The Great Reversal: Antony Flew

There have been more than a few articles written about Antony Flew. He is a British philosopher that spent the majority of his life refuting theism. He was known by many as one of the pillars of atheism, by which many professed atheists "hung their hats." In 2004 however, this all changed, as Flew authored the book There is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind. The mere mention of Flew and his book incites anger in many people. If you don't know who Flew is, it would be analogous to the Pope renouncing his Catholic Faith or Hitler building schools for the Jewish nation -- he did a complete 180 degree turn.

So why the sudden change? Some of his more outspoken critics (people that used to uphold Flew as an eminent philosopher) are now blaming his change of heart on his old age. How boring. Have they read his book? Some argue that his contributing editor Roy Varghese actually took charge of the majority of the book. This claim has been widely rejected by many, including Flew himself. It's interesting to me that someone so revered by so many while he was a non-believer, should be so quickly written off and forgotten when (after decades of study) he finally changes his mind. I have included a link to an interview with Flew at the end of this post. You be the judge on whether or not he is "declining due to old age."

So lets discount the knee-jerk reactions of his critics and nay-sayers for the moment, and examine the more interesting question. How does someone go from one end of the spectrum to the other end? Not slightly askew mind you, but ALL the way to the other side. It occurs to me that it just may be that Flew has finally allowed himself to see the big picture. The nail in the coffin of his atheism was the recent discovery of consistent complexity in nature, specifically biology. After years of looking at the glass half empty, something happened. His book outlines several good arguments in favor of God, as well as a good many critiques as to why the atheistic beliefs of his contemporaries fail. But this still points us back to the question, "why the big change, and why now?"

May God continue to work in all of us. I believe this change of heart demonstrates that it is NEVER too late to accept (as St. Paul mentions in the book of Romans) the fact that God's creation itself is evidence to His divine existence. It just happened to take Flew until the later years of his life to see this truth. Far be it from us to consider ourselves "too intelligent" to believe in God. May we never become too educated or too learned to look up at the stars in the night sky, or a beautiful sunset and say, "there is no creator."

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

.

Mark Cahill: Christians Must Evangelize

Penn Jillette (famous magician and front man for the Penn and Teller act) is a professed atheist. He has said the following about Christian evangelization, "I know there is no God... but if you believe that someone is going to hell unless he or she repents and accepts Christ, then there comes a time when you must basically tackle that person to get them out of the way of that oncoming truck." Penn has a point. Even though he doesn't believe what the Bible says, he openly displays his respect for Christians who aren't afraid to share the gospels with other people.

And we as believing Christians must do the same. God has called us to go out and preach the gospel to all the nations via the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20): "All authority on heaven and earth have been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

So then, why are we so hesitant sometimes? Embarrassment? Shame? Fear? Mark Cahill is a Christian author and speaker. He has written two influential books (One Heartbeat Away and One Thing You Can't Do in Heaven). I recently listened to one of his talks, and he tells us some pretty staggering facts. He gives us the statistic, "every second, 7 people on planet earth will die, and take their final step into eternity. By the time you put your head on your pillow tonight, 600,000 people will have died." His call for us is to do something about it.

There are many Christians who preach on how to reach out to the lost* -- there is Ray Comfort, the late Dr. Adrian Rogers, even Billy Graham. But Cahill is a recent standout. His enthusiasm is evident when you watch him speak. His message is infectious. I have included the link to one of his most interesting talks below. It is rather long, but if you want more of what I have written about here, feel free to click and enjoy. The real question is 'what can you and I do today and tomorrow to further the kingdom?' As my pastor recently challenged our church; think of 3 people in your life that could benefit from the best news in the history of the world. And then do something to act on it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VA2b_s6yaI

* I have always disliked the term "lost." Prior to accepting Christ, I had periodically been referred to as lost. If you don't like this term either, feel free to exchange it for any of the following, which in my mind mean the same thing: seeker, inquirer, non-Christian.

.

