A question recently asked is: if God loves us, why would He send us to Hell. Here is my answer to this problem.
Firstly, God created us for the purpose of having a relationship with Him. However, love can not be bought, or commanded (to echo another blog entry), and therefore God HAD to give us freedom of choice; - do we obey, or do we disobey Him? Now note that the word Sin = disobedience [to God].
Secondly, God is HOLY. Therefore He cannot tolerate sin [disobedience] anywhere near Him. This is why He cast Satan and a third of heaven (eternal beings like God) out of heaven to roam on the earth.
Thirdly, Hell was NEVER created for us human beings. If you read the Bible carefully, you will see that it is the place for Satan and the demons, NOT us human beings.
The tragedy is that we believe that it was created for those of us who disobey God, rather than understanding that it was created for Satan, and that he doesn't want to go there alone - he is fighting to drag as many of us down with him as he can.
I've found that getting a grasp on this reality helps to put the whole heaven/hell thing into perspective - and this is why Jesus spends most of the gospel time (check this out, if you like) warning us that Hell is NOT a nice place ... because it wasn't made for us, and He'll do anything to save us (ie, die on the cross ....).
So it's not with any kind of joy or glee that God boots us off to Hell to join Satan because we disobeyed Him - it's with a breaking heart, because we are blinded [by Satan] from seeing that it's not where we're meant to go.
Wednesday, 18 June 2008
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
Risk-takers or Risk-getters
I was just reading a friend's blog, accessible here, in which he asks why the western world that makes us so pre-occupied with eradicating all risk"? I made the following comment against it, which I quite like, so am copying it in here:
I like that bit about the way that we work (and plan!) to eradicate risk. Sure, some of us are risk-takers, and others of us are less so - that's how we are made - but to eradicate risk? To eradicate risk is to live in a dreamworld (or a hypothetically perfect world) where there is no one (and no THING) else to change the status quo. Sorry guys, but this just isn't reality. Those of us who have houses and cars - these could be wiped out in a second. The same goes for medical aid, pension funds (storing up for the future rather than spending now), and all the other niceties that we try to make ourselves comfortable with. I once learned that when we get comfortable, God goes out of His way to make us UNcomfortable, so that we rely on Him, rather than on ourselves or the cushions that we have created to prevent a fall. So yep - let's plan to be surprised ... by God.
I like that bit about the way that we work (and plan!) to eradicate risk. Sure, some of us are risk-takers, and others of us are less so - that's how we are made - but to eradicate risk? To eradicate risk is to live in a dreamworld (or a hypothetically perfect world) where there is no one (and no THING) else to change the status quo. Sorry guys, but this just isn't reality. Those of us who have houses and cars - these could be wiped out in a second. The same goes for medical aid, pension funds (storing up for the future rather than spending now), and all the other niceties that we try to make ourselves comfortable with. I once learned that when we get comfortable, God goes out of His way to make us UNcomfortable, so that we rely on Him, rather than on ourselves or the cushions that we have created to prevent a fall. So yep - let's plan to be surprised ... by God.
The Meaning of Christmas
Written in December 2004
This poem was written after watching a show on TV in England
Year after year, as I look around,
There’s more and more lights, tinsel and sound.
People go shopping for presents galore –
‘Buy bigger, buy better, than years gone before’.
Sometimes I sit down, wonder and think,
Surrounded by wrappings, bought cards and ink –
‘Where’d it all start? What does it mean?
What e’er happened to the spirit unseen?’
What’s the meaning of Christmas? I really must ask!
To find out the answer is such a hard task:
From shopkeeper to milkman, newsreader to priest,
Not one of them knows, from West to East.
I seem to remember some stories of old,
Of Santa Claus, reindeer, and elves young and old.
Of Aslan the Lion, and the wicked White Witch,
Or, did I hear right, of Jesus the Christ?
These I have pondered, the old and the new –
Only one, out of all, stands out true –
Of Jesus the Christ, Saviour, Messiah,
The one whose forgiveness all man must desire.
The baby who to Virgin Mary was born
In a warm stable, ‘midst the hay and the corn;
The shepherds they came from their flocks with great joy
To worship and honour the Spirit-filled boy.
The Wise Men they came with their gifts from afar –
With gold, myrrh and frankincense, followed the star.
Likewise must we, with one accord,
Bow to our King, our Saviour and Lord.
For it is Christ who gives us the meaning
Of the brief season that has us careening
From shop to shop, and from kitchen to parlour,
Till all is gone from our energy and larder.
STOP! Take stock! Make time to think
Of the reason for all the wrappings, bought cards and ink –
The joy on the faces of those who receive,
And the gift that God gives to all men who believe.
