Don’t Forget to Live (pt 4 of 7)

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”
Psalm 139:13-14

My thoughts:
Over the last week or so I’ve been trying to help you understand that we don’t have to argue with Atheists when confronted, but rather simply ask questions that allow them to see things from a different light.  This brings to the forefront how science and God are not at odds with each other, but perfectly in line, when honest and openly thought through.

Take a moment and do this simple trick for me as you read this. 
Stop breathing….stop…hold on…keep holding your breath…watch the seconds tick by.   How long could you hold your breath, before your brain forced you to inhale again?  Why?  Where did that instruction come from?  Did you have to think about breathing or did your body just force you to do it?
You see, we must breath in order to survive.  The cells of our body require Oxygen, and when it is absent negative consequences begin destroying cells in brain, which can then lead to stroke or an aneurism.  The red blood cells carry oxygen throughout the body, which result in healthy organs, circulation, muscle motion and cell regeneration.   So, if it is completely through evolution that this all became real, where did the original design and purpose come from?  How frequently do you tell yourself to breath?  If you are like 99.9% of the world’s population, it is never.

Now, intentionally focus on how many times you blink while you read the rest of this blog.  Your nervous system is telling your eyelids to close over your eyeball for multiple reasons.  Most of us are correct to think it is to help hydrate our eyes, but it’s so much more than just that.  We do need moisture in our eye sockets for your eyeball to move up/down and side to side.  The blinking of eyes will help distribute that liquid evenly over the surface and protect the eye from dust, debris and irritation.  But, did you realize it is also a way for your brain to regain focus, to stimulate an internal timer, to capture and relay a snapshot of a given moment, to calm one’s emotions or to simply allow one’s brain to rest for a 100 milliseconds or so?  Every time you blink, all of these things take place.  Yet, I’ll bet you never once in your entire life told yourself to blink.  Even on those really windy days, where dust is flying; you instinctively squint your eyes, and even close them for a longer period of time than a normal blink.  You didn’t have to think about doing it, it just happens. 

“Tell your heart to beat again.” was the line from a song a few years back from Christian artist and American Idol winner, Danny Gokey (written by Bernie Herms, Randy Phillips and Matthew West).  It tells the story that when we are heartbroken, we sometimes have to remind our heart to beat again and that it will be okay.  It helps us focus on the fact that God has carried us through troubles in our life and will continue to carry forward in our life.  It also reminds me that my heart gives me life.  It is the engine, the driver of function for the rest of my body.  Blood flows through my body, because my heart beats 72 times a minute (or so).  It increases the blood flow automatically when I am stressed or working out, and slows it down when I’m sleeping.  I’m not ever telling it to pump blood, it just does it.  There is no life unless blood is pumping through the brain, the cells, the nervous system, the lymph nodes, the organs, etc. etc.   You can be brain dead and still be alive, but when the heart stops, everything else stops with it.

This simple test was to help you realize, that you are not in control of your own bodily functions; and it’s not through a random formation of cells and molecules that these three simple functions came into fruition.  They were designed to work perfectly for a given purpose – to sustain life.  You are an amazingly complex creation that required an intelligent design, not an act of random, happenchance circumstance.  If indeed, the Atheist continues to believe that all of this evolved randomly over time to become this perfect, intricate design; we need simply ask them how did our predecessors survive during this evolutionary process?  How did the blood flow through their bodies before the heart existed?  How did the lungs draw in the exact amount of oxygen for sustainable life and exhale out the exact amount of carbon dioxide without the brain instinctively giving the instructions?  How did our earliest evolutionary ancestors see and keep their eyes from drying in socket?

