You won’t find crystal
In a Styrofoam cup,
Just like you can’t swim in concrete
And you’ll never fall up.
And you can’t get to Heaven
By your good deeds
Just like you won’t grow flowers
When you’re planting weeds.
“And to him who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness.” Romans 4:5
No, not really . . . I do love my Eagles, but I sure got a kick out of George Carlin’s comparison of baseball and football.
“Baseball is a 19th century pastoral game.
Football is a 20th century technological struggle.
Baseball is played on a diamond. In a park – the baseball park.
Football is played on a gridiron in a stadium (sometimes called ‘Soldier Field’ or ‘War Memorial Stadium’).
Baseball has the 7th inning stretch.
Football has the 2 minute warning.
Baseball has no time limit. We don’t know when it’s gonna end. We might have extra innings!
Football is rigidly timed and it will end even if we have to go to sudden death.
Finally, the objectives of the 2 games are totally different:
In football, the object is for the quarterback, otherwise known as the ‘field general’, to be on target with his aerial assault, riddling the defense by hitting his receivers with a deadly accuracy in spite of the blitz, even if he has to use the shotgun. With short bullet passes and long bombs, he moves his troops into enemy territory, balancing this aerial assault with a sustained ground attack which punches holes in the forward wall of the enemy’s defensive line. . .
In baseball, the object is to go home. And to be safe – “I hope I’ll be safe at home!”
Good stuff.
I just read Dave Berg’s article at nationalreview.com on Ben Stein’s new film Expelled, which exposes “Big Science” (i.e. nearly all institutions of “higher” learning in the U.S.) and it’s stonewalling of any discussion regarding the possibility that evolution might not be true. I found this statement by Mr. Berg to be particularly revealing, as he gets to the crux of the issue.
“The film’s endeavor is to respond to one simple question: ‘Were we designed, or are we simply the end result of an ancient mud puddle struck by lightning?’
Big science doesn’t like that question because they can’t answer it. Underneath their antagonism toward explanations that suggest an intelligent cause, lies a fundamental egoism. Science wants to deny any evidence of a supreme being precisely because it wants to be a supreme being.”
The apostle Paul would agree with that idea. He wrote the following in Romans 1:21-23:
“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
Big Science, you lose.
I could not do without Thee
O Savior of the lost,
Whose precious blood redeemed me
At such tremendous cost.
Thy righteousness, thy pardon
Thy precious blood, must be
My only hope and comfort,
My glory and my plea.
I could not do without Thee,
I cannot stand alone,
I have no strength or goodness,
No wisdom of my own;
But Thou, beloved Savior,
Art all in all to me,
And weakness will be power
If leaning hard on Thee.
I could not do without Thee,
O Jesus, Savior dear;
E’en when my eyes are holden,
I know that Thou art near.
How dreary and how lonely
This changeful life would be,
Without the sweet communion,
The secret rest with Thee!
I could not do without Thee;
No other friend can read
The spirit’s strange deep longings,
Interpreting its need;
No human heart could enter
Each dim recess of mine,
And soothe, and hush, and calm it,
O blessed Lord, but Thine.
I could not do without Thee,
For years are fleeting fast,
And soon in solemn oneness
The river must be passed;
But Thou wilt never leave me,
And though the waves roll high,
I know Thou wilt be near me,
And whisper, “It is I.”
– Frances Havergal
Ok, not mad in the sense of insane, and the pope doesn’t really make me feel angry. It’s more that the whole idea of this man, (yes, man) being worshipped by people around the world, and this country in particular right now stirs me up, gets under my skin. The hullabaloo in the media has been rather magnificent – you’d think that Jesus himself had stepped on to American soil this week. Hmmm.
I’ve heard Catholics say that they don’t worship this man, that they just “venerate” him . . . strange – it looks a lot like worship to me. They bow, they kiss his hand, they are thrilled just to “breathe the air he’s breathing” as I heard someone say on the radio, they call him the “holy father”. The “holy father”? The only person we should call Holy Father is the One who is the 1st Person of the Triune Godhead. The pope is neither holy nor anyone’s father. He is not some mediator between God and man. He is a sinner in need of a Savior just like everyone else in the world.
I have a friend who recently got saved out of devout Catholicism, and his eyes have been opened to the lies and the folly associated with that system of religion. He was the one who brought up the “holy father” deal last night, and it got me thinking about how many millions and billions of people are being deceived by another wolf in sheep’s clothing; deceived right into a tormented godless eternity.
Religion is one of Satan’s favorite tools, no doubt about that.
Where am I going?
I think this is my favorite of the four major life questions because it fills my heart with sense of peace to know the answer. I’m not being proud in saying that – I have read what the Bible says on life after death and I’ve staked my eternal destiny on the One who promises everlasting life to all who trust Him alone. (John 3:16)
I’m going to Heaven. How about you? Are you going too? Or are you one of the billions who are currently on their way to the lake of fire (i.e. the very real Hell)?
You can know the answer to this question, one that nags at the mind of every person in the world. Click on the “Good News” link to the right. It’ll tell you the whole story.
Why am I here?
To have a good time, go for it, get everything I can, die with a lot of toys.
No?
Ok, then. I’m here to leave a legacy – to be so nice and good to my fellow man that I’ll have 1000 people at my funeral who’ll give one heartfelt tribute after another to the wonderful person that was me.
Sounds good. But again, no. The true answer is quite antithetical to how most (all, actually) humans conduct themselves.
John the Baptist said it very well. In fact he summed up what a person’s whole life is to be about in one sentence.
John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
We are here for no other reason than to bring him glory. Unbelievers live very unfulfilling lives because they can’t glorify God in their separated-from-him state. They live life to bring glory to themselves. Sadly, believers all too often do too.
I know I forget why I’m here. Daily. Hourly. I rarely remember “He must increase”. It’s “Katie must increase”.
But when I come around to the right way of thinking, there’s God’s grace, his mercy, his forgiveness.
Psalm 17: 7 I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness, and I will sing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.
Made for Eternity 