Relating to a Dimensionless God: The Conclusion

Continued from Relating to a Dimensionless God: Part 1...

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)

...One day, the most gloriously peculiar thing began to happen. It all started when the Sphere once again entered flat space fully. In flat space, the Sphere appears as a circle, just like everyone else, except it is the only perfect circle without a single irregularity. Yet, it maintains its properties as a sphere existing beyond the dimensions of flat space. Therefore, we see that the Sphere exists as fully circle and fully Sphere at the same time.

The Perfect Circle points out some of the most obvious imperfections of many prominent irregular circles, beckoning them to draw near again to the Sphere. In fact, the Perfect Circle slowly begins to reveal that he is the Sphere! However, except for a very few, most of the irregularity ridden circles despise the Perfect Circle, convinced that he is not indeed as perfect as he claims and certainly not their Creator the Sphere! Eventually, all but a few imperfect circles come to hate the Perfect Circle and plot to kill Him, but they cannot, for they have no power over the Sphere. Instead, inexplicably, the Perfect Sphere/Circle submits Himself to erasure and allows the irregular circles to erase his apparent imprint on flat space. The sinister, perfectly irregular entity has never been nearer to the Sphere than now, cackling and insulting the Perfect Circle until finally the last of him is erased from flat space. The last Perfect Circle. The only Perfect Circle. Gone.
...

But what is that?! Something previously unseen! Has that been there the entire time or did it just appear? Flat space is not alone! Below it are two more sheets like it! But they seem as peculiar as flat space in many ways. The bottom layer is black space, and in it is the imprint of multitudes of very irregular circles, almost unrecognizable as circles…yes, their irregularities seem to be amplified compared to those in flat space. But between black space and flat space exists a most wondrous red space. And look! There! The Sphere! It is now residing in red space, perfectly cross-sected just as it once was in flat space! And it seems to be surrounded by a great number of circles…but wait, these circles are all perfect…and at times they occupy the same red space with the Sphere, such that they are indistinguishable from each other and the Sphere. What is this place? A place of restored perfect unity not seen since the very beginning!
...

Back in flat space, the Perfect Circle looks as erased as any circle ever has been...except those in flat space still don’t comprehend that his nature is truly a sphere, external to the 2D flat space that he in fact created. Even still, flat space has never seemed so irregular, so ugly, so full of certain and utter erasure. That is, until the most amazing thing happened…

It is the third day since the erasure of the Perfect Circle, the Sphere in flat space. Suddenly, MMMP! The Sphere slams the black and red spaces together against flat space! And just as suddenly, the Sphere appears again in flat space, a perfect circle! But there is something different, the Sphere is different…no, he is the same…but his appearance is now red. He seems to have somehow connected the perfection of red space with flat space!

A few irregular circles that once followed the Perfect Circle come near and seem almost magnetically attached to him, yet most of the flat space circles stay far away. In only a short time, the Sphere leaves flat space again, to the disappointment of the circles that had clung so closely to him. But again, a most peculiar happening: all who had connected to the Perfect Circle after His erasure have been changed…they have received his red color! What could this mean? They do not fully know, but it becomes apparent that those who know the Perfect Circle can be easily distinguished from those who never knew him.

Furthermore, slowly, but surely, all irregular circles that have been colored red begin to lose their irregularity. It is almost imperceptible…but yes, it is there! The irregularity is being healed! Meanwhile, as the healing, not-so-irregular circles mill about, some irregular, non-red circles begin to have contact with the red ones and they too become red. Others never become red. It is all a bit mysterious, but the red circles recall the Perfect Circle’s instructions to “Go and make red circles of all nations. I am with you always, to the very end.” As mysterious as it sounded, it seems to be true! That by simply carrying the Red Gift of the Perfect Circle, they have the power to share his healing Red Power with all who will receive it. What an amazing course of events!

Something good seems to be happening to these still irregular spheres with the Red Gift, because they are becoming less irregular every day. As good as that may seem, most shockingly, these red circles still begin to fade or suddenly disappear from flat land...the same as all irregular circles, whatever their color. But as they are erased, we see the red space receive their image—but look, this is perhaps the most amazing part! They are instantly transformed to a perfect red circle! And in the center of the red space? The Sphere, in majestic perfection and glory.

