Is There An Eternity?

Genesis is an incredible book of the Bible. It has the seedbed to all Bible doctrine and has been the source of many questions throughout time. The very beginning of all that we know is put out for scrutiny and scientific analysis. I have heard believers of the creation account called fools and complete idiots for believing such nonsense. But today I want to challenge you to question science with science and to take a good hard look at what the Bible says about the beginning of all that we know as this universe.
Science and the Bible tend to work well together. I believe that God gave us amazing brains and the ability to figure out great mysteries. Somehow science has been turned into an “anti-God” field of study that shows how there is no need for a God and only a desire to show that man is the higher power due to evolution. So lets look at the definition of science.
Science: a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws. I like that definition because it puts the Bible in play. The Bible claims to contain the truth. One thing I learned about the truth long ago is that some people don’t like the truth. Especially when it goes against their feelings. But science is not about feelings it is about facts and truth.
Here is a claim from the Bible that science often disagrees with: Genesis 1:1In the beginning God created heaven and earth. Most scientist say that there was a big bang and this ball of mass exploded causing cosmic dust to form the universe. So lets look at some logic, facts, and science to see which makes more sense.
The real question that I believe must be dealt with is eternity. Either something always existed or at one time there was nothing. Science will prove over and over that nothing cannot be the answer because nothing can’t explode or create something. Nothing, absolute nothing, leaves it impossible for either the Bible or some scientific claims to happen. So that means that something had to have always existed. That works well for me, a Bible believer. And if you are a big banger, it works for you. So what is it that always existed?
Science would have to say it was a lifeless mass so dense that it was collapsing in on itself and exploded. The Bible says that God, a living, loving, all-powerful being always existed. Science uses a term called cause and effect: Cause and effect (also written as cause-effect or cause/effect or cause and consequence) refers to the philosophical concept of casuality, in which an action or event will produce a certain response to the action in the form of another event. So we must ask what caused this lifeless mass to do anything? Was it getting bored with just sitting in a vacuum of space and decided to collapse in on itself one day? Science says that there must have been a cause for this action.
The Bible says that God, an intelligent and all-powerful being spoke into existence all that we see. There is cause and effect. Science. Sure it is not easy to understand how, but it does meet the criteria for science better than the other possibility. Remember that we are not going on feelings, only science and facts and truth.
You see the true problem that must be addressed is the problem of eternity. If mankind can prove that there was a beginning to everything from lifelessness, then the Bible is wrong and we don’t have to worry about eternity on the other end, death, nor answering to a higher authority when we die. If all that we see came from nothing of any intelligence or power or conscience, then we are merely scientific accidents awaiting our end.
But, if God did create everything because He has always existed, then we have to admit that we are not the highest form of life and there is a possibility that we will have an eternity on the other side of death and we may have to give an account to Him, the one true living God.
God loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him. He made a way. His name is Jesus. And whoever will call on the name on the Lord will be saved.
Romans 14:11-12
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, to me every knee shall bow, And every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Until next year

2012 has been a busy, hectic, but very productive year. It is hard to believe that we only have a couple more weeks before it is over. I have taken a break from blogging due to a fire in our church and the fact that I have been trying to rethink how I want to focus my blogs. This will be my last blog until next year, so let me leave you with a few thoughts.
Our church had a great year. We saw over 100 people come to know Jesus as Savior and baptized nearly 60 people. We grew to the point of need to have a second worship time and that will be 8:30am beginning Jan. 6, 2013.
Our country re-elected President Obama. Say what you want, the people have spoken and its time to move forward.
Supposedly the world is ending tomorrow. The Mayan calendar says so. If that happens, this will be my last blog. I am planning ahead, just in case.
The Gamecocks beat Clemson for the fourth year in a row and Navy beat Army for the eleventh year in a row. It makes me happy.
My youngest grandkid turned one. My oldest turned 11. If I got these wrong, I know I will be corrected. The point is, I try to notice these things.
My wife and I are hosting an international student from Korea. His real name can’t be pronounced properly, so everybody calls him Freddy. I taught him how to shoot guns and he is teaching me how to praise God for successfully raising teenagers.
Our nation saw tragedy when senseless violence took the lives of innocent people and some think we need new laws. I just think we need to pray harder and enforce the laws we have. New laws have never stopped stupidity or insanity.
I celebrated my tenth year as pastor of my church. I am not sure how long this is going to take. These are some really weird people, but I like them.
This is only a partial list of things that I remember from 2012 and my very brief comment on them. For the most part 2012 was a great year. I believe in hope and I believe 2013 will be even better. Until them, have a merry Christmas and I will be back next year. Actually I will be here, but not blogging. Either way, unless the world ends tomorrow, look for new blogs to start in 2013.

