If God Didn't Create Us...

 ... How did we get the names for things in creation?

... How did we get the names of our body parts? Family members? The sun and moon?

... How did we ever know to eat and drink? 

... Where does the concept of good and evil come from? The concept of truth?

... Why can't man create anything from nothing? There are no colors created without using the existing colors. Create a new color. Create anything while not using what already exists.

I have always pondered things like this when I hear intelligent people question the existence of a Creator God.

If you can go as far as to believe in evolution - that the first humans and animals came into existence without God. That we came out of nothingness without a Creator God - if you can get that far, then how do you explain the beginnings of the very complexity of our being?

Did love and empathy come into being from evolution? Did yearning and hope and laughter and motivation? 

If Adam and Eve were not created and taught life by God, where did human communion come from? The need for communion and community? 

How did the first un-created (but somehow existing) human - mysteriously evolved out of whatever - know to use their mouths and vocal cords for speech? 

If Adam was not created in the image of God - how did we come to want to know about or question the existence of God. Why do we want and need love? Why do we feel guilt? Why do we feel joy? What - without the existence of a Creator God is joy?

I have had conversations with thoughtful and intelligent people of all sorts of worldviews - evolutionism, I-don't-care-ism, and I-don't-know-ism - who don't believe in a Creator God, and not one of them has been able to answer these questions. They usually have responded to the questions but all their answers fall back on things they can't prove to me any more than I can prove to them that there is a God.

Ask me why I believe in a Creator God and my brief response is to tell you to answer my questions. Look at the complexity and design in nature and answer my questions. My longer answer is to address the complexity and design in nature.

There is a computer program called ChatGPT that I find very interesting. Since I don't know how to explain what to you what it is, I asked it to explain that to me like I'm five years old. Here is the answer"

GPT stands for "Generative Pre-training Transformer." (I added the link) It's a type of computer program that can generate text that sounds like it was written by a human. It does this by using a large amount of information from the internet to "learn" about how words and sentences are put together in different languages.

When you use GPT to make a chat program, you can ask it questions and it will try to answer them using the information it has learned. It might not always get the answers right, but it can be a fun and interesting way to learn more about different things.

On days when I am stuck in bed, I spend time asking the program random questions. Whenever I ask about anything to do with evolution, science, etc, I usually get answers that sound very sure. When I ask about anything to do with God or biblical creation, I get respectful but biased answers. I have jokingly decided that the program thinks of my Christian beliefs as "kinda cute". I guess it is being "taught" that Christians are not logical but that we are nice.

At any rate, I just wanted to share some of the things I think about when I ponder Atheism or Nihilism.  In this time of social media, when we get to peek at the daily lives of random people - people who seem good, happy, prosperous, and flourishing in this life - I often wonder what they believe. And when I see an obituary or just hear about someone stranger's death, my first thought is "Did they cry out to God for salvation?"

As a former spiritual wallflower (being agnostic out of laziness and ignorance) as soon as I gave serious thought and study into evolution and creationism, I chose the latter. And I am glad that I took the time to carefully consider the different worldviews before my time on this earth had run out.

I still read and study my Bible almost daily. I have told people that the closer I get to Death the more I want to be ready for it. I hope that everyone is ready when it's time for their last breath.

I am not the kind of Christian who is a bold "witness" but I do encourage people to give their beliefs deep and serious thought.

Peace

-- Free

*BIBLE STUDY* My Method & Some Resource Links

The Resource Links First:

I decided to rearrange this post & list the links first. My ramblings about my study methods and reasons will follow. Enjoy.