All circles that have not received the Red Gift at erasure are transferred to the black space, never having received the only passage to red space that comes through the Perfect Circle alone. Conversely, as many as have received the Red Gift at erasure are transferred to red space. In the black space, all irregularities are enhanced...in fact, they are perfectly irregular, just as the dreadful, perfectly irregular entity that now resides in the center of black space. In the red space, all irregularity is gone. And amongst them is the Sphere, the Perfect Circle, and the Red Gift is everywhere. In fact, they have all come to occupy the same space, such that you can no longer perceive one circle from another, nor any circle from the Sphere...they are as one! All circles are as one, and the Sphere is as one with all circles. Perfection, just as it was created in the beginning.

All praise to the Sphere, the Perfect Circle, and the indwelling Red Gift. All praise to God the Father, Jesus Christ our Savior, and the Holy Spirit of God. Forever and ever. Amen.


*Disclaimer: I acknowledge that this metaphor is not theologically perfect, omitting some of God’s character, and imperfectly representing other parts of his character. It is meant to articulate a greater perspective and help to understand God, Creation, Man, Sin, Heaven, Hell, Substitution, Intercession, and Sanctification…but it is not meant to explain each of them fully.

Relating to a Dimensionless God: Part 1

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways," says the Lord. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." - Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)

Borrowing the old preacher's metaphor of humans as two dimensional circles and God being a three dimensional sphere, I am inspired to build upon that imagery more thoroughly, for I believe that it is useful for understanding, if only slightly better, man's relationship to and infinite God.

We exist in a three dimensional world, four if you count time, as some do.  If there is a supreme God, then He created this three dimensional world and time itself, therefore being superior to any created dimension.  We cannot adequately describe anything that exists in dimensions beyond ours (though many have fun trying, and I enjoy the genre of movies and stories that spring forth from such creative thought); therefore, we may seek to build our understanding in reverse, placing our world anecdotally as the highest dimension and exploring the relationship to a created world with fewer dimensions.  We can then take our understanding of that scenario and place ourselves in the perspective of the world of fewer dimensions, God in the "world" of greater dimensions, and understand more fully our relationship to God.

Imagine a sphere existing in open space.  There is a sphere and nothing else but black space.  This sphere sheds what looks to be an outer covering and spreads it flat in the open space below.  Peculiarly, this sphere enters into this flattened out used-to-be-covering, such that it perfectly cross-sects the sphere.  MMMP!  A burst of light and the paper is gloriously stained.  The sphere moves sideways in the flat space, leaving behind the imprint of a perfect circle.  But that is not the end of this peculiar scene.  The sphere and this created circle have a strange interaction, with the ability to occupy the same space such that the sphere and the created circle cannot be distinguished from one another.  Even still, even greater peculiarity awaits.

Next, the sphere extracts a small portion of the created circle, such that it fades ever so slightly.  With this small extracted ink-like material, the sphere moves sideways in flat space and MMMP!  Another circle is created.  Now there are two circles and the flat space cross-sected sphere existing together, each abiding in the same flat space, with the ability of full overlap such that they are indistinguishable from one another.

If that wasn't intriguing enough, what happens next is quite disturbing.  Another entity, three dimensional and of abnormal shape...in fact, perfectly irregular if there ever was such a thing, with no two sides the same length, no two angles the same, and honestly ugly compared with the perfect circles...this entity descends to newly created flat space, entering such that it cross-sects just as the space did with the sphere.  This entity lacks the Mmmp! power to create its image in flat space...but this perfectly irregular entity has other, sinister power.