Surviving The Storm

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As you might have noticed, I have not been putting out blogs at the pace I normally do. There has been a lot going on that has demanded my attention and so I had to eliminate some things from my daily routine temporarily. As if the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons are not busy and hectic enough, I have had to deal with several other issues that added to “the storm”.
I like to call things that keep me extra busy storms because it sounds much more dramatic than just saying that I have been too busy to do some stuff. A storm makes you think that winds are raging and thunder and lightning are threatening and the danger element is really high. So if I had to be really honest about it, I guess instead of a storm, I have been in a rain event.
Rain events are nothing to be laughed at. During a good rain, things can get really wet and even cold and that does not feel good. Rain can make you want to sleep more and forget about going outside to do other stuff. Rain may sound innocent, but let me tell you, until you have seen the rain that I have seen, you don’t have a clue. And then if it rains on a Monday, well, rainy days and Mondays always get me down.
Probably the worst thing about the rain in life is when you get those breaks where the sun comes out, so you go outside and don’t wear a raincoat or take an umbrella and you are scared that it may rain again and get your hair wet. That can cause a lot of stress. I mean, what if it really does start raining again? Then what?
I was out in the middle of a big field one time and did not have a raincoat or an umbrella and it started raining. At first it was a gentle mist, but then it became a constant mist, and, add in the wind, or breeze, and it was like being in the middle of a field getting wet and there was nothing you could do about it. Although it only lasted a few minutes, I got wet. And, although I shave my head and so my hair was not affected, I felt the stress that others who might have hair would have felt if they were out in that field too. And for those who would scoff at this, later that day, it rained really hard and I was a bit shaken at the thought of how, if that would have happened while I was out there, that I could have gotten really wet.
So, although what I have been through is not really a storm of life, but rather a rain event, I wanted you to know that I am fine. I have relied on my years of experience to get me through it. I also try to remember that even though the rain of life is tough, there are people who are going through the storms of life, and in those storms there is most often rain. So if you just think about the rain and block out the thunder and lightning and raging wind and all the really bad stuff that goes along with a storm, and just think about the rain, then you will understand what I am going through and you won’t be so critical about me not blogging for a while.
Yes, God can calm the storm. Sometimes He chooses to clam the child in the storm. But when it is just raining, God is still there.

Write In Votes

 

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I did my civic duty of voting today. It was not thrilling or even mildly exciting, but it was important. I knew years ago who I was voting for today for the national races. The local stuff is always the ones that I have to wait until the last-minute to decide who or what to vote for. Most of the time I will just vote along the party lines, but every now and then I want to shake things up. This year I voted for the “write in” on three different races.
In SC, the national race always goes for the Republicans. My vote means very little there. But I think the real way to make a difference is on the local positions. Often one or two votes decides who will fill some of these positions. Because many of these people are locals, you can actually vote for someone who you know and not just from a campaign ad or what the media says about someone. But in three of these I did not know the person, and there was only one person in these, so I used the “write in”
I did not know the person on the ticket for one of the county council seats. I had not seen a sign nor an ad, so in this one I wrote in my youth pastor. I think that he would do a fine job. If you ask him, he would tell you that he does not have a clue about what this position does, so I figure that he is perfect for the job and will fit in nicely with the others who don’t have a clue.
I did not know the person running for the water and sewage person. I am not sure why this is an elected position and I don’t remember the actual title of the position, so I wrote in my youth pastor’s wife. She would be the first to tell you that she has to put up with a bunch of crap, so I think that she will do a fine job. Between the two of them, I am confident that my little portion of our country will rapidly start improving.
The last position that I used the “write in” for was a school board position. Again I saw no sign nor ad for the only person on the ballot so I wrote in my wife. As I have said before, she loves kids and can’t seem to get enough of them around her. She thinks that she knows everything, and she will be the first to tell you that, so a position in the education part of politics is perfect for her. I know that once these guys read this and especially if any of them get elected, that they will thank me later.
Yes, the American political system is working well in my precinct. I can’t wait to see the results of this year’s voting. I hope that my wife and my friends serve us well and if they don’t, I can’t wait until next election to vote the bums out of office!

