Finals Poetry #3

Just finished writing this, it is about how I felt this afternoon before I took my ECE6604 final: amazingly content. I probably didn't do well on the final, but I did it to the best of my ability, and I did invent some interesting ways to get wrong answers :)
(12/16 2:32am)



"Finals #3"

Awake, alive, when I didn't think I would be,
Joyful, content, when I didn't think I could be:
Tempted to fear, but the Tempter's lost his power,
How is my mind so clear in this troubled hour?

Why, how, is the world so open and clear?
How, in this same world, does my mind not steer
Me toward the many useless things, ways of waste,
The million evidences that my hopes are misplaced?

Instead: life! And diving into the abyss, I am free.
For now, ready, I jump, knowing this place is for me:
I know this is my fight, trial my Father has designed
And through it, and thousand others, I will be sanctified, refined.

Praise God! And let all that's final come!
Show how short, fleeting my worries are, how dumb
I was to seek in my power to defeat them,
How in my own will, my failures, I will repeat them.

Not my power, my will, but Thine!
Strengthen my hands! Then toss me the line:
Draw me out of this damp, dark chasm of mine,
Not one of trial, but of ignoring the Divine.

And here You come upon the clouds,
God, to clear the smog from my forsaken sky!
Your light blazes! A billion trumpets, loud,
You come, even now, and I can't answer why.

Finals Poetry #2

Don't like this one as much as the two previous yet, but keeping up the "at least one poem per sleep cycle" that crossed my mind for finals :)
(12/14/10)


God, that test, that paper, that project
Any glory from it I reject
For even this couldn't happen without You:
For strength and life can only be
Through the One who works powerfully in me.

It's never the work that takes me under the weather,
But only the lies I believe that cloud me over,
That blot out the infinity of Your wonderful sky,
And in this way I cease to sing Your worship shooing.

I think my purposes better, think my times my own
Instead of the beautiful offering You would,
In Your grace, allow me to offer before Your throne
Acknowledging You as the eternal, omnipotent, God alone:
As my purpose, my place is, my joy can be, my contentment should.

This is Your desire, Your holy will, Your command
And I need Your guidance, Lord, Your reprimand:
Here on earth You form me, having saved me from the fire,
You work on my being, shaping my acts and my desire,
Granting me to learn about heavenly Wisdom the earth doesn't understand.

Tear, ever, away, this spirit of fear,
Let all the world of Your glory hear,
And from my lips, through every act
May the Gospel, to my friends, be so near,
That they would learn of life in You that does not lack.

Finals Poetry #1B

Before my one hour of sleep after finishing my paper and project for ECE 6331 at 6:30am (12/14)

Yes, peace shall yet be found,
Without a moment's rest.
Strength and energy all around,
Don't you know how much you're blessed?

Joy, life, contentment
These, friend, are offered you.
In every trial and temptation
A road, path, guidance through.

Finals Poetry #1

Instead of working on my ECE 6331 (Power Electronics) take home final exam, this jumped from my pen :)


Searching for God in the depths of the night,
Can He be found when my soul is not right?
When, from His purpose, my sinful heart has fled,
When, His forgiveness unsought, for acknowledgement of wrong I dread?

Can my God love me, when my self is filled with shame?
WIlll my Lord give me grace, bring life to this broken frame?
How can I hope for healing, hiding here with guilt my companion?
What Power can remove my fear, and bring innocence, honor, despite sin?

Christ! You died to pay the price, rose to show Your power,
Came from the Highest Place, and now deserve all honor.
Oh God! My broken flesh: Surgeon, cut me back to life!
I need to feel Your rod and staff, sanctify me with Your cleansing knife!

So much of me I need exchanged, trading rags for Glory,
My life and desires are rearranged, daily, keep making me holy!
God! The stitches! I tear them away... I must return for healing today.
One Surgery: though new, the transplant's not through, my flesh gets in the way.

Daily I need Your medication, that awesome drug, that I might not reject
The new mind and heart You've given, that me You might re-perfect.
Keep me, ever fighting, ever fleeing the disease,
Cleanse me, claim me, use me as You please.

