Truth from an Atheist

I found this statement in a blog and thought I'd post it on here. This is from an Atheist named Rick Gervaise:

"My point being, I’m saying God doesn’t exist. I’m not saying faith doesn’t exist. I know faith exists. I see it all the time. But believing in something doesn’t make it true. Hoping that something is true doesn’t make it true. The existence of God is not subjective. He either exists or he doesn’t. It’s not a matter of opinion. You can have your own opinions. But you can’t have your own facts."

I fully agree with the majority of what this guy is saying. I think the latter half of the statement is something that Atheists and Christians can and should agree on.

Just because you believe in something doesn't mean that it's true. I can believe that if I can jump off a building and fly, but that doesn't mean that I can. What you place your belief in, the object of the faith (belief) matters. I agree with the guy that God either exists or He doesn't. It's not a matter of opinion. The same logic can be applied to his position. He can believe that God doesn't exist and won't hold him accountable for not believing in Him if he wants to, but that doesn't mean he won't.

With so many people today saying "my God wouldn't" or "my God is" I think it's important to step back and make sure we know what we're saying. Just like the existence of God is not subjective, that is "if he exists" so is the person of God "who he is". We need to be careful that we don't make God into someone we want him to be and therefore serve our created idol, instead we need to humble ourselves and submit to who He says He is as revealed in His Word.

Imagine that an Atheist and myself agreeing. I have a feeling he would disagree with my a lot of what I said though. :)

This and That

Here's another edition of "This and That", random stuff that I want to share, enjoy!

I thought this was really cool!


For those of you who work in an office:


For those of you that never liked Algebra


Here's some cartoon characters all grown up:

Snoopy


Charlie Brown


Calvin from "Calvin and Hobbes"


And a few video's that caught my attention:

Trick shot Quarterback



This is cool, but a little weird, synchronized goldfish swimming

What is Love?

***Caution- this is one of those posts that you may disagree with me on. Actually, you may diagree with me on every post, but some you will be more likely to disagree on. Feel free to talk about what you disagree on if you wish. If you think I might have said something wrong, let me know, there's a chance I meant something different from what you think I meant. Then of course, you might have really understood what I said, but just didn't like it, in which case, you're free to disagree.***




We think we know what love is. As the Beatles have said "All you need is love". Really, is that all you need? I will agree that there are different types/levels of love. 'I love tacos' and 'I love my wife' are obviously different types of love. So is love all you need? That kinda depends on how we define love huh? In our society we tend to do whatever we want with whoever we want whenever we want for as long as want without considering the consequences of it, all in the name of love. Think with me through this. Basically we are saying that 'We' are the ones who decide what love is. Who are we to decide that? This all stems from our resistance to submit to authority. At first you may think, that has nothing to do with it, but it actually has a lot to do with it. You see, when we choose to be our own authority, we get to decide what is good, what is bad, and yes, what is love.

It's interesting to hear homosexual couples talk about how much they 'love' each other. It's easy to talk about 'love' when you redefine what love means. You have a couple who have proven Romans 1:26-27 true, the reason why they have done this: because they love each other. They turned from God, true love, and turned to their own sex:

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Please take note that I think people who practice homosexual behavior are not any worse than those who do not. I do think that on the outside it is more apparent though, and the consequences are easily seen, while the sin of others are more hidden.

You have a husband or wife who cheats on his spouse, and runs off abandoning his family. What is the reason they give: "I love him/her". Or, "I fell out of love with him/her". Is love that fickle?

There are many parents who will not physically discipline a child because why: they "love" them too much. I think we should be really careful on how we discipline a child and many times we let our anger guide the discipline not our love, but my point is that if you don't discipline a child, you don't love them. Thankfully God disciplines his children, see Hebrews 12:5-11. The difference is that his discipline is perfect while ours is tainted with sin. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't discipline them, only that we should understand our sin nature as well as our propensity to sin as we seek to discipline those God has entrusted to us.


Here's what I believe: Love has become the idol.

We should stop defining love according to our wants and wishes and look to God for how He defines love. Like we've done with so many things in this world, we have taken something that is good "love" and turned it on its head. The sad part is that we think we are really benefiting from it when in reality we are feeding on crumbs when there's a feast to be eaten. Pretty sad...

This is how the Bible defines love in 1 John 4:9-10

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Everything else flows from our understanding of this.

I want to ask the question for you to think on and possibly reply if you feel led to: What do you think love is? How did you arrive at that definition? How many things have you done in the past or currently do that include you using "love" for justification? I know I've done my share.

