A Confused People

 

We are a confused people, and confusion causes us to lose our alertness. This plays well into Satan’s schemes.

Some might already be comfortable in their confusion, and insist that those around them live in confusion as well, so that we can all get along. Can you picture what the world would look like if we all were confused about all things?

Confusion happens when people do not have a grip of reality, and when we dismiss God from being the cause and purpose of all things. In fact, we have attempted to make us the cause and purpose of all things.

Chelsea Clinton recently discussed abortion rights and said this: “A woman’s right to choose is at the core of our human rights and what should be equity in our country^[1]”. Making a statement like this, and having it accepted by anyone, anywhere, shows how confused a people can be.

When we think that our feelings or our belief in something makes something right or wrong, we are in big trouble. A man who believes he is really a woman is really a man, and a woman who believes she is really a man is confused. A man who believes he is a cucumber, or a horse, or dragonfly is confused at best.

Society used to make accommodation for such people in special places where these people could be cared for and not harm or confuse others. Yet today, confusion seems to be the new normal, and the more confused we are, the more normal we are.

Not only is confusion becoming normal, but those who are confused are continually wanting to force those who are not confused to accommodate their confusion as normal.

The nation, as a whole, is playing out the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes, and we the people are the Emperor. In thinking we are impressing the world with our “tolerance” and accommodation, we are the laughing stock of those who are not confused.

How did all of this come to be, and what can be done to stop this erosion of sanity?

I am sure there are many causes to this effect, but we can start with the simple, and realize that the ignoring of God as God is the start of trouble. If God is not God, then we create one of our own liking, and often times, we become or take the place of God.

If the earth was an accident, then so are we. If we are just accidental blobs of protoplasm, then nothing matters anyways, so we might as well allow our feelings, emotions, and desires to create truth rather than to actually discover what truth is.

I heard a news reporter the other day say that Hollywood is the number one influencer of thought in our nation. This may or may not be true, but if it is true, it helps answer why the fantasy life of so many is becoming their “reality.”

For years we have immersed ourselves in the pretend world of Hollywood to the point where now the pretend is more reality than reality.

Once again, this leads to confusion.

In order for confusion to reign, reality must remain foggy. In order for confusion to reign, good and bad need to replace the words right and wrong, and mutually exclusive ideas need to “coexist” in order for us to find “peace.”

In order for confusion to reign, belief needs to be the criterion for truth, and feelings need to be the proof of reality.

Well, in reality, if I may use that term, good and bad are cultural terms that always need comparing, and right and wrong are absolutes around which one can build their life. God is the author of right and wrong, and things are only good if they are right, and things are always bad if they are wrong. To mess this up messes us up.

In reality, mutually exclusive ideas cannot exist. God in the Scriptures and Allah in the Koran cannot both be God, in that they are portrayed differently, and to say that they are the same, or to tolerate both ways of thinking will mess up or confuse our thinking.

In reality, males and females are determined at birth by God, who gave these individuals male or female characteristics. Genetics determine gender, not feelings, wishes, or desires.

President John Adams once said this: “We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

John Adams understood the purpose and meaning of the Constitution as did John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, who was appointed by George Washington himself and who once said this: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.”^[2]

The young people in our nation today are confused, and thereby will be the most depressed, unproductive, and unresponsive generation in our history.

Those who have been set free by the truth need to put themselves in relationships with those who are confused and enslaved by lies before this confusion reigns supreme, and sanity becomes something talked about in historical terms.

God is not tolerant, but patient, yet His patience is only available to those who will show movement towards the truth, not those who insist on living in ignorance.

---

^[1] http://www.lifenews.com/2016/04/18/chelsea-clinton-on-abortion-womans-right-to-choose-at-the-core-of-our-human-rights/

^[2] Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/05/americans-prefer-christians-for-their-rulers/#1zcXbFmY60MZ7gyW.99

Reframing of Ministry

God answered Solomon, “Because this was in your heart, and you have not asked for possessions, wealth, honor, or the life of those who hate you, and have not even asked for long life, but have asked for wisdom and knowledge for yourself that you may govern my people over whom I have made you king, wisdom and knowledge are granted to you. I will also give you riches, possessions, and honor, such as none of the kings had who were before you, and none after you shall have the like.”

