God Exists; Therefore I Think

Old news came across my Facebook feed the other day about how Pope Francis boldly declared support for evolution saying, “When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so,”  I believe the Bible provides evidence God is far greater than a magician using sleight of hand who seems able to do everything - without waving a "magic" wand.  That fact God can do everything is the precise conclusion Job came to when God revealed Himself in Job 42:1-2:  "Then Job answered the LORD and said: ² "I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You."  A god who cannot do everything is not God, and certainly not worthy of worship.

The words of the Pope do not affect my beliefs in the slightest, but unfortunately much of the world sees him as speaking for the church with a degree of authority.  My entire life has been lived in a season during which Darwinian evolution is widely believed to be a reasonable means to explain the origin of species, and consequently anyone who believes in the literal creation of the world by God according to the Bible account is often ridiculed or at least seen to be a bit soft in the head.  Now G.K. Chesterton was a Catholic, and he spoke a lot more rational sense in his book Orthodoxy concerning evolution than Pope Francis from a philosophical vantage point on this subject.  Pope Francis reasoned evolution does not contradict scripture, yet Chesterton claimed evolution suicidal to reason.  Consider carefully this excerpt from a brilliant chapter titled, "The Suicide of Thought:"

"Evolution is a good example of that modern intelligence which, if it destroys anything, destroys itself.  Evolution is either an innocent scientific description of how certain earthly things came about; or, if it is anything more than this, it is an attack upon thought itself.  If evolution destroys anything, it does not destroy religion but rationalism.  If evolution simply means that a positive thing called an ape turned very slowly into a positive thing called a man, then it is stingless for the most orthodox; for a personal God might just as well do things slowly as quickly, especially if, like the Christian God, he were outside time.  But if it means anything more, it means that there is no such thing as an ape to change, and no such thing as a man for him to change into.  It means that there is no such thing as a thing.  At best, there is only one thing, and that is a flux of everything and anything.  This is an attack not upon the faith, but upon the mind; you cannot think if there are not things to think about.  You cannot think if you are not separate from the subject of thought.  Descartes said, "I think; therefore I am."  The philosophic evolutionist reverses and negatives the epigram.  He says, "I am not; therefore I cannot think," (Chesterton, G. K. Orthodoxy. New York: Lohn Lane, 1909. 39-40. Print.)

I do not find it particularly troubling in itself that people see evolution as intelligent and creation by God as idiotic, but I am greatly concerned when professing Christians yield to evolutionary dogma for a second.  All people have a prerogative given by God to think and believe what they want.  If you are a Christian, consider this:  we can only be Christians through the reasonable rock-solid doctrines contained in scripture.  We are beneficiaries of real promises in the Bible and transformational power from God - not metaphors or poetry from which we can draw superficial comfort or peace.  God's Word claims He spoke the world into existence, and thus God's Word has power beyond compare.  If Christians do not believe what is plainly written in the Bible, that God created all things to bring forth after their own kind, how can they believe in heaven, hell, sin, or that they are even saved?  Evolution does not need God, so why does God need evolution?  I need God as truly as I need the light and warmth of the sun, air to breathe, and water to drink.  If this makes me weak, stupid, and pathetic I will accept that gladly, for in my God there is strength, wisdom, and truth.  Darwinian evolution offers nothing but blind determinism, no freedom of thought or will.  Evolution commonly believed thrives on death, but God is the One who supplies life - and eternal life at that.

Knocking In

Being an immigrant opens a new world to explore and enjoy.  There are countless adjustments to life after moving to a new country.  Australia is a culture permeated with sport, and it didn't take long after moving to Australia to notice the popular sports are quite different to those I was familiar.  Instead of growing up playing baseball, kids play cricket or compete in "Little Athletics" (track and field events).  I have never seen gridiron (American football) played in a park, but I have seen plenty of rugby.  Australian football (footy) bears no resemblance to any football I knew previously, and netball seems to be more popular than basketball.

There is great personal enrichment available for all who will humbly lay aside what is familiar and be open to new things.  I remember hearing a message from Alan Redpath who hailed from Britain when he spoke of the "raw material" Abraham was made of, this flesh which "needed knocking in and knocking about."  Before I came to Australia, I didn't know "knocking in" is a cricket reference.  Before a English willow cricket bat can be used, it needs to be "knocked in." This process takes many mundane and tiring hours of using a special mallet or ball (these days rollers are used as well) to compress the wood fibres so the bat will not split or crack when the ball is hit.  A bat which is properly "knocked in" performs far better as well, the ball springing off the prepared surface almost like a trampoline.  I would never have understood this reference unless I had come to Australia and learned about cricket.

