Faith & Science

"Theology is not only about understanding the world; it is about mending the world."

                                                                                          ~Miroslav Volf


I have friends who insist if only the people of the world would believe as they believe, hold to their own theology, all things would be perfect - a near paradise on earth.
Since all truth belongs to God, all anyone really needs is to learn of God and He will reveal it to them, people need to learn the Bible, they implore; live in service to others, turn the other cheek and eventually, the grace demonstrated will reach right into the heart of the sinner.

While hopeful, that isn't all there is to the world; and may I so gently remind everyone that even in the Christian realm we have sincere believers who greatly disagree on matters of faith, society and how to reach those who are hurting and in need of help.

I have other friends who insist only through education, logic and science can the world be healed of its problems.
Everyone needs more education, to have access to knowledge, they tell me; then and only then, can the wonders of the world and universe be unlocked.

While thoughtful, education and science lack in one area - moral authority.
And may I be so bold as to remind my dear friends that even in the realm of science, there are educated men and women who sincerely disagree over certain 'facts' concerning global warming, the origin of the universe and what, if anything, can be deemed as 'moral' or 'right.'

Now, I must ask with a sincere heart → Why must we continue to place a gap between Faith and Science?

Sincerely, I must admit there is much to learn from each discipline.
Faith and Science, in my mind, are only opposed to one another as a thumb and finger are opposed on the same hand.
Without the thumb, the finger could not access adequate 'snackage'; likewise, without faith, science lacks moral authority and may turn tragic (as has happened in the past, think Nazis); without science, faith can become ridiculous, self-centered and self-serving.

As the thumb and finger exist, so does faith and science so that they become the means by which all Truth may be grasped.

For centuries, the greatest scientists were all theologians; where would we be without the thoughtful insights of Sir Isaac Newton?

Yet, Newton's chief concern was not earthly sciences, but the Queen of Science - Theology.

And Newton was not alone.

Today, there are scientists, historians, medical doctors, archaeologists, paleontologists and countless others working in the sciences who serve God; it is not a rare as one might be led to believe.

When I first learned of the earth sciences and biology as a young lad in public school, I had a teacher who refused to attack evolutionary thought (though he was a Christian, I later learned) and he also refused to attack the ideal of Creationism; equally, he would not let any student ridicule another for what they said they believed.

Once, I remember a student who was adamant and vocal that God, not science, was the answer to everything in the world, including our current learning.
He responded with a wise statement, 'Did you ever think that science might just exist to explore what God has already accomplished?'

Interesting...there's still truth in his statement from long ago.

What does continue to amaze me is that many Scientists can observe the same things I see, yet we view them with different lenses on our eyes with strikingly different conclusions.
In their results, I see a Creative God who cares for His Universe and Creatures; others whole-heartedly reject the idea of a God, especially a Creator, while accepting the astronomical odds for the Universe to exist by random chance.

Though few may admit it, the problem for millions upon millions of people is that they only know God insofar as He has revealed Himself; believing He has not revealed Himself to them.
But He has.

Therefore, the real problem is not the revelation of God, it exists in abundance; the problem is the fact that mankind would like to stand above the subject-matter (God) and study it according to human standards and methods, rather than bowing before Him in humility.

A. Tsiaras

I recently read about a gifted intellect embodied in a man named Alexander Tsiaras; who, among other feats, taught himself mathematics, physics and developed the first lenses used to photograph the first images of human eggs in an in vitro fertilization program.
In the words of Darth Vader, 'Impressive. Most impressive.'

But I digress.

Mr. Tsiaras observed the fact that the human body is largely made up of collagen; a rope-like protein of the hair, skin, nails, bones, cartilage and blood vessels.
In his studies, Tsiaras found that collagen changes structure in only one place in the human body's development; the eye.
In the eye, collagen spontaneously forms a transparent grid pattern.

In the questioning of how the human body 'knows' to do this genetic phenomenon, one must wonder how Divinity could not be involved in designing where each nerve cell should go.
Tsiaras himself declared it '...beyond human comprehension.'

Indeed.