The perfectly irregular entity begins to encroach upon the two perfect circles.  The entity convinces the circles that if they allow it to be a part of their circles that they will know what it is like to be three dimensional!  They can become just like their creator, the sphere, he says.  Further, he says that the sphere does not want them to share that privilege, but that he can grant it, if they will embrace him.  Tricked, both spheres embrace the perfectly irregular entity.  Mmmp!  What's that?!  Horrifically, the once perfect circles look at themselves and see large, jagged imperfections!  They are still circular in nature, but their borders are characterized by irregularities.  "What a terrible thing has happened!" they cry, as the perfectly irregular entity cackles and flees the scene.

The sphere comes near.  The once perfect, now irregular circles seek to hide themselves, but they cannot.  As the sphere comes near, it becomes painfully obvious that with their jagged irregularities, they can no longer occupy the same space as the sphere.  The sphere desires to share the perfect unity again, as do the circles, but without being made perfect again, they simply cannot.  In fact, the sphere now withdraws itself such that it is no longer perfectly cross-sected by the flat space, but instead maintains a tangential relationship with constant contact to flat space, but much less intimate space sharing. The sphere, though unable to unite with the irregular circles as they once did, remains near, guiding them as closely as their irregularities allow. However, the irregular circles inexplicably begin to slowly fade.  This is quite disturbing and they grieve as they realize that only by their prior unity in flat space with the sphere were they able to remain fully vibrant in color.  But they are helpless against the fading that slowly persists.

The imperfect circles begin to multiply and multiply, until much of the once seemingly infinite flat space becomes occupied with imperfect circle after imperfect circle.  They find, heartbreakingly, that the circles they produce together carry imperfections, and no perfect circle is ever seen again.  Still, the sphere remains near to the imperfect circles that will remain near to him.  He never leaves, yet no circle, nor the sphere itself experiences the blissful unity they shared in the beginning.

Even worse, since receiving irregularity, the spheres seem to continually fade until one day they completely disappear, never to return again!  Furthermore, that dreadful, perfectly irregular entity continues to wreak havoc, amplifying the irregularities of the once circular that remain the farthest from the sphere.  Interestingly, the perfectly irregular entity dares not come near the sphere.  Worst of all, the perfectly irregular entity wields what every circle fears most: The Eraser.  Suddenly, and without warning, circles are erased, never to be heard from again!  It seems that whether by slowly fading away or suddenly, all circles are erased in time, and the cumulative irregularity of the flat space circles continues to grow. In fact, some circles become so jagged, so marred, that they are hardly recognizable as circles at all, much more closely resembling the perfectly irregular entity that seems to be at the root of everything imperfect in flat space.

With such irregularity and separation from all that was once perfect, many circles lose hope.  But others remember the promise given by the sphere throughout their generations: the promise of one that has the power to restore the circles to the sphere.  But when?  How?  And so they waited...

...To be continued...

Find the Conclusion here: Relating to a Dimensionless God: The Conclusion


*Disclaimer: I acknowledge that this metaphor is not theologically perfect, omitting some of God’s character, and imperfectly representing other parts of his character. It is meant to articulate a greater perspective and help to understand God, Creation, Man, Sin…but it is not meant to explain each of them fully.

Do You Believe, or Don’t You? 5 Responses to the Gospel

Belief in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, equals eternal life in Heaven. Denial of the Son of God equals eternal death in Hell. There is nothing in between. In which place do you make your eternal dwelling?

John 3:16-18 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

I have a friend who recently lost his mother. Understandably, he took it pretty hard, and I felt blessed that he spoke with me about it and was able to grieve and heal just a little bit in that way. In our conversation, his main comfort was that he knew his mom was now in Heaven, which I was pleased and comforted to hear, for his sake. One of the things he said did not strike me until later. It is something I have heard countless times when grieving a loved one, as he stated that his confidence in his mother’s entrance to Heaven was that she “was strong in her faith” or a “great woman of faith.” I of course nodded in encouragement, belief, and thankfulness.

However, while listening to a song on the radio today (“Stonger” by Mandisa) that said “if only you believe it,” you can be saved and God is faithful to complete the good work started in you (Phil 1:6), I recalled my friend’s words in a slightly different way. I realized that we place our faith in loved ones’ salvation in the word “strong” or “great” in the phrase “was strong in their faith” or “great person of faith,” when our confidence should simply come in the word “faith” alone.

