Could solar eclipses be evidence for God? — Premier Christianity

eclipse

This morning I published a guest article at the Premier Christianity blog (associated with the UK’s Premier Christian Radio). In it, I elaborate on solar eclipses as part of a cumulative body of data suggestive that our Universe is designed for intelligent life.

Today, the Arctic and Northern Europe, including the UK, will witness a total solar eclipse, representing the first total solar eclipse in Europe in more than a decade. An eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and the earth. Since the sun is four hundred times bigger than the moon, but also coincidentally four hundred times further away, the sun and the moon appear to be the same size in the sky. Remarkably, of the many moons in our Solar System, our moon is the only one known to yield the most perfect solar eclipses when viewed from the surface of the earth.

Read the rest here.

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

521. INTERSTATES “One of President Eisenhower’s most enduring contributions is the interstate highway system—something few twenty-first-century Americans can imagine life without. Ike was first inspired to undertake this initiative shortly after the invasion of Normandy on D-Day in 1944. After troops had landed, they had some difficulty navigating the back roads of France. Those navigational difficulties impaired the American troops’ ability to drive the Nazis back into Germany and finish the war. When the Americans finally did make it to Germany, they found that the Germans had a much more sophisticated roadway system than the French. Ike never forgot that, and as president, he was determined that in the U.S. the road system would be modeled after the one in Germany.”

The interstate highway system contributed to this problem by making our country smaller. It has given those who are motivated to commit violent crimes easier access to potential victims and has allowed them to escape more quickly to destinations that are farther away.

Transportation has also changed the nature of crime in America. Before we had an interstate system, the most violent crimes were between people who knew one another. Over the last several decades, interpersonal crimes against total strangers have been on the rise. The Internet has accelerated this trend—creating, in effect, a new virtual interstate highway system that brings people closer together, for both good and bad purposes.”

Excerpt From: Adams, Mike. “Letters to a Young Progressive.”

522. GENERAL MacARTHUR General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in the Pacific during World War II, said this in December 1951:

“In this day of gathering storms, as moral deterioration of political power spreads its growing infection, it is essential that every spiritual force be mobilized to defend and preserve the religious base upon which this nation is founded; for it has been that base which has been the motivating impulse to our moral and national growth. History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual reawakening to overcome the moral lapse or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

523. NOTHING NEW “In the 1650s and ’60s the long-simmering fear of God’s wrath grew acute. Every Christian knew his Bible, and everyone knew that the Bible talked of a day of judgment. The question was not whether the world would end but how soon the end would come. The answer, it seemed, was very soon.

Almost no one believed in the idea of progress. (The very scientists whose discoveries would create the modern world did not believe in it.) On the contrary, the nearly universal belief was that the world had been falling apart since Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. Now, it seemed, the fall had accelerated. From high and low, in learned sermons and shrieking pamphlets, men pointed out the signs that the apocalypse was near. Books on the Second Coming were written by the score during this period.”

Excerpt From: Dolnick, Edward. “The Clockwork Universe.”

524. WHY SCIENCE SO COMPLICATED? “God “took delight to hide his works, to the end to have them found out.”

Why would God operate in such a roundabout way? If his intent was to proclaim His majesty, why not arrange the stars to spell out BEHOLD in blazing letters? To seventeenth-century thinkers, this was no mystery. God could have put on a display of cosmic fireworks, but that would have been to win us over by shock and fear. When it came to intellectual questions, coercion was the wrong tool. Having created human beings and endowed us with the power of reason, God surely meant for us to exercise our gifts.

The mission of science was to honor God, and the best way to pay Him homage was to discover and proclaim the perfection of His plans.”

Excerpt From: Dolnick, Edward. “The Clockwork Universe.”

525. WELFARE “If, through guarantees, monopolies, or socialism, one’s paycheck is ensured without effort, the majority will do the minimum possible to continue to receive the reward. We first discovered this in Frédéric Bastiat’s book, The Law.

Bastiat wrote: “Man can live and satisfy his wants only by ceaseless labor; by the ceaseless application of his faculties to natural resources. This process is the origin of property.

But it is also true that a man may live and satisfy his wants by seizing and consuming the products of the labor of others. This process is the origin of plunder.

Now since man is naturally inclined to avoid pain—and since labor is pain in itself—it follows that men will resort to plunder whenever plunder is easier than work. History shows this quite clearly. And under these conditions, neither religion nor morality can stop it.

When, then, does plunder stop? It stops when it becomes more painful and more dangerous than labor.”

Plunder can be as simple as receiving a check without working, or as big as one country invading another to receive the fruits of another’s labor. Either way the desire is within the heart of man and must be accounted for. In other words, each system must be designed with this inherent attribute in mind, or the organization will decline when people find ways to resort to plunder rather than productivity.

As long as our system encourages various types of plunder rather than making work the easiest way to succeed, we’ll continue to decline. No politician or political party can do anything against this truth.

Excerpt From: Orrin Woodward & Oliver DeMille. “LeaderShift.”