It is my pleasure to be molded by the Holy One,
My purpose to be ever designed by the Creator.
As clay I have known the blessings from Your Son,
And may my eternity always show, that above all, You are Greater.

Temptation

Here is something (some things…) I have learned more about this semester:

First, temptations.
If after overcoming a temptation you are no closer to Christ than before, then you may as well have succumbed. In fact, you may not have defeated the temptation at all, but simply accepted it as a usual thing that will return, something that you can please at a later date. When we attempt to become sinless by our own power alone we completely lose sight of the nature of sin. When we think we have overcome a sin pattern in our lives because (recently) we were not as sorely tempted as we have been before, we forget that there is a spiritual war over our souls each day, and that hell is wily enough to feign retreat.

Neither Satan nor Jesus have forgotten us. While Satan prepares the next assault, let us build a fortress. Let's not rejoice solely in temporal victory but in God's eternal victory. Let us always be brought back to the eternal, heavenly knowledge of what our earthly lives really are.

Sometimes we think of sin as an absence of good instead of an evil that is seeking our destruction. We think of sin as a neutral that is wrong when we seek it. We do not understand that sin lusts for us, longs for us, desires to be one with us, desires to become part of our lives in the most intimate way.
(Side note I may expound on later: Compare Genesis 3:16 with 4:7 and with SoS 7:10 -- those are the three times that word "desire" is used in the Bible)

We need to stop leading sin on. We need our Daddy to come out on the porch with a shotgun and put the fear into our sin. We need our relationship with our Father to be intimate enough that we have opened up and He can teach us, that He can rescue us, because He will when we ask.

"Just" Praying

One thing I have noticed recently is how often Christians pray "just" prayers when they bring needs to God. I don't mean "just" as in "guided by truth, reason, justice, and fairness" I mean "just" as in "only or merely; exactly or precisely; actually." (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/just)
I have been experiencing much more prayer in my life recently (Crossroads prayer groups, D-Group, accountability, etc.), and am amazed by what prayer can be and what prayer can do. However, even those who have tasted so much more of the wonder of speaking singly and in community to our Creator, Redeemer, and Guide, even when I am most right with God and am coming before Him with a realization of His Majesty, I fall into the "just" hole.
What do we mean by asking God to "just" do something, to "just" be in our midst, to "just" touch the heart of a brother, a friend, an acquaintance, an enemy?
Well, let's look at the word.

1)
Do we want God to only or merely do something? Do we think it righteous to ask less of God? Are we afraid that pouring out our desires is "testing" God? (Deuteronomy 6:16)

Or… Do we need to trust that God can do not only this thing (whatever it may be), but also do "far more abundantly than all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20)?

2)
Do we think we know exactly or precisely what God should do? Do we believe that in prayer we are informing God and communicating the best solution as if we were spies and God was some isolated monarch? Has our view of God shrunk so much that we have to give Him a game plan and just hope that He listened and understood His small role this time?

Or… Do we really need to hear that "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD;" and be struck by these words "How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?"
(Isaiah 55:8, Romans 11:33-34)

3)
Are we praying, believing in an omnipotent, omniscient, merciful and compassionate God, and at the same time asking Him to "actually" do something? Do we think that we can convince God by putting a little more emphasis, praying a little stronger, that by asking God to "actually" do it instead of … well… just "please do it" we will be any dearer to God's heart?

Or… Do we need at this moment to instead pray "I believe; help my unbelief!"? (Mark 9:24)


I find it interesting that praying "just" feels more spiritual. It feels like I am pleading with God: a real prayer warrior! I feel can put so much more desire into that extra word, so much more "emotional convincing"… when I'm praying to a God who never falls prey to "appeals to emotion." (Appeal to Emotion?)

On the flip side, what do I use that four-letter-word to request? "God, just let me have more quiet times!" "I just need Your touch in my studies." "I just need a word from You."
Apart from "I just need You" ("or they just need You"), which has tons of Biblical backing, I don't know of another request to God where that little word can find a place.

