Dear Georgia, Khole, West and all the kids,

Dear Ge0rgia, Khole, West and all the kids,

Your daddy tells me you are confused with God. I know in Sunday school the parents tell you God loves us and God is good. Your question may be how can God be both Love and good and yet allow Uncle Dennis to get sick and die.

First let me say God knew you would ask that question. Did you know other children and parents have asked this same question for thousands of years? When you go to the library, look at a “time-line” and you will see how long thousands is.

Let’s go to God’s testimony (i.e. His records about Himself) and see what He says about Himself. Moses told the people of Israel, God, “He is the Rock, his works are perfect”. (Deut. 32:4) King David said, “As for God, his way is perfect”. (2Sam. 22:31) Jesus Himself said, “Your heavenly Father is Perfect”. (Matt. 5:48) Moses, David and Jesus all claimed to be speaking for God. So if God can only create (make) perfect things, how can anything God created have bad things happen to them. Something must have gone wrong to the things God made because God is perfect (i.e. only good).

If you read Genesis 1-2 you will see God created (made) and then said “it was good,” so all the birds, trees, and dogs were good at first. God made man and woman and they were also made by a perfect God.

That man and woman were Adam and Eve and they did something God told them not to do. That event allowed disease and non-perfect things to happen in the world. Remember when Buddy was hurt and he died? That event is something God never meant (intended) to happen. And this is what God never intended to happen to Uncle Dennis.

Now remember why I was not afraid to die because Jesus had promised I would live forever with Jesus after I died. Here are the best things to know about Jesus.

In Genesis 3, God throws Adam and Eve out of the Garden because they had disobeyed God. Well, in Genesis 3, God made a promise (remember this word) to Adam and Eve and to all of us including you and me. Even though Adam and Eve allowed disease and bad things to happen to God’s perfect or good creation, God promised us someone would come to allow us to live eternal (forever) even after if we die. That person promised to Adam and Eve was Jesus.

So now when you end your prayers at night you can thank God for Jesus because Jesus is the promise God made to Adam and Eve and for all including you and Uncle Dennis. (Gen.3:15)

When Uncle Dennis prays I always end by thanking God for being good because Jesus was who God promised. Now I know I can trust God because He kept His promise of Jesus, that even if I die now or one hundred years from now, I will live forever. Remember John 11: 20-26, Jesus said “…he (Uncle Dennis) who believes in Me (Jesus) will live (forever) if he die”. (vv. 25)

This is why it is impossible to blame God for the bad in the world. God made a good world and has kept His promise of Jesus even though God never made Uncle Dennis sick. Even though I am sick I thank God for keeping His promise of Jesus. I have a Good God who keeps His promises.

I am building the junk box for Christmas. I found some thing for all you guys the other day.

Love,

Uncle Dennis

P.S. I am happy because God has told us He kept His promise of Jesus in the Bible. You can follow God’s promise all through the Bible up to the time Jesus is born. (Luke )

David Hume (1711-1776) wrote: “I never asserted so absurd a proposition as that anything might arise without a cause”

On Capital Circle N.W. you may see a non-descript sign on the side of the road. It is simply a green star on a black square background, close to the ground, nothing else near. I often passed this sign and wondered what purpose it served. Signs do not arbitrarily appear so I began a quest to find its origin. After questioning several shop proprietors, the owner was found. He said it was easier to tell people to look for the green star than to look for his business sign among all the others.

A basic pattern of human thought is based on the principle of causality, which stated is, every effect must have a cause. Aristotle accepted this principle when trying to understand motion in the universe. He said for motion to exist there had to be an ultimate cause which started motion for all time. He called this ultimate cause an Unmoved Mover. Aristotle was not purporting a personal God but recognized all effects; including motion must have a cause. The atheist David Hume (1711-1776) wrote: “I never asserted so absurd a proposition as that anything might arise without a cause” (Hume, Letters, 1:187). Indeed, in the same source Hume claimed that it would be “absurd” to deny the principle of causality.

Another pattern of human thought is the principle of uniformity, which says we can know the past from the present. The faces on Mt. Rushmore are too specific to be done by natural causes so we assume an intelligent cause. Archeologists use the principle of uniformity when they assume an intelligent cause (civilization) from finds of pottery and tool artifacts. Forensic science (i.e. the TV show CSI) uses the principle of uniformity to explain murders. If a body is found with a gun shot to the head a natural cause of death is not assumed. We overlook this thinking pattern but if we were to find a piece of paper with writing on it we would assume an intelligent cause. Why? Because we are intelligent causes who write and we use and make pottery and tools. The sign I saw could not place itself or rise from the earth on its own, so my assuming an intelligent cause for the sign agrees with the principle of uniformity. Not only did I find an intelligent cause for the sign, I found a meaning.