What’s Up?

I am sure that many of you are wondering what’s up? I have posted very few blogs in the last 2 weeks. For those who don’t know, we had a fire at the church. Of course you should know this because I wrote about it. Things are hectic and on top of that, “normal” church business goes on and I have had a close friend in the hospital ICU this week. So, with no office to work out of and my house full of kids who would normally be in the nursery at church, it has been difficult to blog. And now for the pity part of it, I am sitting in the park in 40 degree temps, writing a blog. Okay, it is actually not that cold and I love this beautiful fall weather, but show the pity anyway.
We will have church Sunday. The clean up of our worship area will be complete today. The other side, where classrooms and offices are, will be at least another couple of weeks before they can be used.
I have also found out how important it is to leave things where you last put them. Many have been calling me asking where things are that have been moved by the guys who are cleaning. I have not been there to watch the whole thing, nor could I have been if I wanted too. When I ask he crew where things are they just point to another person who does the same. In their defense, there have been as many as twenty people working in the same area this week and many things were sent out for cleaning. My feeling is that most everything we will need or are looking for has been sent out. The good news is that for the next few weeks we can blame everything that goes wrong on Sunday on the fire.
I would normally be rather stressed about these things, but I have been given a great peace about it all. It is like God is saying, “Chill…I got this.” So who am I to argue with God? Of course Sunday morning when what I need comes up under the category of unfound and missing, then I will start stressing. But something just keeps telling me that it is going to be a great Sunday. On top of Sunday being expected to be awesome, I am excited about Monday. My brother from the Philippines is coming into town and we are going to send him off to his family with a night of worship.
I love it when Satan thinks he can knock you down only to knock you back into the arms of God. I love it when everything that goes wrong turns around to be alright and what many would see as a curse turns out to be a blessing. I love it when the fire of this world smokes up everything and you find out that at the same time the fire from God was purifying and strengthening His people. I love it when someone who has every right to complain and be bitter, gives you the biggest smile and hug and tells you how awesome God is. I love it when friends that you thought may have forgotten you, turn out to be the first to call and the most help to those in need.
Like I said before, the enemy can only stir the battle, but Jesus Christ has given the victory! The enemy can burn a building, but my God is a consuming fire! His fire consumes sin, cleanses His people, and destroys the enemy.
Thanks to all who have been praying. Thanks to all who have been understanding and patient. And to all who are looking for stuff, it will be found or replaced. But as far as this Sunday goes, don’t let anything bother you. God has some blessings waiting for you.

Voter ID

 