We were created by an intelligent, purposeful maker, known to most as God, the Father.  If someone wants to say there is no proof of that, ask them, where is the proof of life sustainability before the heart, brain, lungs and eyes evolved.  There is none.  Every animal has some form of these organs which help sustain their life.  At some point they were created.  For even if they evolved; and hypothetically we evolved from them; the same problem existed.  Even the earliest evolved form of life had to survive before it could evolve.  Help them understand how little proof there is for any of their hypothesis on the evolution of life.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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God, the Creator (pt. 3 of 7)

“But ask the beasts, and they will teach you; the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you; or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.”   Job 12:7-10

My thoughts:
I sat at my desk on a longer than normal day.  In front of me was a brand new spiral bound notebook, ready for a new month of notes, when the most amazing thing happened.  Suddenly a small black spot appeared on the first page of the notebook.  It caught my attention because it came out of nowhere, and my pen was still in my pocket.  As I stared at that black spot, I noticed it started to move and then it shifted into the letter ‘T’.  As quickly as that had happened I noticed other black dots forming and before I knew it words appeared, sentences appeared and before I knew a paragraph had appeared.  Then another and another and the page flipped and letters, words and paragraphs continued to form.  As if this wasn’t enough, pictures and graphs appeared in the right spot and chapters were formed.  Finally, the last page was crafted and the words ‘The End’ appeared on the very last page of my brand new notebook.  It all had taken place in a matter of minutes, and when I picked up the notebook I turned to page 1 and found it to be a comprehensive, in depth expose on plight of the impoverished indigenous people in Uganda.  The book had made itself.

How many of you believe this really happened?
How many of you are stating that this is certainly absurd and ridiculous fantasy?

As impractical and unreal as this scenario was, so is the concept that man came from nothing.  Just as a book cannot be formed by nothing, neither can the complexity of the human body.  Believe it or not, there are people in the world that believe the human body came from nothing.  How can something come from nothing? 

The complexity of a human body is unreal and needs to be considered deeply when a person makes this claim.  It is made up of the Musculoskeletal System of bone, joints, cartilage and muscle, the Circulatory System including the heart, veins, arteries, vessels and bone marrow, the Nervous System with the brain, spinal cord, nerves throughout your body and senses (taste, sight, hearing, touch); the Integumentary System of skin and tissue, fingernails, hair; the Immune System with lymphoid and myeloid; the Respiratory System of nose, larynx, trachea, bronchus and lungs; the Digestive System from the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small and large intestines, to the liver, pancreas and colon; the Urinary System including kidneys, ureter and bladder ; the Reproductive System which is uniquely designed for the male and the female; and the Endocrine System of glands including the pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands. 

Some believe we are made of star-dust and that these complex interdependent systems all formed perfectly without design or intent.  Again, we need to address these individuals with basic questions and avoid confrontations.  If they believe that we were formed from nothing then help them understand how completely far-fetched that idea really is.  The body contains trillions of cells.  Each cell is made up of a nucleus, which contains our DNA, which is unique to every human being on earth; RNA, Proteins, Lips and complex carbohydrates.  These are the foundation for every form of life.  Every cell carries this information as the genetic instructions for each person.  It is the guideline, the instruction book for life.

Simply ask them, how was DNA created from nothing and why was it created?  What was the stimulus that required DNA to be created in order for organs, skin, tissue, blood, hair, toenails, etc. to be created?  For you see, unless DNA existed first, then these other complex systems could not have come into fruition.  So was DNA formed from nothing?  If it was, why was it?

God, the Creator, in one breath created all of this because He knew the complexities and the requirements to sustain life, before life even existed.  This cannot be evolved into, it must be created in a single interdependent requirement at one given time.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Origin of Life

“The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him.”  Proverbs 18:17

My thoughts:
The theory of evolution will claim the life began with abiogenesis: the original evolution of life or living organisms from inorganic or inanimate substances.  Can life come from non-living substance?  Can a chemical reaction stimulate an inorganic substance in such a way as to cause a living organism to begin?  This is the foundation of an atheists belief, that life was created when lightning struck a primordial soup creating a chemical reaction which then formed into all of the plants and animals (including humans) that we have today. 

Following the ‘Big Bang’ a perfectly spherical rock (earth) landed in a solar system revolving around the sun on an exact orbit, with a smaller rock (moon) landing in an exact orbit around the earth.  On this perfectly spherical rock formation was a primordial soup, as theorized by Alexander Oparin, in 1924 as : “the primitive Earth's surface, carbon, hydrogen, water vapor, and ammonia reacted to form the first organic compounds.”  When this surface was struck by lightning the energy caused these elements to form monomers, which in turn formed more complex polymers and so on and so to create living organisms.  These organisms then evolved into every tree, flower, grass, weed, animal and eventually humans over billions of years. 

