I am taking a break from the internet, except for answering personal emails once a day, until after the first of the year.
I hope to come with a meaningful post after that time.
Until then, please enjoy some of my favorite blogs, and don't forget about me!!
Streetfishing
Tim Challies
Kevin DeYoung
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
And trying my hand at an answer, part 3 (final)
This is my final post in this series. To recap, I was asked a question by a friend:
Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.
I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.
We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.
That still doesn't seem fair.
I responded in two posts, here and here, and this one is a wrap up to the whole thing. I want to stress that this is simply my take on these things, for what it's worth. I don't claim to be an expert in anything, I'm simply a woman who seeks the Lord and likes to write things about Jesus. That's all. That's just to say that I am not claiming to be an authority, this is just my best opinion with where I am right now with my walk with Christ. Onto the subject matter at hand...
One thing I'd like to mention is that God chose the nation of Israel to be His people, and before Christ came, the physical manifestation of God was limited to their nation. Everyone else was considered a Gentile, and very few Gentiles are recorded as becoming part of the Jewish nation, although there are a few, such as Rahab and Ruth (both of whom are in the lineage of Christ, by the way). What that means is that unless you were a Jew, you were likely to be without hope in the world. So just the fact that we live in a time when God has opened up His plan of salvation to allow for outsiders (Gentiles) to be saved is something to be thankful for.
Most miraculous of all: Christ Himself!! The God that created the universe became a man! He laid down His glory and put on flesh, in humily, and became the lowest of men. He was poor. He was born in a dirty stable with the stench of animal excrement around. He suffered and bled and died for sinful men. He is the miracle of all miracles. Ponder it.
One other important thing to remember is that Christ did not stay dead. My faith hinges on the resurrection account being true (I Corinthians 15:14), and I believe wholeheartedly that it is.
(I feel a whole new series coming on! :) I have been learning about what happens when a person gets "saved" and this is going to touch on it, now.)
What that means for the present day person walking around is colossal, and is actually relevant to the question of whether miracles happen today, or not.
See, prior to Christ, the Jews had a ceremonial law they had to follow, which included the famous Ten Commandments and some 600-odd other laws. These were God's requirements for righteousness. But the problem was that they could never keep them all. No one could, and that was God's point in giving the law (Romans 3:20). But God graciously provided a way for them to be seen as righteous, which was the sacrificial system - but not the system itself or the sacrifice, the faith that was required to carry it out was what allowed God to count them as righteous (Romans 3:28).
The burden of the Law was exceedingly heavy for the Jews, because it was impossible to attain righteousness that way. But then when Jesus came, He perfectly fulfilled every last requirement of the Law, and with His death, He provided the final sacrifice (ever wonder why the sacrificial system is no longer in place?!?).
One of the wonderful things that happened as a result is that now, when a person places their faith in Christ and accepts His perfect, glorious gift of life, God creates a new, spiritual person in place of the old, natural person. The creation of the Christian is literally a creative act of God, occurring today. That's a theological term called regeneration, and it covers a scope of things I am just now learning about and will probably write about sometime soon.
To me, that is the next most miraculous thing of all...God takes a broken, rebellious vessel such as myself and transforms me, literally creating a new spiritual person (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). To the skeptic, it may look like I "got my life together" but I know the truth! He created a new being in me! Not only that, but I live daily with the Holy Spirit inside, guiding and instructing me, and living out the life of Christ through me! (Galatians 2:20)
I want to wrap up with one last thing. Jesus said He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:12-13). If you are reading, and you are a skeptic, I want to encourage you to lay your skepticism down for a bit, and to pick up some humility. I know for a fact that God answers humble prayers of people who want to know if Jesus is real. My husband is living proof of that. But He will not pay heed to the prayers of proud, haughty people (James 4:6). If you are looking for reasons to disbelieve, you will find them. As I touched on in my last post, even some of those that witnessed the miracles of Christ firsthand disbelieved. But for those that understood their need for a Savior, He was seen for who He was and welcomed (Luke 7:37-38).
