Summary: "God is causing relationships with people, causing them to feed off of his life/identity. NOT 1) unthinking automatons or 2) independent people that can be alive without God."
1)
The ditch that free-will people (I don't want to use the label Armenian) are trying to avoid is the unthinking automaton side. I was reading The Shack by Wm Paul Young recently and at the top of page 94 God tells the main character "If you let me, Mack, I'll be the papa you never had."
This is what I wrote in my notes: 'Why is voluntary so repulsive? Because then I am nothing.'
Basically I was thinking of mindless surrender to God, allowing him to work in my whatever he pleased and I would shut off my brain and let him do it. That's almost ok. We're supposed to surrender to God, right? Not mindlessly. We must feed continuously off of his grace, truth, and love to us. It is his power living in us that gives us strength to lift our bones off the ground.
A second illustration. I read a perhaps 30 page long piece of work by Immanuel Kant which I am fairly certain is taken from his Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals . Kant has a very high view of the individual human. As I read it occurred to me that perhaps humans are the only creatures that are capable of making decisions, of weighing the pros and cons, of figuring out what is right and wrong, and making choices based on that. With this view, we could see God's truth shining brighter when his chosen people see it, given to them by God, and say 'yes, it is congruent and makes sense'.
Now, of course I must avoid saying that humans can figure out on their own what is right and what is wrong, and I must CERTAINLY avoid saying that we can arbitrarily decide what is right and wrong. We MUST learn right and wrong from God and him only, trusting him.
2)
The error that Calvinists (or whatever word we use) try to avoid is that humans have any independence from God. We were created by God and only exist by his living will. Without his life living in us we run aimlessly in illogical circles (I just did that for the past 2 hours) and reject his truth. We must learn to hold fast to God as our only hope.
At this current time God is teaching us all to love him. He is giving us grace and truth through many different forms (bible, holy spirit, people, circumstances, etc) and we are learning to depend more and more on him, to draw closer in a relationship.
Now, I'm not quite certain that this is the main point of the universe (previous paragraph) but it's got to be pretty close.
Where I am currently in The Shack has just described the fall in the garden of Eden as choosing our own version of right and wrong [oooh man this sounds so much like relativistic morality in America!!]. If this is the main problem of humans, what caused original sin, then this is pretty important. At first is seems like Calvinism would be the best to focus on, but for God to win us back, there must be an 'us' to win back, something cognitive and alive to respond.
Gospel: God is sending out a huge strong message of love. You CANNOT do this on your own. Run to God [egh, that still sounds like humans are doing the work...] to save you. Proverbs 18:10 "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."
18 December 2010
04 December 2010
communication principle for holy spirit
Because each individual has their own languages (not equally-valid worldviews by the way, I think there is absolute truth), all incoming information to all people is slightly misinterpreted. Therefore, no one can ever, via outside information, completely understand anything communicated to them. How then can anyone be saved? How then can anyone understand the gospel?
This is why we, as humans, cannot save people in and of ourselves. God must speak our own language. He does that via the Holy Spirit.
This is why we, as humans, cannot save people in and of ourselves. God must speak our own language. He does that via the Holy Spirit.
28 November 2010
the illogical principle
This will be short:
Sin is, by nature, a mutation/error/dyfunction of good/true/works well, etc. Therefore, sin doesn't make sense. It is not congruent with reality, and probably is not congruent with itself.
Oftentimes I have been distressed by questions, thinking that goes in circles, fixation on one idea without being able to escape. I have always attempted to wade through these, draw the dots between the data, figure out why I feel these ways, etc. However, sin and error being illogical, cannot be internally defeated and must be discarded. Realize that you have NOT found the truth, and simply abandon your current train of thought.
My breakthrough over thanksgiving.
Sin is, by nature, a mutation/error/dyfunction of good/true/works well, etc. Therefore, sin doesn't make sense. It is not congruent with reality, and probably is not congruent with itself.
Oftentimes I have been distressed by questions, thinking that goes in circles, fixation on one idea without being able to escape. I have always attempted to wade through these, draw the dots between the data, figure out why I feel these ways, etc. However, sin and error being illogical, cannot be internally defeated and must be discarded. Realize that you have NOT found the truth, and simply abandon your current train of thought.
My breakthrough over thanksgiving.
15 November 2010
progress is meaningless
Summary: "The common goal accepted by society - happiness, wealth, quality of living (comfort level), etc - has no set goal."
Table of contents:
1 Our human goals
2 Where is the line drawn?
3 King Solomon.
4 Goals and progress mathematically.
1
Think of the ideal citizen, the perfect person in the way they behave, a model for society. This person breaks no traffic laws, goes to college (but not more than he/she needs to), goes to work everyday and comes home peacefully. He/she volunteers for humanitarian organizations and donates to the Red Cross. This is all to promote "peace on earth and goodwill towards men".
So what is society trying to do? Make everyone happy. That makes sense. That's the general feel of politics and most formal organizations. Business arenas are only slightly different, looking to appease more than alleviate. Personally we work towards intelligence, sophistication, a good solid station in life, a long rich retirement.
These are our goals.
2
But what exactly are we shooting for? Will we be satisfied when we solve world hunger, maybe if we stop global warming, perhaps once everyone makes over $30,000 a year, or would you only be satisfied with $40,000? What is the numerical limit we're working towards?
When will we be satisfied, what will fill us up and satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts? Maybe we look towards relationships, sex, or if you have higher yearnings, some lifelong friends whom you can chat with in your old age. But tell me, why makes a comfortable, friend-filled retirement fulfilling? Or to put it another way, what is the straw that breaks the camels back, what single thing pushes an unsatisfactory life into an OK life?
How on earth can you draw that line? What equation will you use, what algorithm? What research can you do?
Friends, if you don't know what you're looking for, you'll never find it.
3
King Solomon was insanely rich, famous, and wise. He had gold coming out of his ears and kings and queens came from all over to visit his court. However, Solomon wasn't satisfied, we went looking after fulfillment.
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."
He tried (in order) wisdom, pleasure, folly, toil, progress, and riches. The whole book of Ecclesiastes is his search. But he found nothing. Even if he had felt satisfied during this life, nothing that he gained would have helped him once he died. Ecclesiastes 9:5 "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they will have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten."
4
An arbitrarily set goal (say a retirement nest egg of 1 million dollars) is futile because, when compared with something far greater than it (people who are billionaires), that status of living no longer seems worthwhile.
Mathematically we could say that for any goal 'a', we can find a number 'b' such that 'a' compared to 'b' (represented by a/b) is arbitrarily close to zero. (This is the theory of limits, to prove that a/b can approaches zero as b approaches infinity)
Likewise we can disprove progress. For any small improvement can look meaningless compared to a final goal. Mathematically again we can say that for any progress 'delta a' we can find a goal 'b' such that delta a/b approaches zero to an arbitrarily small error value.
Table of contents:
1 Our human goals
2 Where is the line drawn?
3 King Solomon.
4 Goals and progress mathematically.
1
Think of the ideal citizen, the perfect person in the way they behave, a model for society. This person breaks no traffic laws, goes to college (but not more than he/she needs to), goes to work everyday and comes home peacefully. He/she volunteers for humanitarian organizations and donates to the Red Cross. This is all to promote "peace on earth and goodwill towards men".
So what is society trying to do? Make everyone happy. That makes sense. That's the general feel of politics and most formal organizations. Business arenas are only slightly different, looking to appease more than alleviate. Personally we work towards intelligence, sophistication, a good solid station in life, a long rich retirement.
These are our goals.
2
But what exactly are we shooting for? Will we be satisfied when we solve world hunger, maybe if we stop global warming, perhaps once everyone makes over $30,000 a year, or would you only be satisfied with $40,000? What is the numerical limit we're working towards?
When will we be satisfied, what will fill us up and satisfy the deepest longings of our hearts? Maybe we look towards relationships, sex, or if you have higher yearnings, some lifelong friends whom you can chat with in your old age. But tell me, why makes a comfortable, friend-filled retirement fulfilling? Or to put it another way, what is the straw that breaks the camels back, what single thing pushes an unsatisfactory life into an OK life?
How on earth can you draw that line? What equation will you use, what algorithm? What research can you do?
Friends, if you don't know what you're looking for, you'll never find it.
3
King Solomon was insanely rich, famous, and wise. He had gold coming out of his ears and kings and queens came from all over to visit his court. However, Solomon wasn't satisfied, we went looking after fulfillment.
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 "I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."
He tried (in order) wisdom, pleasure, folly, toil, progress, and riches. The whole book of Ecclesiastes is his search. But he found nothing. Even if he had felt satisfied during this life, nothing that he gained would have helped him once he died. Ecclesiastes 9:5 "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing; they will have no further reward, and even the memory of them is forgotten."
4
An arbitrarily set goal (say a retirement nest egg of 1 million dollars) is futile because, when compared with something far greater than it (people who are billionaires), that status of living no longer seems worthwhile.
Mathematically we could say that for any goal 'a', we can find a number 'b' such that 'a' compared to 'b' (represented by a/b) is arbitrarily close to zero. (This is the theory of limits, to prove that a/b can approaches zero as b approaches infinity)
Likewise we can disprove progress. For any small improvement can look meaningless compared to a final goal. Mathematically again we can say that for any progress 'delta a' we can find a goal 'b' such that delta a/b approaches zero to an arbitrarily small error value.
06 November 2010
Things I'm learning.
I have been learning a ton of things recently, school is havoc and I'm making lifelong friends end of last year and this year.
Here is an 'upload' of the most recent things.
Table of contents: World summary, Physical/spiritual, Keep energy by facts hope and praying, Slapping faces, Summary of mens roles, Stepping out in faith, Friendships, Honesty.
The story of the world can be summarized as a restoration of people and nature to their original and better states, i.e. connected with God, the one who sustains their existence.
The physical world is NOT separate from the spiritual. The physical world as we see it is constantly sustained in existence by the hand of God, making all physical things spiritual as well.
Also note that we will have many physical things in heaven. At least figuratively, there will be a huge city, 12 crops (indicating food), work, courts of law (we will judge angels), streets of gold, etc.
Wake up every morning and remember that you are one day closer to Christs return.
There are 3 things that can keep you going even after you are dead tired. 1st Corinthians 13:13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 = faith. God is true whether you trust in him or not. All things that can be seen, all things that exist, scream the existence of God. Separate yourself from the world, from the strife at hand, and know that God is God and there is no one like him. Read the Old Testament. Basically anything except the happy Psalms and the time king David dances in the streets. Try the complaining psalms, job, judges. Just today I read about the failures of king Joash and it brightened my day, no joke.
2 = hope. Does it not make sense that heaven will be totally awesome? It's not like an amusement park, where there's this huge paradise to run through until you get bored and tired. God gives you strength! You WILL be happy, I guarantee it. And not half-happy, or feeling out of place and kind of happy, but REALLY legit for-the-right-reasons happy.
3 = love. I just labeled this 'love' because it fits the verse. A sermon used pray, hope, and something else. Anyway, here's some more advice. Pray anytime during the day that you can remember to. Refocus constantly. Say to yourself "God is huge, he loves me/he died for me" etc. Even hanging out with Christian friends sometimes I lose focus and I find myself unloving of people and rather awkward. Another thing you can do is release the outcome of the world to God and just collapse into his omnipotent arms. I have done this several times, and it only takes about 5 minutes until, knowing God has things under control, I am happy to work at something that seemed so hopeless before.
There are times for slapping someone in the face, times to hug them mercilessly, times to sit across from them and stare them in the eye for 5 minutes straight, times to speak softly, times to run with intentionality, times to sleep...
Men and women (differently), there is a certain category of desires in your heart which you can feed off of, which are the way God has made you to fulfill your gender roles.
Men, by the way, I have recently discovered that I have a hugely compassionate heart. Seriously. These softer emotions are NOT unmanly. Driven by my compassionate heart, I can imagine slapping someone in the face. Take hold of your heart. Do you feel soft emotions? Act out what you feel (kept in check by the iron word of God) and MAKE it manly.
Men, our primary role is to hold fast to the truth and the work God has set before us (and to lead others down those paths as well). God has given us power to do this because we are sons of God. Remember that sons take on the fathers business, carry on the family name, get the fathers blessing, get taught intensely and intentionally by the father, etc.
If you think God wants you to do something, but you're not sure, just make sure that what it is doesn't violate God law (sin) and then simply do it. God has things under control. Obviously take a little more time for big things like jobs and houses and marriages, but other stuff can go pretty easy.
Friendships are almost completely necessary and, if you remind yourself that God is better than friends, will make you hunger for God more and more.
Bring up God when talking with other Christians over and over again, at least until you start to get sick of it. Spontaneously is best, but if you're looking for a conversation starter, try telling people what you've been learning about God recently.
Being bluntly honest with people, especially solid Christians, is less risky and more profitable than you think. (Do not use this on weak or non-Christians unless you feel more comfortable)
I am running out of things to say. I will create a table of contents for this and then end this post.
Here is an 'upload' of the most recent things.
Table of contents: World summary, Physical/spiritual, Keep energy by facts hope and praying, Slapping faces, Summary of mens roles, Stepping out in faith, Friendships, Honesty.
The story of the world can be summarized as a restoration of people and nature to their original and better states, i.e. connected with God, the one who sustains their existence.
The physical world is NOT separate from the spiritual. The physical world as we see it is constantly sustained in existence by the hand of God, making all physical things spiritual as well.
Also note that we will have many physical things in heaven. At least figuratively, there will be a huge city, 12 crops (indicating food), work, courts of law (we will judge angels), streets of gold, etc.
Wake up every morning and remember that you are one day closer to Christs return.
There are 3 things that can keep you going even after you are dead tired. 1st Corinthians 13:13 "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
1 = faith. God is true whether you trust in him or not. All things that can be seen, all things that exist, scream the existence of God. Separate yourself from the world, from the strife at hand, and know that God is God and there is no one like him. Read the Old Testament. Basically anything except the happy Psalms and the time king David dances in the streets. Try the complaining psalms, job, judges. Just today I read about the failures of king Joash and it brightened my day, no joke.
2 = hope. Does it not make sense that heaven will be totally awesome? It's not like an amusement park, where there's this huge paradise to run through until you get bored and tired. God gives you strength! You WILL be happy, I guarantee it. And not half-happy, or feeling out of place and kind of happy, but REALLY legit for-the-right-reasons happy.
3 = love. I just labeled this 'love' because it fits the verse. A sermon used pray, hope, and something else. Anyway, here's some more advice. Pray anytime during the day that you can remember to. Refocus constantly. Say to yourself "God is huge, he loves me/he died for me" etc. Even hanging out with Christian friends sometimes I lose focus and I find myself unloving of people and rather awkward. Another thing you can do is release the outcome of the world to God and just collapse into his omnipotent arms. I have done this several times, and it only takes about 5 minutes until, knowing God has things under control, I am happy to work at something that seemed so hopeless before.
There are times for slapping someone in the face, times to hug them mercilessly, times to sit across from them and stare them in the eye for 5 minutes straight, times to speak softly, times to run with intentionality, times to sleep...
Men and women (differently), there is a certain category of desires in your heart which you can feed off of, which are the way God has made you to fulfill your gender roles.
Men, by the way, I have recently discovered that I have a hugely compassionate heart. Seriously. These softer emotions are NOT unmanly. Driven by my compassionate heart, I can imagine slapping someone in the face. Take hold of your heart. Do you feel soft emotions? Act out what you feel (kept in check by the iron word of God) and MAKE it manly.
Men, our primary role is to hold fast to the truth and the work God has set before us (and to lead others down those paths as well). God has given us power to do this because we are sons of God. Remember that sons take on the fathers business, carry on the family name, get the fathers blessing, get taught intensely and intentionally by the father, etc.
If you think God wants you to do something, but you're not sure, just make sure that what it is doesn't violate God law (sin) and then simply do it. God has things under control. Obviously take a little more time for big things like jobs and houses and marriages, but other stuff can go pretty easy.
Friendships are almost completely necessary and, if you remind yourself that God is better than friends, will make you hunger for God more and more.
Bring up God when talking with other Christians over and over again, at least until you start to get sick of it. Spontaneously is best, but if you're looking for a conversation starter, try telling people what you've been learning about God recently.
Being bluntly honest with people, especially solid Christians, is less risky and more profitable than you think. (Do not use this on weak or non-Christians unless you feel more comfortable)
I am running out of things to say. I will create a table of contents for this and then end this post.
26 October 2010
creator
The material argument for the existence of God, where god is seen to sustain the very existence of matter, is the basis for all of the gift theories and epic stuff. Here is another result:
God is the creator. Present tense. At all times he creates the universe.
God is constantly creating us. These 6000 years of history are a tale of his creation of a nation for himself, a people drawn from every tribe and tongue on earth, a tale of sanctifying them and restoring creation, a tale of creating a people for himself.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
Just dwell upon that fact that you are Gods creation. He wanted to make you, and he made you just the way he wanted you. You are an intentional creation of God.
And the idea that made my blood curdle to write this post is this: 6000 years of history since the beginning of the world. To god a thousand years is like a day (Psalm 90:4). Seven days of creation... 7000 years. So what if we have another 1000 years before the end of the world.
And the kicker for me is completely illogical, but it's what excited me.
What if the creation account in Genesis were an account of all history?
I mean, God makes sense, right? Wouldn't it be awesome if everything connected like that?
Anyway, that's my nature, the connector person. That's why I come up with so many theories!
God is the creator. Present tense. At all times he creates the universe.
God is constantly creating us. These 6000 years of history are a tale of his creation of a nation for himself, a people drawn from every tribe and tongue on earth, a tale of sanctifying them and restoring creation, a tale of creating a people for himself.
2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
Just dwell upon that fact that you are Gods creation. He wanted to make you, and he made you just the way he wanted you. You are an intentional creation of God.
