Conversion Story

This is one of my favorite conversion stories. Father John Corapi's full length conversion story is close to an hour long, but this little snippet is only around 9 minutes. He is a Catholic priest, but his story speaks to the heart of everyone, because God is the God of everyone. If you have the time, feel free to click below and listen to how he came to God. Enjoy!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhAyEZR4gUk

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The First Cause

How can we tell that there is a God simply from looking at the evidence of the universe? There is a very interesting argument known as the Kalaam argument, which basically traces the existence of God and/or intelligent design through the natural universe. The argument (also known as the cosmological argument) consists of three parts. I will outline them as follows:

Part One - Nothing currently exists without being caused. Ever try to conceive of something without being able to imagine a cause? Look around you. Maybe you are working at a desk while you read this. How did the desk get there? Because someone created it. For everything that exists, there was a cause. This is common sense really, so lets move on to the next point.

Part Two - The Universe Exists. With the invention of the Hubble telescope, man was able to see in much greater detail the galaxy in which he exists. This is a humbling and daunting thing. Galaxies, nebulae, stars, and the universe are all vast... we are so small. There isn't much left to explain here: anyone can see that the universe currently exists!

Part Three - Therefore, the Universe Has a Cause. This seems like no big deal at first, right? But think about it, science tells us that there was a Big Bang that occurred stemming from something called a singularity. Materialists and Atheists used to maintain that the universe has always been, and will always be. We now see much scientific evidence to the contrary. The universe had a beginning and will have an ending. It is winding down. The real question then is who or what caused the universe?

Fine then. There is still a loophole though, right? So what if the universe was caused; that just pushes back the question farther to ask "who caused God?" Not so fast. Lets move back to the example of the desk for a moment. If I created the desk that you see in front of you, then I am necessarily outside the desk. In other words, it is possible to create something and then be apart from that something - to exist outside of the boundary and control of that thing which was created. This is how God can exist without a cause. Time and space did not exist until He created them for us. It is His creation, so He is not subject to its rules. This is difficult to envision for us because we know of no such conditions here on earth. But in fact that is just what the Bible relates to us through scripture. That God has no beginning and no end. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I personally could imagine no other force able to create such a complex system as a universe. Can you?

Only 3 Choices

As many of us know, it is not sitting in a church or trying your best to be extra holy that makes someone a Christian. It is in fact accepting and trusting in the person and divinity of Jesus Christ himself. This is why the argument that so-and-so goes to church constantly, but treats everyone horribly ultimately breaks down. Someone may go to church, they may even believe in God - but it is possible they have not yet any faith in Jesus.

During my studies I have noted an argument that seems to have no refutation. It is one of those things where if someone attempts to circumvent it, it only means that they have failed to consider one of the premises in the original argument itself. I find this very effective at sharing the Good News of the Bible because it is a common-sense argument. Although I have not developed it myself (we must credit C.S. Lewis and some others for that), I find it to be quite enlightening. It goes as follows:

Premise #1

Jesus Christ was a real person. Not a human invention, not a mythical creature, not an after-the-fact story book character. This is evidenced by the overwhelming amount of original manuscripts found of the New Testament (more are in existence than for many of the other historical figures that we take for granted existed, i.e.: Plato or Aristotle for example). See my older post entitled "Is There Any Non-Biblical Evidence That Jesus Existed?" Wherein I discuss at length the writings of other people alive during the same time period as Christ. No, I'm afraid that almost no serious New Testament scholar attempts to state that Jesus never really existed.

Premise #2

First Choice: Jesus was a liar. Once we have come to terms with the fact that Jesus really existed, we must face our first decision. Regarding the information He was telling people during his 3 year ministry, we must decide "was He making it all up?" Maybe He was trying to get rich, trying to get famous, or simply trying to mooch free meals off of people by telling entertaining stories, right? Unfortunately records indicate He was poor, quite unpopular, and at times could be what may be constituted as 'self righteous.' But in both reading what He said, and watching what the people around him did, we can safely come to the conclusion that He wasn't a liar. If I went around pretending to heal people, would I generate much of a following? Probably not - chances are I would be found out soon enough. And don't forget - almost all of His 12 disciples went to their deaths upholding His preaching. Would you go to your death for a lie?

