It’s always interesting to me when I hear people share what they believe about the existence of God and which God they believe in. Some people believe in Allah, others in nothingness (ala “The Buddha”), some in an accommodating God who accepts everyone and others in no God at all. Hindus believe there are something like three hundred million gods!
It’s even more interesting to me when I hear why people believe what they believe about God. Ask most people from most religions why they believe what they believe and they’ll give an answer that swirls around their holy book. But which holy book is right? Is it the Bible? The Koran? The Book of Mormon? Tom Cruise’s handy guide to all things Scientology?
Some say they believe what they believe about God because of the difference he, she or it has made in their lives. But just because something has made a difference doesn’t make that something God. And if a Muslim, Christian, Mormon and Jew all claim that their God has made a difference in their lives then which god is the real God?
There’s a hymn (a old timey church worship song) that makes reference to Christ’s resurrection. It goes, “you ask me how I know he lives, he lives within my heart.” But if you ask a Mormon why they believe the Book of Mormon is true and they’ll respond that they get a burning in their bosom when they read it. And you ask a Muslim and they’ll tell you the difference Allah has made in their lives.
So how do you know? How can you know?
Let me tell you how I know. Le me take you on my personal journey of embracing Jesus as the only way of salvation and the God of the Bible being the true and only God.
As a young child I always found myself staring up into the sky looking at the stars, especially when we went camping in the mountains. I remember thinking that al this stuff had to come from Someone way bigger than me. That Someone had to be big, strong, smart and totally in control. That Someone had to be God. Little did I know that I was engaging in what some call The Teleological Argument. It simply goes like this: design requires a designer.
You don’t look at a beautiful painting and think “Wow, what an accident!” You think, “Wow, what an artist!” The same is true of the ultimate masterpiece, the universe itself. There had to be a big brain behind the intricate design of it all. There had to be a big power behind it all to make the concept a reality. From the amazing human body to the vastness of the universe to the surprisingly complex world of the micro universe (protons, neutrons, quarks, etc) there has to be a God.
I knew it as a child and so did you. Romans 1:19-20 reminds us that we all knew it, “since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
Down deep inside we all know there is a God. The universe makes that clear. Atheistic evolution is just a smokescreen to keep us from seeing His Presence. But, inevitably, the fog lifts for all of us and in our heart of hearts we know He is there.
On June 23rd, 1974 I trusted in Jesus as my Savior. Through His Spirit He came to live inside my soul. It may not prove Christianity to anyone else but the changes I saw Him make in my life proved it to me. He gave me hope, purpose and forgiveness. My story was not enough to prove his existence to anyone else but it was more than enough for me. Continue >>
RSS
mathetes, I was surprised to hear him speak from that perspective, but I will do that as I do for several other secular posters, had a great week and even though it was a secular camp per say we had one boy accept Christ and two former NFLers gave powerful testimonies of God's working in their lives, plus is what neat to see God work out both the weather and the schedule to make it a very special week for these kids. Praise the Lord for that and His working in your life with regards to that position, be blessed, believer.
believer,
Thanks for your praying. I will preach the 10 + 17, then they will vote on me as interim pastor on the 24th.
You saw the long talk agent + I had? I believe God is working on him. Please keep hm in yours prayers too. Thanks.
mathetes, know I have you in my prayers and pray that if this is God's will He'll show this to both you and your wife and the church. Be blessed as you serve Him this week, believer
believer,
James 5 is true again: you fervent prayer avail s much. That church called back to ask me to meet w/the search committee Wed night. Please keep us all in your prayers.
And thanks for the tip on Adams' book. Going to find it tomorrow. Blessings on you + yours.
PS: I grew up getting haircuts at Barksdale AFB. Good base.
mathetes, have you read Jay Adam's book on church conflict, "Sibling Rivalry In The Household Of God". I found it really helpful and informative. But to be honest most of my training in church conflict I got in the Air Force when I was a Chief of Social Actions, but I found it very relevant in resolving church conflict as well.
believer,
So we share a concern for apologetics + for resolving church conflict. My dissertation examines the pastor's role in managing church conflict. Research has been sad + enlightening; hopefully it will help in the future.
mathetes, too often unfortunately we're called too late, whereas if we were called sooner the outcome could have been a lot more positive for all concerned parties.
believer,
One of my NT friends is teaching at LR: Dr. Arnett. He is sharp as a tack and gifted. DoMs have my respect: they serve as pastor to the pastors and keep us focused outward in evangelism. Oh yeah, and sometimes they are called in to settle some nasty church fights. God bless you and your family.
mathetes, I got my MA from Luther Rice Seminary and Phd from International Bible College and Seminary, both were done through external studies programs and I'm a Director of Missions in SE Kentucky.
believer,
Did you go to sbts? You said VBSs; a DoM maybe? Thanks for praying; I don't want to be there if it's not God's will.