There is much to be said about someone strong and great in their faith, and Jesus often distinguished between great and small faith with statements such as “ye of little faith” (Matt 8:26, 16:8, 17:20) or “you have great faith” (Matt 15:28). Yet, we see the power of even the smallest faith as Jesus pointed out in Matt 17:20, addressing the disciples’ question of why they could not drive out a demon that Jesus did:

Matt 17:19-21 – “Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” 20 He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

Furthermore, Jesus says to anyone who believes that He is the Son of God:

John 14:11-12 – “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”

This is a most powerful belief! To do things even greater than the miracles Jesus performed?! Simply because we believe He is the Son of God? Yes. Jesus said so; therefore, I repeat it to you.

I see in this the simplicity and truth of the Gospel; that it begins and ends with belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who died in our place for our sin, conquered death by rising from the grave, and ascended to Heaven to the right hand of the throne of God to rule, reign, and judge forever; and that if we believe and ask to be saved by His name and His blood, we are assured of eternal salvation and entry to Heaven with Him.

So let me ask you, do you believe or don’t you? If you say “no,” you might be much more honest than many who say “yes,” and there is hope for you. It is my prayer that you die saying “yes” to Jesus Christ, so that we may live together forever with Him in Heaven. To those who say “yes,” I encourage you to take a moment and examine your inner self to see if you really believe in Christ. Here is a litmus test:

Upon hearing the good news that those with the tiniest faith in Jesus are granted Heaven and that a “great faith” or “strong faith” is not required, what is your response? Most will respond in one of 5 ways:

1. Relief and rest that you are going to Heaven, even though you know your faith is small and inconsistent.

2. Questioning if that is really true and desiring to know the real answer.

3. Disappointment because you believe that you have great faith and think that those with small, inconsistent faith should not be granted the same reward as you.

4. Happy because you don’t have to worry about doing anything the Bible instructs, as long as you say you believe in Jesus. You have the smallest faith that is necessary, that’s all you desire, and what you do next is irrelevant to that faith.

5. Rejecting the entire idea as hogwash with no desire to have any faith in this “Jesus.”

First, the good news: There is hope for you, no matter which of these responses you have (or a 6^th that I have not captured). Especially for responses 1 and 2, God has you in a good place to be closest to Him.

If you have the first response, you are indeed ready to receive grace, which is the simple necessity for the child of God. There is no pride in receiving grace, only gratitude, and that is a pure heart that God loves and is pleasing in His sight. Take heart #1, you are loved and precious in the Kingdom of God!

If you have the second response, you are a person that desires truth and are pursuing God’s very heart and Spirit, which is truth. Search the scriptures and you will find this truth. Start with John, read the Gospels, and go from there. Take heart #2, you are pursued as a son by a loving God as you pursue Him and His truth.

Here’s the bad news: Responses 3-5 need immediate revision and are not consistent with the heart of God and Holy Spirit that indwells the believer.

Eph 2:8-10 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

If you have the third response, that is actually quite despicable. There is no grace in that response—it is only by the grace of a perfect God that you have even a mustard seed of faith, let alone strength in that faith. And if this is your response, I wonder how strong and close to your Savior you really are. Pay close attention to this parable of Jesus:

Matt 20:1-16 – ““For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard. 3 “About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. “He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. 6 About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’ 7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered. “He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’ 8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’ 9 “The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. 10So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’ 13 “But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.””

Salvation is granted to the man who asks Jesus in his final breath the same as the man who is baptized at an early age. And so we see that there is to be no comparison and salvation is not obtained by works “so that no man can boast,” but instead I humbly proclaim the graciousness of God to save a sinner such as me. Be convicted number 3, and then take heart, for God is faithful when we are not.

Perhaps response number 4 is the most dangerous of all. At least the man with response number 5 is not lukewarm. The Lord God says, “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:15-16)

If you are one with the fifth response, I understand, and I pray for you with great concern. Be afraid, number 5, for you are lost and facing Hell in this moment; but also take heart, for you are not beyond the reach of your all-powerful Creator God, and you can still be saved if you will repent and call on the name of Jesus. It is my prayer that you turn to Him, whatever it takes.

