What about bad things done by the Church?

http://creation.com/bad-things-by-church
by Jonathan Sarfati

Our Creation magazine is dedicated to defending the truth of the Bible, especially as it concerns creation by Jesus Christ. In particular, two main logically independent issues that CMI addresses are:

Is creation right?
Why does it matter?

Professing Christians who committed atrocities were acting inconsistently with the teachings of Christianity. Conversely, evolutionists who committed atrocities were acting consistently with evolution.

This article mainly addresses point 2. In the past, we have frequently supported this point by showing that Christianity has been the most powerful force for good in history.1

This includes motivating charity, education, abolition of slavery,2and science.3 The evidence is so strong that even some high-profile atheists have conceded that biblical Christianity drove the Salvation Army’s charity and one even proclaimed, “As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God.” 4 Similarly, T.H. Huxley (1825–1895), the famous agnostic known as ‘Darwin’s Bulldog’, advocated teaching the Bible to children for its great morality, and insisted on this for his own children.5

The vital difference

About the only response that anti-Christians can give is that the history of the church has not always been good. The most important issue in reply is this:

Atrocities in the name of Christ are inconsistent with real Christianity, which is revealed in the Bible; atrocities in the name of atheism are consistent with it.

Note that we are NOT claiming that all atheists are always ‘evil’ or can never do good things, but that atheism provides no basis for judging right from wrong.

Evolutionist Jaron Lanier showed the problem, saying, “There’s a large group of people who simply are uncomfortable with accepting evolution because it leads to what they perceive as a moral vacuum, in which their best impulses have no basis in nature.”

In reply, the leading atheist and evolutionist Richard Dawkins affirmed, “All I can say is, That’s just tough. We have to face up to the truth.”6

So here we have a leading atheist admitting that evolution provides no basis for morality. Instead, he and his fellow atheists have needed to borrow from Christian concepts of sanctity of life and charity. Similarly, the Jewish libertarian columnist Jeff Jacoby gave a lucid summary of the argument:

“Can people be decent and moral without believing in a God who commands us to be good? Sure. There have always been kind and ethical nonbelievers. But how many of them reason their way to kindness and ethics, and how many simply reflect the moral expectations of the society in which they were raised?

“In our culture, even the most passionate atheist cannot help having been influenced by the Judeo-Christian worldview that shaped Western civilization. …

“For in a world without God, there is no obvious difference between good and evil. There is no way to prove that murder is wrong if there is no Creator who decrees ‘Thou shalt not murder.’ It certainly cannot be proved wrong by reason alone. One might reason instead—as Lenin and Stalin and Mao reasoned—that there is nothing wrong with murdering human beings by the millions if doing so advances the Marxist cause. Or one might reason from observing nature that the way of the world is for the strong to devour the weak—or that natural selection favors the survival of the fittest by any means necessary, including the killing of the less fit.

“It may seem obvious to us today that human life is precious and that the weakest among us deserve special protection. Would we think so absent a moral tradition stretching back to Sinai? It seemed obvious in classical antiquity that sickly babies should be killed. …

“Reason is not enough. Only if there is a God who forbids murder is murder definitively evil.”7

Therefore, the corrective for faulty application of Christianity is not atheism but correct (biblical) application of Christianity.

Given the reasoning above, it should be no surprise that the atrocities committed in the name of Christ are not only an aberration, but pale compared to the monstrous atrocities committed by atheists for atheistic reasons. Some specific well-known cases in each category will now be addressed.
Christian atrocities?

Inquisition

The Inquisition is certainly a black spot; biblical Christianity, from a human standpoint, tells people to come freely to Christ, not be forced to profess Christ because of threats. But the Inquisition also must be put into perspective, both compared with the numbers and the culture of the time. Spanish Inquisition (1478–1834): historians such as Henry Kamen estimate between 1,500 and 4,000 people were executed for heresy,8 out of Spain’s 6–10 million total population. So at most 0.05% of Spain’s population was killed. While this is nevertheless deplorable, it means that the Inquisition’s rate of executing people was lower than that of the state of Texas today, while atheist Stalin often killed that many before breakfast (so to speak). Furthermore, Inquisition trials were often fairer and more lenient than their secular counterparts—indeed, some criminals uttered heresies precisely so they would be transferred to the Inquisition courts.

Salem witch trials

This was a travesty of paranoia and mass hysteria in colonial Massachusetts between February 1692 and May 1693. However, they killed fewer than 25 people, far short of the “perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions” that the late antitheist Carl Sagan (1934–1996) claimed. Further, they were stopped when Christians protested at the travesty of justice in the unfair trials and how they violated all biblical standards of evidence.9 Even a trial proponent, the Puritan minister Increase Mather (1639–1723), opposed the ‘spectral evidence’, i.e. from dreams and visions, instead of the biblically required plurality of eyewitnesses (Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15; Matthew 18:16; 2 Corinthians 13:1). He also made the statement that has now become a vital part of Western justice, “It were better that Ten Suspected Witches should escape, than that One Innocent Person should be Condemned.”10
Crusades

While many people attack Christianity for the Crusades, an increasing number of historians regard them as a belated response to four centuries of Islamic aggression that had conquered two-thirds of the Christian world.11

The Muslims quickly conquered the Iberian Peninsula (now Spain and Portugal) well before the Crusades. They would have almost certainly conquered Europe were it not for the King of the Franks, Charles Martel, grandfather of Charlemagne. In the Battle of Tours (ad 732), Martel’s infantry army stood firm against Muslim cavalry, and repulsed their repeated charges while inflicting enormous casualties. The Muslim leader Abd-er Rahman was killed. Afterwards, the remains of the shattered army retreated back across the Pyrenées, and never returned.

Also, just think about the historic centres of Christianity, such as Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria and the rest of North Africa—they are now Muslim lands, converted at the point of the sword. And after the crusades, the Muslim Turks conquered the ancient land of Asia Minor, the birthplace of the Apostle Paul, the site of many of his missionary journeys and home of the Seven Churches of the book of Revelation. Furthermore, when they conquered Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1453, some 800 years after its founding, they turned Hagia Sophia (‘Holy Wisdom’), the world’s biggest Christian church at the time, and the centre of Eastern Orthodoxy, into a mosque.

In this, they were following the example of Muhammad himself. Evangelist Lowell Lundstrom (1939–2012) observed, “During Muhammad’s ten years in Medina, he planned 65 military campaigns and raids, and he personally led 27 of them.”12 In Sura 66:9, the Koran affirms, “O Prophet! Strive against the disbelievers and the hypocrites and be stern with them. Hell will be their home, a hapless journey’s end.” Historian Sir Steven Runciman notes, “Unlike Christianity, which preached a peace that it never achieved, Islam unashamedly came with the sword.”13

Even Richard Dawkins recently admitted:

“There are no Christians, as far as I know, blowing up buildings. I am not aware of any Christian suicide bombers. I am not aware of any major Christian denomination that believes the penalty for apostasy is death. I have mixed feelings about the decline of Christianity, in so far as Christianity might be a bulwark against something worse.”14

So, in a similar note to the main teaching of this article, while atrocities committed in the name of Christ, such as during the Crusades, were inconsistent with the teachings of Christ (such as “Do not murder”), the atrocities committed by Muslims are consistent with Muhammad’s teachings and actions.15

Religious wars?

