What Is Earth Made Of?...

I'm not a scientist, and I certainly don't espouse "scientism," or the belief that science is the only valid source of knowledge, but I do believe that science can find facts, just like the Bible has scientific facts in it without having any scientific absurdities or known mistakes--where the Bible does make scientific statements, it's accurate; though it's not a science manual (though there are several instances where the Bible's knowledge is more advanced than that of current science).  We must make use of all sources of knowledge:  rationality, empiricism, experience, logic, history, philosophy, and revelation from God.  Ultimately, all information is contingent upon its presupposition, and all knowledge depends ultimately upon God, the source.  As Augustine said, "All truth is God's truth."  All truth meets at the top, he would say!  That's why the Bible has the roots of every major academic discipline and has something to say to initiate the study of each one from philosophy, science, logic, ethics, history, economics, theology, psychology, sociology, and even politics.  All these academic endeavors have their fulfillment in the person of Christ.

Science can demonstrate that energy and matter exist, but when they allege that this is all there is, they are presumptuous (you cannot prove a universal negative), such as Carl Sagan saying, "The cosmos is all that is or was or ever will be."  That is a philosophical or theological statement not in the prerogative or domain of science to make.  For instance, when science says that miracles are a violation of natural law, they are saying natural law is God or has His power and that there is no Almighty who is the Lawgiver and is not bound by natural law but can overrule it at will.  And so the question of miracles is really a philosophical and theological one, not a scientific one.

In addition to energy/matter/quanta in the time-space continuum (time being the corollary of space and matter), we see information, design, order, and plans in our cosmos from the smallest sub-atomic particle to the largest galaxy.  Christians adhere to spirit.  New Agers believe in energy in everything, in fact, everything having a spirit and the existence of a Great Spark of life.  How can one not see the Anthropic Principle on earth, with its many contingent laws and nature's conveniences and not see God's handiwork?  "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork!" (Psa. 19:1, ESV).  Napoleon was asked why he believed:  all you have to do is look to the heavens--"Who made that?"   "The theory of an eternal universe is untenable!" Scientists assume the big bang and "a brief history of time" itself--which the Bible verifies (2 Tim. 1:9; Tit. 1:2).  Steven Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time postulating this hypothesis.

Logic will tell you that if there's creation, there must be a Creator.  If there was a beginning or Big Bang, then there had to be a Beginner or One who got the big bang going.  The Big Bang was so fine-tuned that even slight maladjustments would've made the anthropic principle impossible.  One can also reason that there is a plan because of a Planner, a design because of a Designer, order because of an Orderer, and a purpose because of a "Purposer." Just like you assume an artist looking at art and an architect looking at a building ("For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything," cf. Heb. 3:4, NIV).  Now, think of all the information out there!  Carl Sagan said that he'd believe in intelligence if we would get a message of information from outer space.  Well, there's plenty of intelligence on earth to look at to assume a Great Intelligence: every living thing as DNA or the fingerprint of God and is encoded with information, showing "intelligent design" or ID (the human genome has as much info as an entire set of encyclopedias).

Now, the ultimate dilemma or issue:  we have information, which necessitates thought, which necessitates a thinker!  A mind assumes a Higher Mind (the Logos of Scripture) and scientists don't dare go there because they want to deny His existence.  The logical order of events is this:   Thinker, thought, and then, finally, object or thing comprising forethought, design, or plan.   One of Einstein's earlier statements was that God was a "pure mathematical mind." To some astronomers, the universe appears as one gigantic mathematical equation!   Whether one believes in a personal God or not, there had to be a First Cause, Prime Mover, or Causa Prima, of Aristotle, and logic tells us that eternal regression and crossing infinity are impossible: everything cannot be contingent, but there must be something that needs no one or nothing and is not contingent for the chain of events to begin!  We say this because, according to logic, nothing can create or cause itself, and nothing just happens or appears without a cause.  One rule says that everything that begins to exist has a cause--God had no beginning and no cause and the universe began to exist and had a cause!

In sum, we must start with God and explain the universe, not the other way around!  "In the beginning God..." and "In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  We must start somewhere with the missing ingredient of information and its Creator, or Thinker--the Ultimate Mind!  Point to ponder:  "The only system of thought that Christ will fit into is the one where He is the starting point."  (Athanasius).   Soli Deo Gloria!

Lord, Teach Us To Pray!

"And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:3, ESV). 
"But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him" (John 4:24, ESV). 

The disciples saw the prayer life of Jesus in action and besought Him to share how they could partake of this privilege of intimate communion with God the Father.  If you will study all of Scripture, nowhere does it teach us the methodology of prayer or how to do it in a godly fashion.  There had been heroes of prayer like Moses, Elijah, Daniel, David, and other prophets, but they weren't teachers of prayer.  Obedient prayer with God is done in protocol with all due respect to any believer's prayer, but God is a God of order and design and Jesus did teach on the subject to give us a precedent.  only the Lord would be qualified to teach us how to pray to the Father because God is His Father.

