The Road So Far

 Last night we took some much needed time to stop and reflect on what we have learned so far this year. Volleyball was the name of the game for the evening and I don't know about everyone else, but I had a really good time.

As we moved into the "message" time, I opened with a brief overview of everything we had covered up to this point. Below you will see a simple illustration (drawn by yours truly) of the foundation for all of our messages this year.

You would not believe how long it took me to produce that simple image... Anyway, the heart above represents your life. It represents you. Everything we are talking about this year centers around how to live the Christian life in a non-Christian world. The cross represents Jesus Christ being at the center of your life and the book represents the Word of God (the Bible) as your basis for truth. You see, if we want to live the Christian life, we first must be sure that we are of the faith and that we are in submission to the Bible as our authority in life. If you don't believe in Jesus, or you don't trust the Bible as a reliable source of truth, then you will fail to live out the Christian life in this world. Everything else that we have talked about or will talk about this year is founded on the understanding that Jesus is Lord and the Bible is our authority. That means we look to Jesus and we trust His Word to teach us what is right and good.

The Bible tells us about the nature of mankind - that we are created in the image of God but are separated from Him because of our sin, which condemns us to death. Every person is born with a sin nature and is destined for death. On our own, there is nothing we can do bridge the gap and get to God. When we understand this about mankind, it helps us to see that apart from God we are all doomed. We are not basically good, we are not evolving into better or more perfect beings, and we are not all going to Heaven (apart from God, none of us are). This has HUGE implications for living the Christian life, because it means that if we are not going into the world and telling people about Jesus (as we are supposed to do) then they won't ever have access to God.

The Bible also tells us about our role in the world, and specifically how we are to relate to non-believers. In His famous "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew 5-7, Jesus tells His disciples that they are to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We broke that down to mean that we are to be blessings toward others (salt), doing good whenever and wherever we can. We are also to speak the truth whenever and wherever we can (light), shedding truth and light in an otherwise very dark world. Even if someone is in direct opposition to God and persecutes us as Christians, we are to speak the truth and demonstrate toward them the same kind of live and mercy that God showed us through Jesus Christ.

The Bible gives us a direct command when it comes to our relationship with our parents: "Honor your father and mother". We talked about the fact that "to honor" means "to obey". We are to obey our parents. And this is a serious command, as it sits right in the middle of the 10 Commandments. Its right up there alongside "Do not murder". And there is no caveat to this one either. There is no stated exception, like "obey them unless they are being quite unreasonable". We are to obey our parents, unless (yes, there is actually an exception) they tell us to do something that goes against the Bible. We obey God first, then parents. And if we do this, it will go a LONG way in helping us to have a good, healthy relationship with our parents.

The Bible completely obliterates any foundation for racism. In the beginning when God created Adam and Eve, He was starting the entirety of the human race from one set of parents. That means that all of us, no matter our skin tone, are able to trace our lineage back to the same common ancestors. We are ALL descendants of Adam and Eve, which means we are ALL one race - the human race. Therefore, skin tone should have absolutely no bearing on how we treat each other. No one is superior or better than anyone else, this is what the Bible teaches. We are equals in sin and separation from God, and those of us who have been saved are equals in the forgiveness and grace we have received in Jesus Christ.

The last two weeks we watched a YT video by Dr. Jason Lisle, in which he shared evidence from astronomy that supports the truth of the Bible. One of the benefits of seeing this evidence is that it encourages us in our faith, to know that what we believe to be true is supported by the world that God created. Knowing these evidences also helps us to have an answer for the hope that we have in Christ. When the people of the world come against us and accuse us of being crazy or stupid, we can show the rationality of our faith and stand our ground.

Most of our time last night was spent in a discussion, as I gave students the opportunity to voice any questions that had been raised but not answered in any of the previous messages. It started slow but it turned into a good discussion, and I am planning on having another one sometime in February of 2022. I hope you're able to be there and participate.

As we move forward this year, we will continue to tackle some of those big topics that the church is facing right now. We will discuss a biblical perspective on abortion, sexuality, social justice, and even politics. It is important for us, as Christians, to discuss these topics and come to a common understanding of how we should handle each of them from a biblical perspective. I fully expect there will be some hard conversations to come, but they will be necessary.

May the God of all peace be with you.

