Tag Archives: god

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Colossians 2:8 is Philosophy bad?

A photo of The Thinker by Rodin located at the Musée Rodin in Paris

Colossians 2:8

8 Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elemental forces of the world, and not based on Christ.   (HCSB)

Many people assume that this verse is warning Christians away from philosophy, but this passage talks about a particular kind of philosophy, the kind that is based on what human tradition says. Philosophy based on Christ is a good thing.

Philosophy is a method of discovering truth. Many people claim that science is the only way to truth, but  I ask “What scientific study did you do to discover that truth?”, “How much does that “truth” weigh?”. There are several other questions I could ask to point out that not all truth is scientific.

In Jurassic Park, Dr. Ian Malcolm says ” Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn’t stop to think if they should. ”

The reason that they did not stop to think about that question is that should and ought are in the realm of philosophy, science can inform moral truth, but it can not discover it.
Philosophy is the love of wisdom, and true wisdom flows from God’s truth.
Wisdom is mentioned many times in the Bible, and most of the time it is in a good light. The wisdom of Solomon was at one time famous all over the then known world, and his wisdom came from God.

A good book that is filled with Christian Philosophy, that debunks the most common bad philosophy today, the “everyone is right but the Christians view” is
Relativism: Feet Firmly Planted in Mid-Air by Greg Koukl
If you have ever been told not to judge, or that truth is relative, and did not know what to say,  you need this book.
                        

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121 Quotes on Why We Need Apologetics-The Poached Egg

 

I think increasingly we are going to need to be not only the bearers of the gospel to others but a people who have answers available to questions such as, “What about the problem of evil? and “How do I know God exists?” We will need to give basic answers to these objections. Typically, the same questions come up over and over again. You won’t need to learn lots of new material with each person you talk to. If we have a mastery of some of the basics, we can really go a long way. And, as we’re evangelizing, as we’re talking about our faith, we will have greater confidence in presenting the gospel and won’t be daunted by the potential questions that might come up, but rather will say, “I believe the Christian faith does a better job of answering these sorts of questions.” —Paul Copan (From the interview: Starting Right Where I Am)

To read more Apologetics quotes: click here
Works by Paul Copan include:
Is God a Moral Monster?: Making Sense of the Old Testament God

True for You, But Not for Me: Overcoming Objections to Christian Faith

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The Right to Protest

There have been a lot of protest lately, and yes according to the First Amendment to the Constitution we do have the right to protest..

Amendment I
Freedoms, Petitions, Assembly

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

We should notice that even the first amendment puts a limit on our right to protest.
We must do it peacefully. It doesn’t matter if I like the subject of their protest or not, because speech that everyone likes, doesn’t need protection, speech that we dislike does,

There are more amendments that we the people seem to have forgotten about, namely the ninth amendment.

Amendment IX
Rights retained by the People

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

This means that our rights, do not outweigh the rights of another.
Yes, we have the right to protest, but others have the right to private property. Our rights to protest does not give us the right to destroy someones property.
We also have the right to be secure in our own persons, Which means we don’t have the right to beat someone up, because they disagree with us.

Not only is it important to follow the laws of both government and God, as a matter of logic, you don’t earn friends to your cause, by acting like a beast!

Protest all you want, but you can not prevent people from going to work by blocking traffic, or hurt others, or the things that belong to them.

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Renew your Mind

Some people seem to think that we have to turn our brains off before we do anything religious, but that is not what God wants of us. As John Piper said “the brain God gave you is intended to throw fuel on the fire of your affections for God. It’s really good at it if you let it.” . Exploring the world and theology are related if your mind is open. One is the study of God, the other is the study of what God created. If you can interpret the facts with an open mind, they both blend together quite beautifully.

When I exercise my mind I get excited. The more I know about him, and his creation, the closer, and more in awe of his majesty I am.
It is like exercise of the body at first, and difficult to do at first, if you haven’t done it in awhile, but with prayer God will get you through it.
This also has the benefit of catching those who believe that Christians are unintelligent off guard.  I remember one time that I was talking to a group of people on X-box. Somehow the subject of Christians being stupid came up, and that was my chance to shine. For 45 minutes these teenagers who wanted to play a racing game shut up and listened to me talk about God! They had never heard anything like I was saying. God was certainly with me that day to enable me to draw teenage boys away from a game, to hear about God.
If I had not been a book reader, I don’t think that conversation would have been possible.

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
The Apologetics Study Bible

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Day 5 – We Believe – Devotions From Newsboys | The Bible App | Bible.com


Devotional “Enemy” | Newsboys devotion When we look in the mirror, sometimes the reflection staring back at us is our own worst enemy. If we will let them, the world will feed us lies that will beat our self-worth into the ground. Culture will tell us there’s no bigger purpose in our pain, no relief for our addictions. We’re quick to convince ourselves our actions don’t matter and even quicker to blame someone else, always looking for a scapegoat and a stone to throw. Used to think You didn’t care / Was just a pawn in the game You were playin’ / Puttin’ walls up everywhere / Never thought You heard a word I was prayin’ There will always be someone else to blame. But that’s the easy way out, the cowardly escape route. It’s much harder to bravely admit that we’ve messed up, that it’s our fault and we can’t fix what we’ve done. Sometimes the only thing that stands in the way of becoming all that God created us to be is an arrogant, distorted view of ourselves.

Source: Day 5 – We Believe – Devotions From Newsboys | The Bible App | Bible.com

If you liked the song above, please consider buying the album.

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Stand to Reason | Christianity: It’s Either Objectively True or Objectively False

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Lately, I’ve begun to realize just how much relativism is ingrained in our culture, particularly when it comes to religion. In conversations with people about Christianity, I’ve found that sometimes I am literally unable to communicate the idea that I’m claiming Christianity is an objectively true description of reality. Unfortunately, I’ve even had a conversation or two like this with Christians. But communicating this is what we must do if we’re truly to communicate the Gospel, because the Gospel is centered on an objective event in history. As the Apostle Paul said, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless.” Often, by explaining the centrality of the historical death and resurrection of Christ, you can help someone to understand the objective nature of our claim—that is, the claim that Christianity is the kind of thing that is either objectively true or objectively false—because history is something most people understand as being objective.
Read more at
: Stand to Reason | Christianity: It’s Either Objectively True or Objectively False

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Why did David need 5 stones to fight Goliath?

David's Sling

Sling and five smooth stones used by David to kill Goliath on a white background

Everyone has heard about the battle between David and Goliath, how David was just a boy, and Goliath was a giant. The best guess of Goliath’s height was 9ft 9inches. (converting cubits to feet is no certain thing.)
David’s chosen weapon was a sling with 5 stones. Have you ever wondered why David decided that he needed 5 stones? Did he think that God was unable to do it with one?
No, the answer is that Goliath had at least four brothers.

In 2 Samuel 21:18-22  It talks about 4 who were killed who were sons of the Giant in Gath. (Goliath’s home) and specifically mentions that one of them was the brother of Goliath.

It stands to reason that if you plan on picking on, or killing someone who has brothers nearby, that you should plan to defend yourself against them as well.

My most commonly used Bible is the 
Apologetics Study Bible
I highly recommend it!