(2 Chronicles 1:11-12 ESV)

Those who are successful in this life are successful because of God, not because of their human ability.

Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. For man does not know his time. Like fish that are taken in an evil net, and like birds that are caught in a snare, so the children of man are snared at an evil time, when it suddenly falls upon them

(Ecclesiastes 9:11-12 ESV)

Individuals and/ministries that seek to be swift, strong, wise, rich, intelligent, and knowledgeable can easily fail in that they have forgotten the fact that God is in charge of the time and chance, and those are ultimately what matters.

Ministry accepts uniqueness as the norm.

One thing, not many. All that we do must run through the one filter that we have.

Ministries often evolve into places that work diligently at supporting the mission, and use the mission as the motivator rather than work the mission as the mission.

Some would use the word balance. Some would use common sense. Some would talk about the practically of the things we do and the importance of the practical.

When you read Hebrews 11, about the ones who got it right, balance, practical, and common sense were not the descriptors we should use.

First and foremost, we must understand that balance, common sense, and practicality are things that often eclipse God.  As the eclipse takes place, we are awed, as we would be for a lunar eclipse, but the amazement is not because we have seen the hand of God, but because we have obscured the hand of God, and are awed by the eerie effect.

However, balance, common sense, and practicality are tools we should use in the context of what they mean in the scope of knowing God and making Him known.

For example: Did Noah or Stephen or Daniel display common sense, practicality, and balance?

Since they knew God, they did. It is perfectly sensible and extremely practical for one to listen to God. If you know God, you trust Him. You may not understand Him, but you trust Him. Therefore you do as He tells you, immediately, and without question. Humanly, it was not practical, nor did it make common sense, but in the context of Who it was who told you to build, it was both.

Likewise we talk about balance in life. God seems to teach balance in life in teaching us to work six days and then spend one day focused on relationships. God seems balanced in that He gave us daylight hours and night time hours.

The Apostle Paul was in the will of God and worked his mission, while working on his own, in order to be able to eat. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, and others were often pressed beyond what a human should endure.

Perhaps we have westernized the idea of balance, common sense, and practicality, and because mankind has eclipsed God, we see no problem.

Ministry today does not need more balance, common sense, or practical advice from those who do not love, enjoy, and obey God. We do not need to make sure we are cared for. We need to make sure we are enjoying and obeying the only One who can care for us.

It seems as if many churches have become about people rather than about God, and para- church ministries have become about people rather than about supporting the church.

As a Godless politician believes that he/she gets his/her power from the people, and adjusts his/her focus in order to win a majority of them to their side, ministries can easily begin to think that they, too, receive their power from the people, and begin to work the crowds like skillful politicians, rather than someone like John the Baptist.

If repentance is what we need, then where is the genuine cry for an example of repentance?

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayer that is made in this place.

(2 Chronicles 7:14-15 ESV)

Because God is who He is, we are here to show the world that He is who He says He is. We do that first and foremost by having a staff and board who enjoy Him and obey Him. We do that by looking for ways in every area of our daily work to show who He is and how He operates.

We do not work at portraying a place and a people who love and honor God. We work at actually loving and honoring God. We are about knowing Christ, first and foremost, and then allowing the Holy Spirit to use us and our circumstances to show the world who He is.

Perhaps Mary was the most blessed of all people. She was one who was impregnated by the Holy Spirit, misunderstood by her fiancé, friends, relatives, and country. She was the one who had to travel when she was about to give birth, and then landed in a barn among relatives who somehow rejected this girl by not giving up their rooms in the inn. Mary gave birth, had to go on the run, lost Joseph somewhere along the way, and watched her innocent son get taken, beaten, and crucified.

In a human, practical sense, she did not seem blessed, yet she was, as defined by God.

Our goal is to be blessed of God. This may not mean comfort, wealth, fame, fortune, etc., and we must remain focused on what that looks like. In all things we must consider how we might show the world in which we live who God is, to give a visibility to the conceptual ideas of God to the Godless.

Ministry is and should be unique or holy, and will remain that way as long as our goal and efforts are directed towards knowing Him and making Him known.

Contentment- Our Weapon Of Choice

I was recently reading a blog that was written by an accomplished advertising guru aimed at helping the next generation of copywriters.