I encourage you, take a look at your own life. Ask yourself if you are really as "good" as you think you are. Does your "good" outweigh your "bad?" Can it? If you've ever been around a toddler, you will know that your "bad" is stacked against you MAJORLY from the get-go, before you even know what's what. See your need for a Savior. Then approach the Bible, and Jesus, from that angle. The Gospel of John is a good place to start. Ask God if Jesus is who He says He is. And allow Jesus to ask you the question, "Who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16:15-17)
Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.
I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.
We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.
That still doesn't seem fair.
I responded in two posts, here and here, and this one is a wrap up to the whole thing. I want to stress that this is simply my take on these things, for what it's worth. I don't claim to be an expert in anything, I'm simply a woman who seeks the Lord and likes to write things about Jesus. That's all. That's just to say that I am not claiming to be an authority, this is just my best opinion with where I am right now with my walk with Christ. Onto the subject matter at hand...
One thing I'd like to mention is that God chose the nation of Israel to be His people, and before Christ came, the physical manifestation of God was limited to their nation. Everyone else was considered a Gentile, and very few Gentiles are recorded as becoming part of the Jewish nation, although there are a few, such as Rahab and Ruth (both of whom are in the lineage of Christ, by the way). What that means is that unless you were a Jew, you were likely to be without hope in the world. So just the fact that we live in a time when God has opened up His plan of salvation to allow for outsiders (Gentiles) to be saved is something to be thankful for.
Most miraculous of all: Christ Himself!! The God that created the universe became a man! He laid down His glory and put on flesh, in humily, and became the lowest of men. He was poor. He was born in a dirty stable with the stench of animal excrement around. He suffered and bled and died for sinful men. He is the miracle of all miracles. Ponder it.
One other important thing to remember is that Christ did not stay dead. My faith hinges on the resurrection account being true (I Corinthians 15:14), and I believe wholeheartedly that it is.
(I feel a whole new series coming on! :) I have been learning about what happens when a person gets "saved" and this is going to touch on it, now.)
What that means for the present day person walking around is colossal, and is actually relevant to the question of whether miracles happen today, or not.
See, prior to Christ, the Jews had a ceremonial law they had to follow, which included the famous Ten Commandments and some 600-odd other laws. These were God's requirements for righteousness. But the problem was that they could never keep them all. No one could, and that was God's point in giving the law (Romans 3:20). But God graciously provided a way for them to be seen as righteous, which was the sacrificial system - but not the system itself or the sacrifice, the faith that was required to carry it out was what allowed God to count them as righteous (Romans 3:28).
The burden of the Law was exceedingly heavy for the Jews, because it was impossible to attain righteousness that way. But then when Jesus came, He perfectly fulfilled every last requirement of the Law, and with His death, He provided the final sacrifice (ever wonder why the sacrificial system is no longer in place?!?).
One of the wonderful things that happened as a result is that now, when a person places their faith in Christ and accepts His perfect, glorious gift of life, God creates a new, spiritual person in place of the old, natural person. The creation of the Christian is literally a creative act of God, occurring today. That's a theological term called regeneration, and it covers a scope of things I am just now learning about and will probably write about sometime soon.
To me, that is the next most miraculous thing of all...God takes a broken, rebellious vessel such as myself and transforms me, literally creating a new spiritual person (2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 6:15). To the skeptic, it may look like I "got my life together" but I know the truth! He created a new being in me! Not only that, but I live daily with the Holy Spirit inside, guiding and instructing me, and living out the life of Christ through me! (Galatians 2:20)
I want to wrap up with one last thing. Jesus said He did not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matthew 9:12-13). If you are reading, and you are a skeptic, I want to encourage you to lay your skepticism down for a bit, and to pick up some humility. I know for a fact that God answers humble prayers of people who want to know if Jesus is real. My husband is living proof of that. But He will not pay heed to the prayers of proud, haughty people (James 4:6). If you are looking for reasons to disbelieve, you will find them. As I touched on in my last post, even some of those that witnessed the miracles of Christ firsthand disbelieved. But for those that understood their need for a Savior, He was seen for who He was and welcomed (Luke 7:37-38).
