A Confidence Booster to Start the Week

Here is something just to give you a good laugh, a confidence boost, or whatever else you can deem from this. I read this a few days ago and it just absolutely amazed me, so hope it does the same to you. This is a post from "Godreads.com" posted by Maggie Shaver, who is not the original writer.


God vs. Science

Chapter 1   —   Updated Apr 22, 2009   —   8,570 characters

A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, "Let me explain the problem science has with religion." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

"You're a Christian, aren't you, son?"
"Yes sir," the student says.

"So you believe in God?"
"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"
"Sure! God's good."

"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"
"Yes."

"Are you good or evil?"
"The Bible says I'm evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here's one for you. Let's say there's a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."

"So you're good...!"
"I wouldn't say that."

"But why not say that? You'd help a sick and maimed person if you could. Most of us would if we could. But God doesn't."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn't, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

The student remains silent.

"No, you can't, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

"Let's start again, young fella. Is God good?"
"Er...yes," the student says.

"Is Satan good?"
The student doesn't hesitate on this one. "No."

"Then where does Satan come from?"
The student falters. "From God"

"That's right. God made Satan, didn't he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"
"Yes, sir."

"Evil's everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything, correct?"

"Yes."

So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."

Again, the student has no answer. "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."

"So who created them?"

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them?" There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"

The student's voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."

The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"

"No sir. I've never seen Him."

"Then tell us if you've ever heard your Jesus?"
"No, sir, I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"

"No, sir, I'm afraid I haven't."
"Yet you still believe in him?"
"Yes."

"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?"

"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."
"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replies. "There's heat."

"And is there such a thing as cold?"
"Yes, son, there's cold too."
"No sir, there isn't."

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees."

"Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn't darkness?"

"You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word."

"In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor's face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"

"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can't even explain a thought."

"It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."

"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."

The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor's brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.

"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor's brain, felt the professor's brain, touched or smelt the professor's brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."

"So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you'll have to take them on faith."

"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"

Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

Does God Really See All My Sin?

Then the Lord God called to the man [Adam], and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ Genesis 3:9

Adam was a man who was familiar with the presence of God.  Yet, when he sinned against God, he hid in fear… in fear of this holy God who was now his judge.  In his shame, Adam did not want God to see his sin.  But the problem with Adam’s attempt in the garden was that he was completely unable to hide from the God who knows all.

There have been times in my life when I, like Adam, have tried to hide my sin from God.  A while back I was reading through Hebrews and came across the following passage:

And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  Hebrews 4:13

Naked and exposed?  I don’t like the sound of that.  In fact, it sounds like what I’m sure Adam felt in the garden.  For the first time in his life, he was aware of his nakedness.  Despite his attempts to hide, he was exposed.  It is quite an understatement to say this was an uncomfortable position for Adam… to be naked before a holy God.

Yet, though Adam’s sin separated him from God, God was still drawing near to be with him. God offered the promise that a Redeemer would come, a sacrifice would be made for sins so that Adam and all those who believe can be reconciled with God.

When I look around and see sin in my life, it is comforting to read on in Hebrews.  Through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I am no longer naked and exposed before the judge in guilt and shame…  I can come boldly before His throne with confidence, holding fast to the hope found in my Savior.

And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.  Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  Hebrews 4:13 – 16

Through the cross of Jesus Christ, God the Judge does not excuse our sin; He offers forgiveness for it.  He allows us to come and stand before Him with confidence, no longer in nakedness and shame but clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

Let us thank Him today for His sacrifice and the forgiveness He offers us!

[copyrighted, 2009, Emily Schankweiler]

Don't Dwell on Your Past

 One of the biggest challenges I have faced in my walk is the challenge of leaving my past behind. For a lot of us, our pasts are full of stuff that we feel ashamed of. I will be the first to admit that letting that shame go is hard. I personally felt unworthy and unwanted when I thought of my past and the mistakes I made. There are few people that actually know the story of my past, and even fewer still that have heard the worst of it. Those that have heard displayed nothing but good will toward me; never once did any of them turn around and tell others, none of them threw it back in my face, and all of them said that they had been in a similar boat at one time. Yet I still to this day feel shame when I think about telling people my full story, and I was still full of the feelings of being unwanted and unworthiness constantly picking at me. However, the bible tells us, through a culmination of verses, that God forgives and forgets our sin. If you confess your sins to God, then the shame of those sins is wiped away, and you are made anew in Him. While at the Motion Conference in Alabama at the end of this summer, the big thing that God was laying on my heart was that our pasts should not dictate our futures. The events of the past cannot be changed, and they have been forgiven and forgotten. But at the same time we should not totally abandon our pasts. You must keep your guard up, or those mistakes of the past may come back to attempt to trap you again, and you need to be prepared with God to defend against them. And I know a key thing for this type of devotion is for the writer to practice what is preached, so I will let the shame go and let you all in on my past. I was an addict. Not of tobacco, or drugs, or self-image. I was addicted to pornography. It’s a serious addiction that comes back to nip at my heels constantly. And I am very ashamed of the choices I made that led to that addiction. But I am letting that shame go. This is my freedom day. The day that I let the world in on my secret. And I have to be totally honest with you all; I still have to fight this addiction. It’s not easy, and the shame will probably continue to creep in on me whenever it gets the chance, but now I have nothing to hide. And that shame will fade. As Isaiah 61:7 says, “Instead of shame you shall have double honour.” Now it’s your turn. Find a buddy, and just pour out your shame. Let go of the secrets in your past that bite at you. Turn from your shame and when it tries to come back into your life, push it away. Pray for God to help you fight the shame, the addictions, the secrets that haunt your thoughts.