It’s important to note that religion had nothing to do with the vast majority of wars, e.g. Hutu–Tutsi war in Rwanda, Falklands War, Vietnam and Korean Wars, WW2, WW1, Gran Chaco War in South America, Russo-Japanese War, Spanish-American War, Prussian-French War, Crimean War, US Civil War, Napoleonic wars, Wars of the Roses, Mongol wars, Gallic War, Punic wars, Peloponnesian War, Assyrian wars …

Christian terrorists?

When Islamic or atheistic atrocities are announced, the secular media almost invariably resort to moral equivalence with claimed Christian terrorists. Let’s address a few of them.

Regarding the IRA (Irish Republican Army), Rev. Dr Mark Durie, a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, points out the truth:

“The example of the IRA, so often cited as Christian terrorists, illustrates the Christian position, because the IRA’s ideology was predominantly Marxist and atheistic. IRA terrorists found no inspiration in the teachings of Christ.”16

Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City Bomber who killed 168 people and wounded over 680, has often been called a “Christian terrorist”. But he was an agnostic to the end. In fact, his final pre-execution public statement was William Ernest Henley’s strongly humanist poem Invictus(1875). This starts, “I thank whatever gods may be/ for my unconquerable soul,” and finishes, “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”17 Such defiant rejection of his Creator is hardly the mark of any Christian, good or otherwise.

Also, the news media were quick to label the Norwegian mass-murderer Anders Breivik as a Christian. But Breivik specifically denied that he was a religious Christian, caring nothing for God and Christ:

“If you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God then you are a religious Christian. Myself and many more like me do not necessarily have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and God. We do however believe in Christianity as a cultural, social, identity and moral platform. This makes us Christian.”18

He could not be more wrong.

Hypocrites in the Church

Hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue.

Jesus reserved some of his strongest criticism for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. But He in no way condemned the righteousness that they stood for in public. Matthew 23:1–3 records:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practise and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practise.”

Thus the charge of hypocrisy was not an attack on the morality they preached but on their failure to live up to it. He actually told His followers to be even more righteous than the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20).

We are upset by hypocrisy precisely because we recognize that something intrinsically good has been debased and let down by the hypocrite’s failure to meet the very standard he proclaimed. Hence the saying, “Hypocrisy is the compliment vice pays to virtue.”

This atheist criticism amounts to preferring that we both say and do the wrong thing rather than say the right thing but do the wrong thing.19

Atheistic atrocities

The eugenics movement looked like a Darwin family business. … Darwin’s son Leonard replaced his cousin Galton as chairman of the national Eugenics Society in 1911.

Atrocities committed in Christ’s name pale in comparison to the record-breaking tens of millions killed by atheistic regimes just last century. This was thoroughly documented by Rudolph Rummel (b. 1932), Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Hawaii, who coined the term democide, meaning ‘murder of a people by their government’:20 77 million in Communist China, 62 million in the Soviet Gulag State, 21 million non-battle killings by the Nazis (including 6 million Jews, ⅓ of all Jews in Europe), 2 million murdered in the Khmer Rouge killing fields. This is many times more deaths than all ‘religious’ wars put together in all centuries of human history, and this is just for the 20th century!

We have previously documented the evolutionary basis for the Holocaust.21 This included eugenics, which was so Darwinian that non-creationist Denis Sewell documented:
Atrocities committed in Christ’s name pale to the record-breaking tens of millions killed by atheistic regimes just last century: 77 million in Communist China, 62 million in the Soviet Gulag State, 21 million non-battle killings by the Nazis, 2 million murdered in the Khmer Rouge killing fields.

“[In the] years leading up to the First World War, the eugenics movement looked like a Darwin family business. … Darwin’s son Leonard replaced his cousin Galton as chairman of the national Eugenics Society in 1911. In the same year an offshoot of the society was formed in Cambridge. Among its leading members were three more of Charles Darwin’s sons, Horace, Francis and George.”22

Summary

Professing Christians who committed atrocities were acting inconsistently with the teachings of Christianity. Conversely, evolutionists who committed atrocities were acting consistently with evolution.

The term ‘atrocity’ has meaning only under a Judeo-Christian worldview; it has no meaning in an evolutionary philosophy.

The horrors of atheistic atrocities in the 20th century alone dwarf all the ‘Christian’ atrocities in all centuries combined.

Related Articles
The Bible vs slavery and apartheid
Darwin and eugenics
America’s evolutionists: Hitler’s inspiration?
Ernst Haeckel: a hostile witness to the truth of the Bible
What good is Christianity?
Mostly masterful defence of Christianity; pity it’s slack on creation
Genocide, evolution and the Bible
Is the Bible ‘evil’?
Unfair to Islam?
Unfair to Islam? Round 2
Unborn babies may “be planning their future”
Inside the mind of a killer
How to build a bomb in the public school system
Bomb-building vs. the biblical foundation
Why is there death and suffering?
Islam and worldview: the big picture
The Koran vs Genesis
Clearing the name of Christ
Is God a ‘moral monster’?
Further Reading
Creation: Why it Matters
Death and Suffering Questions and Answers
Morality and Ethics Questions and Answers
Christian Apologetics Questions and Answers
Atheism
References and notes
1.Sarfati, J., What good is Christianity? Creation 29(4):6, 2007; creation.com/christianity-good.
2.Anti-slavery activist William Wilberforce: Christian hero, Creation 29(4):12–15, 2007; creation.com/wilberforce. .
3.Sarfati, J., Why does science work at all? Creation 31(3):12–14, 2009; creation.com/whyscience.
4.Catchpoole, D., Atheists credit the Gospel: Two high-profile atheists concede that to get practical help to the poor and liberate them from poverty you need Christianity’s teaching about man’s place in the Universe, Creation 32(4):48–49, 2010; creation.com/atheists-credit-christianity.
5.Grigg, R., Huxley, Morality and the Bible, Creation 34(4):40–42, 2012..
6.Evolution: The dissent of Darwin, Psychology Today 30(1):62, Jan–Feb 1997.
7.Jacoby, J., Created by God to Be Good, Patriot Post, 15 November 2010.
8.Kamen, H., The Spanish Inquisition: A Historical Revision, Yale University Press, 1999.
9.D’Souza, D., What’s So Great About Christianity? p. 207, Regnery, Washington DC, 2007; see review by Cosner, L., J. Creation 22(2):32–35, 2008; creation.com/dsouza.
10.Mather, I., Cases of Conscience Concerning Evil Spirits Personating Men, Witchcrafts, Infallible Proofs of Guilt in such as are accused with that Crime, September 1692.
11.Spencer, R., The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (And the Crusades), Regnery Press, 2005; 12.Spencer, R., Religion of Peace?: Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn’t, Regnery Publishing, 2007; Stark, R., God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades, HarperOne, 2009.
13.Lowell Lundstrom, The Muslims are Coming (Sisseton, SD: Lowell Lundstrom Ministries, 1980), p. 37. Lundstrom served for ten years as president and chancellor of Trinity Bible College, in Ellendale, North Dakota.
14.Quoted in Lundstrom, Ref. 12, p. 37.
Cited in: Gledhill, R., Scandal and schism leave Christians praying for a ‘new Reformation’, The Times (UK), 6 April 2010.
15.See J. Sarfati, Unfair to Islam? creation.com/islamunfair, 2008.
16.Durie, M., Creed of the sword, The Australian, 23 September 2006.
17.Gallagher, M., Timothy McVeigh, Christian terrorist, Townhall.com, 28 October 2002.
18.See also Bergman, J., “Anders Breivik—Social Darwinism leads to mass murder”, J. Creation 26(1):48–53, 2012; Sarfati, J., Norway terrorist: more media mendacity, creation.com/breivik, 11 August 2011
19.Wieland, C., The Haggard tragedy: “Christianity must be wrong because of all the hypocrites in the church!” creation.com/haggard, 9 November 2006.
20.Rummel, R.J., Death by Government, New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 1994; hawaii.edu/powerkills/NOTE1.HTM.
21.Weikart, R., From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, USA, 2004; see review creation.com/weikart.
22.Sewell, D., The Political Gene: How Darwin’s Ideas Changed Politics, p. 54, Picador, London, 2009; see also review, Bergman, J, J. Creation 25(1):19–21, 2011. 

