The Good Life

"The soul lives by avoiding what it dies by desiring."

- St. Augustine

I once had a brush with a man whom I considered dangerous, wielding a knife in a secluded place when I didn't have my wits totally about me.
The man was masked and I couldn't make out his entire face.
He seemed to know exactly what he was doing as if he had done it a thousand times.
Perhaps, he had; for he was my surgeon.

I remember him with fondness and gratitude; for, without his hand being guided by God I would not be alive at this moment.
Yet, that entire process allowed me to analyze death and pain in a totally new light; it also let me examine the things we do voluntarily.

Throughout my rehabilitation, all things that were fun were vetoed. The great fear was that these things might jeopardize my recovery.
I grew to discover that most people see God in this manner; a cosmic killjoy ready to veto anything we think is fun in His harsh, police-like way.
And if we break the rules, His moral code, then we will pay a penalty.

Due to my lung surgery, I now have to be very aware of smoke and other chemicals in the air. Most of the time, it has to be avoided at all costs.
Yet, spiritually we do not view those spiritual carcinogens with as much danger as we would smoke to our lungs.
The result is that we have drifted, as a society, further away from Christ and His ideal in our lives.

Every society has a level of acceptable/unacceptable behavior; yet, in our society it has drastically changed since the 1960's in America.
That decade, followed by the selfishness of the 1970's, the greed of the 1980's and the sexual license of the 1990's, has led to a redefining of sin and an enlarging acceptability of what was once considered abominable.


Christians use to not smoke, drink, use drugs, divorce or fool around on their spouses.
As of right now, I know people who call themselves Christians who have done each of these or are engaged in these things currently.
But I digress.
The point is, when the 1960's and 1970's arrived in full force, the seemingly stale lifestyle of the past was replaced by what was thought to be a breath of fresh air.

We have paid dearly for that 'fresh air.'

Regardless of what society does, God's morality holds true. 
In retrospect, the sexual revolution fostered the spread of venereal disease and it led to the plague we have suffered under the threat of HIV/AIDS.
In fact, the only thing that was given freedom was men NOT to become fathers and husbands because they were no enabled to do whatever they pleased without being held accountable.

And what has happened in our generation, is that a man with multiple partners will increase his wife's chances of cervical cancer by 11 times.
As a result, we now have Public Service Announcements warning us about these and other 'dangerous activities' concerning sexual practices.
The call in society is to practice 'safe sex.'
Maybe I'm old school, but I always thought sex wasn't suppose to be dangerous.

What we have learned is that what seems most alluring will often prove destructive.
By the 1980's, we had learned that most health concerns were all life-style related.
And today, 2/3 of all deaths before the age of 65 can be traced to a person's choices.
And would you believe that a divorced, non-smoker has the health of married man who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day?

What is amazing is that we have conquered malaria, polio, typhoid and a host of other diseases; but we cannot get a harness on our most base desires.
Those who have shunned society's morals and embraced Biblical values have been proven to live longer, be less diseased and are able to enjoy life more as they age.


Centuries ago, Moses received the Ten Commandments; they demonstrate the wisdom of God about human behavior.
The truth is that we can say 'no' to our most base behaviors; were not animals, and in doing so we will avoid harm.
Which makes me wonder why we refuse to deny ourselves and then take up our cross and follow the Lord.

To this, I have no actual answer; just a hunch that it is becoming harder and harder to overcome our internal desires because we are encouraged on all sides to embrace them and celebrate our own deviance and sin.
Yet, if we embrace society instead of the Lord's values and practice them; we will miss out on the good life God has intended for His people since the beginning.

Until next time, win one for the good guys!

The Lord of Intimate Relations

"Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for God."
                                                                                               - G. K. Chesterton

Returning home from the desert several years ago, I watched a movie on the flight between England and Washington, D.C. 
This movie's premise was that an interracial couple, white male/black female, had moved in next door to a police officer who was a 'moral enforcer' in the neighborhood. 
When he looked out the window only to discover that his young daughter had watched his interracial neighbors having relations in their outdoor swimming pool - the 'neighborly' relationship went south from that point forward.

When we landed in Washington, I had a layover. As I browsed through the various magazines in the multiple bookstores and shops, I noticed on most of the covers that the women had their bodies were in various degrees of exposure. 
In the last leg of the flight, I was placed on the aircraft next to a scantly clad, young woman. Her tight clothes were meant to accent and compliment her young body.