This is a theory that has been challenged and rejected by the most scientific minds over the last century and with contradictions to the accepted laws of physics.  When faced with this question, they simply state that the laws of physics we know and accept today may have been very different in that environment.  In addition, there has never been any evidence or observable proof that non-life can create life.  They would argue that it takes millions of years and therefore no man can witness it.  Yet these same individuals will ask the Christian to prove the existence of God.  The real question is that the burden of proof is upon them, not upon the Christian.

If indeed this beginning of life did take place in the way that Alexander Oparin states, what caused the organic change to stop, what was the finale complete?  Why isn’t it still happening today?  Scientists have not been able to prove that the building blocks of life – proteins (comprised of amino acids) could have come from a primordial soup.  In 1953 Stanley Miller did an experiment to try and prove that an electrical spark striking a combination of methane, water, hydrogen and ammonia could create life.  His experiment created amino acids, but it has been proven multiple times that these amino acids could not create proteins, and therefore could not create life.

Only a Creator of Intelligent Design could create fully functional life at one time.  Through His spoken word He created water, land, plants, animals and humans – all life.  They will ask then, who created God.  This is their statement of the unanswerable question, and the reality is we are using our limited human intelligence to interpret the fact that God is uncreated – He simply was, is and will always be.  He is the Alpha and Omega.  So, when faced with the question of the origin of life, be educated and remember to ask the question.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Is There a God (pt 1 of 7)

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made”   Genesis 2:1-2

My thoughts:

The age old question that has stumped mankind for 100’s if not thousands of years.  Which came first the chicken or the egg?  If you do not believe in a divine creator that made all things, there is no way to answer this question.  For you see, if the egg came first, then how was the egg created?  If the chicken came first, how did it come to be?  This simple illustration helps us better understand that something must have created the final product (in this case a chicken) from nothing.  Now the question is, can something be created by nothing?

In the RDOF ministry we are learning to ask questions when facing the debate on is there an intelligent designer (God) or are we simply random compilation of cells and molecules that function perfectly together?  Daryl Youngblood, leads this ministry, and teaches that God and Science can co-exist and actually God is a huge part of science.  Scientists and Atheists will debate that there is no God, because there is no evidence of God.

If we are honest with ourselves and not reacting on an emotional level, we must look around and see all that has been created.  The Bible tells us that God created the world in 6 days and then rested on the 7^th day, saying “the heavens and earth were finished”, rested from creation.  In these 6 days He created atoms, molecules, cells, natural elements, life, water, land, blood, DNA and how all of these interact with each other.  He created the heart, the lungs, the liver, kidneys, neural network, blood cells, arteries, veins, plasma, bone, bone marrow, toe nails, hair, eyes, lips, tongues, tastebuds, ears, skin cells, nerve endings, reproductive organs, intestines, bladder, uterus, ovaries, mammory glands, oxygen, carbon dioxide and water to sustain the life he created.  Seriously, think about it.  All of these things must require on the other in order to function, so how could they evolve from nothing. 

For if an eye evolved into an organ for vision, how did we see before it evolved, and how did we know we needed to be able to see?  Which came first the heart or the arteries and capillaries?  Just like the chicken and egg – if the heart evolved first, then what was it’s purpose if the arteries, veins and capillaries didn’t exist.  But if the arteries came first, what was their purpose if there was no heart to pump the blood through the arteries.  Did the entire cardiac system evolve in an instant?  For if it did it over time, how was life sustained during that process? 

You see, we are taught to ask questions.  Don’t ridicule the science community or atheist community for their choice to deny the obvious, but pose questions to let them come to an understanding of how their logic is flawed.  Over the next week I will be on vacation, but taking time to probe on some of these deeper thoughts.  I hope you find them useful in your walk with the Lord.  We ought not shy away from atheists, but enter into conversation with respect and the truth.  You are an ambassador for the Lord, now’s the time to serve His purpose.  I strongly suggest you take a look at WWW.RDOF.ORG  for additional methods of defending the faith and questioning the critics.

Be Blessed,

Rich

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What are you looking for?