526. SURPRISE QUOTE? “The Fed. govt. must and shall quit this business of relief. Continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual and moral disintegration fundamentally destructive to National fibre. To dole out relief in this way is to administer a narcotic, a subtle destroyer of the human spirit.”

— FDR, 1935

527. PEACE THRU STRENGTH “The vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be mighty, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk its own destruction.”

— D. Eisenhower

528. RESULTS OF WEAK VIRTUES “It is my purpose . . . to show how easily the tragedy of the Second World War could have been prevented; how the malice of the wicked was reinforced by the weakness of the virtuous.”

–W. Churchill

529. DOCTORS AND COMPUTERS “Being led by the screen rather than the patient is particularly perilous for young practitioners, Lown suggests, as it forecloses opportunities to learn the most subtle and human aspects of the art of medicine—the tacit knowledge that can’t be garnered from textbooks or software. It may also, in the long run, hinder doctors from developing the intuition that enables them to respond to emergencies and other unexpected events, when a patient’s fate can be sealed in a matter of minutes. At such moments, doctors can’t be methodical or deliberative; they can’t spend time gathering and analyzing information or working through templates. A computer is of little help. Doctors have to make near-instantaneous decisions about diagnosis and treatment. They have to act. Cognitive scientists who have studied physicians’ thought processes argue that expert clinicians don’t use conscious reasoning, or formal sets of rules, in emergencies. Drawing on their knowledge and experience, they simply “see” what’s wrong—oftentimes making a working diagnosis in a matter of seconds—and proceed to do what needs to be done.

Put a screen between doctor and patient, and you put distance between them. You make it much harder for automaticity and intuition to develop.”

Excerpt From: Carr, Nicholas. “The Glass Cage: Automation and Us.”

530. THE WORLD’S VIEW “…upon coming into the world, we soon find that wisdom and virtue are by no means the sole objects of respect; nor vice and folly, of contempt. We frequently see the respectful attentions of the world more strongly directed towards the rich and the great, than towards the wise and the virtuous.”

Excerpt From: “The Book of Moral Sentiments” by Adam Smith

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

511. LAWS “It will be of little avail to the people that laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.” –A. Hamilton

512. PERSECUTION : “The patriot, like the Christian, must learn to bear revilings and persecutions as a part of his duty; and in proportion as the trial is severe, firmness under it becomes more requisite and praiseworthy.  It requires, indeed, self-command.  But that will be fortified in proportion as the calls for its exercise are repeated.” — Thomas Jefferson

513. INFORMATION UNDERLOAD “Automation actually places added and unexpected demands on people, burdening them with extra work. Researchers worry that the lassitude produced by information underload is going to be a particular danger with coming generations of automotive automation. As software takes over more steering and braking chores, the person behind the wheel won’t have enough to do and will tune out. Making matters worse, the driver will likely have received little or no training in the use and risks of automation. Some routine accidents may be avoided, but we’re going to end up with even more bad drivers on the road.”

Excerpt From: Carr, Nicholas. “The Glass Cage: Automation and Us.”

514. WISDOM ABOUT WEALTH “That some should be rich shows that others may become rich & hence is just encouragement to industry & enterprise.” — A. Lincoln

515. TAXATION At the beginning of the dynasty taxation yields a large revenue from small assessments. At the end of the Dynasty taxation yields a small revenue from large assessments.” –Ibn Khaldoun (Moslem Phil. 14th Century)

516. VIRTUE PROTECTS A NATION Samuel Adams, the great American patriot accused by King George III of being “the chief rabble-rouser” of American independence, wrote the following in a letter to James Warren, the president of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, in 1779:

“A general dissolution of principles and manners will more surely overthrow the liberties of America than the whole force of the common enemy. While the people are virtuous they cannot be subdued; but when once they lose their virtue, they will be ready to surrender their liberties to the first external or internal invader. How necessary then is it for those who are determined to transmit the blessings of liberty as a fair inheritance to posterity, to associate on public principles in support of public virtue.”

God said that He will never leave us or forsake us, but if we leave Him, what then? In Joshua 7, God’s people turned their backs on God and did not obey Him. Only when we are in God’s perfect will, only when we have forsaken sin, will we have the privilege of His presence with us.

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

517. KNOW IT ALL? “The sea gets deeper as you go further into it.” The more you know, the more you realize how much there is to know. You really don’t have to pretend to know everything. Admitting ignorance can be bliss.”

Excerpt From: Roberts, Russ. “How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life.”

518. QUEST FOR EQUALITY “We know from history that any society foolish enough to experiment with Marxism will find that the quest for equality results in a lower standard of living for all. Similarly, any society foolish enough to embrace cultural relativism will find that the quest for equality results in a lower overall standard of morality.”

Excerpt From: Adams, Mike. “Letters to a Young Progressive.”

519. BLACK REVOLUTIONARIES “The first man killed in the American Revolution was a black man. When British soldiers fired on an angry, taunting Boston crowd in 1770, they killed the man who led the “riot” with their first volley. His name was Crispus Attucks, a sailor, a runaway slave, and a black man. He died in what is now known as the Boston Massacre, the first martyr of the revolutionary cause. Blacks rallied to the cause. They crossed the Delaware with Washington and were with him at Valley Forge. It was a black man named Prince who captured British General Prescott, commander of the Royal Army at Newport, Rhode Island. It was another black man, Salem Poor, who distinguished himself so gallantly in battle that fourteen American officers praised him before Congress. In fact more than five thousand blacks fought in defense of liberty at battles like Monmouth, Saratoga, Princeton, and Yorktown.”