At the time, I had just come out of several months on a remote base in the desert; maybe I was more acutely aware of these things at that time than I would be now.
Yet, it seemed to me at the time, and it still resonates in my spirit, that western society has glorified sex in such a way that it is one of the only important things in life. 
And in some societies, sadly including our own, millions have abandoned the sacred nature of the universe only to have exalted sexuality to a worshipful status - serving the act of intimate relations as a modern day idol.

One man made the observation that the the technological advance of a society or culture could be marked in progress by the number of various sexual and pornographic outlets.
The worshipful status of intimate relations, the godlike status of the beautiful and attractive, the down playing of any type of moral obligation with intimacy - all of it hearkens back to the Canaanites of old.
But sure as we live in the 21st Century, intimate relations were created for the glory of God and the enjoyment of His people; therefore, the act is not lord, God is the Lord of intimate relations.

While true, one other observation is quite obvious; we as the Church have failed in teaching

God's lordship over human sexuality.
Many, both within the Church and without, believe God is a cosmic killjoy when it comes to intimate relations.
But the truth is that God is the originator and if we adhere to God's design, His boundaries when it comes to sex - we soon find a goodness and a level of intimacy that is not otherwise discovered.

The problem though, is the fact that even Christians have a difficult time accepting God's morality in their life to give them the fullest and satisfying life possible.
Repeated surveys by Christian and non-Christian entities both show that there is little difference between Christians and non-believers in pre-martial relations and cohabitation.
If a person's faith is real and their belief in God is true, then He must be Lord over this part of our lives as well. 

I realize, as I am sure many others do as well, that the general view of western society is that intimate relations is just another part of our animalistic, evolutionary nature that has been repressed.
Yet, this isn't what history teaches.
Every tribe or culture from the ancient world  has some type of sexual practices which are taboo. 
This tells us that somehow, by our own instinct, intimate relations are much more than just a sexual act between people.

It is only in advanced cultures of today that sexuality and relations have been reduced to animalistic tendencies of just simple pleasure.
And this has created some problems for those who believe humans are nothing but advanced animals.

First, humans are vastly over-equipped for the task.
Only human females have enlarged breasts as a rule before pregnancy; and the male organ is larger than any other primate.
Another fact is that our activity continues long after child-bearing prime years; we don't go into heat like an animal, but we engage in the activity for different reasons - reasons unknown to any other living organism on the earth.
And we have relations more than any other creature on earth.

Secondly, humans prefer privacy for the act; animals tend to advertise their availability and willingness.
Whether the advertising happens through a special scent or through bold feathers like peacocks; humans don't advertise at certain times of the year - we try to make ourselves attractive to the opposite sex at all times.

If the point of sexual relations is fertilization like an animal in nature, we've got it all wrong because what we do for sex is a total waste of time.
But if relationship is the point - then we are unlike anything else in the universe and our sexual intimacy is unique and very important.
Also, this relationship looks beyond the act of intimacy and points to a relationship with our Creator.

In our time, there is a huge disconnect between sex and relationship.
As a result, when the sexual act is abused and taken out of context and misrepresented; the relationship to which it should point is askew. 

Within the Body of Christ, attitudes about sex, sexual practices and divorce rates are about the same as those who do not claim Christ as their Lord.
While this is very tragic and sad, I believe the responsibility can be laid at the feet of the church itself. 
Over the last 100 years, coinciding with the 'Progressive Movement,' we have allowed for the removal of the belief of the sacred nature of sex within the Church.

If intimate relations still retained the sacred nature which God created within it and we attached His meaning and morals to our actions behind closed doors, there would be a greater meaning attached to our sexual acts today.
Our acts wouldn't be just something that we do because it feels good; it would be an act with our spouses by which we glorified God in our marriages.

I realize that some who are reading these words have made mistakes in their lives with regards to sexual relations.
I want to remind you that Jesus showed great tenderness toward those with whom He met who had failed in sexual matters. In my opinion, the church should do the same.
But the Church's attitude begins with the individual offender first seeking God in repentance and then forgiving themselves.

And know - just because you messed up at another point in your life, that doesn't mean you have to continue to make that same mistake.
If we are going to glorify God and try to make this society a better place with a higher regard for the sanctity of marriage for our children - it should begin today, and begin with you and me.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

What Has Happened?

