Oh generation...

Jeremiah. A book of calamity, disaster, great sorrow and distress. A book of judgement. A rebellious, wicked nation that "had it all" and a just, perfect God that, though spurned again and again, still yearns for His people. What would it be like to be Jeremiah, a prophet of God, commanded to speak His truth to a perverse, unyielding generation? To put aside fear and believe God's word: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you..." (Jer. 1: 5). Would I have the courage to trust God's promise: "Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you...behold, I have put My words in your mouth...and they will fight against you but they will not overcome you, for I am with you to deliver you..." (Jer. 1:8-9, 19).

But it was more than just the command to preach and speak for God. The words Jeremiah was commanded to say, were hard words. How did it feel to tell others of their impending doom? To give a message of despair and judgement to your own people? For there is very little hope in Jeremiah's words. There wasn't much hope left for Judah at this time, a treacherous, evil nation full of people who were "walking according to the stubbornness of [their] own evil heart[s]" (Jer. 16:12).

As I read through Jeremiah, feeling his despair and gloom, I am struck by how much this nation reminds me of my own generation, of the people who live in our world today.

"They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, to hew for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water" - Jer. 2:13

We have indeed turned to our own ways. We have relied on our own strength, built our own "cisterns" so to speak: profitable careers, life insurance, social status. Material things which can profit us nothing. They offer only a superficial safety while we turn our backs on the One who can truly save us. And we don't even see it. This generation is blind to the truth of their situation. Everyone feels assured in their own strength.

"Yet you said, 'I am innocent; surely His anger is turned away from me.'" (Jer. 2:35)

People don't see their sin. They don't believe in a just God who must mete out judgement. They believe only in a loving God of forgiveness, if they believe in one at all. And God is loving, more than that, God is love! But I think we do not truly understand love, and for sure, we don't comprehend true justice and even more, we cannot fathom how justice and love and mercy can all coexist in perfection in God. And so we try to clean ourselves up as best we can and hope it is good enough.

"'Although you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your iniquity is before me,' declares the Lord God" (Jer. 2:22)

But it's not. Yet there is still hope. For God, in His justice, is also merciful and welcomes us to return. If Israel was given this hope, surely we have it too. In Christ, we can be made new and nothing is too big for Him to forgive.

 "Return, faithless Israel...I will not look upon you in anger. For I am gracious...I will not be angry forever...Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness..." (Jer. 3:12, 22)

God can heal it. And just as Israel was surely judged, so was she brought back. God did restore His people and He can restore us as well.

"Oh generation, heed the Word of the Lord..." (Jer. 2:31)

Prepare to Believe

It's impossible to really describe a walk through the creation museum. All the emotions you feel as you take step after step through it...it's hard to describe. It's like walking through our world and yet not - more like standing helplessly watching it revolve around you. It's like being a part of our history but not - more just watching from the outside. The exhibits come alive and it feels like it's you that is frozen in one state. I don't know how I appeared on the outside but my heart was in turmoil as the minutes turned to hours and I was drawn through the different scenes. Slowly I began to see. Slowly I began to understand. Slowly I saw our world, our history, through different eyes.

This is one of the very first exhibits you see and when I looked up at it and read the two quotes, it really hit me hard how pathetic we are. Descartes' famous line looks so weak next to God. With all our knowledge, our stacks of books, our years of searching, mankind is still so far from understanding. We are helpless to explain our purpose, our very existence. And yet we have such a high opinion of ourselves. We think we have accomplished so much. "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away" (James 4:14 emphasis added). In contrast God says"...I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me" (Isaiah 44:6); "...I, the Lord, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself, and spreading out the earth all alone" (Isaiah 44:24); I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God...that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these" (Isaiah 45: 5-7)

The questions resonate deep inside because we've all asked at least on of them at some point in our lives. Taking the time to stand and take in the devastation that follows from the wrong starting point really helps you to appreciate the hope presented by the truth.

This exhibit displays some of the ways God brought His Word together

Satan has been attacking God's Word since the beginning, since the garden. He questions God's truthfulness, God's authority; he tries to get us to doubt and many times he succeeds. Just read through a few of the attacks on Scripture throughout history and you will be astounded at how the evil one has made this such a priority. After all, if we doubt God's Word, how can we trust the God who wrote it?

Reject God and our world falls apart. Walking through the hopelessness and destruction caused by a life in rebellion against God was depressing and humbling. We are truly, wandering in purposelessness without Christ.

After this dark room of sad reality, you leave our present world, walking through a dark tunnel filled with blinking stars and start right at the beginning...