The Father seeks such to worship Him, those who do so in the Spirit and in truth.  We are to go directly to the Father by virtue of Christ's name and authority--going to the top as it were!  The Father, who sees in secret will reward us.  There is no example of prayer by Paul or Peter of praying to anyone but the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  This doesn't preclude calling on the name of the Lord for salvation or deliverance in any capacity--for He's the Savior.  But our fellowship is with the Father and with the Son (cf. 1 John 1:3).  We must not put God in a box or make Him one-dimensional by limiting the scope of our prayer and denying the Godhead or triune God.  We pray in the name of the Son, in the power of the Spirit, unto the Father (cf. Eph. 2:18).  Jesus reiterated that no one comes to the Father, except through Him.

We have the right to address the Deity the way we choose, but ignorance is no excuse and we must have faith as the missing ingredient; however, corporate and personal prayer follow the template or paradigm of the ideal prayer, as given in the Lord's prayer.  We pray with Scriptural warrant and authority so as not to offend the weaker brethren who may be inclined to judge.  Remember, 1 Cor. 8:12 says we sin against our brother when we wound his conscience and our liberty is limited by his conscience.  The point is that, just because we have a right to do our own thing, it may not be wise but counterproductive.

God is more than a throwback to our need for a father figure, He's everything we need and can meet all our needs--we are never bankrupt when we have Him as an asset!  We all need to embrace God as our heavenly Father and become intimate with the Almighty as a matter of becoming a child of God.

CAVEAT:  WE ARE TO BEWARE OF CHARISMATIC LEADERS THAT LEAD THE FLOCK ASTRAY AND THE FLOCK LEARNS TO TRUST THEM INSTEAD OF SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES ON THE MATTER.  This is how heresies and cults begin--with the flock forsaking the truth and thinking sound doctrine and the truth doesn't matter--only singing kumbaya and being congenial does.  Soli Deo Gloria!  

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Prone To Wander

"Return, Israel, to the LORD your God, Your sins have been your downfall! ... 'I will heal their waywardness [backsliding] and love them freely, for my anger has turned away from them" (Hosea 14:1,4, NIV). 
"Backsliders get what they deserve..." (Prov. 14:14, NLT).  
"Truly you are a God who has been hiding himself..." (Isa. 45:15, NIV).  
"But no one says, 'Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night...[?]'" (Job 35:10, NIV).
"... God left him to test him and discover what was in his heart" (2 Chron. 32:31, ESV).  

Robert Robinson wrote the famous hymn  "Come Thou Fount" to show his struggle with the faith and how God got him through the hard times. Everyone is subject to backsliding, depression, and wandering from the faith because this is the natural inclination of our sin nature.  Robinson was indeed a man of struggles and hardship and suffered melancholy, known today as depression.  In fact, in his later years, he would've given anything to feel like he did at twenty-two writing that hymn.  It would seem it was a self-fulfilling prophecy.  The feelings come and go like a yo-yo and a weather-vane in a storm, but our faith must endure.  We must learn Reality 101 that we also must not depend upon feelings as a measure of our faith, but obedience.  Sooner or later, we must face the reality of the test of our faith.

We may wonder about the whereabouts of God as Job did ("If only I knew where to find him..." in Job 23:3, NIV) and if He is meeting His end of the deal and if we do really have faith after all.  The fact is, is that the same trials make some bitter, and some better.  We ought to rejoice in our sufferings (cf. Rom. 5:3) and that we are considered worthy to suffer for His name's sake.  There may be times when there seems no hope like Job experienced, or one may be at the end of one's rope and their hope has perished like Jeremiah's.  But we must learn to acknowledge Jesus as the Lord of the storm and if He got us to it, He'll get us through it!  We don't have to wonder where God is, but where our faith is!  God can calm all the storms of life and every stormy relationship or stressful event.  We hang in there like Job in Job 14:14, NIV:  "...All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come."

We must feel the pain to be able to relate and to and comfort others in their afflictions (cf. 2 Cor. 1:10)!  That's one reason Jesus felt our pains and was a "man of sorrows and acquainted with grief"--to identify with us.  Even believers may wonder periodically if God is really there, and if He is aware of our situation.  But no problem is too trivial or too big for our God to be able to take care of.  But note that God didn't explain Himself to Job and doesn't need to explain Himself to us--He's too profound!  We all have a cross to bear, a crucible that comes with the territory--no cross means no crown!  It is adversity that builds character and if we had no problems our faith could never be tested--and it's more precious than silver and gold.  So, when your storm comes, learn to seek God and His presence and the comfort of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

Jesus isn't asking anything of us He didn't go through Himself (He didn't exempt Himself from predicaments, adversities, and exigencies) but He was honest enough to warn us to count the cost.  No one gets through life trouble free or without any stress or trials; we need it to grow by them though.  We must not question where God is, but ask ourselves:  Where isn't God?  And we must celebrate the fact that the battle is the Lord's, and we are fighting from victory, not for victory.  This is where we find out if we have the right stuff to be disciples and what we are made of.  We cannot skate through life problem-free!  Let's echo Alfred, Lord Tennyson's words:  "I hope to see my Pilot face to face when I have crossed the bar."   In the meantime, we are to go over to the other side with Jesus at the helm and simply live a life following Him in obedience to prove our faith and love. 

Note that God is not playing cosmic hide-and-seek and He is not MIA or missing-in-action!  Next time, don't wonder about God, but where you are!  The late Francis Schaeffer said, "He is there and He is not silent."    St. Augustine of Hippo said, "You made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you."  Pascal, in the same vein, talked of a "God-shaped blank" or vacuum only God can fill!   Soli Deo Gloria!