I Will BREAK You.......Off A Piece Of That Kit Kat Bar

I'm a little exhausted from all the heavy thinking I've been doing this week. It's time for a little light...o.k., really dark...humor. This dating site murder meme has pretty much made my week. :-) Enjoy.

The Problem of Evil And It's Only Logical Solution

In my attempts to work out the problem of evil, God has continued to amaze me and reveal Himself to me more and more with each and every day. In my last post, I attempted to disprove the conclusion of the problem of evil by saying that the god it describes is a limited god, and that if you begin the problem with ALL of who God says that He is you are faced with the plausibility that God can be all of those things and evil can still exist. And yet, here is where I have failed in my conclusions. I have left out a key characteristic. It is indeed the key to understanding everything, and that is that God is RELATIONAL. And do you know why this is so important? Because it is the very purpose for our lives: To know God and to be with Him. If you take this into consideration it changes everything. Whenever we envision the best possible world that God could have created, we envision a world without evil in it. It is a utopia. And yet, ask yourself this: Where is God in this world? Is He there with you, walking and talking as He was with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden? Or is this world you envision nothing more than an impersonal God’s television? Is it perfection and goodness outside of God’s presence? Because I am here to tell you that perfection and goodness can not be achieved in a world without God’s presence, and we ourselves can not do good outside of God Himself. God is the very source for which anything good can flow from us. He is the very source for our moral absolutes. Why shouldn’t we steal? Because our parents told us so? Because the government prohibits us? Because if we are caught it results in bad consequences? Because it is our cultural expectation? Because we don’t feel like we should? Because the Bible tells us so? No. We shall not steal because God gives. We shall not lie because God is truth. We shall not commit adultery because God is faithful. We shall not murder because God is the creator of life. We shall not do these things because it does not reflect the character of God, and being made in the image of God we were created to reflect those very qualities which He himself possesses.

And yet what is evil but the result of a separation from God? And what is evil but our response to a relationship with God, who is the very source of everything that we declare good? Evil itself is not a tangible thing. It is a reflection of a broken relationship with God, just as good is a reflection of a whole relationship with God. Evil is the very tie that binds us all together on this earth in which we unifyingly shout “Why does this exist? How could this have happened?” It is the one thing that all people throughout all of history can agree upon as being absolute, and it is our reality.
What solution then does Christianity have to offer the problem of evil? Hope. The very thing which the problem of evil is void of. Jesus Christ. Immanuel---God WITH us. A relational God who has made Himself human, come to earth, suffered, died, and RAISED HIMSELF FROM THE DEAD, thus confirming His power and dominion over life and death, confirming that His purposes have and will be accomplished, confirming that we have a hope and a future in that God will eradicate evil once and for all and create a new heaven and new earth in which we will be restored to Him, confirming that He Himself is “the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father but by me.” He Himself is the very source of life, He is the truth that you seek, and He is the very way which is paved for you to eternally know God and be with Him. He has not come to condemn you, but to free you from the condemnation that you already face in not knowing Him.

But how can God create hell and condemn anyone to it, you ask? What loving God would do such a thing? I ask you, what is hell but the absence of God? Why do you think it is depicted as fire and brimstone and eternal punishment? Because you are no longer connected to the very source of all that is good. If you hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and you choose not to believe it and to live apart from Him during your life on earth, then you are left with hell, which is exactly what you wanted in the first place. If you do not desire to know God, then you do not have to be with Him. And that is exactly how a loving relationship functions even here on earth. A loving God would not force anyone who does not desire Him to be with Him.

The problem of evil itself is devoid of hope outside the God of the Bible. It does not take His purposes into account. It assumes Him to have declared this to be the best possible world in which we could live, and yet it is clear by all rationality that it is not. It assumes that the world which God first created, the world without evil, is the best possible world only because there was no evil…not because God Himself was there and mankind knew Him. And now evil exists because it is necessary for God to restore our relationship to Him. That is the whole reason why He has gone through all the trouble to tolerate it.