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A Cabana da Montanha

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/cabana-da-montanha/
Adaptado de uma mensagem de Jesus

Imagine um homem em uma trilha na montanha varrida pelo vento. Os ramos da figueira curvando-se sob o peso da neve. Não é senda para amadores. É íngreme, rochosa e há penhascos e barrancos traiçoeiros no caminho. Quando a neve amaina um pouco, descortina-se o céu cinza e nublado. O caminho não está demarcado e ele viaja sem um guia, por isso tem que confiar na sua vista e na intuição.

Ele avança, ciente que o mais difícil ainda está por vir. Ainda haverá aclives mais acentuados e momentos de visibilidade ainda mais reduzida, assim como trechos em que terá que usar o equipamento de alpinismo para se agarrar à montanha. Neste momento já é necessário toda a coragem que possui para perseverar. Seus músculos doem e o vento queima o seu rosto. O vento provoca lágrimas e as força pelo canto dos olhos para, nas bochechas, se converterem em contas de gelo. Perdeu o tato nas mãos, mas não lhe faltam coragem e tenacidade. Uma tremenda compulsão de atingir o cume o instiga. São obstáculos que não o podem deter, e ele persiste.

Mas chega um momento em que a força lhe foge e ele começa a vacilar. Chegou ao limite de corpo e espírito e, no seu íntimo, pergunta-se se conseguirá chegar ao fim.

Mas é então que, por entre as árvores, vê uma luz bruxuleante. Aproxima-se um pouco mais e, no meio de uma clareira, vê uma cabana que parece um alojamento para viajantes. É feita de troncos, com um telhado bastante inclinado e uma extensão bem larga, muito acolhedora.

É provável que lá encontre algo quente para beber — café, chá, chocolate ou, quem sabe, conhaque — pensa.

A fumaça saindo da chaminé revela que a lareira está acesa. O viajante se aproxima e vê o brilho do fogo por um espaço entre as cortinas da janela. Ouve o som do riso das pessoas que comem e bebem. Logo as vê. Está tão quentinho lá dentro que elas nem usam jaquetas. A cabana é como uma ilha de calor, de alegria e de encorajamento no meio da neve.

Faz uma pausa para observar os viajantes lá dentro, sendo aquecidos, revigorados, fortalecidos e descansando para prosseguirem a sua jornada. Os pensamentos tomam sua mente: Talvez troquem entre si informações sobre o que lhes aguarda, indicações de como chegar ao fim do caminho. Quem sabe, como eu, alguns estejam aqui pela primeira vez, mas talvez haja outros tarimbados, que conheçam os perigos e riscos da trilha, que aconselham os novatos sobre a rota mais segura e rápida.

E há comida lá dentro: boa, farta e nutritiva. Há tanto que sente fome, que mal tem na memória a sensação de prazer de uma refeição quente. Vem mordiscando lanches no caminho porque não queria parar e preparar algo mais substancial.

Deve haver acomodações para hóspedes onde possa cochilar ou, talvez, pernoitar. O lugar parece ser exatamente o que um viajante exausto precisa. As vozes felizes o atraem para dentro. Um pouco de convívio e a chance de trocar experiências, reanimar-se e aprender dos demais viajantes em nada atrapalhariam.

Mesmo assim, analisa a cabana e pesa os benefícios oferecidos. Pensa e pondera: “É preciso manter o ritmo. É verdade que meus músculos doem, a fome é grande, não sinto mais os pés e as mãos, e o frio é cortante. Mas parar? Isso cabe aos fracos e desistentes. Hei de conseguir. Melhor é encontrar o caminho por conta própria. Com certeza muito maior será a glória”.

Baixinho, uma voz vinda de dentro sugere: “E se não encontrar? E se virar na direção errada? E se sofrer um acidente por desconhecer os pontos perigosos? E se lhe fugirem por completo as forças?” Mas ele ignora a sugestão íntima de parar e de se recuperar na cabana.

Força-se adiante, embrenhando-se na floresta escura, indo contra a tempestade, galgando a montanha ameaçadora. “Melhor é estar só” — pensa consigo, firme na sua decisão de chegar ao fim da jornada.

E nunca mais se tem notícia desse viajante.



Ainda que seja difícil imaginar alguém agindo assim, é precisamente o que muitos de nós fazemos, no espírito, diante de grandes desafios, quando repousar nos braços de Jesus faria toda a diferença. Ainda que, às vezes, a gratificante estrada da vida se apresente difícil e perigosa, Ele nos deu tudo que precisamos para trilhá-la: Sua Palavra, oração, comunhão com Ele e a camaradagem entre outros cristãos. Mesmo assim, muitos tentam seguir viagem por conta própria. Se parássemos para um descanso espiritual, encontraríamos alimento para nossas almas, teríamos comunhão com Jesus e, através da Sua Palavra e de oração, soluções para os nossos problemas. E poderíamos receber orientação daqueles que já conhecem o caminho.

Por que então ignorar tal ajuda e seguir só? Será o orgulho o nosso maior adversário? Será que, em parte, não queremos admitir nossa incapacidade e que precisamos de Jesus, da orientação da Sua Palavra e da ajuda de nossos companheiros cristãos?

E assim seguimos penosamente, e como as dificuldades são grandes!

Jesus não pode abrandar o aclive nem a trilha, mas pode facilitar a sua jornada. Esses abrigos para repouso com Ele ao longo do caminho alegram a jornada, pois você sabe que obterá a força para encarar os desafios que venha a enfrentar.

Escute Sua voz falando-lhe ao coração: “Não gostaria de parar na Minha cabana e saborear Comigo uma xícara de reconforto? Aqueça-se junto à lareira da Minha Palavra. Aprenda com a experiência daqueles que já trilharam o caminho. Descanse nas minhas camas confortáveis antes de seguir caminho. Quando chegar ao cume, se regozijará com a vista de tirar o fôlego, e beberá dos lagos cristalinos da montanha. Depois, poderá voltar e contar a outros como também chegar lá.”

Originalmente publicado em abril de 2001. Republicado em janeiro de 2012.
Tradução Tiago Sant’Ana. Revisão Denise Oliveira.

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The Calendar of Your Life

http://anchor.tfionline.com/post/calendar-your-life/
A compilation

Audio length: 8:13
Download Audio (15MB)

A calendar is often used to help remind you of special events or happenings, important appointments, and can even be used as a basic master plan of happenings in your life. There exists a special calendar for you alone, and I’m helping you fill in the squares with plans that are pleasing to Me, and as you trust and follow Me, you will see the manifestation of the secret desires of your heart. The calendar of your life is full of unique, memorable, and life-changing events.

