By Chance Given Time

Ok, I haven't written in a while, but I was just reading some online articles and one caught my eye called New Research Suggests Simple Approach to Beginning of Life, by Michael Schirber of LiveScience.com. In the article, which I've quoted below, we once again find the popular scientific formula for the formation of life. It goes like this: Space+Time+Chance=Life.

In a previous post I wrote called The Soft Pillow of Science (Wednesday, July 11, 2007), I wrote how scientists today ascribe power to the word chance; and not just any power, but the power to create something from nothing. You can go back and read that post to understand what I mean. Here is the quote found in the article:

Primordial soup

Many scientists believe the origin-of-life story is that complex biological compounds assembled by chance out of an organic broth on the early Earth's surface. This pre-biotic synthesis culminated in bio-molecules being able to make copies of itself. The first support for this idea of life arising out of the primordial soup came from the famous 1953 experiment by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey, in which they generated amino acids — the building blocks of proteins — by applying sparks to a test tube of hydrogen, methane, ammonia and water. If amino acids could come together out of raw ingredients, then bigger, more complex molecules could presumably form given enough time.

That quote (emphasis mine) shows the prevailing alternative to the idea of life being created by a self existent, eternal, purposive Being who is the cause of all effects; the Unmoved Mover as Aristotle called Him. Chance is not a thing! It can not create anything no matter how much time is allowed.

Oh, and by the way, if I were around in 1953 I would have asked Stanley Miller and Harold Urey if they could recreate their primordial soup experiment once again, only this time they first need to also create their own hydrogen, methane, ammonia and water starting with nothing. How did those chemicals get in place before a stray lightning bolt caused the supposed reaction? Ex nihilo nihil fit!

Awesome!

Did you know that today, March 10th, is (was) the International Day of Awesomeness? Isn’t that awesome! Check it out at http://dayofawesomeness.com/ and then come back and read on.

If you read the first page of the website, you would see that the day really has a comical side to it. But still, it also is the straw that broke the camel's back for me in terms of the use of the word itself. Unfortunately, the word awesome must now be entered onto the official list of words whose actual meaning has been dumbed-down, changed, ruined and otherwise rendered unrecognizable because we decided the original definition wasn’t good enough for us.

Awesome! I just got Halo 3. That football game was awesome! If you were to ask someone what the word awesome means, they would tell you that awesome means cool, exciting, or amazing. But the real definition of awesome is an adjective describing awe. Now what is awe?

Awe (noun) - an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful, or the like: in awe of God.

Can that definition ever accurately be applied to a sport, a video game, a steak, a TV show, a job, a car, a vacation, a joke, a new computer, my blog, etc?

Think about how awesome God is. Have you ever looked at the night sky in a really dark place? Have you seen one of those science shows showing the process of human conception and development in the womb? Think about God’s plan of redemption? This only scratches the surface.

Our lives are full of all kinds of exciting games, delicious food, entertaining TV shows, interesting jobs, cool cars, fun vacations, funny jokes, fast computers and intellectually stimulating blogs. I for one plan on doing my best to keep the word awesome restricted to describe those things that inspire awe.

What's The Difference?

The people I work with all know I’m a Christian and I do my best to show them exactly what being a Christian is. The opinions vary. One person I work with always challenges me in various ways, mostly concerning science and evolution. Recently he posed a new challenge; one concerning right and wrong.

This person’s opinion is that since us Christians have all the answers we must also have a “holier than thou” attitude. In reality I can see how he could get that opinion with the way some Christians act. Anyway, my friend came to me and asked my opinion on something that had happened to him over the weekend. He had gone to the Home Depot and paid for his items with his debit card. As he was leaving the store a clerk ran up to him and said “Sir. You forgot your change.” The clerk was holding $50 in cash. My friend said that he knew he didn’t select to receive any cash back and he knew that the money wasn’t his, but he took it anyway. Here is how the conversation went (I’ll call my friend “Rod”):

Rod: So, would you have taken the money?

Ed: No I wouldn’t have. If I looked at my receipt and saw that I didn’t accidentally choose cash back, then I would not have taken it. That’s stealing.