Reading "The Shack"

Many of you may have already read the William Paul Young book "The Shack." I recently borrowed it and sat down to peruse this 250 page novel. The story begins with a character named Mackenzie (Mack), and lays out his encounter with the Holy Trinity. Mack and his family had a terrible family tragedy when they were out camping and his youngest daughter Missy was kidnapped. As Mack searched for her, it became more and more apparent that she would not return, and later we find out that she was indeed murdered by her assailant. Since Mack's grief has no real outlet, the book begins when God sends him a note in the mail asking him to meet at a shack in the woods; the same shack where the killer had taken his daughter. God could see that Mack was stuck and in serious need of help.

To be honest, this book deserves two separate reviews. Part 1 should be a critique on the style and story-telling ability, and part 2 should be a review on Young's use of theology. Instead, I will attempt to intertwine both of those threads into this one review, and see where we end up! Since I have a 7 year old daughter, I was hooked into the original premise of the book immediately. It caught my attention and didn't let go right up until the end. Young's use of language was acceptable (neither superb nor below average), but the real compliment is reserved for his ability to hold the reader's attention. I could not put the book down. This novel has an ability to heal people's hurt I think. His depiction of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit is certainly unorthodox (we will get to this in a minute), but if you can see past that - it is quite an engrossing work of fiction.

Unfortunately Young's use of theology is off... quite a bit off. Had I not known much about the Bible it would not have been an impediment. But because I did, certain things caught my attention. It was very interesting to me that a book based on the Biblical understanding of God often failed to be accurate in that respect. Much of the book centers on not following "the rules" however, and Young makes sure that readers know that his version of God is 'constantly full of surprises.'

Most of the inconsistencies I was able to overlook simply because the book was so well written, and I don't mind a fresh perspective on all things spiritual. To be fair, the author portrayed God as kind, good, and forgiving. A great many popular works of fiction fail to do this. Kudos to "The Shack" in that regard. The main thing that bothered me however, was that Young all but completely ignores one of the most important truths of the Bible: salvation through Christ alone. There are almost no references to it, a total of only 2 by my count. Young skims the subject matter with phrases like this, "(God speaking) All I am telling you is that reconciliation is a two-way street, and I have done my part, totally, completely, finally. It is not the nature of love to force a relationship, but it is the nature of love to open the way." Here Young gives part of the truth, but if the reader didn't know the Bible or have a relationship with Christ already, this wouldn't be enough information.

Why am I so hard on Young regarding this point? Because the rest of the book is written with a great deal of care. Why not the most important promise of the Bible also? We may never know, it is not for an author to explain himself. If people reading this book use it as a signpost which leads them to the Bible, then we have a huge success of a book on our hands. If they read it and then stop, never moving on, but instead taking what is taught in "The Shack" as total truth, then the novel has failed. If you are reading it or have already read it, I would advise you to allow yourself to enjoy this book - but then move on and read The New Testament. Again don't get me wrong, I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and I think it has great potential to lead people back to God. As long as they keep asking the hard questions, and read the Bible also.

.

Archaeology Speaks...

"No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a Biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible. And, by the same token, proper evaluation of Biblical descriptions has often led to amazing discoveries."

- Dr. Nelson Glueck

.

Discovery vs. Invention

I am reminded from time to time that man does not invent everything. Many things simply exist, and it almost appears that we were allowed to discover them. Take for example things like the placement of our planet in just such the right way to allow our scientists and astronomers to study not only our own vast solar system, but also neighboring ones. We could have been placed anywhere on the galactic spectrum, but we just so happened to end up with a birds eye view with which to enjoy the heavens.

Take also for instance mathematics. I am no genius when it comes to algorithms and geometric proofs. But even I can tell that 5x5 would equal 25, whether or not human beings came into existence or not. Stop and think about this for a minute. What this means is that an extremely large, accurate sub-system of numbers and patterns exist in our world, by which not only can we figure out certain physical laws, but that we can also project data well beyond our own sphere of understanding, so much so that we often are left uttering things like, "this can't be true", or "that is simply amazing." Incredible minds like Albert Einstein and Stephen Hawking have no explanation for it; they are in awe.

The point is this: mathematics (the multiplication table for example) existed before we did. Man did not create it, we just discovered it. How amazing to stumble onto something so powerful and ordered. Just like DNA and the physical laws of the universe, this points to an intelligence that is doing the ordering. If not, then we are extremely lucky - dare I say ridiculously lucky. But then to calculate luck and chance, we would need math.

.