 I read of Tsiaras' work and the observations of others concerning the human body, for I am not a scientist, and stand amazed at God's handiwork. 
Without a hint of self-righteousness toward anyone, I cannot help but think of the arrogance and pridefulness involved for modern Atheists to 'want more evidence' to prove the existence of God; as if God must prove Himself to them when He has already revealed more to them about Himself and His nature than the average man through their education and learning, although some have chosen not to acknowledge Him as the source.

Yet, I will be the first to admit that the evidence for a Creator is not over-powering; for, if it was, everybody would believe in an Intelligent Creator.
But God has testified of Himself through nature and science, giving all mankind no excuse to ignore Him; in short, those who want to know Him have ample evidence of God to begin their search.
And if the search is embarked upon, the Searcher will not leave empty-handed.

In defense of those who cling to Science, I can understand their plight; especially if the individual has had no faithful, religious or theological background.
To many, all religions are basically the same; although those within the religious faiths would not agree. 

As a Chaplain, one of my responsibilities is to know about the religious faiths of my Airmen so that they will not be neglected the Constitutional Right of the Freedom of Religious Expression.

At times, this has put me in unique situations; but I have never been asked to violate my own religious beliefs or my faith, nor do I know any Chaplain in the American military who has been put in such a position.

Yet, to be a good Chaplain to all the troops, one must at least know the basic tenants and beliefs of their faiths; this is especially true if their faith stands in contrast to your own.
Having said that, any person who does compare the religions of the world will soon find that most aren't compatible with one another; the vast majority don't even come close.

For example, in the 1990's on college campuses, there were many engaging in the New Age Movement; which was nothing more than an Old Age faith from the East.
In essence, the god worshiped looked a lot like the worshiper and offered little hope.
Truly, a god who is like me governing the universe is not only a sad thought, it also promises everyone that disaster looms.

Looking to those on the fringe of religious thought, the Wiccan, Mysticism, Scientology or even the Unity Church - all of it is symptomatic of a deep spiritual thirst for a God who is real; not one in my image. 
Most people choose to believe in whatever they think corresponds to how they see reality and how they want to live their lives.
Where many would see rebellion, the Christian should see a thirst for God and a seeker who does not know how to express their need.

How any person can say all faiths are the same is beyond me, but i can say that there is one thing most of the religions have in common → They are all works based, except for Christianity.

In most religions, to get to Heaven, or Nirvana, or Karma or whatever the adherent wants to call the afterlife, they have to do good deeds in order to qualify.
Their destiny in the afterlife is determined by what they can do in this life.

Not so with Biblical Christianity.

In Biblical Christianity, any good works we do is because of the faith which is in our heart and it has no bearing whatsoever on whether or not the person gets into Heaven.
That decision has already been made and it will not be reversed.

There is not one thing a person can do to make God love them more or less; God simply loves us the way that we are, but loves us so much that He refuses to leave us the way He found us. He wants to make us just like Jesus.

All religions revere Jesus in some way; even many scientists will give the man from Nazareth a nod of their head.
But this commonality is what ultimately divides Biblical Christianity from the rest of the belief systems of the world.

While Jesus is taught by others to be a Prophet, a Moral Teacher, a Divinely sent man, an Enlightened One and other positive titles; only Christianity holds that Jesus is the Eternal Son of God, co-equal with the Father who is on a Divine Mission to redeem a broken, fallen humanity in a hostile world.

Like sunlight through a magnifying glass, everything in Biblical Christianity is focused on Jesus Christ because He is God's focal point.
He is the 'Good News' of the ages.

My Christian faith rests not on my ability to keep Jesus' example in my life.
My faith rests upon the Resurrection.

And when I am being hit with doubt on all sides; when I begin to over-think the obvious; one thing remains, the Resurrection.
While I know there are doubters, there is a truth that no person on earth can deny; the disciples ran into a tomb outside of Jerusalem looking for the corpse of Jesus of Nazareth.

His body has never been found.



Until next time, win one for the good guys.

God's Grace Today

"Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it has a God who knew the way out of the grave."

                                                                                     ~ G.K. Chesterton

Two pioneers were making their way across the Southwest.
They had braved uncharted territories, Indians and rattlesnakes.
Finally, they came to a place that we would call the Grand Canyon in later years.
Happening upon it, they were amazed at it's depth and beauty.
One pioneer looked to the other, wiped his brow, and said: 'Whoa! Somethin' big must have happened here.'

