105 Minutes with an Atheist

 

A few weeks ago, a friend of mine introduced me to a man who happened to be an atheist. After an hour-long conversation about life, he blurts out, “You keep talking about science. You’re a pastor. Do you believe in science?” He went on to say how he doesn’t believe in God because there is too much “stuff” out there such as “millions of galaxies containing trillions of stars…it’s just too vast to come from a God.” I could not wipe the smile off my face as I said, “Exactly! Too much stuff! Where did all that stuff come from?”

The Law of Cause and Effect is one of the scientific laws that allows the field of science to even exist; without its guiding principle, theories become impossible. That is, scientists observe effects such as life, planets, spinning spiral galaxies, and etc. They spend their life attempting to determine the cause of such effects. There are two options (three if you count aliens, but then where did the aliens come from…back to two options) to the cause of existence, everything from nothing or everything from something. The first option is naturalism (no God) and the second is theism (a God). Again, a third option (minus panspermia/aliens) does not exist. If you are not a theist you are a naturalist (atheist) and vice versa. Either God created or nothing created.

“I think I believe in science more than the naturalist” is what I told him. He narrowed his eyes, threw his head back, and asked, “How so?” I believe the scientific laws that exist today have always existed, and when God decided to create everything, He simply used the laws that are within Him. As a theist, I do not suspend the laws of science; I embrace them. In particular, the law of cause and effect. In order to believe everything came from nothing, I must suspend reality, logic, and rational thought, basically, all laws of science. Everything cannot pop into existence from nothing because there is nothing to make something, and a cause to the first something leading to everything cannot exist in nothing. Simplified, it takes at least one thing to make the next thing. If there was Something (what we call God), then all things are possible because that Thing caused all things to begin. A first cause must exist in order to make the first effect; therefore, there is no choice but to accept the required existence of a first Cause, and that Cause we call God. We are not required to exist; conversely, He is required, and we know this simply because we are here. The universe overflows with unnecessary stuff, therefore, there must be a “stuff” Maker, or there would be no stuff. God is not a maybe, He’s a must.   

So my answer to him was a resounding and excited, “Yes, I believe in—and embrace—science and the very laws by which the field is substantiated! Further, I find it intriguing that atheists mock my strong belief in all scientific laws and consider my unbending commitment to same as ridiculous if not naïve when it comes to the start of it all.” My thought: everyone innately knows that everything requires a something to make anything and that what one gets from nothing is nothing. So my question is, “Who is remaining logical, rational, and intellectually honest? The one who suspends all knowledge of the laws that surround and uphold us, or the one who accepts the fact that those same laws require a law Giver?”

 

Christmas Eve Service: Uplifting?

Recently I was in the hospital with a close family member. We were there for five days as four doctors worked the case attempting to figure out what was wrong. The first three doctors signed off on the one I love and signed the release paperwork. Finally, one more doctor entered the room and clearly stated, “You are not going home; there is something wrong, and we will find it”.

We did not rush to the ER to get an uplifting message from a kind doctor; we went because something was wrong and we needed the truth regardless of the way it made us feel. Jesus said, "Healthy people don't need a doctor--sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." (Mark 2:17). According to the eyewitnesses of Jesus, He is not interested in raising the ego of individuals nor is He concerned with giving an uplifting message so we feel good. No…Jesus is the kind doctor who tells you the truth regardless of the initial sting so that He can help you fix the problem. The world signs your release paperwork; Christ asks you to stay.  

"No one is righteous--not even one. No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one." (Rom. 3: 10-12)

While the ultimate end to Jesus’ message is uplifting to those who accept it; simultaneously, it brings about a sense of seriousness and sorrow as well. That is, the Bible is the PET scan exposing the bleakness inside, and we know what it means for many we love who ignore the truth. A few years ago, a family member ignored a lump in her belly for months without telling anyone. That small bump took her life within a few weeks of discovery. She needed a doctor, she needed honesty, and she needed to get well, but feared the news of the doctor and the result was sealed.

The gospel is good news, but it is not exactly uplifting when one considers the totality of its ramifications on all of humankind. “But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.” (Mth. 7:14).

