Friday, August 30, 2013
Would You Bet Your Life On It?
"In
Midieval times people believed the Earth was only a few thousand years old. In
1897 Lord Kelvin... calculated that the earth was between 24 million and 400
million years old... In 1905 Ernest Rutherford used radioactive decay of
minerals to arrive at a date of 500 million years. By 1907 Boltwood had
increased this estimate to 1.64 billion years using the same technique...we are
now convinced that the oldest rocks on the Earth are almost 4 billion years
old. " (rsc.org) So within the past
one hundred years the scientists' estimates changed by 4.3 billion years!! That
a pretty big re-calculation! Would you trust
a company that changed their figures that drastically?
When
I was in grade school I was indoctrinated to believe I should eat from the 5
food groups every day. By the time I was
in high school at least three of those food groups were considered
problematic. Today, many people in the
health industry today refuse to eat several of those food groups. Should I believe my grade school text books,
my high school text books or the current text books? Incidentally, God gave Moses some health advice
3300 years ago; I find it interesting
that after all these years mankind is coming around to many of the same dietary
opinions.
Grant
it, mankind is always learning and adapting to new discoveries. Nonetheless, it is baffling when people readily discard long-proven
truths in favor of theories devised by the same "authorities" who
change their answers about the age of the earth by billions of years. Why should a person bet their world view and
their eternal life on constructs that change so drastically?
My
point is that God made us and He has done His best to communicate truths to us,
but, for some reason, we are prone to sneer at God's advice and embrace that of
our peers, even though our peers have changed their opinions drastically in
very short periods of time. When it
comes to my life and my afterlife, I am very uncomfortable banking on the shifting
opinions mentioned above. I need a more
solid foundation; something that has been proven rather than something that
always has to be altered to fit the current theories.
1500
years ago the Bible predicted a Messiah would come and die. Jesus came, claimed to be the Messiah, and accurately predicted his death and his
resurrection. It came to pass before his
contemporaries' very eyes. He rose from
the dead and came out of tomb guarded by a contingent of the world's elite
fighting force. Then he ascended into
heaven in front of a crowd of 500 people.
These events were so real and tangible, that his followers were
transformed from cowards into bold miracle workers and martyrs.
Which
source are you going to trust your eternal life to? Are you going to let your world view be
shaped by a community that changes its facts and figures by billions in a matter of a few decades? Or will you trust someone who says something
and it comes to pass in every detail?
Will you trust your spiritual heath to people who can't quite agree on
what is healthy or healthy for you, or will you trust it to someone who came
back from the grave? God never
miscalculates, and he loved you enough to come in the form of a man and provide
evidence that His Word is true. Furthermore,
He will respond to your sincere efforts to know Him, because He wants you to
have abundant life now and forever. You can bet your life on it!
Friday, August 23, 2013
Quiet Please!
Several
months ago a publically funded radio station aired a discussion on a hot topic
of the day; they were wondering if it was appropriate for New England Patriots' quarterback Tim Tebow
to make a public display of his faith. They
wondered if a "Tebow" is "professional."
Historically,
intimidation and public humiliation have been the tools of tyrants and bullies
who are quick to say "quiet please" to anyone who doesn't see things
their way. Such tactics have been the hallmarks of dictators and repressive
regimes. Truth seekers, on the other
hand, are unafraid of ideas and let everyone say their piece.
The
religious and political powers of the first century held the same view as the
radio guest mentioned above. They wanted to control the ideas on the public
airwaves. Eventually they publically executed Jesus because he was
unprofessional and wore his faith on his sleeve. But truth is not easily snuffed out, and now
there are millions of believers who should take their cue from Jesus and live
their faith publically and professionally.
America's
Founding Fathers wanted free speech, but not forced faith. They felt it was
very appropriate for some to speak publically about their faith. It is clear
that people who do not believe in the God of our forefathers are speaking
out. That is their right, just as it is
the right of Christians to openly live out what they believe. When Christians are asked to "be quiet
please", they are not only being
asked to deny their faith, they are being asked to forfeit one of America's
most precious, foundational freedoms. When Americans unashamedly express their
faith, they represent America at its finest.
One of the guests suggested that Tebow should keep his faith a private matter.
Then she shockingly, claimed that our Founding Fathers intended that it should
be that way. Unsurprisingly, none of her
colleagues challenged this misinformation.
That particular "expert" was, at best, poorly misinformed and,
at worst, intentionally ignoring the historical record for the sake of a
preferred world view. Our Founding
Fathers gave their lives and fortunes specifically so Americans could enjoy free
speech and free exercise of religion.
Fortunately
our Founding Fathers were wise enough to pen their world views. An accurate
account of what they believed is readily available to those who are willing to
do a bit of research. For example, Patrick
Henry said, "It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their
chains." Such faith-filled quotes
have been accumulated at websites such as http://www.usachristianministries.com/us-history-quotes-about-god-and-the-bible/.
Knowing human nature, our Founding Fathers also had the forethought to etch their
philosophies in stone. This website
enumerates many in Washington D.C.: http://providencefoundation.com/?page_id=1962
Because
history has often been re-written or misspoken, some readers may be surprised
to learn that:
- Immediately following George Washington's 1789 inauguration, he went to St Paul's Chapel (on the corner of what is now Ground Zero) to pray. Washington obviously felt public prayer to be very professional; even essential.
- For years many government meetings (including congressional meetings) have begun with prayer to the God of the Bible.
- One of the first Bibles printed in English in America was sanctioned by the U.S. Congress in 1782.
- Public schools famously began each day with Bible reading and prayer well into the 1900s.
- For many years politicians attended church in our nation's capitol building.
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