A question has slowly been taking shape in my mind and beginning to plague my eternal being. I find it troubling that I will accept and/or reject worldviews and personal beliefs without ever examining why or how I came to that conclusion. However, as soon as I begin to examine what I believe or hold to be good, I am soon flummoxed with the thought "how can one know the truth?" Obviously I am coming from the belief that there is an absolute truth, but as soon as I begin to survey the evidence of why I hold that belief my lack of education becomes ever so clear.
How does one educate oneself in truth, yet while educating must be able to decipher between fact and fiction? It sounds a lot like life in a way. We are living yet learning how to live every day. We are the blind leading the blind. Constantly striving to gain knowledge however, while gaining knowledge one has to have the wisdom to be able to decipher the truth (how does one gain wisdom?). It is while searching for knowledge about truth that we become discouraged because we soon realize that truth is much bigger than we anticipated. Truth is filled with mysteries that we can not solve much less understand. We have a tendency to dismiss that which we don't understand, which leads to the dangerous mind set of carelessness.
Truth is supposed to be factual, and straight to the point. Or maybe we don't comprehend what truth actually is. If God is truth, and our finite minds can't comprehend God, then maybe we can't understand truth. Christ was the truth incarnate full of mysteries that even now we don't understand. Yet people seem to think it rational to believe in His ability to forgive sins and save all of mankind. So also with truth. We may never completely understand it, but by acknowledging it our eyes are opened.
It is by acknowledging truth that the Greeks began to flourish. They had something to set all of their standards by and constantly refer to in case of a big decision. However, their logic self-destructed because they soon became skeptics due to the increase of new doctrines claiming truth, thereby freezing any new intellectual discoveries. They could not tell between the different doctrines which were right and wrong because they could not put their finger on what truth really was. So not only do we have to decipher the truth while learning about it, but also be wary that we do not become skeptics and destroy the logic that has brought us to where we are now.
Again my question is, how does one gain knowledge regarding truth? Is it through traditional education, or philosophy? Through life experience perhaps? Maybe its a combination of all of them. One thing that I do know is true, when I reach heaven all things will be revealed! It is then that I will see truth Himself and all that He encompasses.
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
Its all the same
Something that has really become more obvious lately is the fact that sin is all the same.
As fallen human beings we have created different degrees of sin. God however, does not see sin in different degrees. It doesn't matter whether or not you told a little white lie, or committed adultery. Either one will keep you out of heaven, and nothing you can do will clear your plate.
I need God just as much as the next person. That next person could be a murderer and I may have stolen something minor. Because I did not physically murdered someone, my circumstances may not seem as extreme as his, but my condition is the same. The fact that I have sinned is going to keep me out of heaven. It doesn't matter how I sinned, the realization is I sinned and there is no getting around it! God's grace is needed in both situations.
May God continually bring to realization my need for Him and His ever abundant grace and mercy.
As fallen human beings we have created different degrees of sin. God however, does not see sin in different degrees. It doesn't matter whether or not you told a little white lie, or committed adultery. Either one will keep you out of heaven, and nothing you can do will clear your plate.
I need God just as much as the next person. That next person could be a murderer and I may have stolen something minor. Because I did not physically murdered someone, my circumstances may not seem as extreme as his, but my condition is the same. The fact that I have sinned is going to keep me out of heaven. It doesn't matter how I sinned, the realization is I sinned and there is no getting around it! God's grace is needed in both situations.
May God continually bring to realization my need for Him and His ever abundant grace and mercy.
Saturday, November 12, 2005
Narnia
Alright, I just came accross a blog of a guy who atteneded an interview with Douglas Gresham, stepson of C.S. Lewis. It is a live blog of the interview concerning Narnia the movie!!!
The movie sounds like it is going to be awesome!!! I think I'm going to go crazy!! Before I wasn't trying to get my hopes up but now after some of the things I've read and heard I'm pretty sure Disney is going to do a good job!! Gresham was even a little excited!! Here's the link to the blog if you're interested.
The movie sounds like it is going to be awesome!!! I think I'm going to go crazy!! Before I wasn't trying to get my hopes up but now after some of the things I've read and heard I'm pretty sure Disney is going to do a good job!! Gresham was even a little excited!! Here's the link to the blog if you're interested.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Pharasitical
I was reading a blog a couple of days ago about whether or not it was ok for a Christian to cuss. I'm not going to go into detail about it, however, I was kind of caught off guard when one of the guys posting said that it was to pharasitical to say that a Christian is not allowed to cuss.
He made mention that Christians have become oblivious to the fact that we are now the modern day pharisees. We have become so worried about the outside of our cup rather than the inside. In a sense I agree with him, not about the fact that it is alright for a Christian to cuss, but because so many Christians today have become blinded by their own hypocrisy.
We want people to feel comfortable around us even though we have the label "Christian". However, it has made us willing to compromise our beliefs in order to achieve that objective. The leading religious leaders of that day were not comfortable around Jesus. Why? Because He cared about up-holding His Father's truths in His own personal life which in turn relfected on His public life. Christ said, "Out of the heart your mouth will speak." Not everyone was/is comfortable with an absolute truth
The majority of the church today has turned into a lip service for Christ. We preach one thing but live another. Thus causing the non-believers to label us as judgemental, or legalistic. Legalistic because when it comes to pointing out others faults we leave no room for grace.