Adam naming the animals in Eden

Pure innocent bliss. The garden is beautiful, the music is soothing. Everything is perfect, unique and good. I love this exhibit because it just shows the two amazing created beings, living in pure joy and yet above them the snake is watching, planning, waiting. Satan is never absent. He is ever ready to make a move and destroy.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 6:12)

The contrast from this quiet place of happiness and peace into the dark, bleak rooms following is an amazing portrayal of the devastation caused by sin. You begin to walk in a subtle descent as the perfect world dissolves into one of terror and violence. I shuddered inside as I walked past angry animals, Abel's murder, a room accosting me with images and sounds of fighting,and  bombs,and  floods, sickness, anger, jealousy...black black sin. My heart ached and I felt tears welling up.

And then the ark. The beautiful yet tragic story floods my heart with sadness but also hope. Righteous judgement is placed alongside unwarranted grace. The contrast in this miniature display is clear. I stood studying the tiny desperate people, startled at the detail added to each one. They were real human beings who rejected God and faced His wrath. And I can't help but think how it is really no different today. Are you on the ark, safe from destruction? Or clinging to the rocks, facing impending doom? 

And then...the new start. A new, clean world. The jagged mountains, a testimony of the past destruction, all around them, Noah and his family praise God among the flowers. What a devastating truth must have hit them as they walked out of the ark. The only human beings alive on the whole earth, nothing familiar, starting over by themselves.

Yet, it's sad to think that it wasn't long before mankind again rebelled collectively at Babel. And then imagine the grief of separation; the fear in all the confusion, the anger, the resentment, as man is scattered around the globe.

Will we ever get it?

The walk-thru exhibits end with a short but convicting film of the life of Christ, the Lamb of God, the Last Adam. And I walked out quiet. Contemplating all I had seen and read and felt. It was overwhelming. Not only amazingly well put together and detailed and beautiful, but if you let it, a walk through the museum will touch your heart and teach you truths in a way you've never known them before.

I really can't tell you any thing more. I mean, I could go on and on but really, you must visit this place yourself to understand. Even if you've grown up in a Christian home and think you know all the answers, all stories, all the true history...go. You will be glad you did. You will be encouraged in your faith, strengthened in the truth, and emboldened to share.

And even if you have never touched Bible, never stepped inside a church...go. Just check it out. What can it hurt? I must warn you though, if you go, prepare...to believe.

Find your Inner Woman 12: the Philosopher

So I meant to write this post ages ago...like back during philosophy class, but  (as you may remember) I was slightly overworked and super busy and a little stressed during that week and so it didn't happen and so that is why TODAY, I have decided to post it!

Basically as we were reading our "Introduction to Philosophy" textbook, we were noticing all these ridiculous philosophical theories and examples and things that really just made us laugh or confused or were just plain dumb and I made note of them so I could share them all with you... (warning it's kind of long and probably confusing, I understand if you skip reading this one!)


In relation to knowledge and skepticism...
     There is a state called ephoche which is the "suspension of judgement" which means that "one must embrace all mutually inconsistent claims and withhold judgement on each of them"

- now this is just plain confusing and I don't know WHY you would even sort this out enough to put it down. I mean it doesn't even make sense - you have to "withhold judgement" on all things...so do you have to "withhold judgement" on "withholding judgement"???

Another skeptic says...

     "We can conceive of a world quite like ours in which the sun will not rise tomorrow morning"

- uummmmmm...I don't know about you but this is kind of inconceivable to me...how can a world be like ours but without a sun rising...? basically his point is, you can't say that something will happen because it has always happened because we can imagine  it NOT happening...

Okay, Descartes has a pretty great philosophy...

     "I think, therefore I am" You may have heard this before. His point is that you can't be sure of anything in the world, real or imagined because "there may be a demon or an evil god who systematically deceives [us]" YET we know that WE must exist because even if God tried to deceive us about ourselves, there would have to be an "I" to be deceived. 

- OH! THANK YOU FOR EXPLAINING THAT SO CLEARLY!!! How did I miss it?

On the logic of listening to authority...

     If we didn't heed the warnings of others, believing that they know what they are talking about - if "we refused to accept anything we were told...we would probably end up in a mental institution"

- this is probably true...but then, you could end up in a mental institution just thinking through all this mumbo-jumbo!

Back to Descartes...

     "He was concerned that he might be systematically deceived by a malevolent demon or evil deity" but was comforted at deciding that "God is a perfect being, and thus would not deceive him"

- aren't you happy for him?

Here is his thought process for the "external world"...

     3 options: "(1)Descartes might be responsible for the idea. He might have a fertile imagination, and thus manufacture the idea of an external world. (2)God could deceive him, and place in his mind the idea of an external world...(3)The external world itself existed, ad was the cause of the idea in Descartes' mind. 

- wouldn't you love it if your mind worked this way????

Now we have the topic of REALITY. I give you Zeno...

    "Achilles could never catch a tortoise" because to catch him you'd have to go halfway to catching him and then half of the half and half of that half and so on and you would never actually get there...

- no comment


Platonism...

