Choose

April 2015

Jesus is alive!

He (Jesus, the Son of God) became a man so that men could become sons of God.

In the Beginning

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
- Genesis 1:1 NLT

Bible on athiests

That man is a fool who says to himself, "There is no God!" Anyone who talks like that is warped and evil and cannot really be a good person at all.
- Psalm 14:1 TLB

We are smarter than God!?

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness to God. As it says in the book of Job, God uses man's own brilliance to trap him; he stumbles over his own "wisdom" and falls.
- 1 Corinthians 3:19 TLB

Our condition

But when you follow your own wrong inclinations, your lives will produce these evil results: impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, 20 idolatry, spiritism (that is, encouraging the activity of demons), hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, constant effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except those in your own little group-and there will be wrong doctrine, 21 envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, and all that sort of thing. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
- Galations 5:19-21 TLB

As the Scriptures say,
"No one is good-no one in all the world is innocent."
11 No one has ever really followed God's paths or even truly wanted to.
12 Every one has turned away; all have gone wrong. No one anywhere has kept on doing what is right; not one.
- Romans 3:10-12 TLB

The only way

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Him.

Circumstantial Proof

Fine-tuning Theorem - the world is like a soundboard with 10,000 knobs. Each is exactly tuned to allow for life on this planet. Example: the distance of the earth to the sun. If too far away, its too cold for life. If too close, too hot for life.
Existence of evil in the world - The existence of evil shows us two things: first, something is very, very wrong. second, there is a standard (implicitly noted at first) that separates good from evil. What is the standard, but the Word of God?
Transcendent properties of the universe - Logic is an example. Without it, we don't have computers and you can not read this webpage. The ANDs and ORs are very important to the fundamental operation of the computer. Philosophical law of noncontradiction is another example. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_noncontradiction
Irreducible complexity - Evolution falls apart with an eyeball, of even a cell - because these things are irreducibly complex. So they come in whole or not at all, otherwise they can't function properly.
Intelligent design - Rough estimates: the sun is roughly 400x bigger than the moon but 400x further away from earth than the moon. So even with the massive size differences, we get perfect solar and lunar eclipses. You cannot have good design without a Designer.

Empirical Evidence

The painter won't be found in his painting. God won't be found among the universe He created. We can not measure God. We can not place God in a test tube. This means that we can not empirically prove that God exists. This means that we can not empirically prove that God does not exist. And this matches with the fundamental truth of the Bible: We can only come to God through humble FAITH. Trusting in Jesus, the Son of God (John 3:16.)

The definition of faith: Trusting what you cannot see.
If we had empirical proof that God existed, we would not have faith, for we would see it.

For God so loved the world, He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him (that is, Jesus) will not perish but have eternal life.
- John 3:16

What does Jesus say?

Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls."
- Matthew 11:28-29 TLB

One day as the crowds were gathering, he went up the hillside with his disciples and sat down and taught them there.
3 "Humble men are very fortunate!" he told them, "for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them.
4 Those who mourn are fortunate! for they shall be comforted.
5 The meek and lowly are fortunate! for the whole wide world belongs to them.
6 "Happy are those who long to be just and good, for they shall be completely satisfied.
7 Happy are the kind and merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.
8 Happy are those whose hearts are pure, for they shall see God.
9 Happy are those who strive for peace-they shall be called the sons of God.
10 Happy are those who are persecuted because they are good, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

- Matthew 5:1-11 TLB

Creation vs. Evolution links

Yes, love. The Bible is founded on love and is a love story woven through and through. "God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Love is the answer, we must reach out to people and love them into the kingdom. I agree with this article (WT*IUWT?!) as well that we must be ready to give a defense for our faith as written in 1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," The Bible should be taken seriously; a good rule of thumb is to interpret the Bible in the most obvious way it can be taken unless context dictates otherwise. Genesis creation story is literal, a day is a day. It is the same day used in Exodus when we hear we should work for 6 and rest on the 7th. It is a literal day. You ask, "Could God really create the earth in six days?" The real question is, "Why did He take so long?" You ask, "But science shows otherwise and to think this is to be a fool." The Bible, on the other hand says in 1 Corinthians 3:19, "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight. As it is written: 'He catches the wise in their craftiness.'"

For more information about this, I suggest the following resources:
Genesis 1:1-5 by Stephen Armstrong (Verse-By-Verse Ministries) (Length 00:51:28)
http://www.versebyverseministry.org/podcasts/genesis1a-2011.mp3

Genesis 1:3-19 by Stephen Armstrong (Verse-By-Verse Ministries) (Length 00:45:41)
http://www.versebyverseministry.org/podcasts/genesis1b-2011.mp3

Genesis 1:14-25 by Stephen Armstrong (Verse-By-Verse Ministries) (Length 00:46:09)
http://www.versebyverseministry.org/podcasts/genesis1c-2011.mp3

Genesis 1:26-31; Genesis 2:1-3 by Stephen Armstrong (Verse-By-Verse Ministries) (Length 00:49:16)
http://www.versebyverseministry.org/podcasts/genesis1d-2011.mp3

The Great Exchange
http://www.versebyverseministry.org/bible-studies/the_great_exchange

True Gospel
http://www.gotquestions.org/true-gospel.html

Creation vs. Evolution: Part 1 by Stephen Armstrong (Verse-By-Verse Ministries) (Length 00:56:33)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgo84L1TAfE

Creation vs. Evolution: Part 2 by Stephen Armstrong (Verse-By-Verse Ministries) (Length 00:59:23)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Zbpq8YBI4

Creation vs. Evolution: Part 3 by Stephen Armstrong (Verse-By-Verse Ministries) (Length 01:00:31)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20gjk__E_CU

Creation vs. Evolution Debate: Bill Nye and Ken Ham (Length 02:45:33)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_04S0fYU7FI

Choose

What do you believe? If you reject Jesus, you must grapple with this fact: In the event that you are wrong, you will answer to God. It will be too late. And your eternal destiny will be final.

References

God's Not Dead Sermon Series (Pastor Ron Kairdolf)