I know that you sometimes wonder about some of the events that I have allowed in your life, or that I have allowed in the lives of others around you. My child, I do have a reason for all that I allow, although there will be many things that you can only understand in part in this life and must commit to Me.

So if your current month seems gray and bleak, if I were to skip ahead to the future and show you what good can come to you from such difficulties, you would clearly see that these seemingly dark days lead up to bright, warm, sunny days, and that what you will gain through it all will be priceless.

So don’t be afraid of letting Me help you fill in the calendar of your life. The best things happen to those who trust Me completely, and who happily flow with Me.—Jesus, speaking in prophecy

*

My toddler—whom we nicknamed Buddy—has a bubbly personality, but one thing he doesn’t like is getting strapped into his car seat. “Down. Down please, Mommy!” he cries. He doesn’t like to be restricted. He doesn’t like sitting still in his car seat.

It takes energy to strap him into the seat, and I try to calm him with my words. “I know you don’t like this now … but just wait and see where we’re going!” There are times I have to fight to strap him in to go to the park or the zoo. I’m hoping the stage will pass and Buddy will learn to trust me—trust that I have his best interest in mind, even if it feels confining for a time.

I’ve found the same true in my own life. There are times when I feel God confining me and shutting doors I wish were open. I pray. I plead. I cry, “Please, God.” But with no avail.

Usually I’m too busy complaining to hear His reassuring voice. I have something good in mind for you, Daughter. Trust Me. It’s not that God isn’t answering my prayers … it’s just that He has something better in mind for me. Something wonderful I can’t even imagine.

I can either struggle with Him, question His motives, and plead for my own desires, or I can pray, trust His motives, and listen to His heart.

Do you want to be able to trust God’s way? Pray for wisdom. Pray for the desire and power to follow His will and not fight for your own. You’ll never know what God has waiting for you right down the road.—Tricia Goyer1

*

John Elway was for many years the quarterback of the Denver Broncos. Although he was a great quarterback, his team was not that great. So year upon year they experienced losing seasons and humiliation, while he endured numerous injuries. All of his efforts and faithfulness seemed to be useless. Despite their situation John Elway did not retire but kept on enduring the pain and the failure of football. Why did he keep going? Because he had faith for the future! He believed that eventually his faith would pay off and that they would win the Super Bowl. His belief was realized in 1998 when the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 32. If he had not had faith for the future, he would have missed that experience.

In the same way we, as Christians, must have faith for the future if we are to experience the fullness of God’s promises. We too will experience a life of difficulties. Often there will be very little to show for our years of faith in God. We need to have a faith for the future if we are to endure and press forward and ultimately experience God’s promises.—Larry Sarver2

*

God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it.—Author unknown

*

At a retreat, I heard a clear challenge to dream bigger than normal, to dream Jesus-sized dreams, things only He could do, things He delights in doing. The retreat instructor offered us time to pray and write down those courageous, adventuresome dreams.

Two days after returning home from the retreat, life got messy. It started with a grease fire in the kitchen. The smoke, soot, and extinguisher dust scattered to every corner of the house. The cleanup took three weeks.

“My dreams went up in smoke,” I whimpered. I didn’t even know where those pages were anymore.

Jesus—the epitome of Truth—seemed to whisper something profound to my spirit. “No, they didn’t. They’re in the garage.”

I’d hastily thrown office items into bins and hauled them to the garage when the fire remediation crew cleaned and painted the office. My dreams didn’t go up in smoke. They were temporarily relocated. To the garage.

Misplace a dream? Is it truly gone or temporarily relocated? Spend some time today asking Jesus to revive the dream He planted in your heart.—Cynthia Ruchti3

*

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.—Hebrews 10:354

Published on Anchor December 2014. Read by Gabriel Garcia Valdivieso.
Music by Michael Dooley.



1 Mornings with Jesus 2015 (Guideposts).


2 http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/faith-for-the-future-larry-sarver-sermon-on-character-46128.asp.


3 Mornings with Jesus 2015 (Guideposts).


4 ESV.

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Memórias de Natal

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/memorias-de-natal/
D. Brandt Berg

É maravilhoso ter lindas lembranças. O Senhor muitas vezes nos ajuda a nos esquecermos das coisas ruins e a reter principalmente das memórias boas e felizes. É maravilhoso poder relembrar natais maravilhosos e cultivar outras memórias felizes. Talvez chegue o momento em que você vai olhar para trás e dar valor a essas lembranças felizes.

Talvez chegue uma época na sua vida em que as coisas estejam difíceis, na qual não haja tantos motivos de felicidade e as lembranças felizes dos bons momentos da vida podem ajudá-lo a superar as dificuldades. Então, quando as coisas estiverem ruins e você não se sentir tão abençoado com paz e abundância e momentos de alegria, ainda terá essas recordações tão queridas.

Não importa o que aconteça, você sempre terá suas lembranças dos natais passados e dos tempos felizes. Richard Wurmbrand, o ministro cristão preso pela sua fé, disse que lembrar-se de tempos passados felizes e reviver de suas lembranças foi o que o livrou de chegar à loucura quando estava numa prisão em um país comunista.[1] Às vezes, quando sua memória estava fraca, ele citava as Escrituras e cantava hinos. Quando não sabia mais o que fazer para manter a mente ocupada, ele se deitava e imaginava um tabuleiro de xadrez no teto e jogava.

Algo que você vai sempre levar consigo são as lembranças dos tempos felizes. Não é para você viver se lembrando do passado; deve esquecer as coisas que para trás ficam e seguir para o que está à frente.[2] Mas lembrar dos tempos felizes é um dos consolos que o Senhor lhe dá e acho que Ele espera que você desfrute das lembranças que guarda. Você pode se lembrar do passado e dos tempos felizes.

Podemos sempre estar agradecidos por algo, não é? Mesmo se estivermos sofrendo hoje, podemos estar agradecidos pelos dias em que não estávamos sofrendo e apreciá-los ainda mais, inclusive os natais passados e a felicidade que nos trouxeram. Mas ainda melhor do que isto, diferentemente daqueles que não conhecem o Senhor, temos dias ainda mais felizes pelos quais ansiarmos no futuro!

Até mesmo no vale da sombra da morte, por assim dizer, podemos ver “a montanha da casa do Senhor” e o futuro.[3] Por isso, temos tentado enfatizar e acentuar o positivo, as coisas boas que nos aguardam no futuro, deixando para trás as tribulações desta vida para olharmos para o mundo celestial por vir e lhes lembrar como tudo vai ser lindo e maravilho.

Lembro-me de quando era menino e éramos muito pobres, durante a Depressão, e estávamos muito agradecidos por termos dinheiro suficiente para comprar um litro de óleo. Ficávamos tão gratos por pequenas bênçãos: um pão, um litro de leite, um litro de gasolina, um bloco de gelo. Era quase nada, mas ter pouco nos ajudava a valorizar tudo ainda mais. Você realmente ficava agradecido pelo pouco que tinha.

Descobri que é assim que acontece: sentir falta das coisas me ensina a valorizar o que tenho muito mais, fico muito mais grato pelos pequenos favores, bênçãos e agradeço ao Senhor por tudo o que tenho.