Aw grace, the magic word!! How sweet the sound!! God has shown us grace beyond anything we could have even hoped for! It is through grace that we are saved and nothing else we could've done would have been enough to get us into heaven. God gave us true grace that we might simulate it towards our fellow men and women. That we might instead of looking at a sinner in disdain rather look past the sin and see the lost soul that needs a friend. No matter how rough the outter shell of a person might be, grace is strong enough to tear down the barriers and allow sinners to have communion with our creator!
So often we forget about grace and become so hyperfocused on the law and our good works that we forget what an incredible gift that was given to us. Given to us not to be locked up and stored away, but that it might be shared with others. However, this period of grace will not last forever. There will be a day of judgement when God will judge those who did not accept His free gift, and for those who took His gift for granit.
Christ is once again the perfect example for us to follow regarding this issue. He knew when it was time to show grace and when it was appropriate to pass judgement. Thanks be to God who has shown both grace and mercy on a soul as sinful as mine.
He made mention that Christians have become oblivious to the fact that we are now the modern day pharisees. We have become so worried about the outside of our cup rather than the inside. In a sense I agree with him, not about the fact that it is alright for a Christian to cuss, but because so many Christians today have become blinded by their own hypocrisy.
We want people to feel comfortable around us even though we have the label "Christian". However, it has made us willing to compromise our beliefs in order to achieve that objective. The leading religious leaders of that day were not comfortable around Jesus. Why? Because He cared about up-holding His Father's truths in His own personal life which in turn relfected on His public life. Christ said, "Out of the heart your mouth will speak." Not everyone was/is comfortable with an absolute truth
The majority of the church today has turned into a lip service for Christ. We preach one thing but live another. Thus causing the non-believers to label us as judgemental, or legalistic. Legalistic because when it comes to pointing out others faults we leave no room for grace.
Aw grace, the magic word!! How sweet the sound!! God has shown us grace beyond anything we could have even hoped for! It is through grace that we are saved and nothing else we could've done would have been enough to get us into heaven. God gave us true grace that we might simulate it towards our fellow men and women. That we might instead of looking at a sinner in disdain rather look past the sin and see the lost soul that needs a friend. No matter how rough the outter shell of a person might be, grace is strong enough to tear down the barriers and allow sinners to have communion with our creator!
So often we forget about grace and become so hyperfocused on the law and our good works that we forget what an incredible gift that was given to us. Given to us not to be locked up and stored away, but that it might be shared with others. However, this period of grace will not last forever. There will be a day of judgement when God will judge those who did not accept His free gift, and for those who took His gift for granit.
Christ is once again the perfect example for us to follow regarding this issue. He knew when it was time to show grace and when it was appropriate to pass judgement. Thanks be to God who has shown both grace and mercy on a soul as sinful as mine.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Worship
Could we as a Christian society possibly have misunderstood the word worship?
In the old testament, worship was a type of sacrafice. Whereas praise was the actual act of singing and dancing to Jehova. The New testament rarely used the word worship because it actually meant to sacrafice something to God. However, because Christ was the ultimate sacrifice there is no longer a need for worship in its literal meaning.
Today worship has become a sort of concert. And at the end of the worship session we talk about how "good" it was. We use words and ask questions that we would use after watching a movie. "Worship was terrible today," or "It was really moving." There is no longer real worship, or praise for that matter, which comes from the heart. It has become a way of entertainment.
What is even more frustraiting is that worship songs have become so redundant and reptitive that the lyrics are borderline meaningless. There are no longer words which are filled with as much emotion and theology as there are in the old hymns. "Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that it would save a wretch like me." The song "Come Thou Font" is another perfect example of what is so prevelant in the Christian walk. "Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love!" To often Christian lyrics try to give solutions to problems that they refuse to face.
This I believe is an excellent example of the uninteligent Christianity that we face today. Theology no longer matters. Knowing what you believe is no longer a priority. Thereby giving people the liberty to justify what the Bible calls sin. Music has such a profound affect on people that is often underestimated. Worship more so because it is supposed to lead people into the throne room of God.
Now this is not to say that all worship is bad. There are some great worship tunes that I enjoy singing and playing too. It just happens to be that the vast majority of worship songs seem so watered down.
In the old testament, worship was a type of sacrafice. Whereas praise was the actual act of singing and dancing to Jehova. The New testament rarely used the word worship because it actually meant to sacrafice something to God. However, because Christ was the ultimate sacrifice there is no longer a need for worship in its literal meaning.
Today worship has become a sort of concert. And at the end of the worship session we talk about how "good" it was. We use words and ask questions that we would use after watching a movie. "Worship was terrible today," or "It was really moving." There is no longer real worship, or praise for that matter, which comes from the heart. It has become a way of entertainment.
What is even more frustraiting is that worship songs have become so redundant and reptitive that the lyrics are borderline meaningless. There are no longer words which are filled with as much emotion and theology as there are in the old hymns. "Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that it would save a wretch like me." The song "Come Thou Font" is another perfect example of what is so prevelant in the Christian walk. "Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love!" To often Christian lyrics try to give solutions to problems that they refuse to face.
This I believe is an excellent example of the uninteligent Christianity that we face today. Theology no longer matters. Knowing what you believe is no longer a priority. Thereby giving people the liberty to justify what the Bible calls sin. Music has such a profound affect on people that is often underestimated. Worship more so because it is supposed to lead people into the throne room of God.
Now this is not to say that all worship is bad. There are some great worship tunes that I enjoy singing and playing too. It just happens to be that the vast majority of worship songs seem so watered down.
Clarification
Just to clarify about my "another quote" post: it isn't really a quote. It is a definition of the word controversial that I had heard from Pastor Mike Erre. Hope that clears up any confusion!!
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