And the idea that made my blood curdle to write this post is this: 6000 years of history since the beginning of the world. To god a thousand years is like a day (Psalm 90:4). Seven days of creation... 7000 years. So what if we have another 1000 years before the end of the world.
And the kicker for me is completely illogical, but it's what excited me.
What if the creation account in Genesis were an account of all history?
I mean, God makes sense, right? Wouldn't it be awesome if everything connected like that?
Anyway, that's my nature, the connector person. That's why I come up with so many theories!
addition to 'giving out love' + church language
Previous post "giving out love" stated that we can bend Gods love to us outward by being completely secure in God, freeing us from needing earthly things and letting us give freely of ourselves to all people.
Add to that. The previous thesis allows us to give whatever we have. But in addition so simply being allowed to give, God has given us something of infinite value to give, the gospel. And the gospel is what God originally gave to us, the love he gave us. This gospel we preach and 'give' to other people. This is how church people can say "giving God's love out to people around you".
Much confusion would be done away with and much heartfelt passion would be gained by a simple clarification of language on the part of the church! The trouble is that it is much easier to say "giving god's love out" than explain "telling them the gospel", just as it is easier to say "love of God" than "his plan for the universe including our sanctification and provision and real tangible directly given emotion"
We must, every now and then, clarify these terms to people we do not know well. For this purpose we must ourselves keep in mind what we really mean when we say things like love, trust, power, justice, grace, peace, etc.
Could this perhaps have been the doom of the Catholic church from 500-1300 AD?
Add to that. The previous thesis allows us to give whatever we have. But in addition so simply being allowed to give, God has given us something of infinite value to give, the gospel. And the gospel is what God originally gave to us, the love he gave us. This gospel we preach and 'give' to other people. This is how church people can say "giving God's love out to people around you".
Much confusion would be done away with and much heartfelt passion would be gained by a simple clarification of language on the part of the church! The trouble is that it is much easier to say "giving god's love out" than explain "telling them the gospel", just as it is easier to say "love of God" than "his plan for the universe including our sanctification and provision and real tangible directly given emotion"
We must, every now and then, clarify these terms to people we do not know well. For this purpose we must ourselves keep in mind what we really mean when we say things like love, trust, power, justice, grace, peace, etc.
Could this perhaps have been the doom of the Catholic church from 500-1300 AD?
21 October 2010
heart of my own heart
Song: Be Thou My Vision, one of the last verses "Heart of my own heart whatever befall"
The phrase 'invite Jesus into your heart' is often used for new birth/salvation etc. However, having experienced it recently (3 days ago) as a reenlivening of my faith, I think it should be rephrased. God does not just come into your heart. What are you, puny human non-spiritual hunk of space-filled particles? Ezekiel 36:26 "I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees."
God doesn't come into your heart, your heart becomes his heart. You literally (though not physically) get the heart of God. Amazing!
Here I describe what I feel in terms of physical manifestation of a new heart. It's like a living things inside of you, reaching our through your flesh and telling you where to go and what to do. That may sound like a zombie but it's the Holy spirit, and I will certainly admit I don't feel like this much of the time, but it's still there.
Anyway, ask God to take your heart of stone (for me it felt like a long slug of melted and re hardened metal) and ask him to give you a heart of flesh, his heart.
I have pasted below the full song, which is amazing even without the music.
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
The phrase 'invite Jesus into your heart' is often used for new birth/salvation etc. However, having experienced it recently (3 days ago) as a reenlivening of my faith, I think it should be rephrased. God does not just come into your heart. What are you, puny human non-spiritual hunk of space-filled particles? Ezekiel 36:26 "I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees."
God doesn't come into your heart, your heart becomes his heart. You literally (though not physically) get the heart of God. Amazing!
Here I describe what I feel in terms of physical manifestation of a new heart. It's like a living things inside of you, reaching our through your flesh and telling you where to go and what to do. That may sound like a zombie but it's the Holy spirit, and I will certainly admit I don't feel like this much of the time, but it's still there.
Anyway, ask God to take your heart of stone (for me it felt like a long slug of melted and re hardened metal) and ask him to give you a heart of flesh, his heart.
I have pasted below the full song, which is amazing even without the music.
Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.
Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight;
Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight;
Thou my soul’s Shelter, Thou my high Tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,
Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
High King of Heaven, my victory won,
May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.
10 October 2010
"Bigger fish"
This post is called 'bigger fish' in reference to a Star Wars quote as Qui-Gon and Obi-wan travel through the planet core to Naboo city. They get chased by a gigantic fish and then an even larger one eats their pursuer. "There's always a bigger fish" Qui-gon says.
This principle can be applied to progress, whether financial, advancement at work, education, family, anything.
There will ALWAYS be something better. What will you satisfy yourself with?
I am pressed for time so I won't write much more, but here's something I wrote 2 years ago speculating on the implications of an infinity universe (a common defense to my TSM arguments)
Supposing the world is infinite (atheistic defense for cosmological argument), then there can always be (or I might argue there is) a civilization so far advanced above us that we don’t matter. This destroys all motivation for scientific progress (because they will eventually overtake us), the improvement of the human condition (why are humans special if there is a better race?), the search for ultimate truth (because reality is infinite and therefore unknowable), etc.
This principle can be applied to progress, whether financial, advancement at work, education, family, anything.
There will ALWAYS be something better. What will you satisfy yourself with?
I am pressed for time so I won't write much more, but here's something I wrote 2 years ago speculating on the implications of an infinity universe (a common defense to my TSM arguments)
Supposing the world is infinite (atheistic defense for cosmological argument), then there can always be (or I might argue there is) a civilization so far advanced above us that we don’t matter. This destroys all motivation for scientific progress (because they will eventually overtake us), the improvement of the human condition (why are humans special if there is a better race?), the search for ultimate truth (because reality is infinite and therefore unknowable), etc.
2 evidences that humans are special
Size and Texture:
The macro world of galaxies is arranged in particles (earth, solar, milky way, local group/cluster, Virgo supercluster, pisces-cestus supercluster complex...) and the microscopic world is arranged in particles (cells, molecules, atoms, electrons, gluons, quarks...30 levels more). This dimension that we live in, starting from earth and reaching to cells, is all textured. There are objects with funny shapes, design, complexity, etc. This indicates that we inhabit a special size in the universe.
Animals:
We alone of the animal species have created tools and run all over the earth and make technological marvels. How come there are not other dominant species? Nearly all other animals have reasonably alike cousins, we have none. All animals are on relatively the same level, none exercise control over another, none are significantly more powerful than another. We humans are special. The chimpanzee doesn’t have a word for ‘evil.
I realize that both these arguments (and all my others) are left relatively undefended and do not touch on common counter-arguments. If you have any, please pose them and I will reply as honestly as I can.
The macro world of galaxies is arranged in particles (earth, solar, milky way, local group/cluster, Virgo supercluster, pisces-cestus supercluster complex...) and the microscopic world is arranged in particles (cells, molecules, atoms, electrons, gluons, quarks...30 levels more). This dimension that we live in, starting from earth and reaching to cells, is all textured. There are objects with funny shapes, design, complexity, etc. This indicates that we inhabit a special size in the universe.
Animals:
We alone of the animal species have created tools and run all over the earth and make technological marvels. How come there are not other dominant species? Nearly all other animals have reasonably alike cousins, we have none. All animals are on relatively the same level, none exercise control over another, none are significantly more powerful than another. We humans are special. The chimpanzee doesn’t have a word for ‘evil.
I realize that both these arguments (and all my others) are left relatively undefended and do not touch on common counter-arguments. If you have any, please pose them and I will reply as honestly as I can.
02 October 2010
"if our god is for us"
"And if our God is for us, then who can stand against us?" - from the song Our God (I think)
Those song lines mean more than we know. They're from Romans 8:31.
They are preceded by God's work in foreknowing, predestining, calling, justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us. God is FOR us in the sense that he saves us. YES!
Romans 8:31 is followed by "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" meaning that if he gave us JC, won't he give us abounding grace too? It would actually diminish Christs worth if God DIDN'T give us all good things.
Those song lines mean more than we know. They're from Romans 8:31.
They are preceded by God's work in foreknowing, predestining, calling, justifying, sanctifying, and glorifying us. God is FOR us in the sense that he saves us. YES!
Romans 8:31 is followed by "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" meaning that if he gave us JC, won't he give us abounding grace too? It would actually diminish Christs worth if God DIDN'T give us all good things.
01 October 2010
giving out love
Summary: "We love people because we are secure in God"
Often in church we hear the phrase "Giving God's love to other people" or the concept that Christians should be so overflowing with love from God that it just pours out onto other people. Some pastors describe it as 'bending' the flow of God down to us, through us, towards the people around us.
That concept sounded hokey to me. What is this love? It's not some sort of object that we can trade. Love is directed towards somebody, you can't just trade it off.
This is the explanation: God loves us. This means that we are secure, taken care of, etc. He also gives us wisdom, energy, and real physical things like money (only if it's for his glory.)
As someone secure in Christ, all that we have we can freely give away because it will not endanger us. Those who don't have protectors are hoarders and often grumpy. This is because they're in danger all the time.
Not if you have God on your side. Then we are safe even if we give everything away, because we will still have God, and he is worth infinitely more than everything.
So do we really give out God's love? Kind of. We can love others because God loves/protects us. And there are parts of Gods love that we can literally give away, like money. In a more abstract sense, we can do that with wisdom and peace of mind too.
See, the definition of love: 1 John 4:10 "This is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." God's love is not this ethereal fuzzy thing, it's concrete help. God absolved our sins by dying for them. That's real.
Now, because we don't need to take care of ourselves, we're free to follow God (something he designed us to enjoy) 2 John 1:6 "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."
So what is his command?
Matt 22:37-39 "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
And how do you love your neighbor as yourself? John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
See that logic? God loves us with concrete help, this allows us to follow him (which he designed us to enjoy), following him entails his commandments, which are to love our neighbors, which in its greatest measure is dying for your friends. This is how the love of God transfers to our loving other people.
Anyway...
I got a little carried away.
Know that god has you secure.
Often in church we hear the phrase "Giving God's love to other people" or the concept that Christians should be so overflowing with love from God that it just pours out onto other people. Some pastors describe it as 'bending' the flow of God down to us, through us, towards the people around us.
That concept sounded hokey to me. What is this love? It's not some sort of object that we can trade. Love is directed towards somebody, you can't just trade it off.
This is the explanation: God loves us. This means that we are secure, taken care of, etc. He also gives us wisdom, energy, and real physical things like money (only if it's for his glory.)
As someone secure in Christ, all that we have we can freely give away because it will not endanger us. Those who don't have protectors are hoarders and often grumpy. This is because they're in danger all the time.
Not if you have God on your side. Then we are safe even if we give everything away, because we will still have God, and he is worth infinitely more than everything.
So do we really give out God's love? Kind of. We can love others because God loves/protects us. And there are parts of Gods love that we can literally give away, like money. In a more abstract sense, we can do that with wisdom and peace of mind too.
See, the definition of love: 1 John 4:10 "This is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." God's love is not this ethereal fuzzy thing, it's concrete help. God absolved our sins by dying for them. That's real.
Now, because we don't need to take care of ourselves, we're free to follow God (something he designed us to enjoy) 2 John 1:6 "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love."
So what is his command?
Matt 22:37-39 "Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
And how do you love your neighbor as yourself? John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."
See that logic? God loves us with concrete help, this allows us to follow him (which he designed us to enjoy), following him entails his commandments, which are to love our neighbors, which in its greatest measure is dying for your friends. This is how the love of God transfers to our loving other people.
Anyway...
I got a little carried away.
Know that god has you secure.
29 September 2010
stress and strength
nothing long at all:
The more secure and content and strong you are in God, the more he will give you to handle.
I found peace and no longer felt bogged down by trying to figure the world out on my own. What happens within a couple days? HAVOC! But with God's help, I can survive.
God may test you, but he also provides the strength to survive.
1st Cor 10:13 "And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
But I AM tired.
So I'll cut this short.
Praise the Lord!
The more secure and content and strong you are in God, the more he will give you to handle.
I found peace and no longer felt bogged down by trying to figure the world out on my own. What happens within a couple days? HAVOC! But with God's help, I can survive.
God may test you, but he also provides the strength to survive.
1st Cor 10:13 "And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."
But I AM tired.
So I'll cut this short.
Praise the Lord!
22 September 2010
sleep peace
Are you familiar with the idea that our food, bread in particular, represents Gods constant support for our needs? Specifically, I think food represents the daily word of the bible. Water might be more of the holy spirit.
Anyway. Food and water are pretty basic to life. Another basic is sleep.
What could sleep represent? I sleep where I am safe (although I feel safer when I am awake enough to see my doom approaching). Some friends of mine (two) make me sleepy, not because they're boring, but because I feel safe, because I don't have to guard myself, because I don't have to work to figure things out.
What is sleep in God-terms? Peace, I think. There is a peace we get when facing persecution, but there is also an everyday peace which protects us from mild anger, frustration, despair, etc. This peace is the knowledge that God has you in his arms, is protecting you, will eventually bring you into his heavenly Kingdom (which, I should remind you, he will make by restoring earth).
Have you ever gone to sleep talking to God? At a church service? After discussing him? Not because you stayed up until 3AM the previous night, not because the pastor is especially boring this morning, but because you feel at peace?
I hope you have.
If not, it's pretty easy. Surrendering, like falling asleep, generally is not hard to accomplish. However, it does require giving up your worries.
Believe that he loves you, believe that he's there for more than a pep-talk and crutch for despairing people, believe that he's God, for heavens sakes! Rest in him, he will take your burdens, and go ahead, take a nap!
Anyway. Food and water are pretty basic to life. Another basic is sleep.
What could sleep represent? I sleep where I am safe (although I feel safer when I am awake enough to see my doom approaching). Some friends of mine (two) make me sleepy, not because they're boring, but because I feel safe, because I don't have to guard myself, because I don't have to work to figure things out.
What is sleep in God-terms? Peace, I think. There is a peace we get when facing persecution, but there is also an everyday peace which protects us from mild anger, frustration, despair, etc. This peace is the knowledge that God has you in his arms, is protecting you, will eventually bring you into his heavenly Kingdom (which, I should remind you, he will make by restoring earth).
Have you ever gone to sleep talking to God? At a church service? After discussing him? Not because you stayed up until 3AM the previous night, not because the pastor is especially boring this morning, but because you feel at peace?
I hope you have.
If not, it's pretty easy. Surrendering, like falling asleep, generally is not hard to accomplish. However, it does require giving up your worries.
Believe that he loves you, believe that he's there for more than a pep-talk and crutch for despairing people, believe that he's God, for heavens sakes! Rest in him, he will take your burdens, and go ahead, take a nap!
20 September 2010
the sea and the self
a short post
recently, via an English class, I have been reading Chopin's "The Awakening". (not the musical Chopin, someone else). There is this woman who is awakening, becoming aware of her interactions with the world and deciding what role she wants to play.
She takes a swim out into the sea. "to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which teh vast expanse of water, meeting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy" "to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (pg 70-71)
I love this imagery of being surrounded by a great vastness and immense beauty.
However, the woman, looking back to shore, "flash of terror" "quick vision of death [smites] her soul"
So she loves swimming out there, but then she's afraid.
what if, what if. what if the sea wasn't scary? what if the sea were inside her very soul, supporting her and filling her up. what if the sea embraced her? what if the sea loved her?
exhale.
this is God and us. the sea is god, vast, boundless, deep, amazing. we are swimming. but often we become scared. why? because we don't know that God is for us.
I can imagine why some unsaved people could become depressed. There is a vastness that is very daunting! but what if that vastness designed us to swim in him!
full throat drinking of him. drown in him. it's like a pressure in your chest from the inside out. your very core is turned to water and peace.
be full of joy my friends, for you do not have to fear the sea. the sea is on your side.
recently, via an English class, I have been reading Chopin's "The Awakening". (not the musical Chopin, someone else). There is this woman who is awakening, becoming aware of her interactions with the world and deciding what role she wants to play.
She takes a swim out into the sea. "to gather in an impression of space and solitude, which teh vast expanse of water, meeting and melting with the moonlit sky, conveyed to her excited fancy" "to be reaching out for the unlimited in which to lose herself" (pg 70-71)
I love this imagery of being surrounded by a great vastness and immense beauty.
However, the woman, looking back to shore, "flash of terror" "quick vision of death [smites] her soul"
So she loves swimming out there, but then she's afraid.
what if, what if. what if the sea wasn't scary? what if the sea were inside her very soul, supporting her and filling her up. what if the sea embraced her? what if the sea loved her?
exhale.
this is God and us. the sea is god, vast, boundless, deep, amazing. we are swimming. but often we become scared. why? because we don't know that God is for us.
I can imagine why some unsaved people could become depressed. There is a vastness that is very daunting! but what if that vastness designed us to swim in him!
full throat drinking of him. drown in him. it's like a pressure in your chest from the inside out. your very core is turned to water and peace.
be full of joy my friends, for you do not have to fear the sea. the sea is on your side.
16 September 2010
on evil
Summary: "1 Evil is only the absence of God. 2 Human evil/sin. 3 Physical evil 4 We have the all-satisfying God even in our afflictions. 5 We are at the beginning of the world."
(btw, number 5 is the reason I started writing this)
And the most logically critical point is number 4.
1 Evil is only the absence of God.
This has probably been stated many times over, but it is always good to remind ourselves. Evil is not something material that we can throw at God to hurt him. It's merely his absence. Light and dark. Order and chaos.
2 There are two types of evil, human evil and physical evil (like tsunamis)
Human evil: It's falling short of the glory of God. Stupid stuff we do, forgetting who rules the universe, and many times simply being ignorant.