(Side note my next post will probably expound on: We also don't want to "just" do things. When we "just" overcome temptation or "just" do what is right, our desires betray our actions and we really aren't following our created purpose: "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:5))

In summary, all I mean to say is that we, as Christians, want our prayers to sound spiritual, we want to pray rightly, powerfully, but sometimes those desires turn from seeking God in doing so into wanting to pray something that sounds good to others (or something that fits some frame we've heard). We need to learn to pray like Jesus taught us: Come before the Father, recognize Him for who He is, remember our Kingdom purpose, present our requests for life, forgiveness, and strength.
We are not convincing God to do what is good for us. We are not bringing God's attention to things that He is unaware of. We are coming before our Father and presenting our desires, our struggles, our praise, and our thanksgiving.

Prayer is communing with the King of the Universe! There's no "just" about that! (well… except Him… He's Just…)

The Love of a Judging God

So, a Thursday a while back I went and heard the street preachers who came to the Free Speech area at Georgia Tech. People had been telling me about them since freshman year, and how they usually come out with a banner that says "Homo-sex is Sin" (which a friend of mine misquoted as "Homo-sex is gay"… so now I know them as the "Homo-sex is Gay" people…). This group did not have the big banner but the preaching was all about judgement, and not about love. His view of sin was all about action, and not about the heart and its desires and motives. His view of grace was all about how he was now good (better than the heathens at Tech), and not about how awesome God was for giving him grace and offering it to the world.


Here's my thoughts from that day:

I talked to one of the guys at Tech for about half an hour today, Showing him verses like 1 Corinth. 5:12-13 where, after talking about church discipline Paul says "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked man from among you.'"

We also looked at John 8:1-11, where the Pharisees brought an adulterous woman to Jesus and wanted him to tell them to stone her. Specifically, I love the order of renewal in verse 11: "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." A sinner is at Jesus feet. He does not minimize the sin, he just knows that through his sacrifice he will take its condemnation. The forgiveness is not conditional, but the expected response is natural and obvious.

I hate messages, I hate forms of preaching, that seem to say the opposite: "sin no more and I will not condemn you." Instead of "my grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinth. 12:9) this message states "my grace is sufficient… for a better you."
He (the guy I talked to) kept saying "there are many ways to fish" to explain the method of preaching, but I kept feeling that they were throwing in the dynamite and watching the fish float to the surface...


On the other hand, it is an awesome opportunity: Where else can you walk up to someone and be in a conversation about eternal perspective in one single question: "What do you think of this?"

Anyone listening: Atheist, Agnostic, Jew, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, …anyone… has thoughts and feelings about the message, and is ready to share them with others and to hear other people express their anger, malcontent, and ideas about the street preachers, even if that dissatisfaction is because of the true nature of the Gospel that is being misrepresented :)

I can't help but feel that this can fit in Joseph's response to his brothers: "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Gen. 50:19-20)
That is... except that the people doing it misguidedly intend good, Satan intends evil, and God still shows that he can work good :-)

Sovereignty in Media

"I don't think she's alive because God changed his mind." -- Fringe, Peter Bishop

"I, like God, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidences." --V for Vendetta, V

"God didn't have anything to do with this" -- Flash Forward

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good" -- Gen. 5:20, Joseph

I am a firm believer that there are some hard-hitting philosophical and theological ideas and truths / lies that come up in many movies and TV shows: especially those shows that show humans as the frail, but uniquely special, beings we are.

Now, I'll start with an example I didn't like: In the show Flash Forward, which is about an event where the entire world went unconscious and saw the future, one of the main characters states that "God didn't have anything to do with this." Their reaction to death, destruction, pain, was that God must have looked the other way. They could see no further than human plans. They could see no further than chance and human failures. But that's not the message we get from all entertainment:

For one, "V for Vendetta" went up a few notches in my liking the very second V said "I, like God, do not play with dice and do not believe in coincidences." Though I must mention that the similarities between V and God end right about there, that is a hard-hitting statement.

