The Test of Life

Today I was listening to the Bob Dutko show while he was arguing with a man named Dave Neimi (or something) who is the President of the American Humanist Society. They got into a huge debate about God and all of the exceedingly exciting conversations that build from such debates. This is when the perfect example dawned on me.

Okay, regardless of what they believe or others believe, what truth is, what lies are...According to our beliefs, and the beliefs of almost all other religions, there is something after life. Call it eternity, call it heaven, call it nothing...Call it whatever you would like. Okay, no LIVING human being has proof, and therefore doesn't KNOW, for certain, whether there is something beyond our lives; whether there will be eternity or heaven, we don't actually have PROOF of. However, I want you to look at it this way. The fact of the matter is, beliefs DO exist. Like it or not, there are people that have beliefs in eternity, right from wrong, punishment, etc. So if these beliefs exist we have to come to the understanding that, regardless of possibility, all of these beliefs have been granted, even in the smallest degree, possibility. So now that these beliefs have been presented you sit back and say, "Okay, these have now been granted the characteristics of possibility, whether I like it or not, they are now possible. So now, which one, if any, is the most likely or is backed up the most effectively by what we have proven and know to be true." This is the unfortunate reality of everything. I don't care what any of you think. The fact is, even the ancient beliefs in Zeus, Hercules, Hera, etc. are POSSIBLE, but how PLAUSIBLE are they? I will not say, "They are not possible," unless I find that another belief to be true. All religions are possible due to them having been brought into existence, however, which is the most likely to be true. From here comes my comparison.

In high school, each and every person who went through it had a teacher who said these words: "Even if you don't know the answer, put something down. It's better to try and get it wrong than it is to leave it blank." Okay, now this needs to be addressed. According to my beliefs there is no partial credit, there is a "right" answer and a "wrong" answer, but I think it's easy to understand what I'm getting at. The fact of the matter is, like it or not (a phrase I use because I don't care what you like...I care about what is true and beneficial for you to hear), because there have been beliefs brought into the spectrum of our reality we now are obligated to look at them once we become aware of them to put them to our limited, human tests.

First off, I think we can all agree that tests are a relatively decent form of judging what you have learned, experienced, etc. otherwise I doubt almost all schools in the world would issue them. So if we can agree that tests are a form of judging what we think we know against what is actually known then we are making progress. There are "right" and "wrong" answers to tests. We know this because, as we all have found out, in school if you put the wrong answer down...You get it wrong. If you leave it blank, you get it wrong. They don't say, "Oh you don't know...That's okay. I gave it to you because I can't punish you for not even trying. Even though I spent the past several weeks showing, proving, demonstrating, and teaching you this information, I'm not going to hold you accountable for it because you don't care enough to try or pay attention." Pretty basic concept. We have all experienced this.

Okay so here's the point. Life is a test. We live, we believe what we do matters, and when we die, we go into it not knowing, for certain, what it will yield. However, regardless of our lack of understanding or knowledge, there will be a test when we die. What will happen, where will we go, what will come? You don't know, others don't know, even I don't KNOW, but we all go into this journey with faith. I have faith I'm right, atheists have faith they're right (even though they deny it), and everyone else goes into this new found experience with faith. Here's the question: When you die...Do you want to turn in your test with a blank line, or do you want to study up, figure out which is the best answer by process of elimination, and then write it down? Those are your only options, I don't care what you say, assert, etc. You will face this test, no matter what we would like to assert, we will face the test, but how do you want to enter? Prepared with the Armor and blood of Christ covering you in the sight of the Almighty, or Naked with nothing except your blank line covering your soul. Those are your two options. Pick one, and run with it, but choose wisely.

You Can't Start a Fire...

According to Bruce Springstein in his song "Dancing in the Dark" he states, "You can't start a fire. You can't start a fire without a spark." Even Bruce Springstein knows that the universe can't start without a spark...I think this may be a self-sufficient statement in and of itself. If even a musician knows the science behind the universe shouldn't scientists know it too?