The sign on the road had a reason for being there and I wanted to know its purpose. I applied the principles of causality and uniformity to investigate the reason, or the “why” for the sign. Causality and uniformity are universal principles and they are the principles on which all scientific inquiries are based. Science would be meaningless if nothing had a cause or a reason for being. Whatever our belief system, these principles are used in everyday life whether we understand them fully or not. Just like the archeologist, Christianity uses the principles of uniformity to assume an original intelligent Cause. Evolutionists break with these principles and assume human existence came from a naturalistic, non-intelligent cause. I see the theistic view as being more consistent with the pattern in which we think. A Supreme Intelligent Being is an adequate assumption to explain the cause of human existence. Christianity assumes there is a Cause and we are His purpose.

The atheist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, made this statement about “why” questions: “Why are we here? What is our purpose does not deserve an answer." Mr. Dawkins believes we can ask where the laws of physics come from but not ask their purpose because this “implies some kind of deliberate purpose giver or purpose thinker." According to Mr. Dawkins, a why question worth asking is, “Why, after some period of billions of years, did life originate on this planet and then start evolving?” Mr. Dawkins says we can ask why as long as we are not looking for purpose. The problem is without purpose there is no meaning. Mr. Dawkins just wants facts for facts sake. He wants to know why life originated on this planet but he cares not for the meaning. If there is no meaning why ask why

Humanities literature is filled with the question of why. The common motif of one climbing a hill to ask a guru type a question of meaning is just one example. Life itself is often paralleled with as a journey to meaning. In the movie “City Slickers” Billy Crystal, apparently going through a middle life crisis, wants to know the meaning of life. Man has always assumed two things. There is a cause and there is purpose. ? I find it fascinating an individual, like Mr. Dawkins can claim an a priori knowledge of no meaning to all that has ever been.

“The Voice.”

Does God speak audibly or by an inner voice to individuals today? If He does, how do we prove what is from God and what is not?

During the recent election campaigns a man at a “Charlie Crist For Governor” fundraiser said the Lord had told him Charlie Crist would be the next governor of Florida. The man was proven right about Crist for governor, but he, nor we, can really prove he heard from God.

When I hear someone say, “God said to me….” I want to reply, “God told me to tell you He did not say that.” The problem here is neither one of us can prove God spoke. I cannot prove God did not speak to him and he cannot prove God did not speak to me. If it is taught God speaks today (audibly or through an inner voice) people are led into an arbitrary type of belief system. Those who teach people to believe God speaks today have no way of teaching how to prove beyond any doubt the voice or the prompting is God’s. It comes down to relying on pure feelings, or what you think is right or what you think you heard.

There are people today trying to find God’s perfect will for their lives by listening for “The Voice.” They spend more time and energy trying to hear God when God’s voice has already spoken loud and clear through His Word. They drown out God’s revealed revelation, the Bible, because hearing audibly is “more spiritual” than spending hours in study and understanding the historical content of already revealed revelation. The Bible claims to be, and is, the very breath of God’s final revelation of His purpose for man. The basic instructions contained in it are perfectly capable of guiding mankind through this life until He returns. We do not need to strive to hear God’s voice because He has already spoken in a rational discourse, the Bible.

Jim Jones said God told him to go to Guyana. Although there is nothing wrong with going to Guyana in itself, in hindsight, no one would dare say Jim Jones heard from God. The question is, do you believe and teach God speaks today other than through the Bible? If you do, you propagate the same beliefs or ideas that allow Jim Jones and others to claim an authority that misleads many, some even into death.

When we, as Christians, are asked how God speaks today, we must answer “He has already spoken through His Word, the Bible.”

Mr. Bentley is more in line with Gnostic beliefs than Christianity.

It has been said an individual can grow a beard, dress in a robe and sandals, and walk through America claiming to be Moses and find a following. I believe that is true of people who claim to have visions. If you watch any amount of Christian television you will eventually hear someone claiming to have a vision from God. However, the vision is totally unverifiable and the only authoritarian source for the vision is the seer.

