A LIFE SENTENCE

HOW DID WE GET HERE?

So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. Genesis 1:27 (HCSB)

The worldview you hold is essentially your starting point for all you believe. Moreover, it will color the way you understand life, even how you view facts. Since each of us has been “Sentenced to Life”, that is, we get to live life, it is extremely important to live well. Each of us has asked at some point “Why am I here?” How did I get here?

Dr. Calvin Wittman dispels “the most prevalent modern myth concerning the origin of man, the theory, and let me stress that word theory, of evolution.

In 1859, Charles Darwin published his widely acclaimed book entitled, The Origin of Species, in which he set forth his own theory as to how humanity came to be. Interestingly enough, Darwin offered no real explanation about the origin of anything. Instead he merely offered a theory as to the evolution of species. In other words, he could not explain how matter first came into being; instead he hypothesized how one form of matter mutated into another form of matter. And even that has been impossible to prove.

Dinesh D’Souza, in his book, What’s So Great About Christianity, says that despite a long history of experimentation, breeders have never been able to breed across species lines and produce new species. He goes on to ask, “So how can random mutations achieve what carefully orchestrated cross-breeding has failed to do?” D’Souza says. While the fossil record shows evidence of microevolution, that is one type of finch evolving into another type of finch, there is no evidence for macro-evolution which shows one species evolving into a different species. In other words, there is no proof that evolution is valid as a theory.”

Wittman further states “The Christian worldview works off of the presupposition that there is a God who created all things and who intervenes in time and space, many times in miraculous ways, as He relates to mankind, His supreme creation. The Darwinist worldview is agnostic or atheistic. Agnostics say they cannot know whether or not there is a God, while atheists assert that there is no God.”

In answering the question how did we get here, we have two choices offered: The theory of evolution or intelligent design. The Bible gives us a simply and concise answer In Genesis 1:27 we read, “So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.”  Evolution give us a theory that is continually proving to be based on science fiction and the Bible give us intelligent design. This intelligent designed is the object of our worship, God. Moreover, every designer has a purpose for his designs. Likewise God has design you and me with a purpose.

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank You for creating me and giving me life. Help me to live with purpose, the purpose with which you created me. In Jesus Name, Amen.

A LIFE SENTENCE

YOUR WORLVIEW MATTERS PART II

So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female. Genesis 1:27 (HCSB)

 I have spent a good portion of my life build structures. I especially enjoy building houses. Houses, like any other structure, can be built in many shapes and sizes. Some are decorated with ornate beauty and others are plain, but functional. No matter what is built, they all have one thing that must be done well or the rest simply does not matter. Every house must have a foundation that can sustain the structure being built.

In Matthew 7:24-27, Jesus tells the parable of two men. One man was called sensible and the other foolish. Both were building houses, but the foolish man built is house on shifting sands. When the storms of life came, and they will come, his house fell. The sensible man built his house on a rock foundation. His house stood strong though the storms.

Your worldview is the foundation upon which you build your life. How you build your worldview, your belief system, is critically important. If you do not build a solid foundation, you will be picking up the pieces of your life after every storm. Did I mention that the storms will come! When you build on a solid foundation, you will be able to weather the storm and grow.

So how do you know what the different foundations are upon which to build? The world would tell you that the only thing that matters is being happy in life. That sounds reasonable. It is called hedonism, but it has its influences in secular humanism. Simply put, if you choose to live your life on this foundation, then it is all about you. Everyone you meet and everything you do will be about you. Even the theory of evolution is man centered. It states that we evolved by accident so therefore nothing matters. We can eat, drink, and be merry. If we are an accident, we have no purpose in life. This is the shifting sands upon which many choose to build their life.

God tells us in Genesis 1:27 that, He “created man in His own image”. We are created and like everything that has ever been created, we have a purpose. If your worldview does not start with the Creator, nothing else will ever make sense. This foundational truth will influence everything you do in life. Because God gives your life meaning, if you build your life upon Him, you will be able to weather the storms of life. Did I mention that the storms will come!

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank You for creating me. Help me to build my life on Your solid foundation. Please give me the strength and courage to make the changes necessary to live the life for which You created me. In Jesus Name, Amen.

A LIFE SENTENCE

YOUR WORLDVIEW MATTERS

“What is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him?” Psalm 8:4 (HCSB)

One definition of worldview given by The Free Dictionary is “The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world.” Our worldview, that is what we believe, determines how we live life. Hopefully what we profess is what we believe. However, how we live is the best indicator of what we believe. Moreover, what we believe about God is the most critical of all our beliefs.