NOTE: I try to use free resources as often as I can and donate to the creators of the material. You can find almost everything I've mentioned (especially Chuck Missler's and Dr. Martin's videos on YouTube) through your local library and via their online resources. I did purchase my LTB24 via Amazon. My library has eBook and audiobook resources via Libby, Overdrive, and Hoopla Digital. Anyway, here you go:

• eSword for PC 
• eSword for Android
• eSword for iPhone
• eSword for Mac
• eSword for iPad
• Downloads for additional eSword content (note: there is additional free & paid content w/in the PC program. I suggest starting there until you get used to the program.)
• Blue Letter Bible is a great online resource for study and commentary. BLB also has courses for serious Bible study students.
• Study Bible has various Bible versions online - including Hebrew and Greek interlinear versions.
• Koinonia House is a wonderful ministry. They are also on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Vimeo.
• This is the Koinonia Online Bible Institute. You have to be seriously ready to study here!
• BOOK - Learn the Bible in 24 Hours (see my note below**)
• HANDBOOK - Learn the Bible in 24 Hours
• WORKBOOK - Learn the Bible in 24 Hours
• If you get only one of these, I suggest getting the Handbook to use along with the videos. I use the Handbook most out of the 3. Also, make sure that you look for used copies. All my copies are used and came in really good shape.

Now, because I know I have too many resource links to list here, I am going to fall back on past posts that list some. Keep in mind, some posts are old so some links may need replacing.

• The Great Big Bible Study Post (Part 1) Resources
• The Great Big Bible Study Post (Part 2) Resources
• Resources for the Learning Christian

 Intro to my study method:

In the past several weeks, I have gotten much deeper into Bible study. I am treating my time spent reading and studying God's Word as if it were a very important college course. I feel like I should know my Bible better than I know the storylines of TV shows or what's going on with the Kardashians.

Reading, studying, and knowing the Bible is, of course, the most important kind of intellectual pursuit for a Christian. Too often in the past, I have treated it as if it's a thing I do when I get around to it. These days, I am making time for it on a regular basis.

Because I have issues with memory and cognition, I was having a lot of trouble trying to study the Bible piecemeal or as an occasional thing. I can easily enjoy mindless and trivial things because they are not important. The Bible is very important to me so I wanted to find a way to grasp and retain as much of the study as I can.

I've talked before about how useful I find the eSword  Bible study program on my computer. It has so many (free) resources included (commentaries, dictionaries, various Bible versions, etc) that I have come to use all the time. However, one of the resources embedded into the program was difficult for me to use. The Notes and Journal tabs are fabulous for anyone with the average working brain. For me, I get tangled up in details and organization. It so happens that another resource I am using works perfectly in conjunction with eSword.

Most people who know me have heard me talk about my favorite Bible Study: Learn the Bible in 24 Hours from Koinonia House Ministries. Of course, you don't learn the Bible in that amount of time; the overall study is separated into 24 sections for small study groups (or solo students like myself) to easier digest. 

(By the way, this is a Google Books overview of the Learn the Bible in 24 Hours book.)

Materials used in my study routine:

I started the study (which I call LTB24) by watching a series of videos on YouTube. The late Chuck Missler has been a favorite Bible teacher of mine, along with Dr. Walter Martin. Missler doesn't skim through the lessons, he goes into detail, including a lot of scientific commentaries. Therefore, I ran into issues with my notetaking and organization again.

Finally, I managed to pull a personal study system together by using my Bible and Bible programs (like eSword) along with the YouTube videos and the LTB24 materials. Currently, this is what I have:

You can see how much room there is to write in notes in the books, by the way:

Get the workbook if you can (try to find it used) but it's not the most necessary of the set.

You can get a lined notebook 

This is what I use in my study to stay somewhat organized:

• Pilot Frixion erasable pens (buy once and get refills where they are cheapest) and erasable highlighters. I use these with my Rocketbook where I keep doctor's appts and appt notes. They tend to run out of ink quicker than other brands of erasable ink but they are the best.  You can find them cheaper if you shop at Jet Pens and Walmart. Shop around. 
• Re-stickable tabs like these. You can get them almost anywhere that has school supplies. I got a 500-piece set and have not had to buy anymore for over a year.
• I use cheap, thin newsprint paper to take notes because the sheets fit in my Bible and books without taking up a lot of room. They are also easy to safely glue into my Bible (using re-positional glue!) so I don't lose the notes or damage my Bible. It's much better than buying the crazily expensive Post-It Notes. I fold and tear the newsprint to the size I need and 1 ream is still lost untouched after 2 years.