Todd Bentley, the leader of the Lakeland, “Florida Healing Outpouring” revival, is the latest seer to entice crowds with wondrous accounts of 20 foot angels and his story of personally “…going to heaven via a pillar of fire through the church roof…..” He describes a hotel room literally burned down because an angel visited his room. Mr. Bentley has even had a female angel visit him with new revelation. Of course, nowhere in the Bible do we read of female angels.

Mr. Bentley is more in line with Gnostic beliefs than Christianity. Gnosticism was a direct counterpart to Christianity when the twelve Apostles were extant. The Gnostics took pride in visions they claimed to see and new revelation they received. They taught special rituals could catapult a person’s spiritual level. Gnosticism was very fond of naming the angels after their activity. Thomas Bentley has named the angel who started his revival “Winds of Change,” and has said one angel told him, “I am a healing angel….” Mr. Bentley claims all Christians should and can take trips to heaven. An add on his website says in part, "The School of the Supernatural Realms of Heaven" will get you ready to fly like an eagle into the supernatural realm!”

In her article June 21 article, “Lakeland Revival Is the Real Deal,” Krista Abbott testifies of the validity of Todd Bentley’s revival. Listen to the reasons Ms. Abbott gave for the revival’s validity. She said, “...my heart leaped” when she entered the structure and even though she was not cold. “I felt a chill on my arm.” As sincere as Ms. Abbott might be about her “experiences,” I suggest we as Christians look closer at the Bible when it comes to validating miracles and visions, rather than our feelings and others non-substantiated testimonies.

There is a sect in Christianity who thinks miracles of the New Testament are to be duplicated today. Mr. Bentley, his angel, “Winds of Change,” and his followers are an example of such a sect. They neglect the uniqueness of Jesus and the purpose miracles had in the New Testament. John the Baptist, while in prison, sent messengers to Jesus asking if he was the Messiah or should they look for another. Jesus told John’s disciples to report to him the miracles they were seeing. (Mark 11: 4-5) The reason miracles are a part of the Biblical revelation is to validate Jesus’ claims as the Messiah, not to be duplicated. Jesus’ miracles have an authoritarian source, God’s word. Mr. Bentley and others claim a pseudo-authority for their “miracles,” via duplication, but they still lack a Biblical purpose. To propose we need to duplicate Jesus’ miracles today is to lessen the uniqueness and purpose of those miracles which testified to Jesus as the Lamb of God.

Mr. Narisetti not only wants to protect children but to stop what he calls ‘psychological abuse’ on society’s future.

In the June/July “Free Inquiry” magazine published by the Council for Secular Humanism, an article “Religion and Child Abuse” appeared, written by Innaiah Narisetti.

Mr. Narisetti’s premise is clear when he states, “In one form or the other all religions violate the rights of children.” He questions at what age society ought to allow children “access to religion.” He wants the United Nations to restrict the “automatic” rights of parent’s to expose their children to religion. Mr. Narisetti also says, “Religious beliefs thrive by imposing themselves upon impressionable [children] minds...” and adults use these religious beliefs as a pretext to fight wars and promote other inhumane acts. Mr. Narisetti not only wants to protect children but to stop what he calls ‘psychological abuse’ on society’s future.

Atheists throughout history have deemed religion as the quintessential villain for most of society’s woes. Karl Marx taught religion was used by the rich to keep the working class in poverty. The author, Arthur C. Clarke considers religious beliefs a form of “superstition and barbarism.” Friedrich Nietzsche thought Christian virtues inspired weakness, not strength in man.

They plead their case against religion noting the brutality of theistic wars while ignoring the brutality of an atheistic Stalin. Certainly atrocities have been committed in the name of religion as well as non-religion. When arrogance is applied to any belief system, whether atheistic or theistic, the end result is oppression.

Christianity teaches man has separated himself from a perfect loving Creator but in evolution all men have risen up from an impersonal organic slime. Atheists, just like theist, are looking to explain the paradox of mans simultaneous greatness and cruelty. Atheists condemn religion as abusive but teach, by default, all thinking patterns come from the same micro organic pool. How can evolutionist claim authority to condemn one belief system over another? If the micro organic pool we all came from is the “designer” this friction between theism and atheism could be “its” purpose. If all humans came from the same impersonal organic source, our evolutionistic origins make us cohorts in all cruelty throughout history. Atheists have no authority to claim “any” belief system as abusive, unless they can prove that belief system came from defected micro organic pool “billions” of years ago.

On the inside cover of the magazine carrying the article “Religion and Child Abuse” there appeared a list of 21 principles called “The Affirmation of Humanism.” The following is number 4 (emphasis mine):

“We believe in an open and pluralistic society and that democracy is the best guarantee of protecting human rights from authoritarian elites and repressive majorities.”