Excerpt From: Mansfield, Stephen. “Then Darkness Fled.”

520. HOW PRESIDENTS ONCE TALKED

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OvN1jTkzXbY?rel=0

 

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John and Abigail Adams: America’s Original Sweethearts

John and Abigail Adams’ relationship served as one of the most influential over the formation of our nation’s government during the late 18th-early 19th centuries. When one briefly glances at them, they paint a picture of strength, endurance, and wisdom, which proved to be an iconic ideal during these harsh years for all the couples during these years. Years of travel, together and apart, criticism for beliefs, and the will to fight for a new country and a new government proved the iron will these two maintained to soldier on.

But looking closer, these two did not simply luck out and endure through because of systematic circumstances. Their marriage and individual lives were built and maintained through their dependence on one another, Scripture, and conviction.

John was a lawyer from Massachusetts; Abigail was a self-educated daughter of a minister. Married in 1764, they lived a full 54 years married (keep in mind the average lifespan was less than that) and exchanged over 1,100 pieces of correspondence during the most volatile years of our nation’s history.

Arguably, John Adams was one of the most involved of our Founding Fathers for independence from Britain and establishing our government. He served in the Continental Congress for four years (1774-1778), was in around 90 committees and was the head chairman of 24. He was more involved than any other member. Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, he was one of five on the committee to write it.

After the Revolutionary War, he was vocal in his views on government. He was one of two people to sign the Bill of Rights. He once stated, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” He was the first Vice President of the United States of America, and the second president. After nearly 30 years of public service, John Adams returned to Massachusetts in 1800 to live the rest of his 26 years writing prolifically on all of his experiences.

During John’s political years, Abigail raised their four children and often traveled with him. When she was not with John in New York, Philadelphia, Great Britain, France, and eventually our newly formed capitol, Washington, D.C., she was writing to him and several others. Abigail had an overwhelming love for scripture. She was devoted to John, but she was never one to mince words. Combining those attributes, her letters and words of wisdom had a tremendous effect on how John viewed the situations during the Revolutionary War.

For instance, after the Battle of Lexington and Concord, she wrote to John,

Nor doth the eye say unto the hand, “I have no need of thee” [1 Corinthians 12:21]. The Lord will not cast off His people, neither will He forsake his inheritance [Psalm 94:14]. Great events are most certainly in the womb of futurity, and if the present chastisements which we experience have a proper influence upon our conduct, the event will certainly be in our favor. . . . Pharaoh’s [i.e., King George III’s] heart is hardened, and he refuseth(sic) to hearken to them and will not let the people go [Exodus 8:32]. May their deliverance be wrought out for them, as it was for the children of Israel [Exodus 12].

Not only was she a “most trusted advisor,” to John, but to many of the other Founding Fathers. She did not write simply her ideas and feelings, but she wrote of her political ideals. In March 1776, she wrote,

I long to hear that you have declared an independency. And, by the way, in the new code of laws which I suppose it will be necessary for you to make, I desire you would remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.

These sentiments are more reflective to the early 20th century than the late 18th century, but that is what made Abigail such an amazing partner to her husband. She did not simply nod and smile; she challenged him and his cohorts. She was the perfect counterpoint. She challenged ideas of the day but did so with the scripture in mind.

Both of these patriots have several of their personal writings and letters published today. If you read but just a fraction, it would be hard to prove that either of them were anything but strong Bible-believing Christians. Not only that but that Christianity should influence government. A government they helped establish.

“The Holy Ghost carries on the whole Christian system in this Earth. Not a baptism, not a marriage, not a sacrament can be administered but by the Holy Ghost. . . . There is no authority, civil or religious – there can be no legitimate government – but that which is administered by this Holy Ghost. There can be no salvation without it. All without it is rebellion and perdition, or in more orthodox words, damnation.” These are the words of John Adams, one of the foremost minds of all of the Founding Fathers. Imagine a pastor, much less an elected official, saying these words today without some derogatory name being labeled to him/her.

He also once wrote, “The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity, and humanity.” Abigail was as explicit about her beliefs when she wrote, “He who neglects his duty to his Maker may well be expected to be deficient and insincere in his duty towards the public.”

Both John and Abigail were well aware that part of their duty was to look to future generations. They did not necessarily think of how their own actions and words would determine their own lives, but of what the next generations would have as a result. John once wrote, “I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.” In fact, they were so intent on future generations and raising good citizens, they raised the future sixth president of the United States, John Quincy.

It must be noted, John Quincy was one of the strongest abolitionists in his day, and was so determined to end slavery that after his presidency he went on to serve in the House of Representatives for 17 years until 1848. He was the only President ever to do so, and served as the Speaker of the House with every intention of not leaving until slavery was eradicated. He actually had a stroke while in the House of Representatives’ chamber at the age of 80 during a debate and died two days later in the Speaker of the House office. One of the ceremonial pallbearers was a young representative, Abraham Lincoln. The Adams didn’t simply raise good citizens, they raised people of conviction who fought for their beliefs to the end and left a legacy.