A On the justice aspect, sin is absolutely hideous and worthy of death to God because it makes God look like he made a crappy world. If he let's stupid people live (and we're all stupid) it looks like he tolerates shoddy work. What he really should do is demonstrate that our way of thinking won't work by wiping us off the face of the earth. How he somewhat does that is explained in Romans 1:25-26 and surrounding text. However, his primary solution to our sin is crucifying his son and pointing to that and saying "That's how much I hate sin." Though Jesus god demonstrates his justice and correctness and also his love for us.(by the way, 'justice' and 'righteousness' have the same Greek root and I get a definition of 'righteousness' by highlighting 'right' = correct, true, makes sense. God's righteousness is his knowing how to run the show)
B On the love of God side, sin hurts and grieves God because we're hurting ourselves, because he is the greatest good for us and we're missing it. Why is he not enlightening us and saving us? He is doing that right now, every moment that you live. Be patient.
3 Physical evil (tsunamis): Be patient, it will pass at the coming of the new age. "...thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Earth will take on some amazing qualities. Romans 8:21 "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."
4 The evil that we suffer should not bring us down completely. We have God for us, everything. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the great abba father, everything. There is a song by Scott Krippayne which is sometimes played on KTIS called "Sometimes he calms the storm." and the lyrics run thus: sometimes he calms the storm/with a whispered 'peace be still'/he can settle any sea/but it doesn't mean he will/sometimes he holds us close/and lets the wind and waves grow wild/sometimes he calms the storm/but other times he calms his child." God is greater than everything we experience, which makes it all endurable. Actually, we can enjoy it. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3. Taking away all out physical comfort can actually focus us on God, reaffirming that he alone is our only hope of safety.
5 Ok, here's the real reason I got excited to write this post. (actually, I was surprised what I came up with on number 4, and I think I like it most)
People sometimes say (at least in my philosophy class) "why didn't God, at the beginning of time, somehow someway make perfect humans that could enjoy him perfectly, never sin, never bring evil into the world, and everything would be happy?" well first of all, based on number 4, we wouldn't get a very clear idea of how much God loves us. Second...
Aren't we kind of at the beginning of time? I mean, we have all of eternity after this short life on earth... What if God DID do that, make humans perfect at the beginning. What if this, right now, is 'somehow'?
It is all fleeting persecution and affliction, it will pass within 100 years at the most. And one day in heaven is worth more than a thousand good years on earth.
Just today I was really tired and I had to mow the lawn (we have 5 acres, it took 2 hours or so). Basically most of the time I was being a sour puss and wondering why I had to do meaningless work.
I love janitor maintenance work by the way, I love it. Especially it there is a lot of things happening around me. But when winter is coming on and we could just as easily run through long, luscious grass than through short ugly stuff (hehe) I really would rather not cut the grass.
How to solve this? Keep the end in sight. Heaven. "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Just keep the perspective.
(btw, number 5 is the reason I started writing this)
And the most logically critical point is number 4.
1 Evil is only the absence of God.
This has probably been stated many times over, but it is always good to remind ourselves. Evil is not something material that we can throw at God to hurt him. It's merely his absence. Light and dark. Order and chaos.
2 There are two types of evil, human evil and physical evil (like tsunamis)
Human evil: It's falling short of the glory of God. Stupid stuff we do, forgetting who rules the universe, and many times simply being ignorant.
A On the justice aspect, sin is absolutely hideous and worthy of death to God because it makes God look like he made a crappy world. If he let's stupid people live (and we're all stupid) it looks like he tolerates shoddy work. What he really should do is demonstrate that our way of thinking won't work by wiping us off the face of the earth. How he somewhat does that is explained in Romans 1:25-26 and surrounding text. However, his primary solution to our sin is crucifying his son and pointing to that and saying "That's how much I hate sin." Though Jesus god demonstrates his justice and correctness and also his love for us.(by the way, 'justice' and 'righteousness' have the same Greek root and I get a definition of 'righteousness' by highlighting 'right' = correct, true, makes sense. God's righteousness is his knowing how to run the show)
B On the love of God side, sin hurts and grieves God because we're hurting ourselves, because he is the greatest good for us and we're missing it. Why is he not enlightening us and saving us? He is doing that right now, every moment that you live. Be patient.
3 Physical evil (tsunamis): Be patient, it will pass at the coming of the new age. "...thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Earth will take on some amazing qualities. Romans 8:21 "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."
4 The evil that we suffer should not bring us down completely. We have God for us, everything. He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end, the great abba father, everything. There is a song by Scott Krippayne which is sometimes played on KTIS called "Sometimes he calms the storm." and the lyrics run thus: sometimes he calms the storm/with a whispered 'peace be still'/he can settle any sea/but it doesn't mean he will/sometimes he holds us close/and lets the wind and waves grow wild/sometimes he calms the storm/but other times he calms his child." God is greater than everything we experience, which makes it all endurable. Actually, we can enjoy it. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." James 1:2-3. Taking away all out physical comfort can actually focus us on God, reaffirming that he alone is our only hope of safety.
5 Ok, here's the real reason I got excited to write this post. (actually, I was surprised what I came up with on number 4, and I think I like it most)
People sometimes say (at least in my philosophy class) "why didn't God, at the beginning of time, somehow someway make perfect humans that could enjoy him perfectly, never sin, never bring evil into the world, and everything would be happy?" well first of all, based on number 4, we wouldn't get a very clear idea of how much God loves us. Second...
Aren't we kind of at the beginning of time? I mean, we have all of eternity after this short life on earth... What if God DID do that, make humans perfect at the beginning. What if this, right now, is 'somehow'?
It is all fleeting persecution and affliction, it will pass within 100 years at the most. And one day in heaven is worth more than a thousand good years on earth.
Just today I was really tired and I had to mow the lawn (we have 5 acres, it took 2 hours or so). Basically most of the time I was being a sour puss and wondering why I had to do meaningless work.
I love janitor maintenance work by the way, I love it. Especially it there is a lot of things happening around me. But when winter is coming on and we could just as easily run through long, luscious grass than through short ugly stuff (hehe) I really would rather not cut the grass.
How to solve this? Keep the end in sight. Heaven. "I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Just keep the perspective.
15 September 2010
lessons from trees
Months ago someone told me that we could learn from nature just as Jesus taught in parables about mustard seeds and 'a righteous man is like a tree'.
So here are two of my observations about a tree:
1 Only rooted in the springs of life will it flourish. But it also needs earth, dense solid foundation (the bible). From this grows the beautiful branches that we think of as trees. But what comes before the branches? The trunk. The trunk is large and solid and true and straight. It is the foundation for all of our meanderings in the wonderfulness that is our God and his manifestation in creation. This trunk is the solid truths about God that go unchanged from age to age. If you have ever heard me use the word 'linear', it means a definite truth and way of living. A trunk is linear.
2 A tree, when it dies, rots from the inside first. Have you ever reached your hand into the hollow inside cavities of a tree? I was running around a park recently and found quite a few dying trees (I don't know what is killing them). But one in particular was cleanly hollow and still had healthy looking bark on the outside. What happens when our core dies? What do empty people look like? Just like everyone else. But will it live long? No. I began climbing on one of the trees but stopped when it started to give way.
So two lessons: ground yourself in the word and truths, only then can you flower out.
Beware of losing your core, because it is hard to detect from the outside. We should be in the habit of digging into our core regularly to test it and strengthen it.
So here are two of my observations about a tree:
1 Only rooted in the springs of life will it flourish. But it also needs earth, dense solid foundation (the bible). From this grows the beautiful branches that we think of as trees. But what comes before the branches? The trunk. The trunk is large and solid and true and straight. It is the foundation for all of our meanderings in the wonderfulness that is our God and his manifestation in creation. This trunk is the solid truths about God that go unchanged from age to age. If you have ever heard me use the word 'linear', it means a definite truth and way of living. A trunk is linear.
2 A tree, when it dies, rots from the inside first. Have you ever reached your hand into the hollow inside cavities of a tree? I was running around a park recently and found quite a few dying trees (I don't know what is killing them). But one in particular was cleanly hollow and still had healthy looking bark on the outside. What happens when our core dies? What do empty people look like? Just like everyone else. But will it live long? No. I began climbing on one of the trees but stopped when it started to give way.
So two lessons: ground yourself in the word and truths, only then can you flower out.
Beware of losing your core, because it is hard to detect from the outside. We should be in the habit of digging into our core regularly to test it and strengthen it.
05 September 2010
logic/mind is a gift
School has started in full swing, so you will have to excuse this brevity.
Many things are gifts: the universe, nature in general, emotions, people friends, spouses, food, sleep, etc.
Add to this list: logic and thought.
If emotion is a gift, so is logic.
I came upon this realization as I admitted to myself that I was trying to understand everything, trying to become perfect by finding the ultimate solution and method of living. The truth is, we can never do that.
Plus, that would also make heaven either boring or frustrating. If we found the solution immediately, what would be left to think about? And if we were in continuous pursuit of perfection as something absolutely necessary, we would never reach it! Bummer!
Instead, our only peace and happiness is God himself. Period.
For a brief period these thoughts made me depressed because I thought I would lose all my fun thinking time. But then I realized what I stated first: logic is a gift. That means we explore it like an adventure. We focus on what pleases us most, what we feel we 'need' most, etc.
We should still pursue sanctification in all earnest fervor, but understanding everything is not necessary.
Be content all you logic-seekers! It is a gift!
Many things are gifts: the universe, nature in general, emotions, people friends, spouses, food, sleep, etc.
Add to this list: logic and thought.
If emotion is a gift, so is logic.
I came upon this realization as I admitted to myself that I was trying to understand everything, trying to become perfect by finding the ultimate solution and method of living. The truth is, we can never do that.
Plus, that would also make heaven either boring or frustrating. If we found the solution immediately, what would be left to think about? And if we were in continuous pursuit of perfection as something absolutely necessary, we would never reach it! Bummer!
Instead, our only peace and happiness is God himself. Period.
For a brief period these thoughts made me depressed because I thought I would lose all my fun thinking time. But then I realized what I stated first: logic is a gift. That means we explore it like an adventure. We focus on what pleases us most, what we feel we 'need' most, etc.
We should still pursue sanctification in all earnest fervor, but understanding everything is not necessary.
Be content all you logic-seekers! It is a gift!
04 September 2010
argument 17
Summary: "Our consciousness is evidence for a spiritual realm."
If we are merely complex chemical systems, material ordered by chance into something we call a human, then how do we have a consciousness? Why do we, human shapes, have consciousness, and not rocks? What physical properties make up a human? The brain? But people can lose parts of their brain and still be considered human. In fact, people can 'lost their minds' and still be human, still be conscious.
The fact that we have perceptions is evidence that we are more than physical anomalies. A purely mechanical/physical system would not be aware of it's own existence. A machine is not alive.
If we are merely complex chemical systems, material ordered by chance into something we call a human, then how do we have a consciousness? Why do we, human shapes, have consciousness, and not rocks? What physical properties make up a human? The brain? But people can lose parts of their brain and still be considered human. In fact, people can 'lost their minds' and still be human, still be conscious.
The fact that we have perceptions is evidence that we are more than physical anomalies. A purely mechanical/physical system would not be aware of it's own existence. A machine is not alive.
15 August 2010
16 arguments for God
Summary: "A list of arguments for the existence of God, each explained somewhat briefly"
preface: I was depressed recently, thinking that I was becoming too emotional and just accepting some new christian stuff without basis. So I reminded myself of all the arguments we have for God.
These arguments will range from (logical and abstract) to (probability soft and emotional).
table of contents:
1) ontological
2) time
3) space
4) material
5) goal
6) logic "why?"
7) data
8) cosmological center
9) design
10) historical
11) apostles kamikaze
12) jc psyche
13) miracles
14) absolute God
15) testimony friendliness
16) hardwired emotions
1) ontological
we humans cannot make anything up original in our minds. our ideas come from somewhere. we have an idea of infinity (not just 'unlimited', but infinite all at once). we had to get it from somewhere, therefore something infinite exists, and we call this God.
thinking of unicorns does not mean they exist, but it does mean that horses and horns exist.
You could say that the universe is infinite apart from God.
for 2-4, reference "Time, Space, Material, and Infinity"
2) time
time either stretches into the past for infinity (an infinite universe) or else it began at some point. In order for it to begin, it had to be activated by something that is independent of time - God.
This is often call cause-effect theory, and has been touched on my Thomas Aquinas in several ways.
3) space
space either stretches out into oblivion for infinite (an infinite universe) or it stops at some point. such a stopping is illogical. a wall? what is beyond the wall? we touch the wall, what stops our hand? such an option requires something supernatural
btw: groups of galaxies as we reach out in size: earth, solar system, milky way, local group, virgo supercluster/local supercluster, pisces-cestus supercluster complex.
some people thing 3 dimensional space is like the surface of a sphere, if we go in one direction we'll come back eventually. I would just have to ask, how big is the 4th spatial dimension?
4) material
expanding from the world we see, the universe is arranged in particles within particles. for instance, electrons are within atoms, and gluons are within electrons. scientists have identified at least 30 levels of particles beyond the atom. ("everything is spiritual" by Rob Bell) Now, there are either an infinite number of levels (an infinite universe), or else there is some particle which is indivisible. What if we stopped at the electron/proton/neutron? We can divide them, so we can't find a difference between them except in behavior. Why does the electron repel itself and attract the proton? We would have no idea, and would never be able to find out. This requires God.
btw: this idea spawned my entire idea of 'epic', because this latter option means that God is sustaining the very existence of matter. everything you see around you is being continuously sustained by him, it is his image to us, etc. I will resist continuing...
btw: string theorists think that matter is made up of vibrating strings of energy. energy? what is energy? what is it made of? why does it form strings? why is it cohesive? etc etc. same principle, just different names for matter/particles.
for 5-7 reference: "GLD (goal, logic, data): a second TSM"
5) goal
reference: goals emo+dat"
all human actions are designed to reach goals, states of existence and reality in the universe which we prefer over others. the trouble is, what goals to make? why should we be satisfied with a certain level of happiness over another? due to the size of the universe and possibilities out there, we cannot be satisfied with an absolute there is no solution, no final goal.
even progress is futile, because if we compare our progress with something hugely out of our reach, by comparison we will appear to have made no progress.
all human action is futile without an infinite goal, which is not possible without an infinite universe. (an by the way, is futile to work towards, even if the universe was infinite)
that infinite goal is to understand God. this is different from human goals because every step of the way is joyful, not just the end result.
6) logic
we can always as the question "why?" - causality. we can ask it of physical things or human decisions, actions or states of being, anything. why did that stone fall? why did you eat breakfast today? why is the sky blue? we will be answered by another fact or action or something.
so, ask again, this time ask 'why' of your answer.
keep asking and asking.
this string of questions either goes on for infinity, and then we have an undefined causal origin of everything in the universe, or else it ends in a fact that we say 'just exists'.
really, just saying that "the sky IS blue, that's just a fact" is not that bad. but personally, I prefer that the universe has a point to it
7) data
if the universe is finite, then we could theoretically sum up its properties. for instance, it might have 8E53kg of mass. why? why not 7.9E53kg? why is the sky blue and not green?
essentially this is a problem of randomness.
the big bang, right? now, why on earth did the big bang create a non-uniform universe? why does it have misshaped contours and life forms? what determined how much energy the big band would have?
the universe requires a goal, a point, a purpose. without God, there is no reason that the universe should exist, no reason that they sky should be blue.
8) cosmological
the large universe, when viewed from earth, seems to be arranged in a series of rings around us. rings of high density galaxies, rings of low density, etc. this seems to make a bulls eye right on earth. Book: pg 175 of "Geocentricity, Relativity, and the Big Bang." - the late Russ Arnolds.
There are several problems with this argument. earth is not central in the solar system, neither is the solar system central in the milky way.
second, some scientists think that no matter where you are in the universe, you would still appear to be in a bulls eye. that makes no sense to me, but you can interpret however you like.
one other thing: we humans are both special in Gods creation, and we aren't God. so I don't know if God would make us the center of the universe or not. probably he would give us indications both ways.
9) design
the earth and the universe as we know it functions pretty well. I won't list all the various things that need to be in line for life to exist on earth, because you've probably heard them many times.
a good comeback for this might be "but with such a big universe, the settings had to be right somewhere, why not here?"
so I will reply with another statistic. there is this number called the 'cosmological constant'. much confusion lies around it, its actual value and things of that sort. but it's basically latent within space and gravity itself. in order for the laws of the universe to operate, this constant has to be accurate to 1E-120. that's more than a google.
and by the way, a google atoms would fill the space of the known universe several hundred times over at least, so a google is a big number
this constant is independent of the size of the universe. but it still has to be super accurate in order for the universe to exist.
ha!
10) historical
the bible is more accurate than most other ancient documents (I would say 'all', but I don't know for certain) It has many recovered old copies, the dead sea scrolls for instance, that are about 99.5% accurate to the versions we have today. (I might have that number wrong, it could be 97% accurate) Think about it, it's more reliable than the Illiad and the Odessy, and we don't question those works do we? (but no one believes in the greek Gods anymore).
There is also a homogeneity to the bible, even though it was written over a span of 1400 years. The correlations to old testament (OT) prophecies and NT fulfillment number over 400 individual properties of Jesus, his ministry and death.
We are often under the impression that simply because the bible is a religious document, it is pure fabrication. We forget that it is still a real document, rooted in history, just as easily tested as any other scientific evidence.