Astronomy and the Bible, Part 2

 HEYO! Last night we dove into the next section of Dr. Jason Lisle's talk on how astronomy reveals a 6,000 year-old Earth. You can look back at the "Part 1" post to see an overview of the discussion leading to this point, or you can jump on YouTube and watch the video for yourself! (If you are hesitant to click links, that's okay, you can go straight to YouTube and search for "Jason Lisle Astronomy Reveals 6,000 Year Old Earth" to find the video.)

In part 1 (from the start of the video to 22:34) Dr. Lisle covered two things: 1) How the study of astronomy has revealed the glory of God and 2) How the study of astronomy has revealed that the Bible has been 100% correct whenever it talks about the nature of the world and the stars. His main point in that was to show that even when the secular scientists of the day had it completely wrong, the Bible had it right - and what we have learned today confirms it. There is a huge implication for us in this: even in areas today where secular science claims the Bible has it wrong, we can trust that Bible has it right because its track record is undefeated. Science has been proven wrong in the past; the Bible has not.

This week we listened to Dr. Lisle's next two points: the age of the Earth and the uniqueness of the Earth itself in our universe.

In terms of age, he pointed to the existence of magnetic fields in all of the planets of our solar system. The analogy he used for this was to think of magnetic fields like batteries. They hold a charge, but as you use them the energy runs down until its gone. Based on the size of each of the planets, if the universe is truly billions of years old (like modern science believes), there should be no magnetic field left. It should have run out of energy billions of years ago. But our study of the planets shows that this is not the case. Each of the planets still has a relatively strong magnetic field, indicating that they are much younger than modern science believes. Dr. Lisle makes the point that the data supports the biblical account of the universe only being around 6,000 years old. He also points to the existence of blue stars, spiral galaxies, and the proximity of the moon, but you'll have to watch the video to hear those points. =)

As for the uniqueness of the Earth, according to the Bible the Earth is actually 3 days older than the rest of the universe. It was made on Day 1 of Creation whereas the rest of the cosmos was made on Day 4. Earth was specifically designed to support life while the rest of the planets and stars and galaxies were designed to light up our night sky and be viewed. The main point he makes in this section, however, is theological. He brings up the question that many of you might be asking: Is there life out in space? His basic answer is no, and his reasoning for saying no (at least for there being intelligent life) is that salvation wouldn't work for those "aliens". Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice for our sin not only because He lived a perfect life, but because He came to the Earth as a man. Being one of us allowed His sacrifice on the cross to cover our transgressions against God. When He was raised to life on the third day and came out of that tomb, He was raised in a new and glorious body, one which would not decay and could not die again. Based on this, if there were life out there they could not be saved. A counter-argument might be, "Well, maybe they never sinned so they don't need to be saved." But then we run into the issue of them being stuck in a universe corrupted by sin and death. If they never sinned, why are they stuck in a doomed universe with no way out? It just doesn't work. So, if we are approaching our study of the world and the cosmos from a biblical basis, then we should not expect to find intelligent life out in space. Could we find worlds suitable for us to live on? Maybe. But should we expect to find intelligent life already on those worlds? No.

His discussion is truly fascinating (at least for me) and really informative of a Creationist view of science. He offers some great arguments in support of a biblical view of the universe and pokes some holes in the arguments of what many of you get taught as fact in school. He points out a lot of the problems with an evolutionist, billions of years old universe belief system. The discoveries in astronomy don't support billions of years for the age of our universe - they support a 6,000 year old Earth. It amazes me how atheists can point at Christians and mock them for having faith in God when many of their own beliefs about the universe require so much more faith.

If you have any questions that came from the video or from my poor summary of Dr. Lisle's points, please ask them in the comments below and we can discuss. May God continue to bless you and your families.

Astronomy and the Bible, Part 1

 Hey yall. So last night, instead of a message from myself or another leader, we watched the first portion of a video by Dr. Jason Lisle - a Christian astronomer. You can watch the video on YouTube by clicking here, or by searching "Jason Lisle Astronomy". The video is an hour long, so we only watched the first 22 minutes, in which Dr. Lisle covered two things: the glory of God revealed in astronomy and the Bible's accuracy concerning the basics of astronomy.

The main point of the first section was to demonstrate the vastness and awesomeness of the universe, so far as we have been able to observe it. If you have the time to watch part of the video, he has some excellent illustrations that are just mind-blowing and magnificent. God's creation is truly wonderful.