Premise #3

Second Choice: Jesus was crazy. Okay, so maybe he wasn't a liar. Maybe his followers didn't sacrifice themselves for something they knew was a lie. Maybe Jesus was actually straight up nuts! Whoops wait a minute. If we read the New Testament, we see that He has spoken some of the most meaningful philosophical statements in the last 2,000 years. We see that when it is appropriate to be angry, He gets angry. When it is appropriate to be sad, He is sad. I'm afraid we must discount the notion that he is insane. Have you visited the psych wing lately? Do any of those people say the things Jesus did? They may be delusional and think that they themselves are God, but something tells me they cannot actually forgive sins and heal people.

Premise #4

Third Choice: Jesus was telling the truth. If Christ wasn't a liar, and He wasn't off his rocker, then I'm afraid we are left with only 1 choice. He was telling us the truth. He actually was the Son of God. God actually does love us. We actually can be saved into Heaven. If we assert this truth (and believe me, I almost managed to live my whole life ignoring this predicament of logic), then we must necessarily take seriously the things He says.

Conclusion

I will leave you with this statement from C.S Lewis from his book Mere Christianity. About Jesus he writes, "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg - or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us."

We must take the gift God has given us through the revelation of Jesus Christ through the New Testament. We are all open to make up our own minds. We can decide in favour of Christ, or we can (and many do) reject him. But at least do something. Do not allow yourself to ignore the most important occurrence in the history of the world.

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Welcome Facebook Users

Welcome Facebook users! This month 'A Logical Faith' was advertised on Facebook for almost 10 days, with a pretty good response. There were different kinds of feedback, which tells me the blog reached all different kinds of users. Next stop: MySpace!

Thanks for visiting -- stay a while and enjoy reading...

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Don't Forget About Older Posts

It's easy to glance quickly at a blog and only read the first few posts, but don't forget about all of the old favorites. Below I have listed some of these "oldies-but-goodies." You can either perform a search for the titles in the search bar at the top of this blog, look for the title in the Archive section to the left, or simply scroll to the bottom of the blog and click on 'older posts' until you find them.

Happy reading!:

* The Law of Universal Morality

* Some Points About Evolution

* Does Hell Really Exist?

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On Providence and Atheism...

One of my friends at church recently had an opportunity to "stumble" upon an atheist convention. Keep reading to find out what happened, in his own words!:

My family was finishing up lunch at Panera (on Westown Parkway), when a man approached us and asked us a very surprising question, "Excuse me," he said, "Are you here for the IAF meeting?"
"IAF?" we asked.
"Yes, the Iowa Atheist and Freethinkers." he responded.
"No," my brother, the very zealous believer said, "not over here, sir."
And the man continued on, sure that he had just encountered a group of discouraging everyday church goers.
But, being the kind of person who searches for God's hand in everything and takes pleasure in the intricacies of His plans, I knew that this was supposed to be much more than just a casual encounter. Feeling a burden on my heart, after practically being asked to share my faith.

So I prayed with my mother, they left, and I began to build up my courage. But I was strictly going off of my own power, and the reservoir of which dried up rather quickly... this became apparent when I strolled into the back room of the restaurant through one door... and out through the other.

So I scurried to the bathroom and did what every believer does when they realize that their own foolish, frail plans have been foiled and need help- prayed. With the new courage that filled me, I walked into the lions den.
I entered the room and began talking with the first man I could, starting off innocently- with a hint of curiosity, "So I couldn't help but overhear and wonder," I said, "what unites your group?"

We began to talk, at first about the groups unifying qualities, but soon enough about the ridiculous aspects of evolution, and things that seem to lead directly to a creator (thank you Strobel), and how miracles are outside of the realm of science and cannot be simply explained away (This was particularly convicting for him due to the fact that he was not only a former believer, but a pastor!). He attacked me with accusations that creationism isn't science, that I cannot prove without a doubt that God exists (at which I agreed, but he couldn't find a way to disprove His existence either...), and that it is hard to take as a fact that Jesus even lived (I used Josephus as outside evidence, but he considered what Josephus said to be "vague"). Throughout our conversation, other atheists tried to discourage me, but I would always reply with a loving rebuttal.

