Relationships

I have been a husband for nearly 12 years...the Lord has richly blessed me with a wonderful wife. Bonita is the greatest! She is my best friend...I love to be with her.

For a marriage to be good you have to invest into it. Many people start off well then somewhere down the line they get derailed. Both parties begin doing other things...spending time doing their own thing. This trend grows and grows until two strangers co-inhabit the same house.

Many marriages end after 20 + years...ever wonder why?

The kids have left home...the common interest just left.

While the kids are at home both parents can pour themselves into the children...but when the kids are gone...what's left?

We can all nickel and dime ourselves to death. Its the little choices multiplied over years and years that really add up.

Take time to sit with your spouse...learn to talk again...go for a walk, have some fun together.

The husband/wife relationship is the primary relationship in the home...it is the only relationship that is going to be left when the children leave the nest.

Making money is needed in this world...but how many men and women get their focus on the big bucks thinking that it is going to be the answer...then after 20 years they discover that they were right...it was the answer...the wrong answer.

Good Intentions...gone bad

Yesterday I thought I would be "the good husband". My wife was busy with other things so I thought I would help her out. I was in the laundry room and noticed that clothes needed to come out of the dryer...and other clothes needed to go into the dryer.

Here is the catch [not all clothes that sit in the washing machine go into the dryer].

I put my wifes favorite shirt in the dryer...and now its half sized...ruined...ouch!

She very graciously came to me and said thanks for the nice thought...but next time just leave the "dryer" part alone.

Unbelievers will continue to say that Christianity is not scientific...but you can't have the latter without the prior. Below is a good article on this topic

Christianity and Science

Unbiased, Open minded, Liberal scholars?

The unbeliever wants to speak much about history, yet at the same time wants to automatically discount the New Testament as history. Why, can't we trust the New Testament as a reliable history, you ask? The unbeliever will tell you its unreliable because of the writers faith committement. There faith would make them biased witnesses...and therefore not to be trusted.

The unbeliever also chooses his scholars...because his scholars are "unbiased" because they do not have some "fundementalist" view warping their studies.

But it doesn't take much reading to find that the unbeliever's scholars are just as "faith" committed as the "so called" fundementalist's Christian's scholars.

Those who do not trust all of the Bible as God's Word still have presuppositions that they are committed to "by faith".

The unbeliever is not unbiased, neutral, and honestly seeking the truth...he has an ax to grind with God and tries his hardest to flee from God's truth.

If you want to read an excellent article on the "so called" unbiased scholarship of the "liberal" Jesus Seminar look at N.T Wrights Article...click below
N.T Wright and "The Five Gospels"

Cheque or Visa?

Have you ever had a time where went to pay for something with a cheque and they asked you to show them your drivers license and Visa or some other credit card?

If you didn't produce the credit card then they wouldn't accept the cheque.

If I wanted to pay for the item via credit card then I would have pulled out my Visa.

The store has shown you that your cheque is not authoritative enough for them...they want something greater...your credit card.

Your credit card has become the greatest authority in this situation.

For the Christian, the Triune God is the ultimate authority.

The unbeliever is trying to pretend to be the store manager...he is viewing God as a "cheque", a lower authority. And he wants you to prove your ulimate authority with something higher, something greater.

He wants you to pull out the "credit card"...the evidence to "authorize" your ultimate authority.

Here is the catch, when you try to authorize your ultimate authority by something else...whatever you authorize it with then becomes your ultimate authority.

What the unbeliever is really saying is I will believe God just as long as He isn't really God.

As Christians we start with God and move on from there.

God is the proof for evidence... not the other way around.

The unbeliever talks much about "reason", "evidence", "proofs", but he doesn't even begin to explain how any of these things work, in a consistent manner, with his world view.

Riddle

Is a Criminal Lawyer a job description or a tautology?

The Ultimate Authority

The atheist asked the Christian “How do you interpret what reality is?”
The Christian replied “by the Bible”
“Why?” asked the atheist.
“Because it is the Word of God” answered the Christian.
“How do you know that it is the Word of God”? replied the atheist [sensing victory].
“Because it says it is” answered the Christian.
“HA!!” Shouted the atheist in triumph, “you can’t use the Bible to authorize the Bible, that is begging the very question at hand, it is circular reasoning”.


The Christian then asked the atheist “How do you interpret reality”?
The atheist replied “by observation and reason”?
“Why?” asked the Christian.
“Because by observation I can gather the facts and by reason I can categorize these facts, making sense out of the world around me” answered the atheist.