The main point of the second section, on the "Basics", was to demonstrate how the Bible has been accurate when it comes to some of the basics of astronomy. Not only has it been accurate, but it was accurate way before the secular scientists caught up. Back when the secular world thought the world was flat, the Bible was already describing it as round (spherical). This means there were a lot of scientists back then that thought the Bible was wrong, only to be proven wrong later when science revealed "oh wait a minute, no, the Bible was right all along". This offers some encouragement to us Christians today as we deal with the scientific world making claims that go against what the Bible says is true and right. They've been wrong in the past, the Bible has not.

So, take some time to watch at least part of the video, and if you have extra time, go look into some of his other material. He has some great stuff to think about and look at as we find out more and more about our world and the universe.

If you have any questions or comments generated from the video, feel free to ask them below and we can discuss those together. God bless!

Isn't the Bible Just a Dusty Old Book?

 We opened up this message time by "writing" a story together. One student started the story with a single sentence, and then each student after that continued the story by adding one more sentence. I do not remember all of the details, but our story centered on a man named Bob who went to the grocery store. He ran over his son, who survived the hit but then was finished off by Bob with a knife. At first, he was conflicted about killing his son, then we wasn't conflicted at all, then he fled the scene into the woods, evaded the police, and ended up being declared a hero and got a parade somehow at the end of it all. It was a bizarre story with lots of sudden twists and turns, changes in motivation, and abrupt transitions. In total, there were twenty authors of this story, and it was written over a period of about 5 minutes.

Well, tonight we are talking about the Bible (in case you couldn't tell from the title). The Bible is the foundation of our knowledge about God, Jesus, and us. Without it, we would knew very little specifics about who God is and what He wants with us. Christianity teaches that the Bible is our source of absolute truth, and that we should base every aspect of our lives on what it says. That's a pretty bold teaching.

The problem that many people have with this is that they don't trust that the Bible is true. Some people think it is outdated, some think it is full of lies and mistakes, and some just don't like what it has to say. Well, I want to share with you some reasons why we can trust the Bible, to help you understand why we put so much trust in it and why we always refer to it for truth.

Firstly, let's see what the Bible has to say about itself.

John 17:17 - "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."

Luke 21:33 - "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

2 Timothy 3:16 - "All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness."

Isaiah 40:8 - "The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God will stand forever."

Psalm 119:105 - "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

It claims to be true, that it will last forever, that it is breathed out by God and has many uses, and guides people on the right path. You know, our little story about Bob had 20 different authors and was written in a very short amount of time, and it had a lot of issues and consistency problems. The Bible, on the other hand, was written by over 40 different authors over a period of about 1,500 years. That's as if someone had started writing back in 520 AD and we just finished it now. Despite this large amount of time and variety of authors, the Bible has a very consistent message all the way through. It shares the story of how God made the world and interacted within it to bring about salvation through Jesus Christ, and it even contains a message concerning what God is going to do in the future.

There are around 2,500 prophecies in the Bible, and about 2,000 of them have already come true. The odds of this happening is less than one in 10²⁰⁰⁰ (that's a one with 2,000 "0"s after it). The closest named number to this is Septingentillion. Another way to think about the size of this number would be write a "1" on a page, and then add "0"s until your hand was too tired to write anymore. It is an impossible number. This is one of the reasons why we trust the Bible so much as Christians, because it is literally impossible for this many prophecies about the future to have come true, UNLESS there was a God directing it all.

Another reason we trust it is simply its perseverance. Honestly, no other book has received so much hate and opposition. The Bible has proven to be indestructible. Over the last 2,000 years many attempts have been made to completely wipe out and destroy the Bible, and they all failed. There was one a Roman emperor who made a decree to the people that if they found a Bible, they had to burn it, and if they found someone in possession of a Bible, they had to kill them. By the end of his reign as emperor, he had killed so many Christians and burned so many Bible that he was convinced that he had rendered them extinct. And yet, only a few emperors later, Christianity was made the national religion. So much for destroying them all. Despite all of the persecution, God's Word lasted through it all, just like it claimed it would.

Science supports the Bible, archaeology supports the Bible, and even history supports the Bible! Every new discovery we have made in the scientific world has shown the Bible to be correct, not false. The Bible declared the earth was round long before Galileo. The Bible knew about ocean currents long before Matthew Maury discovered continental currents. The Bible even described the water cycle 1,500 years before modern science had figured it out.

These are all only a few of the many supporting factors which show us that the Bible is true and can be trusted. While many have tried to disprove the Bible, no one has succeeded in all these years.