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I try to stay away from political stuff when I blog, but this is a subject that I think defies logic. Voter ID requirements seem to be a source of conflict. I just don’t understand it and here is why. From what I understand, the argument against requiring an ID to vote is about people who may be poor or live a long way from a place that issues IDs and therefore it is a hardship on them and risks disenfranchising them. If that were the case, I can see the point of the argument, but something about that does not make sense.
Voting is not something that everyone can do. You must be 18 to vote. You must not be a convicted felon. You must be a legal US citizen. You must live in certain districts to vote on certain races like county and city races. Without some form of ID, several of these requirements can not be verified. I think if the laws are on the books they should be enforced. I do not want a bunch of 15-year-old kids deciding the local school board or the president of the US. I don’t want someone who lives in another county deciding who represents me on the county council. I don’t want someone who is not a citizen of this country deciding who is our president. Call me crazy, but I can see the reasoning behind these laws.
But my argument is not against the laws, but against the logic of how difficult is is to get an ID for some people. I know that there are some in society who have a more difficult time than others when it comes to matters like this. It does not matter the race of the person, it is a matter most often of health, wealth (or the lack of), and age. I know these things can make doing anything more difficult. But here is my question, how long does it take to get an ID if you need one? Even if it were to take months or even a year, elections don’t come around that often and we know that most state and national elections happen every two years. Even under the worst cases, with that much time, and knowing the law requires it, anyone could get proper ID.
And what about other laws that require ID. For instance, you must be 18 to purchase those evil cigarettes. Every store that I have ever been to in the last 10 years says that they ID everyone before they will sell them a pack of cigarettes. Sure, if you are an 80-year-old man, you can buy them without an ID. Common sense says that he is older than 18, but what about that poor person who is in a wheel chair who wants a pack of cigarette and he is 18. Do they have to show an ID? Is that okay? Is it discrimination? That person has to have a proper ID and from what I remember, people purchase cigarettes quite often and I do not remember anyone ever claiming that proper ID to purchase cigarettes or alcohol as being disenfranchised.
I have to show proper ID to get the power in my house turned on, board a plane, drive my car, get into some buildings, catch fish or shoot deer and any number of other things that happen daily. But for some reason, getting an ID to vote, something that happens at best, annually, and something that has definite consequences if abused, is looked upon as evil and even racist by some. Try to get into a labor union meeting without proper ID. Try to get into a nightclub without proper ID. Try to get into Canada without proper ID. It won’t happen. Quit trying to vote without one.

Appreciation

October is pastor appreciation month and this Sunday our church celebrated. The Pastor Bunny brought everyone heart-shaped gifts full of eggs and fireworks, wrapped in mistletoe. Not really. We did not have fireworks.
I was so grateful for the dinner and gifts and kind words. I am the one who should be giving the gifts and tokens of my appreciation.
I don’t hide it; I love my church and my church family. They never miss an opportunity to show God’s love to people. They make it easy to be a pastor and for the record, it is not always as easy as I make it look. After all, I am a trained professional.
So today I wanted to give a shout out to everyone at The Body, A Church for Anybody; my church! I wanted to say how much I love you guys and how blessed I feel to have the privilege of serving as your pastor. I wanted to say that gifts and meals and cards are wonderful, but pale in comparison to the love I feel all the time from you guys. There is never a time that I doubt your love or don’t feel like I am appreciated. And although I rarely like to speak for other people, I believe that I can say the same is true for my associate pastors as well.
One of the great things that you do for me on a regular basis is love my wife. In fact, I think that we can tone that back a bit. She is beginning to think that she is more important than me. Just kidding. She is humbled by your love and affection for her. In no other church that we have ever served in has she felt so genuinely loved. And if anyone wants to win over my heart, that is the best way to do it; love and appreciate my wife. For that I say thank you, very much.
Our church is on an amazing journey. We are growing both numerically and spiritually. We see folks introduced to Jesus every week because you guys are bringing others. Those people are coming because they see your love for God and your belief in our church to show that love. We are seeing people who’s lives are being changed in every aspect of life. Marriages being restored, friendships being developed, people called into ministry and to the mission field. None of this happens in a church because of a great pastor. It happens in a church because of great people who serve a great God.
So since I have had my time in the spotlight for pastor appreciation month, I would like to make the rest to this month about me, the pastor, showing my appreciation for the people I get to serve. I am sad to say that I won’t be able to buy everyone a gift or cook everyone a meal, but I will say thanks to God every time I pray and every time I think about each of you. I will try my best to smile and give you all a hug as often as I can and express my appreciation to you as best I can.
For anyone who does not attend my church, please show your love and appreciation for your pastor, not just this month, but all the time. Love his wife and his family and watch how God will bless you and your church. October is Pastor Appreciation month, so take some time to show it. If you aren’t sure how, I know a bunch of people who are experts at it and can show you anytime.
Thank you!!! The Body, A Church for Anybody!!! Your pastor appreciates you!!!

