Thoughts On: Is God Real?

Tonight Dad, Mom, Trissy, and I went into town and got frozen yogurt at a new shop that opened up recently. We took it to eat at a rather unconventional hang-out (the rest stop on the highway going through town), but that's just how we roll. We strolled along the walking paths and sang silly old cowboy songs. As we got ready to leave, Trissy stopped to give someone a Gospel paper, and invite him to Victory Rd. A dear man, he is eighty-five and works as a security guard at the rest stop. And he is an atheist.

Trissy said he was very kind and polite, and very sad. His wife died more than thirty-five years ago and now he lives his own life waiting to die. He has chosen to believe that there is no God.

But denying something exists does not make it go away - sooner or later it must be faced. One can, for convenience' sake, deny that the "check oil" light is on in their car. But that does not negate the fact that they must eventually deal with the issue, or risk ruining their motor.

Oh that the Lord would open his eyes! If God were not real, and our human souls were not destined to live on, but our bodies to simply return to dust when we die, yet those who believe on Him still have lost nothing. But if God is real, and our human souls are destined to live on forever - in either a state of incomprehensible joy with Him, or ghastly terror without Him - then those who refuse His mercy stand to lose everything.

For me personally, I simply cannot understand how it is possible for a person to live without God, without Christ.
For starters, if there is no God, then there is no purpose to life - an idea that the human spirit's very core rebels against.
And if there is no God, then where did everything come from? Where did we come from? Some say that everything evolved to the state it's in through a sequence of long, slow events and processes, taking millions, or even billions, of years to accomplish.

Ok, so how exactly did this supposedly happen? How did humans get here?
Well, they say, we are evolved from the monkeys.
Ok, where did the monkeys come from?
Well, they evolved up from a lower life form.
Where did the 'lower life form' come from?
Well, a wet and sort of 'soupy' environment provided the conditions for the cells of that lower life form to emerge from.
Where did the 'soup' come from?
Well, after millions of years of acidic rain on the prehistoric rocks, this 'soup' was produced.
Ok, so, where did the prehistoric rocks come from?
They were already part of the Earth.
Where did the earth come from?
Well, billions of years before, all the matter in the universe was condensed into a very small area that spun faster and faster until a huge explosion scattered it all back out into the forms of the stars and planets there are today, including the Earth.
Where did all the matter come from?

Now, I do realize that above I am - for demonstration's sake - greatly simplifying the evolutionary theory. But they still can't answer that last question. They don't have an answer. They can't tell you where all that dust that supposedly got together, and supposedly got squished, and supposedly exploded into us originated.
Science proves that 'matter can neither be created, nor destroyed'. So, the obvious answer to, "Where did the dust/dirt/matter come from?" is that someone who transcends the laws of science put it there. Well, then, why don't they just say that and answer the question?

Because if they answer the question by saying, "Someone made it and put it there," they are recognizing the fact that there is a 'higher power' that made everything. That made the world, and everything that is in it. That made them. And if there is someone that powerful, he must be God.

They also don't mention a few other little scientific details when relating the way they believe everything came about. They don't tell you that the 'geologic column' has not been found anywhere on the earth. They don't tell you that, when layers with fossils in them are found, many times the fossilized animals are out of the order in which they were supposed to have evolved. They don't tell you that if the big squish and the big explosion happened at the beginning of time, then all the planets would be spinning in one direction, and that actually many of the planets and moons are spinning in the opposite direction.

In their defense, if they did tell things like this, it would totally undermine their theory, and they need an alternative theory to that of Creation. Because, if Creation is true, then there really is a God who made them. And if there really is a God who made them, He has the right to an answer from them on how they have spent the lives and resources He's given them. And they do not want to have to answer for that.

It may be convenient to believe that there is no God, but it isn't safe.

P.S. Pray for Mr. G. to find what is truth.

Book Review: "Rawhide Down" by Del Quentin Wilber

Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Del Quentin Wilber

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars


A nearly moment-by-moment account of the day of the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan. Riveting; I could hardly put it down! I would definitely call it a must-read for Reagan enthusiasts and/or lovers of American history.

Del Quentin Wilber, in his first book, gives us a fascinating look at each of the key players, their motives, values, and reactions to the events of this key day in Reagan's presidency. He also takes time to explain some of the history of the times, and orient us to what events mean in relation to worlds like the Secret Service and the George Washington Hospital ER and OR.

I also greatly appreciated Mr. Wilber's reporting style - he didn't seem to criticize, condone, or report with a particular bias, he just did extensive research and told the story.
Which does bring me to my only objection, and my reason for giving this book 4.5 stars, instead of 5: Wilber does include foul language in recording dialogue of reactions and events, but only when relating direct quotes.

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Book Review: "Courageous" by Dina L. Sleiman

Courageous by Dina L. Sleiman

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Several characters in this story wrestle with spiritual issues, attempt to discern what is God’s will in various situations, and seek truth, faith, and the peace of God. Initially, since the story touches on differences in religions and spiritual beliefs, I was hopeful that it would have a powerful message of redemption, a loving presentation of the truth of the Bible, and a clear distinction between the Christianity of the Bible and the heartbreaking errors of belief held by the other religions in the story.