Do you agree? Does God "play with dice?" Is there anything to which God says "Hmmm, interesting coincidence?" He wouldn't be much of a God if He did, would He? No, No He wouldn't. God is someone who, like the inspector guy in the same movie, "Can see it all together"… However, unlike the inspector, it's not "just a feeling," and He knows right from the beginning not just 2/3 of the way through the movie (if I remember correctly on that fraction).

Another of these juicy tidbits I found in the TV show "Fringe." It's kind of a freaky show, weird things always happening and the cast trying to figure out what in the world caused yet another pseudo-scientific event. But one episode, one of the main characters, Peter Bishop, says about a girl who died and came back "I don't think she's alive because God changed his mind." Now, in the show it's easily forgotten, because they very quickly brush it off and move on to something else, but really, what does this mean?

What does it mean for God to change His mind? Is that what some people think miracles are? When someone says "I don't know why I'm still alive" do they assume God doesn't either? Too often we think that if there is a plan to life we should be able to see it. Does this even make sense? I mean, in any construction site I've seen it takes a while before anyone but the designer himself has any idea or image of the final splendor of the design. If God, who is infinitely greater than us, is working things out in His way, then isn't it logical that this should be beyond our capabilities to perceive? If a human inventor's invention is unsearchable to many, I find it sensible that that God's plan is unsearchable by all.

In Biblical history the account that comes to mind is that of Joseph. Now, Joseph, as almost everyone knows, was sold into slavery by his brothers, but then from the position of an Egyptian slave eventually made it to second-in-command in Egypt (with a detour through prison). Now, there is a wonderful point in the account where Joseph's brothers, who just realized who the Egyptian guy they were talking to was, beg for him to have mercy on them. His reply? "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. (Gen.50:20)"

This is the kind of thing that God does. He lets many people do evil things, but it is not because He enjoys or even can stand evil; on the contrary, it is because He knows the outcome. He knows the end of all things.

I really should pay more attention and find some more examples of these… Tell me, do any come to your mind? Any places where some media brings some heavy-hitting Christian doctrine without even meaning to?

I must be crazy...

I must just be weird.

I was talking with someone a while back about her poetry (aka, I should have written this post a while ago). I had read a poem of her's, then replied with 3-4 ideas / pointers / questions on or about the poem. To my surprise she didn't like this. She explained to me that she viewed her poems as art and personal history, that the first writing, whether theologically sound or not, contained part of herself that she wanted to look back at and remember.

She didn't want to change the writing, because there was intrinsic value in the process of writing, in the emotion, the act, the whole person that brought about the writing itself.

That confused me.

I have a much different view of my "writings." First of all is that they are never really complete. All my "finished" poems are sitting in a "Sorting" folder… I'm not even sure how to sort them correctly!

To me, I am always ready to add another brushstroke, always hoping that someone tells me that the canvas is not covered, that I used the wrong color combinations, that the contrast isn't enough, or that their eyes just hurt when they look at the confusion (Yes, still talking about poetry… sorry for the extended metaphor…)

It's not just art to me, it's worship, it's debate, it's … me, and I know I need community and fellowship to keep the bounds on who I could become. I have the potential to be so wrong, to over-think, under-think, and go down the wrong path.

And I hate being wrong. (As much from pride as love of truth, I must admit…) but I know it's best to just take the pain, figure it out, and surrender to right. Not that I'm perfect at taking criticism… but with God's help I'll keep my pride in check and take it to heart ;-)

And now, just for good measure, here's a poem this reminded me of! Especially the last… stanza?


"Performing Poetry"

I need to work on how I perform
my poetry.
The writing is all good,
knowing, contemplating
the way my art should go.
I see, feel the words,
wish that they were acts.

I wish my poems were more
of the day to day me,
instead of just pen to page:
their revelations would reside
here in me.

My writings will not endure,
they have no eternal hope,
but they display back to me
what I know is sure:
Eternity comes tomorrow,
as the night of this life shuts my eyes,
when again they open,
only work that matters will survive.

Am I what I've put on paper?
Redeemed, pure only by God's act?
Or am I, here, a hypocrite,
placing hope in an earthly pact?

Never proud let me be,
of my broken poetry.
Let me be child of God above,
boasting ever of His wondrous love.