Então, não tema o futuro nem se preocupe com ele. Você ainda terá suas lembranças, as bênçãos do Senhor, Sua proteção e provisão independentemente das suas condições. Mesmo se Ele tiver que levá-lo para casa, para junto dEle, para cuidar de você, ainda assim você poderá estar agradecido por isso, porque saberá que seu trabalho nesta terra terá terminado.

Quando Ele determinar que é sua hora de ir para o céu, será o dia mais feliz de todos, porque você vai chegar ao seu lar celestial e ver que tudo o que passou realmente valeu a pena. E então terá o Natal mais feliz de todos! De modo que o seu mais feliz Natal ainda está por vir, será o seu primeiro Natal no céu.

Obrigado, Senhor, por todos os natais, os anos maravilhosos e as lindas lembranças do passado. Sabemos que sempre teremos lindas memórias e entesouraremos ainda mais o que temos. Vamos Lhe agradecer por tudo, até chegar a hora em que finalmente passaremos aquele primeiro Natal com Você no céu, o Natal mais memorável de todos.

Abençoe e guarde a todos nós e nos ajude a nunca nos esquecermos do Seu amor que desceu no Natal, até chegar a hora em que teremos nosso maior e mais abençoado e maravilhoso Natal de todos com Você, Senhor, algo pelo qual devemos aguardar com expectativa, quando poderemos esquecer o passado e apenas viver o futuro no Seu Reino!

Publicado originalmente em dezembro de 1985. Adaptado e republicado em dezembro de 2014.


[1] Richard Wurmbrand (24 de março de 1909 – 17 de fevereiro de 2001) pastor evangélico romeno descendente judeu. Foi jovem durante um período de atividades antissemitas na Romênia, porém, mais tarde, depois de tornar-se crente em Jesus Cristo como Messias, e ousar falar em público que o comunismo e o cristianismo não eram compatíveis, foi preso e torturado pelas suas crenças. Pela sua liberdade, seus colegas pagaram um resgate equivalente a 10 mil dólares e lhe suplicaram que deixasse o país e trabalhasse pela liberdade religiosa a partir de um local menos perigoso para ele pessoalmente. Depois de passar um tempo na Noruega e na Inglaterra, ele e sua esposa Sabina, que também havia sido presa anteriormente, migraram para os Estados Unidos e dedicaram o resto de suas vidas a ajudar cristãos perseguidos pelas suas crenças e a espalhar as notícias sobre eles. Ele escreveu mais de 18 livros, dos quais o mais amplamente conhecido é Tortured for Christ (Torturado por Cristo). (Wikipédia).

[2] Filipenses 3:13.

[3] Isaías 2:2.

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New Year, Fresh Start

Words from Jesus

Audio length: 5:20
Download Audio (4.8MB)

Each new year brings with it many things. It’s full of freshness, growth, and new experiences. It’s full of second chances, forgiveness, and opportunities to try again. It’s also full of tests, new challenges, and its share of difficulties and problems.

The most important thing in your new year is your relationship with Me. Because with Me at your side, you’re guaranteed to make it through whatever this new year may hold.

It’s been wisely said that life on earth is a testing ground and a learning experience, and with Me as your guide and coach, you’re sure to be successful. Your success may not look like success as it is popularly perceived, but you will be successful in the things that last beyond this life and into eternity.

Enter this new year with Me, holding My hand, and letting Me lead and guide you. Although I can’t promise that the paths you will walk this year will be easy or problem-free, I can promise you that My strength will always be sufficient for you, and that you will not face a challenge too big or too difficult for you and Me to handle together. If you can believe this and commit to trusting Me no matter what comes your way, you’ll find that nothing will surprise you so greatly as to undermine your confidence and trust in Me.

When difficulties and challenges arise, remember My promise to help you through. Remember that when you are weak, I am strong. This will fill you with peace and confidence for your year ahead—the confidence of knowing that I, the maker of heaven and earth, am with you.

As we walk through this year together, the challenges you face can become opportunities for you to experience My unfailing power and strength. The choices that you face will be easier to make with My counsel to direct you. The connections and relationships you have this year will be sweeter and deeper as more of Me shines through you. At the close of this new year you’ll be able to look back and see the progress you’ve made and look forward to another year with Me.

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Look back and see how far you’ve come this last year. Look at all the victories that have been won, all that you’ve learned, and how much you’ve grown. You’ve come through some pretty tough times, but you didn’t give up when the going got tough. You held on, fought through to victory, and now you’re stronger and your faith has grown. Everything that you’ve gone through has helped you in some way, and will also serve to help you in the future. Being able to look back and enjoy the victories of the last year is part of the reward of making it past the obstacles and overcoming them.

Now that you’ve looked back at the view from the mountain you climbed last year, look ahead to the future and to the mountain of this next year in front of you. This next mountain looks higher than the one you just climbed, and it is. But that also means that the summit is going to have an even more incredible view! And even though this new mountain may present a few more challenges than the last one, because of the experience you’ve gained and the things you’ve learned, you’re stronger and more prepared to tackle the challenges ahead. Plus, with Me as your guide, you can’t go wrong. I’ll be with you every step of the way on the climb.

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Much of life is about the little decisions you make every day. Decisions of the past have had their effect on your life, but every new day can be a new start. No matter what has happened up till now, you have a chance to make the right choices today.

Don’t waste time reliving the pain of past mistakes and wrong decisions. That only saps your power to do the good that you can do today. You can’t change the past, but you can make decisions that will build the future, starting right now, so take full advantage of the present.

Learn from past mistakes and put them behind you today. Forgive those who have wronged you and ask forgiveness from those you have wronged. That probably won’t be easy, but don’t put it off; determine today to do it. Look to Me and My Word for fresh courage and hope, starting today. Dream new dreams today. Set new goals today. Spend your time on things that truly count today. Love your family today. Be a friend today. Do things better, starting today.

Originally published October 2008. Adapted and republished December 2014.
Read by Jon Marc.

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My Answer to Steve Siebold's "Don't Just Question the 10 Commandments; Question the Entire Bible"

By Steve Siebold and Dennis Edwards -- 

Steve Siebold

Here’s an article that has been recently published by Yahoo from the Huffington Post. Let’s go through it and see how as Christians we can respond to these affirmations.

Most people are familiar with the story of the 10 Commandments. The short version is that God called Moses to Mount Sinai where he gave him two tablets of stone that contained the 10 Commandments. These 10 Commandments, according to the story, summarized the absolutes of spiritual and moral living that God intended for his people. The Jewish Torah and Christian Bible both contain the story of the 10 Commandments, and it can be found in Exodus 20:1-17.

According to a number of studies though, religion is in trouble. A survey by the PEW Research Center in 2012 saw record numbers indicating a huge upswing in Atheism, with 20 percent of Americans now identifying as Agnostic, Atheist or "Unaffiliated" with a religion. This was the highest percentages ever of "nones" or those who are unaffiliated in Pew Research Center polling. (Maybe the growing unaffiliated group is a fulfillment of the Bible prophecy which says there shall be a “falling away from the faith” before the son of Man appear in the clouds of heaven at the Second Coming. Paul said the falling away would happen in the “last days” and “then shall the end come.” Even Jesus questioned whether he would find faith on his return. He said, “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” The fact that organized religion is on a downward spiral does not necessarily mean that the Bible is false, maybe it is an indication that man made Churchianity is not fulfilling the spiritual needs of today’s generation. In China, we find just the opposite of a falling away, where many who have had almost 70 years without the gospel being preached are receiving Christ with open arms. Jesus himself predicted that the deceitfulness of riches would choke the word and it would become unfruitful. Maybe that is what has taken place in the former Christian nations of Europe and North America. The false religion of materialism, which teaches that ultimate happiness comes through the possession of certain things, has left Europe and America spiritually empty. Christianity has embraced the abundant life philosophy and its materialistic pursuits and lost its true bearings and goals.)