I have always known that advertising in general is not for the benefit of the one they are trying to persuade, but for both the copywriter’s ego/financial gain, and the company’s bottom line.

With that in mind, one must be discerning in that what is read, said, or imagined in that it may represent some of the most destructive principles known to man. (I am choosing to not reveal the blogger.)

The blogger stated this: “…in theory and sometimes practice, we are efforting to ‘make people want what they don’t need.’” Can you imagine being one who lives their life dreaming about how they can convince people to covet things for which they have no real need?  Does this make life better for anyone other than those who write the copy, get paid for their writing, and those who benefit from the sale? This seems like, at least a purposeless existence, and at most, evil.

The blogger continues to say this: “Admit it, copywriters. When you’re drafting a manifesto for a product or service or company (it doesn’t much matter what the thing is) don’t you feel the power at your fingertips? There, at your desk, you are creating a myth. Our words are like sparks and we want them to ignite. We are toying with Pandora’s Box and it is nothing short of thrilling.”

This comes from a man who is an “expert” in the field, and who hopes to help young copywriters get it right. The idea of control, deception, and the creation of importance from the meaningless seems more Satanic than noble.

He continues: “Who doesn’t want their copy to go viral? To be shared. To spread like, frankly, a disease….With powerful alchemy, we will have turned people into consumers. Into Believers. We will have become god’s of advertising!” 

There seems to be an obsession with controlling people and gaining something at their expense, at creating something from nothing, and focusing on using our persuasive abilities for personal gain rather than for the good of others.

What has happened to responsibility? He states this: “Your exact philosophy will be a function of percentages. I’d say my current philosophy is 60% passion to 40% responsibility.” This leaves a person to be driven mainly by their passions, and somewhat subdued by their responsibility. Yet without God, what does responsibility even look like?

What is even sadder is that this advertising guru seems to have captured the actual thinking of our culture. This mindset is confused, self-absorbed and out of control. He said this: “The fantasy of winning untold riches is at the crux of human desire. It drove countless throngs into the California wilderness looking for gold. A few found some. More died trying. Still, there was that chance…And yet who didn’t buy a lottery ticket this week? I’m willing to bet millions of people who otherwise despise the 1% stood in line for a shot at becoming one. Perhaps these myriad hopefuls believe, upon winning hundreds of millions of dollars, that they would not become selfish snobs living only for pleasure and hedonism. One need only look at rock stars and pro athletes to see how that plays out. Sure, I’m generalizing (there are plenty of millionaires and billionaires who are great philanthropists) but you must concede the point: We are all willing to chance our integrity for the possibility of riches. It’s the American Dream.”

The American dream--the idea that our forefathers fought and died for--was that we might have the chance to abandon our integrity on the altar of chance? This seems like a distortion at best, and, once again, Satanic at worst.

Those who have learned to be content in any state, they are truly unique. They are either mentally challenged or challenging others’ mentality.

If one is chasing significance, security, or contentment, they will never find it, for it is a gift that cannot be earned and is given to those who discover and respond to God’s mercy.  The purpose behind the advertising industry is to foster a dissatisfaction with all things present, while promising that whatever they offer will finally bring them the satisfaction, in the present.

False hopes and dreams based on lies and manipulations do not make for a better life.

Americans are easily manipulated into believing that it is possible to have our best life now, and they diligently seek it, until they realize that it has all been a sham, and it is too late to pull out of the materialistic tailspin we have started.

Modern advertising is based on using people, not loving people. It is based on greed and covetousness, and uses half-truths, lies, and distortions to manipulate. Advertising, television shows, movies, etc. are based on the “pretend,” and have become more important to us than reality, which is getting even harder to identify. It is the stuff American dreams are made of.

The only way to render this medium powerless is to turn it off. We need to choose to often and intentionally create a Sabbath rest when we spend time with God and each other. We need a standard by which we can measure all information. We need a filter, outside of ourselves, that can sort out the clever lies from the sometimes mundane truth.

Truth sets us free, lies enslave, and those who have no truth have no good choices. If we refuse to reject that which destroys, we choose to be destroyed.

It is even possible and even probable that the very people and institutions that were set up by God to oversee abandons their responsibility as they did in Jeremiah’s time. Jeremiah 14:14 states this: And the Lord said to me:“The prophets are prophesying lies in my name. I did not send them, nor did I command them or speak to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, worthless divination, and the deceit of their own minds.