Rod: Do you know how much those stores make in a single day? $50 isn’t going to ruin their business.

Ed: That doesn’t matter. It’s still wrong.

Rod: Oh like you’ve never stolen. Have you ever taken money that wasn’t yours?

Ed: Yes.

Rod: So what’s the difference?

Ed: None. I am equally as guilty as you are. The thing is that you need to understand why some people go to hell because of their sin and some people go to heaven in spite of their sin. The reason that happens is because of Jesus. Jesus is the difference.

Jesus is the difference. Jesus. Jesus!

It's Thanksgiving

I received an email from t-shirts.com telling me there is a 10% off “turkey day” sale. I see that term from time to time, now more and more. I want to scream “It’s not Turkey Day, it’s Thanksgiving! It’s about giving THANKS not about turkeys!!”

Ok, I’ve got that out of my system.

Look up Thanksgiving on Wikipedia and you’ll find “Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a traditional North American holiday to give thanks at the conclusion of the harvest season. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November”.

Hmm, “to give thanks at the conclusion of the harvest season.” Ok I suppose. But here in America there is no harvest season for us to be really thankful for. We live in a perpetual harvest season. So it’s not really that special, is it?

If you want a real laugh go to www.happyturkeyday.org - “This Thanksgiving, when you sit down at the dinner table, please take a full 5 minutes of silence and/or prayer to acknowledge the millions of lives that were ended for this Day of Thankfulness.”

The lives their talking about are the turkeys (oi vai!), but at least happyturkeyday.org and Wikipedia acknowledge this is a day of thankfulness.

Today I want you to not only think about what you are thankful for, but to whom you are thankful to. Or should I have written, to Whom.

Yes, once again time and “progressive” thinking have separated us from the original intent of the holiday (Christmas is currently under this same attack). The folks at happyturkeyday.org want you take 5 minutes for silence and/or prayer and contemplate the fate of the turkey. I would like to ask you to take 5 minutes and read the two presidential proclamations that brought about Thanksgiving Day in America.

The first was written by President George Washington in 1789 which set aside one day that year as a day of Thanksgiving. The second written by Abraham Lincoln in Oct. 1863 proclaimed the day as an annual holiday. By the way, when reading the Lincoln proclamation, remember this is 1863 at the height of the civil war.

There is no doubt that this day of Thanksgiving was intended to be a day of thanksgiving and praise to God Almighty. May we all not only contemplate that, but share it as well.

Oh, one other thing about the Lincoln proclamation; please take notice of the second sentence. It is a thousand times better than any sentence I could ever write if I had all the time in the world to think and reflect on what I wanted to say. Lincoln probably scribbled it out as if it were no big deal.


Washington's Prolamation

Lincoln's Prolamation

The Soft Pillow of Science

I was channel surfing the other night and as I did I came across a program on the Discovery Channel called Miracle Planet: The Evolution of Our World. The channel guide that describes what the program is about read, “Earth was born out of chaos, disaster and completely by chance. Travel back into the violent past to discover how the fragile conditions of life were created.”

Did you get that? This show will explain how the earth and even life itself were created by chance. Created BY chance? What IS chance? How can anything be created BY chance? Don’t get me wrong; chance is a perfectly good word to describe mathematical probabilities. For example we listen to the weather in order to find out if there will be a chance of rain. The weather guesser tells us that tomorrow there will be a 30% chance. Or if I ask you what the chances are, when I flip a coin, that it will come up tails? The answer is that there is a 50% chance it will come up tails. But tell me, when I flip the coin how does chance influence the outcome? What force does chance exert on the coin which causes it to come up tails? None! It can’t! It isn’t possible because chance is not a thing. It’s nothing! It’s simply a word used to describe mathematical possibilities. Yet some scientists, many scientists, have given chance magical powers; even the power to create.

I’ve read it and heard it so many times, Space+Time+Chance=The Universe. What is time? How much does it weigh? When I see that formula, which is the formula ascribed to by all believers in the big bang theory, I see this: nothing+nothing+nothing=everything; =me. This to me is logically untenable, yet these otherwise brilliant people use the term chance as a soft pillow to explain affects for things that they simply have not, or can not, find a cause for. I would respect them if they would just say that. Just say we haven’t found the cause yet, but with more experimentation and study we hope to discover what the causes are.