And how do we know that this is the truth? How do we know that among all of the world’s religions this is the one true religion? We know because those who believe are no longer driven by fear of punishment but by love. What is the one common bond that all religions, including atheism and agnosticism, share? A moral system based upon fear. The fear of death and of hell. A morality system in which you must prove your worth. A morality system in which you must work your way into heaven in order to be accepted by God. In which you must make offerings and sacrifices. In which you must repeat lives until you have become pure. In which you must pray five times a day. Even in Darwinism, a morality in which you live your life in order to avoid death for as long as possible. Fear drives your every whim, your every “good” behavior. And yet I am telling you this. You do not somehow become worthy even if you accept Jesus Christ by faith. A Christian is no more loved or valued by God than an atheist nor a Muslim nor a Hindu nor the mentally ill nor the homeless and weak or the strong and powerful. Jesus did not give his life for you to declare your worth but to CONFIRM your worth, the very worth that is innate within you because you are a Creation of God, the very worth that was given you from the moment you were born, the worth that no one can take away from you no matter how hard they try. You have nothing to prove. This is why we testify not just to love your neighbor as yourself, but to love your enemies. The Creator of the universe has already accepted you. He already knows you fully and completely. He already knows the evil that lies in your heart, He knows the evil that you have done. He accepts you and knows you fully. The question is do you accept Him and want to know Him fully? Because a way has already been made for you to do so. This is the God of the Bible we "annoying, intolerant, and judgemental" Christians speak of. This is the message of Jesus Christ that all of mankind’s attempts can neither quiet nor contain. Do what you will with it, but rest assured that it is the TRUTH. And know that even in knowing God, there is still a deceiver at work on earth. There is still a war raging on in which Satan seeks to destroy all life, to twist every good thing, to tempt us and lead us away from God, to separate us from the presence of God so that we will worship him and only him in hell.

And yet..."Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: 'For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.'No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)

God Is Not A Liar

Today God totally and completely blew my mind. I’ve been studying apologetics pretty hardcore lately. Partly because I’ve been in a friendly debate with a new blogger friend, partly because it’s part of the curriculum we’re teaching in Sunday School, and partly because I just find it intriguing, I’m curious, and I want to strengthen my faith in order that I might be a better witness to those that don’t believe. Anyways, today my mind wandered to the problem of evil. If any argument is the reason for a skeptic’s disbelief of God, or even of His lack of love for all of humanity, this would be the one. In case you’ve never heard the argument, here is the problem of evil:

1. If God exists, then God is omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect.
2. If God is omnipotent, then God has the power to eliminate all evil.
3. If God is omniscient, then God knows when evil exists.
4. If God is morally perfect, then God has the desire to eliminate all evil.
5. Evil exists.
6. If evil exists and God exists, then either God doesn't have the power to eliminate all evil, or doesn't know when evil exists, or doesn't have the desire to eliminate all evil.
7. Therefore, God does not exist.

I’ve heard this argument a million times, and if I’m honest it always throws me off guard, because how can I explain away the suffering in the world when I myself don’t fully understand why it exists? The token Christian response to this question is the existence of free will. The loving thing for God to do is to give us a choice to love Him in return. That proves that God can be omnipotent, omniscient, and morally perfect and still allow evil to exist. And although I believe that to be a true statement, the result always seems to be so unsatisfactory. It still makes God seem so…small.

Well, as I was pondering all of this, I also happened to be listening to Josh McDowell speak about the attributes of God. And as I listened to him speak about who God is I suddenly saw the problem of evil in a whole new light. The argument is flawed. It sets God up to be a liar and there is no escape route from the argument in which we can confidently declare that either God exists or that if He does he is not a liar…even with our free will argument. I have never in my life reasoned through the problem of evil and come out with even greater confidence in God than when I started...until today. I think what gave me that confidence today is the realization that the God displayed within the argument is not really the God of the Bible at all. Why do I say this, you ask? Blasphemy, you declare! I know, I know. To say that does sound like complete blasphemy. Of course God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and morally perfect. And I say with full confidence that He is indeed those very things which He claims to be. But here’s my point: He is SO MUCH MORE than just those three things.