“What do you use to interpret your observations, and to interpret your logical conclusions” inquired the Christian?

“My mind, of course” answered the atheist.

“How do you know that your mind is a competent interpreter of reality”? asked the Christian.

“Because you can test to see if observations are valid and arguments are not contradictory” replied the atheist.

“Do you use your mind to make up these tests and then use your mind to take the final results of the test”? asked the Christian.

The atheist remained silent.

The Christian continued on “if you say that the mind is not used in creating these tests and taking the results of the test then what you are saying is that these tests are mindless and do not rest on observation or reason. But if you say that the mind is the creator of these tests and the grader of these tests then you have the mind authorizing itself. This too is begging the very question at hand and is circular reasoning.

Isn’t it amazing how we do not judge ourselves with the same standards that we will use to judge something outside of ourselves?

Even though all reasoning is circular reasoning, all circular reasoning does not give the preconditions for intelligibility.

Only Christianity gives the reason why we can have uniformity of nature, laws of logic and laws of morality.

Water Bumper Cars

I was at a water park years ago...it was great fun.

On of the rides was a water version of the bumper car.

You got into these circle shaped rubber boats, with a small motor, and would ram each other.

It was great fun. You climbed into your circle and would do battle.

Everyone who did battle, did so within their circle.

Anyone who thought they could do battle outside of a circle...was all wet.

This is true also with argumentation, everyone argues within their worldview...everyone has presuppositions...everyone interprets evidence according to their presuppositions.

Your presuppositions are not proven...they are what you prove all else by.

This is why all arguing is "in a circle".

Anyone who thinks they aren't arguing in a circle...well...they are all wet.

Either /Or?

I have stated that the Triune God of Scripture is the only foundation for "laws".

To argue against this statement some have pointed to history to show that "unbelievers" have made laws and yet did not believe in the Triune God of Scripture.

But the Christian faith has an answer for this!

These ungodly nations or cultures did know the God who made them [Roman 1] and they, like unbelievers today, suppress this truth in the unrighteousness of their rebellious hearts.

The only reason why they can have "laws" of any kind is because they don't live their lives according to their "professed" beliefs...instead they live their lives according to their "suppressed" beliefs.

For the unbeliever to then try to argue against this claim by pointing to some Christians hypocrisy isn't an argument at all.

Hypocrisy assumes that there is a "law" or "universal standard" that a person is not living up to, even though they say they are.

If there isn't such a law or standard then why do unbelievers continually point to Christians hypocrisy? Without an absolute, universal standard... hypocrisy becomes non-existent.


The Bible teaches that there are covenant keepers...and it also teaches that there are covenant breakers [hypocrites included].

The Triune God, who is the foundation for "laws" to exist, has also shown us that many of His creatures rebel against His law. He also has shown that some of His followers even rebel against His law.

The unbeliever needs to go beyond showing that unbelievers make laws, they need to show how they can make sense of a law.

The unbeliever needs to go beyond merely showing that some Christians do not live up to an absolute, universal standard of morality...they need to show, according to their unbelief, how there could be such standard.

The unbeliever wants us [Christians] to give him this first footing...so he can then start tearing down our faith.

But we won't give him this starting point. Show us according to your unbelieving view of reality how their can be a absolute, universal standard or law.

I will ask it again...even though I know we won't get an answer...

According to the unbelieving view of reality...explain how their can be a universal or absolute of any kind.
And if you can't...then what is a law, and who is it binding upon?

Is the Glass Half Full Or Half Empty?

Contentment is a great gift!

On our holidays I had the opportunity to witness my children and how they viewed things.

At all the amusement parks there are certain rides that have height restrictions...if you don't meet up to the standard height for the ride then you don't get to experience the "fun".

My oldest child was tall enough to get on all the rides.

The younger three had some rides they couldn't get on.

At the the end of the first day I asked everyone how their day was. My second eldest child said it was ok. My third child said she had a 'great' time.

The interesting thing was that my second eldest child is taller then my third and therefore had the opportunity of going on more rides then the third eldest.

So why the difference in responses?

Thats easy.

One was looking at the glass as half empty...the other as half full.

One was sulking and sad at the things she couldn't do...

The other was happy and joyful at the things she was allowed to do.

This is a good lesson for adults as well.

Some people are never happy...in their job...finacially...relationship wise...

This is because they are always looking over the fence at what they could have, instead of looking at all the blessings they already have.