Free will?

Today on the bus I was contemplating the issue of free will. The reason why? Actually, about a year and a half ago I thought I would start a dialogue with my co-workers about this issue of free will. This is really a hot button topic with people. It is amazing what people say. And today it came up again without my doing. One of my coworkers states we have no free will. I disagree. But, it is not a completely black and white issue. (nothing really is it seems these days!) His charge is that free will does not exist because someone could kill you, therefore taking away your free will, therefore you now have lost your free will. Your dead, no free will!Ha ha.True I guess. However:

I believe we have a will. I believe God (Jesus) gives us a will. We are given the opportunity to make choices in this life. (libertarian free will)" Libertarian free will is the ability either to do something or not. Free agency is the ability to do whatever a person wants to do (apart from constraining causes). This difference is not a small one. For example, do non-Christians have the inherent ability either to choose to trust Christ or not? Is such a decision ultimately dependent on their will? "

 Is our will totally and completely free? The answer is no. Of course not. We are not in total control, therefore we do not have total free will. My will can be taken from me, by someone else's will. .I have free will in that it is close to the hip for lack of a better phrase. I can choose what to eat, what to type, what to say, etc. I have lots of little choices, and lots of big choices. But total free will is not possible with humans. Its limited in a sense, but the limits are good limits.  I have the capacity to do a lot of good, but I also have the capacity to do a lot of bad. God has set it up so that humans can make choices that affect them and others around them,but not such total free will as that which He (God) can't control. God is amazing in His ability to set up such a scenario. God gives us the ability to choose Him or not choose Him. This is the ultimate choice in life. This is the question that is the most important for everyone to answer.

"Will means the function of choosing.  God is absolutely sovereign. He "works all things according to the counsel of his will" (Ephesians 1:11). He does whatever he wants, and no one can stop him (Psalm 115:3; Daniel 4:34-35).
Humans are morally responsible, which requires that they be free. There is no biblical reason that God cannot cause real human choices. The Bible grounds human accountability in God's authority as our creator and judge, not in libertarian free will. "

We have to remember that we are not like God. We are created in His image, but we are not Him. He can do whatever he wants! Except sin of course. This is impossible for him, since He is love, the definition of love. He cannot be unfaithful to what He is.

There are causes which limit our free will, constraints, but we do have the ability to make a choice for or against God. We do have the ability to choose to love someone or not.

Anyways, this issue is a hot button issue, and has much more to it then what I wrote. I have to say that after about 5 minutes of processing this issue again today on the bus I fell asleep and woke up 30 minutes later to my destination. I freely fell asleep and freely woke up, freely leaving the bus, freely driving my car to freely get gas, so I could freely go home and freely eat supper with my freely chosen children and freely chosen wife who I freely asked to marry me. However, I believe she did not freely say yes to my marriage proposal. That is where God stepped in and coerced her to marry me. Why? Because He knows more than I do. Without her I would be a lost puppy. Amen. Thank God for a free-not so free-will!!!

Stupid Bowl

So the Super Bowl is set. I remember two years ago the pain of losing to the Saints in OT. The 49ers blew it yesterday and are feeling it today. The Ravens booted one wide. No fun. A guy at work is a big SF fan. I remember 2 years ago when he thought he would rip the Vikings and rub it in when we lost. Well, all I have to say is what comes around goes around. Now he is feeling the same way I did. Teaches me to at least try and shut my mouth about sports.I kept my mouth shut today and avoided my coworker just so I wouldn't rub it in and anger him. I was successful. Not a peep. Boy did I want to let him have it though!

 All sports teams do is disappoint about 99% of the time. Only one team can stand at the end of the year, so no point in boasting.  Its hard not to rub it in on people when it comes to sports, especially football for some reason. Must be the male ego, I don't know. So in essence, I guess it really should be called the stupid bowl, because it really means a whole lot of nothing and people get "stupid" about their team, especially me. Fights break out, people get angry with each other, and think of all the money people spend on sportswear, tvs, tickets, etc. For what? The right to do it all again next year. If you think about it, it really is quite stupid.
P.S. I will quit watching when the Vikings win the big one! Ah, hmm. Yea right.

Here are the lyrics to "Morning Star" by an old band from the early 1990's. Great tune.