Any nation that is ruled by the “lie” is not ruled, but is manipulated, and will pay a significant price. Right before the previously stated Jeremiah passage, God told Jeremiah the following: The Lord said to me: “Do not pray for the welfare of this people. Though they fast, I will not hear their cry, and though they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence. (Jeremiah 14:11-12 ESVST)

No one is guaranteed a second, third, or fourth chance, and those “prophets and priests” who proclaim that God never gives up must not read what God has said and done in the past. Believing something does not make it true, for truth stands even if I do not believe it.

Unless Christians actually become Christ-followers and guard our minds, we will lose our minds, and the very purposes we were created to enjoy will be the considered unachievable.

It is impossible to love this world and love God. We will prove God right on this one way or another.

Purposeful Rest

The idea of a Sabbath rest is foundational throughout Scripture. In fact, the Sabbath is the only “ritual” mentioned in the Ten Commandments. There is something very special about the idea of Sabbath that those of us who live in the western world may have lost.

First and foremost, we need to understand that we were created to be relational. We were made to be in a relationship with God and each other. In the “each other” category, we were made to focus on family, then others, and to love all, even our enemies.

The concepts given to us by God are concepts that are rather simple, but at the same time are profound enough to spend hours and hours contemplating them and the significant role they play in our lives, the universe, and eternity.

Satan is described as God’s enemy, and is one whom God says is clever, or cunning, and sly. He would gladly use something that God has created and deemed good in ways it was not meant to be in order to destroy it. In fact, mankind would not willingly or knowingly destroy themselves, so Satan would need to work at making our destruction appealing, desirable, and perhaps, even normal.

One might ask how Satan could and would do such things, and that would be a valid question. I do not think that I or anyone else can really tell you what Satan is up to unless we have read about it in the Scriptures. However, I would assume that Satan would be attacking us in the most foundational areas of life, knowing that if the foundation goes, the building is sure to follow.

God is the cornerstone, or the most important foundational brick. Without Him, you have no foundation, so it seems natural that His enemy would attack the very idea of God. In fact, the Bible starts with this quote in Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God….”

There is both written word and physical evidence that God exists. In fact, we are told that those who choose to ignore this fact have pushed the truth, that was implanted in us, away, in favor of believing an error.

Believing lies never turns out well, and we all know that, but we do not all know the lies to which we have been exposed. Mom and dads could be exposed to lies at work or at the coffee shop. Sons and daughters could be exposed to lies at school, on the playground, or by watching a movie.

Since truth is important, and we can be exposed to and eventually believe lies, we need to be able to safeguard the truth and have some way to check to see if we have begun to fade from knowing the things we should know.

Perhaps that is why God created life to be relational. As I spend time enjoying God, reading His Word, and talking to Him, I get to see clearly what is right and wrong, and see if anything I have seen or heard is a “lie.” As one spends time with family, as they do life together, they will be able to see how we live, respond, and think, and if we are beginning to hear and actually listen to lies, they are there to help us refocus.

What has happened in our culture is not good for relationships. We are people who can easily be busy all of the time. We have access to work from home, and to home from work. We have school, sports, and social lives to live, and have immediate and constant access to events and people via some sort of electronic device.

Some would say that our culture is unique in its opportunities to be busy, but that is not so. In fact, people have had the opportunity to be busy and distracted in every era and place in history.  In this world there is always more to do. Today, we have many ways of being distracted, of mistaking arrangements for relationships, and often, in our attempt to use things, the things in our lives use us.

Sadly to say, one of the signs of a culture that is too busy is that they begin using things and people rather than enjoying them.

Everyone lives differently. Some live in chaos or a mess until cleaning day, making cleaning day quite a chore. Others attempt to live and clean and organize as they go, making cleaning day quite bearable.

The Sabbath is really about taking the time to put things back where they belong. If it is done on a regular basis, the changes in life are small and relatively easy. If we live our lives out of control and then take a moment now and then to try and straighten it out, we become weary just looking at the mess, and want to just destroy it all and start over.

That approach might work for a garage, but it is not acceptable in relationships.