As time rolled on, more and more atheists filled the tiny room. And soon enough, the meeting began. They introduced the newbies to the group and even asked me to introduce myself. I realized that my time speaking with this group had come to a close. I thanked the man for his time, and even surprised him by finishing the whole conversation with a rather resounding, "I'll be praying for you."

Trust in the Lord...

Here is a sound byte from a short talk I gave back in March of this year at church. Hope you like it!

God Proof #7

Germs and microbiology were officially discovered in the 19th century by people like French scientist Louis Pasteur, and German doctor Robert Koch. Right? So we are told. But the interesting thing here is that the Old Testament contains dozens of references about placing sick people in quarantine, and cleansing and burning infected garments. Note what the book of Leviticus says in chapter 13:4-6, “If the spot on his skin is skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to put the infected person in isolation for seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine him, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to keep him in isolation another seven days…. The man must wash his clothes, and he will be clean.”

Notice the attention to detail here regarding how long the isolation is to occur, and what is to be done to become “clean” – quarantine and bathing. Common knoweledge for dealing with germs, right? But wait a minute… when were all of these passages in the Bible written? Over 3,300 years ago! Quite a while before germs and handwashing were “discovered” to go hand-in-hand. God of course already knew this information, even three thousand years ago.

Is God a Tyrant?

I recently watched a Nightline debate where the topic of conversation was “Is there a God?” Atheist Kelly O’Connell stated that she would “rather go to hell, then go to Heaven and be forced to worship a tyrant.” This is a very succinct way of posing the question, “How do people view the God of the Bible?”

To explore this topic we will need to pull some examples from the Old Testament depicting how God dealt with man (since the New Testament represents God’s new covenant for mankind through the incarnation of Jesus). Lets begin then, with the Book of Jonah, which says in chapter 1:1-2, “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’” Here we notice that God has given His prophet Jonah the information that He wants people to know – namely that they have sinned.

Later in chapter 3:5-6, He says “So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them.” Essentially the people in the city that God was angry with decided to heed the warning of the prophet Jonah and change their ways. Chapter 3:10 then finishes with “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.”

Let’s look at one more example from the Old Testament in the Book of Micah. Chapter 1:6-7 says “Therefore I will make Samaria a heap of ruins in the field, Places for planting a vineyard; I will pour down her stones into the valley, And I will uncover her foundations.” We note again here that God is issuing the warning first. Then immediately moving on to chapter 7:9, which says, “I will bear the indignation of the Lord, Because I have sinned against Him, Until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me forth to the light; I will see His righteousness.” And finally Chapter 7:19 that says “He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.”

Have you noticed the pattern? A.) First God warns us, B.) then we are given a chance to repent and change, and C.) if we do so, there is forgiveness. If not, then judgment. Now if we look carefully here these are not the actions of a tyrant -- but rather of a holy, righteous, and loving Father. Think about it, a good parent warns you when you are out of line, right? Then they give you the chance to change. If you don’t shape up, then you receive punishment. After all, what kind of a parent would God be if he didn’t care enough to exercise discipline? Be careful here however, as I am not just equating our relationship with God to the relationship of a human parent and child. Our justice can (and often is) flawed. God’s judgment is perfect.

We must also remember that the Bible tells us God is slow to anger and merciful. Can’t we see that this is probably true? For decades America has propagated sin after sin: abortion, drug abuse, greed, murder, etc. Our country was founded on faith 230 years ago… what do we stand for now?

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Come Listen to me Gabb...

Hey come listen to me give a communion meditation (short talk) at church on Sunday, July 12. Then stick around for the excellent sermon for that day - we have 2 great interim pastors that preach the Truth about God and Christ.

This will be at Sunday Church, located at Crossroads Park Elementary School - 1050 50th St. in WDM. I have included the website below:

http://www.sundaychurch.org/

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Does Science Have Limits?!?!

Noted Christian apologist Dr. William Lane Craig participated in a debate back in 1998 with Dr. Peter Atkins. One of Atkins' premises was that there was nothing that hard science could not explain. Craig retorts with a better answer than Atkins expects! Click on the link below to watch and be entertained:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkBD20edOco

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Interesting Quote

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."
- C.S. Lewis

Does Hell Really Exist?