11) apostles kamikaze
the actions of the apostles immediately following Jesus's death and resurrection make no sense unless Jesus did actually rise from the dead. we have 12 followers of jesus who expected a conquering king to liberate them from the Romans, then he dies. Bummer. Do you think they'd immediately go and start a hoax about him?
plus, how do 12 fishermen steal a body from a tomb guarded by 16 armed roman soldiers and a 2 ton stone?
the apostles definitely believed what they preached. all of the 12 except John died as martyrs. peter was crucified upside down (or so the story goes), thomas was boiled alive near India, and Paul is the greatest example. Here is an excerpt from 2 Corinthians 11: "I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. " and his list goes on and on...
The only other option is that the apostles were lunatics, which doesn't make sense, because they oversaw a larch church movement, preached regularly, debated with greeks and jews from the Old testament and prophecies, etc.
a pharisee sums up this argument pretty well when some of the disciples are on trial: "36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing...38 For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
12) JC psychology
so Jesus was either a good person, lunatic, a fake, or legit. What else could he be?
Good person: "I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me." John 14:6. Or probably a more direct one is this: "Before Moses was, I AM." Jesus's incorrect use of grammar means that he is reffering to Moses and the burning bush. Moses asks what name to give God, and God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " Exodus 3:14.
Jesus claimed to be the I AM, the divine absolute creator of the universe.
A simply good person does not do that.
Lunatic: does a lunatic have logic and organized thought? the young Jesus before he began his ministry: "Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers." Luke 2:46. This is not a loony.
Fake: does a fake die for his cause, even predicting his death beforehand? does a fake flee from crowds to go to a quiet place?
We're pretty much left with the option: Jesus was legit. You can't have a simply good person.
13) miracles
I won't try to prove any of the miracles from the bible.
Try reading "God Smuggler" by 'Brother Andrew', he spent quite a few years smuggling bibles behind the iron curtain, and saw coincidences repeat over and over and over again.
Personally, I know people who have seen twisted spines realign and heal in front of their eyes due to the power of prayer.
Too many times have I opened the bible randomly, doing that silly stab in the dark inspiration and found something that totally could not have been coincidence. sometimes I have made up numbers out of my head. I look at the verses surrounding the one I picked, and they're all lame stuff about Abraham traveling through countries, but the one I picked happened to apply VERY well to me at that moment.
Search facebook, the web; miracles happen.
This is one of the main distinctions between Christianity and other major current religions. No others claim supernatural interventions. (well, I don't know about Islam, but I haven't heard of anything) C.S Lewis put it this way, "A naturalistic Christianity leaves out all that is specifically Christian." meaning that miracles are quite common to Christianity, that they are a part of life. (except they are almost always unexpected, praise the lord!)
14) absolute god
this argument has just been effectively shot down by my younger brother (because he has read a great deal of the Koran), perhaps it will resurface in another form someday.
15) testimony friendliness
what organizations are largely responsible for alleviation of the poor? for inner city ministry?
Salvation Army, Teen Challenge, Feed My Starving Children, Christmas Child, etc...
Christians are exceedingly benevolent. A religion that causes people to become good people is probably a correct one.
And I will personally attest, via myself and other people I observe, that Christians are decidedly and stubbornly happy, not loose joking and horseplay and verbal combat, but legit childlike joy.
Plus we have testimony after testimony. A good friend was harassed by demons before he came to the faith. He tried to kill himself quite a few times due to depression, but now he is extremely strong and decisive and purpose driven.
Quite a few atheists have set out to disprove christianity, and been convinced by their own studies. Probably the most notable one is C.S. Lewis, the only other one I know off the top of my head is Josh McDowell, who was a lawyer and attacked the case of Jesus Christ from a legal standpoint.
I do have to admit, that the Mormon faith (I won't get into whether it's christian or not) is renowned for being friendly. I don't know what to say to that.
Also beware of those who label themselves as Christians simply because it's convenient, because they would like to get that sector of their lives out of the way. I do not expect those people to be stubbornly happy. neither will I try to discern who they are, because we all need to hear the gospel over and over again, from a diehard atheist to billy graham.
16) hardwired emotions
this is the only 'soft' argument that I have made up myself.
all the emotions that you feel, everything that excites you, all the heart pounding movies, the epic ones like Lord of the rings and Avatar especially, the romance novels, the nice poetry, the passions you have in relationships, the true joy (not drunk stupor) that you have with friends, all of this is mere images, reflections, of what we will have in heaven. We humans are hardwired to want more than this world, to seek after meaning and importance, to seek after extremely deep and trusting relationships.
The beauty of the stars, of sunsets, of forests. The fun you have climbing rocks and mountains, of diving into deep water. Music, the innate beauty of music (sometimes I just play chords to myself over and over again, it takes awhile before I get bored of it :) ).
EVERYTHING!
oh, by the way, try this book "Eternity in their Hearts" by Don Richardson, it talks about various cultures which had aspects of the gospel already hardwired into their thought.
That about wraps things up.
If you know of more arguments (because I bet there are dozens more), or if you have counter-arguments to these, anything basically, please tell me, because I am keenly interested.
random observation: this linear 'range' of proofs might actually be a circle. emotions hardwired into humans is fairly close to the ontological argument of not being able to make infinity up on our own.
preface: I was depressed recently, thinking that I was becoming too emotional and just accepting some new christian stuff without basis. So I reminded myself of all the arguments we have for God.
These arguments will range from (logical and abstract) to (probability soft and emotional).
table of contents:
1) ontological
2) time
3) space
4) material
5) goal
6) logic "why?"
7) data
8) cosmological center
9) design
10) historical
11) apostles kamikaze
12) jc psyche
13) miracles
14) absolute God
15) testimony friendliness
16) hardwired emotions
1) ontological
we humans cannot make anything up original in our minds. our ideas come from somewhere. we have an idea of infinity (not just 'unlimited', but infinite all at once). we had to get it from somewhere, therefore something infinite exists, and we call this God.
thinking of unicorns does not mean they exist, but it does mean that horses and horns exist.
You could say that the universe is infinite apart from God.
for 2-4, reference "Time, Space, Material, and Infinity"
2) time
time either stretches into the past for infinity (an infinite universe) or else it began at some point. In order for it to begin, it had to be activated by something that is independent of time - God.
This is often call cause-effect theory, and has been touched on my Thomas Aquinas in several ways.
3) space
space either stretches out into oblivion for infinite (an infinite universe) or it stops at some point. such a stopping is illogical. a wall? what is beyond the wall? we touch the wall, what stops our hand? such an option requires something supernatural
btw: groups of galaxies as we reach out in size: earth, solar system, milky way, local group, virgo supercluster/local supercluster, pisces-cestus supercluster complex.
some people thing 3 dimensional space is like the surface of a sphere, if we go in one direction we'll come back eventually. I would just have to ask, how big is the 4th spatial dimension?
4) material
expanding from the world we see, the universe is arranged in particles within particles. for instance, electrons are within atoms, and gluons are within electrons. scientists have identified at least 30 levels of particles beyond the atom. ("everything is spiritual" by Rob Bell) Now, there are either an infinite number of levels (an infinite universe), or else there is some particle which is indivisible. What if we stopped at the electron/proton/neutron? We can divide them, so we can't find a difference between them except in behavior. Why does the electron repel itself and attract the proton? We would have no idea, and would never be able to find out. This requires God.
btw: this idea spawned my entire idea of 'epic', because this latter option means that God is sustaining the very existence of matter. everything you see around you is being continuously sustained by him, it is his image to us, etc. I will resist continuing...
btw: string theorists think that matter is made up of vibrating strings of energy. energy? what is energy? what is it made of? why does it form strings? why is it cohesive? etc etc. same principle, just different names for matter/particles.
for 5-7 reference: "GLD (goal, logic, data): a second TSM"
5) goal
reference: goals emo+dat"
all human actions are designed to reach goals, states of existence and reality in the universe which we prefer over others. the trouble is, what goals to make? why should we be satisfied with a certain level of happiness over another? due to the size of the universe and possibilities out there, we cannot be satisfied with an absolute there is no solution, no final goal.
even progress is futile, because if we compare our progress with something hugely out of our reach, by comparison we will appear to have made no progress.
all human action is futile without an infinite goal, which is not possible without an infinite universe. (an by the way, is futile to work towards, even if the universe was infinite)
that infinite goal is to understand God. this is different from human goals because every step of the way is joyful, not just the end result.
6) logic
we can always as the question "why?" - causality. we can ask it of physical things or human decisions, actions or states of being, anything. why did that stone fall? why did you eat breakfast today? why is the sky blue? we will be answered by another fact or action or something.
so, ask again, this time ask 'why' of your answer.
keep asking and asking.
this string of questions either goes on for infinity, and then we have an undefined causal origin of everything in the universe, or else it ends in a fact that we say 'just exists'.
really, just saying that "the sky IS blue, that's just a fact" is not that bad. but personally, I prefer that the universe has a point to it
7) data
if the universe is finite, then we could theoretically sum up its properties. for instance, it might have 8E53kg of mass. why? why not 7.9E53kg? why is the sky blue and not green?
essentially this is a problem of randomness.
the big bang, right? now, why on earth did the big bang create a non-uniform universe? why does it have misshaped contours and life forms? what determined how much energy the big band would have?
the universe requires a goal, a point, a purpose. without God, there is no reason that the universe should exist, no reason that they sky should be blue.
8) cosmological
the large universe, when viewed from earth, seems to be arranged in a series of rings around us. rings of high density galaxies, rings of low density, etc. this seems to make a bulls eye right on earth. Book: pg 175 of "Geocentricity, Relativity, and the Big Bang." - the late Russ Arnolds.
There are several problems with this argument. earth is not central in the solar system, neither is the solar system central in the milky way.
second, some scientists think that no matter where you are in the universe, you would still appear to be in a bulls eye. that makes no sense to me, but you can interpret however you like.
one other thing: we humans are both special in Gods creation, and we aren't God. so I don't know if God would make us the center of the universe or not. probably he would give us indications both ways.
9) design
the earth and the universe as we know it functions pretty well. I won't list all the various things that need to be in line for life to exist on earth, because you've probably heard them many times.
a good comeback for this might be "but with such a big universe, the settings had to be right somewhere, why not here?"
so I will reply with another statistic. there is this number called the 'cosmological constant'. much confusion lies around it, its actual value and things of that sort. but it's basically latent within space and gravity itself. in order for the laws of the universe to operate, this constant has to be accurate to 1E-120. that's more than a google.
and by the way, a google atoms would fill the space of the known universe several hundred times over at least, so a google is a big number
this constant is independent of the size of the universe. but it still has to be super accurate in order for the universe to exist.
ha!
10) historical
the bible is more accurate than most other ancient documents (I would say 'all', but I don't know for certain) It has many recovered old copies, the dead sea scrolls for instance, that are about 99.5% accurate to the versions we have today. (I might have that number wrong, it could be 97% accurate) Think about it, it's more reliable than the Illiad and the Odessy, and we don't question those works do we? (but no one believes in the greek Gods anymore).
There is also a homogeneity to the bible, even though it was written over a span of 1400 years. The correlations to old testament (OT) prophecies and NT fulfillment number over 400 individual properties of Jesus, his ministry and death.
We are often under the impression that simply because the bible is a religious document, it is pure fabrication. We forget that it is still a real document, rooted in history, just as easily tested as any other scientific evidence.
11) apostles kamikaze
the actions of the apostles immediately following Jesus's death and resurrection make no sense unless Jesus did actually rise from the dead. we have 12 followers of jesus who expected a conquering king to liberate them from the Romans, then he dies. Bummer. Do you think they'd immediately go and start a hoax about him?
plus, how do 12 fishermen steal a body from a tomb guarded by 16 armed roman soldiers and a 2 ton stone?
the apostles definitely believed what they preached. all of the 12 except John died as martyrs. peter was crucified upside down (or so the story goes), thomas was boiled alive near India, and Paul is the greatest example. Here is an excerpt from 2 Corinthians 11: "I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. " and his list goes on and on...
The only other option is that the apostles were lunatics, which doesn't make sense, because they oversaw a larch church movement, preached regularly, debated with greeks and jews from the Old testament and prophecies, etc.
a pharisee sums up this argument pretty well when some of the disciples are on trial: "36 Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing...38 For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
12) JC psychology
so Jesus was either a good person, lunatic, a fake, or legit. What else could he be?
Good person: "I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me." John 14:6. Or probably a more direct one is this: "Before Moses was, I AM." Jesus's incorrect use of grammar means that he is reffering to Moses and the burning bush. Moses asks what name to give God, and God said to Moses, "I am who I am . This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent me to you.' " Exodus 3:14.
Jesus claimed to be the I AM, the divine absolute creator of the universe.
A simply good person does not do that.
Lunatic: does a lunatic have logic and organized thought? the young Jesus before he began his ministry: "Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers." Luke 2:46. This is not a loony.
Fake: does a fake die for his cause, even predicting his death beforehand? does a fake flee from crowds to go to a quiet place?
We're pretty much left with the option: Jesus was legit. You can't have a simply good person.
13) miracles
I won't try to prove any of the miracles from the bible.
Try reading "God Smuggler" by 'Brother Andrew', he spent quite a few years smuggling bibles behind the iron curtain, and saw coincidences repeat over and over and over again.
Personally, I know people who have seen twisted spines realign and heal in front of their eyes due to the power of prayer.
Too many times have I opened the bible randomly, doing that silly stab in the dark inspiration and found something that totally could not have been coincidence. sometimes I have made up numbers out of my head. I look at the verses surrounding the one I picked, and they're all lame stuff about Abraham traveling through countries, but the one I picked happened to apply VERY well to me at that moment.
Search facebook, the web; miracles happen.
This is one of the main distinctions between Christianity and other major current religions. No others claim supernatural interventions. (well, I don't know about Islam, but I haven't heard of anything) C.S Lewis put it this way, "A naturalistic Christianity leaves out all that is specifically Christian." meaning that miracles are quite common to Christianity, that they are a part of life. (except they are almost always unexpected, praise the lord!)
14) absolute god
this argument has just been effectively shot down by my younger brother (because he has read a great deal of the Koran), perhaps it will resurface in another form someday.
15) testimony friendliness
what organizations are largely responsible for alleviation of the poor? for inner city ministry?
Salvation Army, Teen Challenge, Feed My Starving Children, Christmas Child, etc...
Christians are exceedingly benevolent. A religion that causes people to become good people is probably a correct one.
And I will personally attest, via myself and other people I observe, that Christians are decidedly and stubbornly happy, not loose joking and horseplay and verbal combat, but legit childlike joy.
Plus we have testimony after testimony. A good friend was harassed by demons before he came to the faith. He tried to kill himself quite a few times due to depression, but now he is extremely strong and decisive and purpose driven.
Quite a few atheists have set out to disprove christianity, and been convinced by their own studies. Probably the most notable one is C.S. Lewis, the only other one I know off the top of my head is Josh McDowell, who was a lawyer and attacked the case of Jesus Christ from a legal standpoint.
I do have to admit, that the Mormon faith (I won't get into whether it's christian or not) is renowned for being friendly. I don't know what to say to that.
Also beware of those who label themselves as Christians simply because it's convenient, because they would like to get that sector of their lives out of the way. I do not expect those people to be stubbornly happy. neither will I try to discern who they are, because we all need to hear the gospel over and over again, from a diehard atheist to billy graham.
16) hardwired emotions
this is the only 'soft' argument that I have made up myself.
all the emotions that you feel, everything that excites you, all the heart pounding movies, the epic ones like Lord of the rings and Avatar especially, the romance novels, the nice poetry, the passions you have in relationships, the true joy (not drunk stupor) that you have with friends, all of this is mere images, reflections, of what we will have in heaven. We humans are hardwired to want more than this world, to seek after meaning and importance, to seek after extremely deep and trusting relationships.
The beauty of the stars, of sunsets, of forests. The fun you have climbing rocks and mountains, of diving into deep water. Music, the innate beauty of music (sometimes I just play chords to myself over and over again, it takes awhile before I get bored of it :) ).
EVERYTHING!
oh, by the way, try this book "Eternity in their Hearts" by Don Richardson, it talks about various cultures which had aspects of the gospel already hardwired into their thought.
That about wraps things up.
If you know of more arguments (because I bet there are dozens more), or if you have counter-arguments to these, anything basically, please tell me, because I am keenly interested.
random observation: this linear 'range' of proofs might actually be a circle. emotions hardwired into humans is fairly close to the ontological argument of not being able to make infinity up on our own.
'son'
Summary: "the term 'son' can help interpret the trinity and other things. it means replica, continuation, ambassador/image, dearly loved servant, etc."
Use Hebrews.
JC is the son of God.
In the old days, sons took on the fathers trade and continued the family name. The son was a replica of the father. The quality of a son reflected on the father, and visa-verse. Sons also did much of the fathers work. The "Rebelution: Do Hard Things" brothers have said that the father provides the brains, and the sons the brawn. Sons also must obey the father.
Hebrews 1:2-3 "But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."
Jesus is Gods representative, his image, his mighty arm at work in the world. Jesus is the exact representation of God's being. JC will also inherit many things from God, like a son inherits the fathers business. God appointed him heir of all things." And Christ does all the work, including making the universe and saving earth from sin. JC obeys God by saying in Gesthename "not my will but yours be done".
Jesus is the son of man
considering everything I just said about Jesus as the son of God, it seems blasphemous to now apply everything to humans, but let's see how much works, especially if we use 'man' as 'mankind'
Jesus is full God and fully man. He is a replica of humans. He also represents man as our advocate. He works for us believers in many ways.
He's not exactly a continuation of us. In fact, he is the "second adam", the first of Gods family of humans, the first person to go through the saving function (maybe). So in this sense, he's much more of our father.
And then, of course, Jesus does not serve our every wish, because we are fallible. But he does serve us, he serves us better than we could ever ask him to serve us. We didn't know we were sinners, right? And he died for us anyway! Servant leadership: wow.
A note on the trinity. reference "BIG THEORY: trinity and TSM" from June 10, 2010.
