Veritas

Why is there such confusion today over what seems to be such a simple word? Relativism seems to have become the norm in today's society (or at least in schools of "higher" learning). Many believe that what is "truth" for you isn't "truth" for them. Another common view is that "all roads lead to the same God", so that no matter what religion you follow, it's OK. Those who claim that what they believe is the truth and that others are wrong are considered by many to be intolerant bigots or religious extremists. The word "truth", in and of itself, suggests it's exclusivity, with everything else becoming falsehood. Sure, all religions claim to have the truth. All of them can be wrong, but they all cannot be right - there would just be too many contradictions, which are also an enemy of truth. Pontius Pilate, upon questioning Jesus, asked him "What is truth?", displaying his own relativistic viewpoint, as the question was purely rhetorical.

Here is a quote from a book I highly recommend, called "Beyond Opinion". The quote is from Michael Ramsden, a well-known Christian apologist, which gives a great example of what I mentioned above:

I was asked to speak at an event a couple of years ago in which the audience wrote down all the difficult questions that they could think of and then the questions were drawn out of a basket at random. At the end of the event, a woman who embraced Buddhism came up to me. She said, "Michael, I've enjoyed this evening, but I'm a Buddhist and something bothers me. I want to ask you about it." I invited her to continue. She said, "You didn't say it expressly, but you seemed to assume in your answers, that there is only one way to God, through Jesus Christ. Would that be correct?" I said, "Well, yes. It would be correct." She said, "Well, I could never agree with you - I could never become an intolerant person like you by saying that other people are wrong."
I said, "You're a Buddhist, right?" She said, "Yes." I continued, "Tell me, didn't the Buddha say that Hinduism was wrong? Did he not reject the caste system, which is central to Hunduism, and state that the Vedas, their scriptures, were not divine?" And her face fell. She said, "He did say that. I read it this morning in my devotions." I said, "My question to you is really quite simple. If you're prepared to entertain the words of the Buddha, even though he said that millions of people were wrong, why are you not prepared to entertain what Jesus has to say when he says that some people are wrong?" She quickly replied, "I don't like where this converstion is going." I said, "I can appreciate that, but will you answer my question?"
The next morning she attended a church in which I was preaching on the subject of forgiveness. At the end, she sat in silence for a few minutes and then burst into tears. For the first time she realized that the Christian faith she had left behind for Buddhism was not true Christianity at all. She had simply exchanged one way of life for another; she had actually never known Christ, despite having gone to church almost every day of her school life.

The search for truth should be the most important thing in one's life, as once you have found it, everything else will follow. The search must be honest and without prejudice or pre-conceived notions. If you believe that there is a God, pray and ask Him to show you the truth and I'm sure that He will. There are four questions in life that form who you are - origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. Ultimately, the world view that you subscribe to must answer all those questions in a cohesive manner. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Based on what I've said above, His claims are perfectly rational. You can choose to believe Him or not.

Sin and Suffering

I was listening to two separate teachings recently by John Piper that were recommended to me (links are below). They both dealt with suffering and the problem of evil, but from slightly different angles. One of the points really stuck in my mind, which is what I wanted to mention here.When man sinned and all of creation was cursed as a result - suffering, death, disease, natural disasters, and every other abhorrent thing we can think of, came into the world. Ever since, creation has been longing to be restored (Romans 8:19-22).

The popular question when tragedy strikes is "How could a loving God allow this to happen?". I think God is being terribly misunderstood. This world was created in perfect condition. It was only the sin of man that caused it's destruction. Every tragic event we witness can be traced back as resulting from the sin of mankind. God is simply allowing mankind to see the results of it's own sin. It's easy to blame God and not point the finger at ourselves. It's so easy to trivialize our own sin. I believe He wants us to realize the severity of sin and it's results. He could've simply left the world in the fallen state that we have caused it to be in, but instead He provided a way to redeem mankind. Christ suffered more than any human being ever will and paid the price for all of our sins - past, present, and future.

God longs to restore our relationship with Him and forgive us, but like a true gentleman, He won't force Himself on us. We choose to follow His rules, or to disobey them - and if we're disobedient and have to face the consequences, somehow it's God's fault? God has paid the ultimate price to restore our relationship with Him and we choose to humbly accept it, or ungratefully reject it. God is both merciful and just. The path you choose will determine which side of God you will see most clearly.

John Piper: The Suffering of Christ and the Sovereignty of God
John Piper: UCF sermon on evil

Blind Religion and God

I read an article the other day that my wife came across about the son of a leader of Hamas, the Islamic militant group, who has converted to Christianity. I've included the link below. He made a very valid point about the majority of Muslims not really knowing what their religion teaches. Islam is an all-inclusive religion in that it not only is a belief system, but it also instructs it's followers on how to live day-to-day. Most are simply born as Muslim and accept it blindly as truth - without really examining it and asking the "hard" questions. All world views need to explain origin, meaning, morality, and destiny. It's truly a shame that the majority of what is called the Christian church of today is guilty of the same blind acceptance. Many are born into "Christian" families and even go to church regularly and have no clue as to what the Bible teaches. Just because someone goes to church doesn't mean they are a Christian - any more than going into a hospital makes you a doctor.

What is the true desire of your heart? Where does God fit into your life? What does God expect from you? Surely that question needs to be answered. Do you think he just put you on this earth to simply live however you see fit? Is God a personal being, or does he just sit back and watch us? If you've ever prayed to God, then surely you must believe He does interact in some way with humanity. Which religion's view of God is correct? They can all be wrong, but they can't all be right - there are just too many contradicting views that cannot be resolved.

God has created us to have a relationship with Him. Our sin has damaged that relationship and since God is holy and perfect, we're no longer able to have the relationship He intended. I spoke to someone recently who has the common view that when he dies, as long as his good deeds outweigh his bad deeds, everything will be OK. My question to him was "What about the bad deeds? They still exist. What is going to get rid of those?" One outweighing the other is a moot point to a perfect and holy God, as His standard of perfection obviously hasn't been met. It's commonly said that "no one is perfect" - that's exactly the point. It would require absolute perfection and holiness for us to be restored to God and since we've sinned, it's no longer possible - unless God makes a way. Sin is an abhorrent thing to God and since He is just, He has to judge sin accordingly. The end result of sin is death. God has provided us His son, Jesus, who lived a perfect life, died in our place, and had all the sins of the world - past, present, and future - placed upon Himself. When we believe in Jesus and ask for forgiveness of our sins, the perfect life He lived is attributed to us, so that when God looks at us, He sees His son's perfection. The Christian life means living in constant submission to God's will, continually turning from sin, asking for forgiveness when we do sin, and being ever thankful for the grace He has given to us. The Bible says that we must be "born again" to see the kingdom of God. The old person goes away and we become new people. We are adopted into God's family and are guaranteed that we will spend eternity with Him - all for simply believing in Him.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402483,00.html

My First Blog

Well, I've decided to give it a whirl and create a blog. I don't assume that anyone else will care what I have to say (like some bloggers do), but at least it'll be out there if anyone does. Enjoy!