My prayer is that people come to church this Christmas season not to be uplifted, but to hear and receive the difficult and stinging truth of the good Physician, Jesus Christ. We are not well, and the prognosis is not good unless we accept the gift of eternal life via the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which paid the literal sickness that each of us contain. No one wants to hear they have terminal cancer, but what if you got a second opinion and that doctor said, “No problem, I can remove it and you will live.”  Would you say “No”? Would you allow his perceived arrogance to get in the way of life? Would you walk away simply because it is impossible to grasp the technique?

“For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.” (2 Cor. 7:10)

 

The Lottery

 

I read a great story the other day about a grandma who was having difficulty paying her electric, cable, and phone bill. I would have to imagine that her financial situation was in complete disarray with no hope of tomorrow making it better. Several months earlier, she’d purchased a lottery ticket and put it in her glove box. As you may know, winners only have so long to claim their prize. As time neared the end, grandma cleaned out her glove box and found her ticket; it was worth $28 million.

Stories like this are heartwarming and a little enticing to go buy a lottery ticket. The fact is grandma’s destructive financial problems need not have been. Her answer rested beside her day after day, for months. Her reprieve from agony as she went to sleep in fear of what tomorrow would bring was only a memory away. Her rescue from financial ruin was often inches from her grasp; all she had to do was recognize its existence, take ahold of it, and accept the gift that awaited her.

While I could expound on the futility of wealth and how this does not solve her eternal issues, that is not the point. Christ has given us a gift. We didn’t even have to spend a dollar; it’s free because He has accomplished the task. Many live their entire life a breath, a thought, or a doubt away from receiving the greatest gift humankind has ever received. They slip in to the other side never opening their proverbial glove box and miss out on what could have been.

When I hear the incredible voice of Adele sing, “We Could Have Had It All”, I can’t help but imagine Jesus saying the chorus of that song to those who never accepted their gift of eternal life. We could have had it all, running in the deep, you had My heart inside your hand and you played it to the beat. Throw your soul through every open door. Count your blessings to find what you look for. Turn My sorrow into treasured gold. You pay Me back in kind and reap just what you sow.

The gift of grace, mercy, and salvation are waiting for you to open your heart, see Jesus for what and Who He is, and accept His completed work. He did it for you. He did it for me. Sadly, many will never cash in their untold wealth; instead, they settle for the dirt we stand on, the dust we breathe in, and the mud from which He made us. You could have it all.

 

Connecting the Dots



Maggie-Me's Photostream

Salvador Dali was a surrealist painter in the twentieth century. I observed his works firsthand at the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida. As I gazed at one of his paintings, The Hallucinogenic Toreador (can't show due to copyright laws, 13'X9' Full Pic. Dalmation), an artist friend of mine began to point out and explain various stories hidden within the large 13’X9’ painting. Dali purposely placed within his paintings components that only the curious observer would find, stories within a story.

Maggie-Me's Photostream

Near the bottom of The Hallucinogenic Toreador is an area that, at first glance, looks like nothing more than black and white dots. In time, and with the assistance of my friend, I began to see there was much more than what first greets the eye. The white and black dots are actually a Dalmatian dog with its nose to the ground, tail in the air, walking towards a large maple tree during autumn. Once my mind connected the dots, I realized there was a story inside of what originally appeared to be nothing more than dots. Now that I have seen the dots for what they are, I will always vividly see a dog, leaves, and a tree.

Maggie-Me's Photostream

The dog, leaves, and tree were always there; it just took effort and some help to see the truth that already was. Noticing the design created by the designer did not make me smarter or a better person and I certainly cannot brag just because I recognized truth. I did not change the picture nor did I alter its design; I merely acknowledged its existence.

Life, in one sense, is a series of dots; some are dark and scary while others are light and inviting. For many years I only saw black and white dots. The more I study and know God, the more He connects the dots and a large picture is beginning to emerge. I am beginning to see the stories within His story, the story that is Christ’s love for an underserving soul that is me. I cannot see the whole picture yet. But because I have accepted the gift of salvation, I know the Father is creating a work admired for all eternity.

Photo by Robert Hruzek

 

Truth Whispers by the Stream

We cannot earn His love, affection, or salvation. His love does not increase, decrease, or falter. He wants to be with you today, tomorrow, and forever. His adoration for your quirks are hand made by Him for you to use for His purpose not yours. Your life may be filled with disasters, misery, and pain and he hurts with you, for you, and is holding you through it all.