The day after I saw that program description I came into work and flipped the page on my “Bible Verse a Day” calendar and here is what the scripture was: Hebrews 11:3

“Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”

Only!

When Jesus was being tempted by Satan in the Judean wilderness He fended off every attempt of Satan by quoting scripture. The last recorded temptation involved Satan, the prince of this world, showing Jesus all of the kingdoms of earth and trying to get Jesus to worship him by promising all of it to Jesus. Jesus responds by quoting Deuteronomy, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’.”

Serve Him ONLY. Christ knew that in order to fulfill His mission he would absolutely without fail serve the Father and Him only. If God said it, then Jesus trusts it and it doesn’t matter what Satan or anybody else says. What a difference between the second Adam and the first! And every son of the first Adam that has ever lived since!! We tend to take Satan up on that deal by serving God on Sunday and the world the rest of the week. So often Christians are afraid to serve God ONLY because that would mean we would have to be politically incorrect. Stand up for the Truth of God as it is written in His Bible. We have a real hard time trusting what God tells us.

When Fish Catch Men

In Romans 8:37 we read, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Brother Danny always asked the question, how we could be more than conquerors? I know what it is to conqueror, but to be more than a conqueror?”I am sure that God has some unimaginable ways to show us the meaning of that and there are many ways the meaning may be manifest in our lives. But, last week He showed it to me in a small, but significant way.

VBS was beginning is a few days and my role was to play the part of a fisherman working in a fish market. As the first day of VBS approached I began making my costume and thinking about what props I would have. I was thinking I need a fish as a prop and wondered if I would have to strike a deal with my 4-year-old niece to borrow some of her toy fishies. As I was driving to work on Friday my thoughts again went to what I should do about a prop as VBS started on Monday. While at work I went to visit a colleague who had just moved into a new office. When I entered his office there on top of a bookshelf was a 4-foot long, beautiful, stuffed toy catfish. I asked if I could borrow it the following week and my friend said I could have it. It was there when he moved into the office. Leaving his office I thought how God is so wonderful and loving even in the small things. But, I would soon learn that God always has bigger things in mind and can always work them out even through the small things.

Now back at my desk I have to put this large stuffed catfish somewhere! I’m not in an office, I have a cube and just outside my cube wall is a short two-drawer file cabinet. So on top of the file cabinet Mr. Fish goes. He immediately began to draw attention as if he were casting lures out into the office and attracting schooling co-workers. Soon he got his first bite, “Hey Ed, what’s the fish for?” I replied, “It’s for VBS. This year our theme is Galilee by the Sea, and I am the fisherman. Why don’t you come on by?” One bite, then another and another. It was at that moment it hit me. God not only provides, He more than provides. Just as in Christ we are more than conquerors. Not only does God provide a way for us to be freed from death, but we also inherit the Kingdom of God.

My words can not explain this sufficiently, so I’ll use the words of the Holy Spirit found in Romans 8:36-39 “As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Teach Me O God

I learned a valuable lesson recently regarding the blessings of God. Many times in the past I have experienced great inner joy by being obedient to God’s will. Recently, however, I experienced something completely different based on my not being obedient to God.

Every year our congregation hosts what is known as Mission Sunday. There are months of build up for this very special Sunday dedicated to highlighting the ministries being supported by the congregation and the many individuals dedicating their life to the mission field. The focus is on the great work these selfless brothers and sisters perform in the service to Jesus. Equally important is the special contribution made that day which will continue to fund these missions for the upcoming year.

Prior to the day of Mission Sunday, the Shepherds usually set a goal for the contribution and communicate that goal to the brethren. The year before last the goal was set and as it turned out, we fell quite a bit short of hitting it. Because of that, our ability to fund some missions suffered. Although our falling short of the goal was disappointing, I personally felt the inner joy that comes from being obedient to God.