This year we have already talked about the evidence for God and why we should believe in Him. Well, if God is real, then it is not hard to believe that He has been actively protecting and guiding the Bible all these years so that we could have a trustworthy source of truth. The Bible claims to be true, and all of the outside evidence supports that claim.

So, if the Bible is written by God and we can trust that what it says is true, then what does that mean for us now? The Bible has a lot to offer - it reveals who God is, it tells the story of our world and God's plan for the future, and it shows us how God wants us to live. The Bible should be our source of what is true, not our culture, not our friends, and not even modern science. When in doubt, we can turn to the Bible first and use it as our foundation for what is true. This way, when the world comes along and tries to tell us that it is okay to have sex with whomever we want outside of marriage, or that racism is okay, or that murder is good sometimes, or that money is all you need in life, we can look to the Bible and know that the world is wrong. Our culture is not always (or usually) right, the Bible is.

God has given us a trustworthy book that is full of knowledge about Him and what He wants for us. He has given us countless proofs that what it says is true, so that we will trust it no matter what. Most of you reading this right now probably haven't even read most of this book, and that needs to change. How can we claim to know and love God when we ignore the book He wrote for us?

Many of you probably also have a couple of ideas about how the world works and what is true that does not line up with what the Bible says. The challenge for you is to read the Bible, and change how you think to fit the truth. The Bible isn't just some dusty old book, it is a book full of life and truth, and through it we learn about Jesus and the salvation of our souls. It is the most important book we could ever read, and reading it is essential to being a Christian. So, read it. Know what God says in it. Hear what He has to say to you through it. Be transformed by His Words. One day, every one of us will die, but the Word of God will last forever.

What Makes Christianity so Special?

 Hey gang, and welcome back to another Summitable! As you may recall, our theme this year has been "WHY?" - asking those big questions behind all our deeply held beliefs and getting to the bottom of why we believe (or should believe) what we believe.

This week's focus? Christianity.

We have already talked about the fact that God exists, and some of the evidence supporting that fact. But, believing that there is a God is a far cry from believing in Christianity. I mean, there are a LOT of religions out there, and they all claim to have it right. They all claim to be true, and Christianity is no exception. So, if every religion claims to have the right understanding of who God is and how to get to Him, what makes Christianity so special? How do we know that we are right?

Well, in the message time I asked everyone to discuss what they thought was the most important part of the Christian faith - what belief, if taken away, would ruin our faith? Think about that for a minute before reading on. *insert contemplative pause here*

The truth is, the Christian faith rises and falls on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Anyone can die (actually, pretty much everyone does), but people have this tendency to stay dead. Jesus did not have this tendency. In fact, we believe that His resurrection from the dead is the proof of His claims to be the Son of God and the only sufficient sacrifice for our sins. We believe that the only way to get to God is by believing in Jesus and what He did for us by dying on the cross and paying the penalty for our sins. As I said before, anyone can die, but in order for the sacrifice to be worthy of covering EVERY SINGLE PERSON'S SINS there needs to be absolute perfection and divinity involved. Jesus coming back to life after His death on the cross offers the proof we need to believe that He was who He said He was and that His sacrifice paid it all for us.

IF, somehow, it was proven that He didn't really come back to life and it was all just a hoax, then our faith would be based on a lie and Christianity would fall apart. Our faith really does rise and fall on whether or not Jesus actually came back to life. And this is what separates us from every other religion - our claims can be tested in history. You can "fact check" the Bible. The best part is, so far everything history and science has found has told us that the Bible is true, which means we can trust that Christianity is true.

Now, getting into Jesus' resurrection, I would like to share with you 5 historical facts that just about every historian (Christian AND non-Christian) agrees to be true:

1. Jesus died by crucifixion.

2. Jesus' disciples believed that Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection.

3. The Church Persecutor, Paul, converted to Christianity.

4. The Skeptic, James, converted to Christianity.

5. The tomb was empty.

On point number 1, if Jesus didn't really die, then He had no need to come back to life, and at the same time, that means He didn't die for our sins. There are two reasons we can know that Jesus really died on the cross: 1) the Romans were REALLY good at executions, and had perfected crucifixion by this point in history. Not only was it the most painful and humiliating way to die, but they had ways of making sure you were dead. 2) Other historians (not Christians and not from the Bible) have talked about Jesus' death by crucifixion. It is a real, historical event.