I think Bruce had it right. You can't start a fire without a spark, and God is the spark. The spark of His words.

God is the Relative Force Holding us Together

This time I'm gonna try and introduce a little bit of science. I want to talk a bit about the "Strong Force".

Basically there is a force, stronger than the force of Gravity, Electromagnetic, and Nuclear forces called "The Strong Nuclear Force". Somehow this force manages to override the forces of electromagnetism, or the positive particles repel positive particles and negative repel negative particles, through what Yukawa called, "mesons". Another man named John A. Gowan, in agreement with Yukawa's initial design of the process refers to these mesons as "virtual". Virtual basically means "there but not really". There is evidence of it, but we haven't been able to actually observe it. I have two things to state about this...One: Why do people accept invisible concepts like this, but not of God? Answer: Consequences. Two: This Force which is only explainable by "virtual" mesons, is the strongest force in our universe overriding electromagnetism, gravity, and the nuclear force. This invisible force holds us together. If we can believe that a "virtual" force that we can't observe and only theorize about exists, why do we have so much trouble believing in God?

The reason people don't want to believe in God is due to consequences...They don't want to believe what they do has consequences, but unfortunately, that doesn't change the reality of it all. Regardless of whether they like it or not, consequences do exist. Lucky for us, we are covered in Christ's blood. God's grace reigns eternal over all of us. What a blessing. The God of the universe not only holds us together so that we don't just fall apart, but He gives us enough grace to allow us to reign with Him over the world and worship Him for all of His glory. That's a blessing.

Here is an interesting definition of relativity that I found on dictionary.com

Relativity - A state of dependence in which the existence or significance of one entity is solely dependent on that of another

The perfect definition of our lives in relation to God. We are solely and completely dependent on God.

Truth is NOT Relative

Okay this is so simple it's unreal.

First lets take an example of relative and absolute truth. I am the child of my parents, now this is both absolute and relative. For two reasons. It's absolute because they are absolutely, unless my birth certificate is a fraud, my parents, and this is true for everyone in the world. Everyone can say, "Caleb is in fact his parents child." However, I am not the only one who can claim this. This is where the relativity comes in. I am my parents' child, but my brothers are also my parents' children. The relativity being that we all are our parents' children (we share this amongst ourselves and no others can claim this), and the absolute being that anyone can say, "They are their parents' children." Do you see the separation? One is relational and the other is absolute. One can be shared, and the other only stated.

The other day I walked into my bathroom to plug in my laptop so I could listen to music while I took a shower. When I went to plug the cord in a blue sparkle of electricity sparked when it dawned on me, "I don't have a clue how this works...But someone else does." Just because you don't understand the truth behind something, doesn't change that the truth about it still exists. So often people think truth is relative because, "If I don't understand it, or don't think it's true...Then it's not." Unfortunately, that's not the way truth operates. Just because I don't know how electricity works, doesn't change the fact that it does, in fact, function according to absolute laws. It has truths about its function that are absolute, and if one truth exists...It opens the doors for others to exist as well. If electricity has absolute truths to its function, then, in theory, God, morals, life, etc. can have absolute truths. It verifies that the concept is not only probable, but completely plausible. This is a KEY to being a creationist. If you want to show that the absolute truth that God exists, you first have to demonstrate, through hundreds of different ways, that absolute truth exists. And it's as simple as walking into a bathroom, plugging in a laptop which you don't totally comprehend, and realizing, "Just because I don't know how to explain this...Doesn't change the truth behind it."

If one absolute truth exists for ONE OF US...It exists for all of us.