The legacy of the Adams’ is seen all around us today in America and, indeed, is America herself. So much more could and should be (and has been)  shared about the Adams, their individual influence and character. But as a couple, the Adams’ relationship calls to mind Proverbs 27:17, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” John and Abigail Adams correspondence and love for one another, the scripture, their family, and America are a display of how a couple of people can truly influence an entire society and nation.

For more information concerning the Adams, visit:

http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=89988

http://www.wallbuilders.com/libissuesarticles.asp?id=142673

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

501. NEW NATION “It was not because it was proposed to establish a new nation, but because it was proposed to establish a nation on new principles, that July 4, 1776, has come to be regarded as one of the greatest days in history. Great ideas do not burst upon the world unannounced. They are reached by a gradual development over a length of time usually proportionate to their importance.” — Calvin Coolidge

502. WHY CONSTITUTION ERODING? “Jefferson and John Marshall argued about the role of the Court, and in the Civil War era various leaders debated the pros and cons of increased power in Washington. Later, various national leaders debated the changes of 1913 (income tax and Senators generally elected), as well as the Butler case and so many other cases, not to mention the various changes in our laws created by executive orders or treaties like the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 or the proposed Rome Statute of 1998.

But why did all of these happen? Why did the Constitution break down? What was supposed to stop these kinds of things from occurring?”

In all of these situations, freedom was ultimately lost for the same reason. The people let it happen. The Constitution gave them power to stop these things, but they didn’t use it. They assumed their political leaders would do it for them. They were focused on other things, like making a living and raising their families, and they just let their freedoms be written away.

There’s a special word for a society where the four groups don’t really work together on big things, where the political leaders make the governmental decisions while the business leaders focus on profit and growth, and families and influencers are content not to be involved in governance. And that word is decline.

Excerpt From: Orrin Woodward & Oliver DeMille. “LeaderShift”

503. “WHO” or “WHOM”? How do you decide which one to use? When in doubt, substitute him and see if that sounds right. If him is OK, then whom is OK. If the more natural substitute is he, then go with who. For example: You talked to whom? It would be incorrect to say You talked to he? but saying You talked to him? makes grammatical sense.

Source: Dictionary.com

504. PILGRIMS KNEW “We shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we shall deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause him to withdraw his present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.”

–John Winthrop, Deck of Arbella, 1630, off Massachusetts Coast

505. CHANGING OUR NATION “We shouldn’t forget the nation’s Founders. They had to totally overcome their culture by taking on centuries of the British caste system, a near-religious belief in the divine right of kings, and the universally accepted but false idea that men are not created equal. It was hard work, but they did it. Our task is no more difficult than theirs.”

Excerpt From: Orrin Woodward & Oliver DeMille. “LeaderShift.”

506. DREAM “There is no magic in small dreams.” –Unknown

507. COMMUNISM “Be prepared to resort to every illegal device to conceal the truth—It would not matter if ¾ of the human race perished; the important thing is that the remaining ¼ be communist.” –V. Lenin

508. EDUCATION “Education which trains in skills but does not teach values is deficient. Its emphasis today all too often does not seek to make the individual a thinking person but seeks to condition him to the generally accepted view of the common good.” –A.C. Brownfield

509. ACHIEVEMENT “The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.” – Chinese Proverb

510. REPEAT TRUTH! “The truth must be repeated again and again because error is constantly being preached round about us. And not only by isolated individuals but by the majority. In the newspapers and encyclopedias, in the schools and Universities everywhere error is dominant, securely and comfortable ensconced in public opinion which is on its side.” — Goethe, 1828

 

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

491. NON-PROFIT MYTH “According to Giving USA, based on data collected each year from The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, U.S. charitable giving totaled $298.42 billion in 2011. Of that, individuals (and bequests) gave 81 percent, while foundations and corporations combined gave 19 percent.

Yet as we read and heard stories of Mission Drift, we were surprised how often corporate, government, and foundation donors drove the drift. Organizations compromised on their core values to woo these institutional funders, while ignoring individuals, who collectively give over four times as much. The sum of the many individuals is far greater than the sum of the few major foundations and corporate donors.

This myth drives boards of many faith-based organizations to water down their Christian distinctiveness.”

Excerpt From: Peter Greer, Chris Horst & Anna Haggard. “Mission Drift.”

492. ENJOY KIDS “Each day may pass slowly when you’re tired and weary, but the years pass quickly. Today your children are totally dependent babies; tomorrow they will be grown and gone.”

Excerpt From: Jim Bob Duggar. “The Duggars: 20 and Counting!.”

493. WORSHIPPING CREATION “Because God created the world “very good” (Genesis 1:31), all created things have good in them. We are right to find them admirable and to enjoy them. The problem comes from giving any created thing inordinate affection—the ultimate affection, which only God deserves and has the right to demand. Paul is saying that the human heart loves to make a good thing into its god thing. (Rom. 1)

This exchange in our worship and service undoes the created order.”