Questions about Psalm 100

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Psalm 100
1 Shout happily to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Serve the LORD cheerfully. Come into his presence with a joyful song.
3 Realize that the LORD alone is God. He made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep in his care.
4 Enter his gates with a song of thanksgiving. Come into his courtyards with a song of praise. Give thanks to him; praise his name.
5 The LORD is good. His mercy endures forever. His faithfulness endures throughout every generation.

What if everyone who claims to know God took this Psalm as serious as it was meant to be taken? What if we only did it this Sunday? Would what you do be any different? What if you walked into church and as soon as the worship service started you began to shout as if you were the happiest person on the whole planet? Do you think that anyone would notice? Do you think that anyone would care? Do you think that you might be asked to calm down? Do you think that someone beside you might shout too? Will we ever know?
What if you served the Lord cheerfully this Sunday? What if you took on whatever role was needed and smiled like a mule eating briars? What if you greeted every guest and every member as if they were they were a rock star? What if you welcomed everyone with a joyful song as you walked into the church? Would people think you were crazy? Would anyone come back the next week? Would others smile and start singing with you? Will we ever know?
What if we acted as if God were the God that He says that He is? What if we acted as if He was the King of the universe and the Lord of our lives? Would anything be different this Sunday? Would anyone notice? What if you ate the spiritual food and drank the spiritual water like a sheep eats the grass and drinks from the stream when the shepherd leads them? Would there be any complaining about what you ate? What if you acted as if all of your well-being depended on God alone and you were not in control at all? Would it change anything that happens this Sunday? Will we ever know?
What if you thanked everyone and thanked God for everyone you saw this Sunday at church? What if the minute you walked through the door you cried out “thank you God for letting me walk through the doors of your church? What if you started singing before the band ever started playing? What if you sang in the vestibule as everyone else walked in. What if you thanked God for every person that walked in the door, and for the door, and for the life that let you walk through it? Would it make a difference Sunday? Will we ever know?
What if everything that happened Sunday you considered good, even if you didn’t like it, because you know who the Lord is and that He is good? What if you acted as if the mercy of God was much more precious to you than the clothes you wear or the building you are in? What if you acted like you knew that same mercy was available every minute of the day this Sunday? What if you acted like you knew that God is truth and His faithfulness was precious and that your children and their children would know it by the way you acted this Sunday? Would it make a difference in the way church went? Would people see God in a different light than any other Sunday? Will we ever know?