1st Corinthians 8

Paul here addresses knowledge from men's limited capabilities. He talks about how a man's knowledge, and even the knowledge that God has graciously bestowed upon him, can "puff" the man up causing him to be arrogant if he is not careful, however, he states, "Love builds up." Paul says, "The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God." This shows that even when a man knows something, he still doesn't know the way he is supposed to, or hasn't come to the full realization of his knowledge. Only God knows all, and He reveals bits and pieces to us, not the whole picture at once. But God knows those who love Him and that is their source of knowledge. We are granted knowledge and wisdom through our love for God. This emphasizes the concept that man is nothing if he does not love God; God makes all men what they are.

Now Paul dives into some very interesting stuff in verses 4-6. He says, "So then about eating food sacrificed to idols: we know that an idol is nothing at all in the world and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is buy one God, the Father, from whom all things came and from whom we live, and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." Here he gets into some cool concepts. Even if other "gods" exist, which he clearly addresses later that they don't, he says, "Who cares?" (basically) For us there is only one and therefore the others that people believe in are nothing and then should be treated as nothing. Also I love his separation of the "from" in regards to the Father and the "through" in regards to Jesus. Really interesting and awesome things come from this passage.

Verse 7 states, "But not everyone knows this. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat such food they think of it as having been sacrificed to an idol, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled." Here Paul addresses the fact that because of what we believe, if we are grounded properly in our faith, we can eat anything from the earth even if it were used for a sacrificial service to an idol because we know that the idol is nothing. The idol means nothing and represents nothing (in reality, although it does have earthly related representations), therefore the sacrifice, to us, means nothing for we know it's intended "gods" are not real. He then talks about how our weak consciences, because we lack true understanding in our faith, then lead us not to eat it for worry that it is defiled, but in reality because their "gods" are not real and everything comes from our Father, their sacrifices mean nothing. Everything came from our God, nothing in the world is evil; from the evil in men's hearts comes evil. Nothing God created on earth is evil, not even the food used to sacrifice for other 'gods', only our hearts bring forth evil. Besides, everything on earth is not only from God, it is God's. We give Him nothing that isn't already His, and we eat nothing He hasn't given us.

But now the warning comes in verses 9-13, "Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if anyone with a weak conscience sees you who have this knowledge eating in an idol's temple, won't he be emboldened to eat what has been sacrifice to idols? So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall."

He discusses here how although we may know the truth of the situation due to our strengthened conscience, those with weak consciences may be influenced by our actions and knowledge. Despite the fact that they are not actually sinning, and we know this, if they believe they are sinning our actions have no come to weaken our brother's even further because we have made it easier for them to do things they believe are wrong. We weaken their resolve to live as sin free of a life as possible because we have enabled them into sin without allowing them to experience the wisdom God gave us regarding the topic. If we perform actions that someone views as a sin and then they begin to do them despite believing they are a sin, we have sinned against our brother by making them more prone to sinning (weakening their conscience further). If our actions and knowledge create stumbling blocks for our brothers, it would be better for us to refrain from those actions, even if they are not wrong, so as to strengthen and build up our brothers. When we weaken our brothers we damage the kingdom of Christ, and the body may begin to slip into sin which is, as Paul put it, "...a sin against Christ."

Polcie/Politicians vs. Pharisee: Modern Day Translation

When you think of Police Officers and Politicians what typically comes to mind? Ideally we would think of the one cop or senator that we know personally, and love because he does his job properly, but the sad fact is, most of us have not had the same pleasant experiences with them as those who know them personally have. They're supposed to be defending the weak, upholding justice, protecting the innocent, upholding the Law, etc. While there are a few good ones out there, and for those of you that are: God bless you because you make our world a safer place. However, from the ones that are not comes the comparison.

So many are crooked, law breaking rather than upholding, law twisting rather than law obedient, law exempting rather than obeying, willing to sacrifice at others' expense but not their own, cops and politicians. So often I get the feeling that the only reason cops exist is to suck the city of its money in order to raise money for the city. When in reality, they are in place to protect us, not trap us in money sucking schemes. They are there as a guiding force to help others obey the law, and if necessary aid in the capture and punishment of those that break the law. The politicians get funded by the government (through our taxes) yet they don't pay into these taxes. They make decisions regarding our livelihood, our tax rates, our circumstance, and they are exempt from these laws. What sense does that make?