At some point anyone who studies the Bible or takes religion seriously must grapple with the doctrine of hell. We make light of it in general today. We tell people to “go to hell.” We say things like “I would rather go to hell then Heaven, that’s where the party is.” The concept of hell has entered into popular media in one way or another through movies and television. But what about the real teaching from the Bible? What has God actually told us about hell? When we take the time to look we find that it is often quite a bit different than what has made it into popular culture.

On it’s face, the concept of hell can appear to be extremely unfair. After all, how many non-Christians have asked the question, “If you can’t get into Heaven without Jesus, what about all the thousands of people in foreign countries who have never been exposed to the Bible?” Now this is a good and thoughtful question. Any time a claim of exclusivity is made, people will ask the question “why?” Keeping in mind that I think the number of people in the world who truly have never heard one bit about Jesus is smaller than we think, the answer to this question exists in the book of Romans in the New Testament.

Romans chapter 2:12 says, “All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.”** God does not hold people accountable to a law or standard to which they have never been exposed. This would in fact be ridiculous, and the people protesting the question about Jesus above would be rightly justified. In fact we see that God provides enough of His light to everyone, that they are able to freely accept or reject Him based on that level of knowledge they possess. If someone who grew up in Iraq all of his life, where the Bible is illegal, chooses to follow the light (or level of knowledge) he has been given to its fullness of truth, he will end up at Jesus Christ.

You will note here the last part of that Bible scripture in Romans 2:16, “This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.” It is true that no one comes to God except through Jesus. What we need to keep in mind is that we (as human beings) don’t know exactly how Jesus saves everyone. We must keep in mind though, that the examples I have been giving above relate to people who have little or no access to the truth of the Bible proper. You and I who live in America, are without excuse. There is a church on every street corner, a Bible in every hotel room. We are spoiled beyond belief because we have 24-hour access to the fullness of truth; and we can know with confidence that we are going to Heaven if we accept Christ and turn away from our sins.

If we are honest about it, when we read the revelation of God to mankind through the words of Jesus in 1st century Palestine, we must accept that there is an actual place of “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” If such a place did not exist, but Jesus still emphatically warned us about it many times in the New Testament, then God would either be a liar, or a prankster of the worst kind. No, I’m afraid we must take Him at his word. So then, how would this God that we have established as a fair and righteous judge only a few paragraphs ago, send any of His creation to this place? He doesn’t. People that end up there choose inwardly to go. By this I mean that at any and every point they must reject what knowledge about God that they have been given. Consider an example below of someone who would theoretically be in danger of hell. This is a fictional example, but we will name him Jeff for purposes of teaching.

Jeff is a typical American in many respects. He has a decent job, he is a hard worker, he loves his family and his kids. But he doesn’t abide by church at all. In fact, if his friends mention God he delights in arguing with them that there is no real reason to believe in the existence of an all-powerful creator. When Jeff was younger he was exposed to the teachings of Jesus and the gospel, but decided that he would rather live his own life, his own way. In effect he thought, “God you stay out of my life, and I will stay out of yours.” This rejection is totally Jeff’s own choice. God has given him chance after chance, to which Jeff has shrugged his shoulders and ignored the truth. It isn’t that Jeff is a “bad person” in the cultural sense. All of us do some things that are good, and some things that are less than good. No, Jeff’s problem is that he has rejected that light that God has given him. He knows the 10 commandments, he realizes that he breaks some of them from time to time… but hey, who doesn’t – right?

What Jeff needs to understand is that God has provided a way for him (and us) to be saved under grace. That way is through Jesus Christ, and Jeff is missing it. But worse than just ignoring it, he is rejecting it. This is one way – and I think a common way – that a person can end up in hell. This is why it is important for practicing Christians to conscientiously have discussions with non-believers that put them outside of their comfort zone. We have been given the roadmap to Heaven, we must share it.

But as C.S. Lewis mentions, it is okay to think and talk about the examples of Jeff and people like him as an exercise for learning. We use terms like fairness and unfairness, but I think these words lose their thrust when we realize that the ENTIRE human race is born with a sin nature, and if God were truly being "fair" (instead of offering us grace), He would be justified in condemning everyone.  But more important than this is to consider where you and I stand on the issue of Jesus. Have you accepted or rejected your own gift of salvation from God?