Excerpt From: Keller, Timothy. “Romans 1-7 For You.”

494. FAITH “Elton Trueblood put it this way, “Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” Strength comes from choosing to fully trust, pray, and praise. Our circumstances may not change, but in the process we change.”

Excerpt From: Charles R. Swindoll. “Wisdom for the Way.”

495. FEARING GOD “There is no fear of God before their eyes” (Rom. 3:18).

The “fear of God” is a central concept in the Bible. We are repeatedly told: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (eg: Psalm 111:10). It is the starting point for everything else; it is the stumbling block which bars everything else. What is the “fear of God”? The psalmist says something surprising: “If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared” (Psalm 130:3-4). He “fears” God because God forgives sins! So the “fear of God” does not mean a servile, cringing fear of punishment. It means, rather, an inner attitude of awe, respect, and sober, trembling joy before the greatness of God.”

Excerpt From: Keller, Timothy. “Romans 1-7 For You.”

496. GIRLS AND GUYS Is it wrong or unbiblical to rent an apartment with a person of the opposite sex?

“Sex or no sex, thoughts or no thoughts, the situation is inherently unchaste; it corrodes the virtue of modesty. I suppose you’ll tell me that you’ve never eaten breakfast or watched TV together in your pajamas or hung your intimate clothing over the shower rail to dry.

It’s wrong not only to commit sin, but also to give the appearance of committing sin. Doing so shows lack of love for others because you’re demoralizing them through bad example.

Modesty is a biblical virtue; it’s a biblical precept to avoid not only evil, but also the appearance of evil; and avoiding not only sin, but also the risk of sin, is a counsel of biblical wisdom: “Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?” (Proverbs 6:27-28).

Excerpt From: Budziszewski, J. “Ask Me Anything.”

497. NATIONAL HUMILITY “As long as King David chose righteousness, God blessed the nation of Judah.

Similarly, as America entered the dark days of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln realized that the nation needed to turn its heart to God. On August 12, 1861, after the Union Army’s defeat at the Battle of Bull Run, Mr. Lincoln called the American people to a time of repentance, prayer, and fasting, so that “the united prayer of the nation may ascend to the throne of grace and bring down plentiful blessings upon our country.”

God greatly delights in such humility.”

Excerpt From: Lee, Richard. “In God We Still Trust: A 365-Day Devotional.”

498. . HEIRS “The righteous will leave an inheritance not only for their children but also for their grandchildren (13:22). This conveys the idea of passing on part of God’s abundance to bless future generations, but we know that sometimes an inheritance can become a curse. Insecurity may cause people to fearfully hoard wealth, not releasing it until they no longer have a choice. Many businesspeople store their wealth and leave an overabundance for future generations who are unprepared to handle it. This results in a double loss: the good that could have been done and wasn’t, followed by the self-destruction of incapable beneficiaries when the benefactor is no longer around to help.

I believe wealth should be stewarded to future generations appropriately, which includes ensuring that beneficiaries have the training and wisdom to handle it. Large amounts of money can have negative effects on children and grandchildren who have not learned to be stewards. We know from Proverbs that an inheritance claimed too soon is not blessed (20:21).”

Excerpt From: Harris, Raymond. “The Heart of Business.”

499. DEBT DANGER “The attraction of easy money obscures the hard payback.

God desires us to be free and unencumbered so we might focus on the important things of life. The pressure of repaying debt weighs heavily on our emotions, distracting us from serving fully in his kingdom. The pressure of debt is like the stress of carrying a heavy backpack: It’s uncomfortable and keeps us from enjoying the journey. When it comes to your business, it’s wise to keep your backpack as light as possible, avoiding heavy debt and long-term lease commitments.”

Excerpt From: Harris, Raymond. “The Heart of Business.”

500. JUDGEMENTALISM The first step in thinking about what it means to live a good life is to accept that you’re going to have to make judgments—not just statements about your own tastes and preferences, but judgments about what are the excellences that human beings should strive to realize, which in turn means judgments about what is right and wrong, good and evil.

Of the many pernicious aspects of today’s academic culture, I think the worst is its celebration of nonjudgmentalism. I assume you’ve heard it many times (I certainly have) when you think you’ve made an incisive argument: “You’re being judgmental.” It’s a glib, contemptible response. The ability to make judgments is what distinguishes Homo sapiens from every other living creature. But the ability to make judgments carries with it the obligation to do so. You don’t have a choice.

Nor does he have the option of saying that differences exist but that he will not judge them. To notice a difference is to have an opinion about it—unless one refuses to think. And that is my ultimate objection to nonjudgmentalism. We can refuse to voice our judgments, but we cannot keep from having them unless we refuse to think about what is before our eyes.

Judgment is more than just a matter of opinion and about the necessity of judging—we have no choice, because even the refusal to judge is a commitment to a point of view.”

Excerpt From: Murray, Charles. “The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead.”