     Identification by negation: "we define or identify the pencil by showing that it is not the table"

- that makes sense right? I mean if it's not a table...or a chair...or a bird...or a mountain...or the sky...or any other of the innumerable things that it COULD BE...it must be a pencil. So...why is this important???


Being...

     "there can be different kinds of beings depending on their potentiality. Some beings (like men) have the potential for being rational; others (like tomatoes) do not."

- aren't you glad you have more potential than a tomato????


Concerning the relation between mind and body...

   "While it makes sense to ask the location of a physical event, it is absurd to ask the location of a mental event."

- thank you EINSTEIN!!!


Spinoza speaks about man's freedom...
     "it is conceit to that leads us to think that we are the masters of our behaviour...suppose that a stone has been thrown into the air and suddenly becomes conscious...it would believe that it was the source of its own motion"

- I mean, I get it, but WHERE do they come up with these illustrations!?!?!?!? Did he just compare us to a stone? ...I'd say we have more potential than that!

Here's an interesting theory: indeterminism (basically NOTHING causes our actions)
     Following this view..."the understanding of man that now emerges is that of an erratic, jerking phantom, making moves and actions without rhyme or reason. he moves at one time this way and at another time that way but in both instances without cause!"

- yep, that's definitely the answer to life...

Concerning truth...

     This guy, James believes these two sentences are the same: "It is true that it is sunny out" and "It is useful to believe that it is sunny out". 

- I don't even know where he gets this...basically I think, to him, "truth" is what is "useful to believe"...right.

Aristotle's definition of truth...
     "To say of what is, that it is not, or of what is not, that it is, is false; while to say of what is, that it is, and of what is not, that it is not, is true"

- that clears things up now don't it?

And here's a precious nugget of truth...

     "when we falsely believe that the moon is made of green cheese, our belief corresponds to nothing"

- and this is why we should all take philosophy classes - you learn such awesome things!

Geometric rationalism...

     ""evil is but an illustration of the moment or the particular. The universe as a whole is good, just as a mosaic as a whole is beautiful, despite the seeming ugliness of an individual piece"

- so obviously this has major flaws but I just have to point out one that really hits me - there is STILL THE PROBLEM OF THE UGLY PIECE! I mean, just because the pieces together make something beautiful, this doesn't make the pieces individually any less ugly...

Concerning "good"...

     "Some goods are higher than other goods. An unhappy man is better than a happy pig, said Mill"

- again, the comparisons to the animals and such!??!?!

Another opinion on "good"...

     "The attempt to save a drowning man is not in itself a good act. For the extreme utilitarian, the act is not good unless it bring about good results. If the man is rescued, then the act is a good act; if he drowns, it is not"

- now this is just pessimistic and sad!

Often the most simple and obvious ideas, upon critical examination and reflection, show themselves to be complicated and profound. 

     - so perhaps we should critically examine and reflect on such things... I think sometimes the answer is really in their simplicity 

Maybe I'm just not cut out to be a philosopher but these and many more things I have found in the subject just make me shake my head in wonderment. Oh the things we confuse ourselves with, psych ourselves out with, cause doubt and unbelief and fear with! If only we would just turn to the One with the answers to it all and read the Word He provided for us! How blessed I am to have been gifted and shown the truth. So many intelligent men have agonized over these questions of life and God has graciously provided ME with the answers! How awesome, how amazing, how humbling.

Surprised my head is still attached

We spent a while in class today on atheist blogs and wow, that is a scary place to go! The people on the other end ...well, they aren't Christian and they don't pretend to be. Seriously, they practically bite your head off every time you try to say anything. They are so mean! and I don't even mean just unkind, most of them are cussing you out, calling you names, putting down your intellect - everything except giving a real response to your questions. We went in there with 1 Peter 3:15 in our hearts (But sanctify the Lord God in you hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear)

It has been an enlightening experience but it saddens me so much. Those people are all so lost and there is no way that we can convince them of their folly. Everything we say really does sounds like foolishness to them and just like 2 Cor. 2:14 says they just can't understand or accept the things of God. But, we did not go into the lions den for their sakes, but for God's glory. We knew that we wouldn't convert anyone but the Holy Spirit can work through our feeble efforts and it debating like that really helps to sharpen and strengthen your own faith. But beware if you try it because it gets frustrating when they twist your words, it is disheartening to see that you are getting nowhere and despite it all, their comments hurt sometimes. However, I have found that my pity for them greatly overcomes any anger or hurt I may have. They are truly lost. 

I thank God that He saved me. It is only by GOD'S GRACE that I am on this side of the argument and not yelling terrible things back to a bunch of Christians in Wyoming. How great is my God!?! I can not even understand why He picked me and I know I don't truly grasp the magnitude of what He has done for me. How can I help but want to live every second for Him. I pray that I will continually glorify Him in all I do for, that is the least I can do.