The manner in which God (the big complex God) manifests himself into other viewpoints could be seen using the 'son' function/model. Remember, everything about God is bigger and more complex than us. His various manifested images are all huge and complex, not just parts of his personalities but their own individual personalities. In the same way, the way he splits himself is more complex than just dimensions. Thinking of the 'son' idea could help us understand this function better.
Use Hebrews.
JC is the son of God.
In the old days, sons took on the fathers trade and continued the family name. The son was a replica of the father. The quality of a son reflected on the father, and visa-verse. Sons also did much of the fathers work. The "Rebelution: Do Hard Things" brothers have said that the father provides the brains, and the sons the brawn. Sons also must obey the father.
Hebrews 1:2-3 "But in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."
Jesus is Gods representative, his image, his mighty arm at work in the world. Jesus is the exact representation of God's being. JC will also inherit many things from God, like a son inherits the fathers business. God appointed him heir of all things." And Christ does all the work, including making the universe and saving earth from sin. JC obeys God by saying in Gesthename "not my will but yours be done".
Jesus is the son of man
considering everything I just said about Jesus as the son of God, it seems blasphemous to now apply everything to humans, but let's see how much works, especially if we use 'man' as 'mankind'
Jesus is full God and fully man. He is a replica of humans. He also represents man as our advocate. He works for us believers in many ways.
He's not exactly a continuation of us. In fact, he is the "second adam", the first of Gods family of humans, the first person to go through the saving function (maybe). So in this sense, he's much more of our father.
And then, of course, Jesus does not serve our every wish, because we are fallible. But he does serve us, he serves us better than we could ever ask him to serve us. We didn't know we were sinners, right? And he died for us anyway! Servant leadership: wow.
A note on the trinity. reference "BIG THEORY: trinity and TSM" from June 10, 2010.
The manner in which God (the big complex God) manifests himself into other viewpoints could be seen using the 'son' function/model. Remember, everything about God is bigger and more complex than us. His various manifested images are all huge and complex, not just parts of his personalities but their own individual personalities. In the same way, the way he splits himself is more complex than just dimensions. Thinking of the 'son' idea could help us understand this function better.
10 August 2010
be in the psalms
Technique for you. Pick a passage that is spoken, probably the psalms, but long speeches and even prophecies work too, I think.
Now say the passage out loud as if they were your own words. Translate it into how you would say it, add related thoughts, etc.
Often we read the bible analyzing the person writing the psalm, figuring out what he was thinking, and then applying it. You can skip that! Just say it for yourself.
I opened randomly to Psalm 102 and it spoke right to me. (well, I spoke it) Not exactly what I wanted, but it helped better than many other things I could have picked.
I love how we can open the bible randomly, that childish practice, and God will answer despite. It has happened many times to me.
May God use this to minister to you.
Now say the passage out loud as if they were your own words. Translate it into how you would say it, add related thoughts, etc.
Often we read the bible analyzing the person writing the psalm, figuring out what he was thinking, and then applying it. You can skip that! Just say it for yourself.
I opened randomly to Psalm 102 and it spoke right to me. (well, I spoke it) Not exactly what I wanted, but it helped better than many other things I could have picked.
I love how we can open the bible randomly, that childish practice, and God will answer despite. It has happened many times to me.
May God use this to minister to you.
07 August 2010
in christ, servant and body
Summary: "because we are in christ, everything that happens to him happens to us. Jesus loves us as his body"
there are several ways to describe our logical relationship to christ. (our emotional relationship...that can take up books and books :) )
the most succint description is 'in', but we can also say we are servants of Christ, or his slaves, or sons of God, or children of God. I will focus on the slave/servant idea.
In a servant/master relationship, the servant is the property of the master, inside the master, if you will. Everything that happens to the master as a whole also happens to the servant. So if the entirety of Jesus is killed for sin and raised to life, so are those who are slaves to Christ.
So, take this to heart because it's amazing - in a certain sense we reign with christ. revelation 20:6 "they [us saints] will be priests of God and of christ and will reign with him for a thousand years]
Isn't that cool!
Everything that happens to Christ happens to us - taken with a grain of salt because we're still human and crying with unworthiness every day.
Now, we are also in christ in the sense that we are his body. Nice.
Marriage is often cited as being like the relationship between Christ and the church. [I, for one, have to think over that one for a while] Ephesians 5:28 "in the same way [as Christ loves the church], husbands ought to lvoe their wives as their own bodies."
so think about how you love your own body. and not like "yes, I look pretty attractive", but do you enjoy moving, running, living? do you throw a ball with exact aim and you say to yourself "wow! :) I love my body!" I don't know what girls would think - I suppose you aren't particularly enthralled by throwing balls, but I bet you can imagine something. it is fun to live and move!
In the same way, Christ delights in us as his body. He enjoys using us. He takes care of us, like a well-oiled machine. he will also work and exercise us, temporary pain but long term gain and pleasure for the body.
Ha! I just had this idea. Jesus is up in heaven, and he really wants to come down and enjoy being human, but he can't exactly show up on earth in a blaze of glory. so instead, he says to himself "I'll live inside of my people!"
God is in you, by the way, the light of God and christ shine through you. Actually, he may shine with real physical manifestations. some say that when people come to Christ, their eyes actually become brighter. cool, huh?
ok, so just know that you're in Jesus, and in for all the benefits and adventures he goes through, and also know that Jesus loves you as his body, he uses you and is in you too, shining and working brilliantly.
there are several ways to describe our logical relationship to christ. (our emotional relationship...that can take up books and books :) )
the most succint description is 'in', but we can also say we are servants of Christ, or his slaves, or sons of God, or children of God. I will focus on the slave/servant idea.
In a servant/master relationship, the servant is the property of the master, inside the master, if you will. Everything that happens to the master as a whole also happens to the servant. So if the entirety of Jesus is killed for sin and raised to life, so are those who are slaves to Christ.
So, take this to heart because it's amazing - in a certain sense we reign with christ. revelation 20:6 "they [us saints] will be priests of God and of christ and will reign with him for a thousand years]
Isn't that cool!
Everything that happens to Christ happens to us - taken with a grain of salt because we're still human and crying with unworthiness every day.
Now, we are also in christ in the sense that we are his body. Nice.
Marriage is often cited as being like the relationship between Christ and the church. [I, for one, have to think over that one for a while] Ephesians 5:28 "in the same way [as Christ loves the church], husbands ought to lvoe their wives as their own bodies."
so think about how you love your own body. and not like "yes, I look pretty attractive", but do you enjoy moving, running, living? do you throw a ball with exact aim and you say to yourself "wow! :) I love my body!" I don't know what girls would think - I suppose you aren't particularly enthralled by throwing balls, but I bet you can imagine something. it is fun to live and move!
In the same way, Christ delights in us as his body. He enjoys using us. He takes care of us, like a well-oiled machine. he will also work and exercise us, temporary pain but long term gain and pleasure for the body.
Ha! I just had this idea. Jesus is up in heaven, and he really wants to come down and enjoy being human, but he can't exactly show up on earth in a blaze of glory. so instead, he says to himself "I'll live inside of my people!"
God is in you, by the way, the light of God and christ shine through you. Actually, he may shine with real physical manifestations. some say that when people come to Christ, their eyes actually become brighter. cool, huh?
ok, so just know that you're in Jesus, and in for all the benefits and adventures he goes through, and also know that Jesus loves you as his body, he uses you and is in you too, shining and working brilliantly.
woods in rain, fufillment of nature
this happened on 7/14/10, but I haven't got around to recording it until now! :)
pouring rain like none other at our house. I decided to traipse through the rain in bare feet and see what I could find. at least 12-18 square yards of standing water - like a rain forest. I took a safari into our woods and found the hugest ferns ever. with water on huge leaves everywhere, it was halfway to avatar.
then I thought "if this is what creation looks like after the fall...what will it look like after the restoration!"
oh by the way, "the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of god to be revealed." Romands 8:19. We were appointed masters and owners of creation. when we get restored, so will it. So I'm thinking Avatar and better. woot woot!
pouring rain like none other at our house. I decided to traipse through the rain in bare feet and see what I could find. at least 12-18 square yards of standing water - like a rain forest. I took a safari into our woods and found the hugest ferns ever. with water on huge leaves everywhere, it was halfway to avatar.
then I thought "if this is what creation looks like after the fall...what will it look like after the restoration!"
oh by the way, "the creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of god to be revealed." Romands 8:19. We were appointed masters and owners of creation. when we get restored, so will it. So I'm thinking Avatar and better. woot woot!
goals emo+dat
Summary "goals for Christ followers are based off of reality, not preferences. Those goals have both logical and emotional basis."
reference "values and psyche change" from July 22.
In today's world, we call things 'good' or 'bad'. What do we mean by that? Generally, I think we're trying to reach a certain state of existence. Socially, we're aiming for world peace, coexistence, free health care for everyone (ok, not really), happiness in general, etc. Personally, we're just looking for appeasement being happy.
The problem with this mindset is that different people have conflicting goals. And even if we were all in this together, how do we decide what goal is the best? I mean, what fundamental property of the universe says that we should all be happy? And even if happiness was the end goal, how much happiness is enough?
Think about that.
Now, what if goals, 'good' and 'bad' were based off of realities, not things we hope for?
What if we do good things, and not do bad things, because that's the way we were designed? God designed us to seek our own happiness by seeking the greatest source of happiness, himself.
Do not strive for some ethereal goal that's just 'out there'. Strive to be in sync with the natural order of the universe. Fulfillment. Obedience. Peace and rest.
Don't get pantheistic here. God is real and divine/human and living and personal.
But seek him! seek a knowledge of the natural order of the universe, because he is the creator, sustainer, the pinnacle top of it all. and he loves us too!
ok, here's the emotional/factual duality.
factual: God is the absolute of the universe, the most powerful being, a huge monolith of existence that transcends all understanding. we seek god because he designed us that way.
emotional: we have God, the holy spirit, inside of us. vivid awesome! romance, epic, delight... God not only designed us to seek him, he gave us emotional satisfaction for doing so, emotional craziness when we get close to God.
emotion and data at the same time.
it's true, and we love it!
reference "values and psyche change" from July 22.
In today's world, we call things 'good' or 'bad'. What do we mean by that? Generally, I think we're trying to reach a certain state of existence. Socially, we're aiming for world peace, coexistence, free health care for everyone (ok, not really), happiness in general, etc. Personally, we're just looking for appeasement being happy.
The problem with this mindset is that different people have conflicting goals. And even if we were all in this together, how do we decide what goal is the best? I mean, what fundamental property of the universe says that we should all be happy? And even if happiness was the end goal, how much happiness is enough?
Think about that.
Now, what if goals, 'good' and 'bad' were based off of realities, not things we hope for?
What if we do good things, and not do bad things, because that's the way we were designed? God designed us to seek our own happiness by seeking the greatest source of happiness, himself.
Do not strive for some ethereal goal that's just 'out there'. Strive to be in sync with the natural order of the universe. Fulfillment. Obedience. Peace and rest.
Don't get pantheistic here. God is real and divine/human and living and personal.
But seek him! seek a knowledge of the natural order of the universe, because he is the creator, sustainer, the pinnacle top of it all. and he loves us too!
ok, here's the emotional/factual duality.
factual: God is the absolute of the universe, the most powerful being, a huge monolith of existence that transcends all understanding. we seek god because he designed us that way.
emotional: we have God, the holy spirit, inside of us. vivid awesome! romance, epic, delight... God not only designed us to seek him, he gave us emotional satisfaction for doing so, emotional craziness when we get close to God.
emotion and data at the same time.
it's true, and we love it!
christ the man-king
Summary: "Jesus Christ is both human - like you can sit down and chat, and the king of the universe"
Jesus Christ is human. We know that. But humans aren't just weak sinners, we talk, we run around, we work, etc. Jesus is just like us. Yes, he is much more than just like us, but he is like us. You could sit down across a table at Perkins and talk to this guy. He would say thing like "Don't worry, I'm always here." and "Isn't the weather beautiful today?"
He is human, you can chat with him, best friend.
But now you're best friend is the king of the universe.
AWESOME!
You still have those conversations, but it makes you very humble and very grateful. You can still rant and cry about the things that hurt you, he is still a personal healer, but he is also lord of creation. and that makes it soooo much better!
salute the king with tears of unworthiness!
and then hug him.
Jesus Christ is human. We know that. But humans aren't just weak sinners, we talk, we run around, we work, etc. Jesus is just like us. Yes, he is much more than just like us, but he is like us. You could sit down across a table at Perkins and talk to this guy. He would say thing like "Don't worry, I'm always here." and "Isn't the weather beautiful today?"
He is human, you can chat with him, best friend.
But now you're best friend is the king of the universe.
AWESOME!
You still have those conversations, but it makes you very humble and very grateful. You can still rant and cry about the things that hurt you, he is still a personal healer, but he is also lord of creation. and that makes it soooo much better!
salute the king with tears of unworthiness!
and then hug him.
04 August 2010
happiness is from God
Ecclesiastes, if you read it right, is actually a very encouraging book.
no joke.
everything under the sun is meaningless...but...that's only apart from God. God isn't under the sun, he is the son. (hehehe). And he can give happiness. With all other earthly things, we think "ok, if I do this, I'll be happy", or "accomplishing this will be meaningful.", but in the end, we don't believe ourselves.
at my church, the sunday school answers are 'God, bible, Jesus, and the glory of God". if you ever get asked something, you can nearly always answer 'the glory of God', and be ok. But even in such a refreshingly focused church, I think we forget that giving glory to God is NOT our source of happiness. It is God himself, giving himself to us. He is so great and complex, he can literally give us emotion, where all other things are only instruments for us to give emotion to ourselves. another great motto of my church (Bethlehem Baptist, by the way) is "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him." see that logic? being satisfied with God is the first thing to do, and glorification will follow after. the westminster shorter catechism states "the chief end of man is to glorify God", but they neglect to tell you how we glorify God.
are you feeling depressed today? ask God for joy. there is no joy apart from God.
no joke.
everything under the sun is meaningless...but...that's only apart from God. God isn't under the sun, he is the son. (hehehe). And he can give happiness. With all other earthly things, we think "ok, if I do this, I'll be happy", or "accomplishing this will be meaningful.", but in the end, we don't believe ourselves.
at my church, the sunday school answers are 'God, bible, Jesus, and the glory of God". if you ever get asked something, you can nearly always answer 'the glory of God', and be ok. But even in such a refreshingly focused church, I think we forget that giving glory to God is NOT our source of happiness. It is God himself, giving himself to us. He is so great and complex, he can literally give us emotion, where all other things are only instruments for us to give emotion to ourselves. another great motto of my church (Bethlehem Baptist, by the way) is "God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him." see that logic? being satisfied with God is the first thing to do, and glorification will follow after. the westminster shorter catechism states "the chief end of man is to glorify God", but they neglect to tell you how we glorify God.
are you feeling depressed today? ask God for joy. there is no joy apart from God.
God is big
Summary:
1A) do not ask yourself "what if god were different?"
1B) if God vanished...
1C) god is real whether you feel like it or not
2) people are ugly, god inside them is beautiful
3) Ecclesiastes: a time for everything
1A)
Do not ask yourself, "what if god were different?". There is no slot called 'god' which we can put something into. God is God and there is no other. Who is like him? Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Try listening to "God is God" by Steven Curtis Chapman.
1B)
if God vanished, we wouldn't notice. Let me explain.
if God vanished...the world would NOT:
continue on with no effect
run down slowly over several thousand years
descend into anarchy and debauchery in a decade
be engulfed in celestial calamity within hours
destroy the human mind with anguished void in minutes
disintegrate in seconds
vanish in a flash
cease to exist
there would be a snap of fingers, simultaneously accompanied by impending void such that the snap would be cut off halfway. nay, the snap would not occur, because the world would have ceased before then. there would be no space left, not even a void, because nothing would be left possible to imagine that could fill the void. there would be no absence. not even a pressure-less darkness. imagine a flash of light between your eyes on your forehead, so fast you never would perceive it, and then absolutely nothing. there is no darkness, no wondering why you don't feel anything.
on the instant and even before...
1c)
a friend found this statement encouraging: "God is real whether you believe him or not." sometimes we get depressed and question God's existence. The great thing about those times is God doesn't change based on what we're going through. He loves us to death, so he will help us along in those times, but by no means does he drop out of the picture as we question his existence. He's real! Ok? that means he does things. He's a person. "behold! I stand at the gate..."
2)
thank the lord for your awesome friends, because they wouldn't be that way without the work of the lord. this mentality reminds you that God deserves all the credit, and that your friends are still fallible humans who have problems and need love and the gospel just like you do. it also prevents idolization.
3)
the passage in the beginning of Ecclesiastes 3 "there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to..."
it seems really mundane at first. I think "of course there are appropriate times for things". but then I come across phrases like "a time to love and a time to hate", and "a time to scatter stones and a time go gather them" and things get strange. the one that kills my heart the most is "a time to embrace and a time to refrain"
footnotes explain that this string of 'times' only indicates the transient passage of events on earth and human activity. but then why the 'to'? as an action/order/in the future? I think we can translate "a time to..." as "a time in which god tells us to..." or "a time when we must..."
Actually, we could translate it both ways. The first sense is without god, the hopelessness/meaninglessness. The second is with God.
the end of Ecclesiastes (I quote this a lot) "Now all has been heard and here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
keep in mind that God is the provider of all good things
1A) do not ask yourself "what if god were different?"
1B) if God vanished...
1C) god is real whether you feel like it or not
2) people are ugly, god inside them is beautiful
3) Ecclesiastes: a time for everything
1A)
Do not ask yourself, "what if god were different?". There is no slot called 'god' which we can put something into. God is God and there is no other. Who is like him? Who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Try listening to "God is God" by Steven Curtis Chapman.