Chipper

This may be my least read blog ever, because it is about baseball. Baseball is not as popular as it use to be and most women could care less about it, so some may tune out before the end. Okay, but its your loss. You know you want to read it anyway.
I grew a block from a minor league baseball stadium in my town and my dad was a big baseball fan and took me to every home game. I got hooked early and because there was not a major league team in my area, Atlanta was the closest and I adopted them as my team. Although they did not have great teams when I was little, they had many great players. I saw Hank Aaron hit home runs # 714, 715, and his last 755. I saw pitcher Phil Niekro get ejected from games for scuffing the ball and saw him through knuckle balls that needed no scuffing. I saw Dale Murphy play and was glued to the TV when Sid Breem slid into home plate to complete the worst to first season that started decade of domination in baseball. There have been a lot of great people play for the Braves but few who will ever match Chipper Jones, #10.
I saw Chipper play in the minor leagues in Greenville SC in 1992 and followed his career in the major leagues. He did what few ever do anymore and that is stay with the same team for his whole career. So when I heard that he was retiring this year, I bought tickets to see the last regular season home game he would play in Atlanta and yesterday I got to see him play one last time. It was really cool to be there and see the amount of admiration for this guy from fans, his teammates, and other players from other teams. He is a class act.
Not only is he a great baseball player, he lived his public life with few embarrassing moments. For someone who always has a camera and a microphone around you, that can be tough. With the exception of an incident of infidelity, there were no moments of meltdowns or public humiliation of self and team or the game. I will address that one incident in a minute, but in an age of steroid use and gambling problems and egotistical superstars who say stupid things to get attention, Chipper is a class act.
He put team first. I never heard an interview, including the one yesterday after the game, when he did not give credit to his teammates, coaches, and fans. It was never about how awesome he was or how great he played, it was about the team winning and the fans getting to enjoy it. I never saw him hit a home run, and there we plenty, and have him put on a show or do a dance or point a gotcha finger at the other team. When he was taunted be opposing team’s fans he never lashed out at them, but rather smiled and let his actions on the field do the talking. I never saw him talk down about his coach and blame someone else when he was not performing well. He just played the sport and let things happen as they may. He did not shop around with other teams every year to get the highest pay. He was well paid and rightfully so, but he remained loyal to one team his entire career.
And then there was that one incident that made you realize that he was just as human as the rest of us. Several years ago the report came out that he was caught in an extra marital affair. Usually these have the tendency to become huge stories for public figures. There are normally denials, cover ups, and then, admissions to try to calm down the firestorms. But Chipper handled things differently. He admitted it publicly, handled it privately, apologized immediately, and played baseball without mixing his private life with his profession. Not a bad example of how to handle a major screw up from a celebrity.
So I like Chipper Jones as a baseball player. I like Chipper Jones a public figure. He was humble. I like Chipper Jones as a person. He was real. So I thought I would blog about him today because too many celebrities are none of the above and the example they give to our younger generation leaves a lot to be desired. I think that we can learn about loyalty and humility and passion, and work ethic and even how to get back up when you fall down from his career as a major league baseball player.
The number 10 often represents a perfect score. In reality, no one can achieve perfection. Some celebrities live like they think they are perfect and then there are those like Chipper, who wore #10 on his jersey, who knew that he was not perfect but worked as though he was trying to get there. I think he was a class act. Thanks Chipper! Good luck in retirement.

27 September, 2012 16:01

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My friend told me the other day about how he wanted to yell at someone in Walmart who was supposed to be working there but kept ignoring him and treating him as if he were in the way. I have blogged about my thoughts on customer service before and I feel his pain. I was at a sporting goods store today and there was one person working the register as 8 people were waiting to check out. Meanwhile there was a girl at the door greeting, or should I say supposed to be greeting, customers as they walked in. The two girls were talking to each other and even taking phone calls as we, the customers, waited. I began to frown.
We often say silly things like, “I wanted to slap them” or “I wanted to yell at them” when we are in these situations. We are conditioned to think that we should respond to a bad situation with something equally as bad. After all, don’t they deserve it? This sounds like the correct response, but if you are a Christian, it is not the right response at all. Romans 12:17- Don’t pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you. Focus your thoughts on those things that are considered noble.
If I had a dollar for every time that I heard a Christian say that they were justified by getting even with someone for what they had done, I would be a rich man. When I remind them about the verse above they often respond with, “But you don’t know what they did to me.” No I don’t, but I do know what Christ did for us and it was not giving us what we deserve. Need I remind you that in the same book of Romans we are told that what we deserve for our sin is death. God loves us and gives us forgiveness and life though. This surely is not what we deserve. I know that some of you were not as bad as I use to be, and can still be, and you may be thinking that you don’t deserve death for your sin, but none are righteous, not even one.
Arrogance and pride are what cause us to think that we should pay others back for not being as nice to us as we think they should be. The idea that if we were in a position to pass out judgement for things that others do and we would be completely righteous in our verdicts is quite funny. When we are rude or short with others, do we deserve a slap? Of course not. We are not as bad as that other person. Here is the problem with that thinking. When it comes to righteous judgement, only God can do that. He will use the standard of how you compare to Jesus and not how others compare to you or me. When that standard is applied, we all fall short. That is why God offers complete forgiveness when we ask and does not give us what we deserve until we face our final judgement and have rejected His Son’s payment for our sins.
So the next time you are in line and get treated worse than you expect to be, or the next time that someone really wrongs you and you think about revenge, think about what God does for us and decide to be more like Jesus than like, well, me.
Now excuse me while I go back to the sporting goods store and smile about the fact that I am fully able to stand in line and wait. That is a blessing that some are not able to do. Ain’t God good?