Does God exist? The following offers honest, straight-forward reasons to believe in God...
By Marilyn Adamson
Just once wouldn't you love for someone to simply show you the evidence for God's existence? No arm-twisting. No statements of, "You just have to believe." Well, here is an attempt to offer some of the reasons which suggest that God exists.
But first consider this. If a person opposes even the possibility of there being a God, then any evidence can be rationalised or explained away. It is like if someone refuses to believe that people have walked on the moon, then no amount of information is going to change their thinking. Photographs of astronauts walking on the moon, interviews with the astronauts, moon rocks...all the evidence would be worthless, because the person has already concluded that people cannot go to the moon.
When it comes to the possibility of God's existence, the Bible says that there are people who have seen sufficient evidence, but they have suppressed the truth about God. On the other hand, for those who want to know God if he is there, he says, "You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you." Before you look at the facts surrounding God's existence, ask yourself, If God does exist, would I want to know him? Here then, are some reasons to consider...
1. Does God exist? The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer who not only created our universe, but sustains it today.
2. Does God exist? The human brain's complexity shows a higher intelligence behind it.
3. Does God exist? "Chance" or "natural causes" are insufficient explanations.
4. Does God exist? To state with certainty that there is no God, a person has to ignore the passion of an enormously vast number of people who are convinced that there is a God.
5. Does God exist? We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.
6. Does God exist? Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God pursuing us.
to be continued and elaborated on at http://everystudent.com/sg/features/isthere.html...
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Who is Jesus? A quick summary on the life of Jesus Christ - and reasons to believe in him...
By Paul E. Little
It is impossible for us to know conclusively whether God exists and what He is like unless He takes the initiative and reveals Himself. We must know what He is like and His attitude toward us. Suppose we knew He existed, but that He was like Adolf Hitler--capricious, vicious, prejudiced, and cruel. What a horrible realisation that would be!
We must scan the horizon of history to see if there is any clue to God's revelation. There is one clear clue. In an obscure village in Palestine, almost 2,000 years ago, a Child was born in a stable. Today the entire world is still celebrating the birth of Jesus.
He lived in obscurity until He was thirty, and then began a public ministry that lasted three years. It was destined to change the course of history. He was a kindly person and we're told that "the common people heard Him gladly." And, "He taught as One who had authority, and not as their teachers of the Law" (Matthew 7:29).
It soon became apparent, however, that He was making shocking and startling statements about Himself. He began to identify Himself as far more than a remarkable teacher or prophet. He began to say clearly that He was God. ...
Jesus Christ - the Son of God?
As we face the claims of Christ, there are only four possibilities. He was either a liar, a lunatic, a legend, or the Truth. If we say He is not the Truth, we are automatically affirming one of the other three alternatives, whether we realise it or not.
(1) One possibility is that Jesus lied when He said He was God--that He knew He was not God, but deliberately deceived His hearers to lend authority to His teaching. Few, if any, seriously hold this position. Even those who deny His deity affirm that He was a great moral teacher. They fail to realise those two statements are a contradiction. Jesus could hardly be a great moral teacher if, on the most crucial point of His teaching--His identity--He was a deliberate liar.
(2) A kinder, though no less shocking possibility, is that He was sincere but self-deceived. We have a name for a person today who thinks he is God. That name is lunatic, and it certainly would apply to Christ if He were deceived on this all-important issue. But as we look at the life of Christ, we see no evidence of the abnormality and imbalance we find in a deranged person. Rather, we find the greatest composure under pressure.
(3) The third alternative is that all of the talk about His claiming to be God is a legend--that what actually happened was that His enthusiastic followers, in the third and fourth centuries, put words into His mouth He would have been shocked to hear. Were He to return, He would immediately repudiate them.
The legend theory has been significantly refuted by many discoveries of modern archaeology. These have conclusively shown that the four biographies of Christ were written within the lifetime of contemporaries of Christ. Some time ago Dr. William F. Albright, world-famous archaeologist now retired from Johns Hopkins University, said that there was no reason to believe that any of the Gospels were written later than A.D. 70. For a mere legend about Christ, in the form of the Gospel, to have gained the circulation and to have had the impact it had, without one shred of basis in fact, is incredible.