Discipleship

I keep remembering and finding things, and the latest is something I wrote in response to the things we were learning about discipleship on the Campus Crusade (soon to be Crossroads) Spring Break trip to Gatlinburg, TN.

Specifically, we were reading 2 Timothy and being taught on it, and during some quite time this poem was my reaction to it and to Greg Ashworth's (one of the Cru. staff guys) call to "multiply to make God known." This meant that we, as Tech students, should realize the geometric series of discipleship, if each disciple disciples to or three more, the number reached grows exponentially. (no, not "only at Tech")

Well, here it is, and, as always, please tell me what I've got wrong :-)


3/22/10

God, may it be You, not music, that moves me
Your love that, coming out of me, proves me to be Yours
Your grace that overflows, Your heart that shows
me direction, that gives me wisdom, power to direct.
Make me a disciple of You and Yours, make me disciple,
lead others to the One my heart adores.

Father, Brother, Breath of Life, animate my soul today.
King, Sacrifice, Wisdom, be my Command, Example, Guide.

Sufficiency I have in You, sufficiency to overflow!
Lead me where You want me, where Your work is for me,
Grow me and prepare me, heal and repair me
That I, Your child, by grace alone
Would multiply to make You known.

Death's Portal

The following poem was written May 31st of 2009 while I was in Rome. I had left my friends, and headed off to a little crypt that a friend had told me about, called the "Crypt of the Capuchin Monks." (they were just going to another castle thingy… seen too many of those anyway…)
Anyway, the crypt was a weird place. The Capuchin Monks had moved from somewhere else in Rome to where the crypt now is, and they dug up and took the remains of their order. Then, some time later, a random guy staying with them took all the bones of the late monks and started making artwork with it in the chambers under the church. Kinda weird right? But it was also awesome. The designs, knowing that those were human femurs, pelvises, arms, skulls… set a shudder down my spine. But one thing struck me: This crypt wasn't about the dominance or tyranny of death. It wasn't a depressing place to me at all! The focus of each of the six rooms wasn't on the loss of the monks that died, and as much as I was drawn to the dried out mummified faces, I was also drawn to their focus: each mummy was holding a cross. Every room was focused around the idea that death had not won, that these monks were, in death, finally realizing the power of the truth that they clung to in life.
So, after seeing and noticing that, I wrote this short poem standing on a random street corner after leaving the crypt :-)


I tell you, Death,
you shall not be
any more than
a portal to me.

Clinging to the Cross
unto the other side,
you may have my body
but with my Savior I reside.

For He has taken far from you
your power over me,
and when from death He calls me forth
with Him I will be.



In the last crypt there was written:
"What you are now we used to be; what we are now you will be..."

Smile Song (ish)

Hello to you, whoever you are!

So, there is a section of poetry that I have written that I have not let many people see. Of these, only two have been tossed onto my website, though one of them ("hand me not") I posted on Facebook a long time ago. To me these are rather personal poems / songs: ones that I have written about a specific person or that have been inspired by specific people. This one, that I plan on sending into the abyss of the web now, is like that.

I was inspired to write this song / poem by three separate people over three months (three muses, if you will). My problem with posting something like this is I am afraid that 1. someone it is about will be afraid it's about them (or not want it to be) or 2. someone who it's not about will want it to be about them and be sad that it's not. Therefore, only ask who it's about if you aren't in one of those groups (or, just try not to be in those groups :-) ).

Well then… the "song": I think it is really just a chorus with poetry that must be read… and as of right now I am unable to sing the "chorus" … because I can't get the feel right… However, this thing has been on my mind for a while, and any comments are welcome, so have at it!


Smile
By Chris Becker

What I'd do
For just a smile in those eyes
What I'd give
Just to see that joy arise
Oh I'll be
Whatever you need
Just so I
Can lighten up your life (pause)
Don't you see?
You're beautiful to me
Don't you know?
This song's my overflow
Just a smile
You make me want to dance
What's the chance
That it could be with you? (pause)
My heart soars
It's just what you do
When you smile
Smile for me...

(switch to reading?)