This year, as the day for Mission Sunday was far off the Shepherds set a goal that was lower than the one we set the year before. Perhaps it was just too much for a congregation that contributes regularly to many other needs? I decided in my heart an amount to give. As the date came nearer both myself and my wife were involved in very busy periods regarding our jobs as well as personal commitments. Travel was frequent during this time and sure enough our personal schedule had us out of town and unable to attend church on Mission Sunday. Still, I kept thinking to myself that I need to drop off my check before that Sunday. I kept thinking it, but never did it. Then I thought that I would call or email in a pledge. I never did that either. While I was away that weekend I kept thinking about how I failed to get my contribution in before I left and about how my lack of placing importance on Mission Sunday could possibly contribute to yet another year of falling short of the goal. I thought, for sure when we get back I will bring my check to the Shepherds. I didn’t.

The Sunday after, when we had returned and I had not yet made any contribution or even communicated a pledge to contribute, came a lesson from on high. I’ll never forget it. Our congregational goal for this year’s mission Sunday was $75,000. As the associate Minister went before the congregation to report what God had done through us, I felt disappointed in my lack of caring and expected to hear how we came so close to the goal, but just didn’t make it. Was I shocked when I heard that not only had the congregation exceeded the goal, but the goal was exceeded by an amount that could only be accounted for by saying “…but with God, all things are possible”. Over $115,000 was given that Sunday.

The lesson I learned WASN’T that the success of exceeding the goal was up to me. That was a lesson showing me how self centered I am, but not the real lesson.

Here is the lesson. Because of my lack of placing a priority on what I knew was something God wanted me to do I DID NOT AND COULD NOT SHARE IN THE JOY OF GOD’S VICTORY! I WAS NOT A PART OF THAT JOY. I WAS ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN!! This was far worse than any feelings of guilt or disappointment. I missed out on the joy that comes from being obedient to God. I’ve felt that joy before and now I was experiencing the polar opposite of that feeling. The joy I am speaking of is unlike any feeling you’ve ever had. It’s a joy that is felt in your inner most being and its absence was excruciating.

There are often appeals for contributions for many worthy needs and for some the Spirit tells me to give and for some He does not. This past Mission Sunday the Spirit clearly put on my heart that I should give. I didn’t do it and the feeling of not being able to share in the joy of the Lord is one I will never forget and one I never want to feel again.

The Windmills of Your Mind

I came across Proverbs 9:6 the other day. It reads "Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the ways of understanding."

Ted Turner once said that Christianity is religion for losers. Secular scholars say that the Bible is a book of myths and stories created by ancient people to help explain their world, but it is obsolete in the post-modern world. Now, I marvel at the advance of science over the years. From medicine to technology, the lives of some of the poorest people in America today far exceeds the comfort, convenience and quality of kings that lived just 200 years ago. Yet still, with all the great minds in the world, we continue to hear that science has "proven" that God does not exist. Science has solved it all and fulfills all our needs and the idea of a God is an illogical psychological dependency for weak minded people.

But God (I love that statement! ....but God..sorry, I got side tracked). But, God says that in His reality all of our super human thinking that brings us all of these great discoveries in fact points to His existence! Any idea or logic that we come up with that we use to try an kill God's existence He calls "simple ways" and we should leave them lest we die. Isn't that what He's told us right from the beginning? If we eat that fruit we will surely die and the wages of sin is death.

I think it's great that God loves us so much he gave us His Word. Our prideful ideas are simply deadly. But, walking in the ways of God is brilliant!

Do You Know?

Above all, what does God want the Christian to do and not do?

True Truth

No, I don’t have a stuttering problem. I’m talking about objective truth.

What is truth? From a real sense, truth equals reality. That which is true is real and that which is real is true. There is a relationship between the two. My belief in God, no matter how strong, cannot conjure up a god that is not there. And, no matter how much someone is convinced that there is no God cannot destroy a God that is.

From a biblical sense truth is personal. Jesus didn’t say, “I tell the truth”, he said, “I am the truth.” Jesus said that when Pontius Pilate asked Jesus what is truth. Jesus is the only one who has always told the truth and has never lied.