If we are to look at the character of God, who does He claim to be? He is holy, loving, just, faithful, eternal, impartial, incomprehensible, jealous, longsuffering, merciful, righteous, true, wise, wrathful, self-sufficient, self-existent, sovereign, transcendent, all-present and immutable IN ADDITION to being all-knowing, all-powerful, and morally perfect. When we look at these attributes we naturally assume that each attribute is a part of what makes Him whole, and yet I don’t think we could be more wrong. God is all of these things fully, and He is all of them at once at all times. If I am to ask you, who is God? You would probably say “God is love,” or maybe “The Creator of the Universe.” Those are probably the only two answers that the majority of us would give, yet such answers do not even begin to describe who God is. Is it not possible then, for God to be ALL these things, for evil to exist, and for Him to still never have acted in contradiction to His character because He is ALL of these things? God is so much BIGGER and GREATER than we can even fathom, and we are so tiny and limited and unrighteous, so why is it that when we don’t understand something the first thing we do is jump to the conclusion that God is a liar when it would only make more sense to assume that perhaps we are the ones who are wrong about who He is?

In all of this thinking, I know there are bound to be holes in my argument. And I know that while I am on this earth all my questions will not be answered, but I will keep asking because I know that my God will always speak for Himself and prove Himself true. And now I rejoice because in questioning I have only come to discover that God is even greater than I had ever thought before. And this greatness---God’s very character and nature---it all became evident in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, when in His mercy, faithfulness, holiness, power, sovereignty, patience, impartiality, jealousy, self-sufficience, knowledge, and all-encompassing love, He carried out justice and poured out His wrath upon Himself so that we might be declared righteous. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God. Christ Himself is the evidence that both evil and a God who claims to be all that He is can coexist.

So if you want to diminish God with limiting arguments, go right ahead, but I tell you here and now that the kind of God who you are imagining would allow evil to exist is no comparison in greatness to who God actually is.

The Absolute Truth

The argument for absolute truth has always been one that’s intrigued me, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately as my eyes have been opened to the cultural shift that's been upon us over the past few decades. It’s never ceased to amaze me the amount of people who believe that truth is relative or that it can not necessarily be known at all. I think it would be safe to assume that most Americans travel to the beat of their own drum. What is right for me isn’t necessarily what’s right for someone else. I suppose the easiest examples of this from our culture to use are sex outside of marriage, homosexuality, and abortion. Most Americans would come out and say that if someone wants to engage in any of these acts that it’s okay, because they’re doing what feels right to them, and who are any of us to tell them that what they’re doing is wrong? So basically, with this argument, most people are saying without realizing it that right and wrong are determined on an individual basis. A vast amount of people live by this philosophy and so few seem to realize the arrogance of it. If I am to believe that I can essentially do what I want when I want and that I don’t have to answer to anyone other than myself for what I do, have I not in all reality elevated myself to the same level as a god?

Now some may say that they’re not so selfish to say that they do what they want when they want it. There are still rules to be followed. A few rules may be thrown into their moral beliefs to say that what you do is right as long it doesn’t harm anyone else. But what exactly are the boundaries of what harm is? Is it just physical harm? Emotional harm? Is consentual sex outside of marriage okay since you’re not physically harming one another? What if someone feels used and worthless afterwards? Have you then harmed them? What if a person doesn’t feel hurt until you break up with them months or years later and they realized that they gave themselves away to someone that stopped caring about them? What if one couple has sex outside of marriage and never regrets it and another couple does the same thing and does regret it…was it then right for one couple yet wrong for another? And with all this said, if it’s okay to do what you want as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else, is it then okay to harm yourself? Does that mean suicide, cutting, and eating disorders are right? They’re not harming anyone else, so with that thinking it must be okay. And yet, it clearly isn’t.