He wants you to know Him so that you will willingly serve Him, glorify Him, and love Him. He gave and gives you everything…without forcing anything and simply asks for your attention when the Provider and Creator of all speaks to you in the noise and chaos of the moment.

He cannot stand for sin in your life to go unchecked, or uncorrected…it must be set straight because it moves you further from your ONLY source of peace you will ever know. He is waiting patiently for you to wake up, stand up, and look up to the One and Only Savior of this dead and dying world, Jesus Christ, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

Now that is the truth and this world is doing everything in its measly power to cloud your mind, alter your focus, and direct your steps.

Wake up! He is risen. If you believe it, you are saved from His wrath and wrapped in the blood of the Lamb of God, if you do not, 'Why not?' 

Truth, you see, is the most powerful weapon of your God given intellect. Use it, and stand firm on His unchanging, unalterable, and unwavering Being.

God Doesn’t Make Straight Lines



A few years ago, I went over the handlebars of a bicycle and ripped open my right forearm. The gash was large and deep. Friends rushed me to the emergency room where the doctors stitched me up. Two days later, I had a fever of 103° and uncontrollable shakes. My doctor advised me to get to the ER as fast as possible. As soon as the check in nurse saw my arm, I was rushed ahead of the entire waiting room, and within minutes they had removed my sutures, allowing the poison in my arm to literally flow out, causing the nurse to step back and gasp.

They pushed an IV in my other arm and started me on antibiotics. The head nurse came in and said, “You will be here several days; this is not good.” Over the next three days, I watched the red infection consume my entire arm and progress to my shoulder. They were readying me for an amputation, as they had me on the strongest antibiotics we possess, and it did nothing. As a last resort, hospital staff wheeled me into a dark room where they called in an expert in sonogram reading. White-coated doctors and students filled the room as they used my body as a test case. Five minutes in, this specialist broke the eerie silence and said, “Nurse, take a picture of this. Does everyone see that? God does not make straight lines.” My head spun to catch the man’s eyes. I had never felt such relief. This doctor knew that I had something foreign in my body because God creates beautiful curves. The original doctor had left a one-inch sliver of wood in my arm, and it was killing me. The staff hurried me into surgery and removed this deadly straight line.

As I contemplate my life, I see curve after curve, bend after bend, and what appears to be, detour after detour. I have often considered these diversions as a nuisance keeping me from His purpose. The truth is God does not make straight lines. When one reviews the great men and women of the Bible, you will see that no one had a straight line. Instead, their life is marked with upsets, setbacks, and deviations. God then uses your personal experiences to propel His gospel in a way that no other man, woman, or child could possibly accomplish. You are unique, not so you can make money, become popular, or gain power. No, your life’s path contains curves and bends to spread the gospel to a dead world who desperately cries out for help. Embrace your apparent detour. Study it. Learn from it. And get ready, because God wants to use you, and you alone, to change eternity for a select few. God doesn’t make straight lines, so stop trying and simply rest in His leading, His wisdom, and His purpose. Life becomes more peaceful when we truly rest, knowing His love supersedes our own desires.

Nothing is FREE...Right?

FREE...the word itself conjures up several feelings. At first blush, it excites the mind and entices our eyes to look. After all, free is free. Walk through a grocery store on a Saturday and free food from various vendors greets our senses. We hastily grab the products from their tray and gobble them up, pretending that we may purchase their product so we don't feel bad as we walk away looking for the next nibble. Free is what we think of when we consider cheap, unwanted, and unnecessary items such as free tickets to a concert for a band no one has heard of or cares to know more about. Free is not American, it does not make one rich, and it certainly does not end with the free product, as the purpose is to get you to pay for a little more of the free stuff.

It appears to me that Jesus messed up (hold your gasp, Christian, and humor me for a second). That is, if He would have told us, "In order to be saved, you must cut off your right arm" or "God so loved the world that He needs your left foot to be placed on a fire built from gopher wood near the base of Mt. Everest on November 21st. If you do this, you shall be saved". Ah, our intellect and sense of fairness perks. Payment for something of value enters our mind, and we drive forward.

Now there is no question who is "saved"; just look for the missing left foot replaced with a prosthetic limb, brandishing a tattoo of John 3:16.

