mean only God will be left standing.

The creationist also cannot go back in time and prove that by simply speaking, God caused an entire universe to leap into existence. One can, however, look at the enormous body of evidence - provided mostly by non-believers like archaeologists - that give credibility to the places, names, and events of the Bible and use this to give credibility to the Bible as a whole. In fact, it is no exaggeration that the body of physical evidence to support the Bible far exceeds that used to support the Theory of Evolution.

Don't want to take my word for this? Then simply WITH AN OBJECTIVE MIND start to research this evidence for yourself. Many have done the same and concluded in God's favor, but perhaps you have that special edge that will finally - after thousands of years - conclusively disprove God, the Bible, and Jesus and the miraculous transformative power of them in peoples' lives. A power that operates worldwide regardless of race, socio-economic status, political system, or a person's background. A power that is the envy of psychologists and psychiatrists the world over.

So although you can't see, touch, hear, taste, or smell God Himself, the evidence of His handywork is all around us, according to the Bible: The complex yet perfect intricacy of ecosystems and the creatures that live therein. The structure and operation of the human eye, which no amount of human creative effort has yet to duplicate in the form of lenses and cameras. The intricacy of musculo-skeletal movements and their interaction with the brain that still leave computer programmers, engineers, and the medical profession dumbfounded. I could go on and on.

If these enormous creative attempts on the part of humans in no way duplicate what is found in nature, then who are we to think that nature has come about apart from creative forces? And who are we to think that these forces operate on random chance without a Creator behind them?

We don't need to see the Creator Himself because the evidence of His work alone should be all we need to believe in the existence of this unseen God. With evidence like this, faith in His existence isn't really too difficult after all!

Everyone has faith

One reason that non-believers use to not be open-minded when it comes to reading or thinking about the God of the Bible is that "I don't have enough faith to believe in that God." I won't go into all the other objections in this post that people use to close their minds and reject God (which frankly I've found are based purely on emotion and ignorance rather than exhaustive research and fact - my life before God is a case in point!).

Instead, I propose the notion that everyone has faith whether they believe in God or not. In fact, every member of the human race - past, present, and future - has faith in many different people and things. Before I continue, let's look at one definition of faith: "complete trust or confidence in someone or something". In other words, to believe in God (or a god) requires more than belief, but a total trust or confidence in that god. Now let's apply this definition to the "something" category.

When you step into a car, you generally don't think twice about the hundreds of moving parts designed by imperfect beings that are about to propel you down the highway at 100 km/h. You step in and away you go, often without a second thought. You have faith in that car that it's going to get you to where you want safely and without incident. Your faith is even more evident when you let someone else drive, especially if you don't know them that well and more so if you decide to take a nap while (s)he is driving.

You might argue that this is a foolish argument for faith. Perhaps you're the type (sort of like me) who always has the thought in the back of your mind that the car could break down at any time, or that a tire could burst and you could sail off the road, or that some other driver could smash into you. But in nearly all these cases, don't you still get into that car and start driving?

People who put their faith in a "someone" like God often have a level of overall faith absolutely no different than even the most angry disbeliever and hater of God. The difference with believers is that they have simply put the bulk of their overall faith in God, although God actually wants us to put all our faith in Him (which is hard for even the most faithful of us imperfect beings to do!).

Frankly, when one starts to put out of their mind every stereotype and pre-conceived notion about God, it's much easier to believe in Him than anything or anyone else. And actually, most people don't have a problem with the idea of God, per se, but rather with those who claim to be His followers who have tainted the image of God; that is, it's even easier to accept and believe in God when one decides to ignore their experiences with such people. We've all heard too many stories of church leaders who've tried to look and act so godly on the outside - in front of an audience - but then resort to violence, robbery, and even rape behind the scenes. I'm sure they are what Jesus would call "modern-day Pharisees" in the worst sense.

Some of you at this point might now see the validity of my claim about everyone having faith, but you might now be thinking, "Well, it's easy to have faith in something I can see, touch, hear, taste, or smell. But it's different with God. I really can't believe in something I can't see and feel. I mean, I can't see the wind, but at least I can feel and experience it."

Oh boy - I think I've opened up a whole new can of worms! This is definitely a topic for another post. Stay tuned ...