If this truly is God's world, why is it so messed up?

If this is God's creation and He is perfect, what in heck has happened?
Why must we actively search for God; why isn't He evident in every day life?

These are valid questions; though they may have been asked a thousand different ways.
I can testify, the most difficult question to answer for pastors is 'why?'
"Pastor, why did the wife I love treat me so wrong - having multiple affairs?"
"Pastor, why can't we have children?"
"Pastor, how did I get cancer; I'm a servant of God?"

Difficult questions.

What I have discovered is that there is a huge difference between the ideal a Christian describes and the actual world in which we live.

In our hearts and minds we have a deep intuition as to how the world should operate.
Where did we get it?
It certainly didn't come from within; it came from God long ago.
Like a crash on stock market, the introduction of sin into our world disordered everything and though we have faint reminders of how things once were - we still do not know how to deal with our own fallen state.

As I read the Prophets, they unanimously describe a coming world that is the exact opposite of what we see today in the land where the prophets walked.
Adam & Eve reached too far - beyond what humans were ever meant to reach.
And that is why things are the way they are in the world today.

This is why some wives and husbands cannot remain faithful to their vows, their children or their Lord.
It is why some families are forced to adopt and though there seems to be nothing wrong otherwise, biological children escape their grasp.
It is why young men who seem to be healthy are eaten up with cancer, women in the prime of their life have tumors and children are given over to the iron grip of death much too soon.

Sin is nothing more than righteousness run amok; when sin entered a righteous world created by God - everything went amok.
In many cases, sin forces us to choose the artificial or the real; shall we choose temporary passion or lasting, true love?
Sin demands we decide between the fleeting and the lasting.
Being human, it means that we are always grasping for more - which means that we are confronted with choices every day and we MUST choose.

Humans are not like computers in a moral sense; computers can just do what they are programmed to do. 
Computers don't want; humans care about things, people and life. What we want, we will choose.
We are not like animals, who are content simply by living, surviving and reproducing. Human beings want more.
We want more because we once had more...long ago, before it was forfeited and now we long for it to be restored as it once was by the power of Christ.

Have you ever watched a Sci-Fi movie or TV show where aliens were invading the earth?
If you have then you know that aliens, even friendly ones, are always pictured as much more superior when compared to humans.

Yet, in the end, the dangerously free humans exercise their free will and ingenuity and always win and save the universe from the alien lizard threat or the formidable 'Greys'.

You see, being human even imperfectly, offers an odd attraction; while the Bible tells us that we are created a little above the angels, pop culture will echo this strange attraction by showing us that even Superman fell in love.
That odd attraction that humanity has is the very thing that has led to the state of the world as we know it. It is our freedom of choice.

Quite possibly the greatest picture of grace in Scripture could be the story Jesus tells in the Gospels of the Prodigal Son.
The Prodigal Son made the choice to take his inheritance and leave the family farm; soon, he was in horrid straits but eventually came home. Instead of being condemned, he was welcomed home because he was lost but then had been found.

We learn something from the Prodigal Son, Adam & Eve, Noah and Jesus Christ; there is a common thread with them all.
God's method of dealing with evil in the world is not to prevent it; it is to cure it.
And His decision to cure the wicked curse of the earth meant for a Cross to appear on the horizon of history for the salvation of all those who would trust Him by faith.

While I cannot explain "why" everything happens in our lives, and I do not know why all has happened; I do know how - how the cure is achieved: Through Christ.
He is the ultimate and final solution.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

21st Century Gods

Walking the corridors of the Cleveland Clinic, you see many interesting sights. 

Though many of the patients you see are on a journey that will end in their death, there is an atmosphere of hope. 


This is amazing because generally speaking, hospitals, nursing homes, doctor's offices and health care facilities don't usually breed an overall sense of hope. 
Generally, they are fairly depressing and the longer you are in one, the more depressing they become for everyone.

One of the things that still amazes me about the Clinic is that there is a McDonald's built right in the cafeteria. 
The one restaurant franchise, in my opinion, which has caused more health problems than any other is located in one of the greatest healing centers in the world.

I also find it interesting that there are chapels for various religions located right next to each other on the same floor. 
In the minds of many, everybody is headed to the same place in the end, so this is normal.
To me, its very abnormal because somebody has to be right; which means the others are wrong.