Scott Weber ministers at the Christian Church of Estes Park. He tells about when “Kurt Cobain died … I remember the day I picked up the newspaper and read about it. He was the founder and lead singer of the rock group “Nirvana.” His death was a suicide. He took a shotgun, pointed it to his head, and killed himself. The newspaper was filled with the words of fans and commentators in disbelief saying “Why? It makes no sense.” “He had it all . . . a great career, a huge following, plenty of money, a wife and a 19 month old daughter . . . Why?” To most people it made no sense. But I remember sitting at my desk thinking. “Yes it does. It makes sense. Kurt Cobain was living out his beliefs to their logical extreme.” You see, Kurt Cobain was a self-professed humanist and nihilist. In other words, he believed there was no God and that there was no meaning or purpose to life. His music (poetry) could not be clearer on this matter.

Kurt Cobain’s music was grunge rock. He pioneered this type of music. The alternative rock style of today has evolved from grunge rock. Kurt had a disdain for anything mainstream or acceptable to society. He was a child of divorce. At the age of eight he began to be shifted from home to home, sometimes even being homeless. He was very vocal about his bitterness from that experience. He developed his belief that life was basically rotten and meaningless.

His music often spoke of his anger and disillusionment. One of his most famous songs was called “Nevermind”. Its recurring line was “Oh well, whatever, nevermind.” Another song he wrote never got released. It was too objectionable to the label company, but Kurt liked it. It was called, “I Hate Myself, And I Want To Die.” In another song called “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” a well-known line says, “I feel stupid and contagious, here we are, now entertain us.” The video of that song was voted best video of the decade of the 90’s.

Friends of Cobain say he lived up to his music. He often acted without reason. He was constantly on an emotional roller coaster. But his dips into despair got deeper and deeper. Once, a member of his road crew asked him why he was moping around so much. Cobain replied, “I’m awake, aren’t I?” Kurt Cobain was a young man fueled by nihilism. He had passion, but for nothing. He had a void in his heart that nothing he pursued could fill, and he believed that nothing could or ever would. He had no purpose, no meaning, and he simply lived out his belief in his worldview to its logical conclusion.

He reminds me of another man. Solomon. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes of pursuing all of the things the world has to offer. He also wrote of the despair they brought him. They offered no meaning. Solomon, however, concluded differently than Kurt Cobain. He concluded that purpose and meaning were found in the living God. Only be knowing and serving Him could you rise above the level of despair. And there is even better news than that. Now, God has declared through His Son how much He loves us, and that He wants to spend eternity with us.”

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

You have given me eyes, help me to see Your hand throughout creation. You have given me ears, help me to hear Your voice through all the noise. You have given me freedom of choice, help me to choose wisely. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Pro-Choice

Blessings of a Wise Choice

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Matthew 25:31-33

All too often when we hear the word “consequence”, most of us think negatively. It seems to carry the same connotations as discipline. Neither should have just one way to understand them. They can be both positive and negative. I heard a remarkable testimony last night that I want to share with you.

Gail McWilliams hails for Texas. She is a wife of 37 years and a mother. As with any of us, she has her life story. What makes her so interesting is what God chose to use in her life.

Gail and her husband wanted a family. They were expecting their first child and something unusual happened. As she was nearing the end of her pregnancy, her eyes started to hemorrhage. She lost a little eye sight.

With her next child, the doctor came to her with a decision to make that would impact the rest of her life. He said that she had to choose between her sight and her child. If she continued her pregnancy, she would go blind. Her response was not one of convenience, she chose life! Who would have ever thought that choosing to see was a convenience? The doctor thought she was a fool.

She went on to have her child and God blessed them with three more. Gail is totally blind. Having her children cost her the ability to see. For a blind person, Gail sees more clearly than most people. She travels the world telling people of what is really important in life. God has blessed her with life and a legacy. She is quick to say there is nothing more important.

As I heard her testimony, she reduced it to a simple choice: convenience or life. I believe that it is this simple choice that each of us are given every day. How are you going to live your life today? Are you going to conveniently live for yourself? Living to make you more happy, comfortable, secure, successful, etc.? Will you choose to leave a legacy? Jesus tell us in John 10:10 that “He came that we might have life and have it abundantly.” This abundant life exists in the choices we make to honor Him.