“He brought him (Simon) to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, "So you are Simon the son of John? You shall be called Cephas" (which means Peter).”  – John 1:42

My Thoughts:

The sun was beating down on us as we stepped onto the small vessel.  The trip wasn’t going to be long, but we were all told to please stay seated as the waves were known to be turbulent at times.  Pushing away from the dock, we were all relaxing and taking in the sights stretching as far as one could see.  The water was dark blue, and seemed as deep as the ocean, although our guide told us it was only slightly more than 100 feet at it’s deepest point.  Soon, I lost my footing and fell into one of my traveling companions as the boat rocked from side to side.  Waves weren’t oceanic by nature, but definitely were substantial for a lake that is only 8 miles wide.  Then the winds started.  A perfectly blue sky, 85 degrees in the direct sun, but the chilling winds swirled around the lake and made us all reach for our jackets.  The boat we were on was around 25 feet long, 10 feet wide and made of wood.  It was a powered boat, but built as a replica of the fishing boats from the early biblical times.  It’s a weird feeling, looking around in all directions from the center of the Sea of Galilee and seeing the rolling hills, tree lines and desert mountains.  At 650 feet below sea level, it is the largest fresh water supply in Israel and has been fought over time and time again, for that very reason. 

As the boat made it’s way across the Sea of Galilee, we all became quiet.  Miracles had taken place right here.  The miracle of calming the waves and wind.  The miraculous catch of fish, by casting their net on the other side of their boat.  The miracle of walking on water – we realized the very water surrounding our boats had supported the feet of our Savior, and Peter the disciple.  The shores in the distance had been the ground where Jesus called his disciples to come and eat with Him; this being after He had died and been resurrected.  Peter, was forgiven, and became the strength of the 1^st century church from the shores of this incredible lake.

Simon, brother of Andrew and son of John, came from the city of Bethsaida, along the Jordan river.  He was a fisherman by trade alongside his brother and the sons of Zebedee – John and James.  There was a natural contempt for the Roman government, because of the taxes and guidelines that had been pressed down upon these men trying to make a simple living.  There was a knowledge of scriptures that was held true in the hearts of these men.  They longed for the Messiah to come and establish His church, and save them from the tyranny and law of the Romans.  I picture Simon as the violent type, ready to throw down and fight for his rights and the rights of his family.  Yet, when called by the Savior to “Follow Me, and become fishers of men”, something changed in Simon and according to the writings in Matthew and Mark, he dropped his nets and followed Him.  Jesus then gave Simon the name, Cephas (Peter).

Suppose you were at your work and a man walking up to you and said, Come, follow me.  The most likely reaction is one of disinterest and most would wave the man off as crazed or a threat of some nature.  These early disciples were in deep desire for salvation and longing for the Messiah.  As I look at today’s society, that longing is missing.  I find that we are very complacent in desiring the return of the Messiah.  If He showed up at your home today, would you give up everything you have to follow Him?

 Prayer:
Almighty God,
Today we pray for Your mercy Lord and Your vision in our life.  Let us see this life through Your eyes and feel the calling upon our soul to pursue You with a passion.  Much like the disciples of the early church, create in us a longing for Your return and a desire to follow You, in all that You would have for us.  Help us to become less dependent on man’s world and more focused on doing Your work.  In Your name I pray, Amen.

Be Blessed,

Rich

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Listen and Learn

“Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” – Revelation 14:15

My thoughts:
Exercising patience has been a problem for me since I was just a young boy.  I remember building model cars from a kit, and I could never wait for the glue to dry before I wanted to paint the car. Then I could never wait for the paint to dry before I would start playing with the car.  Needless to say my model cars always had dried glue where it wasn’t supposed to be and finger prints all over the metallic blue finish.  Once the finger print was embedded into the paint you could not get rid of it without sanding down the surface, which always scratched the plastic parts to the point where they couldn’t be corrected.  My father would tell me time and time again, “Let the paint dry before you play with it.”  But of course I seldom followed his instructions.  I’ve noticed my son is the same way, and I catch myself every now and then laughing because of the realization that I am just like my father.  Only now, I can’t for the life of me understand why my son won’t follow my simple instructions and just be patient.