When a person looks around the Christianized world during December, there's no doubt that something big has happened.
With traditions worldwide, the giving of gifts, decorations and multiple church services, the time between December 6th (Saint Nicholas' Day) and January 6th (Epiphany) stands as the most consistent celebratory time for Christians regardless of what country, language or continent one may live on.

To a non-believer, I wonder what they see; for, they do not see these things as I see them. 
If they did, they would be Christians.

I often wonder, when a nonbeliever hears a non-controversy become a rattling saber for some Christians (think of the complaints over the red cups of Starbucks), I wonder if they think all Christians have lost their minds?

I also wonder how many have been turned away from the Gospel of Grace over such actions. 
And if we have turned them away, how can we ever turn them back?

How can Christians in a post-Christian society, even a post-Christian world in many locations, how can we show the lost, hurting and helpless a God who loves them, when they cannot detect Him nor are some even willing to search for Him?

The Church Jesus established and the apostles taught was supposed to be an agent of change in the world; unfortunately, many times we have allowed ourselves to be the ones who have changed rather than the other way around.
We hide our faith in fear of 'offending' someone; yet, nobody really cares if a Christian is offended. Even when Christians are murdered by the hundreds by Islamic Forces overseas, televised and vicious, few have come to our aid or defense. 

While we should not force anyone to capitulate to our values, values and worldviews contrary to our own should not be forced upon us or our children.
By the same token, someone should stand up and stop the senseless killing of believers who will not forcibly convert to other religions.

Yet, faith was never meant to be a private matter.
The Christian faith was meant to be contagious - like a virus.
The world around the Christian and the Body of Christ was to be affected and infected by the truth of the Gospel we proclaim.

When the Church was in its infancy, it began in the Roman Empire; where the Emperor was considered a god along with the tribe from Mount Olympus, Christians were thought of as cannibals, ridiculed and outlawed. 
And yet, Christians still succeeded in their witness for Jesus Christ.

The Empire, much like governments today, was impersonal and uncaring; it embodied the opposite of what the Church was to be.

Christians, therefore, developed relief projects for the poor, they ransomed people who had been taken prisoner by barbarians, and many of them freed their own slaves.
Their actions were helping both Church members and their non-believing neighbors.
As Romans abandoned their unwanted babies to die of exposure and wild animals, Christians organized wet nurses until the newborns were adopted by families in the Body of Christ.

Due to these acts of grace in a world among people who often despised them, when the Empire began to wane, people flocked to churches because Churches were known as caring communities of faith.

This is when the Body of Christ had the most impact; as a result, the Church grew in prominence. 
But then, something happened that turned the tide.

As the Church's power and numbers grew, so did it's wealth; as a result, the Church developed a hierarchy which resembled the state. 
Once Christianity became the state religion, the Church authorities began persecuting those who once persecuted them - only the Church had a spiritual (not a criminal) charge, heresy. 

As we are about to dawn the sixteenth year in the new millennium, this cycle continues, as it has throughout history.

Christians will work effectively as Servants of Christ...until we become dominant in society.
Somehow, and for some reason, once Christians become the dominant force, it diverts our attention away from the very mission Christ set us before us.

And today, that is partially our problem; Christianity became the dominant force at one time in Europe and in America.
Unfortunately, instead of pressing forward with the Great Commission of our Lord; we got lazy and have remained that way.
Yet, this is not just an American or European problem; this is a problem for Christianity worldwide, in every time and era.

When one thinks of it, this is actually absurd and an affront to our very faith.

Instead of operating like the living organism that is the Body of Christ, many churches and denominations function more like an industry.
There is very little sharing in the name of Christ, as copyrights, royalties and infringements are a constant concern when using materials or sources in an effort to reach the lost.

Where Christians in most societies would visit prisoners, regardless of criminal charge or guilt because everyone needs grace; as Paul said, 'Where sin abounds, grace abounds even more.'
Today, this is a rare find except for the occasional prison Chaplain; in which case the Chaplain is hired to do so as a responsibility rather than a true calling.