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

You will give me many choices today. Give me the courage to choose wisely that I might serve You. Help me to see the invisible and believe the impossible. May I choose to live my life for Your glory. In Jesus Name, I pray, Amen.

Pro-Choice

You Can’ t Escape Consequences

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. “All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Matthew 25:31-33

Consequences are a natural part of life and to be quite candid, you can’t escape them. It always amazes me when as a society we readily proclaim the lastest jargon of the politically correct movement, but struggle with things like accountability, responsibility, or even consequences.  Just as natural laws govern our world on one level, so too spiritual laws govern on another.

 Cause and effect do operate and when we try to subvert them, we only make things worse. Tony Compollo tells  an interesting story about his childhood that illustrates this point.

“One year, my best friend and I devised what we thought was a brilliant and creative plan for mischief. We decided to break into the basement of the local five-and-dime store. We did not plan to rob the place (Sunday School boys would never do that sort of the thing); instead, we planned to do something that, as far as the owner of the store was concerned, would have been far worse. Our plan was to get into that five-and-dime store and change the price tags on things.

We imagined what it would be like the next morning when people came into the store and discovered that radios were selling for a quarter and bobby pins were priced at five dollars each. With diabolical glee, we wondered what it would be like in that store when nobody could figure out what the prices of things really should be.

Sometimes I think that Satan has played the same kind of trick on all of us. Sometimes I think that he has broken into our lives and changed the price tags on things. Too often, under the influences of his malicious ploy, we treat what deserves to be treated with loving care as though it were of little worth. On the other hand, we find ourselves tempted to make great sacrifices for that which, in the long run of life, has no lasting value and delivers very little gratification. Sometimes I think that one of the worst consequences of being fallen creatures is our failure to understand what really is important in life.”

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

I know my life is full of choices and each one has consequences. Please help me to choose wisely throughout this day. I want my life to have a positive impact on this world. In Jesus Name, I pray, Amen.

Pro-choice

What To Choose

Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always. Proverbs 23:17 (NASB)

We were created by God as free moral agents. As free moral agents, we have been given the right to choose. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” John 10:10 (NASB). It is incredibility important for us to choose well! As I shared with you on Monday, we really only have two choices. We can choose Jesus Christ or not. We can choose right or wrong, Heaven or Hell. The question is, what will you choose?

Most of us think that we will make the right decisions when we get to the big questions. However, it simply does not work that way. Decision making begins with the smallest of decisions and grows into a pattern. The foundation is laid for the way you will process your information to make the decisions. Once you have the principles in place by which you live and discipline is applied, decision making becomes easier.

Jeff Strite , a Church of Christ pastor, shares an illustration about the Good Shepherd entitled "Lukewarm Christians".

“Now, for the sake of my illustration, I want to break a flock of sheep down into 3 groups.

1. The first group of sheep had DECIDED to look to Shepherd & follow Him wherever He leads. These are the "Good sheep" who follow the "Good Shepherd. Jesus said: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me." John 10:27 KJV

2. The 2nd group wants nothing to do with the Shepherd. They want to run their lives their own way and they deliberately DECIDE to walk away from Him. These are the pagans and atheists of society. They don’t want to hear Jesus’ voice… they don’t want to follow.

3. But the 3rd group DECIDES that they like the Shepherd. They want to hang out with Him… but they don’t want to get TOO close to Him. They still want to keep their options open. They want to look for their own grass once in a while. They want to nibble at a little of this and a little of that….

George Orwell once observed: "On the whole human beings want to be good, but not too good, and not quite all the time." That’s the problem with this 3rd group of sheep. They like being close to Jesus… just not too much, and not just all the time. And because they have this "loose" connection to the shepherd they’re the ones who end up wandering off. They’re the ones that end up getting lost. They’re just close enough to the Shepherd to feel secure. And just far enough away to not hear His voice. "My sheep hear my voice… and they follow me." says Jesus. John 10:27

And so, they wander off into their own little world, and they end up getting hurt and making bad decisions. And those bad decisions cause them pain and heartache. As Proverbs 13:15 says, "…the way of transgressors is hard." (KJV) Because they’ve chosen NOT to listen to the Good Shepherd and to follow Him closely, they are without the protection of that Shepherd and open to the attacks of Satan and this world.”