What is more amazing to me is the fact that the vast majority of people simply don't care.
Millions upon millions of people worldwide don't really have much concern about spirituality; their concern is about themselves and what affects them from day to day.
The vast majority of people do  not worship in a church, temple, synagogue or mosque anyway; they worship in the mirror, or in a bar, or in a sports facility.

Though a person would look at you as if you are from another planet if you asked them what idol to which they paid homage, the truth is most people are idolaters. 
The difference between Biblical times and now is the fact we are far too sophisticated to worship a piece of wood or a stone.

C.S. Lewis called idolatry the 'Sweet poison of the false infinite.'
And he was absolutely right.

Humans allow substitutes for the sacred; yet the vacuum in our hearts remain and we try to fill it with something, anything - it is a false infinite. 
It can be anything, anything in the place of God, that is.

For example, in 1961 Nikita Khrushchev proclaimed communism as sacred.
He had in fact dethroned God and put man in His place.
When this thought spread throughout the old Iron Curtain of Eastern Europe, it didn't elevate man nor society; it led to levels of death and cruelty among those nations that are nearly unspeakable and certainly unexplainable.
I wonder how many suicides and manic depressants came to light after the fall of the Soviet Union; for their god was dead.

But in the United States, the government is not the god of most; nor is the military like the old Prussian and Germanic States. It certainly isn't a party like the Communists and it isn't an earthly king.
The great god of most Americans is Sex.

Sex is extremely blatant today; raised to a Divine Status with the glorification of self the chief method of daily devotion.
It touches everything in society; it sells everything, even children's animated television shows.
Sports Illustrated calls its models of the swimsuit issue, "goddesses," while Victoria Secret calls its models 'Angels.'
And men and women alike spend billions of dollars each year on themselves, trying to make themselves more attractive. 
In the old days, we would have called it decorating an idol.

Previous generations honored virginity and monogamy in marriage; today, this seems to be a practice of a by-gone era.
Sex is now presented as the highest good; as a result, it doesn't bind marriages together any more but with the glorification of self and seeking the highest pleasure in our selfishness, sex quickly becomes the method by which many marriages end.
Shouldn't something that we have given such a high power to in our lives have a longer lasting effect when it is prevalent among those whom we love?

Not so long ago, in our circle of friends and acquaintances, my wife and I watched marriages begin to fall one at a time.
Amazingly, the scenario that was playing out in each of those couples lives were remarkably the same; it did not matter if the couple was military, church, or just people we knew from our children's school - all of them had two things in common: they were all within the same age group, and it was the women, not the men, who had 'stepped out' with another person and committed adultery against their husbands.

The great god of Sex had claimed sacrifice after sacrifice as marriage after marriage fell.

Well, what was the reason?
It was actually quite simple and none of them had anything to do with any type of abuse or 'payback' or anything of that nature.
What had happen and continues to happen is a physiological fact.
Each of the women had hit their mid-30's and physiologically came alive; their husbands had already been through this a few years before, but when their wives went through this process, they actually did not know what to do with themselves.

Some of them began to lose massive amounts of weight, some began to hit the gym more and become involved in yoga; others began widening their circle of friends. 
Various things happened in their lives, but when it came right down to it - they all wanted to fill the vacuum in their heart with somebody who made them feel young and beautiful.
And without the foundation of Christian morality and practice being taught when they were younger in their homes, when the time came and their faith was greatly tested, they failed.

So, the god of Sex claimed them and the marriages were destroyed.

But let me say this before I continue, some of the men immediately ended the relationship; but most of them tried to restore their marriage and were willing to do whatever it took to make it happen.
Sometimes they succeeded; sometimes they didn't.
And there were a precious few, who persevered in their commitment and made it. 

A man who was in the middle of this type of situation once asked me, 'What is it with all these women having affairs? Do they hit 40 and just go nuts?'
The short answer is 'no.'
How this happens is that we choose something that is good and then grant it a status and a power it was were never meant to have.
Whether it is Sex or drugs or whatever - we use to call it idolatry;  today we call it an 'addiction.'

If we'd quit calling sin something that sounds acceptable - that would be a good start to solving the problem.