And so, back to number 4. This is the most dangerous of mindsets because if truly felt, it proclaims that your “belief” in Jesus Christ is only lip service and you do not truly believe. That may seem like a bold statement, but it could not be a simpler truth. Jesus states that those who believe seek to follow Him. He never makes the statement that those who believe will never sin again…He commands that we don’t (John 5:14, 8:11, 15:10)…but the distinction is that those who believe in a Savior, acknowledging and comprehending what that means, seek to serve and worship Him for the rest of their lives. That is still somewhat ambiguous, so let me make is very plain and simple: those who believe in Jesus Christ experience change in their hearts that leads to change in their actions. This is the work and empowerment of the Holy Spirit that is beyond ourselves. If you declare to believe in Christ and your behaviors as well as your motivations have not changed, and even worse, if you say that you “believe in Christ” and therefore it does not matter what you do now because those with the smallest faith reach the Kingdom of God, I say to you, Wake Up! You have been deceived! For you do not truly believe and are the farthest from Him, for He spews the lukewarm from His mouth! If at any point, you or I strive for the minimum, we strive for the absence of God in our lives…that is the exact essence of sin.

The Greek word for sin (as translated in the New Testament) is hamartano, which literally means to miss the mark or “to be without a share in.” It could often be used to describe an archer who did not hit the target’s bullseye no matter how close he may have come. We must strive for the center, the bullseye, and if we do, although we cannot live perfectly on our own and reach the Kingdom of Heaven, God assures us through Jesus Christ that declaring our intent and smallest seed of real faith and belief in Him, He will bring us to the bullseye, the place of sinless Heaven, upon the conclusion of our lives. We must have genuine intent and genuine belief that Jesus is the Way and the only Way. That is it. Number 4, I encourage you, take heart, for God replaces the heart of stone with a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26)…cry out for Him to create a pure heart within you and He will (Psalm 51:10).

Ezekiel 36:26 – “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Psalm 51:10 – “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

And so I ask you one more time, do you believe or don’t you? Do you have “great faith” or “strong faith.” No matter…do you have any faith that is real in your Savior Jesus Christ? That is the principle question and nothing further. If you answer “yes” in truth, then I look forward to seeing you in Heaven forever. Amen.

The Distinguished Graduation – My Pappa

About a week ago, I received an inevitable phone call that you always hope is far into the future. My grandpa had died only minutes beforehand. After receiving the news, I decided to pray and open my Bible. What I read in 2 Corinthians inspired me to write the following eulogy for my grandpa to honor him and comfort my family:

The Distinguished Graduation – My Pappa

My Pappa. One of the things that we always enjoyed together—and many of you enjoyed with him, too—is baseball. In his younger days, Pappa could really play baseball, couldn’t he? I mean, how cool is it to be a pitcher and have a nickname like Cannonball? In fact, I would guess that there is a great number of people who never knew his real first name, but they knew Cannonball Walls…and they probably said it with much more affection if they were on his team and not trying to catch up to that inside fastball!

Last May I was fortunate to play catch with him one more time. I was fresh off of ACL surgery and his shoulder didn’t have much left…but we were able to play catch for 5 or 10 minutes, maybe 30 feet apart. I’m very glad that we took that opportunity and it’s something that I will remember for a long time.

Well, it is the month of June and graduation days are upon us. Many of you have probably attended a graduation recently. Large celebrations inside NFL-sized stadiums, as well as quaint country gatherings, mark the end of a season in life and the beginning of summer and whatever is next for each young honoree.

This is the time of year that we celebrate achievement and usher graduates onward to bigger and better things, whether it is into meticulous preparation for things much farther away or into immediate life practicing that which we spent our time, energy, and possessions to learn.