For this to have happened would be as fantastic as for someone in our own time to write a biography of the late John F. Kennedy and in it say he claimed to be God, to forgive people's sins, and to have risen from the dead. Such a story is so wild it would never get off the ground because there are still too many people around who knew Kennedy. The legend theory does not hold water in the light of the early date of the Gospel manuscripts.
(4) The only other alternative is that Jesus spoke the truth. From one point of view, however, claims don't mean much. Talk is cheap. Anyone can make claims. ...
Evidence from the Life of Jesus
First, His moral character coincided with His claims.
Second, Christ demonstrated a power over natural forces which could belong only to God, the Maker of these forces.
Third, Jesus demonstrated the Creator's power over sickness and disease.
Fourth, Jesus' supreme credential to authenticate His claim to deity was His resurrection from the dead.
Was Jesus' Resurrection Just a Story?
find out more at http://everystudent.com/sg/features/faith.html...
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More questions and answers.
Why is there so much suffering?
If God is good why does he allow so much suffering?
Why
Why do people get cancer? Why is there tragedy and death?
Is God a Good Director?
Is God directing this world very well? Questions to consider...
What Will Heaven Be Like?
Is it all just strumming harps and sitting on clouds?
Reincarnation, Karma & Life after Death
The problems of reincarnation and the law of karma.
Life after Death
How good do you have to be to get to heaven?
Why do I need God to be happy?
"I have found happiness in my life. Why do I need to derive a sense of purpose and happiness from the concept of a 'divine being'?"
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
The below is an article from Pray! magazine.
The heart of the Shepherd by Sandy MayleMy husband doesn't like lost things. I"m careful about casually anouncing that I've misplaced my car keys or cannot find my purse, because Dave's not likely to wait for them to turn up. He's immediately on the search. He's thinking about the importance of the missing item, how difficult it will be to replace, what harm might come to it in the meantime, and what dificulties we might encounter in its absence. Lost things weigh on his mind. Recently, I've noticed something similar about Jesus: Lost things weigh on His mind, too. I discovered this as I read through Luke 15: 1-7 while praying for a loved one who doesn't know Him. These verses reveal Christ's heart toward lost people: "Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one fo them. DOes he not leave the ninety-njine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep'." (Luke 15: 4-6)When I'm praying for a loved one who's lost, ,it's encouraging to think about this parable. It has reinvigorated my intercession because it tells me that I'm joining in prayer with a Shepherd who..........Has a passion for the lost. In contrast to my husband, I've misplaced so many things that I take a more casual approach to lostness. Unless it's needed immediately, I'm not often in a big hurry to find the missing item. Regrettably, I can also get too casual about people who are lost, too. The companionship of the 98 other sheep, the sense of safety, and the comfort of rich food close at hand- they all push the reality of lostness to the back of my mind. I lose sight of what it means for someone to be separated from the Shepherd. My intercession becomes lukewarm, sporadic, and distracted. But Jesus always years after lost ones. "The Son of Many came to seek and save what was lost"(Luke 19:10). He never grows accustomed to the absence of even one. Although the days may roll by and the distance between Him and the lost hseep widens, He patiently searches, "not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" (2Peter 3: 9). When I draw close to this Shepherd in prayer, I"m reminded of His deep desire to see lost onees found. And I"m renewed in my commitment to support the search. ....Cherishes each lost sheep. Jesus repeatedly affirmed the value of the individual to Him: "If anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these" (Matthew 10: 42); "See that you do not look down on one of these" (Matthew 18: 10); "Whatever you did for one of the least of these" (Matthew 25: 40). In Jesus'parable, only one one-hundredth of the flock is missing. Yet the Shepherd is not satisfied with the large flock adorning the hillside. Because He cherishes each and every lamb and ram and ewe, the bleating of the lost one is always in His ears. That one is irreplaceable. That one is more vulnerable to the elements of the world and the cunning, ruthless enemy. He knows it won't be able to find the way home on its own. Jesus knows that I do not posses His boundless ability to pursue every lost sheep in this world. He does, however, desiree me to join Him in faithful intercession for the ones He has laid specifically on my heart. That's my portion and my responsibility, and I must not take it lightly- because He doesn't. ... Underestands each lost sheep. I correspond regularly with a retired physicain, a family friend who slid early in life into agnosticism, then plummeted in more recent years into aggressive secular humanism. He candidly shares his views, and mjy inner response to each of his letters isalmost invariably,
What can I say to him? Where is a point of agreement from which we can begin a discussion? How can someone so far away ever find his way back home to Jesus?The answer, of course, is that I don’t have anything to say, and he cannot find his way back. But Jesus understands the doctor perfectly. “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account” (Heb. 4:13, NKJV). This Shepherd knows what needs to be said… or not said. The darkness of unbelief does not limit His vision. He sees exactly what cliff the doctor is stranded on, how close the precipice is, and how dark the night is. And He knows the particular path that will bring the doctor back home.