Discovery of Nothing
A recent article published on News24 on 4 Oct 2006 discusses a recent discovery scientists made of ripples in the fabric of the universe. The article goes on to say that these ripples in the microwave radiation explain why the universe is lumpy, and concludes that this discovery adds to proof that the Big Bang Theory is correct.
The final statement made in the article is that Man needs to know his origins and his place in this world. The age-old question: "Why am I here?" This is the question I wish to consider in this article.
Why is it that we always ask the question, "Why am I here?" Why do we need to know our origins? The easy answer is that we have an inate desire to have the answer to these questions. We are questioning beings, and we look for answers to these questions. But the next question (if you excuse the repetition) to ask is, "Why do we have this desire to know?"
If scientists believe that the universe originated in a big bang, that life evolved out of a soup of atoms and chemicals, that everything is by chance, and that we, as Man, are no better than a small frog, then why do we have to know the reason why? There would be no reason for us to ask. We would just accept our place in the food chain of this world, and struggle for our existence alongside all the other animals that have evolved.
However, we do ask, and we do question. Therefore I would argue that our origins differ from the Theory of the Big Bang. That we are asking for a reason, and the reason is that we were made to ask questions. That we were made to need to understand our origins. I would suggest that the scientists should stop looking to the ends of the universe for the answers to questions which originate on Earth, and are to be found on Earth. Perhaps the answer is not as far-fetched as you think!
The final statement made in the article is that Man needs to know his origins and his place in this world. The age-old question: "Why am I here?" This is the question I wish to consider in this article.
Why is it that we always ask the question, "Why am I here?" Why do we need to know our origins? The easy answer is that we have an inate desire to have the answer to these questions. We are questioning beings, and we look for answers to these questions. But the next question (if you excuse the repetition) to ask is, "Why do we have this desire to know?"
If scientists believe that the universe originated in a big bang, that life evolved out of a soup of atoms and chemicals, that everything is by chance, and that we, as Man, are no better than a small frog, then why do we have to know the reason why? There would be no reason for us to ask. We would just accept our place in the food chain of this world, and struggle for our existence alongside all the other animals that have evolved.
However, we do ask, and we do question. Therefore I would argue that our origins differ from the Theory of the Big Bang. That we are asking for a reason, and the reason is that we were made to ask questions. That we were made to need to understand our origins. I would suggest that the scientists should stop looking to the ends of the universe for the answers to questions which originate on Earth, and are to be found on Earth. Perhaps the answer is not as far-fetched as you think!
An Inconvenient Truth
I recently had the privilege of watching the documentary 'An Inconvenient Truth', which portrays Al Gore's presentation on Global Warming. It is an excellent presentation, and should not be missed - if only so that you can tell your grandchildren why you did nothing about global warming. The facts conveyed in it are undeniable, for a serious searcher of the Truth. All around us, we can see the signs of a world in trouble.
Over the past decades there have been many natural disasters - earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, hurricanes, floods, droughts, storms. If one watches the news, however, it hits you that these are coming with increasing frequency. Not just more of one type of disaster, but almost daily there is a new occurrence of one or another disaster. All of these disasters are purported to be symptoms of the phenomenon Global Warming.
Even in my native country, South Africa, there is evidence of this turbulence closer to home. If you have been to the beach - especially along the Eastern Cape coast - you may have noticed some really stinky pink sponges. These sponges are evidence of a faulty sea ecosystem. They are the cleaners of the ocean - much like a vacuum cleaner, or filter - and are 'supposed' to be really deep down in the ocean, GLUED to rocks. But now, we find them washed up on a beach after a storm, stinking us out of the place. They are NOT supposed to be there. Rather, we should have seaweed. Has anyone noticed the lack of seaweed lately? Yep, we get these stinky sponges instead. THEY would appear to be almost all that's left along our coast - apart from kelp - and even they are not where they're meant to be.
Does anyone remember the movie, The Day After Tomorrow? I watched Al Gore's presentation, and I realised that, although the time frame in the movie is likely much reduced, it is based on none other than hard-core, scientific, FACT! OUCH! Something like that should make us think twice. But does it? Most of us are so busy with our lives, trying to keep pace with the important business of our lives, that we do not have time to spare a thought for the world we live in. And guess what - if it dies, we do to!
The Day After Tomorrow talks in the beginning of an iceberg bigger than the size of Rhode Island breaking off an ice shelf in Antarctica. Listen to this. The movie was released in 2004, four years after just that happened. Read the following, extracted from Wikipedia (for those of you who question the merits of Wikipedia, a fact is a fact is a fact):
*********************************************
Iceberg B-15 was the world's largest recorded iceberg, with an area of over 11,000 km² it was larger than the island of Jamaica. It calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000, breaking up into several pieces in 2002 and 2003.
*********************************************
For interest's sake, Rhode Island measures in at 3144 km squared, which is nearly a QUARTER the size of the iceberg.
