I ADMIT IT!!!
I have had a lot of questions that have plagued me for a long time
about pain, suffering, evil, and God!
I have seen (first person) or heard and read about
Christian men and women (young and old)
faithful to Jesus Christ,
active witnesses for Christ,
righteous in their lifestyle choices,
selfless in service to others,
regular and authentic worshipers,
loved by all, and then
fall ill and die, drown at a Church outing or swimming in a home pool, or killed in gruesome road accidents, sometimes
while out or soon after evangelizing, or
while going about their normal business;
leaving behind grieving
(sometimes young) families,
congregations and the church at large,
while their ‘less worthy’ and sometimes criminal compatriots
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I have read about
how about five million Jews (‘God’s people’)
were killed in the second World War;
how over two hundred thousand people
were killed during the Tsunami in Asia in 2004,
how hundreds of thousands (including many innocents) were killed during
World War I, World War II,
Genghis Khan Wars, Alexandra the Great wars, Roman Empire Wars,
wars of Independence in US, India, Nigeria, Pakistan,
in South America, Africa, Asia, East Asia, Europe,
in civil wars and terrorist plots all over the world, etc. etc.
I/We have seen TV/Video clips of infants and babies
struggling with cancer and other horrible diseases
that adults find it difficult to cope with, much less little children
born with birth defects
(blind, deaf, without limbs, joined with other children etc.)
I/We have seen the crooked and the unrighteous
get rich and powerful
by engaging in ruthless, unethical, and evil schemes, swindling their customers, investors, and society as a whole,
beat the system instead of paying for their crimes, appear to continue on with their lives
after destroying the lives of others
including family, trusting friends, and associates.
I/we have also seen
the poor remaining poor
the sick remaining sick
the rebellious child remaining rebellious
the marriage not becoming healed
even after a lot of prayers!
PAIN, SUFFERING, AND EVIL, GOD! QUESTIONS?!! I CAN NOW SAY THAT I HAVE ANSWERS THAT SATISFY ME AND I WANT TO SHARE THEM WITH YOU.
NEXT POST!!!
I believe in a reality
that is governed by observable and verifiable laws
of science operating within God’s creation.
Photo by Jakob on Pexels.com I believe that scientific laws and discoveries are valid
for ALL human existence
including those of the children of God(!), that is, the laws of
gravitation, motion, thermodynamics, relativity, atomic energy,mathematics, statistics, chemistry, physics, electromagnetism, etc.
I do not accept evolution BY CHANCE
I cannot rule out evolution by divine design.
Denying the laws and verifiable discoveries of science
on the basis of so-called ‘faith’
is a futile endeavor because
Photo by Cecu00edlia Tommasini on Pexels.com I believe and accept the scientific advances behind modern technology
that have revolutionized human existence in the fields of
agriculture and food production,
medicine and fighting disease and illnesses,
manufacturing,
communication and transportation,
entertainment,
astronomy and even (sadly and unfortunately)
warfare, because
GOD PUT THEM THERE (!!!)
to be discovered for human use!
I also believe and accept verifiable theories and observations of the social sciences
concerning human nature and human interactions:
the quest for power,
how and why people attain, keep and exercise
organizational behavior,
group dynamics;
the quest for possessions including
the universal principle of scarcity,
(human desires and wants are unlimited but resources are),
the economics laws of demand and supply,
the quest for pleasure, Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs, etc.
are valid because GOD PUT THEM THERE!!!!
I believe that God is therefore the greatest scientist;
the greatest, physicist, mathematician, astronomer, molecular biologist, surgeon, sociologist, etc.! God is above, over, and beyond all of his creation.
I also believe in the writings of the Bible
It is a revelation of an otherwise UNKNOWABLE
How else can we know the God
who is the origin, and is over, above, and beyond the cosmos?
This revelation gives meaning and purpose to life.
It is ultimately the only viable answer
to the question:
“What is the meaning and purpose of life?”
Think of God as the Unlimited Energy that birthed everything
(energy appears to be one of the main constants in the entire cosmos)
but which/who is also a PERSONAL
Photo by Jonathan Meyer on Pexels.com I believe God wants men to live within the natural order of creation
FOR THE MOST PART(!!),
that miracles of the dramatic kind
are rare occurrences and
designed by God to be so(!),
because he wants us to live by faith(!!)
and because he wants us to live
within the scientific (natural) laws of his creation!
GOD PUT THEM THERE!!!!