The Missing Link

As you may or may not know Katie Couric took over the position of anchoring the NBC Nightly News. Along with the new anchor, NBC began a free speech segment where ordinary folks can deliver commentary during the broadcast. With the recent tragic incident involving the shooting of children in a small Amish school house, NBC invited Brian Rohrbough to delive that nights commentary. Mr. Rohrbough, whose son was killed in the Colombine high school shootings, had this to say:

"I am saddened and shaken by the shooting at an Amish school today and last week's school murders. When my son Dan was murdered on the sidewalk at Columbine High School on April 20th, 1999, I hoped that would be the last school shooting. Since that day, I tried to answer the question why did this happen? This country is in a moral free fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing Him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak without moral consequences. And life has no inherent value. We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you, the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children. Suicide has become an acceptable action and has further emboldened these criminals. And we are seeing an epidemic increase in murder/suicide attacks on our children."

For me, the teaching of evolution in public schools has fostered an environment that leads many students to believe that there is little or no meaning to life. As Mr. Rohrbough plainly understands, evolutionary indoctrination declares that we are only animals in the struggle for survival. This has created a mindset in many of our young people that life lacks purpose. Yet, otherwise intelligent people can not see the link between this teaching and the ever increasing violence in our country which is steadily devouring younger and younger victims.

As time goes on, I believe this will only get worse. Yes, God can bring about revival in our country if it is His will and Christians should pray for the current state of affairs to be reversed. But, I honestly think this country will continue to decline steadily toward an ever greater state of immorality and that immorality will be looked upon as having nothing wrong with it.

State of the Art

I was driving home from work the other day listening to a local radio station whose format is Christian talk. The station aired a commercial promoting an event at a local church. A nationally known speaker would be appearing at this event and something the announcer said caught my ear. The announcer invited listeners to come and hear this dynamic speaker at "our state of the art church". I thought, state of the art church?

Now, I understand what he meant. He was not only promoting the speaker, but was also promoting the venue. I'm sure it has great acoustics, top of the line audio/visual systems and professional lighting that rivals some of the fanciest theaters and music halls. He was speaking of the church building, not the Church. Today's visible church should be no more "state of the art" than the church of the first century. To me, the Church is state of the art when it preaches the truth of the Gospel from it's pulpit, in it's classrooms and through the lives of it's members as they do the will of the Father outside the four walls of the building. For the Christian, the Gospel is our art.

Lord, Lord.

In Matthew 7:15-23 Jesus tells us to watch out for false prophets and He says we can tell them by their fruit. Something we should all watch out for. But what I really find terrifying is what he tells us next. In the last half of this passage Jesus gives us a glimpse into the Day of Judgment and what He says cuts me to the very sole. He says that on that day not everyone who says to Him “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven.

I’ve read this passage many times before and it finally dawned on me that those who are addressing Him aren’t just saying “Lord”, but are addressing Him as “Lord. Lord.” It’s as if they are stuttering His name, because they are in shock over the fact that not only doesn’t He know them, but He tells them to depart from Him. They so shocked that they repeat His name as if to say “Lord. It’s me! Lord, you know me!

I took some time to look throughout scripture to note other places when a persons name is repeated. I probably missed a few, but here are some:

1. Just before Abraham is about to sacrifice Isaac The Angel of The Lord calls out to him “Abraham! Abraham! (Ge 22:11)
2. When Jacob is afraid to go to Egypt and God reassures him saying He’ll be with him He calls to him "Jacob. Jacob." (Ge 46:1-3).
3. When God calls out to Moses from the burning bush, he says “Moses! Moses!” (Ex3:3-5)
4. When God calls out to Samuel while he is sleeping he calls "Samuel, Samuel". (1Sa 3:10)
5. When King David finds out that his son Absalom, who had rebelled against him, is dead he laments “My son! My son! Absalom, my son.” (2Sa 18:33)
6. Elisha upon seeing the chariot of fire cries “My Father! My Father! The chariots of Israel!” (2Ki 2:12)
7. When Martha is all uptight because her sister isn’t helping her, Jesus says “Martha, Martha…” (Luke 10:41)
8. Knowing that Peter would say in front of everyone that he would die for Jesus, Christ says “Simon, Simon. Satan will have you and sift you like wheat…” (Luke 22:31)
9. As Jesus is looking at the city on the hill, he laments “Jerusalem. Jerusalem". (Matthew 23:37)
10. As Christ hangs on the cross he cries out “My God, My God” (Matthew 27:46)
11. Christ stops Saul of Tarsus in his tracks on the road to Damascus and he calls out to him “Saul. Saul. Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 26:14)


My point in all of this is that when I find names repeated in the bible it indicates a deeply intimate relationship. So I have to say that those who come to Jesus saying “Lord. Lord.” Not only know Jesus by His title “Lord”, but also seem to think they know Him intimately. The false prophets he tells us to avoid and the people coming to Him saying “Lord, Lord” are members of the congregation! Do you see why this terrifies me?