Oh in your eyes I see a fire
I see passion, love, desire
But I can't tell at all‚
Is it yours? mine? both?

I see a hope,
But when your eyes cut into me,
What do they see?
When you smile at me,
What are your eyes saying?
They speak volumes of silence,
Oh, in the wonderful world of you
I don't know the language.

I just know that you are
A million times beautiful
In joy,
And I would love to join.
If only I could be:
The cause or companion of your laugh,
The agent or associate of your smile,
The producer or partner of your joy.

Maybe it's silly,
But it breaks me to see you broken,
Hurts me to see you harmed,
Saddens me to see you in sorrow.

You are on my mind
And I cannot make you part.
Your eyes have pierced
Into me and touched my heart.

Keep your eyes on fire,
Burning, piercing with joy.
You have unwittingly made me
A willing prisoner of your smile
And I think all the while:

(song again?)

What I'd do
For just a smile in those eyes
What I'd give
Just to see that joy arise
Oh I'll be
Whatever you need
Just so I
Can lighten up your life
Don't you see?
You're beautiful to me
Don't you know?
This song's my overflow
Just a smile
You make me want to dance
What's the chance
That it could be with you?
My heart soars
It's just what you do
When you smile
Smile for me


Again, comments and questions are completely welcome... Just realize I may not answer them all... :-)

Everybody

So, I've been working on a song… or… the lyrics to a song… that I'm naming "Everybody." The inspiration came while talking with an agnostic friend of mine, and her wanting to find more accurate terms for "spiritual" and "love", when those words are adjectives describing life, practices, history, and etc.
While I was telling her I had a distaste for the words "religion" and "religious," I threw in that, "well, you could just ask how and what the person worships." This she did not like. No one does. An agnostic believes they are holding back and will only worship a "god" when they have enough solid evidence (whatever they say that may be). An atheist would never worship a "god" and is drawn aback when you even suggest that they worship, because "worship is stupid."
What is worship? Is it a song or a statement? Is it a service or a silent prayer? No, no, those are all too obvious. Instead, worship is a dedicated life.
I believe that everyone's lives are devoted to something. This something can be an acknowledged object of worship, someone or something to which the person's contentment is tied, or even just the person's own person (self).
---
Actually, now that I've thought of it more since the last line… Every other worship boils down to that of the self. Actually, that makes a lot of logical sense, because if you do not see creation as below a creator, you can only relate it to the self.
Well, let's see what you think about what I've got so far:


(Chorus)
'Cause everybody worships something
Every heart (knee) bows down
Every soul finds one thing
It bases itself around.
(It defines itself around)

What do you do "religiously"?
What can't you do without?
What do you believe primarily?
What will you never doubt?
(What is your life about)

What takes your time and your strength?
How do you spend your while?
How do you gauge life's breadth and length?
What one thing always brings a smile?

What would define your life
Were it a criminal's file?
(Were it a reporter's file?)
What would they say your motive was?
Why did you walk the mile?

What could you always be caught for?
What drug, hobby, value, what thing?
Is there anyone you would do anything for?
Is it you? Are you your life's own king?


Now, for those who made it to the end of this, here's what I'm thinking it should sound like :)
Right Here!

My God!

So... I just watched an episode of an old show called "The Mantis" on Hulu, and the following struck me:

I find immense truth in the moment in a TV show or movie when a character looks at the mess they've made of their lives, the obsession that is keeping them from being what they know they should be, and the only two words they can say are "My God!"
I see this truth in two ways:
First, the person is realizing that they do need God. They are in themselves unable to fix their situations and problems. They are unable to make their lives what they should be, because they are the problem.
Second, the person is immediately identifying the real problem: something else is their God. The obsession that has hold of their life is their act of worship. The mess they've made of things is the pile of offerings to whatever idol is in the center of their life, the product and proof of a failing center.

Truthfully, I watch too much Hulu, and I count most of my time on video entertainment as completely wasted. I mean, look at this, I haven't written a blog post in forever, and (if I decide to not proofread) it doesn't really take much time…
The only defense I have is that I try to be critical, try to learn what people think about people by looking at how stories, written to capture the viewing public, are told.