In 2002, the Larsen B Ice Shelf disintegrated, following the Larsen A disintegration of 1995. Both of these events are attributed to global warming effects on Antarctica, where the temperature is rising by 0.5 degrees centigrade a decade.
So, do we have a problem, or do we have a problem?
All this is very well, and troubling - but there's an even greater, 'inconvenient' truth, that many people forget. Yes, some of you may have guessed what I'm getting at.
THERE IS A GOD OUT THERE - and He's coming BACK!!!
There was once a man who lived on this earth - somewhere around 2000 years ago. He lives in the Middle East, in and around Jerusalem. He said things that people had never heard before, and did things that people had never seen before. Lame people started running around. Blind people started seeing. Deaf people began to hear. Dead people came alive again. Sick people became well again. This man taught that we must each love our enemies. That we must stop disobeying his father, and that we must ask for forgiveness.
But what was even stranger - this guy seemed to know he was going to die. And he kept saying that he would only be dead for three days. He had twelve disciples, and none of them believed him. They told him off, in fact - something he didn't like. Then one day, when he had been talking to some person they couldn't see - someone who this man called 'Father' - one of the disciples, who had been given a huge amount of money, came up to this man, and kissed him. Suddenly there were Roman Soldiers everywhere in this peaceful garden, and they captured this man. They took him off to Jerusalem. They beat him, questioned him, and tortured him. None of the disciples could bear to stay around. They had believed in this man. He had done such great things. But now he was just another man, incapable of defending himself against these mighty soldiers.
Then the next day, the Roman Soldiers took him out to a hill outside the city. There were two other criminals with him, and they each dragged a cross to the hill. There, they were nailed onto the crosses, and stood up in the ground, for all to see. Naked and bloody, they stood there. This man, this had-been leader, and two criminals. This man must have done something really wrong to get himself nailed up there. But he didn't seem to really mind being there.
Then he said some really funny things. He said "Father, why have you forsaken me?", and then later, just as he died, he cried out "It is finished!" What is finished???
Well, that was the end of the story. He was taken down from the cross, and put in a tomb that one of the rich locals had said he could have. Then, three days later, one of the women who had been his disciple went to the tomb - but it was empty. An angel asked her why she was looking for the dead, because this man was not dead - he was ALIVE!
Over the next few weeks many people, including his disciples, saw this man. Suddenly they understood what it was that he had been saying to them for the last three years. Suddenly they realised that all that they had been taught was not in vain. Suddenly they realised that this life was not important - except to tell others what they had learnt. And what had they learnt?
That this man, who's name is Jesus, was God. That He had loved each person on this earth SO MUCH that, instead of staying in heaven, He came down to earth, to live amongst us, to show us the way to heaven. He came that the whole world may know, and believe, that He is the One who created the world, the universe, and each one of us. He came that the whole world may believe in Him. He came that the whole world may repent from their disobedience, and instead love and obey Him.
But - do we?
Are we really prepared to obey Him? Are we really willing to love Him? Are we really prepared to give up our lives - our cushy, material, earthly, lives - for obedience to Him? And what does this obedience require? In Luke 14:33b, Jesus says, "... any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."
What does this mean?
Must we give up our possessions? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we give up our time? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we give up our friends? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we give up our family? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we give up our money? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we (gasp) give up our lives? Yes, if God wants it.
Are we prepared to do these any of these things? Are we prepared to make the greatest sacrifice - tell the whole world the GOOD NEWS: that Jesus had redeemed us for eternal life, and that to reject Him is the stupidest thing that we can do - at the cost of our own lives?
But why should it be at the cost of our own lives? Because people don't like to hear it. They don't want to know about Jesus, His death, His resurrection, and His redemption. But why?
BECAUSE IT'S AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
Over the past decades there have been many natural disasters - earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, hurricanes, floods, droughts, storms. If one watches the news, however, it hits you that these are coming with increasing frequency. Not just more of one type of disaster, but almost daily there is a new occurrence of one or another disaster. All of these disasters are purported to be symptoms of the phenomenon Global Warming.
Even in my native country, South Africa, there is evidence of this turbulence closer to home. If you have been to the beach - especially along the Eastern Cape coast - you may have noticed some really stinky pink sponges. These sponges are evidence of a faulty sea ecosystem. They are the cleaners of the ocean - much like a vacuum cleaner, or filter - and are 'supposed' to be really deep down in the ocean, GLUED to rocks. But now, we find them washed up on a beach after a storm, stinking us out of the place. They are NOT supposed to be there. Rather, we should have seaweed. Has anyone noticed the lack of seaweed lately? Yep, we get these stinky sponges instead. THEY would appear to be almost all that's left along our coast - apart from kelp - and even they are not where they're meant to be.