I encourage you, take a look at your own life. Ask yourself if you are really as "good" as you think you are. Does your "good" outweigh your "bad?" Can it? If you've ever been around a toddler, you will know that your "bad" is stacked against you MAJORLY from the get-go, before you even know what's what. See your need for a Savior. Then approach the Bible, and Jesus, from that angle. The Gospel of John is a good place to start. Ask God if Jesus is who He says He is. And allow Jesus to ask you the question, "Who do you say I am?" (Matthew 16:15-17)
Monday, December 7, 2009
And trying my hand at an answer, part 2
This series began with a question on the post found here, and then I answered partially on the post found here, and will continue that answer today. I will do a final post, part 3, as a wrap up and summary in the next few days.
Just to give context, the question posed to me was this:
Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.
I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.
We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.
That still doesn't seem fair.
This post will focus on the part of the question that deals with Jesus, and the generation that walked with Him on this earth and witnessed His miracles up close and personal. Again, I will try not to ramble, but this could get lengthy, as well.
The Bible talks a lot about miracles when it talks about Jesus.
The first miracle associated with Jesus that I'd like to talk about is some direct prophecy. In the spirit of Christmas, I want to point to some verses predicting the birth of a miracle Child, written approximately 700 years before Christ was born.
Isaiah 7:14 - “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Isaiah 9:6 - “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
So, this baby was born. And all of Israel had been keeping their eyes out for just such a baby, the Messiah that would take the government on His shoulders. At the time Jesus was born, Israel was under Roman rule, so this was especially appealing to them. They desired release from their oppression and felt their Messiah was just the one to do that for them.
Then Jesus comes into the picture. He heals the sick and lame, makes the blind see and the deaf hear. He casts out demons and declares sin forgiven. He fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. Twice. I could go on and on and on.
He performed miracles day in and day out, in order to show His power was from God (Mark 2:1-12).
From here, 2000+ years later, it seems simple. Its obvious. He is a powerful man, and if only we could have laid our eyes on Him, it would be so easy to believe.
I want to suggest that perhaps for them, the fact that they could lay their eyes on Him was a major obstacle to belief. I think they were looking for something else, probably political might that would overthrow the Roman government. They certainly did not think that their Messiah would be teaching against the religious leaders of the day. They had expectations He did not meet. It is interesting to examine the way they responded to Him.
They opposed Him. (Mark 2:6-7) They did their best to trap Him with questions (Matthew 22:15, Luke 20:26, John 8:6). They tried to stone Him (John 8:59, John 10:31). They said He got His power from the devil.
Most of those walking with Him did not believe the miracles they were privileged to see.
Those who knew Him best believed the least.
He did have followers, and friends, though. And while they walked with Him, learning from Him for three years, when He was arrested, they betrayed Him, abandoned Him and denied Him.
And when it came right down to it, the generation that walked with the Christ, the Living God, God in the Flesh come to save us from our sins, the generation that witnessed those miracles firsthand...
They killed Him.
Just to give context, the question posed to me was this:
Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.
I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.
We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.
That still doesn't seem fair.
This post will focus on the part of the question that deals with Jesus, and the generation that walked with Him on this earth and witnessed His miracles up close and personal. Again, I will try not to ramble, but this could get lengthy, as well.
The Bible talks a lot about miracles when it talks about Jesus.
The first miracle associated with Jesus that I'd like to talk about is some direct prophecy. In the spirit of Christmas, I want to point to some verses predicting the birth of a miracle Child, written approximately 700 years before Christ was born.
Isaiah 7:14 - “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”
Isaiah 9:6 - “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
So, this baby was born. And all of Israel had been keeping their eyes out for just such a baby, the Messiah that would take the government on His shoulders. At the time Jesus was born, Israel was under Roman rule, so this was especially appealing to them. They desired release from their oppression and felt their Messiah was just the one to do that for them.