So what then do we determine we can base our morality upon if we ourselves do not determine it? Perhaps our government or our culture? Well, that would almost seem logical, if indeed our government and culture were reliable when it came to morality. Unfortunately, our laws and our culture are constantly changing. The things that many, including the government, say to be permissible now…such as the previous examples of homosexuality or abortion (sorry, the topics are just easy targets)…were not permissible by law nor culturally acceptable just a mere half century ago. So were these things wrong then but are right now? How can this be? And why does the government, an institution made up of individual people like me and you, have the right to determine this? Now if we are to turn to culture rather than government to determine our morality, then we are in the same dilemma, especially since governments are typically a reflection of cultural beliefs. Cultures everywhere across the globe have repealed laws against sodomy in the last 50 years: Germany, Hungary, Australia, Israel, Russia, Thailand, the U.S., the U.K. and many more. Does this mean that sodomy has always been right and we as cultures, governments, and individuals up until the last fifty years have been completely wrong? Does this mean that cultures such as Malaysia, South Korea, and India which still have anti-sodomy laws in place are now wrong in this matter though they would have previously been seen as right?

I think it’s pretty clear that when it comes to morality, we are not merely accountable to ourselves, nor are we merely accountable to our neighbors, governments, or cultural standards. Just as culture is constantly changing and shifting, so I too as an individual am in a constant state of change. It’s silly and even narcissistic to think that I myself could determine my own morality when I myself am so often proved to be wrong, and it’s just as silly to think that a culture could even determine morality when it so constantly flip-flops on its laws, opinions, and beliefs. So what does this mean then? Who are we then accountable to? Is there even such a thing as morality or truth, and if there is, can we ever really know it? Well, if the answer is that we are accountable to no one and that there is no such thing as morality, or even that there is but we can’t know it, then we might as well just all go jump off a cliff because there’s no point to anything. There’s no point in creating rules nor obeying them, there’s no point in restraining yourself from things like murder or stealing or lying or general selfishness because they might not even be wrong. There’s probably no point in loving one another or doing good deeds. How can you even know, really? So you might as well do what you want when you want it, right?

Well, you can take that stance, as some do. Or there is another option. Perhaps there really is such a thing as absolute morality. Perhaps truth does exist. Perhaps we can even know it. And perhaps there is really a higher power outside of ourselves to whom we are accountable. In the end, it’s the only thing that really makes sense, isn’t it? Because seriously, if I am ultimately my own higher power and determiner of what is right and wrong in my own life, then I would highly advise everyone around me to run for their lives, because I know my own heart and I know the many limitations of my own mind (Yes, tis true, I don’t know EVERYTHING…or much at all in the grand scheme of things), so trust me…I am not someone that anyone would want to determine something as important as morality. And quite honestly, I don’t want any other flawed human being telling me what morality is and isn’t either when they themselves have a limited knowledge and a heart that has committed many wrongs. Isn’t it far better in the grand scheme of things then for someone who is perfect and utterly holy to determine what is right and wrong, and to hold all of humanity accountable for their actions rather than leave them to themselves…especially when we are so clearly in need of salvation from the wrongs we have committed?

I myself firmly believe that absolute truth does exist, that we can know it, that God has already made it known to us, and that we are accountable to God for both our thoughts and actions. I’m interested, though, in what everyone else thinks. Are these plausible arguments? Does Scripture back it up? Does human nature or history back it up? Are there any plausible arguments by which relativism could in turn be truth? Really, I just want people to stop and think for a second. We get so caught up in daily tasks and in absorbing entertainment that we never take the time to contemplate the things that really matter…the basic beliefs we hold that in the end really are a matter of life or death. These underlying beliefs will either lead us toward the Gospel or away from it, so it seems that absolute truth is a good place to start. And for those of us who do believe in absolute truth, particularly those of us who are proclaimed followers of Christ, we must ask ourselves if there are perhaps beliefs that we still hold in which we have made them relative to our own judgement. We must recognize whether or not we are thinking backwards in that we are rejecting teachings of the Bible because they do not fit what we think or feel is true rather than rejecting our own beliefs because they are not aligned to God's truth. Because if the Bible is truly God’s word, and if it is absolute truth, then as it is said in Romans 12:2---Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. THEN you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will. Something to think about…

Hey, A Girl Can Still Dream...

