Tag: Christian

Our Creator and Our Experiences

March 20, 2019

My basis for believing in a Creator is NOT based on subjective experiences. I believe in a Creator because it is the only logical conclusion I can come to based on the complex creation I see around me. It is not logical for me to believe that all the complex systems needed for life could come together without an intelligent being.

But who is this Being? That is a harder question to answer. I have come to the conclusion that the God of the Bible is the Creator. I made a video about the reasons I believe the Bible. Here is the link if you are interested:
https://youtu.be/P3adVK7qO3w “My Unscientific Reasons for Believing the Bible”

Now, regarding experiences: I don’t think our experiences with God necessarily confirm that our beliefs about God are all correct. It is possible and probable that I don’t have all the right ideas about God. But I don’t think God waits until all of our ideas are correct before he interacts with us. Who could he have a relationship with if he waited for us to have a perfect image of him? All humans are (in some ways) feeling around in the dark when it comes to truth. Some people have more truth than others. I truly believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, and the only hope for humanity. But I have Muslim friends who seem to have a lot more truth than some Christians I know. Our ability to receive truth has less to do with our religion, and more to do with our openness to receive from God.

When I say that I can’t deny God because of my experiences, I’m not talking about my foundational belief in a Creator (which is acquired by simple reasoning). I am talking about 20 years of daily having my life touched in a variety of ways. I’m touched by the words of the Bible, I’m constantly enamored with the perfection of God’s plan of salvation. And though subjective, I’ve had hundreds of experiences of God’s presence. I’ve seen many people instantly healed of things. I’ve seen a broken bone healed in 30 seconds. I am daily talking with God and being in relationship with him. All of these experiences COULD be explained away. Group thinking and our imagination are powerful forces indeed. But if I dismiss all these experiences as group thinking or imagination, and I start from scratch trying to understand the universe, I still have to explain my existence. The only worldview that makes any sense to me is the one I have. I don’t have all the answers. I can’t explain why God seems to be deeply involved in my life while people in Yemen are in dire straits. But I can’t get around the fact of God’s existence. And I can’t come up with a better plan to fix the world than the one that the Bible describes.

Quick Commentary on Sin

March 8, 2019

The seduction of sin is very powerful. It is very easy to be enticed, which is why the world is so messed up. But the beauty of God’s plan to save us is that it doesn’t require us to be powerful enough to overcome the sin. He was powerful for us. God did what was necessary to save the weakest scumbag in existence.

Where Is the God of Miracles Today?

February 6, 2019

The Bible is full of miracles. Some people wonder why they aren’t seeing God do miracles today. Just because you haven’t seen a miracle doesn’t mean God isn’t doing miracles today. God is doing miracles today. This video discusses some possible reasons you may not have seen a miracle, and what our attitude toward miracles should be.

Not included in the video, but relevant to the subject, is a calculation I did regarding miracles. In the video I mention that I believe God will do more miracles in the next 24 hours than all the miracles mentioned in the Bible. Starting with an approximate number of miracles mentioned in the Bible at 160, I calculated how many miracles that would be during the span of an average lifetime of 80 years. 160 miracles per day for 80 years = 4,672,000 miracles during a human lifetime of 80 years. Dividing the approximate number of people on earth (7.5 billion) by this number gives us one miracle for every 1,605 people. So if God is doing 160 miracles per day, only one person out of 1,605 is going to experience a miracle in their lifetime. This may help a skeptic understand why they have personally not seen a miracle even though God is doing many miracles all the time.

Commentary on Holiness as Discussed in 1 Peter Chapters 1 and 2

December 17, 2018

Hello everyone! I just wanted to share some commentary on chapters 1 and 2 of 1 Peter regarding the issue of personal holiness. This commentary was the result of responding to some questions I received on the scriptures quoted below. I hope you find it a blessing and please let me know if you have any questions!

-Rebekah

1 Peter 1:13-22

13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. 14 As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

You are holy, God is holy, so live like a holy person.  Live like what you are.  If you were a doctor, you wouldn’t live like a drug dealer.  This is just saying to live like what you are.  Look at the next verses, they don’t say “or God will not love you anymore and He will takeaway your salvation.”  Look what they say:

17 Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially,live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God,who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

This is saying that you have been redeemed.  Whatever you choose to do with that redemption, it is real and it is yours. Continuing in 1 Peter 1:

22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.

What does it mean to obey the truth?  This is talking about obeying the truth about Jesus- believing and trusting in him. Look at the very next verse:

23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

You have been born of imperishable seed, because you believed in the Son of God.  This is how you purified yourself.

1 Peter 2:1

1 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.

Again, this is instructions about a good way to live.  If I go through medical school to become a doctor, and then I show up for work, the hospital is going to tell me the best way to doctor so that I can be effective at that hospital.  This is nothing more than that.  There is no threat involved.  Look at the verse right after this one.  It doesn’t say, “And if you don’t rid yourselves of all this stuff then you are doomed!  God is going to be really mad at you!”  Look what it says:

2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

There is a consequence for not ridding yourself of these things, but it isn’t condemnation or God’s anger.  You aren’t going to grow up well.  This is speaking very tenderly to children of God to encourage us to grow in our knowledge of God rather than being stuck in gross worldly stuff. 

Here’s one of my videos to follow up on from the post.
This one is also really applicable too.