Thinking it through I believe that true justification comes from sustained faith and trust in Christ alone and not placing out trust solely in one moment in time where we carried out some simple “act” be it reciting the sinners prayer or even, dare I say, in baptism alone. If I place my trust in my baptism and don’t place my trust in Jesus and strive every day to obey him, then I will never bear fruit. Yes, publicly accepting Christ as your Lord and Savior and being baptized for the remission of sins is necessary, but it can’t end there. If it does end there, then I think you have displayed just enough faith to send you to hell for all eternity.

A Tree and Its Fruit

Please read the following scripture and meditate especially on the second paragraph. As I have said before, it is for me the most terrifying scripture in the bible. Why do I find it so terrifying especially if I consider myself a member of the Lord's church? It has to do with genuine faith.

Matthew 7:15-23

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

Merely in the Flesh

Jeremiah 9:25 "The days are coming", declares the LORD, "when I will punish all who are circumcised merely in the flesh"

God tells us that circumcision of the body (outward) is useless without circumcision of the heart (inward). For ancient Israel, circumcision was a sign of both repentance and faith. Some, like Abraham, received the sign after trusting God. Others, like Issaac, were cut before confessing faith. Likewise, believers on this side of the cross have signs that indicate a decision to believe and follow Christ has been made. For some it is the very point at which you make the confession, whether spoken out loud or by silently saying a "sinners prayer", that conversion occurs. Others point to baptism as the moment of conversion. I am sure there are any number of other opinions as to exactly when salvation occurs.

Now in my sixth year after first placing my trust in Christ, I have wondered about the person who professes faith, is baptized, attends church on a regular basis and for all intents and purposes "does" Christianity just fine from an outward perspective. Yet, internally, no change has occurred. There is no hunger for the Word, no fear for the one who can throw him into hell, no desire to tithe and in whom is found every desire for the world. To some, faith is wrapped up in their own checklist of good works. I know Christianity isn't a checklist. For some when they say they've become a Christian it means they've stopped drinkning, stopped swearing, etc. Rather, true conversion is signified by an immediate inward change that manifests itself by the fruit of the spirit. No, I am not saying that one must become sinless, but that is contrasted by the person whose lifestyle is one thing when they are around "church folk" and something completely different around non-church folk. My point is this; regardless of timing, these signs bring no lasting benefits unless the recipient is inwardly converted.

I raise this topic as a lead in for the next posting I am working on. Read Matthew 7:15-23. It is, for me, the most terrifying scripture in the entire Bible.

The Opening

I chose the title for this blog to be "A Shattered Image" because of how aware I am that, as an image bearer of God, I am a fallen man and have shattered that image. My hope is to post ideas, life observations and to discuss the things of God and bring to mind that faith is so much more than just a simple profession. I do not believe that salvation comes from something as simple as an alter call, a one time reciting of a simple prayer or any other simple outward act. I absolutely think conversion includes those things, but unless my faith is genuine, unless my faith bears fruit, then my faith is dead. And a dead faith is the same as no faith at all.

I have to admit that I began this blog as the result of the death of a close colleague of mine. His death was completely sudden and as a Christian sister reminded me, death seems to put everything in perspective. I know I will die one day and I understand that it could be at any moment, yet because of my faith in Christ I do not fear death. Still, when death strikes so close and so unexpectedly it really got me thinking about my faith. Not that my faith is waivering, rather I am thinking more along the lines of the fruit that it bears and just how important that is.

God willing, in the coming days, weeks and months, we can engage in meaningful discussions and strip away the fog that our enemy clouds our eyes with and shed some light to truly understand what the Gospel is really all about.