So I pray, “Lord, share Your understanding of him with me. Out of that understanding, enable me to dialogue with him. Make my words rays of light in his darkness, lighting the way home to You.”
… Has invested Himself in each one. As I pray for a particular lost sheep in my life these days, I think of all the time, energy, and money that I have invested to encourage him or her to follow the Shepherd. Yet my investment pales beside that of the Shepherd Himself. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor.8:9).
Jesus, for humanity in general and my lost one in particular, left heaven to become nothing- first a helpless and vulnerable infant and finally a maimed body on a corss- to make a way home for them. He didn’t wave a wand to create redemption. He forged it step by step. He lived it out to the bitter end. He gave His all.
Knowing what redemption cost Jesus, how can I doubt that He remains vitally interested in this lamb’s every move? As I intercede, I’m encouraged to know that He is far more eager than I am to help the lamb onto the road back.
…. Pursures with perseverance. I tend to storm heaven with insistent pleadings. Then if I see no results, I fall back into a holding pattern of nominal intercession. In Jesus’ parable, however, the Shepherd doesn’t let up until He finds the lost lamb. In other words, the Shepherd’s pursuit is purposeful. It’s focused. And He is in it for the long haul.
Likewise, the Scriptures call us to be “faithful in prayer” (Rom. 12: 12). Jesus wants my prayers to keep pace with His pursuit. “Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1). He doesn’t want me to fall silent when there are no visible signs of progress. He asks me to trust that an unseen pursuit continues- and to remain faithful and expectant in upholding it.
…. Yearns for reunion. Luke 15: 5-6 says, “When he finds [the lost sheep], he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbours together and says, ‘Rejoice with me.’” This is not an exasperated Shepherd who has driven the wayward sheep back to the fold with punishing strokes of the rod. Nor is He a weary taskmaster whom slams the gate firmly on the heels of the wanderer with a factual, “Mission accomplished. One more in.” No, this Shepherd is jubilant. His joy springs from a heart that has been yearning to close the gap and set the lost one on His shoulders. It’s fuelled by a passion for reunion in eternity.
When I join Jesus in praying for the salvation of a lost loved one, I know I’m asking for something that will bring so much delight to His heart that Ha and His kingdom will burst into celebration. Through my intercession, I share some of His travail for the lost one, but I also know that I will share in His joy when that person enters the fold- not only at the time of salvation, but at the ultimate reunion.
These things and more make up the heart of the Shepherd, who prays with me and searches tirelessly for each one who’s lose. Knowing that heart, how can I not be strengthened and reassured and blessed by anticipation as I pray for my loved one today? For with every prayer, I look forward to hearing Him say, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.”
Sandy Mayle is a freelance writer from Erie, Pennsylvania. She enjoys reading Christian biographies and just finished William Tyndale, Bible Translator and Martyr.
Cheryl at 6:41 pm
God is perfect, we are sinful, so there is a great gap between us. We may try to feel better through work, relationships, sport or religion. But all our attempts fail, because we have ignored the real problem - turning our back on God.
Jesus took the consequences of our self-centredness by giving up his life on the cross. He proved he had broken sin's destructive power by rising from the dead. Jesus offers us freedom from guilt and a bridge back to God.