So with more people considering themselves atheist, what do they believe when it comes to the rules to live by? As part of the new book Atheist Mind, Humanist Heart: Rewriting the Ten Commandments for the Twenty-first Century, authors Lex Bayer and John Figdor held a contest in which atheists were asked to offer modern alternatives to the Ten Commandments.

Here are the winners of the "Ten Non-Commandments:" (The Ten Non-Commandments is exactly right because the atheist has no objective moral authority to base his commandments on. His relativistic moral world view is meaningless. Why should he have any moral point of view at all if life is meaningless? Why should he have any moral world view if we are the result of random naturalistic accidents, made for no rhyme or reason? Isn’t that what Hitler and Stalin decided that there was no meaning to life except the evolutionary process of the survival of the fittest and that therefore “might was right,” which they followed religiously to its drastic results? Why in a meaningless, atheistic, materialistic, naturalistic worldview should we bother with morality and commandments any way, shouldn’t we just “Do It” because “We are gods?”Here the author is publishing his relativistic philosophy based on the opinions of men. Utilitarianism is the philosophy which says that whatever the majority of the people believe to be true or moral should be accepted as the moral guideline. But by making this type of conclusion the relativist and atheists have to presuppose that man’s thought and feeling processes are working accurately. If our thoughts and thinking processes are the result of natural non directed random accidents why should anyone assume that his thinking and feeling processes were capable of accessing the true nature of reality? The atheist has no reason to believe or accept the preconditions for rationality. How can an atheist account for making any moral stand at all? Where does he get his absolute authority from? Does he get it from what the majority think? But what the majority thinks can be and has been wrong in the past as we have seen with Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia, and with slavery and woman’s rights. The atheist really has no real authority on which to base his Commandments, so he must borrow from the Christian world view as we will see in some of the commandments he makes.)

1. Be open-minded and be willing to alter your beliefs with new evidence. (But we do not just find the truth because of new evidence. Evidence can be interpreted differently as we see with the creation/evolution debate. The same fossils are interpreted differently. The same rock formations are interpreted differently. The same bird’s beaks are interpreted differently. Your belief system determines how you view the evidence and very few people are willing to give up their cherished interpretation over new evidence alone unless they are very honest and are sincerely seeking for the truth. Men seldom change their opinion because of new evidence. They hold to their belief system regardless of the evidence. The theory of evolution is so full of holes that it holds no water and yet evolutionists and atheists will hold to it because it is tied to their belief system that God does not exist. For example, if I question the evolutionist/atheist with, How it is possible for evolution to occur when there is no biological mechanism that can add new instructive genetic information to the genome? How is it possible when neither natural selection nor mutations can add new instructive or directional genetic information? He will ignore the “new evidence” and say “we are still looking for the mechanism; we just haven’t found it yet.” His presupposed belief that evolution is true and that evolution has been proven, will forbid him from acknowledging any new evidence contrary to his belief system. Very few people will actually investigate and do a thorough research when their world-view is being threatened by “new evidence.” As far as being open-minded, is the atheist open minded to the possibility of the existence of God? Is the homosexual open minded to the possibility that his lifestyle is negatively affecting his physical and psychological health? Is he open minded to the possibility that his behavior may be abhorrent to a transcendent spirit being who created man and woman in his image to multiply and fill the earth with human life, even though that transcendent spirit being is merciful and loves him?)

2. Strive to understand what is most likely to be true, not to believe what you wish to be true. (Again, same as the above. Very few people are critical thinkers. They are often skeptical to view points they do not agree with. But they will not look with the same measure of skepticism on their own belief system which they believe to be true. They will not test their viewpoint to see if it is logically true, but they will more likely have an emotional reason for the position which they take. Like Aldous Huxley confessed, "I had motives for not wanting the world to have meaning, consequently assumed it had none, and was able without any difficulty to find satisfying reasons for this assumption. The philosopher who finds no meaning in the world is not concerned exclusively with a problem in pure metaphysics; he is also concerned to prove there is no valid reason why he personally should not do as he wants to do . . For myself, as no doubt for most of my contemporaries, the philosophy of meaninglessness was essentially an instrument of liberation. The liberation we desired was simultaneously liberation from a certain political and economic system and liberation from a certain system of morality. We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom."—*Aldous Huxley, "Confessions of a Professed Atheist," Report: Perspective on the News, Vol. 3, June 1966, p. 19 [grandson of evolutionist Thomas Huxley, Darwin's closest friend and promoter, and brother of evolutionist Julian Huxley. Aldous Huxley was one of the most influential liberal writers of the 20th century].)

3. The scientific method is the most reliable way of understanding the natural world. (If we kept to the scientific method in science it would indeed be wonderful. We could eliminate the Big Bang Theory because we cannot go back in time and run an empirical experiment to see if it is true. The Big Bang Theory is speculation which cannot be tested through the scientific method. It is philosophy or atheistic religious speculation and should be taken out of science and placed in philosophy class or in comparative religious studies. The internationally renowned astrophysicist George Ellis who worked with Stephen Hawking on the Big Bang cosmology said the following when talking about the Big Bang Theory: “People need to be aware that there is a range of models that can explain the observations .... For instance, I can construct a spherically symmetric universe for you with Earth at its center, and you cannot prove otherwise based on observations, (that it is wrong) ....you can only exclude it on philosophical grounds(that it sounds too much like the Bible.) In my opinion, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that (in excluding the model that could be interpreted as confirming the Bible.) I want to bring into the open is the fact that we are using philosophical criteria in choosing our models. A lot of cosmology tries to hide it.” Stephen Hawking talking about the Big Bang in his “Brief History of Time” notes he must start with “a mixture of ideology (or in other words, philosophical assumptions).”

(The theory that life started millions of years ago spontaneously from pond scum cannot be proven through the scientific method, so it too should be discarded. The idea that the geologic column was laid down over millions of years cannot be proven through the scientific method so that too should be eliminated. The whole idea that new life forms have developed from other more primitive life forms cannot be proven by the scientific method so that too should be discarded. Stephen Gould famous American evolutionary scientist said that significant evolutionary change has not been observed. "Every paleontologist knows that most species don't change. That's bothersome....brings terrible distress. ...They may get a little bigger or bumpier but they remain the same species and that's not due to imperfection and gaps but stasis. And yet this remarkable stasis has generally been ignored as no data. If they don't change, it’s not evolution so you don't talk about it." Some evolutionists have admitted it themselves at times of honest confession. If we stuck to the scientific method we could eliminate much of the philosophical aspect of modern day science where evolutionary theory sits.)