So, I'll leave you with this: If you are going to let your mind rot in front of some passive entertainment, I only ask you to take a moment to make it less passive. Ask yourself if there is some truth behind what you are watching, search for the commentaries on the human condition, and ask yourself if you agree with the motives and beliefs that are revealed in the fabric of the story, the acting, and the words themselves.

The Problem of Evil

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to see Ravi Zacharias and Os Guinness speak at the Atlanta Civic Center on "The Mystery of Evil, The Sovereignty of Good." Both are great speakers, and a few points really stuck with me.

1) Only in the Judeo-Christian worldview is evil truly evil:

Many worldviews and religions classify things as good and bad, true and false, right and wrong, but only in the Old and New Testaments is sin an infinite chasm between the Creator and His Creation. Other worldviews tell you to deny the existence of evil, or of the world itself, or to do the right thing, do good works, and work off your sins. Some tell you that society defines good and evil, and that the whole thing is just a social construction, others say it is a naturally coexistent force, that good and bad are always in balance in the world.
Only the belief in a Creator and final Righteous Judge can truly define what evil is. Only in the knowledge that we were made for a purpose can we say that something is rejecting it's purpose (which Ravi and Os used as a good definition of evil -- the rejection of purpose). Other worldviews have to say that the pain and strife we see in the world is natural, it's the way the world should be. It is Christianity that says the world is messed up, so when a person try to use "the problem of evil" to refute a good loving God, realize that the person is borrowing from the very worldview they are arguing against.


2) The "best possible world"

I forget exactly how Ravi said this, so this is all going to be my paraphrase, but I really liked his answer to "Why God created a world that would be evil."
What is the best of all possible ends? What is the best thing in existence? Love. The world could not be the best, it could not be "very good" without the possibility of love. We would only be the best creation if we could respond in love to our creator. However love requires option, it necessitates choice. Sure, it would've been nice if Adam and Eve hadn't chosen their own way. The world could be the best possible world the way God created it: with the option for evil but without the presence of evil.
But that's just a "what if", and the truth of the matter is God created the best possible world. God does not make mistakes. God allowed for evil, God gave the opening for man to follow pride. God let man break the world and His only Son.


3) So, is God evil?

So, does this make God evil? Should he have not created at all knowing that the best possible world would still revolt?
Ravi gave a great analogy for that (paraphrased):
If a car is used to go over the speed limit, or to traffic illegal drugs, or to transport dead bodies, or to run someone down in the street, is the car manufacturer at fault? Should they be brought to court to answer for the use of the car? No.
The car was well made, it could accelerate well to get out of a bad spot, it could carry plenty of cargo, and it went and did exactly what the driver told it to. The design was not bad, however the use of the design was. Man is a wonderful design, built by a good, loving God, but the same arms, legs, mouth, and mind can be used for His purposes or for ours.



Well, I just typed a lot it seems, but I liked the synthesis of these ideas from Ravi and Os. There is only one worldview that says that evil is evil and God is good. All other worldviews have to water down both.


( Wow… I haven't posted in over a month… and I pick the day that I have to write a lab report to write… anyway, hope you enjoyed it :-) )

Perelandra

So, I finally finished Perelandra by C.S. Lewis a couple days ago, which means I have one book left in his Space Trilogy. If you haven't read it, I'll try not to give too much away… but it's about a guy named Ransom who is sent to Venus on a mission.
I really liked the first half of the book, especially any time that the characters were debating about right and wrong, dealing with things like obedience, duty, and love. I like the awkwardness Lewis draws out when Ransom is trying to explain things like death, hatred, and sin to a creation that had never tasted of any of them, and I enjoyed the tabula rasa logic of the Venus's "Queen".

Other than that, I thought I would pass on some neat quotes from Perelandra:

(Ransom speaking about his experience of space)
"On the contrary, it is words that are vague. The reason why the thing can't be expressed is that it's too definite for language."