Neither Abraham, nor Jacob, Joseph, Moses, David, Solomon, Paul, Peter, or James
discovered the aerodynamics in order to build an airplane, nor did they
discover penicillin, the microscope, electricity, the Periodic Table, DNA, X-rays, Quantum Theory, or the connection between smoking and cancer;
gun powder was discovered by the Chinese, and
Archimedes had to discover the buoyancy principle because,
THAT’S HOW GOD INTENDED IT!!!
So child of God
don’t give up on dramatic miracles, but
don’t wait for them either.
It is God’s will that you live your life in obedience to him
with or without miracles.
The ONE MIRACLE
LEARN, UNDERSTAND, AND USE
the laws and principles
that God has put into his creation,
and seek his favor, and
YOU WILL MEET YOUR GOD GIVEN GOALS. THAT’S HOW GOD INTENDED IT!!!!
LET’S DO THIS! YOU CAN DO THIS!!
(Next post: how the perspective above helps us deal with the problem of evil and suffering!!)
Photo by Public Domain Pictures on Pexels.com But I also believe in scientific laws of creation
That is, all knowledge and discoveries that are
objective, demonstrable, repeatable, and
irrespective of race, geography, time, or status
namely the laws of Physics, chemistry, electronics, gravity, geography, etc.
are valid and placed there by God.
Photo by Austin Guevara on Pexels.com Here is why I believe in Miracles:
I believe in God
It follows that if (since) there is a God
and if (since) he is involved in his creation, then
by definition he is able to overrule the laws of creation
that is the definition of a miracle!
I also believe he responds to (answers) prayers and
that is the definition of a miracle!
I believe in Jesus Christ
I believe he did all the miracles
that the gospels say he did.
I have experienced events in my life that qualify as miracles
The events around my repentance and believing in Jesus Christ as savior
feels like God responded to my desperate cry
for him to reveal himself to me!
Coming to the USA for the first time
I have ‘sensed’ (‘felt’/’known’) things before they happened
I ‘felt’ (‘knew’) God say to my heart
that the woman who is now my wife
of thirty-six years,
will be my wife before I had met or spoken to her;
I ‘felt’ (‘knew’) God say my first child will be a girl
I ‘felt’ (‘knew’) God say my second child will be a boy
(Note: I did not have any leading about the third and fourth).
I ‘felt’ (‘knew’) in my ‘spirit’ to mourn for a colleague
after a kind of vision (vivid image/thoughts)
before he was outed as a cheat/crook
even though I had no prior knowledge of it.
I ‘feel’ (‘know’) God say to me that I will not die before I am 70
(caveat: I have now grown to respect the natural laws
that safeguard good health and long life, despite this).
I survived the civil war in my home country:
one time shot at
four bullets in my direction
two bullets through the window my father and I
one time on the ground slated for execution
by trigger happy troops;
in a civil war,
with exploding bombs within a couple of miles away
Once, we had an accident
that had me and and my motorcycle slide under a huge truck
between its wheels,
but me and my passenger survived!
I have also had some dramatic answers to prayer:
A Demon oppressed neighbor girl
was delivered as we prayed ‘in the Name of Jesus’.
My son with a medical condition
that could not be treated in my African country,
got treatment in the UK by clear answers to prayer (miracle):
funds were provided, and
doctors: general practitioners and specialists
gave free treatment and
their own money and time to care and
continued to provide costly and continuing support;
without which he would now be wheelchair bound,
By inspiration, I named him
“One born to see wonders!”
A married woman who could not bear child after several years
delivered within the year after prayer and
A married woman whose pregnancy was going past ten months
delivered the baby by the next morning after prayer and
the ‘laying on of hands.’
A series of ‘answers’ to prayer that brought my family to the US
after fifteen years of prayer and then,
at the US Embassy,
an initial visa application appeared ‘ Rejected !’
but dramatically changed to
and after provision of funds
that also went way beyond my ability.
And lots more
I believe other people have experienced miracles too!
I have heard first person narrations and
I have read about experiences of others.
But some of my prayers
HAVE NOT been answered
the way I wanted it to be;
because God thought otherwise, and
because we must live by faith, and
because the ways of God is still a mystery!!
Next Post – God, Science and the Natural Order of Creation!
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law. [Moses : Deuteronomy 29.29]
We are Designed by God to Reach out to Him and to Others; To Reach Out for Love and Towards our Dreams!
Reach!! 