(I think that would be marvelous. Creation scientists would applaud. Then people would see how much of what is proposed as science, is not science at all but rather atheistic religious speculation/philosophy. Evolution and the Big Bang Theory are nothing more than the atheist’s creation myth. Neither creation nor “molecule to man” evolution can be scientifically proven and verified by the scientific method. Matthew Harrison a British biologist and a Fellow of the Royal Society has said,"The fact of evolution is the backbone of biology, and biology is thus in the peculiar position of being a science founded on an unproved theory-is it then a science or a faith? Belief in the theory of evolution is thus exactly parallel to belief in special creation-both are concepts which believers know to be true but neither, up to the present, has been capable of proof." It would be wonderful if evolutionists would admit this fact and place the evolutionary theory in the religion or philosophical department and out of science. But the truth is quite the opposite as Professor Richard Lewontin has confessed, “"Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of (evolutionary) science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs, in spite of its failure to fulfill many of its extravagant promises of health and life, in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.")

4. Every person has the right to control of their body. (The atheist wants to support homosexuality and abortion and euthanasia, so they would need to justify and sanctify their chosen lifestyle in their commandments. But, should we not consider the rights of the unborn child? The personal and political rights Western Europe and America have are mainly the results of Christianity’s influence on man’s culture. It was the influence of Christianity in England they led to the Magna Carta being signed. That all men are equated equal with undeniable rights is from the Christian world view. It is because of Christianity that society has progressed to the protection of the rights of the weakest members of society. It was the Christian William Wilberforce who almost single handedly pushed and obtained the abolition of slavery in the British Commonwealth. It was Christianity in England that pushed for the rights of the poor and disabled and led to social reform. The Bible tells us that in marriage we relinquish the control of our body to our mate. Paul admonishes couples not to withhold themselves from one another unless they agree together to do so. He said that in marriage, the wife no longer has control over her own body, but must yield to the man’s needs and likewise the man to his wife’s. In marriage both parties must humble themselves to one another or the marriage will not work. That’s the goal, but it’s not so easy to fulfill.) 

5. God is not necessary to be a good person or to live a full and meaningful life. (You do not need to believe in Him in order to have a full and meaningful life, but unless He exist why should we expect to be able to live a full and meaningful life. Why should we expect anything to be meaningful at all? Love for one another, brotherhood, and friendship are concepts that cannot be rightly accounted for in a meaningless, materialistic, naturalistic world view. The existence of love and beauty has long been used as traditional arguments for the existence of a Divine Maker. The fact that an atheist can live a full and meaningful life, does not prove the non- existence of God. Even though he does not believe in God, the atheist borrows from the Christian worldview in order to find meaning. He cannot explain where love comes from. He cannot adequately explain the bonds of human friendship and brotherhood. Why would we expect these non material entities to exist in a materialistic, naturalistic world view? But in the Christian worldview the Creator God is an adequate reason for the existence of all these qualities and more. The fact that the atheist may often seek to live a full and meaningful life shows he in fact needs God. Because his own worldview is meaningless and empty, he borrows from the Christian worldview to find his own fulfillment while denying the very existence of the transcendent spiritual being which gives reason for those qualities in life that make life meaningful.)

6. Be mindful of the consequences of all your actions and recognize that you must take responsibility for them. (Sounds like he’s borrowing from the Bible’s “you will reap what you sow.” But why in his atheistic, materialistic, naturalistic worldview would he come to this conclusion? Why should he be able to trust his own reasoning ability if all is just a materialistic, naturalistic accident? Where do the preconditions of intelligibility come from? He has no sound answer. Nor for why he should make moral judgments. He has no reason for an objective moral code to uphold and therefore has no reason to make his own “Ten Non Commandments.”)

7. Treat others as you would want them to treat you, and can reasonably expect them to want to be treated. Think about their perspective. (Why does he not just quote Jesus’ own words, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” Again, the atheist is borrowing from the Christian world view, yet claiming he came to his conclusion naturalistically. Again he has no reason to morally pontificate in a meaningless, naturalistic, materialistic worldview. Yet, he needs to, because he is God’s creature and has been wired by God with a moral conscience. Nevertheless, he denies his moral conscience comes from God, but he has no logical justification for its existence.)

8. We have the responsibility to consider others, including future generations (Again he’s borrowing from the Bible. God made man a tender of the garden. It is following the law of love that Jesus taught which is doing unto others what we would want them to do unto us that gives justification for why we should consider others. But in a materialistic, naturalistic, atheistic worldview why should we be bothered with the future generations since life is meaningless and just the result of random accidental materialistic processes? His conclusion above does not follow logically from his own worldview. But it does from the theistic Christian one.)

9. There is no one right way to live. (Then why make this lengthy article trying to offer a new moral code? Because he has been wired by God’s objective moral code, though at places where it confines his lifestyle he rejects it and places his own adaption which justifies his own aberrations. In his materialistic, naturalistic, atheistic worldview why should he have any moral code at all? By what authority does he make a moral code and how does it grow logically from his atheistic, naturalistic, materialistic worldview?)

10. Leave the world a better place than you found it. (Another adaption of Jesus’ law of love. I have no need to go over the same reasons why the atheist has no adequate justification for his moral stance.)
And there's your moral code. No need to carve it in stone or hand it down from a mountain. (Of course not, it may change by next week according to the whims of man and passing fades.) Did we ever really need a supernatural being or a book to tell us these things? (But how do these ideas follow logically from your own atheistic, materialistic, naturalistic worldview? Many of them do follow from the Christian worldview and God the creator. But the atheistic, materialistic, naturalistic worldview does not have adequate reasons for his desiring a universal moral code in the first place.) I think we'll be just fine on our own. (It has been man’s rejection of God and his simple law of love that has led to the mess of a world we have today.) All we need to do is start thinking for ourselves. (Why are we even able to think and reflect in a materialistic, naturalistic, atheistic worldview where everything is a result of random meaningless accidents?)

In fact, why stop at the 10 Commandments? Isn't it time we questioned the entire Bible? (That’s what he really wants to attack, the Bible.) The Bible is a book of symbolic literature. It's a fusion of stories, ideas, chronologies, and traditions woven together over at least 1,000 years. The authors, editors and the massive organization of people that followed set out to control the world through their view of morality under the threat of eternal damnation for noncompliance, and it worked. (Here’s a pretty sweeping generalization. To say that the authors and editors of the Bible set out to control the world has no evidential support. The fact is many of them died for their faith, were hated by the world and considered scum and outcasts by society. Perhaps false Christianity under the guise of Churchianity have used certain techniques to control their flocks, however Jesus set out to set men free from that sort of moral hypocrisy. He admonished, that if men would continue in his words, they would learn the truth and that the truth would set them free.) but that is not a reflection This wouldn't be surprising 2,000 or even 200 years ago, but in 2014 it's almost unbelievable.

Critical thinking says people don't believe in the Bible because it's believable; they believe it because they want to believe it. (People believe what they want to believe even when it is contrary to common sense and the scientific method. We have seen from their own confessions that evolution is a belief system not a factual scientific theory.) They need to believe it. The prospect of eternal death is too much for most people to bear. So instead of searching for truth, they cling to this book like a drowning man to a life preserver. (My search for truth led me from Catholicism to atheism to theism and ultimately to the true Christianity of Jesus Christ.) The most intelligent and emotionally mature people in society know this, yet most allow the delusion to continue in order to avoid panic, depression, and hysteria among the masses. Ignorance is not only bliss, in this case it's the glue that holds civilization together. Brilliant thinkers like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, and many other prominent Americans in our history recognized that the Bible wasn't the word of God, yet they purposely tried to appease people by attempting to find the good in a bad book.