Interesting Quote

"The usual approach of science constructing a mathematical model cannot answer the questions of why there should be a universe for the model to describe. Why does the universe go to all the bother of existing?"

- Stephen Hawking

.

Sermon: Following the Truth

Here is my latest sermon message. Trouble distinguishing between what is true and what isn't sometimes? You are not alone. There are a slew of different belief systems floating around in America today. So is it really okay for people to subscribe to whatever system they want? Does living that way have consequences? Click play below and find out!

God's Chorus...

I ran across this song some time ago. It is by no means new music, it's been out for years I think. It is Watermark singing "Light of the World." This is one of my favorites when it comes to Christian music. How interesting to think that even the best music we hear while on earth, will pale by comparison to God's Chorus in Heaven. That alone would be worth the price of admission in my book!

Hope you enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U-3Sh7QNdk

.

Why Do People Reject Jesus?

I found this video on YouTube by Greg Koukl (Christian apologist) and thought it was interesting. He addresses the issue of why many people might ignore much of the evidence out there about Christ, and reject what the Bible tells us. There is an especially interesting point from Koukl at the end of the video regarding Pride.

This is a short one, about 2 minutes. Hope you enjoy!:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t0Y_VUuNYc&feature=related

.

Interesting Quote...

"Just because it doesn’t make sense to you, doesn’t mean it doesn’t make sense."

- Adrian Rogers

.

Are You a Good Person?

.

Are you a good person? Who among us would say no, right? I have included the link below to an interesting "quiz" created by the folks at WayOfTheMaster.com ministries. It poses all 10 of the commandments in ways that relate to you and I. It's kind of lengthy, maybe 8-10 minutes or so, but I found it to be very insightful. How many people walking around today need Christ but don't even know it?

Take the interactive questionnaire and see how you stack up! Click on the link below to begin:

http://www.wayofthemaster.com/goodperson.shtml

.

Bible FAQ: Did You Know....

Remember David from the Bible? Of course you do! David was one of the most beloved of all Israel's kings. Some scholars though had denied that King David was a real historical figure. They thought he was just a creation of the Old Testament. Their skepticism changed, however, in 1993 when an excavation at Tel-Dan in Northern Israel revealed the now famous stone tablet with an inscription referring to the House of David.

In 1994 two more of these fragments with the same inscriptions in Aramaic were found; again mentioning the "House of David." In 1995 Time Magazine ran an article based on this discovery. The writing and inscriptions were dated to the 9th century B.C., just about one century after David's rule. The article expressly stated that, "the skeptics claim that King David never existed is now hard to defend."

Not bad for a "mythical" character in the Bible, who some thought never existed. It would appear that he actually left a mark in history, he actually had a home. We can be grateful that the Bible is a historical document, as well as an exemplary show of Faith and Truth.

.

Anger and the Bible

My mother-in-law is a guidance counselor for an elementary school (2 of them actually). She runs an anger management group. Guess what the average age of the attendees is? KINDERGARTEN! Does the world need the Bible? I would say so.

When I first heard this, I began to search the Bible for scriptures about anger, and I noticed an over-abundance. As I list out some of the verses below, try to read them with an ear toward the action statements contained within the scriptures themselves. There is something that God requires us to do when it comes to the subject of anger.

Here are the scriptures I came across:

* Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil (Psalm 37:8)

* Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you (Proverbs 20:22).

* Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21)

* But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips (Collossians 3:8)

* Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing (1 Peter 3:9)

Did you notice something? All of these scripture passages (and many more that I haven't listed here) require from us a choice. Words and phrases like, "refrain, do not, you must..." tell us that God wants us to manage how we handle anger. I think God is telling us that although you can have a gut reaction when you are offended or slighted, the amount of time we allow this anger to boil is up to us. How we deal with anger is an act of the will, not simply some automatic or animal instinct that we can't possibly control. We are active participants.

I personally hope those kindergarten kids come to grips with this truth someday, and someday soon. It will take a degree of maturity to grapple with this idea; that anger is controllable. Perhaps they didn't have parents that modeled this for them, or maybe they simply lead frustrating lives already. But one more thing - when I think of situations like this I must remember to ask myself, "where would I be without the Bible." And just as important: where are you, with regard to anger?

.