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

I confess there have been times when I wanted to be good, but still be able to “do it my way”. Please forgive me. I want every decision I make to bring me closer to You and Your will for my life. Anything else that I choose is only dulling my spiritual senses and taking me further away from You. Thank You not only for the warning You give, but for the guidance of Your Holy Word, and the fellowship of other Christians. I pray that my choices will bring You praise and glory today in Jesus Name, Amen.

PRO-CHOICE

The Right To Choose

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.” – Matthew 25:34-40 (NASB)

As I entitled this devotion pro-life: the right to choose, I realize that this sounds like a politically charged topic. And I guess in some ways it probably is but, not for the reasons you might think. When it comes to abortion, I am unequivocally pro-life! This is where it gets a little confusing, I am also pro-choice. I state this way because each one of us with rare exceptions has the right to choose. And in fact it’s a God-given right. In theological terms, we call it freewill.

The Holman Bible Dictionary would define freewill as “the ability the creator gave people to make meaningful decisions, especially concerning their relationship to God. Because humanity was created in the image of God, freedom is an inherent part of human nature.” In Genesis 1:26 we read, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God made us in his image and gave us the ability to rule over his creation. This gives us the ability to exercise choice throughout life.

Here’s the deal, while we get to choose what we do we never get to choose the consequences that result. The passage of Scripture we are studying this week in Matthew 25 illustrates that what we do throughout our life, the choices we make, will have eternal consequences when this life is over. Society would tell you in today’s terms that you can have it your way, you deserve it, you can have it all, but it’s a lie. It’s amazing to me how we can study physics accepting Newton’s laws of motion, but question the spiritual laws that also govern our universe. Someone would say will it’s because we can’t see the spiritual laws, but we can see the results of the physical laws. I tell you that we can see the results of the spiritual laws born out in our society each and every day.

Parents learn early on that their toddler exercises his right to choose; sometimes he is compliant with the parents’ wishes and sometimes he’s disobedient but each time he chooses what he will do. There’s really little difference between that example and our relationship with our heavenly Father. God created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. Moreover, he fashioned all the laws both physical and metaphysical that govern our universe. He knows how it all fits together. He has given us a guideline by which to live we call it the Holy Bible and it is up to us whether we believe it and live it. It is our choice!

Today’s Prayer

Dear Lord,

I thank you for loving me and giving me the ability to live my life as I see fit. Just as You have created the physical laws with their actions and reactions so to You created spiritual laws. I know that You have given me the right to choose and Father I understand that my choices have consequences. Give me the wisdom to make wise choices, that I might honor You with my life and with my choices. For it is in the matchless name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

Pro-choice

Only Two Main Categories

“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.” Matthew 25:31-33 (NASB)

Last night we watched Super Bowl XLVIII. It was billed as a matchup like none other. It was the Denver Broncos versus the Seattle Seahawks. But you also could look at this matchup another way, it was the best offense in the league versus the best defense in the league. With that kind of billing, everyone expected a tremendous game of skill. However when the smoke cleared, the Seahawks crushed the Broncos 43 to 8. It was a decisive victory which left absolutely no room for debate. There was but one winner and one loser.

Matthew records during the passion week of Christ many parables that he taught. One such parable comes from Matthew the 25th chapter beginning in verse 31 and following where he speaks about the judgment. Jesus used parables by taking things from everyday life to illustrate deeper spiritual meanings. This parable was told to illustrate the final judgment. There are three main characters: the Son of Man who is the King, the sheep who are his righteous followers, and the goats who are the unrighteous, non-followers of Christ.

The first principle that I see as I study this passage is that there are only two choices made. When it is all said and done, the King divides his subjects into two groups and two groups only: the sheep and the goats, the righteous and the unrighteous, the winners and the losers. If in the very the end of our lives there are only two choices that will be made, it would seem prudent for us to choose which group we would want to be in while we still have time to affect the outcome. Just as the Denver Broncos tried as hard as they could to affect the outcome of the game, once the final whistle blew there were no more plays to run, there were no more options to take, the game was over.

The simple truth is that while we are on this earth we make decisions every day. We choose the path we will follow. Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 (NASB) We truly get to choose the path we will take. Some paths will take us closer in our relationship with God and other paths will take us further away from our relationship with God. Which one will you choose?

Today’s prayer

Dear Lord,

There are so many choices in our world today sometimes it gets confusing. Thank you Lord for making the choices much simpler. Help me to view everything in life from these two main categories. Please give me the strength and the courage to choose the narrow way, to choose the righteous path, to choose life! I humbly ask this in the precious name of Jesus, amen.