In 2004, my oldest daughter Amanda was engaged to Brian. Now, I don’t want to sound prideful, but I could not think of a finer young man to take my daughter’s hand in marriage. Brian is an absolute Servant of Christ and he and I have had many good conversations in the back yard over a beer or sometimes a cigar (yes, we do indulge at times).
Brian has been fascinated for some time by Christian apologetics. I find it interesting, but not to the level that Brian does. My philosophy has been that old adage, “For those that believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible”. In other words, I don’t believe in empirical evidence in matters of faith. If someone does not believe, lets have a discussion on the matters of the heart.
With this in mind, this is the letter that I gave out to friends and family in Christmas 2004:
Mankind has always been fascinated by what is the oldest “anything”. For example, who was the oldest man, what is the oldest tree, how old is the oldest rock and so on. However, the question which has caused man to ponder the longest is, “Am I the created or the creator?” In other words, did God create man, or did man create God?
Over the centuries, mankind has poured enormous energy into the justification that God does not exist or that God is dead (we don’t need him anymore). Some believe that we created God so we would not feel so alone in the cosmos. Others believe that we created God so it would be easier for us to die. Finally, some believe that we needed a god type entity to be a force in the universe that will explain all the tough questions that our scientists cannot.
Those that believe that God created man believe so because of the flimsiest of reasons – faith. In other words, based on no empirical evidence what so ever, some people believe that they were created by God. A God that no one has ever seen that exists in a place that no living person has ever been. And this is the rubber meets the road.
Faith teaches us to seek God in ways that are not empirical in nature. Faith allows us to listen and feel with our heart instead of our other senses. Faith allows us to accept our Creator’s will and to surrender completely into that acceptance.
I too, have pondered the oldest question. I have looked at it many times in my life ranging from when my faith burned hot to when my belief was tepid. My conclusion to this question is as follows:
· I believe that God created the heavens, lit the stars, formed the Earth, filled the seas, and yes, created mankind in His own image.
· I believe that Satan exists and his mission is to separate man from God.
· I believe that mankind suffered a fall in the Garden of Eden and we have been a broken people living in a broken world ever since.
· I believe 2,000 years ago, God sent his Son to Earth, as a man, as a gift, to offer hope and redemption for us all.
· I believe that Christ was tortured, crucified, died a horrible death and saved us by doing so.
· After Christ ascended into Heaven to be with the Father, we were given another gift to sustain us – the Holy Spirit.
· I believe that God created me, as well as all other people for a purpose and a reason.
· I believe that my God is truly our Father, and ALL are loved equally and no one is excluded from His love and mercy.
All of these things I believe without one shred of physical evidence. However, I know them to be true more than I know the sun will rise in the morning.
We know that we don’t have to find God – he has already found us. All we need to do is open the eyes of our hearts to witness His glory.
God is truly our Father and we are truly His children. He is the Creator and we are the created. We worship, we praise, we glorify the Holy One. All hail King Jesus!
I think of one of Susan and my favorite songs by Rich Mullins, Creed. In that song, Rich talks about his faith. He states, “I believe what I believe…..I did not make it, but it made me”. Rich was right. We believe what we believe. If we listen to our hearts, God will tell us the Truth. Its funny, the more one gets into scripture and faith matters, the more one realizes that the Truth is all around us. After a while, the hardest part of the journey is to not see the Truth.
Brian has been fascinated for some time by Christian apologetics. I find it interesting, but not to the level that Brian does. My philosophy has been that old adage, “For those that believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible”. In other words, I don’t believe in empirical evidence in matters of faith. If someone does not believe, lets have a discussion on the matters of the heart.
With this in mind, this is the letter that I gave out to friends and family in Christmas 2004:
Mankind has always been fascinated by what is the oldest “anything”. For example, who was the oldest man, what is the oldest tree, how old is the oldest rock and so on. However, the question which has caused man to ponder the longest is, “Am I the created or the creator?” In other words, did God create man, or did man create God?
Over the centuries, mankind has poured enormous energy into the justification that God does not exist or that God is dead (we don’t need him anymore). Some believe that we created God so we would not feel so alone in the cosmos. Others believe that we created God so it would be easier for us to die. Finally, some believe that we needed a god type entity to be a force in the universe that will explain all the tough questions that our scientists cannot.
Those that believe that God created man believe so because of the flimsiest of reasons – faith. In other words, based on no empirical evidence what so ever, some people believe that they were created by God. A God that no one has ever seen that exists in a place that no living person has ever been. And this is the rubber meets the road.
Faith teaches us to seek God in ways that are not empirical in nature. Faith allows us to listen and feel with our heart instead of our other senses. Faith allows us to accept our Creator’s will and to surrender completely into that acceptance.
I too, have pondered the oldest question. I have looked at it many times in my life ranging from when my faith burned hot to when my belief was tepid. My conclusion to this question is as follows:
· I believe that God created the heavens, lit the stars, formed the Earth, filled the seas, and yes, created mankind in His own image.
· I believe that Satan exists and his mission is to separate man from God.
· I believe that mankind suffered a fall in the Garden of Eden and we have been a broken people living in a broken world ever since.
· I believe 2,000 years ago, God sent his Son to Earth, as a man, as a gift, to offer hope and redemption for us all.
· I believe that Christ was tortured, crucified, died a horrible death and saved us by doing so.
· After Christ ascended into Heaven to be with the Father, we were given another gift to sustain us – the Holy Spirit.
· I believe that God created me, as well as all other people for a purpose and a reason.
· I believe that my God is truly our Father, and ALL are loved equally and no one is excluded from His love and mercy.
All of these things I believe without one shred of physical evidence. However, I know them to be true more than I know the sun will rise in the morning.
We know that we don’t have to find God – he has already found us. All we need to do is open the eyes of our hearts to witness His glory.
God is truly our Father and we are truly His children. He is the Creator and we are the created. We worship, we praise, we glorify the Holy One. All hail King Jesus!
I think of one of Susan and my favorite songs by Rich Mullins, Creed. In that song, Rich talks about his faith. He states, “I believe what I believe…..I did not make it, but it made me”. Rich was right. We believe what we believe. If we listen to our hearts, God will tell us the Truth. Its funny, the more one gets into scripture and faith matters, the more one realizes that the Truth is all around us. After a while, the hardest part of the journey is to not see the Truth.
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