 

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My Mother’s Faith, My Faith

Four Generations: (L to R) Sara (Tricia's daughter), Mimi (Tricia's mom), Tricia, Jessica (sis's daughter), LynnaRea (Tricia's sis), Ashleigh (sis's daughter) and her daughter, Ally, and Charlie Mac

Four Generations: (L to R) Sara (Tricia’s daughter), Mimi (Tricia’s mom), Tricia, Jessica (sis’s daughter), Lynna Rea (Tricia’s sis), Ashleigh (sis’s daughter) and her daughter, Ally

My Mother’s Faith, My Faith

Just after Christmas this past year my husband, Randy, and I traveled with our daughter, Sara, and her family to Louisiana to celebrate Christmas with my sister’s family, including her two daughters and families, and my mom. It’s a long drive to Springhill, Louisiana, from Charlotte, North Carolina, especially with toddlers. But it was worth it. Though our festivities wouldn’t be on Christmas day, we didn’t care. It had been years since we had all been together. We were glad just to be in the same place at one time, no matter what day we celebrated.

The evening after we arrived all sixteen of us piled into my mom’s living room to share presents. Four generations listened to the reading of Luke’s account describing the Savior’s birth. As we finished the reading, my mom, called Mimi by the grand- and great-grandchildren, spoke. “It’s our responsibility as the older generation to tell the younger generation about how God has shown his love to us. I want you to know that God has been faithful. He has done everything He said He would do. He keeps his promises.”

Through the background noise of rowdy little ones anxious to open presents, for several minutes my 83-year-old mom shared from her heart how the Lord had provided for her every need through life’s transitions, difficult times, and losses. She told us that God loved each one of us uniquely and she did, too. Then she encouraged us to face aging with joy.

“I don’t want you to be afraid of getting old, ever. It’s some of the most beautiful times. God has been so sweet to me.” As she finished, I thought, What a heritage I’ve been given. Lord, help me be faithful to pass on this legacy.

My mom is the godliest woman I know. In fact, if you ask other people who know her, many would say that she is the godliest woman they know, too. But my mom’s godliness is not due to her perfection. She is a sinner saved by God’s grace, with faults and failures like all of us. What makes her godly is that she has trusted God’s provision for her life. She has trusted His offered remedy for her sins through faith in Christ. She has abandoned her days, her sins, and her eternity, to Him. My mom has no plan B. No other options. If Jesus is not all that He claimed to be—God in the flesh—she has no other hope. And from the first time she introduced to me why I needed a Savior at age five, she has made it clear that I have a choice. I can choose to accept or reject this God. She will love me either way.

My mom’s passion to pass on her faith in the one true God reminds me of Naomi and Ruth, two women who lived during the era of the judges in the Old Testament. When Naomi’s husband and sons died—one who was Ruth’s husband—she felt empty and afraid. Her precious daughter-in-law, Ruth, a Moabitess, loyally followed Naomi back to Naomi’s homeland, Israel. Ruth gave up everything familiar in order to follow Naomi. The magnitude of her decision was revealed in her words, “Your people shall be my people. Your God my God” (Ruth 1:16b ESV). Ruth abandoned herself not only to Naomi’s people but also to Naomi’s God.

What a heritage she received. At the end of the book, Ruth, an alien, once separated from God, joined herself to God’s people by faith. She then married Boaz and had a child, becoming the ancestress of King David, from whose line would come the Messiah Himself. Ruth was not a queen, or a woman of prestige or station. She was just a simple woman who went about her daily life in seeming obscurity, and, through her faith, God changed history.

Whether we know it or not, God changes history through us, as well. He has changed my story because my mom shared the truth with me. If the Lord were to take my mother home today and I never heard another word from her lips in this life, she has passed on the sweetest treasure any daughter could receive—how to know the one true God. May my daughters be able to say the same of me.

*Maybe you have a story of your mother—biological, adoptive, or spiritual—who shared with you the heritage of faith in the one true God. I’d love to hear from you. On the other hand, if your story is painful, and you were not given a heritage of faith but of grief, know that God’s gift of forgiveness and hope is offered to you now. To learn how to trust Christ as your Savior, click here. Then you can become the one who passes on this legacy of faith.

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To Trust Christ as Savior

To Trust Christ as Savior

Recognize God Created You with Purpose.

*God is the Creator. God created everything, including you; therefore He knows what is best for you. Colossians 1:16, Psalm 139

*God is Holy. He cannot “wink” at sin. If He did not judge sin as evil, then He would not be a holy God. Isaiah 5:16

*God is Love.  He loves you & wants the best for you. Ephesians 5:2; John 3:16

Acknowledge You Have a Sin Problem.  

*We all have sinned and we cannot fix it on our own. Romans 3:10, 23

*Sin is thinking and acting as the boss of ourselves, against God. It is missing the mark, like when you shoot an arrow and miss the bull’s eye. No matter how hard we try, we cannot be perfect and holy as God is. Since Adam sinned we have all sinned just as he did, being sinners by nature and by choice. Romans 5:12, 3:23, Isaiah 53:6

*Because God is holy, sin separates us from Him. “Death” in the Bible means both physical separation of the soul from body and spiritual separation of the soul from God. We have earned death because of our sin and rebellion. Romans 6:23, Isaiah 59:2

*As enemies of God, we cannot make things right by doing “good” things. Isaiah 64:6

Believe God Sent Jesus to Pay the Penalty for Your Sin on Your Behalf.