Those who want to live as we were intended to live, and enjoy the fruits that accompany healthy thinking and living, need to do so in relationships. Without a relationship with God you cannot have healthy relationships with people, and both need to have intentional and undistracted time in order to thrive.

Intentional and undistracted would be the key words to try to incorporate.

If one would sleep 8 hours a day, seven days a week, he/she would have 112 hours awake each week. One seventh of 112 would be about 16 hours a week, or 2 hours and 20 minutes a day. Those who want to have healthy relationships need to schedule time for them. Ideally, you should spend 16 hours one day working on relationships. In our culture, that may not work, so maybe we should work towards spending two hours and twenty minutes a day in relationships building and renewing.

Legalism is not the goal; relationships are the goal. However, intentionality is not legalism.

With this in mind, The Omega Force, in conjunction with Silver Birch Ranch and The Wolf River Refuge, invites you to be intentional a couple times a year at our beautiful property on the Wolf River.  The Wolf River Refuge has cabins that are available for families to come and use for a couple days to a week, and helps you with the “intentional” part of the formula.

Just as one would make regular dental appointments to ward off problems, one should make regular “relational” appointments that do not include distractions, in order to repair, renew, or just enjoy God and each other.

While at the Wolf River Refuge, you will be hosted by Steve and Kris Tice, Biblical Counselors, who will do whatever it takes to encourage you to leave the rest of the world behind for awhile while you focus on those who are actually important to you. If you need time with them to discuss various areas, they would be available and willing to help.

If you’re planning to come, or just planning on being more intentional at home, perhaps you could incorporate some of these elements, and even work towards making them a normal part of your “sabbath” rests.

Dress nicely in a way that your spouse and family would be proud.

Prepare food ahead of time to enjoy, or enjoy meals prepared for you by the Wolf River Refuge staff.

After sunset, the night before, bless your children. Talk to them, thank God for them, and encourage them.

Spouses--thank and affirm each other in front of the children.

Discuss the time period before the sabbath…what’s going on in life.

Nobody works, no electronic devices, no movies, no television…no normal pressures.

Have everyone spend time reading and praying.

Go for a long walk and talk along the way.

Take time to notice the “creation” and talk of what it says to the created.

Leadership

Leadership is easy while being a leader is quite difficult.

Leaders are those who follow. They have a desire to find the truth and yield to the truth.

Following is hard because followers are admitting that they are not in charge, that they cannot control the situation and their pride becomes a formidable foe.

Leadership is really about position, not positioning.

If  the goal is to obtain a following or control others one could do that through various means. Forcing someone to follow or manipulating, coercing, begging or pleading does not make someone a good leader.

In fact, the idea that leadership is about having a following has caused many in leadership to focus on how many are following them and the methods to which they must use to gain that following. The focus of these leaders shifts from providing an example to making them the example.

This opens the door for all sorts of abuse creates an atmosphere of fear, doubt, debt and regret.

Any person can study people and then focus on what it takes to manipulate then to do what they want them to do. Anyone can coerce others by somehow manipulating their worlds and making themselves needed rather than wanted.

In reality, God alone is the authority and all who truly are dedicated to following Him are positioned to become true leaders. Those who do not believe in God, who do not follow God are positioned to become dictators, tyrants and despots. Dictators, tyrants and despots may, by definition be leaders but in reality they are those who destroy life and block the masses from ever being a position to reach their God given potential.

The world needs more Christ followers and less leaders.

Relationshiips Should Not Be As Hard As We Are Making Them

If ideas have consequences, then the idea of ignoring God’s created norm of a man and a woman being married, committed to each other, before any sexual union takes place, would have grave consequences.

Births out of wedlock are becoming the norm.^[1] Britain almost has more births out of wedlock than in the context of a committed marriage. The United States is not far behind Britain, and France, since 2007, has had more babies born to individuals (notice that I did not say couples….for a reason) than committed couples.

What is the consequence to this idea? The consequence is instability. The consequence is instability in the rule of law, instability in the economy, instability in emotional well-being of all who are involved, and instability in general.