One of my youth group girls shared a link to this on Facebook today and I fell instantly in love. It seems that Alfred Angelo has designed a line of Disney-inspired wedding gowns. My question is, how is it that no one's ever thought to do this before? If I were even remotely artistic and could actually sew, I would have designed these things by the time I was 12. They're gorgeous! You may be thinking..."didn't you just write eleventy billion posts on singlehood? And now you're posting about wedding dresses?" In my defense...I'm a girl. I also happen to be a lover of all things Disney, and I also do very much so like pretty dresses. Put those things together and voila, perfection!

I seem to be in wedding mode lately, because this Sunday I will also be attending the Wichita Wedding Ideas Bridal Show. The very same 7th grader who shared the dresses, whom I shall refer to as "M" (No relation to the James Bond "M"), has expressed a desire to attend this glorious event, so I'll be going as "Georgia Peach": Undercover Bride. So while "M" browses, I'll be doing some detective work of my own, working to expose the dark side of the wedding industry. Black market flowers, wedding favor drug smuggling, bride trafficking, the notorious CCLU (Crazy Cat Ladies United) mobsters bound and determined to destroy the wedding industry...you know the jive. I do declare, though, I simply can not wait to reveal all the details of how my beloved Prince Charming extravagantly proposed during our trip abroad in France, in which he lowered himself to his knee atop the Eiffel Tower while I gazed down upon the city to see the words "Will You Marry Me" scrawled out in lights hundreds of feet below me. Isn't my pretend fiance just so romantic? ;-)

Anyways, let's play a game. First one to name all of the Disney Princesses represented in the pictures above in the right order wins a prize. What that prize is, I don't know. Maybe an Orange Leaf date, or a zoo trip, or something sent to you in the mail. Just rest assured that the prize will be cool and I will follow through. Oh, and NO CHEATING (a.k.a. googling or clicking the link provided beforehand), or ELSE. Yes, that's right. I just might give the police an anonymous tip about the CCLU and some "wedding favors" recently discovered in your home...

Secure In Jesus

In keeping with the singlehood theme, I've been reading "The Hiding Place" and found myself wondering why it is that Corrie Ten Boom, another hero of mine, never married. Google yielded some wonderful results in my search, and I simply have to share what I found. Written here is an excerpt from her book "Tramp For The Lord." I had no idea this book existed, but judging by the awesome title and incredible testimony of the author, this is definitely going to be read by me at some point within the next few months. I read this excerpt and nearly found myself in tears. She speaks with such wisdom and grace, and I'm so thankful to have stumbled upon this because it's such an encouragement. I don't know whether or not I'm called to marry at this point, but I do know that I don't want to live a life of worry about it, nor do I want it to be the focus of my life. I am first and foremost called to glorify God, so I think I'll just go about doing that where I'm at right now. And in the meantime, I'll tell my desire to marry to God and either let Him change my desire or surprise me with someone really special when I least expect it. I hope you're able to find the same encouragement that I did in this post. Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~"SECURE IN JESUS"~~~~~~~~~~~~
--written by Corrie Ten Boom with Jamie Buckingham--

It is Satan who tries, in every way, to spoil the peace and joy that God's servants have in their work.

Ellen, my new traveling companion, had gone with me to a lonely mission field in Mexico. Our hostess was a lady missionary, unmarried, in her forties.

One evening while we were alone in her little adobe, she confessed her bitterness and resentment over being unmarried. "Why have I been denied the love of a husband, children, and a home? Why is it that the only men who ever paid any attention to me were married to someone else?" Long into the night she poured out the poison of her frustration. At last she asked me, "Why did you never marry?"

"Because," I said, "the Lord had other plans for me than married life."

"Did you ever fall in love and lose someone, as I have?" she asked bitterly.