Westerners are not alone in this.
I recently read that in Melanesia (Pacific islands northeast of Australia) that there is a "Cargo Cult" who pray for airplanes to soar through the skies, descending on them and dropping containers of Spam as they did in World War II.

As a side note, I have to wonder how bad your life has to be that you would seek to worship that which brings Spam to your life.
But I digress.

All idols, whether they are stone images of the first century, Spam in the 1940's or Sex in the 21st Century, all of them reveal so much about the person and society who worships at its altar. 
Along with Sex, there are millions who also worship at the altar of Sports.
Why else would ESPN be so dominant in cable ratings while at the same time being chased by every major network for viewers in the same venue?

In fact, the second time Michael Jordan retired, he earned more from endorsements than twice of what all the U.S. Presidents combined had earned.
That simply tells me that our society is totally out of balance.

But do you know what is interesting about ourselves?
You and I can determine anything, but we cannot abstain from worshiping something. 
Humans have never stopped seeking a god of some type; every society of every era and culture has worshiped at an altar of some type.
We cannot stop ourselves - even if that altar is a mirror in which we sing, 'How Great Thou Art' every morning when we awake.

We can't stop worshiping; instead, what we tend to do is swallow the poison of a false infinite.
We will substitute a lesser god.
The apostle Paul described it as forsaking the Creator while at the same time worshiping the creation.

While God is always near us, many - even Christians - will look for God in all the wrong places and in all the wrong things.
In doing so, we run the risk in temptation of giving them a higher status and power than what they are to have in our lives.
We must seek God and abstain from the false alternatives.

Yet, God is best seen like we would see the sun during a solar eclipse.
The best way to see it is not by staring straight at the sun; instead is is seen through something on which the sun is projected.
Christians ought to be that one thing on which the Son is projected; therefore, others will be able to better see God of the Ages among this age of the gods.

Earth and our longings are little but advanced echoes of another world.
What we experience here is good; don't make it a god in your life because in the next world there is something infinitely better.

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Pay Attention

Trinity Garden, Church of the Holy Trinity; Parnell, New Zealand

The Westminster Catechism teaches the chief end of man is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' Interesting.
I agree with it the statement in its totality, but for most people, theological statements do not translate into practical living.
This is especially true when God's holiness or His glory is so far removed from us.

We don't exactly live in a world that 'glorifies God' nor does culture seek to 'enjoy Him forever.' Instead, it is as if the Christian is trapped in a world where we know something is askew.

The world we know is wrought with colleagues who suffer with their spouses when a bout of cancer is endured; it is full of the prayers of the faithful when, for one of our own, breathing becomes as laborious as childbirth; it is a world full of pink slips, broken promises, tumors, aching backs, a spoiled environment and wanting lives devoid of God's glory and enjoyment of His blessings.

Yet, I have no desire to escape the natural world like some of the past and a few in the present.
In yesteryear, the Gnostics said the answer was to be found in deeper, more spiritual knowledge only a few could ascertain.
Then the time came when monks retreated to the desert and seclusion; personally, becoming a monk has never crossed my mind - mostly because I've never liked the haircut.
In a more recent time, including our own, there are the radical 'Fundamentalists' who attempt to flee the 'worldliness' which surrounds them.

When considering those who have fled from the world for a Promised Land, I can't help but think of the tragic end to those who fled to Jonestown only a few decades ago. 
They were a religious people escaping a polluted world, only to be deceived by the Father of Lies himself. Sad.
Scripture indicates we are to be separated from the world, not isolated from it.

Truthfully, I don't want to escape the world because it is the best and only world I have been given in which I might glorify God and enjoy Him through this life.
Personally, I want my life to be the fullness and the wholeness that God intended.

Bodie Island Lighthouse, OBX

You see, either the world belongs to God or it does not. 
Either I can hear God's voice whispering through the sounds and acts of nature when attentive, or I can't; both cannot be simultaneously true. 

If you and I could have known God aside from the world, God would not have created the world but would have created another medium through which His children would be called and guided to their Heavenly Father.

"In the beginning, God CREATED....."
So begins the first words to the greatest book ever to grace the human language; yet, it is not just a book but a revelation into the mind of God - a window into His heart.
This being true, the world had a sacred origin and life too, is sacred for He is the author of both.
But clearly, while I am expressing theology, the world in which you and I live, we know that modern men do not treat the world nor their bodies in the sacredness either deserves.