1B)
if God vanished, we wouldn't notice. Let me explain.
if God vanished...the world would NOT:
continue on with no effect
run down slowly over several thousand years
descend into anarchy and debauchery in a decade
be engulfed in celestial calamity within hours
destroy the human mind with anguished void in minutes
disintegrate in seconds
vanish in a flash
cease to exist
there would be a snap of fingers, simultaneously accompanied by impending void such that the snap would be cut off halfway. nay, the snap would not occur, because the world would have ceased before then. there would be no space left, not even a void, because nothing would be left possible to imagine that could fill the void. there would be no absence. not even a pressure-less darkness. imagine a flash of light between your eyes on your forehead, so fast you never would perceive it, and then absolutely nothing. there is no darkness, no wondering why you don't feel anything.
on the instant and even before...
1c)
a friend found this statement encouraging: "God is real whether you believe him or not." sometimes we get depressed and question God's existence. The great thing about those times is God doesn't change based on what we're going through. He loves us to death, so he will help us along in those times, but by no means does he drop out of the picture as we question his existence. He's real! Ok? that means he does things. He's a person. "behold! I stand at the gate..."
2)
thank the lord for your awesome friends, because they wouldn't be that way without the work of the lord. this mentality reminds you that God deserves all the credit, and that your friends are still fallible humans who have problems and need love and the gospel just like you do. it also prevents idolization.
3)
the passage in the beginning of Ecclesiastes 3 "there is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to..."
it seems really mundane at first. I think "of course there are appropriate times for things". but then I come across phrases like "a time to love and a time to hate", and "a time to scatter stones and a time go gather them" and things get strange. the one that kills my heart the most is "a time to embrace and a time to refrain"
footnotes explain that this string of 'times' only indicates the transient passage of events on earth and human activity. but then why the 'to'? as an action/order/in the future? I think we can translate "a time to..." as "a time in which god tells us to..." or "a time when we must..."
Actually, we could translate it both ways. The first sense is without god, the hopelessness/meaninglessness. The second is with God.
the end of Ecclesiastes (I quote this a lot) "Now all has been heard and here is the conclusion of the matter: fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
keep in mind that God is the provider of all good things
30 July 2010
bars and gates
I was locking the door on a hockey rink, the big swining zamboni door, I was sliding metal beams into braces, and it was tough. I loved the look and feel of the bars: insanely strong and not at all brittle. You'd need a car going at least 20 before you bent these guys.
it occurred to me that somewhere in the old testament (OT) god said "I will strengthen your gates, oh jerusalem." and things like that, right? Just general "I will protect you."
go research some of those old gates. massive things. beautiful, epic. (close to the way I use the word 'epic' wistfully, but not quite). god protects us like THAT.
AWESOME!
this puts a whole new spin on "a mighty fortress is our God"
boom! set in stone, rock solid. insanely dense leaden wall towering over your head as gods foot steps in front of you. you are enclosed, warm on your sides, by his fortress (his foot is the huge wall - remember God is big) HA! he says. you shall not touch my children.
jehovah-jireh, God will provide (does anyone know the name for "god protector?"
looking for names, I found and skimmed this site http://www.jesuswalk.com/names-god/7_stronghold.htm
God is your keeper. hm? pause a little on that one.
know that god is your fortress as you sit in quiet time.
when you walk about, know that he is a fortress of freedom walking ever before you and making straight paths, like a gift and diadem for your brow, a signet ring and a mark of his favor.
go in peace and filled with the will of God!
it occurred to me that somewhere in the old testament (OT) god said "I will strengthen your gates, oh jerusalem." and things like that, right? Just general "I will protect you."
go research some of those old gates. massive things. beautiful, epic. (close to the way I use the word 'epic' wistfully, but not quite). god protects us like THAT.
AWESOME!
this puts a whole new spin on "a mighty fortress is our God"
boom! set in stone, rock solid. insanely dense leaden wall towering over your head as gods foot steps in front of you. you are enclosed, warm on your sides, by his fortress (his foot is the huge wall - remember God is big) HA! he says. you shall not touch my children.
jehovah-jireh, God will provide (does anyone know the name for "god protector?"
looking for names, I found and skimmed this site http://www.jesuswalk.com/names-god/7_stronghold.htm
God is your keeper. hm? pause a little on that one.
know that god is your fortress as you sit in quiet time.
when you walk about, know that he is a fortress of freedom walking ever before you and making straight paths, like a gift and diadem for your brow, a signet ring and a mark of his favor.
go in peace and filled with the will of God!
25 July 2010
existence
Summary: "A) emotion, will, and especially information are starting points, B) existence/truth is fulfillment, C) god upholds our existence - he created you, D) credido ergo sum is slightly wrong, E) Jean-paul sarte was a sophist."
Let me tell you the most important things to take away from this post.
A/D) three things: decisions/will, emotions/perceptions/intentions, and logic/information. these three are integral to existence.
B) seek the truth with a passion. and God is truth, so seek him above all else.
C/E) god CREATED you, your raw conscious existence. God is smarter than you, shut up.
A) the starting point
You are utterly lost and confused, at the end of all things, the edge of sanity (maybe you are using Descartes's method of doubt?). what is your reaction? "help me! I'm lost! tell me what is true so that I can cling to it!
3 things you need here at the ultimate depression:
1) you need help - Jesus Christ, - emotion
2) you must decide to seek truth - will (though we would argue that God gives you the desire for truth),
3) the primary thing you need is truth (besides a savior). - facts
We will focus on the last one, but mention the first two now and then. The last one, 3), demonstrates the primacy of truth and fact. In order to do anything, we need to know what to do. Before we can form opinions, before we feel normal emotions, we need to know the environment around us. There are emotions of confusion, emotions of seeking the truth, but notice how those emotions are intertwined with fact - the search for truth.
Note also that these three, emotions, will, and truth are sometimes considered the three main components of a human. the reason, heart, and will.
B) existence/truth is fufillment
Now, what is truth? Reality, facts about the world, existence, being. Right? Here at the end of all things we search for what is out there, truth, and that is a very great thing. Possibly our greatest joy in heaven will be learning more and more about God (intertwined with feeling and living out that knowledge). Fellowship with other people is learning who they are, feeling and using that information. In less weighty areas, see that we have only to see a vast army, a black horde marching somewhere, to feel emotion. It is the existence, the power, the might of the army that is special. Even during battles, it is the way troops move against each other, the way the machine carries out its tasks that excites us, not how the machine changes. So we see that our greatest emotions stem from existences, from truth.
C) god upholds our existence
refer to the material argument for the existence of God in "Time, space, material, and infinity"
when we subdivide matter more and more, we see many levels of particles. the atom, electrons within atoms, gluons within electrons, quarks, etc. Scientists have identified at least 30 layers of particles. now as we keep going down, we will either go for infinity, which demands God, or we will stop at some particle (for instance the electron) which does what it does and we have no idea why. we can't subdivide it, it just floats around in space and repels other particles for no reason. this also demands God.
I favor the latter option, but either way, God is neccessary for the existence of matter. He upholds our existence. One person wondered "what if we were just a thought in Gods head?". We ARE just a thought. He upholds us by his will.
Now, that is just matter. Whether God upholds our spiritual components, or our raw existence itself, I have no idea. It would be cool though.
Just food for thought: in what sense are we 'given' existence if there was no 'us' for existence to be given to? Or another way: when god created your human, why did you inhabit it?
Look, God didn't just give you a body, he didn't just give you a soul and a mind. He CREATED you. Raw, living, bare consciousness. YOU! Praise the lord of heaven he created you!
D) 'credido ergo sum' is slighly wrong.
the famous philosopher descartes is probably less famous that the sentence he wrote "credido ergo sum" which means "I think, therefore I am".
I would alter this a little. How about, "I perceive, therefore I am." For a person is not just made up of thoughts, but memory too. However, the very act of perceiving requires thinking/processing. You see something and you must immediately attach meaning to it, or else the perception will vanish. You must translate the real world into your own head. Now, I'm NOT saying that "you see one thing, I see another, and let's tolerate each other." But the things you see must be added to your body of knowledge inside your head.
I could add emotion into the picture by remembering a recent post of mine, which held that perceptions and emotion are roughly the same.
So, all three components: emotion, will, and fact, all come together in existence, perhaps. You perceive and translate into emotion/thought-fact. You must immediately decide what to do with it (will) and integrate it into your body of thought (logic/facts).
E) jean-paul sarte was a sophist.
Jean paul sarte was an existential (humans can change themselves) philosopher. sophism is the belief that you are the only being in existence. sarte is most famous for his statement (and essay behind it) that "Existence precedes essence." Basically he said that 'man must first show up on the scene, and then define himself'. He pointed out that other objects in the universe don't think, and so they don't define themselves, which makes humans unique in that they define themselves. Hence - humans can change themselves - and sarte is an existentialist.
Sartes problem is confusing essence/definition with thought. I can think that I am a purple gorilla, but that changes nothing in the real world. In the same way, the fact that humans can think about themselves has nothing to do with who they really are.
Let me tell you the most important things to take away from this post.
A/D) three things: decisions/will, emotions/perceptions/intentions, and logic/information. these three are integral to existence.
B) seek the truth with a passion. and God is truth, so seek him above all else.
C/E) god CREATED you, your raw conscious existence. God is smarter than you, shut up.
A) the starting point
You are utterly lost and confused, at the end of all things, the edge of sanity (maybe you are using Descartes's method of doubt?). what is your reaction? "help me! I'm lost! tell me what is true so that I can cling to it!
3 things you need here at the ultimate depression:
1) you need help - Jesus Christ, - emotion
2) you must decide to seek truth - will (though we would argue that God gives you the desire for truth),
3) the primary thing you need is truth (besides a savior). - facts
We will focus on the last one, but mention the first two now and then. The last one, 3), demonstrates the primacy of truth and fact. In order to do anything, we need to know what to do. Before we can form opinions, before we feel normal emotions, we need to know the environment around us. There are emotions of confusion, emotions of seeking the truth, but notice how those emotions are intertwined with fact - the search for truth.
Note also that these three, emotions, will, and truth are sometimes considered the three main components of a human. the reason, heart, and will.
B) existence/truth is fufillment
Now, what is truth? Reality, facts about the world, existence, being. Right? Here at the end of all things we search for what is out there, truth, and that is a very great thing. Possibly our greatest joy in heaven will be learning more and more about God (intertwined with feeling and living out that knowledge). Fellowship with other people is learning who they are, feeling and using that information. In less weighty areas, see that we have only to see a vast army, a black horde marching somewhere, to feel emotion. It is the existence, the power, the might of the army that is special. Even during battles, it is the way troops move against each other, the way the machine carries out its tasks that excites us, not how the machine changes. So we see that our greatest emotions stem from existences, from truth.
C) god upholds our existence
refer to the material argument for the existence of God in "Time, space, material, and infinity"
when we subdivide matter more and more, we see many levels of particles. the atom, electrons within atoms, gluons within electrons, quarks, etc. Scientists have identified at least 30 layers of particles. now as we keep going down, we will either go for infinity, which demands God, or we will stop at some particle (for instance the electron) which does what it does and we have no idea why. we can't subdivide it, it just floats around in space and repels other particles for no reason. this also demands God.
I favor the latter option, but either way, God is neccessary for the existence of matter. He upholds our existence. One person wondered "what if we were just a thought in Gods head?". We ARE just a thought. He upholds us by his will.
Now, that is just matter. Whether God upholds our spiritual components, or our raw existence itself, I have no idea. It would be cool though.
Just food for thought: in what sense are we 'given' existence if there was no 'us' for existence to be given to? Or another way: when god created your human, why did you inhabit it?
Look, God didn't just give you a body, he didn't just give you a soul and a mind. He CREATED you. Raw, living, bare consciousness. YOU! Praise the lord of heaven he created you!
D) 'credido ergo sum' is slighly wrong.
the famous philosopher descartes is probably less famous that the sentence he wrote "credido ergo sum" which means "I think, therefore I am".
I would alter this a little. How about, "I perceive, therefore I am." For a person is not just made up of thoughts, but memory too. However, the very act of perceiving requires thinking/processing. You see something and you must immediately attach meaning to it, or else the perception will vanish. You must translate the real world into your own head. Now, I'm NOT saying that "you see one thing, I see another, and let's tolerate each other." But the things you see must be added to your body of knowledge inside your head.
I could add emotion into the picture by remembering a recent post of mine, which held that perceptions and emotion are roughly the same.
So, all three components: emotion, will, and fact, all come together in existence, perhaps. You perceive and translate into emotion/thought-fact. You must immediately decide what to do with it (will) and integrate it into your body of thought (logic/facts).
E) jean-paul sarte was a sophist.
Jean paul sarte was an existential (humans can change themselves) philosopher. sophism is the belief that you are the only being in existence. sarte is most famous for his statement (and essay behind it) that "Existence precedes essence." Basically he said that 'man must first show up on the scene, and then define himself'. He pointed out that other objects in the universe don't think, and so they don't define themselves, which makes humans unique in that they define themselves. Hence - humans can change themselves - and sarte is an existentialist.
Sartes problem is confusing essence/definition with thought. I can think that I am a purple gorilla, but that changes nothing in the real world. In the same way, the fact that humans can think about themselves has nothing to do with who they really are.
24 July 2010
faith in action - believing
Summary: "1) act in obedience, you don't have to want to obey. 2) true faith will produce works. 3) do something in order to believe it. 4) find what is true and DO it"
1) Question: if I (or you) do something for God, do you necessarily believe in it?
Now, before you say 'no', think a little. You're not singing blandly in church because everyone wants you to, you're giving $200 to a christian ministry because you think that is correct to do.
Ha! I just figured this out.
There is a difference between believing something and wanting it. For instance I can step out in faith and give money even though I don't want to, but I think it's correct. I can follow the leading of the Holy Spirit even though I think I'm probably just imagining the Holy Spirit and I am going to look dumb.
Get it?
DO the things that are correct, the things God tells you. You know that you believe God because you obey him. Don't act because people want you to, don't act because it will advance you into a powerful position in the church. Do it because. Do it for God. Don't do it out of sheer willpower, though the decision might feel a lot like sheer willpower. submit to the Lord of creation.
2) by the way, on the topic of faith and works. the standard solution is that true faith will produce works. therefore, "faith without works is dead." in that sentence, faith and works aren't separate. faith - the type of faith that is without works - that type of faith is dead.
3) there is a difference between academically saying that something is true, for instance that God will protect you at all times, and between actually believing it, by stepping out in faith to where you could get seriously hurt if God didn't help you out.
The difference is between pure knowledge, pure data and a body of thought, and between the emotional side of it. On the one hand, don't believe something (data) and not apply it (emotion), on the other, don't do something that randomly pops into your head without confirming that God is behind it. If the holy spirit nudges you to do something, you probably only risk looking stupid, so the data side is ok, apply your knowledge and use emotion - do what you think the holy spirit said.
if it's something more risky, I suppose you need confirmation. talk to friends, look for real-world things that make the action easier, pray a TON, etc.
4) Ecclesiastes 11:13 (the end of the book) "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
Find what is true in the bible, and then go DO it.
1) Question: if I (or you) do something for God, do you necessarily believe in it?
Now, before you say 'no', think a little. You're not singing blandly in church because everyone wants you to, you're giving $200 to a christian ministry because you think that is correct to do.
Ha! I just figured this out.
There is a difference between believing something and wanting it. For instance I can step out in faith and give money even though I don't want to, but I think it's correct. I can follow the leading of the Holy Spirit even though I think I'm probably just imagining the Holy Spirit and I am going to look dumb.
Get it?
DO the things that are correct, the things God tells you. You know that you believe God because you obey him. Don't act because people want you to, don't act because it will advance you into a powerful position in the church. Do it because. Do it for God. Don't do it out of sheer willpower, though the decision might feel a lot like sheer willpower. submit to the Lord of creation.
2) by the way, on the topic of faith and works. the standard solution is that true faith will produce works. therefore, "faith without works is dead." in that sentence, faith and works aren't separate. faith - the type of faith that is without works - that type of faith is dead.
3) there is a difference between academically saying that something is true, for instance that God will protect you at all times, and between actually believing it, by stepping out in faith to where you could get seriously hurt if God didn't help you out.
The difference is between pure knowledge, pure data and a body of thought, and between the emotional side of it. On the one hand, don't believe something (data) and not apply it (emotion), on the other, don't do something that randomly pops into your head without confirming that God is behind it. If the holy spirit nudges you to do something, you probably only risk looking stupid, so the data side is ok, apply your knowledge and use emotion - do what you think the holy spirit said.
if it's something more risky, I suppose you need confirmation. talk to friends, look for real-world things that make the action easier, pray a TON, etc.
4) Ecclesiastes 11:13 (the end of the book) "Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."
Find what is true in the bible, and then go DO it.
22 July 2010
joyous word strings
Let us describe being with God...
Blazing inferno all consuming vanquished keeling over screaming fire-breathing bloody awesome; water peace deep movement subtle subconcious pass-out edge-of-the-knife rushing waterfall churning bubbling colorful kaleidoscope color swirling ribbons spinning dancing streets-of-gold flying-like-an-eagle diving plummeting strain-of-muscle jumping leaping blood-rush-from-head twist-of-bone and cartilage; blazing warm light stillness on-your-knees face-uplifted hands-in-a-cross out-to-the-side subdued quiet living breathing eyes-straining-in-sockets hands trembling body quivering earth shaking god thundering glorious gracious happy wonder pouring leaping smiling diving swirling peace euphoria...