We know that unmarried parents are more likely to split up, their children learn less in school and are more likely to be unhealthy or behave badly. Unmarried persons are poorer, less well-educated, and more likely to become teenage parents. ^[2]

The bedrock of all relationships is commitment. We commit to God first and then each other. Marriage is a commitment to the well-being of another. It is not an institution intended to meet my physical, emotional, and hormonal needs/desires. When it becomes an institution that is about me, then the consequence is obvious: others do not matter.

In the end, those who live together without commitment usually end up in dire straits in that there is no way to live in community and be about self. In most cases, the man will usually leave and go on to others whom he can manipulate, control, and use to meet his desires, while losing interest in those for whom they now should be caring.

The wives/moms usually do not leave. The children born to them were of them and the attachment is strong. The women usually stay in that they seem to better understand commitment and are seem to be more willing to rearrange their lives in order to make a better life for their children.

In a land where narcissism rules, however, even the women abandon the natural, and as that happens, children suffer.

When a nation decides that marriage, as God outlines it, is no longer important, and that commitment is not the most significant factor in relationships, the results will be devastating to both the individuals involved and the nation as a whole.

Because we have decided to ignore God and His obvious and simple ways, we need to spend hours and hours and millions of dollars figuring out laws, guidelines, and expectations for those who are in all sorts of “arrangements.”  In a weird kind of way, those who decided to try and simplify life by not making a commitment complicate life beyond repair.

Without claiming to understand all of the ramifications of a non-committed relationship, I would offer at least this partial list for your consideration.

First, it seems that non-committed couples are the real reason why we have a debate about abortion. In a committed relationship there would be no need or desire for an abortion. If we obeyed God, we would only see children who would be conceived in the context of commitment, and the idea of killing them would not be an idea at all. The issue we do not want to deal with, both individually and as a state, is that of obeying God. Choosing to ignore or not obey God is the problem here; abortion is the byproduct.

Then, it seems that those who will not commit to each other are choosing to spend countless hours trying to figure out what is “fair” or “right.” In these cases, since God and commitment are not the guidelines, we will need to make some up. Legislative bodies will need to decide what is right and wrong, and have to deal with a host of variables that will be both endless and exhausting. In our attempts to legislate what is right, we exhaust ourselves, and eventually become numb to evil that surrounds us. In fact, we not only become numb, we begin to make laws that make such behavior acceptable, making those who disapprove of such things the new deviants in our culture.

Then, like a dog chasing its tail, we need to defend those who chose to disobey, and punish those who have obeyed God, thinking that real freedom means a lack of guidelines and conviction, when the opposite is actually true.

Non-committed parents’ children learn less in school because learning does not happen at school. (School may be a catalyst for learning, but learning happens in community, in family, and in the observation of significant adults or mentors that are doing life with you). If a child feels insecure, and all those from homes where the adults are not in committed relationships feel insecure, the learning process is often interrupted. Children are distracted, disconnected, and trying to cope with life rather than live life. Children begin to be concerned with things that they should not need to even think about, and are faced with consequences of adults behaving badly, and cannot seem to enjoy being a child.

Children who grow up in non-committed environments begin to live as if non-commitment is the norm. This norm eventually turns into their worldview, and their worldview supports their life-long decisions and actions.

Trying to make sense of Godlessness makes no sense in the end, and fuels hours and hours of worthless discussions that end up making life more complicated.

God’s ways are not only right; they are logical. Think of the mess we are in because we have complicated the simple or logical in both families and individuals. It is logical that God created, and that He created man and woman, and made man and woman different. Those who desire to erase the difference make life complicated and confusing, and this leads to hours and hours of “clarifying” life and relationships that is both exhausting and counterproductive.

God made the cornerstone to relationships commitment, not convenience. Those who make it convenient complicate things, and destroy the very fabric of relationships.

Living in a society that is dedicated to conforming to a Godless norm will both exhaust people and resources, and is futile at best.

Godless living makes no sense, and we must never make senselessness the standard.

---

^[1] The Economist January 16th, 2016

^[2] The Economist January 16th 2016

What If Faith is Really Reason or Logic?

What if faith is really reasonable and logical and not just believing something for the sake of believing? There is an old song that talks about faith as just believing that God does what He says.

Believing that God does what He says is not just a belief; it is logical. It is logical that the God of all creation is trustworthy and will do what He has said He will do.

What if creation is logical and evolution is illogical?

What if commitment in marriage is logical and divorce is illogical?