Each day that I am physically and cognitively well enough, I spend an hour or so in study. This system works out wonderfully. Even if my brain acts up and I need to re-do a previous lesson, I have organized notes and information to rely on.

If you are trying to commit to a fairly rigorous Bible Study for yourself (or your small study group), I highly recommend LTB24.

About the teachers I like:

Chuck Missler, as I've said, is a teacher who goes deep when it comes to his study sessions. And, yes, there has been some minor controversy about Missler. One thing that bothers some people is that he talks about "codes" found in the Bible and often speaks about equidistant letter spacing (ELS).

In defense of Missler (because I was concerned about the ELS stuff), he only mentions ELS info as something of curiosity and interest. He was a data information guy so this was interesting to his mind. He never bases doctrine on it; he only mentions it as a point of interest and as a side note to his sessions.

As for the other "codes" he speaks of, I'm in agreement with him. He was of the mind that the Bible is of intelligent design and that there are some things that show that. One for instance is the genealogy given in Genesis *** He points out the roots of the names given and shows how, together, they spell out the basic plan of salvation. He is not adding to the Bible in this; he is showing students that God's fingerprints are all over the Holy Bible.

Missler never tries to lead anyone away from the authority of the Bible and God. I am intelligent enough to pray and think for myself. If I found such small items (as the mention of the code and ELS) I can discard that without throwing out my entire study.

The other teacher I always respected is the late Dr. Walter Martin. I would read and listen to his teachings on discernment regarding cults and false teachers and false teachings. I recommend looking up videos of his debates with the spokespeople of various sects and religions. His book (again, here is an overview from Google Books) Kingdom of the Cults is a great resource for anyone trying to understand the many, many cults and false religions. 

**Sorry if this post is a bit disjointed. I did tell you I did some rearranging! I sure hope this is helpful to anyone trying to start a serious study of the Bible from home.**

Peace

--Free

When We Get To Heaven

 My entire family is still processing the death of my 36-year-old niece. Her surviving twin brother is, of course, dealing with more than the rest of us can imagine. It has been more than a month since she passed away but for him, it feels like yesterday.

Whenever someone I love dies, the first thing I think about is whether or not they had accepted Christ. Thankfully, I have not lost anyone who, to my knowledge, rejected the Lord. So I can be sad for my loss but happy for their gain. And it always makes me think about Heaven.

That simple and beautiful song, "Dancing in the Sky" by Dani and Lizzy captures some of my thoughts. I do wonder what my loved ones are doing in Heaven. 

When I was thinking about my niece recently, I had to smile because I was thinking that she was seeing everything beautiful. She could be talking with the Lord about what he named the stars. She could be feeling the warmth of God's love shining on her. She really could be dancing in the sky.

In my mind, I imagine that it would take an eternity for us to explore Heaven and never see it all. How wonderful to think that my niece will never again know fear or sadness or tears on her face. When looking for some description of Heaven, Got Questions shares this in part:

The city is filled with the brilliance of costly stones and crystal clear jasper. Heaven has twelve gates (Revelation 21:12) and twelve foundations (Revelation 21:14). The paradise of the Garden of Eden is restored: the river of the water of life flows freely and the tree of life is available once again, yielding fruit monthly with leaves that “heal the nations” (Revelation 22:1-2). However eloquent John was in his description of heaven, the reality of heaven is beyond the ability of finite man to describe (1 Corinthians 2:9).

I emphasized that last part because it is so definitely true. Whenever I find myself dazzled by anything beautiful in this world, I know that everything in Heaven will be infinitely more beautiful. That just overwhelms my mind and makes me so happy.

So, I'm thinking about my niece and my mother and all the other loved ones I have lost. And I am trying to imagine their joy at being with the Lord. Old people use to have a saying that we should mourn coming into this world and rejoice at leaving it. That was meant, of course, for those who put their faith in Jesus. Those people described someone's death as their "homegoing". Not everyone is choosing that destination though. We all need to pray for everyone to spend their eternity with the Lord.

Peace

--Free