Does anyone remember the movie, The Day After Tomorrow? I watched Al Gore's presentation, and I realised that, although the time frame in the movie is likely much reduced, it is based on none other than hard-core, scientific, FACT! OUCH! Something like that should make us think twice. But does it? Most of us are so busy with our lives, trying to keep pace with the important business of our lives, that we do not have time to spare a thought for the world we live in. And guess what - if it dies, we do to!
The Day After Tomorrow talks in the beginning of an iceberg bigger than the size of Rhode Island breaking off an ice shelf in Antarctica. Listen to this. The movie was released in 2004, four years after just that happened. Read the following, extracted from Wikipedia (for those of you who question the merits of Wikipedia, a fact is a fact is a fact):
*********************************************
Iceberg B-15 was the world's largest recorded iceberg, with an area of over 11,000 km² it was larger than the island of Jamaica. It calved from the Ross Ice Shelf in March 2000, breaking up into several pieces in 2002 and 2003.
*********************************************
For interest's sake, Rhode Island measures in at 3144 km squared, which is nearly a QUARTER the size of the iceberg.
In 2002, the Larsen B Ice Shelf disintegrated, following the Larsen A disintegration of 1995. Both of these events are attributed to global warming effects on Antarctica, where the temperature is rising by 0.5 degrees centigrade a decade.
So, do we have a problem, or do we have a problem?
All this is very well, and troubling - but there's an even greater, 'inconvenient' truth, that many people forget. Yes, some of you may have guessed what I'm getting at.
THERE IS A GOD OUT THERE - and He's coming BACK!!!
There was once a man who lived on this earth - somewhere around 2000 years ago. He lives in the Middle East, in and around Jerusalem. He said things that people had never heard before, and did things that people had never seen before. Lame people started running around. Blind people started seeing. Deaf people began to hear. Dead people came alive again. Sick people became well again. This man taught that we must each love our enemies. That we must stop disobeying his father, and that we must ask for forgiveness.
But what was even stranger - this guy seemed to know he was going to die. And he kept saying that he would only be dead for three days. He had twelve disciples, and none of them believed him. They told him off, in fact - something he didn't like. Then one day, when he had been talking to some person they couldn't see - someone who this man called 'Father' - one of the disciples, who had been given a huge amount of money, came up to this man, and kissed him. Suddenly there were Roman Soldiers everywhere in this peaceful garden, and they captured this man. They took him off to Jerusalem. They beat him, questioned him, and tortured him. None of the disciples could bear to stay around. They had believed in this man. He had done such great things. But now he was just another man, incapable of defending himself against these mighty soldiers.
Then the next day, the Roman Soldiers took him out to a hill outside the city. There were two other criminals with him, and they each dragged a cross to the hill. There, they were nailed onto the crosses, and stood up in the ground, for all to see. Naked and bloody, they stood there. This man, this had-been leader, and two criminals. This man must have done something really wrong to get himself nailed up there. But he didn't seem to really mind being there.
Then he said some really funny things. He said "Father, why have you forsaken me?", and then later, just as he died, he cried out "It is finished!" What is finished???
Well, that was the end of the story. He was taken down from the cross, and put in a tomb that one of the rich locals had said he could have. Then, three days later, one of the women who had been his disciple went to the tomb - but it was empty. An angel asked her why she was looking for the dead, because this man was not dead - he was ALIVE!
Over the next few weeks many people, including his disciples, saw this man. Suddenly they understood what it was that he had been saying to them for the last three years. Suddenly they realised that all that they had been taught was not in vain. Suddenly they realised that this life was not important - except to tell others what they had learnt. And what had they learnt?
That this man, who's name is Jesus, was God. That He had loved each person on this earth SO MUCH that, instead of staying in heaven, He came down to earth, to live amongst us, to show us the way to heaven. He came that the whole world may know, and believe, that He is the One who created the world, the universe, and each one of us. He came that the whole world may believe in Him. He came that the whole world may repent from their disobedience, and instead love and obey Him.
But - do we?
Are we really prepared to obey Him? Are we really willing to love Him? Are we really prepared to give up our lives - our cushy, material, earthly, lives - for obedience to Him? And what does this obedience require? In Luke 14:33b, Jesus says, "... any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."
What does this mean?
Must we give up our possessions? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we give up our time? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we give up our friends? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we give up our family? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we give up our money? Yes, if God wants it.
Must we (gasp) give up our lives? Yes, if God wants it.
Are we prepared to do these any of these things? Are we prepared to make the greatest sacrifice - tell the whole world the GOOD NEWS: that Jesus had redeemed us for eternal life, and that to reject Him is the stupidest thing that we can do - at the cost of our own lives?
But why should it be at the cost of our own lives? Because people don't like to hear it. They don't want to know about Jesus, His death, His resurrection, and His redemption. But why?
BECAUSE IT'S AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH
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