MORNING STAR
Hear the tale of a fallen people
Destined to wander their broken land
Their eyes are vacant, full of empty meaning
What they're missing they just don't understand

(Chorus 1)
Beyond the dark horizon
Out where the people are crying
A Morningstar will be rising
Rising to show us the way

Long ago a secret treasure was given
To change the heart of every woman and man
But somehow the treasure was forgotten
It lies buried underneath the shifting sand

(Chorus 2)
Beyond the dark horizon
Out where the people are crying
A Morningstar will be rising
Rising up with the bright dawn of healing
Rising up to show us the way

Our eyes are not seeing
Our hearts are not feeling
We want to believe now
Come save us from ourselves

(Chorus 3)
Beyond the dark horizon
Out where the people are dying
The Son of man will be rising
The glory of the Lord will be shining

Shatter the dark horizon
Out where the people are crying
A Morningstar will be rising
Rising to show us the way
[ Lyrics from:

white out

I am not sure why some of my text is whiting out. Irritating. Sorry about that. I will attempt to fix the problem.

Testify

Its Tuesday and it was back to work today. As many of you know I work in the court system and hear all types of people "testify" on the stand in front of judge, jury, and counsel. What does it mean to "testify"? "To bear witness, give or afford evidence."

Every morning as I make my way to work I like to read the Bible. I believe it to be a good start of my day, spending time with Christ (who is the Word). The days I don't do this tend to be less rich than the days I do. So I try to make it a good habit, not a religious obligation. Anyways, today I read in John 16 and 17. The first few verses of John 16 Jesus was telling His disciples to "testify" about Him, and expect to be hated. Jesus was also warning/telling His disciples to keep them from falling away. One verse I found rather disturbing, and that is John 16:2 " They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, the time is coming when anyone who kills you will think they are offering a service to God." Does this sound familiar? It happened back then, it will happen (and has happened) even now. We must not take our liberty in this country for granted. I admit that I have. One day our lives will be on the line for the Gospel. And even now in some countries, if you speak of Christ, prison, torture, and death await. Its only a matter of time for us here.  As far as the "will think they are offering a service to God" the  religion of Islam (not all of course) extremists does this now, as witnessed by 9/11 and many other tragedies.  The point is, we must take every opportunity to "testify" about Christ. This is done through our words and actions. The time will come when the ease of bearing witness will disappear and we will wish we didn't waste the opportunities we have now. We must be examples for Christ. Have a great day. 

Curse

Hello everyone. Today I was having thoughts about the idea of the "curse."   It made me think of my team the Vikings. The Packers have been the opposite of the Vikings. The Vikings have been to the Superbowl 4 times but have not won the big one. They have been to the NFC Championship 4 times in the last 25 years but have not been able to even reach the big game. For some reason they just can't break through. Are they cursed? Many Viking fans think so. I am not sure. The Chicago Cubs, are they cursed? They have not won a championship since 1908 I believe! Many things have happened to the Cubs and the Vikings to take us down the road of thinking these teams are "cursed".

Speaking of cursed, there is an interesting story in the Bible about Jesus "cursing" a fig tree. The account is found in both Matthew and Mark. Matthew 21:18-22 and Mark 11:12-14, 19-25.  Basically, Jesus sees a fig tree and curses it, the tree withers and dies. Why? I have had an atheist use this story to try and stump me on  Jesus, saying Jesus was "mean" to the fig tree! The lesson here in this story is that Jesus was trying to teach His disciples the issue of bearing fruit. It is actually quite an interesting story at that. A good place to check it out is http://www.christiancourier.com/articles/646-why-did-jesus-curse-the-fig-tree.

This story seems odd at first. But when you read up on it it makes perfect sense. Those who don't bear fruit will be "withered". Check out the site! There are a ton of passages in the Bible that refer to "curses". So this word "curse" is a real and interesting. God cursed Satan and made him crawl on his belly. God cursed the ground so man would have to work it to produce food. It is stunning how often this word appears.  As for my Vikings, I often wonder if God has cursed them! One wonders after 52 years in the league how they haven't won at least one Superbowl!

New Beginnings

Today I would like to talk about new beginnings. Since this blog is new, I thought posting something on new beginnings would be appropriate. I would like to focus on the Word. The very first verse of the Bible states"¹ In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." This is found in Genesis.  In John chapter 1 verse 1-5 we read "¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome^[a] it.