I say to you that we are gathered here today for a graduation. A much distinguished Graduation with a capital “G.” This is the Graduation of my Pappa, for he has learned, loved, and lived for this day, whether full-knowingly or unknowingly. He surely knows it now. And we praise our Father in Heaven and Savior Jesus Christ for my Pappa’s most distinguished Graduation. I would like to usher Pappa, our beloved graduate, into the bigger and better thing that awaits him with 2 Cor 4:16-5:8.

This passage was written to Christians with the promise of God’s grace to believers in Christ:

2 Cor 4:16 – 5:8 (emphasis added) -

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, ³ if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. ⁴ For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

⁶ So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. ⁷For we walk by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.”

Pappa is now absent from his body…but present with the Lord. He has walked by faith on this earth, and now he walks by sight, being further clothed with the righteousness of God, that his mortality and earthly life is not swallowed up by death…no, as 2 Cor 5:4 assures us, he has been swallowed up by Life eternal and abundant.

Thank you, Pappa, for walking by faith on this earth. Thank you for teaching me all about pitching and sharing great stories of baseball and your life. Thank you most for your love, which I felt to be unconditional, a glimmer of the love of our Father in Heaven, whom you now know better than ever.

In view of these truths, though we mourn his physical absence from our lives, I encourage you to celebrate a life well lived, a death that brings glory to God, and eternal life in the splendor of Heaven for our beloved Pappa, Cannonball Walls.

Guest Post - Re: Stephen Hawking "Afterlife is a fairy story"

One of my good friends emailed an online article to several of us the other day. It was an interview with Stephen Hawking, a world renowned scientist. Not surprisingly, in the article Hawking attempts to use science and logic to defy the existence of any god and therefore any afterlife. His arguments are not new, though they still get under the skin of many Christians. The amazing irony is that a man of great science, logical thought, and intelligence such as Hawking makes some very obvious logical flaws in his sweeping statements against any existence of God or afterlife. You can read the article in its entirety here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110516/us_yblog_thelookout/stephen-hawking-says-afterlife-is-a-fairy-story

In the end, without some faith, there is no belief in God. Good luck proving Him or fully comprehending Him. In fact, stating that there is not enough proof or that it is inconceivable is no proof at all. If God is beyond us—He created us—then how can we hope to tie a nice bow around who He is in our limited ability to understand? The amazing thought of a personal relationship with a big, all-knowing, perfect God is hard to accept or even grasp fully. But our inability to fully comprehend it is in no way proof for or against, contrary to Hawking’s logic. If God's “ways are higher” and His “thoughts are not your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9), then how could we expect to be able to fully comprehend Him? So that argument does nothing. Hawking or others might reply, “Well, how convenient. Explaining the impossible with an ‘incomprehensible God’ cop-out.” That response sounds clever and logical, but given what God claims to be and what we know Him to be (see Isaiah reference above), it is an irrelevant argument. I would challenge Hawking to choose something more solid and substantial. (Of course, he would probably come up with something, however inadequate, as there is no end to this banter back and forth from either side…but if we have a hard time proving God with human logic, we will certainly have a harder time proving His non-existence…we get smug in our logic, but when you break it down, we haven’t proven His non-existence whatsoever. And for those of us who know Him, that is no surprise. :-)

For more thoughts on science and religion and how they fit together, see the following post: The Pursuit of Happiness – Science, Logic, and Love

One of my good friends wrote back the following reply to the Hawking article. I really enjoyed his thoughts, so I have brought it to you as this month's guest post:

These kind of articles are not unusual for our society. We have often spoken about how the media has used Christianity for an amusing punching bag whether it is in movies, TV, or radio. There are many who are so deep into scientific research, that for them matters of fact are the goal rather than matters of faith. Human history has already experienced this though: think of how many religions and beliefs in the past have been proven untrue (Mount Olympus being the easiest example). It is understandable for people to be skeptical and even Paul realized the implications if Christianity was untrue: "and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith is also vain." 1 Corinthians 15:14.

While I have no desire to go toe-to-toe with Stephen Hawking, there are some observations I have on this article.

"But in 2010, Hawking told Diane Sawyer that "science will win" in a battle with religion 'because it works.'"