One has said that creation sings in a minor key; it could be this is the "groaning" the Apostle Paul referenced in Romans. 
After doing a little research into what takes place in the world, I can see why creation groans, for man has taken God's natural creation for granted:
- At an alarming rate throughout the 20th century, Americans took the most fertile lands on earth and instead of growing crops to feed the starving masses, we paved over them to form parking lots on which to sit our over-priced, over-used cars.

- Aside from the Wild Turkey spill in the Kentucky River (Kentucky) which killed thousands of fish during the '90's, and aside from the more recent chemical spill in the Elk River (Charleston, WV) which sickened hundreds and left over 300,000 without clean water for weeks - humans have been pouring toxins into our water supplies for years, without batting an eye.
And it has affected everything from the fish we wish we could eat to the water we suspiciously drink.

- And as far as human life goes, that which is the most sacred is actually the most endangered.
Roughly - about 24,000 children die every day in third world countries from diseases that have been deemed 'preventable.'
As for the West, we will abort over 120,000 more children each day, dying before they ever leave the womb.
Our adults do not just lead an assault on children, we are also abusing ourselves physically and sexually; showing the largest disrespect for the greatest of God's masterpieces. 

Unfortunately, our treatment of ourselves and our ever spiraling downward morality has caused us to force those things which are truly sacred to a very small place in our lives, if the sacred is there at all.
Most people who do make room for the sacred, relegate God to only a couple of hours each Sunday; some even will tell jokes in the parking lot of the church which would NEVER be told in the sanctuary.

Yet, with all these issues, the beauty of nature remains as one of the strongest pointers to an all-powerful, all-loving God. 
In my mind, I have stored many images from nature; it is a memory bank filled of God's grace and wonder.
Why any person would want to forsake God's creation for something that is less of an indicator of God's wonder is absolutely beyond me.

When man began to expand across the earth, cities began to be built for convenience; but among nature, trout streams and mountains - the perspective changes everything.
Nature reminds us how truly dependent we are upon God and how mortal we truly are in this world.

Some years ago, I briefly lived on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (OBX); having enjoyed the sun and beach for many years on and off, actually living there for a short time provided me with a different perspective than a casual tourist would have.
But I digress.

One of the main concerns of environmentalists and the National Park Service for years on the OBX has been the well-being of Loggerhead Sea Turtles.
The Loggerhead is an amazing animal. The can age to be over 70 years old and become over 6 feet long.

Not so long ago and for many years prior, anyone who chose could drive as many miles on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore as they desired.
Most people who in fact did take their vehicles on the beach, did so to enjoy nature, to fish in the surf - sometimes in seclusion, sometimes with numerous people from other places around the world.
Such was the case at two of the greatest fishing places on the East Coast, the Oregon Inlet and Cape Point, located on Hatteras Island.

In all the years, from 1979 to now, I have NEVER seen or even heard a rumor of any turtle nor any other wildlife being harmed on the beaches of the Outer Banks.
But that didn't stop the federal government from exercising its authority and closing off the vast majority of the seashore to the public in the name of 'protecting' the Loggerhead Turtle.

The point of this is that the very beach and habitat that was sought out for protection in the long term, can no longer be enjoyed.
Why would we protect nature only to shove humanity off the very land which would shout choruses of God's Glory.

"The place in the monastery which is closest to God is not the church, but the garden.'
                                                                                                      -- Egyptian Monk Pachomius

The monk is accurate, for I too am close to God in the garden; in nature.
But nature delivers mixed messages; the beauty of creation is often mingled with brutality and pain.
Chimps aide their wounded; ground squirrels routinely eat their own babies.
Dolphins will risk their own lives to help their companions; Mallard ducks will gang rape and then drown other ducks.
Morality in nature certainly isn't absolute; nature is fallen as we are fallen.

Comforting is the fact God knows every sparrow which falls; and they do fall, just as hair falls from our heads during chemotherapy.
And nature, like God's children, though fallen - it will be redeemed.

The very fact we know that something is obviously wrong with the world is proof that God does exist.
But beyond that, humans have an in-built longing for a place where His will is fulfilled and is the norm; for, that is the place where we are headed in His redemption.

And if you pay attention, you'll be able to see glimpses of His hand in the world pointing us to Himself.
Until next time, go win one for the good guys.