Then Jesus comes into the picture. He heals the sick and lame, makes the blind see and the deaf hear. He casts out demons and declares sin forgiven. He fed thousands with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. Twice. I could go on and on and on.
He performed miracles day in and day out, in order to show His power was from God (Mark 2:1-12).
From here, 2000+ years later, it seems simple. Its obvious. He is a powerful man, and if only we could have laid our eyes on Him, it would be so easy to believe.
I want to suggest that perhaps for them, the fact that they could lay their eyes on Him was a major obstacle to belief. I think they were looking for something else, probably political might that would overthrow the Roman government. They certainly did not think that their Messiah would be teaching against the religious leaders of the day. They had expectations He did not meet. It is interesting to examine the way they responded to Him.
They opposed Him. (Mark 2:6-7) They did their best to trap Him with questions (Matthew 22:15, Luke 20:26, John 8:6). They tried to stone Him (John 8:59, John 10:31). They said He got His power from the devil.
Most of those walking with Him did not believe the miracles they were privileged to see.
Those who knew Him best believed the least.
He did have followers, and friends, though. And while they walked with Him, learning from Him for three years, when He was arrested, they betrayed Him, abandoned Him and denied Him.
And when it came right down to it, the generation that walked with the Christ, the Living God, God in the Flesh come to save us from our sins, the generation that witnessed those miracles firsthand...
They killed Him.
And trying my hand at an answer, part 1
The question posed by my friend that I referenced in this blog post was:
Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.
I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.
We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.
That still doesn't seem fair.
I want to start with the specific incident of the parting of the sea, and move to Jesus, since those are the two specific things that were mentioned by my friend, and hopefully this won't get too long, although, I'm not making any promises.
In the parting of the sea miracle that was mentioned, God had just freed the nation of Israel from slavery to the Egyptians through a series of ten plagues that only plagued Egyptians and not the Hebrews, or Israelites. When Pharaoh had experienced enough of God's wrath, he finally let the Hebrews go (Exodus 12:31) so that they could strike out and become their own nation. The Egyptians gave them all kinds of riches (Exodus 12:36) because God had inclined the Egyptians' hearts toward the Hebrews. Once they were out of Egypt, the LORD went before them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and in this way He physically led them.
Exodus 14 gives the account of how God hardened the heart of Pharaoh to pursue the Israelites, and that He would use that for His glory. The LORD led the Israelites to a place where the Red Sea was in front of them and the Egyptian army was closing in on them from behind. It seemed like a hopeless situation, and it didn't take the Israelites very long to turn in their hearts against their Deliverer. The mighty God that plagued Egypt with ten plagues that did not touch the Israelites even though they lived mixed together, the mighty God that delivered them out of the Egyptians slavery even though the Egyptians were stronger and had rule over them, the mighty God that physically manifested Himself as a pillar of cloud in the daytime and a pillar of fire at night, never leaving them alone in their journey from the time they left Egypt. That mighty God they questioned, as soon as their frightened hearts perceived an impossible situation.
Exodus 14:10-12 - As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
But God is faithful, and He did not bring them out to die, so He did not allow them to die. He used Moses to part the Red Sea, standing between the Israelites and the Egyptians, shedding light on Israel and darkness on Egypt, keeping them apart to allow Israel time to cross. I don't know how many Israelites there were, but I have seen estimations of 3 to 6 million people, crossing the sea as if on dry land, with water piled up on either side of them as a wall (Exodus 14:22).
When Israel made it through and the Egyptians followed, then the LORD closed the sea and defeated the Egyptians.
Less than a chapter later, in Exodus 15:22-24, Israel is grumbling against Moses because they have not been able to find water in the desert yet. In Exodus 16, they complain because they don't have food, saying it would have been better to have died by the LORD's hand in Egypt than to die in the desert for lack of food.
These same people made and worshiped a golden calf when Moses went up to receive the Law from God. He brought the Ten Commandments down from Mt. Sinai and found the people worshiping an idol (Exodus 32:1).