As for orphans, Christians use to have wet nurses, then homes to house them until they were adopted.
Orphanages are quickly becoming a thing of the past; instead, we hire people to take care of such nuisances on society. Many times this leads the local governments to develop their own method of handling such children like Child Protective Services or Foster Care.

I will never be convinced a government entity will ever be able to love and care for anyone like the Body of Christ can because only those within the Body of Christ have the love and power of God within them which enables them to do so.
But I digress.

Today, in many churches, we pay people to lead 'worship'; we are hiring professional singers, directors, pianists, etc. 
Let me restate that fact: There are churches who are hiring people to worship.

Friends, there is still a spiritual difference between true ministers of grace whom are 'under-shepherds' and what the Bible calls 'hirelings.'

Does anyone see anything wrong with this except me???
Whatever happened to people just coming together and worshiping God?

You know, I think we just stumbled on a reason why societies in the west are now, 'Post-Christian.'

We're hiring people to do the ministry we are called to do because ministry is difficult, it can be painful and it takes time, money and effort to make an impact in people's lives for the Lord.
We speak a language that is 'Christian-eese' with churchy words that nonbelievers don't know and don't understand.
As a result, people come into contact with us and feel like 'outsiders.'

Sometimes, they'll even come to our events and churches, but never get beyond feeling like an outsider because they can't decipher what's going on because we've gotten so use to ourselves that we have forgotten what it was like to be outside the realm of faith.

How would you feel if you were in that situation?
For example, if the pastor of the Church you visited began the sermon by stating, 'Today, we will discuss the eschatological ramifications upon our soul of the Double Imputation of Jesus Christ's death at Calvary...'

Would you know and understand what he's talking about?
Would you continue to even listen?

By the way, that paragraph above; it simply means that the pastor will preach about the death of Christ, Him taking on your sin & giving you His righteousness, so that you can be saved an go to heaven.
And if it is that simple, then we should just say so, do so and love so.

Yes, the Body of Christ is still strong in the world; but we do live in Post-Christian times.
But we should never make the mistake of softening the message of Christ or the Gospel, trying to win the world by a sappy, emotional love.
That won't work and it isn't true love; true love is a love that has little to do with emotion and everything to do with duty, honor and responsibility - originating from the Lord Himself.
Moral neutrality will never work for any Church attempting to reach the lost and hurting; yet, our decisiveness must always be supported by the Word of God and wrapped in the Grace of God.

America and the West is decisively Post-Christian; Jeremiah had a message for the Jews who were living in a Post-Israel, Babylonian Captivity.
That message was simply this: Live Life and Serve God.

As Christians, instead of always fighting the drift away from God of society, it would be better to community Christ and the Gospel of Grace by living it out among those who do not believe it, or don't know it and may have never heard of it.

Today, I saw one of the most gracious, loving acts by a Christian I have ever seen.
I had the privilege of preaching a funeral of a woman who had served Christ most of her life, was widowed and left with kids to raise. She persevered and glorified the Lord through it.

After preaching the funeral (of which I was honored), a woman who had been left in marriage years earlier by a son of the deceased, walked up to her former husband (whom they hadn't seen one another in nearly 20 years) put her arms around him and hugged him.
She spoke a few words to him concerning his mother; they embraced momentarily, as if it were a long time coming, and then parted ways.
It brought a great sense of joy to my heart to have witnessed that act of forgiveness and grace because both of them loved the woman who had passed, albeit in different ways and for different reasons.
The situation could have been volatile if anyone had held on to the past hurts or held grudges.
Instead, what happened was an act of grace; they kind of grace by which Christ has forgiven us and expects us to extend to one another.

I write of this incident because it recalls a teaching by the founder of the Methodist faith, John Wesley.
Wesley taught that the Gospel of Christ involved more than saving souls; he was right.

The Gospel involves, more than anything, grace - God's grace to us and through us. 
It evidences itself first in Salvation; but it does not stop there.
The Church of yesteryear reached the masses one soul at a time through gracious acts of true needs; food banks, rescuing discarded children, teaching orphans, soup kitchens, clothing drives and countless other ways.
These are not substitutes for the Gospel or Good Works instead of Grace; no, these are outworkigns of the grace of God, of His Gospel.

And if we can return to sharing God's grace to all, in every post-Christian area, I promise you that we will have an impact on society - regardless of where we live in the world. 