Parents have the incredible advantage of experience on their side when instructing children.  It’s called life and as a child it’s hard to grasp the wisdom and knowledge being share as anything other than rules and restrictions.  How many times did your parent tell you not to do something because the result would not be pleasant?  If you’re anything like me, this happened frequently when I was growing up.  They had experience and wisdom from their lives that was being shared so that we could avoid the trouble that lie ahead.  As a growing youth though it was nearly impossible to reconcile this and take heed to their warnings.  “If you go swimming in the lake in the cold weather, you’re going to get sick.”  “If you leave your bike outside in the rain, it’s going to get rained on and rust.”  “If you don’t take care of your things, they are going to get lost.”  Time and time again, wisdom poured out from my parents advising me of the coming results of not following their instruction. 

These are daily things, and life lessons as a part of growing up.  You and I both know had we followed these lessons, we could have saved much hardship growing up.  Is it not the same with God’s advice then?  His word is not just a set of rules to make your life miserable, His word are the guiding principles that will help you avoid painful experiences in life.  Throughout the scripture God is providing wisdom, counsel and teachings that, when applied, will change your life for the better every time.  Read the book of Proverbs.  I suggest reading a different chapter everyday (by the way there are 31 chapters to Proverbs and there are 31 days in most months).  Read the books of Ezekiel, Isaiah, Daniel and Jeremiah; then read Revelations and see how God is telling us exactly how the world will one day end.  I’m not asking you to become a bible scholar, I’m simply asking you to become informed.

God has provided immense wisdom in the written word.  You have to choose to embrace it and learn from it.  Just like you were a child once and ignored the warnings of your parents, my fear is that we hear the warnings of God and yet do nothing about it.  Hopefully, you and I can agree that the world will end one day.  At least, we can agree that our lives will end.  According to Revelations and the prophecies from the Old Testament, there will be a war between heaven and hell, and there will be a judgment day.  We can know this from scripture and ignore it because we are pursuing life’s pleasures, or we can take it seriously and ensure that we are prepared.  This is advice that I am going to follow, and I hope that you will as well.

Be Blessed,

Rich

 

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Yes, God is Love

“This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.”   1 John 3:23

My thoughts:
Don’t you realize that I have done all of these wonderful things for others?  I have given to charities, worked at the food bank, taken in strangers from the street, and helped the widows and the orphans.  I have been to Haiti, Uganda and China to help those who are famished and dying.  I have loved everybody for who they are and accepted them without judgment and asked nothing from them in return.  I am peaceful, gentle, loving and merciful.  Do you mean to tell me that your God is going to send me to Hell, just because I don’t believe in Jesus?  Really?

This type of statement is all too common in today’s world.  Now some will say that the Bible itself is just a fable and therefore have no interest at all in God or an afterlife.  Based on their refusal of God, our belief; as Christians; is that on judgment day they will be cast into the lake of fire.  But then there are many, genuinely loving people, who do not know or refuse to accept Jesus Christ, as their Savior and Lord.  What they fail to realize is that even though they are loving, charitable and compassionate, they are still filled with sin.  Based on the fact that we are all direct decedents over 100’s of generations from Adam and Eve.  Therefore the blood that runs through our veins comes from their original sinful action and separates us from God’s eternal presence.

Because of our sinful nature, we must be reconciled to God’s perfect righteousness.  This requires some level of atonement, or sacrifice, as it was with the children of Israel in the Old Testament.  The spotless, perfect lamb was offered once a year as a sacrifice for the sins of their family.  Under the new covenant, God sent His own Son, whose blood was pure and righteous from the Father above, to be the final sacrifice for all of mankind.  He provided the only path of reconciliation and atonement of our sins, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Despite how perfectly loving and generous we believe we are living our lives, we cannot eliminate the sinful blood that runs through our body.  This sin prevents us from entering into God’s presence and therefore unless we know of another way to cleanse that from our lives and atone for every single sinful act we’ve ever committed, then accepting the gift that God, Himself provided in Jesus Christ is the only way to avoid an eternity in Hell.  Regardless of how good we think we are, or how many people have been helped through our generosity and love, without Christ as our Savior and Lord, we will end up in the lake of fire along-side of those that refuse to even acknowledge that God even exists. 

Be Blessed,

Rich

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