Of this entire generation of people that were physically delivered from slavery by these amazing miracles, that my friend called "cold hard facts," only two of them trusted God and were allowed to live to see the Promised Land. Israel wandered the desert for forty years until the entire generation died except Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 32:12-14).
This has gotten very long, so I am going to pick up tomorrow with Jesus and then wrap it up, maybe with that post, maybe with a third. Thanks for sticking with me.
Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.
I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.
We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.
That still doesn't seem fair.
I want to start with the specific incident of the parting of the sea, and move to Jesus, since those are the two specific things that were mentioned by my friend, and hopefully this won't get too long, although, I'm not making any promises.
In the parting of the sea miracle that was mentioned, God had just freed the nation of Israel from slavery to the Egyptians through a series of ten plagues that only plagued Egyptians and not the Hebrews, or Israelites. When Pharaoh had experienced enough of God's wrath, he finally let the Hebrews go (Exodus 12:31) so that they could strike out and become their own nation. The Egyptians gave them all kinds of riches (Exodus 12:36) because God had inclined the Egyptians' hearts toward the Hebrews. Once they were out of Egypt, the LORD went before them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, and in this way He physically led them.
Exodus 14 gives the account of how God hardened the heart of Pharaoh to pursue the Israelites, and that He would use that for His glory. The LORD led the Israelites to a place where the Red Sea was in front of them and the Egyptian army was closing in on them from behind. It seemed like a hopeless situation, and it didn't take the Israelites very long to turn in their hearts against their Deliverer. The mighty God that plagued Egypt with ten plagues that did not touch the Israelites even though they lived mixed together, the mighty God that delivered them out of the Egyptians slavery even though the Egyptians were stronger and had rule over them, the mighty God that physically manifested Himself as a pillar of cloud in the daytime and a pillar of fire at night, never leaving them alone in their journey from the time they left Egypt. That mighty God they questioned, as soon as their frightened hearts perceived an impossible situation.
Exodus 14:10-12 - As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt, 'Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians'? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"
But God is faithful, and He did not bring them out to die, so He did not allow them to die. He used Moses to part the Red Sea, standing between the Israelites and the Egyptians, shedding light on Israel and darkness on Egypt, keeping them apart to allow Israel time to cross. I don't know how many Israelites there were, but I have seen estimations of 3 to 6 million people, crossing the sea as if on dry land, with water piled up on either side of them as a wall (Exodus 14:22).
When Israel made it through and the Egyptians followed, then the LORD closed the sea and defeated the Egyptians.
Less than a chapter later, in Exodus 15:22-24, Israel is grumbling against Moses because they have not been able to find water in the desert yet. In Exodus 16, they complain because they don't have food, saying it would have been better to have died by the LORD's hand in Egypt than to die in the desert for lack of food.
These same people made and worshiped a golden calf when Moses went up to receive the Law from God. He brought the Ten Commandments down from Mt. Sinai and found the people worshiping an idol (Exodus 32:1).
Of this entire generation of people that were physically delivered from slavery by these amazing miracles, that my friend called "cold hard facts," only two of them trusted God and were allowed to live to see the Promised Land. Israel wandered the desert for forty years until the entire generation died except Joshua and Caleb (Numbers 32:12-14).
This has gotten very long, so I am going to pick up tomorrow with Jesus and then wrap it up, maybe with that post, maybe with a third. Thanks for sticking with me.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Here's a question for you...
A friend posed a question for me in an email a few months ago, and I have been pondering it since, and asked permission to address it on my blog. Here is the question:
Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.
I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.
We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.
That still doesn't seem fair.
I would like to ask my Christian readers to weigh in on this, and I'm going to take a stab at it, and will post on Monday.
Why were miracles performed in biblical times, but, they aren't performed now? And I'm not talking 'the cancer is in remission' kinda miracles...I'm talking water into wine miracles...parting of the sea miracles.
I don't understand the mystery. Why does God have to be so elusive? It seems kinda mean, and unfair to us...the generations of people after Jesus...who don't get to see the works of God. In biblical days, they could see, feel, and talk to Jesus. If they had a question, it could be answered. I mean, for those people...they had cold hard facts.