Over my lifetime I have realized the importance of "meditating" on the Word. One cannot expect to gain much insight from the Bible if one reads the Word like a novel, or a storybook, or the newspaper. The Word is alive, fresh, and new. Hebrews tells us:

Hebrews 4:12

New International Version (NIV)

 ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Notice that word "active". I have found the Word is very active. You can read the same passages several times and each time the Word of God will enlighten you in each circumstance. It is just awesome.


I would like to break down the top two passages. First of all, Genesis 1:1 states that God created the heavens and the earth in the beginning. Who is God? God is the Father, Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. All three together make up God. The heavens refer to the universe and all that that encompasses, which we still have no grasp of how big that is! The earth, God created the earth. Which refers to everything in and on the earth. Everything. Mankind has brought nothing to earth. Everything has come from the earth. And who made it? God did. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As far as "in the beginning", this refers to the heavens and the earth, not God himself. These verses do not refer to a "beginning" to God, but to the earth, the heavens, and to mankind. God has always been. Many atheists like to go after this very point when debating the origin of the earth and mankind. They like to point out that we argue something can't come from nothing, so God can't come from nothing. Keep in mind the SCRIPTURES tell us that God has always been. The SCRIPTURES, or the WORD, is Jesus. Jesus cannot sin, i.e.lie. Therefore, God has always been. Atheists can try to refute the Word, but they fail every time. The concept of something (the earth) just appearing or forming out of nothing is illogical.Atheism will say the same about God. But isn't the concept of something coming from a creator tip the scale logically? I find it humorous that we Christians are thought to be illogical.


Now compare Genesis 1: 1 to John 1:1-5. In the beginning was the Word. Lets break this down. Look at the verse closely. See the word was? That refers to always been. It was. And what is the Word? The Word is Jesus. The passage goes on to say that Jesus (the Word) was with God, and the Word was God. Therefore, everyone who claims Jesus was not God is mistaken. Jesus was God, the Word was (is) God. 


 Its interesting to note that the author John was best friends with Jesus, or so it is widely speculated. Jesus called John the "disciple whom He loved." And in Revelation Jesus revealed to John (not baptist) the end times. 


The passage continues to state that "He" was with God in the beginning. Who is "He"? Jesus. Through Him all things were made (refer to my earlier comment regarding mankind has brought nothing into this world). It goes on to say "without Him nothing was made that has been made." So the heavens and earth were made by God (father,son, holy spirit). Without Him is an interesting way of putting this. Jesus is God. He is the focus here. The Word (Jesus) is really keyed on in this passage. "In Him was LIFE, and that LIFE was the light of all mankind." So, Jesus is LIFE. Jesus is LIFE to mankind. So without him, shutting him out of your life, not believing in him, a person really has no life. The last verse is saying that Jesus's light cannot be overcome with darkness. It is an eternal permanent light.

So comparing the opening verse in the scriptures to John 1: 1-5 is key to understanding who Jesus is, who and what the trinity is, who God is, and what or whom brings us life. It also tells us that God created everything, we didn't just "appear" out of nothing without a creator behind it. So when you need life, go to the maker of life, life itself, Jesus. Have a great day!

Jay

Hello all who have found your way on to my blog. I am new at this, so it should be fun and interesting. Just want to update you on what I have been up to lately. If you check youtube.com you will find thousands of videos that try and disprove the existence of God.  There are many videos and comments that go after the holiness of God, and these videos try and persuade people to turn away from God and follow a non-god, that is a false idol. Of course we know that in the Old Testament God warned against following a false god. And the idea that not believing in God and calling yourself an atheist, is in fact worshiping a false god. The non-belief in God is the belief in a non-god, which is an idol. I am sure this was rampant in the old testament times as well. Not only were they serving false idols such as graven images, but also ideas, made up non-gods! Anyways, the point of this blog is to "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." But do this with gentleness and respect". This verse is found in 1 Peter 3:15.  Apologetics, the defense of the faith. This is my passion. I will try daily to post new topics and update you on my many battles with folks online all over the world. Thanks for looking me up. Please feel free to post whatever you like. Remember, Christianity is not a religion. The moment it becomes "religion" run away as fast as you can. We are to follow Christ, not the traditions of men. Thanks. Jay