Scientists, engineers, and others are driven by a desire to understand what appears to be not understandable. Science is something we can comprehend, test, and rely on to return the same result... most of the time. God is unknowable and far beyond us. How many times have we been told, "You're trying to put God in a box." Why does grace work? Because of God, yet we have done nothing to deserve it. To one such as Hawking, this doesn't "work", yet we praise God because of this "not working out." If it did "work", then we would be condemned.

"What could define God [is a conception of divinity] as the embodiment of the laws of nature. However, this is not what most people would think of that God," Hawking told Sawyer. "They made a human-like being with whom one can have a personal relationship. When you look at the vast size of the universe and how insignificant an accidental human life is in it, that seems most impossible."

He is more than Mother Nature and Father Time combined into one. But if our Bible is true, than we see in Genesis that God started the relationship, not Adam. Hawking is right though: we are insignificant in our own perspective of the cosmos, making God much more worthy to be praised.

"Because there is a law such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself from nothing. Spontaneous creation is the reason there is something rather than nothing, why the Universe exists, why we exist."

And who authored and signed the bill of gravity into law? "Matter can neither be created nor destroyed," correct? Then why does anything exist at all? Hawking would argue that just because an answer has not been discovered yet does not mean there is no explanation. True, just because I do not understand that one light in the sky is a star 93 million miles away and another orbits our planet does not make it unexplainable eventually. In the vastness of the universe (infinite), if you wanted to do a statistical probability of any fraction, then our world would by chance have to happen sometime. But with all we can see around us, if spontaneous creation is true, then I will also believe in spontaneous human combustion as my brain will have exploded. Pastor Gregg said it well once, "A random chance of creation takes more faith than God's deliberate creation."

"'We should seek the greatest value of our action,' Hawking told the paper."

And what are our greatest actions of value? Praising God, loving one another, going out and telling others.

When we get together again, we should pray for the lost, those striving to find something greater than themselves, and those who do not realize the joy and hope that we share.

Amen!

My Grandma: A Eulogy

This is the comfort you can have when your loved ones believe in Jesus Christ, or the comfort you can leave behind when you believe.

"A couple things strike me as I think about Grandma 'Tine. First, of course, are all the great memories of her…all the Thanksgivings and family get-togethers; spending a week on the farm every summer as a young kid: working with Grandpa during the day, a break at 10am for Price is Right, popcorn and sugar cookies, back outside, at some point a game of chess or checkers with Grandpa Bruce (he usually won, but not always!)…and usually some fantastic dinner prepared by Grandma, ever the capable cook. My favorite food was and still is Grandma’s chicken pie. =) I remember her playing the piano at church, I remember her wit and hilarious additions to the conversations around the house—“she left the south, but the south never left her!” I think each of us has our own fond memories, and we are blessed to have shared them with her and with each other.

But quickly, and rightly, my thoughts turn to Heaven. She is there now—do we fully realize that? She is there now and happier than ever. Our loss is her gain, so we can have joy through our sorrow as we realize that truth. As wonderful as her life on earth has been—look at the fruit of her life with Grandpa Bruce! Most of us here are the fruit of her life, either through pure genetics, or at least through the impact she has had on our lives, continues to have, and will continue to have. The Bible clearly says that when Grandma 'Tine married Grandpa Bruce, they became one flesh(1). After a long, fruitful marriage, a few years ago their flesh was separated by physical death. She was so strong to live on—to know her was to know her strength. Yet, as of this week, she is reunited with Grandpa Bruce, and even more gloriously, she is united with God in Heaven. Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says “Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work…if one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!...A threefold cord is not quickly broken.” A three-fold cord. I have heard marriage described as a cord that is threefold: husband, wife, and God. Well, today that three-fold cord is closer than ever, for all three reside together in the joy of Heaven.

I think that although she may not have consciously thought about it often, Grandma 'Tine has been awaiting this day for 89+ years. She is home now. And she has been a blessing in her time here with us. Until we join her in our eternal Home, let us live in a way that would honor her and honor our God."

1 – Genesis 2:24, Mathew 19:5, Mark 10:8, Ephesians 5:31