Until next time, win one for the good guys.

Only Grace Can Defeat an Enemy

"We don't just want these adherents of a false faith to die; we want them to die to self and rise with Christ. This has to be our heart, our priority. We must make this our goal, our prayer, our focus..."

                                                                                               ~ Dave Miller


The above statement, in truth, should be the heart of every Christian.
But deep down, when thinking of Islam and what is taking place across the globe in our generation, if we are honest, we know that 'our goal, our prayer' is not their conversion.

Execution of Iraqi Christians

No, we are more concerned of our survival than their conversion.

Now, there are reasons for this; valid reasons. 
Reasons that involve things other than fear of losing life, including the protection and continuation of a way of life and the continuation of a civilization.
Yet, these reasons, as valid as they might be, are only the latest attempt from the world to encourage Christians to act like heathens.
And I, more than most, have struggled with this challenge of being a Christian and mounting a defense against terror and radical Islam in a way that honors God.

As I began to reflect on my life concerning this issue of Islamic Fascists seeking to destroy life as we know it, I soon realized this isn't the first time in my life the church has been at a loss as to how to respond in grace, mercy and strength to horrid problems in the world.

For example, when I was a child, the most popular daytime television show (with the exception of soap operas) was 'Donahue.'
Phil Donahue's talk show, to a child, was nothing more than an interruption of the then-exciting,

colorful game shows which flooded the broadcast networks.

Yet, Phil Donahue had a knack for terrifying the American public with modern social issues, which most of middle-America didn't even realize existed because nobody talked about it.

'Donahue' took the most challenging social issues and asked the viewer at home, 'What are we going to do about it?'
Truthfully, the viewer at home had never even considered the issues at hand, much less the answers to the problems.

Even today, the answers are elusive to many problems our society faces.
Do we sterilize people who continue to have premature babies addicted to heroin?
Do we take away the food stamps of the woman living in the projects who continues to have children by multiple fathers, as society supports her immorality?
Should we invest more money in the education of those in poverty-stricken areas, hoping that the more educated they are, the greater chance they have to succeed on their own?

None of these are actual solutions; but they are ideas spoken of very often.
But if education is the solution, then why do drugs invade the educated, upper-middle class in the same manner as it does the uneducated, lower classes?
Sterilization is a violation of civil rights and taking food stamps away seems to be more hurtful to the children than helpful; the children didn't do anything wrong, it was the mother.

There are no quick fixes to anything that ails our society.

The fight against the Islamic Terrorists, who seem to be within our borders due to lack of leadership and false political agendas, will not be won overnight.
But the fight will be won.

A few years ago, drunk driving was an issue from coast to coast in the United States.
It spurned the M.A.D.D. (Mother's Against Drunk Driving) organization as well as several offshoots.

The issue will never be solved, but drunk driving and the related deaths have tremendously curved in a positive direction in the last 30 years.
But it wasn't the mother's who were the most effective; it was a group called Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which was utilized by millions after public attitude, laws and society's opinion changed on the issue.

What many people do not realize is that AA is more theological than it is educational.
You see, the church body would stand back and tell people not to drink, call alcohol the 'devil's brew,' we would shake our finger and say, 'I told you so...' when a man lost his family or job because of the effects of booze.

AA also placed the blame on the individual as being morally responsible; but they demonstrated mercy and compassion; a compassion which insists on the perpetrator being morally accountable for their actions.
In turn, AA offers support from other alcoholics to help the new member; this fosters community and individual dignity within a solid body.

This is what the Body of Christ is supposed to do; yet, many times we have lost sight of our mission and have to admit that AA has done our mission better than we have as the Church.

Our mission is PEOPLE; and those people are sinners engaged in a multitude of sins that many times, we cannot even fathom.
Our mission is to disciple those who come to Christ in mercy and grace.

In our world, as in yesteryear, Christianity still makes sense.
The problem is with the Christian as we attempt to communicate Christ in a way that makes sense to those who don't know Him and may be adamantly opposed to Him.

There are those in society who, quite naively, believe that if we can keep the economy going, defeat terrorism through diplomacy (which will never happen) and educated everyone → a Golden Age will once again dawn in America.