*Despite your sin, there is hope. As your Creator, God can fix your sin problem. He can give you forgiveness, new life, and hope. Romans 8:3-4, 1 Peter 1:18-19

*Because God created you, your life’s purpose is relationship with Him. Ephesians 2:10

*Because God loves you, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, to pay the penalty, dying in your place, for your sin, so you would not have to. Death could not defeat Jesus, and three days later, He arose physically to live forever. He offers you spiritual and eternal life, as well. Romans 5:8, 6:4

*If you agree with God (confess) about your sinfulness, and trust His offer of forgiveness through Jesus, He will forgive your sin, restoring your relationship with God. Romans 10:9-10, 1 John 1:9-10

*You can have new life. Through the Holy Spirit, He gives you His very Life. He will lead you into all truth and give you power over sin. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:16

*You have eternal life. You will live with God forever. John 3:16. He will never leave you. Hebrews 13:5.

Trust in Christ as Your Savior.

To accept Jesus’s free gift of salvation, turn from your sin to believe Jesus is God in the flesh, who died in your place for your sin, and rose again to life. Receive His gift of salvation by trusting Him as Savior. Then you will experience peace with God and become His child.  Romans 10:9-10, Ephesians 2:8-9, John 1:12. To talk with God you might say: Jesus, I am a sinner and I cannot fix my sin problem. Thank you for coming to earth as God in the flesh and paying the penalty for my sin. I believe you arose from the dead. I trust you to forgive my sin, live in my life, and give me the sure hope of heaven. Amen.

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The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year. I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, J. Whiddon

481. DOGMA “However unwillingly a person who has a strong opinion may admit the possibility that his opinion may be false, he ought to be moved by the consideration that however true it may be, if it is not fully, frequently, and fearlessly discussed, it will be held as a dead dogma, not a living truth.”

Excerpt From: John Stuart Mill. “On Liberty.”

482. HUMILITY “Humility is “knowing who God is and knowing who I am.”

Excerpt From: Harris, Raymond. “The Heart of Business.”

483. VISION “Visions should be so God-sized that there is no way for them to be accomplished unless God intervenes. God sees us not so much for what we are now but for what we could be—if, that is, we receive a vision from Him for the work at hand.” “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)

Excerpt From: O. S. Hawkins. “The Joshua Code.”

484. LEGACY “If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulders of giants.” —SIR ISAAC NEWTON

485. COMBAT “The unit that choreographs their actions best usually wins. . . . The choreography always requires that each man make decisions based not on what’s best for him, but on what’s best for the group. If everyone does that, most of the group survives. If no one does, most of the group dies. That, in essence, is combat.”

Excerpt From: Luntz, Frank. “Win.”

486. SPENDING OUR LIVES C. S. Lewis said, because we were not made for time but for eternity, which is outside of time. Thus time feels strange to us. The question then is this: What are we to do in the midst of this strange sojourn? We are to redeem the time we’ve been given. Every single day and everything we do counts because we are not our own. Our money, our families, our talents, and even our time are not our own. Because we’ve been bought with a price: The suffering and death of the perfect Son of God. — Eric Metaxas

487. ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST “DiMaggio was the greatest player I ever saw, and nobody looked more relaxed. He covered vast distances in the outfield, moving in graceful strides, always arriving ahead of the ball, making the hardest catch look routine, and even when he was at bat, hitting the ball with tremendous power, he didn’t appear to be exerting himself. I marveled at how effortless he looked because what he did could only be achieved by great daily effort. A reporter once asked him how he managed to play so well so consistently, and he said: “I always thought that there was at least one person in the stands who had never seen me play, and I didn’t want to let him down.”

Excerpt From: Zinsser, William. “On Writing Well, 30th Anniversary Edition.”

488. MODIFIED ABORTION STANCE “The modified pro-choice position is a politician’s favorite abortion doubletalk: “I’m personally against abortion, but I don’t believe in forcing my view on others.” “Let me see if I understand you,” I said. “You are convinced that abortion kills an innocent child, yet you think the law should allow women to do that to their own babies. Did I get that right?” The logic of the modified pro-choice position reduces to, “I think it’s wrong to kill my own children, but I don’t think we should stop other people from killing theirs.”

Excerpt From: Koukl, Gregory. “Tactics.”

489. GOD’S DISCIPLINE “When God is against you, He is for you.” — C. Seidman

490. ACTIONS “There is a difference in doing things right, and doing the right things.” — Peter Drucker

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Atheists Steal Rights From God

Atheists Steal Rights From God

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Atheist Richard Dawkins has declared, “The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, and no good. Nothing but blind pitiless indifference… DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music.”

But Dawkins doesn’t act like he actually believes that. He recently affirmed a woman has the right to choose an abortion and asserted that it would be “immoral” to give birth to a baby with Down syndrome. According to Dawkins, the “right to choose” is a good thing and giving birth to Down syndrome children is a bad thing.