-- I like that one, something utterly definite that cannot be defined by words… that's something to get your brain-gears turning...

and this:

Ransom had been perceiving that the triple distinction of truth from myth and of both from fact was purely terrestrial -- and was part and parcel of that unhappy division between soul and body which resulted from the fall.
...
The whole distinction between things accidental and things designed, like the distinction between fact and myth, was purely terrestrial.
...
And he bowed his head and groaned and repined against his fate -- to be still a man and yet to be forced up into the metaphysical world, to enact what philosophy only thinks.

I really like this quote (or… squished together series of quotes) for multiple reasons:
1. It restates what I said in a previous post, the synonymity of belief and faith, in a different manner
2. It states that predestination and free will are not mutually exclusive and are rather a matter of perspective
3. It reminds us that our world is a metaphysical world, that we live in more than just some loosely connected physical and non-physical reality, and that our philosophy and our actions should line up, that we have a place and a part to play.

Anyway, it took me too long to finish this book (I had listened to about a third of it in the car over break)… to tell the truth, I was wasting my time on useless Hulu TV and playing a online FPS… anyway, here's to getting school work done and reading more… :)

God's Undertaker

On Saturday I finished a book that I had borrowed from a friend of mine by Mathematician and Philosopher John Lennox: God's Undertaker -- Has Science Buried God? It was a very good book, well written, logical, with a smattering of humor (well, things I found humorous...). The book is a good examination of faith as it applies to origin science: Does science prove evolution? Can science prove whether or not the world is created?

Is faith "delusional" as Richard Dawkins, a prominent atheist, would say? Or is it a faith in the nonexistence of God that drives atheists like Richard Dawkins to any length to manufacture methods that the universe could manufacture itself?

Starting from Physics, Astronomy, and other non-biological sciences, then delving into evolution and its various meanings and theories, and finally constructing an argument for the existence of a Creator based on Information Theory, Lennox debates his points well, and also takes on the task of preemptively answering key challenges to his argument.

Altogether, I really liked the book, and I plan on getting a copy for myself, but I would like to leave one thing with you: The last couple things that Lennox says in the book (don't worry, it's not much of a spoiler, lol):

In conclusion, I submit that, far from science having buried God, not only do the results of science point towards his existence, but the scientific enterprise itself is validated by his existence.

Inevitably, of course, not only those of us who do science, but all of us, have to choose the presupposition with which we start. There are not many - essentially just two. Either human intelligence ultimately owes its origin to mindless matter; or there is a Creator. It is strange that some people claim that it is their intelligence that leads them to prefer the first to the second.

-- John C. Lennox, God's Undertaker

What is Knowledge?

I know that millions have asked this question, and thousands have written to various extents on the matter, but I would like to make a small claim here.

Would you, just for a second, amuse me with this? Just read each question and think about it before moving on to the next (not including the one just asked... only think long about that one if your initial answer is no :-) )


1: Have you ever known something to be true, then later discovered you were wrong?
(You can replace "wrong" with "mistaken" if you like to mask your fallibility)



2: Why, then, do we say that belief and faith are less than knowledge?



If knowledge can be wrong, than anything we know is known by faith! Everything we "know," "believe," "think," it's all based on our experiences in life, all based on some stimuli, some starting point, some reason, however false the point or faulty the reasoning is!


Now, please don't misconstrue my meaning, "faith" and "knowledge" are taken to mean different things at different times in different contexts. A teacher is not going to "test your faith of the material," though, I could say they are testing whether your faith and theirs line up on certain material, aka, if your faith, if your knowledge, is correct.

And before I go further: THIS IS NOT ABOUT RELATIVISM!!! All I'm saying is that faith and knowledge are not polar opposites as some, especially those who call themselves scientific, would have you believe. Really, what I'm saying is directly against relativism: faith, like knowledge, can be judged as right and wrong, true and false.

One more thing: head/heart knowledge: I think these are bad terms... They simply mean what you do and don't believe! Knowledge in your head isn't real if it's not also in your heart! And if something hasn't become real to you it's neither faith nor knowledge!!! It's just memorization!


Thank you for reading, this has been another journey through Chris's crazy word-mush. If you agree, I hope you have enjoyed this, if not, mush some words together in the comment thingy. :)