Blazing inferno all consuming vanquished keeling over screaming fire-breathing bloody awesome; water peace deep movement subtle subconcious pass-out edge-of-the-knife rushing waterfall churning bubbling colorful kaleidoscope color swirling ribbons spinning dancing streets-of-gold flying-like-an-eagle diving plummeting strain-of-muscle jumping leaping blood-rush-from-head twist-of-bone and cartilage; blazing warm light stillness on-your-knees face-uplifted hands-in-a-cross out-to-the-side subdued quiet living breathing eyes-straining-in-sockets hands trembling body quivering earth shaking god thundering glorious gracious happy wonder pouring leaping smiling diving swirling peace euphoria...
summary of epic
This is a summary/story of the universe from the 'epic' perspective.
God make the world because he way happy and overflowing with joy. He made the universe for us to explore and enjoy, he made it as a reflection and glorification of himself. He created the world and all of history in order to write an epic story about a weak and rebelliously lost civilization, one which is still infinitely valuable and dear. This civilization (and the nature around it) is saved by heroism and great sacrifice, through emotional pain on both sides, by the conquering of death. An epic battle rages and will be won. The civilization and nature are brought to full fruit, it is saved. Heaven will come to earth (or earth will be made into heaven) where we will run with resurrected bodies like we dream of. (don't think 'beyond our wildest dreams', think 'exactly like our wildest dreams'). Run and fight and climb like you can imagine in adventure video games. Zion will be 1,400 miles high so that it would take you 11 hours to free-fall down its sides. We will have work in heaven, but we'll enjoy it. Great projects... 12 gates, a huge river of life, 12 crops. The light of God will be everywhere and so intense we won't need a sun.
Think avatar. Use your imagination.
Look, heaven is going to be better than we can imagine, right? So imagine huge things! I don't want to live in a crummy place forever! Push the limit!
God make the world because he way happy and overflowing with joy. He made the universe for us to explore and enjoy, he made it as a reflection and glorification of himself. He created the world and all of history in order to write an epic story about a weak and rebelliously lost civilization, one which is still infinitely valuable and dear. This civilization (and the nature around it) is saved by heroism and great sacrifice, through emotional pain on both sides, by the conquering of death. An epic battle rages and will be won. The civilization and nature are brought to full fruit, it is saved. Heaven will come to earth (or earth will be made into heaven) where we will run with resurrected bodies like we dream of. (don't think 'beyond our wildest dreams', think 'exactly like our wildest dreams'). Run and fight and climb like you can imagine in adventure video games. Zion will be 1,400 miles high so that it would take you 11 hours to free-fall down its sides. We will have work in heaven, but we'll enjoy it. Great projects... 12 gates, a huge river of life, 12 crops. The light of God will be everywhere and so intense we won't need a sun.
Think avatar. Use your imagination.
Look, heaven is going to be better than we can imagine, right? So imagine huge things! I don't want to live in a crummy place forever! Push the limit!
values and psyche change
Values:
Values normally means goals, and things are good or bad if they help or hur the goal. Human happiness is the generally accepted goal nowadays. With God, good or bad signify how much an action is in accord with a reality, the reality of Gods existence.
Psyche:
Just know that God is changing the way you think, and he's changing it for his glory.
Values normally means goals, and things are good or bad if they help or hur the goal. Human happiness is the generally accepted goal nowadays. With God, good or bad signify how much an action is in accord with a reality, the reality of Gods existence.
Psyche:
Just know that God is changing the way you think, and he's changing it for his glory.
20 July 2010
heart, mind, will and emo/dat
Summary: "The will, mind, and heart of a human could be likened to the time, space, and material model. Emotions /heart are objects/material, logic/mind is their relationships/space, and will/goals is change/time."
A very good friend of mind models the human this way (although I bet she'd say I shouldn't shove humans into a box). There are two inputs: the emotions/heart, and the mind/logic/reason. The will, the real decision maker of the human, takes both inputs to make a decision.
Now, I think that model puts emotions and logic on the same level, as two sides of one coin, as equal but opposite, neither better, and the best option is a healthy balance between the two. (or, for some personalities, they have it a little lopsided).
I'm going to throw that relationship away. What if emotions are much more like perceptions, like the way humans take in the world? What if all 'objects' in the human brain are emotional? Material, stuff.
Now logic could be the way emotions/objects relate to each other. Granted I have been reminded again and again that emotions lack causal relationships to each other, and just spawn out of nowhere, but I think that's referring to a different sort of emotion.
Then what is left? The decision-maker, the will, I compare to time/change/goal/purpose.
Summarize: emotions are stuff, logic is the way stuff relates to each other, and will is how that all changes.
Ok, I hope you understand that model. Now let's dig into what this means for emo/dat.
Data information just refers to the raw scientific facts in the universe. If emotion is the way the mind stores ideas, then really ... they're much of the same thing. Data is just the facts in the real world, while emotions are facts inside the brain. Our most previous definition of emo/dat: "Emotion is a large amount of data reviewed by the mind." This matches almost directly with our new idea of emotion and data.
This might explain why I get super excited when I create a huge theory idea: the idea inside my head is an emotion, and when that idea is large, the emotion is large. Especially when that theory deals with things like God, huge concepts, the result is huge emotion.
P.S. 1# This all, by the way, assumes that the heart/mind/will model of the human is close to the truth.
P.S. 2# There are at least 3 types of emotion, don't think I'm shoving all emotion into a logical construct.
A very good friend of mind models the human this way (although I bet she'd say I shouldn't shove humans into a box). There are two inputs: the emotions/heart, and the mind/logic/reason. The will, the real decision maker of the human, takes both inputs to make a decision.
Now, I think that model puts emotions and logic on the same level, as two sides of one coin, as equal but opposite, neither better, and the best option is a healthy balance between the two. (or, for some personalities, they have it a little lopsided).
I'm going to throw that relationship away. What if emotions are much more like perceptions, like the way humans take in the world? What if all 'objects' in the human brain are emotional? Material, stuff.
Now logic could be the way emotions/objects relate to each other. Granted I have been reminded again and again that emotions lack causal relationships to each other, and just spawn out of nowhere, but I think that's referring to a different sort of emotion.
Then what is left? The decision-maker, the will, I compare to time/change/goal/purpose.
Summarize: emotions are stuff, logic is the way stuff relates to each other, and will is how that all changes.
Ok, I hope you understand that model. Now let's dig into what this means for emo/dat.
Data information just refers to the raw scientific facts in the universe. If emotion is the way the mind stores ideas, then really ... they're much of the same thing. Data is just the facts in the real world, while emotions are facts inside the brain. Our most previous definition of emo/dat: "Emotion is a large amount of data reviewed by the mind." This matches almost directly with our new idea of emotion and data.
This might explain why I get super excited when I create a huge theory idea: the idea inside my head is an emotion, and when that idea is large, the emotion is large. Especially when that theory deals with things like God, huge concepts, the result is huge emotion.
P.S. 1# This all, by the way, assumes that the heart/mind/will model of the human is close to the truth.
P.S. 2# There are at least 3 types of emotion, don't think I'm shoving all emotion into a logical construct.
why did God make the world
Summary: "God made the world because he was happy."
Why did God make the world? A friend of mine said that there were many theories on that subject. I should ask about them. But here's my take.
First of all, the question is enlightening. If we figure out why God made the world, we know why we exist, how we should look at the world, what is most important about it, etc.
Now, why on earth would God make the world? He doesn't need to be glorified, he doesn't need to be happier...I suppose it might be boring, but I doubt it. He exists out of time, he doesn't have the time to get bored.
There is no need to make the world - at all. Nothing. There is also no reachable goal for which to make the world. To glorify God, yes, but we only give God a finite quantity of glory, so what's the point? You follow me?
I think God was just happy.
Existence was already beautiful, but what the heck? Why not make more?
This sort of makes emotion superior to everything else. Hm. I'll just stop here on that thought.
I wonder if God will be satisfied with just making one world. But I suppose we will live forever in heaven. Would we feel cheated if he made more worlds? I don't know. There are multiple people on earth...
Why did God make the world? A friend of mine said that there were many theories on that subject. I should ask about them. But here's my take.
First of all, the question is enlightening. If we figure out why God made the world, we know why we exist, how we should look at the world, what is most important about it, etc.
Now, why on earth would God make the world? He doesn't need to be glorified, he doesn't need to be happier...I suppose it might be boring, but I doubt it. He exists out of time, he doesn't have the time to get bored.
There is no need to make the world - at all. Nothing. There is also no reachable goal for which to make the world. To glorify God, yes, but we only give God a finite quantity of glory, so what's the point? You follow me?
I think God was just happy.
Existence was already beautiful, but what the heck? Why not make more?
This sort of makes emotion superior to everything else. Hm. I'll just stop here on that thought.
I wonder if God will be satisfied with just making one world. But I suppose we will live forever in heaven. Would we feel cheated if he made more worlds? I don't know. There are multiple people on earth...
universe container + definition of good
Summary: "Everything that can be known (the universe) comes from God, there is no good/evil framework outside of God. Good comes from God."
Previously I have thought of God as the largest thing in the universe. A supreme infinite potentate who made all things. He sits inside the universe. Maybe, even, he is the absolute, the summary, the epitome of the universe.
No.
He is the universe.
Not that I'm going native American or anything. The plants and rocks are not Gods in any way. But first and foremost there is God. He has no container. There is no universe in which he sits. There is God. Period. Everything in the universe, all the angels and demons, all material we see in the galaxies, all the physical laws, good and evil, emotions, thoughts of any sort, everything comes from him.
This means that we can't say "God is good." as if we could describe God by saying "oh, he's made out of good things", as if good can exist independently of God. No, rather than saying "God is good" we instead say "Good is God." We look at good, and because it comes from God (in a sense it is God in that it is a reflection of him, an evidence of his work) and with that we get an idea of who God is.
Got it?
There wasn't a definition of good before God came along. We can't look at good, as the perfect model without error, something we think we can figure out on our own, and say "oh, that's what God must be like."
God is not good. Good is God.
Previously I have thought of God as the largest thing in the universe. A supreme infinite potentate who made all things. He sits inside the universe. Maybe, even, he is the absolute, the summary, the epitome of the universe.
No.
He is the universe.
Not that I'm going native American or anything. The plants and rocks are not Gods in any way. But first and foremost there is God. He has no container. There is no universe in which he sits. There is God. Period. Everything in the universe, all the angels and demons, all material we see in the galaxies, all the physical laws, good and evil, emotions, thoughts of any sort, everything comes from him.
This means that we can't say "God is good." as if we could describe God by saying "oh, he's made out of good things", as if good can exist independently of God. No, rather than saying "God is good" we instead say "Good is God." We look at good, and because it comes from God (in a sense it is God in that it is a reflection of him, an evidence of his work) and with that we get an idea of who God is.
Got it?
There wasn't a definition of good before God came along. We can't look at good, as the perfect model without error, something we think we can figure out on our own, and say "oh, that's what God must be like."
God is not good. Good is God.
16 July 2010
4 short ideas
2 Timothy 3:9-13. Persecution is the mark 'clear to everyone' that we are Christians.
Just sayin'
Acts 18:9-10 "I have many people in this city." This is an encouragement for all evangelists. Predestined. Not your problem. Speak his word, that's it. Enjoy yourself if God plans out surprises.
[no text] Can God, who is infinite, make something that is infinite? mathematically inf+inf=inf. so does inf=inf-inf? Not necessarily, because you must first use this step (-inf) inf+inf=inf (-inf), and we don't know if inf-inf = 0, in fact, the next step says inf-inf=inf.
Suppose that God makes a spatially infinite universe, wouldn't that force indefinitely large beings to exist somewhere? Anyway.
What is the most important quality of a human being? No human is more valuable than another, but what qualities are most identifying, will best predict their actions? Maybe you can't predict actions either, but there still ought to be something. If you were to summarize a given human in a very short sentence, what would you say?
Just sayin'
Acts 18:9-10 "I have many people in this city." This is an encouragement for all evangelists. Predestined. Not your problem. Speak his word, that's it. Enjoy yourself if God plans out surprises.
[no text] Can God, who is infinite, make something that is infinite? mathematically inf+inf=inf. so does inf=inf-inf? Not necessarily, because you must first use this step (-inf) inf+inf=inf (-inf), and we don't know if inf-inf = 0, in fact, the next step says inf-inf=inf.
Suppose that God makes a spatially infinite universe, wouldn't that force indefinitely large beings to exist somewhere? Anyway.
What is the most important quality of a human being? No human is more valuable than another, but what qualities are most identifying, will best predict their actions? Maybe you can't predict actions either, but there still ought to be something. If you were to summarize a given human in a very short sentence, what would you say?
emo pic: god awesome
this is a list of small word pictures I have created or I found in the bible
he touches the mountains and they smoke
ignites the atmosphere (it explodes)
the surface of the earth soil bubbles
every blade of grass and living thing swells at his presence
the mountains melt like wax
the voice of the lord twists the oaks and strips the forest bare
he thunders over the mighty waters
he shakes the desert of Kadesh
the lord is a strong tower, a might fortress
he sits enthroned over time and space
he possesses the heart of man
the lord god of hosts
the sea boils
emperor of the stars
he who paints the mountains with trees
he sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers
"where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?"
"have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges, and shake the wicked out of it?"
"can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook, or tie down his tongue with a rope?"
"I AM"
also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal
ok, now get this. this God dropped down to earth to say hello...and then he died for us.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
he touches the mountains and they smoke
ignites the atmosphere (it explodes)
the surface of the earth soil bubbles
every blade of grass and living thing swells at his presence
the mountains melt like wax
the voice of the lord twists the oaks and strips the forest bare
he thunders over the mighty waters
he shakes the desert of Kadesh
the lord is a strong tower, a might fortress
he sits enthroned over time and space
he possesses the heart of man
the lord god of hosts
the sea boils
emperor of the stars
he who paints the mountains with trees
he sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers
"where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?"
"have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place, that it might take the earth by the edges, and shake the wicked out of it?"
"can you pull in the leviathan with a fishhook, or tie down his tongue with a rope?"
"I AM"
also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal
ok, now get this. this God dropped down to earth to say hello...and then he died for us.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
emo pic: kneeling in the rain
this emo picture is not scary like the previous one. this is clinging to god as a person, when all the world fails and all his promises seem to fail. I got these emotions while listening to KTIS "stand in the rain" and "if you want me to" (I will walk through the valley/fire/darkness if you want me to). oh, and one more picture, being slain by the undeserving of Christs death
you can be down on one knee is a sort of crouched position (not with your back, with your legs), but that might be because I'm a speedskater, and I'm used to awkward positions with my legs. equally relevant is sitting on your shins and with your butt on your ankles (ankles bent sideways so you don't crush them), down on both knees. upper body relatively erect and leaned forward a little bit (say 10 degrees). back arched a little bit (arched like a gymnastic bridge, but very little-remember you're almost erect).
let's see, background. dark, not black. you're on a large flat surface which is pale and gray but fades away quickly. the landscape is largely drowned out by heavy rain. words I could use to describe the rain, like humid, warm or lukewarm, conglomerated into larger drops, dasani blue color, they all kind of give the wrong impression. try to take them as a whole.
here's the more important stuff. these aspects change from one end to another. let's start with the desperate one. hands up high, elbows slightly bent, palms facing outward. you're crying with your mouth open in anguish and stretched flesh, groping at the air like at a fabric wall that you're trying to grab on to, fingers spread loosely but gropingly tense, you're struggling to breathe due to the emotion, maybe a little like asthma but not hot in your throat. heaving violently but with small motion. the air is very warm and humid, but don't think of a summer day, it's raining.
now it changes. palms face more inward. close your mouth. straighten your arms and your fingers. point arms straight up to heaven. still crying, but you're crying a little cold drizzle (so is the outside weather.) it's much easier to breathe. eyes closed now. you're just giving it all up.
now for being killed (sort of). you stand in front of the cross, not really looking at it. there's a deep purple and black sky, the cross has black and red streaks and tints. you're not paying attention. you're at work in the office, you think everything is going fine. BAM! christ is slaughtered and dragged and cut open and stretched out like an animal carcass right in front of you. he did it for you, he did it because he loves you.
instantly you keel over crying. 'why? why?' topple onto the floor, fetal position and clutching your chest. writhing on the ground. it seems so undeserved. why would God so selflessly give you such an impossible gift? why did he kill himself for you?
I'll just leave you there.
you can be down on one knee is a sort of crouched position (not with your back, with your legs), but that might be because I'm a speedskater, and I'm used to awkward positions with my legs. equally relevant is sitting on your shins and with your butt on your ankles (ankles bent sideways so you don't crush them), down on both knees. upper body relatively erect and leaned forward a little bit (say 10 degrees). back arched a little bit (arched like a gymnastic bridge, but very little-remember you're almost erect).
let's see, background. dark, not black. you're on a large flat surface which is pale and gray but fades away quickly. the landscape is largely drowned out by heavy rain. words I could use to describe the rain, like humid, warm or lukewarm, conglomerated into larger drops, dasani blue color, they all kind of give the wrong impression. try to take them as a whole.
here's the more important stuff. these aspects change from one end to another. let's start with the desperate one. hands up high, elbows slightly bent, palms facing outward. you're crying with your mouth open in anguish and stretched flesh, groping at the air like at a fabric wall that you're trying to grab on to, fingers spread loosely but gropingly tense, you're struggling to breathe due to the emotion, maybe a little like asthma but not hot in your throat. heaving violently but with small motion. the air is very warm and humid, but don't think of a summer day, it's raining.
now it changes. palms face more inward. close your mouth. straighten your arms and your fingers. point arms straight up to heaven. still crying, but you're crying a little cold drizzle (so is the outside weather.) it's much easier to breathe. eyes closed now. you're just giving it all up.
now for being killed (sort of). you stand in front of the cross, not really looking at it. there's a deep purple and black sky, the cross has black and red streaks and tints. you're not paying attention. you're at work in the office, you think everything is going fine. BAM! christ is slaughtered and dragged and cut open and stretched out like an animal carcass right in front of you. he did it for you, he did it because he loves you.
instantly you keel over crying. 'why? why?' topple onto the floor, fetal position and clutching your chest. writhing on the ground. it seems so undeserved. why would God so selflessly give you such an impossible gift? why did he kill himself for you?