** Keep in mind that regarding the Bible, when you read the term “law”, it means God’s law handed down to Moses (i.e.: the 10 commandments). Not the law of government, which can change based on whoever is in power at the time.

Why Are We Here... And What Are We Supposed To Do?

We are here on this planet to love each other, to help each other, and to develop our walk of faith with God. Most people have no problem with this. Here is the other part… God has in fact provided a way that we can 1.) get to Heaven, and 2.) live fulfilled lives even while we are still on Earth. That Way is through Jesus Christ. He is God’s provision for mankind. Once we do the hard work of admitting that just maybe we may have sinned and fallen short of the 10 commandments in some way during our life, that we just may need forgiveness for these sins, and that we can accept the reality of Jesus – we are reconciled to God. In other words, the Goodness of God that is contained in Christ can begin to exist in us. Until this point we are just privy to a small part of “the Truth”. Some people never get over this hurdle. Many people stay in this comfort zone their entire lives. I would implore you to at least check out Christianity. Not necessarily church, or even the Christian down the street (that should treat people nice, but doesn’t) – but to investigate the New Testament and Christ. There is help available to you as you begin the difficult work of repentance (turning away) from those areas in your life that are not holy.

If any of this has made sense in any way, and you are interested in actually knowing God and being certain that your default destination IS Heaven, then pray the prayer below. Whisper it to yourself and mean it in your heart:

“Dear God, I understand that I am a sinner and in need of your forgiveness. I accept your son Jesus into my heart and into my home. Please come into my life, and save me into Heaven.”

If you have prayed this prayer sincerely, God will react. You may not see fireworks or hear harp music, but you will be reconciled to God from that point on. You are now what people called “saved”! So what is next? Follow up. Get yourself a Bible, talk to another Christian who can answer your questions, and most importantly…. PRAY. You are in store for an incredible journey…

What's Love Got To Do With It?!?!

Here’s the thing: human beings all grow up knowing what love is, and that it really does exist. Animals in the wild do not experience love, your housecat or dog cannot love the same way you can. They respond to kindness with affection, they are happy to see you because you feed them, and you can even teach them little tricks. But affection, contentment, and behavioral responses are not Love in the human sense. At first this seems counter-intuitive, but hold on -- clarification is coming.

Parents; would you not sacrifice anything for your children? Would you not put up with just about any abuse, donate your kidney, “throw yourself in front of that car” to save them? Of course you would. So here is the thing: where does this altruistic and unabashed love come from? Certainly everyone may not possess this (nor even every parent), but the fact that it exists demands an explanation. Where does it originate? It does not come from Nature; time and evolution play no role in developing such strange behaviors as love. Evolution and Nature can only explain self-preservation and survival of the fittest. I’m afraid it cannot come close to explaining love.

Love is not a by-product of teaching or a learned response. Argument: my children grow up loving and well adjusted because we have raised them in a loving and nurturing household. Both of these things may be true, but had they grown up with dreadful parents in an awful household, they are still aware of love, and in fact still SEEK after love just the same. These kids have the same need for it as you and I – they have “the void” that can only be filled by this love. So then, where does this need come from? It has no part with Darwin. They can have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs, etc. But love is still different, it still stands alone. It is unique.

In fact love comes from God. There really is no other explanation. It is not a by-product of Natural Selection, its existence is not dependant on upbringing or learned behaviors, and it does not evolve over time. It is just there. It is this undefined existence of the greatest human achievement that gives away its Creator and grants testimony to God. At its highest-level love is an act of the will of course. Real love does not equate to butterflies in your stomach (remember your first date?), infatuation, or even chemistry.

It is, rather, the ability for one person to choose to accept hardship in the place of someone else. It is the same reason that God sent Jesus to die for us. Remember He did so willingly. Many times Pontius Pilate gave him the opportunity to speak up and save himself. He remained silent. When you and I choose in favor of someone else we do a similar thing. We live up to the imprint of the one who created us in the first place.

Interesting Quote

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."

... Albert Einstein

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