On point number 2, based on their testimony (what they said), their actions, and the way they chose to die (most of Jesus' disciples were tortured and executed for believing in Jesus), we can be certain that the disciple really believed that Jesus appeared to them and had come back from the dead. They weren't liars, they didn't all have some kind of group hallucination, and they weren't crazy. They lived and died for Jesus because they were convinced that He has risen.

On point number 3, Paul (also called Saul - Jewish name) was an active opponent of Christianity. He absolutely hated Christians and saw their religion as complete heresy. He went looking for Christians wherever he could find them to kill them or throw them in prison. In many ways, he saw himself as Batman and Christianity was crime - although he did not follow Batman's one rule. This is the last guy you would expect to find converting to Christianity. That would be like Batman joining the mob. And yet, we read in the book of Acts that Paul has his own encounter with the risen Jesus while he is on his way to arrest more Christians, and it completely changes his life. He not only becomes a Christian, but he becomes one of the greatest evangelists this world has ever seen. He almost single-handedly brought the message of Jesus to the entire known world. Only a real encounter with Jesus could have done this in his life.

On point number 4, James the Skeptic was actually one of Jesus' half-brothers (the son of Joseph and Mary). Having grown up with Jesus, we see in the Gospel accounts that James doesn't see Jesus as anything but his older brother. Try convincing your siblings that you are the Savior of the world! I doubt they'll believe you, just like James didn't believe Jesus. However, in the book of Acts we see this same James, the brother of Jesus, leading the church! He's not just a Christian, he is a basically a pastor. He would have needed super awesome, undeniable proof that his brother (Jesus) was the Messiah in order for him this kind of buy-in. Seeing Jesus alive after being executed by crucifixion would certainly do it.

And on point number 5, some people have claimed that the whole thing was a hoax and that someone just stole Jesus' body from out of the tomb. The people who hated Christianity back then said as much. They accused the disciples of stealing the body. I'd like to point out that Jesus wasn't just buried in the ground. His body was put in a tomb and massive stone was rolled over the entrance to prevent anyone from getting in (with the unintended, and usually unnecessary effect keeping the body from getting out). The Romans actually posted guards in front of the tomb to make sure there was no funny business. There was no way for the disciples to have gotten in and stolen the body - the guards and the stone were in the way. The guards were later killed for not doing their job (since Jesus' body was gone), so we know they didn't steal it. And no body was ever presented. The fact remains: the tomb was empty.

Put these 5 facts together and we have a lot of evidence that Jesus really did come back to life. And if he really did come back to life, then He proved that everything He said about Himself was true - He was the Son of God and He died for our sins so that we could have forgiveness and be found righteous in the eyes of God (this means we're cool with God). This is the foundation of our faith, everything else stands on it, and it is tied to history.

If you're reading this and you are already a Christian, then I hope this helps you to know that what you believe is true. And if you are not a Christian, then I hope this helps you to understand why we believe what we believe. Without Jesus, there can be no forgiveness of sins and we can never have a relationship with God, no matter how good of a person we are. The only way to God is through belief in Jesus, and I hope these facts help you to put your faith in Him.

That's all for today's post. But you should all know that I am always available to talk if you have questions. Don't let your questions go unanswered - look for the answers! Look to God.

As our buddy Paul would say, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!"

Why God?

 Santa Claus, a mystical man who lives up at the North Pole and delivers presents to children all over the world in a single night every year. Most kids believe in him at a young age, and almost always there comes a time when someone tells them the truth - Santa Claus isn't real. Whether someone tells them or not, at some point in our lives we all come to the realization that there is no magic man from the North Pole who delivers our Christmas. Maybe we see our parents putting the presents under the tree, or we notice the fake beard of the Mall Santa. The point is, eventually we figure out that the evidence just isn't there to support belief in Santa.

I was born and raised in a Christian home, brought up in church and started attending a Christian school in the 3rd grade. I have been surrounded by people who believe in God my entire life. I grew up being told that God was real. And yet, even though I do not believe in Santa Claus, I do still believe in God. But why? What's the difference? Both God and Santa Claus are supernatural beings I've never seen with my own two eyes and have been told since I was a boy were real. The difference is - there is evidence for God.

That's right, there is a lot of evidence to support that God is real, whereas with Santa Claus, the evidence is stacked against him. Now, before we go any further in this discussion, I would like you to stop for a minute and answer this question: "Do you believe in God, and why do you believe that way?" Go ahead and write down any reasons for thinking as you do.