Mr. Narisetti and the Council for Secular Humanism have proclaimed their evolutionistic belief system superior. In seeking to protect children from so called, abusive religious beliefs, atheists are on their way to becoming the authoritarian elites and the repressive majority. In their attempt to inflate the greatness of man, they violate the freedoms of man. Atheists believe all men evolved from the same micro organic pool, however the atheistic view came from a superior non-defected pool.

Did a person called “I” want to move or did an autonomous body decide for me?

Our local science Museum hosted the “Our Body: The Universe Within” exhibit and according to the exhibit’s web site [1] their goal is to, “transmit knowledge about the human organism displaying the specimens in an artful, compelling and dignified environment.” These “200 specimens” are preserved by a process called polymer impregnation “whereby bodily fluids are replaced by liquid plastic”. Apparently this plastic allows the tissues to be left “intact down to the microscope sphere” allowing us to see the most intrinsic parts of our anatomy. Furthermore, the exhibit wants to let visitors explore the “body parts” which “allow us to think, breath, and move”.

The exhibit strips the body of the soul (self or I) by suggesting body parts allow us to think. Is the body an autonomous “human being”? When I choose to hold my breath, is the body choosing this act for me or am “I”. Are the muscles in my face smiling or am I? When the body is considered the end all one raises the dilemma of which came first the chicken or the egg. Did a person called “I” want to move or did an autonomous body decide for me? After touring this exhibit one might wonder if the bodies’ only usefulness after death is for scientific displays. As Christians, how should we view these displayed specimens in light of our faith? Does the body have a future after death? Will the body ever be something other than compost?

Throughout history, the battle has been to separate the body from the soul. In most eastern religions, losing attachment with the physical body is part of achieving a higher consciousness. Nirvana, for the most part, is enlightenment and freeing the spiritual self (soul) from the body, ending the cycle of physical birth and rebirth. Plato taught salvation happens when the soul is shed of its body. Strict evolutionists strip the body of its soul ending the need for salvation. Of all religions, the Judeo/Christian religions exclusively teach the physical body and the soul are good [2]. Judaism believed in a physical resurrection of the body. Daniel looked forward to a physical resurrection when he wrote, “…many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake” [3]. In Jewish Apocalyptic literature, 2 Baruch, God is asked, “In what shape will those live who live in Thy day?” God’s answer is, “For the earth shall then assuredly restore the dead [which it now receives, in order to preserve them]. It shall make no change in their form, but as it has received, so shall it restore them...” [4] The implication is clearly a belief in a physical bodily resurrection. When Jesus (who was a Jew) told Martha her brother would rise again, Martha responded by saying she knew he would rise in the resurrection of the last day [5]. The Pharisees believed in a bodily resurrection whereas the Sadducees did not [6]. When the Sadducees asked Jesus whose wife a multiple-wed woman would be in the resurrection they are clearly acknowledging a teaching of a bodily resurrection [7]. Paul, being a Pharisee[8] believed in a bodily resurrection and taught so in 1 Corinthians 15.

The Apostles Creed declares “I believe in the resurrection of the flesh”. Early church father Justin Martyr (c. A.D. 100-165) said, “There are some who maintain that Jesus Himself appeared only as spiritual, and not in flesh, but presented merely the appearance of flesh: these same persons seek to rob the flesh [body] of the promise” [9]. Notice the body is given the promise of life eternal in its fleshly bodily form. Justin Martyr also said, “….He [Christ] has even called the flesh to the resurrection, and promises to it everlasting life” [10]. Life in eternity, according to Christian teaching, is promised to the physical body as well as the soul. Thomas Aquinas (A.D. 1224-1274) said, “The soul does not take an airy or heavenly body, or a body of another organic constitution, but a human body composed of flesh and bones and the same members enjoyed at present”[11].

Paul wrote, “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept” [12]. Jesus’ bodily resurrection is the evidence of our promised bodily resurrection. In the New Testament records, Christ Jesus’ appearances are replete with physical manifestations. Luke tells us Jesus showed himself to his apostles alive after his death by many infallible proofs, for forty days [13]. He walked and talked with his disciples [14]. He specifically encouraged the prodding of the nail scarred body, which three days earlier had held him on the cross. Jesus specifically asked for meat to eat so no one mistook him for a ghost [15]. St. John said, “….when he [Christ] shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” [16]. Christ ascended [17] to heaven in the same body in which he died. The phrase, “….for we shall see him [Christ Jesus] as he is,” means how he was raised from the dead; physically.