Man has always understood salvation comes with a price. Culture after culture has killed in the name of sacrifice to their god(s). Today, we sacrifice babies to the god of money and convenience and call it "choice". Oh, we humans get it; there must be a sacrifice for our individual god(s). We just don't get a God who says, "You can't do it, I had to, and it's free". Pardon this apparent contradiction, but while His gift is free, it will cost you, it will cost you giving up your personal pursuits to follow His instead (Lk. 9:24). But the gift is still free in the sense your “sin bill” is paid in full. This seems to rival our idea of fairness. "Let me walk on my knees for miles until I bleed and reach a statue of You" or "Make me count beads while I mumble a specific magical prayer" or "Tell me I must sell everything and live in abstract poverty or You will not love me"...then, and only then, will I believe You love me. "I have to earn everyone’s love, why should You be different?"

Dear friend, I get it. I am as human as you. Free just doesn't seem to work for us. But thanks be to God He offers salvation via the finished work of His Son Jesus Christ. Our salvation was not free; it cost Jesus His life. He paid the price in full, because we cannot afford it. Accept the unmerited favor of God and know peace, fulfillment, and glorify Him with whatever life you have remaining.

Theory of Relativity

A friend of my mine recently stated, “I’ve been married for twenty-five years, but it feels like twenty-five minutes—underwater.” Knowing my friend, I knew he was joking, and we had a good laugh. Point is, though, everything is relative. Twenty-five minutes is extremely fast when you sit down to eat lunch with a good friend, read a great book, or watch a football game. But if you are underwater for twenty-five minutes, well, we know the result.

Recently, I nearly drowned in a powerful rip current, as unceasing waves crushed and held me underwater for a few seconds. Every second away from life-sustaining oxygen, quickly reminds us of our oft forgotten need.

I believe there are those who convince themselves that time in hell is bearable. That is, life is hard and some have gone through hell on earth. Unfortunately, because of tough events on earth, we  think ourselves strong enough to withstand the horrors of hell. What we, as arrogant humans, tend to neglect is that everything is relative. Every second without God will be more torturous than anything a living human can grasp. At least when we are alive, we have the hope of the pain ending one day. As weird as this may sound, I believe it is true. If a shark attacked me, at least I would have the hope the pain would be over soon. In hell, there is no such possibility. Hope is gone; your choice not to accept Christ’s free gift of salvation is your choice made for eternity. God’s wrath will weigh on you with no way to escape (Rev. 1:18).

I write this not to the non-believer, because Christ’s sacrifice is foolishness to those who reject it and are dying (1 Cor. 1:23). I write this to remind fellow Christians their loved ones will spend eternity in anguish with no hope of death or salvation. The truth of a real hell should motivate the believer to action. The reality of separation from God in an actual location of agony must take us past our discomfort and fear of speaking truth, to a place of fearing God more than fearing man. Spread the gospel and take others with you as you enter eternal rest. 

Heaven's Secrets

A friend recently asked me what I thought Heaven was like. The Bible is scarce with revelation about the coming glory of God’s presence, but one thing is certain, it is beyond the greatest of all imaginations. Our human limitations brought on by sin, and the curse of God, do not allow our minds to fully wrap around the splendor to come.



I believe, however, God exposes variant aspects of Heaven to His children that captivate and entice them as it suits their personalities—the individual nuances He so adores. It is all we can corporately conjure and beyond. It surpasses all amazing thoughts, feelings, and dreams combined. The science fiction world stretches towards paradise, but remains desperately wanting. It is the very presence of the Almighty of Whom we only view in a mirror dimly.

Oh my, dream all you want, and it has not begun to scratch the proverbial surface of the majesty to come, and words cannot begin to enlighten our limited intellect.

While Heaven’s true shape is unknown, one thing is for certain, the clouds of the rapture are forming, the chess pieces are maneuvering for position, and the stage for the final battles are almost full. Israel has become the center of the universe as the Bible warned.  

We are near, and the time is at hand. But even if He delays 2,000 more years, our life is a flicker and eternity surrounds our mortal being. Does the blood of Christ protect you from His wrath? Don’t miss out on the party that ends all parties, when Christ enters the room and billions of voices rise in perfection to glorify the risen King who paid our admission. Your mind will be intact, your glorified body will be perfect, and eternal joy with our true family begins and never ends. “Encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:25b

Dead People Stay Dead!!