What if submission to authority is logical and going it on your own is illogical?

I have often heard, from the higher up academics in this world, that Christianity is illogical and simpletons have to rely on faith rather than reason. This may sound like a “sound” argument, but it actually lacks any sensible thinking.

It is rather easy to illustrate with simple objects around us. If one would take a pen and look at it, one could and should easily conclude that the pen had a designer and a purpose in the design. I  would reasonably argue that anyone who chose to think that the pen had no designer, and therefore, no purpose, was foolish at best. One must also conclude that the pen had a manufacturer, or a process by which it came from concept to reality. Once again, for someone, anyone, to think otherwise would put them in the “foolish” category, and it would be reasonable to assume that no one would object to such thinking.

Even though you may not know the designer or manufacturer of the pen, and the idea of making ink flow at a constant rate to the paper is a mystery to you, there is still a simple understanding of its origin based on a logic that, I believe, is God-given to all mankind.

This logic can be abandoned, and when it is abandoned we assume and actually do silly things with the things created. Since I own the pen, I could use the pen in any way I desire. Should I decide to use it as a canoe paddle, I can do that. Even the casual observer would conclude, without even seeing me attempt this feat, that the use of a pen as a canoe paddle is a silly idea. We would know that it is a silly idea because the pen was designed and manufactured to be a pen, and works rather well as a pen, but is a lousy canoe paddle, and will only frustrate someone trying to use it as a canoe paddle.

I am not suggesting that the owner of the pen does not have the choice to use it as a canoe paddle, or as a nail, dart, or Q-tip, for they have the right to do with the pen as they please, since it is their pen. I am suggesting that to use it for purposes other than those for which it was designed and manufactured makes one foolish.

If one can reasonably conclude that a pen has a purposeful design and had been manufactured with that design in mind, one must also conclude that man, animals, roses, stars, and the entire universe, which are all much more complex than a pen, must have had a designer who had a purpose and a maker who created it all in a way that would allow them to accomplish their purposes. To think otherwise would make one foolish.

In fact, the more “science” moves away from the idea of there being a specific creator who created things with a plan, the more foolish man looks. In many ways we are and have become a society that reflects the story of The Emperor’s New Clothes. While we admire what is not really there, the angels in the universe are probably laughing at our prideful and foolish arrogance.

Faith is only available to those who embrace reason. It is not available to those who abandon reason and want to believe foolish ideas of mass explosions, accidental blobs of protoplasm, and order being established from chaos.

The Bible tells us that in the beginning, God. It is reasonable to assume that there was and is an ultimate designer, cause, or plan. The Scriptures tell us that God created. Once again, this fits logic or reason, and it would seem logical or reasonable to seek the designer in order to see and live within the context of how and why we were created.

The Bible tells us that God created man and woman and that it was not good for man to be alone. In fact, all of the plant and animals made did not fulfill Adam; only another person of the opposite gender did that.

It is clear that God made man and woman different, and thereby man and woman have different purposes. Having a different purpose does not make one better or worse. It makes one different, and wise individuals live within the context of the created purpose. Men were not designed to have babies or have intimate relationships with other men, and women were not designed to have sexual relationships with other women.

To abandon logic or reason leaves one confused. We are confused today as to what gender is, what its role is, and what marriage and relationships are all about. The idea of family is being redefined, and is so inclusive it has become rather confusing.

God told us in the book of Romans, the first chapter, that those who abandon reason will be allowed to, and what would happen, as a result of abandoning reason, is that men would lust after men and women after women, something totally apart from how things were meant to be.

In this way, man becomes like a pen used as a canoe paddle, and then wonders why life seems too hard, unproductive, lonely, and meaningless.

Those who embrace logic and reason are able to exercise faith. They do not have faith in their understanding, but faith in the One who does understand. They have faith because logic is evident to all. It is put in the hearts of all, and they have not replaced logic with understanding.

When one abandons logic and lives according to their understanding, terrible things happen. Hitler, Lenin, and others lived according to their understanding, but abandoned all logic, and the result was devastating. Many people refuse to have faith in God or believe there is a God because they do not “understand” Him.

Their abandonment of logic/reason will destroy their lives and all of the lives they influence, and many will miss out on the simple purposes God designed for this life and the eternity to come.