A Sunday school teacher said our bodies in heaven would not have the same kind of blood running through them as we do now, implying our bodies are not good enough for heaven, yet when Christ Jesus’ body ascended into heaven it was the same flesh and bones (and blood) which hung on the cross. [19]. Regrettably, many Christians have a negative or Platonic [18] view of the physical body. Our fleshly bodies are not evil. They are part of creation which was proclaimed good. Scripture teaches we are not looking for a dissimilar environment or body. We are looking for what we are familiar with to be restored. The promise is the destruction of sin, not our bodies.
At Easter we celebrate the resurrected body of the Christ Jesus, and we forget the promise made to our own bodies. Understanding our bodies will be resurrected in the same material substance we posses now makes the promise of victory over death more tangible. Dr. Norman Geisler’s book, The Battle for the Resurrection, states, “God has promised to reverse the curse of sin on a material creation with a material resurrection.”20

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[1] http://www.ourbodytheuniversewithin.com/

[2] Genesis 1 “…and God saw that it was good”. Gen. 2:7

[3] Daniel 12:2 KJV

[4] 2 Baruch 49:1; 50:2 as quoted in, Norman L. Geisler, “The Battle for the Resurrection” pg. 209 1992 emphasis mine.

[5] John 11: 23, 24

[6] Acts 23:8

[7] Matt. 22:23,28; Acts 23:8

[8] Acts 23:6

[9] Norman L. Geisler, “The Battle for the Resurrection” page 53, Nelson 1992

[10] Ibid.

[11] Ibid., page 58-59. Emphasis mine

[12] 1 Cor.15:20 KJV

[13] Acts 1:3

[14] Luke 24:15-17

[15] Luke 24:39-43

[16] 1 John 3.2b KJV

[17] Luke 24:51

[18] Plato viewed all matter including the body as evil.

[19] Acts 1:3

[20] Norman L. Geisler, “The Battle for the Resurrection” page 32, 33, Nelson 1992

Oprah Winfrey has said, “Luck is a matter of preparation. I am highly attuned to my divine self.”

A shooting star was seen the night after the murder of Julius Caesar of Rome and since the Romans were very superstitious they believed Caesar had become a god. Caesars’ successor erected “The Temple of the Divine Julius Caesar” where Caesar’s body was cremated.

The superstition of humans possessing divinity is still with us. Oprah Winfrey has said, “Luck is a matter of preparation. I am highly attuned to my divine self.” Dr. Wayne Dyer, of PBS fundraiser fame, tells us, “You are a divine, infinite creation making the choice to be on purpose and to be connected to the power of intention.” One may start to wonder how we explain Darfur and the last two World Wars in light of the promotion of man’s divinity. (emphasis mine in both quotes)

The belief of divinity in humans also leads to an elitism, which makes the “Divine” believe they have the power to control circumstances by their thinking. Oprah has said, “The more positive you are about your life, the more positive it [life] will be,” (emphases mine). Dr. Dyer’s, “Power of Intensions” is nothing more than a formula to teach that your “thoughts” can alter life’s circumstances.

This belief of a divine spark or ‘piece’ of God in man has infatuated the church in the teaching God is within us. This idea comes from the scripture were Jesus says to the Pharisees, “the kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17: 21) Ignoring the fact Jesus just told the “Pharisees” the kingdom of God was in them we have taken this to mean some divine part of God’s divinity is within our human nature. The phrase, “the kingdom of God is within you” was a Jewish idiom meaning the kingdom was very close at hand. The Pharisees were demanding an answer to their question, “when” the Kingdom of God would come and Jesus being the representative of God’s Kingdom was letting them know it was right in front of them. Jesus was not telling the Pharisees or anyone else they possessed divinity.

The Bible never teaches humans or Angels to be divine. Man and Angels are created effects of God and although the effect bears the image of his Cause man is in no way equal to it. For the church to accept or purport anything close to the mentality of humans possessing a divine spark or the ability to alter our circumstances with our thoughts is totally against Biblical teaching. To accept a human divinity is to put ourselves on an equal status with God.

The Bible teaches we are fallen creatures of a sinful nature. Paul tells us, there is none righteous and every man’s heart is wicked. (Romans 3.23) Although we may not like being called fallen creatures this explains Darfur and World Wars more consistently than “human divinity.”