Resolutions, part 5, Family

Well it's taken over a month to get through posting my resolutions, but this will be the last post in the series. It will focus on our family and the things I'd like to see happen in 2011.

1) Go on more dates with Stephanie
It's not often that we go on dates. Some couples have scheduled 'date nights' where they go out for a night on the town. We've usually reserved some time together away from Justin and Katelyn from time to time, but I'd like for that to be more often. Some ideas are: going to a movie, going out to eat, going for a walk in the park, playing tennis, going to a play, staying home and watching a movie, and going camping. I hope to continually look for opportunities to spend some time together. It doesn't have to be a big production involving lots of money, it can be simple and inexpensive, but it won't happen if I don't plan for it to.

I think so many times married couples allow kids to become idols they serve and it destroys their marriage. We love our kids, but we need time to ourselves as well. It's because we love our kids that we will focus on our marriage, not only for ourselves, but for them as well. Going on dates will hopefully show them that marriage matters.

2) Have more 'bro time' with Justin
Okay, first of all, by 'bro time' I don't mean being friends and goofing off. I'm still his Dad and count as my ultimate goal to show him who God is. I am to be an earthly example of his Heavenly Father. I will fail often in that goal, but I will try hard and pray that God will bless my effort with fruit.

'Bro time' can be playing tennis, video games, watching sports on tv, shooting hoops, going to our annual GA Football game, talking with him about school, watching movies (we watched Top Gun a few weeks ago, had to fast forward through a few scenes though), camping, fishing, and other stuff that guys do. I've even thought about going to a flea market or auction with a $10 limit just to see what we could do for kicks. The objective is not to do stuff or get things, but to invest in our relationship. There are many things that compete for his heart, do you remember being a teen? I want to shephard him the best I can. Plus, Justin is an extremely funny kid and he's cool to hang out with.

3) Start going on dates with Katelyn
I've thought about this one for a while. I plan to start taking Katelyn on dates. It may be for a McDonalds happy meal or to the local park to feed the ducks. Time will fly by and before I know it I'll be walking down the isle with her. The thought of that scares me to death sometimes. Other times, I look forward to it. I pity the groom on that day. :) Seriously though, I want to be able to look back on the years when she was under my roof and be able to say that I was an example of the type of guy that I want her to marry. To look back and say that means that I need to take those steps now that will achieve that goal. We've done some cool stuff before from watching Disney movies to playing cards, but I want to take it farther. There's something about getting out of the house that changes things. I'm looking forward to it.

4) Memorize Bible Verses
In addition to my memorizing a book of the Bible (which is going great), we are memorizing a verse a week. We do this at the dinner table each night, well mostly each night, unless we forget. Children Desiring God has a set of cards called 'Fighter Verses' that we use. On one side of the card is the verse and on the other side of the card is a picture that is meant to help you remember the verse. Stephanie, Justin, and I have memorized larger portions of scripture, but have decided to go with the 'foundation' verses so we can involve Katelyn. We'll need to keep reviewing our verses or we will forget them. That's going to be our biggest challenge.

5) More Family Devotions
Over the years we've had different versions of family devotions. We've used some Josh McDowell resources that are more of a "what would you do" approach based on biblical principles. We spent a year in the Westminster Shorter Catechism going over questions and answers about God and man. We also spent some time in a Voice of the Martyrs book learning about Christians who were persecuted for their faith. While the book contained those throughout history who lost their lives, it also contained many are still living today. We often live in a Western Culture bubble and forget about that there are many areas where Christians aren't allowed to worship.

The new book we are using is called "Mighty acts of God" by Starr Meade. It takes us through the entire bible from Genesis to Revelation focusing on how God is redeeming the world that we messed up through Christ, also known as biblical theology. It focuses on who God is, what He has done, and what He is doing. It also has an emphasis on our response to God. So many devotionals focus only on 'doing' the right thing, but they don't talk about 'why' to do the right thing. It is only as we learn and believe the right things that we will be motivated to 'do' the right things.

We haven't had time to do as many devotionals as we'd like, but we've had time for tv and other stuff. Amazing how that works huh. Hopefully that'll change.


Well there you go. That's my family resolutions for 2011. If you noticed, each of these goals has a God pointed aim. My overall goal is to glorify Him in each goal. He is so good to me. My family is a beautiful gift he has given me to take care of and love.

No matter what God may bring our family in 2011, it will be for our good and for His glory. Whether it may be what we call 'good' or not, if it comes from Him it is always good. May we give him the honor and praise He alone deserves and live daily thanking Him for his Grace.