Did you finish writing those down? This is an important part of the discussion, so don't skip it just to finish reading my post. I mean, I know it is a wonderful post and all, but you shouldn't rush through stuff like this or you might miss something truly life changing. =)

Alright, so now that you have some idea of what you believe and why (hopefully), let's look at our ultimate source of truth - the Bible - and see what we find. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us this: "But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect". Here, Peter is advising the church that it is not enough to simply believe, we must be ready to give answer for WHY we believe. This is why I asked you to write out your reasons.

In the beginning of the book of Romans, a letter written by the apostle Paul to the church in Rome, Paul shares this - "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse" (Romans 1:18-20). According to Paul, the world itself stands as evidence for God's existence, and not just as evidence, but as evidence which is impossible to ignore. Everything that God has made (which is, by the way, everything) points to Him. The Earth, the sun, the plants and animals, the stars, and especially people - all of this points to God.

In the scholarly world there is an argument for God's existence called the "Kalam Cosmological Argument". Simply put, this argument says that we can know God exists by looking at our universe - which is exactly what Paul just said in Romans 1:18-20. This next part might get confusing, so pay attention and read as slowly as you need to. You see, in the last couple of centuries science has discovered some pretty awesome stuff about our universe. For example, there is a scientific law now which states that matter can neither be created nor destroyed - that means that nothing pops into existence out of nothing, and it doesn't just disappear either. Science has also discovered that our universe is in a constant state of expansion (it keeps getting bigger and spreading out), and that it has definite edges (even if we could never reach those edges). This means our universe is a closed system (like giant sealed box). In a closed system, heat will eventually reach equilibrium (which means that it will eventually spread out completely evenly throughout the system). If this were to happen in our universe, it would leave us feeling EXTREMELY cold.

I am sure most of you have heard of the "Big Bang Theory", and no, I do not mean the TV show. This theory came about from all of this information science discovered, and attempts to explain the beginning of the universe as a Big Bang, where nothing exploded into everything. Scientists figured out that with our universe the way that it is, it couldn't have just existed forever - if it had, all the heat would have already reached equilibrium and we would be too frozen to even move. So our universe Had to have a beginning - hence, the Big Bang Theory.

Well, there's another rule out there that everything that begins to exist has to have a cause. Scientists came up with the Big Bang Theory as the "cause" of the universe. The problem is, even if it is true, what caused the Big Bang? I'm sorry, but you can't just have nothing explode into everything - within our universe matter is neither created nor destroyed so that doesn't work UNLESS something or someONE (who has always existed and has all power) caused it. The Christian God, as He has revealed Himself in the Bible, has the power, the knowledge, and the everlasting-ness to have created our universe. In my opinion, He is the best explanation for the beginning and existence of our universe.

Now, if you got lost in there somewhere, let me summarize it for you. Science has revealed to us that our universe HAD to have a beginning - it has not just always existed. Everything that begins to exist has to have a cause, and the Christian God is the best possible explanation for the cause of our universe. This is just one of the reasons which supports my belief in God.

Obviously, I didn't know all of this stuff when I was younger. I had faith in God long before learning any of this, but I found it difficult to explain to other people why I believed in God. I had a personal relationship with Him, had experienced His love and forgiveness in my life, and I looked out at the world and the stars and just knew He was real, but those were just reasons for me to believe, not for someone else to believe, too. The Kalam Cosmological Argument is a way to help other people see that there is evidence for God beyond just blind faith, and I hope that it will help you in your faith.

You know, maybe when I asked you to think about why you believe (or don't believe) in God you realized that you didn't know why you believed that way. Maybe you were raised a certain way, or you went by what felt right, or maybe you just never really thought about it before. I am here to tell you that God IS real, and you can have a personal relationship with Him through faith in Jesus Christ. Send me a message if you want to know more.

People will try to tell us that belief in God is ludicrous, or crazy, or just plain dumb. But we know they are wrong. We know that God is real, and we have the evidence to back us up. And because there are people who are going to oppose us, it is that much more important for each of us to be able to give an answer for the hope that we have in Jesus.

I know this is a long post, but it is important for us to recognize that belief in God isn't silly or irrational. If we are right, and God is real, and He really did create the whole universe, then don't you think He would make it so we could know that it was Him? Paul certainly seemed to think so, and I do, too. Trust me, the more you learn about our world, the more you will find evidence for God.