But the problems we face today aren't new problems; in fact, they are actually as old as Eden.

Today, heroin addicted babies, ever-expanding welfare roles, or a shaky economy is the main issue we face as a civilization; it is Islamic Terrorism.
The Christian knows the simple facts; we have adherents to a religion who wish to eradicate anyone who does not align with their views of morality, government, law and especially faith, which drives every other facet of their lives.

Aiding these people to come out of poverty and become more wealthy is not the solution; for two reasons.
First, poverty is not the root of evil; a corrupt heart is.
Secondly, these people are coming from some of the wealthiest nations on earth.

Educating them isn't the solution either.
ISIS and Al-Quaida both have IT people carrying forward with cyber attacks, engineers helping build better bombs, military strategists, aircraft pilots, and a host of other educated terrorists seeking to do Christians harm on behalf of their organization.
In short, they've become educated (many times in American Universities) only to use that education to destroy humanity instead of helping it.

Political diplomacy is ineffective as well, and always will be unless the Western World clearly has shown strength and the upper hand militarily.
I mean, seriously, how long is it going to be before those in political leadership stop thinking the public is ignorant and man-up to the fact that there must be a military answer to the problem of ISIS.

These issues seem so far removed from my childhood and Donahue, but they're really not; they are the same issues, with liberals offering the same solutions - and their solutions have never worked.

Follow me on this path once again.

You see, what has been done in our society is to overlook bad behavior from our own people and marginalize the rules to excuse wrong actions.
Many times, this was done out of the desire to gain more votes and uphold a political agenda rather than attempting to uphold an honest way of American life.

In pushing their agenda, the answers we received sounded something like the following:
- Riots happen in certain areas because the people are under-privileged and they just can't help themselves; it's only their built-up frustration coming out.
- Teens get pregnant because they are just simply over-powered by their desires.
- Abortions take place because the woman has no real choices; she wasn't prepared for the pregnancy.

These are excuses, that's all, just excuses.
The real truth is that human beings are moral creatures with a free will; we decide every day, every hour and every minute what and how we will act.
And every person must live with the consequences of those actions and decisions; but excusing or marginalizing wrong acts does not help the individual and it weakens society.

These are nothing more than excuses for wrong behavior, but even with that statement, it requires one to believe in an absolute right and wrong. Many do not.
Some will argue that culture, environment, and religion has all influenced a person; therefore, we should not impose our values and mores on another person because their beliefs are just as valid as our own.

Really?
Do you really believe that?

Let's work through this thought.

Can you imagine anyone in the 1960's telling Martin Luther King, Jr. or any other person in the Civil Rights Movement: 'Leave the South alone. They were raised differently, they have a different culture. If they want segregation, we should let them have it because their values and beliefs are just as valid as yours...."


I've never heard a liberal say anything even close to that, but that is what they insist Christians should do when we look at the moral decay and Islamic Threat of today.

This is not normal behavior for a human being.

Yet, the problem remains, as to how we are to be Christ-like while still defending ourselves from the onslaught of Islamic Terrorism.
- The problem won't be solved financially; money will only make it worse.
- The problem can't be solved through education; they will use it against us.
- The problem will not be solved any conventional means.

The only true way to defeat the Islamic Threat is through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Now, I can not and would not begin to tell you how you should respond to the Islamist whom you may come into contact with; but I will say that you should do as much to protect yourself as your conscience will allow.
I can also say that not one emperor or empire, tribe or religion who has ever attempted to stomp out the  Christian faith has been able to do so; and in the end that empire or tribe or religion has fallen by the wayside as Christ's people marches forward.

Personally, I don't know when some of our political leaders will understand what's truly going on in the world; which is nothing less than a group of people seeking to eradicate Christians and the American way of life.
I don't know how many more cities will be attacked in this country or within the borders of our allies.
I don't even know how long this struggle will go on.

But I do know, those who are standing with Christ, we are the people who will win in the end.
So, as the electorate begins to wise up and search for a new Commander-in-Chief, the mission of the Christian has not changed.

If you want peace on earth, then protect your family within the boundaries of your conscience and help us fulfill our mission:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
                                                                                               ~ Mt. 28:19-20

Until next time, win one for the good guys.