While all three of these hopes were partially realized, I was severely disappointed overall. First, there was only a very vague and shallow description of redemption in the lives of a couple of the struggling characters, and the ‘peace’ they received came to them supposedly simply through attending a ‘prayer meeting’ held by a group of children. Receiving of the Lord’s peace and forgiveness is certainly possible to anyone who expresses true repentance of sin! But since it is a personal matter, it must be dealt with personally - must be taken up by the individual and settled between the Lord and them alone. This type of scene was not related. Second, while the Gospel (the fact that Jesus Christ made the atoning sacrifice for mankind by dying on the cross, then rising from the dead, and that faith in Him and belief on Him is the only way a man’s or woman’s sins are covered and they can get to Heaven) was presented/touched on in a couple of places, it was vague and unclear; it was certainly not stressed, though there were several excellent opportunities for the characters to do so, even enhancing the impact of the story. Third, a clear distinction between the religious beliefs of the characters was just not there. There were even conversations among the characters, discussing how their religions were different, then stating that they were ‘not so very different from each other’. I found this disturbing. Either you have the truth, or you do not. Either you are believing the truth, or you are believing a lie, no matter how sincerely. And sadly, so many believe lies.

Overall, I felt that the author’s stand on the fundamental teachings of God’s Word was shaky, at best. This is the primary reason I must say that I was disappointed in this book.

There were a few other issues that I personally did not appreciate. One was that, though intimate immorality was discussed and portrayed as wrong, there were several kisses shared by an unmarried man and woman, and this was treated as if it was fine. The other was that there were ‘women knights’, and women actively involved in battles. Even the author concedes that this is not historically accurate – traditionally, while women sometimes were trained in self-defense skills or as archers, the men were the knights, the protectors, and the guards for the women and the children precious to them.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

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Book Review: "A Flight of Arrows" by Lori Benton

A Flight of Arrows by Lori Benton

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In order to fully appreciate and understand the significance, depth, and meaning in the lessons and struggles of this story, you should first read book number one in the Pathfinders' set, "The Wood's Edge". Book two is much more powerful if you understand where the characters have come from - their 'paths', so to speak.

I have mixed feelings about this book, as I did about the first one.

(minor spoilers below)

The book started out (about the first 1/3 of the book) rather tedious... Sequence of events: crisis, relief, crisis, relief, crisis, relief - and it was the same 'crisis' over and over. It just got a little too dramatic. Maybe I'm being overly critical, but I work at an academy, and it was beginning to remind me of the social 'drama' of high-school.

In the area of romantic relationships, there seemed to be a lot of importance put on 'following your heart', versus taking in the whole picture and making the best choice overall. As if it's more important to struggle against the 'obstacles' (circumstances, people, etc.) so that you can eventually get your own way, instead of realizing that maybe it would be better for those around you, for future generations, and even for yourself, if you sacrifice what you want now for something later.

There are several instances of unmarried couples kissing.

A young man accidentally walks in on a young woman taking a bath. He retreats as quickly as he can, but before he does, she sees him and unashamedly rises out of the tub. She (the young man's sweetheart/girlfriend) is unfair to him in several other similar instances (though the one above was the worst). She acted in ways that were alluring and tempting to him, without seeming to realize (or care) the pain and struggle it is for a young man to remain in control of his desires while being alone with the girl he hopes to marry. He was definitely the honorable one of the two, reminding her of the importance of their purity, and respect to her father. Her father had not given his blessing to their relationship. The girl demonstrated disobedience, rudeness, and defiance of his wishes several times throughout the beginning of the story.

(end of spoilers)

Overall however, I'd say this second book was better than the first one.

The author's attention to detail was impressive. The research required for accurate depiction of life among the peoples and circumstances of that era would have to be extensive, to say the least. Yet the tone and words of the storytelling itself (not simply the dialog), as well as descriptions of culture, events, and practices, definitely take you to another place and time. The up-close-and-personal meetings of actual historical people was also an effective tool used to pull the reader right into the events the characters found themselves in. I didn't realize until nearly the end of the book how I'd grown to love the characters almost as if they were real people - friends I'd actually walked with through twenty years (the approximate time span the two books cover) of turmoil, struggle, and victory.

There were alot of characters to keep up with. Most of them were introduced in the first book, but there were a couple of new ones in this book. A handful of main characters, and a whole army (pardon the pun) of supporting characters. But they weren't too hard to keep up with. The author initially took turns writing segments of the story from the point of view of each of the main characters, until the paths began to join - a gathering of the loose threads of each individual's journey until they all came together. She did a beautiful job of weaving all the threads to a close.

The lessons, virtues, and Biblical principles demonstrated throughout the story were my favorite element - what's a good story if you don't come away having learned something lasting? Honor, courage, ingenuity, hope, loyalty, love, trust in the Lord, faith, peace, forgiveness, patience, humility, perseverance, sacrifice, joy - all these were met by the characters and/or demonstrated in their lives. It was a fictitious story, but the human emotion, the struggles of flawed people living in a broken and sin-filled world of war and loss, and the redemption offered by Christ were true to life and oh so very real. I do not often get emotional over fiction but, at what is probably the climax of the story, I wept with the pain and the glory of the power of God's unfathomable Love and how it can completely change a broken wrath-filled man into an incredible unwavering example of His grace. The pages blurred with the heart-rending account. But though so often the paths of God's children lead through dangers, toils, and snares, His grace will lead us Home. And what Satan means for evil, the Lord can turn into glorious good.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging for Books in exchange for my honest review.

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