Christians have become dangerously complacent with their knowledge of the truth. They have followed the pattern of the world and too often consider God common. They haphazardly toss out to an unbelieving world that a man named Jesus was brutally beaten, hung on a cross, stabbed through the chest, buried in an extraordinarily secure tomb, and somehow he walked out alive. Not only did he break every known physics, medical, historical, and logical law known to humankind, he also claimed to be God.

I hear some Christians make such irrational claims of truth with nothing more than the words, “And you should believe this to be saved.” When the person questions them, or does not believe, they are shocked, saddened, or shake their heads in disbelief.  

It is perfectly logical and sane for someone not to believe such radical and anti-intellectual claims.

Good news!

Christian faith is not blind faith. Christian faith is not a leap into the dark or falling blindly off a cliff.

 

Christian faith is the evidence of things hoped for, the assurance of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). Did you hear that? Our faith is not like that of the cults or other false religions that ask you to believe them simply because they say so. Or to follow them and after a while they will enlighten you with “new” knowledge no other human has known before now. No! Christian faith is logical, rational, and based upon solid historical data and medical evidence.

This is what we know and is uncontested by serious scholars:

1. Detractors of God have spent 2,000 years trying to tell the world where the body of Jesus went. Many of these mockers are brilliant scientists, anthropologists, historians, and various other experts, so this is not an ad hominem attack.
2. They have devised many theories, but only five make the history books, because they at least hold (held) some merit:
1. Swoon
2. Hallucination
3. Wrong Tomb
4. Theft
5. Passover Plot
3. From the incredible and respectable diligence of the skeptics of God alone (no Bible involved in this deduction), we can decisively and unequivocally know the following facts:
1. A man named Jesus lived in Jerusalem
2. A man named Jesus was beaten by Roman soldiers and crucified on a cross
3. A man named Jesus was buried
4. A man named Jesus body is no longer in the tomb in which he was buried
5. A man named Jesus led a life so profound that he altered the known world and haters have spent 2,000 years trying to disprove that which His followers wholeheartedly believed, many of whom died for this belief, and many more believe today. 

Each of the five theories—keep in mind this is the best-of-the-best over 2,000 years could come up with—have been thoroughly defeated.

1. I will ignore the previous fact and gladly acquiesce to the ardent scoffer’s demand that at least one of them has not been defeated.
2. I will follow the disdainer’s stipulation and submit that somehow he survived a beating that ripped flesh from all parts of his body causing hypovolemic shock. He was hung on a cross with three seven-inch nails by professional executioners. He was stabbed through the lung and heart. He was buried in a cold, damp, and likely mold infested tomb. He moved the 1,500-2,000 pound boulder uphill, breaking the Roman seal without a squadron of trained soldiers ever noticing what occurred, and he walked seven miles to the disciples’ house. Okay, given, somehow that happened.
3. Picture the scene as Jesus knocked on the door and said to his followers, “I am your Savior.” No one in their right mind would accept the claims of a man who looked in the shape Jesus would have looked, let alone hundreds and then thousands of believers. A friend—the disciples were the best of friends—would take such a man by the arm and get him both medical and psychological assistance.
4. We are forced—as many reluctant atheists have stated in the past after a strong review of the evidence—to admit that the preponderance of the evidence weighs heavily toward the events as recorded in and out of the Bible as more likely true than not.

Many atheists/agnostics claim Christians believe in Jesus because they want to. Let me assure you, I do not believe in Jesus because I want to. Think about that: who wants to believe that God will judge them for their thoughts and actions, their family will face a real hell, and that they need to turn from their human instinct ways? That is not something about which I dream. I believe in Jesus, because I can no more deny my very existence than deny the reality of the events as recorded in the Bible and at least twelve extra-biblical sources.

Jesus is real, His words are real, His judgment is real, His wrath is real, and He loves you so much He died for you so you can avoid a real Hell intended for the Devil and his cohorts. “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

Salvation is not a prayer nor is it simply words; it is action. Belief is a verb. Faith is something that inherently alters your actions or it is not faith at all (book of James).

I challenge you to disprove the resurrection as so many have tried to do in the past. Not just cursory searches as though you were looking for a recipe for cookies, but a true and diligent study of the known information. Take a few weeks to know for certain you are correct. What else are you doing? Many have set out to disprove His resurrection and have the intellectual integrity to admit their mistake. Sadly, many more have not.

Are You Sure?