I'm no cajun, tho they teach me to eat strange + tasty things. S'port is the other end of the state; grew up w/guys who thought they were east TX rednecks. My wife's the huge LSU fan. I pull for anyone SEC vs anyone else, except maybe Bama. Just can't bring myself to do it....
mathetes, doing good, busy summer with VBSs and next week I'll be working at a camp for kids whose parents got in trouble because of drugs. So you're a cajun, does that mean you're a LSU fan, I hope not since only Volunteers go to heaven. I pray if it's His will you'll get that interim, so be blessed as you serve Him, believer.
Hi, believer. I've been busy grading finals at WCU. You + wbmoore have done well holding forth the Truth w/o me. I grew up in S'port but spent 20 yrs in n'awlins till katrina. Almost finished rebuilding our house; we will let a seminarian live there 'cause I love it here: residential campus, college sports, etc. A church called today to check my availability for interim pastor. Please pray we all hear God's guidance clearly.
How about you?
mathetes, long time no hear, are you getting ready to head back to Southern soon? Plus where did you say home is for you and are you looking to be serving anywhere or are you already?
Huron if you use just a little bit of that hope you had for a better argument on hope for the existence of God, sincerely desiring to know, having faith God will reveal himself unto you, HE WILL!!!
1 Corinthians 2:12-14 (King James Version)
King James Version (KJV)
Public Domain
12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned
JESUS IS LORD
Oh, Homoousia, you asked one last question:
"Why would you send one so confusing that different churches today include different numbers of books? If you are a god, you are an incompetent one indeed."
Do the disagreements of men reveal the incompetence of God, or merely the corruption and argumentative nature of people?
As if Ten Commandments were not simple enough, Jesus boiled down the whole Law and the Prophets into the two Great Commandments: love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.
Yet we sometimes seem to be incapable of agreeing what these two commandments mean and how they should be practiced. On these forums you will find people who misinterpret the second command to suit their own agenda, while ignoring the first command. That is not God’s fault; any blame lies with fallible people.
By the way, why did you choose your unique screen name?
Homoousia316,
It looks like you are long gone, but I will answer in case you check back. You asked:
"Why do you see the handiwork of Jehovah in the sky but not the handiwork of Zeus? "
I can find no accounts of Zeus announcing what he was going to do, and then doing it. I can find nothing to support the idea that Zeus exists in any way, except as a concept or idea. But Jehovah (I prefer Yahweh) announced His intended actions through His prophets, then He intervened in history as He said He would do. We have these accounts throughout the Bible. We also have ample evidence in the millions of transformed lives who have experienced the risen Christ.
"We know you would send a holy book, but would you send fifty different ones and call one the Koran and one Leviticus?"
Yahweh only sent one book, a collection of books called the Bible. Though it had over 40 authors, it tells one consistent story of God redeeming fallen mankind. The fulfilled prophecies point to its divine origin, as does the ample archeological evidence for the cultures and events it describes. All of these are lacking in all the other religious books.
"Where in the Bible does it list the books that are Scripture and the ones that are not?"
In Luke 24:44, Jesus spoke of the three sections of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament): the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms. In Luke 11:50-51, Jesus used an expression that emphasized the whole Hebrew Bible (Genesis to 2 Chronicles) when He stated that His listeners were guilty of the blood of all the prophets, from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah.
Later, Peter writes that the letters of Paul are equivalent to the other accepted scriptures (2 Peter 3:15-16). Here we see the beginnings of the New Testament canon.
I hope this is helpful to you.
huron, so if something is not testable then it can't possibly be true?
I was hoping to see something more here than a fallacious intelligent design argument. "Why I believe in the God of the Bible" is the title and he no more answered it than give a recap of the various reasons people of many faiths give for their belief. There is a reason why intelligent design falters in the public square of critical inquiry. It fails to offer any evidence and/or a testable hypothesis. The god of the gaps may be an effective tool for believers but it is more intellectually honest to admit we don't know something than inject god whereever a mystery lays. We have so often injected god to expalin earthquakes, lightning, disease, and yet when we took our eyes out of the bible, koran, book of mormon, we discovered palte techtonics, meteorology, and medicine. The god of the bible deserves no more belief than that of the koran, book of mormon, or the vedas. You so quickly accept your religious apologetics on grounds that you deny other's theirs. It may not be comforting but the search for truth doesn't guarantee comfort. Only the satisfaction of accepting the world as it really is. God may or may not exist but religion is a mockery of him if he does.
sparker, I agree there are many in America who can't understand why they need God in their life. That's why we as Christians need to live our lives in such a way we make them thirsty for what we have and what we have is a personal and growing relationship with God through Christ. I believe that is what Christ meant when He declared that we are to be "the salt of the earth.".
I think many of us have friends we would like to convince that life with Jesus is not only a necessity but is so much better than one without Him. It is very difficult to show people thier need for God. Scare tactics don't work about hell. It is off putting, yet they need to hear it. Life in America is very good, there are many distractions to keep us from seeing our need for God. I know it is Gods' calling that people come to know Him, and that we are to share with others His love and Word. Doing all this and still watch a friend be undecided is tough. I pray that my efforts are just the seed planting and that someday soon my friend will come to know the Lord. How to get people to see their need for God? Is it our job or Gods?