"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."" (Hebrews 11:6 NIV)
Bill Maher, host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," recently appeared as a guest on MSNBC show "Scarborough Country. He told his host Joe Scarborough: "We are a nation that is unenlightened because of religion. I do believe that. I think that religion stops people from thinking. I think it justifies crazies. I think flying planes into a building was a faith-based initiative. I think religion is a neurological disorder." He continues his diatribe against Christians and all religious people by saying that the more enlightened ones are the people who see same sex marriages as healthy and normal part of society. He sees religion much like the Communists and Nazis – opium of the people. Maher attempts humor with his stand against people of faith – but here his comments fall into the category of just more hateful bigotry.
He accuses people who live by faith in God of being some kind of nut cases and who are uneducated in all the finer things of life according to his world view. The study of neurology attempts to explain some very complex issues of the human nervous system. I wonder which part of the body Maher believes is most damaged by this neurological disorder. Is it the Nervous System, Central Nervous System, Autonomic Nervous System, Peripheral Nervous System, Sympathetic Nervous System, or the Parasympathetic Nervous System? How does this malady reveal itself in a human being?
Believers understand the great difficulty in convincing skeptics to accept the idea of God. There is a certain amount of intellectual pride that goes with being a skeptic. Perhaps a child was once told that they have a very high IQ and that they belong in special classes, and they will always know more than the other kids. They grow up sincerely believing that the rest of humanity is dumb and incapable of making good judgments. Many skeptics who laugh at the idea of faith in our invisible God have no problem accepting the existence of some invisible force called electricity.
The human nervous system consists of various types of tissue. That is all it is without impulses which activate or restrict movement of fibers in this complex system. What is the source of these invisible impulses? It takes a certain amount of faith in the unseen to be a practitioner of medicine. We demonstrate faith whenever we enter a dark room and reach for the light switch. We can't explain how the electricity is just waiting for our command, yet we accept it and we don't accuse other users of electricity of being a bunch of nut cases.
The Bible is a book that reveals to us much about the nature of God. We learn that God is the self-existent Creator of our universe. Everything that exists comes from God. God has a home called Heaven. It is a real place and those who seek after God will be rewarded with a place in this eternal paradise.
Nothing exists without God. God knows everything. God is the source of all power. The greatest power is God's love. God rules the universe by the power of love. God has the power of life and death. Just because God possesses great power does not mean that He will unleash this upon humanity. God's love waits patiently as a Father waits for his children to repent. God is using his great love to influence us to seek eternal salvation. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) The powerful story of Christ dying on the cross is the message of the Gospel. "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile." (Romans 1:16 NIV)
The Gospel has the power to change the lives of people like no other message seen or heard. People who sincerely accept the message of love and hope will turn away from evil and turn to deeds of love and kindness. Where is there any such idealism in philosophy that has been proven down through the centuries to be the best life? The life of faith in God is the best possible life. This includes faith in Christ Jesus as the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit as our Helper. The Christian life is not a philosophy because Christ did not come as an alternative philosophy to Plato, Aristotle, or Confucius. Christ came from Heaven to pay a price for our sins so that we can stand justified before God and receive an eternal home.
We believe in the power of love, hate, fear, envy and greed because we see the evidence in the behavior of people. Love is the superior power of the entire universe. All enemies of God will be overthrown by His great love. It is not necessary for you to know everything about the complexities of God's great power. But, we can know that we are saved by the power of His love. "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:16-19 NIV)
A life of faith is the true life of being enlightened by the power of God's amazing love. Faith is nothing to be ashamed of. You are invited to all services of the Cedar Key Church of Christ. Write me with any comments or questions at PO Box 186, Cedar Key, FL 32625 or binkley@bellsouth.net. | 