"Yes," I said sadly. "I know the pain of a broken heart."

"But you were strong, weren't you," she said in biting tones. "You were willing to let God have His way in your life?"

"Oh, no, not at first," I said. "I had to fight a battle over it. I was twenty-three. I loved a boy and believed he loved me. But I had no money and he married a rich girl. After they were married he brought her to me and putting her hand in mine said, 'I hope you two will be friends.' I wanted to scream. She looked so sweet, so secure and content in his love.

"But I did have Jesus, and eventually I went to Him and prayed, 'Lord Jesus, You know that I belong to You 100 percent. My sex life is yours also. I don't know what plans You have for my life, but Lord, whatever it may be, use me to realize Your victory in every detail. I believe You can take away all my frustrations and feelings of unhappiness. I surrender anew my whole life to You.'"

I looked across the little table at the bitter woman in front of me. Her face was furrowed, her eyes hard with resentment. I sensed she had been trying to run away from her frustrations. Perhaps that was even the reason she was on the mission field. Sadly, there are some of God's children who go to the mission field to escape the pain of not having a husband. I know others, back home, who spend every evening away from their families, attending Christian meetings, because they are unhappy and frustrated in their marriages. Work-even mission work- can become a wrong hiding place.

"Those called by God to live single lives are always happy in that state," I said. "This happiness, this contentment, is the evidence of God's plan."

"But you loved and lost," she exclaimed. "Do you believe that God took away your lover to make you follow Him?"

"Oh, no, I smiled. "God does not take away from us. He might ask us to turn our backs on something, or someone, we should not have. God never takes away; however, God gives. If I reach out and take someone for myself and the Lord steps in between, that does not mean God takes. Rather it means He is protecting us from someone we should not have because He has a far greater purpose for our lives."

We sat for long minutes in the semidark room. Only a small kerosene lamp gave its flickering light, casting faint shadows on the walls and across our faces. I thought back-remembering. I had always been content in the Lord. Back when I was in my thirties God gave me children-the children of missionaries-whom I raised. Betsie, my sister, fed and clothed them while I was responsible for their sports and music. We kept them in our home in Holland, and I found deep satisfaction in seeing them grow to maturity. I also spent a great deal of time speaking and sharing in various clubs for girls. But it was not the work that brought balance to my life, for work cannot balance our feelings. It was because my life was centered in the Lord Jesus that I had balance.

Many people try to lose their feelings in work, or sports, or music, or the arts. But the feelings are always there and will eventually, as they had done tonight in this missionary, come boiling to the surface and express their resentment and discontent.

I turned to Ellen, my companion. Ellen is a tall, blond, beautiful Dutch girl then in her early thirties. She is single, yet she has learned the secret of living a balanced life. While I believe God set me apart before I was born, to live a single life, Ellen was different. She did not feel that God had called her to a single life; rather she felt that one day, in God's time, she would marry. However, until that time arrived-one year or thirty years from then-I knew she was secure in Jesus and was not looking to a husband or children for her security.

I spoke to the missionary. "There are some, like me, who are called to live a single life," I said softly. "For them it is always easy for they are, by their nature, content. Others, like Ellen, are called to prepare for marriage which may come later in life. They, too, are blessed, for God is using the in-between years to teach them that marriage is not the answer to unhappiness. Happiness is found only in a balanced relationship with the Lord Jesus."

"But it is so hard," she said, tears welling up in her eyes.

"That is so," I said. "The cross is always difficult. 'But you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God' (Colossians 3:3). Dear girl, it cannot be safer. That part of you which would cling to a husband is dead. Now you can move into a life where you can be happy with or without a husband-secure in Jesus alone."

I do not know if she really understood me, for often we set our minds on some one thing we think will make us happy-a husband, children, a particular job, or even a "ministry"-and refuse to open our eyes to God's better way. In fact, some believe so strongly that only this thing can bring happiness, that they reject the Lord Jesus Himself. Happiness is not found in marriage; or work; or ministry; or children. Happiness is found by being secure in Jesus.