What Alan Redpath said is true concerning our lives when we first come to Christ.  There is a period of "knocking in" required to maximise our usefulness.  But if "knocking in" is a reference to putting away sin, repentance, growing in faith, and walking in obedience, the process of "knocking in" will continue until the LORD calls us home!  The process of preparing a cricket bat is time consuming and even tedious at times, but let us remember our justification and sanctification work in us to fulfill God's purposes concerning us.  We do not exist for ourselves but for God's sake and His glory.  When a batsman scores runs he will be complemented with, "Good knock mate!"  May the same be said of us when we run with endurance the race set before us, looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith.  It is the one who expertly wields the bat who receives the glory for a "good knock," and may we be faithful implements in the hand of our Master who brings great increase to His kingdom.

Pain in the Process

A great challenge in our Christian walk is working through painful trials.  A couple of useful books on the subject is The Problem of Pain by C.S. Lewis and Where is God When it Hurts? by Philip Yancey.  We labour hard to reduce and eliminate it when we can, but pain isn't a bad thing when viewed through a biblical perspective.  Pain is a useful sensation (excruciating as it can be at times) to notify us of physical damage and prevents us from wounding ourselves further.  It is not fun to be robbed of sleep or rest due to pain, yet we can still find solace in Christ as our rest.  Our bodies heal much better and faster than wounded hearts and minds.  There is no prescription a doctor can supply to heal a broken heart, and what is impossible with men is possible with God.  The only time physical pain truly is a thing of the past is when a Christian enters into eternal glory.

Last Saturday I sprained my ankle playing baseball, and I did a quality job.  My ankle and foot swelled a bit and blood from the torn connective tissue pooled in a colourful bruise.  When I showed a picture of my ankle to a mate who has personal experience with ankle injuries he replied something to the effect of, "It's good you have swelling because it means most of your ligaments are still intact."  I must say this was an eye-opening perspective.  If there are no ligaments attached there would be no tearing or swelling:  only weakness and pain.  My ankle bruised because I had ligaments to tear.  Jesus brings healing for ankles, hearts, minds, and restores souls.  There will be pain in the process, but His love will carry us through.

When we are born again, God removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh. The ligament of God's love provides a new depth of feeling and compassion for others we never had before.  We are given love for people we have never met and care deeply about their pains.  I have heard it said "Love hurts," and truthfully love makes a person willing to hurt for others.  Jesus was willing to endure the pain of the cross for me, and He provides the strength to endure suffering for His sake.  As much as we dislike pain and try to avoid it, this world is filled with it.  All people face the reality of pain, and God makes us sensitive to the pain of others because we have been born again.  A dead man feels no pain.  Only Christ provides meaning behind suffering which is profitable and reveals God's grace.

When I Cannot God Can

The tendency to self-reliance is common to all people.  No matter how dependent we are on others or our environment, we retain the freedom of preference to suit ourselves.  It is a jarring realisation when we accept the fact we are powerlessness to change a situation.  We value the right to choose, and when that is "taken" from us we can resent it bitterly.

This morning I read of Isaac and Rebekah who for about twenty years of marriage were without children.  They wanted to have children but Rebekah was barren.  There were no fertility clinics back in those days.  But the God who created man and woman was able to heal such an irreversible condition as infertility.  Genesis 25:21 says, "Now Isaac pleaded with the LORD for his wife, because she was barren; and the LORD granted his plea, and Rebekah his wife conceived."  It occurred to me Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all had wives who were for a time barren but the LORD remembered them and gave them conception.  I recalled to mind my wife and I also had this issue for a time.  Our ultimate solution and results were the same as these in scripture.

After the birth of our first son, Laura and I had a plan which I will call the "two year plan."  Two years seemed a good amount of space between siblings, and so at the appropriate time we ceased using any method of birth control.  Month after month there was no conception.  I began to analyse the situation, considering if there was something wrong with me.  Surprise turned to frustration, for conception was foolproof before.  It was about at the five month mark without conception that I read Genesis 30:22-24:  "Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. ²³ And she conceived and bore a son, and said, "God has taken away my reproach." ²⁴ So she called his name Joseph, and said, "The LORD shall add to me another son."

When I read the scripture it struck me:  God is the one who shuts and opens the womb.  All that time I had grown frustrated, thinking the fruit of the womb was reliant upon me and factors which could be medically explained rather than God.  I repented that day and determined I would leave the matter with the LORD.  Joy replaced irritation and frustration.  Many months passed without a change and though I continued to pray my approach was, "If it happens it happens."  I remember clearly when I was working at Balboa Hospital when the truck driver patched through a call from Laura:  she was pregnant.  I was thrilled and gave God the glory.  There is nothing more wonderful than by faith exchanging my inability for God's sufficiency.

God shuts wombs and opens them.  He raises up kings and deposes them; He lifts up nations and casts them down.  He causes the rain to fall, the fruit to form, and supplies peace, joy, and abundant life for those who trust in Him.  Realising we are powerless to change ourselves and others brings us low, but God lifts up those who admit this and trust Him instead.  How good God is to hear our prayers and answer them!