If I were a politician I would REFUSE a salary, and if they wanted to give it to me I would donate it to any cause I saw fit in order to prove a point. People don't exist to serve the government, government exists to serve the people. We have so lost sight of that it's unreal. What good am I at making laws that benefit the people if I am not one of them? How can I test it's effectiveness if it doesn't effect me? Do unto others as you would have them do unto you...Do you think politicians would be pleased with what they have done unto us if the roles were reversed? I think not.

As you read this verse I want you to just for a moment think about the loathing you have for these behaviors, the talking the talking but not walking the walk approach. Matthew 23:1-8 says, "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 'The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi'. But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.'"

Do you see the nearly flawless comparison? They were men that sought after worldly glory, acceptance, and praise from men. Not only that, but they preached the law, yet they themselves did not obey it. This isn't to rag on cops or all of politicians, but do you see the point? Cops and politicians exist as servants to man, to protect, serve, and aid men...Men don't exist to serve them. It's always about a power trip...Rather than being a man of integrity, pursuing what's best our nation, they come with the mindset of what's best for me or my political superior, NOT what's best for the people. I don't even think peace is what's best for our nation, Love is. From love comes all good. If every man in Congress had Love in mind when they wrote laws, made bills, all that crud, our country would be incredible. But alas, we have corrupted our system so that only the greedy, wealthy, sly, cunning, cheating, lying, can become governing bodies. In order to crawl up the ladder, they have to cheat, lie, and steal, and what's worse? We caused it. We've taken a beautiful thing, Democracy, and slandered, libeled, and driven it into oblivion. Criticize the men with rock solid morals all you like, ridicule them, spit at them, kick them when they're down, but when this world falls apart where will they crawl? Back to their morals. Jesus set the example. Let us pursue it.

Don't pursue God for power, let your pursuit of God yield power. Power will be your passion's fruit.

1st Corinthians 4:20 - For the Kingdom of God is not one of talk, but of power.

Just as You Are...

Okay, my whole adult-like life (12-now) I have struggled with authority, and, until recently, I have fought back only to be combative. I now, however, have had a realization that I feel is extremely important.

I envision myself as head of a church, and I'm wearing Jeans, a T-Shirt, and tennis shoes. How many people would say, "Wow...That would seriously bother me"? Here's the question: Should it?

I'm sure many of you have heard the song "Just as You Are", but how many of us understand this? It doesn't say, "Take 2 hours, put on a face that's not really you, and make a show for everyone around you!" (Singing tones included) It says, "Come! Just as you are to worship! Why don't you come, just as you are before your God. Come." Now, by no means am I saying that it's wrong to put on a suit, get a little dolled up for God, and go serve and worship His name, but is your heart right? Are we being real, true, and honest with who we are to God? Because that's what it's all about. He doesn't receive honor from our appearance, it doesn't show Him anymore love from our hearts IF our hearts aren't right to begin with. In fact, dressing up and making ourselves all fancy might actually deter people from coming to our church because they may feel as though they aren't worthy to be in our presence, when really, we are all dressed in rags before God anyway.

Here's the worst part about all of this...I know, because I've had it happen to me, that people judge inside of the church based on clothing. Do we not realize that this damages the body of Christ, ourselves, and more importantly those who are not yet secure in their beliefs? It would be better, according to Paul, to dress in rags (because that's what the rich are dressed in, in reality, anyway) to make everyone who could walk in God's door, HIS house, which is a place of prayer and worship, to feel welcome not only in spirit but in body. So the next time you put on your clothes before you go to church, thank God for the rags you put on and ask Him to use them for His glory because that's why we have them in the first place. Everything is God's.

We need to remember that everything we do is for God's glory and if it's not working for it...It's working against it.