Well, which is it? Is there really good and evil, or are we just moist robots dancing to the music of our DNA?

Atheists like Dawkins are often ardent supporters of rights to abortion, same-sex marriage, taxpayer-provided healthcare, welfare, contraceptives, and several other entitlements. But who says those are rights? By what objective standard are abortion, same-sex marriage, same-sex adoption, taxpayer-provided healthcare, and the like, moral rights? There isn’t such a standard in the materialistic universe of atheism. So atheists must steal the grounds for objective moral rights from God while arguing that God doesn’t exist.

Now, I am not saying that you have to believe in God to be a good person or that atheists are immoral people. Some atheists live more moral lives than many Christians. I am also not saying that atheists don’t know morality. Everyone knows basic right and wrong whether they believe in God or not. In fact, that’s exactly what the Bible teaches (see Romans 2:14-15).

What I am saying is that atheists can’t justify morality. Atheists routinely confuse knowing what’s right with justifying what’s right. They say it’s right to love. I agree, but why is it right to love. Why are we obligated to do so? The issue isn’t how we know what’s Right, but why an authoritative standard of Rightness exists in the first place.

You may come to know about objective morality in many different ways: from parents, teachers, society, your conscience, etc. And you can know it while denying God exists. But that’s like saying you can know what a book says while denying there’s an author. Of course, you can do that, but there would be no book to know unless there was an author! In other words, atheists can know objective morality while denying God exists, but there would be no objective morality unless God exists.

If material nature is all that exists, which is what most atheist’s claim, then there is no such thing as an immaterial moral law.  Therefore, atheists must smuggle a moral standard into their materialistic system to get it to work, whether it’s “human flourishing,” the Golden Rule, doing what’s “best” for the most, etc. Such standards don’t exist in a materialistic universe where creatures just “dance” to the music of their DNA.

Atheists are caught in a dilemma. If God doesn’t exist, then everything is a matter of human opinion and objective moral rights don’t exist, including all those that atheists support. If God does exist, then objective moral rights exist. But those rights clearly don’t include cutting up babies in the womb, same-sex marriage, and their other invented absolutes contrary to every major religion and natural law.

Now, an atheist might say, “In our country, we have a constitution that the majority approved. We have no need to appeal to God.” True, you don’t have to appeal to God to write laws, but you do have to appeal to God if you want to ground them in anything other than human opinion. Otherwise, your “rights” are mere preferences that can be voted out of existence at the ballot box or at the whim of an activist judge or dictator. That’s why our Declaration of Independence grounds our rights in the Creator. It recognizes the fact that even if someone changes the constitution you still have certain rights because they come from God, not man-made law.

However, my point isn’t about how we should put objective God-given rights into human law. My point is, without God, there are no objective human rights. There is no right to abortion or same-sex marriage. Of course, without God, there is no right to life or natural marriage either!

In other words, no matter what side of the political aisle you’re on — no matter how passionate you believe in certain causes or rights — without God they aren’t really rights at all. Human rights amount to no more than your subjective preferences. So atheists can believe in and fight for rights to abortion, same-sex marriage, and taxpayer-provided entitlements, but they can’t justify them as truly being rights.

In fact, to be a consistent atheist — and this is going to sound outrageous, but it’s true — you can’t believe that anyone has ever actually changed the world for the better. Objectively good political or moral reform is impossibleif atheism is true. Which means you have to believe that everything Wilberforce, Lincoln, and Martin Luther King did to abolish slavery and racism wasn’t really good; it was just different. It means you have to believe that rescuing Jews from the ovens was not objectively better than murdering them. It means you have to believe that gay marriage is no better than gay bashing. (Since we’re all just “dancing to our DNA,” the gay basher was just born with the anti-gay gene. You can’t blame him!) It means you have to believe that loving people is no better than raping them.

You may be thinking, “That’s outrageous! Racism, murder, assault, and rape are objectively wrong, and people do have a right not to be harmed!” I agree. But that’s true only if God exists. In an atheistic universe, there is nothing objectively wrong with anything at any time. There are no limits. Anything goes. Which means to be a consistent atheist you have to believe in the outrageous.

If you are mad at me for these comments, then you agree with me in a very important sense. If you don’t like the behaviors and ideas I am advocating here, you are admitting that all behaviors and ideas are not equal — that some are closer to the real objective moral truth than others. But what is the source of that objective truth? It can’t be changeable, fallible human beings like you or me. It can only be God whose unchangeable nature is the ground of all moral value. That’s why atheists are unwittingly stealing from God whenever they claim a right to anything.

But how do we know that’s the Christian God? Doesn’t he do evil in the Old Testament? And what about the “separation of church and state”? Those are some of the many questions I address in my new book, Stealing from God: Why atheists need God to make their case, from which this column was adapted.

Atheists Steal Rights From God

 

Dr. Frank Turek (D.Min.) is an award-winning author and frequent college speaker who hosts a weekly TV show on DirectTV and a radio program that airs on 186 stations around the nation.  His books include I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist and Stealing from God:  Why atheists need God to make their case

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