American's won't put their Bibles in the fictional file in our lifetime, but it will happen eventually if the country survives long enough. (Does he intuitively perceive what the Bible predicts, “The wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God.”) All superstitions are eventually disproved by science and tucked away as remnants of past ignorance. The Bible will become an ancient relic of the past someday. (God has promised to preserve his word in spite of scoffers and skeptics.) Until then, we need to have the courage to question and probe every aspect of this book and the multibillion dollar mob that wields it as a weapon. (But will he apply the same skepticism to the Theory of Evolution and today’s dictatorial scientific leadership?) It's time we start putting polite conversation behind and begin debating the Bible in mixed company. (Peter admonishes us to be ready to answer the unbeliever, yet we should remain meek and loving, while holding to our convictions with boldness and speaking with authority and sound logic.)

It's time for Americans to begin engaging in serious discourse regarding the future of this country -- before it's too late. (It seems like it’s already too late, and will only get worse if men continue to reject God and lean to their own natural reasoning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Let’s engage these non-believers with logical arguments while remembering that our greatest witness is love.)

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Ex BLACK SABBATH singer JEFF FENHOLT testimony.

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Alice Cooper's Christian Testimony

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Mysterious Deaths of 9 11 Witnesses

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Escolha o Amor

http://anchor.tfionline.com/pt/post/escolha-o-amor/

Uma compilação

Não importa tudo o que está acontecendo na sua vida hoje, escolha o amor. O amor acolhe. O amor presume o melhor. O amor ousa se apegar à verdade mesmo sendo difícil. O amor é um bom presente para se dar. O amor é uma decisão que tomamos porque foi o que Jesus nos pediu para fazer. Para ser. Para emanar. — Quer a pessoa nos ame, quer não. O amor reage com graça divina quando ouve o sussurro, “vamos dançar”. E mesmo quando está cansada, com dor nos pés depois de fazer tudo o que lhe foi pedido, a mulher amorosa responde com um sussurro, “sim, vamos dançar”.—Lysa TerKeurst

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Dizemos que a graça é um “favor imerecido”. E somos instruídos a amar como Cristo nos ama. Ele nos trata com graça, e devemos ter essa mesma atitude com outros. Isso significa que devemos tratar as pessoas com mais gentileza do que achamos que merecem.—Autor anônimo

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Em retrospectiva, perceberemos que os momentos mais marcantes nas nossas vidas foram aqueles quando agimos por amor.—Henry Drummond

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Quando se trata de amar as pessoas, os que têm o Meu Espírito estão em vantagem, porque o Espírito atua no seu íntimo reconfigurando suas mentes e corações no sentido de amarem os outros. Eu disse a alguns dos Meus primeiros seguidores: “Nisto conhecerão que sois meus discípulos, se vos amardes uns aos outros.”[1] Naquela época, o amor dos Meus seguidores chamou a atenção do mundo todo. E hoje em dia, em um mundo onde as pessoas olham tanto para o próprio umbigo esse tipo de amor se torna ainda mais evidente. Muitos não aceitam amar abnegadamente. Essa falta de amor, porém, contribui para o Meu amor a brilhar ainda mais! Toda vez que você coloca o Meu amor em ação fica um pouco mais parecido Comigo, de maneira que Eu Me torno mais evidente na sua vida do que as suas próprias características.

Eu sou a fonte do amor. Eu sou amor, e você pode ter mais do Meu Espírito de amor do que nunca. “Pedi e recebereis”.[2] Se orar pedindo o amor que precisa e se dispuser a colocá-lo em ação, Eu lhe darei o Meu amor com tanta força e poder que você perceberá estar participando de um milagre!—Jesus falando em profecia

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Todos precisam e desejam amor incondicional, mas muitos jamais o encontram. O amor eterno do tipo que supera tudo, é resultado de receber Jesus. O nosso trabalho é demonstrar o Seu amor às pessoas e ajudá-las a receber Jesus e desfrutar do Seu amor em suas vidas. Para isso precisamos ser um exemplo de Jesus na nossa interação. Quando manifestamos amor verdadeiro uns pelos outros no nosso dia a dia, as pessoas se sentem atraídas e querem saber mais sobre Jesus e a Palavra.—Maria Fontaine

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Certa vez, Lee Iacocca perguntou ao lendário técnico de futebol americano , Vince Lombardi, o que era preciso para montar uma equipe vencedora. A resposta de Lombardi está registrada no livro intitulado Iacocca.

“Existem muitos técnicos em clubes de alto nível que conhecem as regras básicas, têm disciplina, mas ainda assim suas equipes não se sagram campeãs. Devo dizer que o terceiro ingrediente para jogar em equipe é se importar uns com os outros. Os jogadores precisam se amar. Cada um tem que pensar no colega e dizer para si mesmo: ‘Se eu não fizer o bloqueio, Paul vai levar uma pancada que vai quebrar suas pernas. Preciso fazer uma jogada certeira’.

“A diferença entre mediocridade e grandeza”, revelou Lombardi na ocasião, “é o sentimento que aqueles jogadores nutrem uns pelos outros.”

Na igreja sadia, cada cristão aprendia a se importar e cuidar do outro. Se levarmos a sério o mandamento de Jesus e nos amarmos uns aos outros, contribuiremos para termos uma equipe vencedora.—Autor anônimo

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Acima de tudo, porém, revistam-se do amor, que é o elo perfeito. — Colossenses 3:14[3]

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Seja bondoso consigo mesmo e com outros... Cuide das pessoas ao seu redor. Releve as diferenças. Os sonhos delas são tão válidos quanto os seus. Elas enfrentam as mesmas dificuldades nas decisões. Seja generoso. Dê tanto quanto possível dentro das suas condições. Amar é ser generoso. Reter faz definhar. Se importar-se menos com a colheita e mais em compartilhar a colheita, a sua vida terá sentido e você terá paz de espírito.—Kent Nerburn

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Dediquem-se uns aos outros com amor fraternal. Prefiram dar honra aos outros mais do que a si próprios. — Romanos 12:10[4]

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Jesus disse: “Nisto todos conhecerão que são Meus discípulos, se vos amardes uns aos outros”. Por que acha que Ele fez tal declaração? Não teria bastado dizer simplesmente para falarmos sobre o amor de Jesus? O Senhor não podia ter dito apenas: “Nisto todos conhecerão que são Meus discípulos, se pregardes a Minha mensagem”? Não acha que teria sido suficiente?

Evidentemente não, porque o Senhor disse que todos conhecerão que somos dEle setivermos amor uns pelos outros. E se tivermos amor uns pelos outros, certamente iremos demonstrar no dia a dia de maneiras óbvias e tangíveis. Não basta apenas falar sobre amor. Jesus disse que devemos ter amor, viver o amor. O Senhor sabia que o exemplo seria inegável.

Ore e peça ao Senhor para ajudá-lo a cumprir o Seu grande mandamento de amar o seu próximo como a si mesmo. Por essa razão Jesus veio à terra, para nos dar a vida eternal e também nos ensinar a amar, para podermos então compartilhar essa vida com outros.—D. Brandt Berg

Publicado no Âncora em dezembro 2014.


[1] João 13:35.

[2] Mateus 7:7.

[3] NVI.

[4] NVI.

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