We don't have that luxury. And I guess I kinda answered my own question...there is no physical manifestation of God here today, so we don't have miracles.
That still doesn't seem fair.
I would like to ask my Christian readers to weigh in on this, and I'm going to take a stab at it, and will post on Monday.
Friday, December 4, 2009
The Object of our Faith
An excerpt from One Heartbeat Away, by Mark Cahill:
"Suppose I were in the northern U.S. in December, and after a few days of below-freezing temperatures, ice began to form on a nearby lake. I've enjoyed walking on a frozen lake before, so let's say I decide that I'd like to walk on this one. But then I get a better idea: I decide to take a snowmobile out onto the ice. I have seen people do that on TV, and it looks like so much fun.
Even better, I am going to build a snow ramp so I can launch the snowmobile into the air, land it on the ice, and slide for a good distance. Now, that sounds like a lot of fun! There is only one problem: No matter how much I believe I can do that, no matter how much faith I have, I would go right through the ice because it would still be very thin. That's reality.
Now suppose it is February at the same lake, and we have had over two straight months of below-freezing temperatures. Although I really want to walk out onto the ice, I'm afraid to do it because a friend fell through the ice a few months earlier. So I'm only willing to take one foot and step ever so lightly onto the ice to make sure it would support my weight. Not only does the ice hold me up, it would have supported a snowmobile being launched into the air and landing on it. Why? The ice is many feet thick by this time.
What is the difference between these two scenarios? In the first, I had all the faith in the world, but the object of my faith wasn't what I thought it was: The ice was too thin. I would be taking a blind leap of misplaced faith.
In the second scenario, if I had considered the evidence, I could have placed only a small amount of faith into action and I would have been just fine.
...
The key is not the amount of faith we have, but the object of that faith. That is, are we believing or trusting in something that is actually true?
So, it doesn't really matter what we believe about life after death. But it does matter whether the object of our faith is trustworthy and will support our trust. Are you taking a blind leap onto some "thin ice" for eternity, or is the "ice" you will be landing on many feet thick?"
"Suppose I were in the northern U.S. in December, and after a few days of below-freezing temperatures, ice began to form on a nearby lake. I've enjoyed walking on a frozen lake before, so let's say I decide that I'd like to walk on this one. But then I get a better idea: I decide to take a snowmobile out onto the ice. I have seen people do that on TV, and it looks like so much fun.
Even better, I am going to build a snow ramp so I can launch the snowmobile into the air, land it on the ice, and slide for a good distance. Now, that sounds like a lot of fun! There is only one problem: No matter how much I believe I can do that, no matter how much faith I have, I would go right through the ice because it would still be very thin. That's reality.
Now suppose it is February at the same lake, and we have had over two straight months of below-freezing temperatures. Although I really want to walk out onto the ice, I'm afraid to do it because a friend fell through the ice a few months earlier. So I'm only willing to take one foot and step ever so lightly onto the ice to make sure it would support my weight. Not only does the ice hold me up, it would have supported a snowmobile being launched into the air and landing on it. Why? The ice is many feet thick by this time.
What is the difference between these two scenarios? In the first, I had all the faith in the world, but the object of my faith wasn't what I thought it was: The ice was too thin. I would be taking a blind leap of misplaced faith.
In the second scenario, if I had considered the evidence, I could have placed only a small amount of faith into action and I would have been just fine.
...
The key is not the amount of faith we have, but the object of that faith. That is, are we believing or trusting in something that is actually true?
So, it doesn't really matter what we believe about life after death. But it does matter whether the object of our faith is trustworthy and will support our trust. Are you taking a blind leap onto some "thin ice" for eternity, or is the "ice" you will be landing on many feet thick?"
Thursday, December 3, 2009
If...
If there is a God, and He created the earth and everything in it - even the very breath that is in your lungs at this moment - and you suddenly find yourself standing before Him once you have left this earth, do you think you'll be the one asking questions? (Romans 3:19)
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