I'll just leave you there.
emo pic: white fire ghost
this is a picture of a human totally filled with the holy spirit, or god. okay, this picture is kind of scary, but cool at the same time. just beware. I didn't fabricate this from logic, this came from my emotions.
chest skin fabric is strong and rough like Kevlar or fiberglass fabric, ribs are titanium steel cage. there are no guts, just the outer shell of chest. emanating from the center of the chest is a intensely pressurized gush of light turquoise water. think of the chest as a water hose. it stretches and groans as it tries to contain the gush. this gush ignores the shoulders and head. it passes through them like they were shredded surfaces of tissue and dissipates in the air above.
from this point, think of the white witch from the new Narnia movies, but modify it a little. the face is ghostly white but maybe grayish too. the skin of the scalp is certainly a dead white. hair is about 1.5 feet long, thin, with a hairline far back on the skull, and the hair is snow white.
both eyes are like blazing coals. there are .5 inch cavities around the edges of the eyes that show an inferno within the skull. remember that water is gushing upwards from the chest still, but it doesn't interefere too much with the rest.
the outside of the chest might be burnished bronze, though looking at the person from a distance, the chest is dark and gray with dirty metal. the legs and arms are largely nonexistent.
if I let myself be influenced by some biblical passages from revelations and daniel, we could add some things. the legs are bronze, maybe with clay and iron and stuff. there could be a double-edged sword coming from the mouth. there already was light coming from behind the figure, but we could reaffirm that. arms are still nowhere to be felt or seen.
chest skin fabric is strong and rough like Kevlar or fiberglass fabric, ribs are titanium steel cage. there are no guts, just the outer shell of chest. emanating from the center of the chest is a intensely pressurized gush of light turquoise water. think of the chest as a water hose. it stretches and groans as it tries to contain the gush. this gush ignores the shoulders and head. it passes through them like they were shredded surfaces of tissue and dissipates in the air above.
from this point, think of the white witch from the new Narnia movies, but modify it a little. the face is ghostly white but maybe grayish too. the skin of the scalp is certainly a dead white. hair is about 1.5 feet long, thin, with a hairline far back on the skull, and the hair is snow white.
both eyes are like blazing coals. there are .5 inch cavities around the edges of the eyes that show an inferno within the skull. remember that water is gushing upwards from the chest still, but it doesn't interefere too much with the rest.
the outside of the chest might be burnished bronze, though looking at the person from a distance, the chest is dark and gray with dirty metal. the legs and arms are largely nonexistent.
if I let myself be influenced by some biblical passages from revelations and daniel, we could add some things. the legs are bronze, maybe with clay and iron and stuff. there could be a double-edged sword coming from the mouth. there already was light coming from behind the figure, but we could reaffirm that. arms are still nowhere to be felt or seen.
13 July 2010
experienced joy vs. happiness
These are emotional word pictures that explain joy and happiness, and contrast them a little.
Joy:
Joy is a slow strong cold river of liquid burning silver beind your eyes. Joy is inhaling deeply from your chest and lightly tensed muscles in your forearms and wrists.
Joy stays with you for a long time, it makes you giddy and happy yet fully cognitive and clear late into the night, it makes you prance at spontaneous moments throughout the day.
Joy is a deep-seated river, a calm, a quiet passion, a security, a knowledge. Joy makes you smile uncontrollably, it makes you giggle quietly.
Happiness: (pleasure?)
Happiness makes you tired, exhale, rest, grin. After a lot of it you are satisfied and finished. You no longer want it. It is a gift. It is instantaneous satisfaction. It is auxiliary, unexpected, not the main point, a special something on the side. It is when things work out wonderfully.
Happiness makes you laugh and chuckle and grin and giggle sharply.
By the way, the fact that joy is experienced (and is independent of situation) means that you can feel positive emotion while being flogged. HA!
Joy:
Joy is a slow strong cold river of liquid burning silver beind your eyes. Joy is inhaling deeply from your chest and lightly tensed muscles in your forearms and wrists.
Joy stays with you for a long time, it makes you giddy and happy yet fully cognitive and clear late into the night, it makes you prance at spontaneous moments throughout the day.
Joy is a deep-seated river, a calm, a quiet passion, a security, a knowledge. Joy makes you smile uncontrollably, it makes you giggle quietly.
Happiness: (pleasure?)
Happiness makes you tired, exhale, rest, grin. After a lot of it you are satisfied and finished. You no longer want it. It is a gift. It is instantaneous satisfaction. It is auxiliary, unexpected, not the main point, a special something on the side. It is when things work out wonderfully.
Happiness makes you laugh and chuckle and grin and giggle sharply.
By the way, the fact that joy is experienced (and is independent of situation) means that you can feel positive emotion while being flogged. HA!
12 July 2010
testimony
the most concrete evidence that I have for God's existence is his actions in my life.
my logic may be all screwy, I may know nothing, I may be an emotional wreck (well, not right now), all may fall to pieces. But I know that some insane things have happened in my life, primarily centered around the topic of God. Common sense dictates that God moves in my life.
ontological and cosmological arguments are limited by our perceptions and science, probablility regarding evolution, design arguments, and galactic happenstance might be just chance, the whole realm of theology and how the human mind works might be (and probably is) entirely different from how any of us understand things, all those psychological analysis of Jesus and his disciples could be skewed by bad historical documents (however improbable that is).
But the largest concentrations of emotion and logistical chaos usually accompany the term 'God', so we can draw a correlation between mayhem occuring and Gods mention. This means what? God MOVES.
Not to mention that all those other arguments are logically sound and vicious as rotweilers - but all the universe screaming Gods glory is nothing compared to God himself moving in the heart of man.
God is good, no? HA!
I love God.
my logic may be all screwy, I may know nothing, I may be an emotional wreck (well, not right now), all may fall to pieces. But I know that some insane things have happened in my life, primarily centered around the topic of God. Common sense dictates that God moves in my life.
ontological and cosmological arguments are limited by our perceptions and science, probablility regarding evolution, design arguments, and galactic happenstance might be just chance, the whole realm of theology and how the human mind works might be (and probably is) entirely different from how any of us understand things, all those psychological analysis of Jesus and his disciples could be skewed by bad historical documents (however improbable that is).
But the largest concentrations of emotion and logistical chaos usually accompany the term 'God', so we can draw a correlation between mayhem occuring and Gods mention. This means what? God MOVES.
Not to mention that all those other arguments are logically sound and vicious as rotweilers - but all the universe screaming Gods glory is nothing compared to God himself moving in the heart of man.
God is good, no? HA!
I love God.
motivation for evolution
Summary: "animals have no self-interest in leaving descendants, evolution works, but not for the happiness of its members"
Survival of the fittest, right? A species continues if it leaves descendants, and in order to do that, the animals have to not be killed off, right?
That's obvious, that makes sense. The species we see now are the ones that left offspring and tend to do that.
But why do animals (human in particular) have an interest in reproduction as they live? I mean, we die, and then what? We might only care to have children if we want a nice nursing home.
You might want to leave a legacy, make a difference in the world, raise the next generation, continue the domination of makind over other species, but why would you want any of that? You'll die eventually, and then you won't care will you?
I would be talking to an evolutionary scientist (I'll admit I'm being a little harsh and naive, but I love this idea). I would say "What do you care if our species survives? Why do we reproduce? What motivation do we have? Why should we/you obey our/your evolutionary drive? You only have this drive because you wouldn't be here without it. Why pass it on? What do you care if you reproduce?"
Then I had this thought (which is untrue but funny): what if, once a species becomes advanced enough, it realizes that it doesn't care what happens after its generation is gone, so it doesn't bother to reproduce, leaving the next intelligent species to muddle its way to that conclusion on its own? is this why it's taken the world billions of years to produce intelligent life?
Note that we humans are nearly taking this idea to heart. We advocate not overpopulating the earth, many couples have abortions because they don't want to bother with children. Only-child families are quite common nowadays (well, I hope not).
Oh by the way, guess what sort of people are keeping the population up? Big families, right? Who do these people tend to be? Inner city poor a lot of the time, crazy homeschool families, right wing farms, mormons, rednecks, etc. Hmm... No liberals mentioned anywhere. Sort of a rag-tag assortment of loonies. (I include myself)
Let me see, survival of the fittest...
Survival of the fittest, right? A species continues if it leaves descendants, and in order to do that, the animals have to not be killed off, right?
That's obvious, that makes sense. The species we see now are the ones that left offspring and tend to do that.
But why do animals (human in particular) have an interest in reproduction as they live? I mean, we die, and then what? We might only care to have children if we want a nice nursing home.
You might want to leave a legacy, make a difference in the world, raise the next generation, continue the domination of makind over other species, but why would you want any of that? You'll die eventually, and then you won't care will you?
I would be talking to an evolutionary scientist (I'll admit I'm being a little harsh and naive, but I love this idea). I would say "What do you care if our species survives? Why do we reproduce? What motivation do we have? Why should we/you obey our/your evolutionary drive? You only have this drive because you wouldn't be here without it. Why pass it on? What do you care if you reproduce?"
Then I had this thought (which is untrue but funny): what if, once a species becomes advanced enough, it realizes that it doesn't care what happens after its generation is gone, so it doesn't bother to reproduce, leaving the next intelligent species to muddle its way to that conclusion on its own? is this why it's taken the world billions of years to produce intelligent life?
Note that we humans are nearly taking this idea to heart. We advocate not overpopulating the earth, many couples have abortions because they don't want to bother with children. Only-child families are quite common nowadays (well, I hope not).
Oh by the way, guess what sort of people are keeping the population up? Big families, right? Who do these people tend to be? Inner city poor a lot of the time, crazy homeschool families, right wing farms, mormons, rednecks, etc. Hmm... No liberals mentioned anywhere. Sort of a rag-tag assortment of loonies. (I include myself)
Let me see, survival of the fittest...
navigating confusion
Summary: "If you find yourself confused and going nowhere, try reminding yourself of big truths, composing a list of questions, and find definitions."
This theory depends heavily on a previous one "up/down decisions" from Jun 20-27
The main example in this theory is my confusion about the elements of the human mind, specifically regarding emotion, logic, goals, etc.
I see the gigantic realm of information, principles, truth, etc as a huge pryamid. There is raw data on the bottom, where you directly see truth, and there are big summaries, guiding principles, and the most important facts on the top. It's a pryamid because a few principles 'sit ontop' of larger amounts of information which they describe. In the realm of science, we could say that raw data = an apple falls when you let it go, a rock falls when you let it go, etc so principle: = all objects fall when you drop them.
Or with a more abstract topic: humans contain memory, principles, goals, abilities, etc. All these things are not related to eachother very strongly. The bigger idea is this: humans are arrays of widely varying properties and assets.
So when we might find ourselves confused about a certain idea, we're talking about a part of the pyramid. We can try to understand it in one of two ways, either from the top, or from the bottom.
Top down:
Remind yourself of all the biggest principles that you know. Primarily for me, because I am confused about theology and perception issues, I remind myself that God exists, that he is bigger, stronger, smarter, more holy, etc than me, anyone else, and the entire world. He has a plan for the universe and for me, he loves me more than I can imagine, he created the world, etc.
With your focus up on top, less important issues (like the properties of the human emotional system) come into greater clarity. Reminding myself of God, I remember why he created humans, and then I see how he might have made humans to fufill his purposes.
In the case of human emotional systems, God made humans to enjoy and glorify him. So humans should be able to know with logic that he exists, but a stronger element is our experience of him. Logic is a little more of an attachement to enjoying God, like music and relationships, rather than the primary thing.
I have still used logic to find this principle, I still use logic to reduplicate evidence that God exists, I still use logic to find some dashingly amazing things about God, but 'higher up' on the pryamid is enjoying God.
Bottom up:
If you're trying to find a principle or a piece of evidence, you can also look at things 'below' that principle, and average/summarize them to find your answer. Most of the time you don't know for certain every element that goes into the single answer you're looking for, neither will you know if some of the possible elements don't fit at all, but exploring possibilites should help.
If I want to find a summary of the human system, I could look at what elements might be included in the human system. Let's try the main categories within a human. Normally people use three thing like soul, mind, and body for instance. But there are many other terms too. Let's list some:
will, mind, body, brain, spirit, emotions, heart, imagination, concious, subconcious, id, soul, reason, charachter, ...
Many of these could be synonyms, but we list them all anyway because this is a non-linear, non-logical, general approach.
Instead of just possible options, you can also use the raw information from your perceptions. For instance I thought: what causes me to do most everyday things? how do I think when experiencing emotion? and honestly, I didn't come up with much clear reasoning. This tells me that there is a huge subconcious archive of learned reactions and principles that I don't see everyday. Plus I bet there's some near-concious super general logical reasoning that I could probably flesh-out if I wanted to, but I wouldn't bother.
Find definitions:
The key to understanding concepts rarely lies in computational bulk, large spatial models, big linear time sequences, or anything like that. If you find properties like 'who created this?' or 'what is it made of?' or 'what was this made for?', things make much more sense. For instance, when I was trying to understand emotion, I asked questions like:
what causes emotions? what are they made of? how should we use them? what is their purpose? are there multiple categories of emotions (like spontaneous versus developed)? how are they expressed?
Do not try to understand something using only a few angles. I would call these angles 'dimensions'. So, here are some dimensions to look at ideas with:
categories - look at the terms used in an idea and see if some are synonyms, if some are more specific types while others are general labels.
causality - what causes these things?
purpose - why was it created?
material - what is a term made of? is it spoken word? is it an idea in the head only? is it an emotion? is it a decision?
direct object - who or what is this directed towards? who is it meant to govern?
Just keep asking questions, keep your mind cold and open. If it's going nowhere, remind yourself of truh, ask questions, and look for purpose.
This theory depends heavily on a previous one "up/down decisions" from Jun 20-27
The main example in this theory is my confusion about the elements of the human mind, specifically regarding emotion, logic, goals, etc.
I see the gigantic realm of information, principles, truth, etc as a huge pryamid. There is raw data on the bottom, where you directly see truth, and there are big summaries, guiding principles, and the most important facts on the top. It's a pryamid because a few principles 'sit ontop' of larger amounts of information which they describe. In the realm of science, we could say that raw data = an apple falls when you let it go, a rock falls when you let it go, etc so principle: = all objects fall when you drop them.
Or with a more abstract topic: humans contain memory, principles, goals, abilities, etc. All these things are not related to eachother very strongly. The bigger idea is this: humans are arrays of widely varying properties and assets.
So when we might find ourselves confused about a certain idea, we're talking about a part of the pyramid. We can try to understand it in one of two ways, either from the top, or from the bottom.
Top down:
Remind yourself of all the biggest principles that you know. Primarily for me, because I am confused about theology and perception issues, I remind myself that God exists, that he is bigger, stronger, smarter, more holy, etc than me, anyone else, and the entire world. He has a plan for the universe and for me, he loves me more than I can imagine, he created the world, etc.
With your focus up on top, less important issues (like the properties of the human emotional system) come into greater clarity. Reminding myself of God, I remember why he created humans, and then I see how he might have made humans to fufill his purposes.
In the case of human emotional systems, God made humans to enjoy and glorify him. So humans should be able to know with logic that he exists, but a stronger element is our experience of him. Logic is a little more of an attachement to enjoying God, like music and relationships, rather than the primary thing.
I have still used logic to find this principle, I still use logic to reduplicate evidence that God exists, I still use logic to find some dashingly amazing things about God, but 'higher up' on the pryamid is enjoying God.
Bottom up:
If you're trying to find a principle or a piece of evidence, you can also look at things 'below' that principle, and average/summarize them to find your answer. Most of the time you don't know for certain every element that goes into the single answer you're looking for, neither will you know if some of the possible elements don't fit at all, but exploring possibilites should help.
If I want to find a summary of the human system, I could look at what elements might be included in the human system. Let's try the main categories within a human. Normally people use three thing like soul, mind, and body for instance. But there are many other terms too. Let's list some:
will, mind, body, brain, spirit, emotions, heart, imagination, concious, subconcious, id, soul, reason, charachter, ...
Many of these could be synonyms, but we list them all anyway because this is a non-linear, non-logical, general approach.
Instead of just possible options, you can also use the raw information from your perceptions. For instance I thought: what causes me to do most everyday things? how do I think when experiencing emotion? and honestly, I didn't come up with much clear reasoning. This tells me that there is a huge subconcious archive of learned reactions and principles that I don't see everyday. Plus I bet there's some near-concious super general logical reasoning that I could probably flesh-out if I wanted to, but I wouldn't bother.
Find definitions:
The key to understanding concepts rarely lies in computational bulk, large spatial models, big linear time sequences, or anything like that. If you find properties like 'who created this?' or 'what is it made of?' or 'what was this made for?', things make much more sense. For instance, when I was trying to understand emotion, I asked questions like:
what causes emotions? what are they made of? how should we use them? what is their purpose? are there multiple categories of emotions (like spontaneous versus developed)? how are they expressed?
Do not try to understand something using only a few angles. I would call these angles 'dimensions'. So, here are some dimensions to look at ideas with:
categories - look at the terms used in an idea and see if some are synonyms, if some are more specific types while others are general labels.
causality - what causes these things?
purpose - why was it created?
material - what is a term made of? is it spoken word? is it an idea in the head only? is it an emotion? is it a decision?
direct object - who or what is this directed towards? who is it meant to govern?
Just keep asking questions, keep your mind cold and open. If it's going nowhere, remind yourself of truh, ask questions, and look for purpose.
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