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Five questions I wish someone had asked me 50 years ago

1/29/2018

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1. So you have rejected the Bible. What exactly did you find to be inaccurate?

“It's nothing but a bunch of fables,” I might have muttered. But it would have been an evasion, and I would have known it. The truth, of course, is that I couldn’t be bothered to read the Bible until I was in my late 40s. A question of this sort might have made me realize that I’d rejected something I knew nothing about.
 
2. If there’s a heaven, how does one get in?

I probably would have answered with something as predictable as “you just have to be a good person,” knowing full well that “good” is a relative term, and I hadn’t a clue what it meant.
 
3. So are you good enough?

I’m pretty sure I would have said, “Sure, I’m a good person,” but the question might have given me pause. I would never have said it aloud, but perhaps I would later think, “Am I really good enough? But what about …?”
 
4. How do you know these things?

Oh oh – the dreaded “what’s your source of authority” query!  I would have had no reply to this question, so I probably would have said something lame like “It just makes sense.” But even I would have recognized this as a weak argument.  
 
5. What if you’re wrong?

“What if you’re wrong?” I would have screamed. Then, I hope, the speaker would have said something along the lines of, “Well, if it turns out that I’m wrong, I’ll have lived a life of peaceful assurance that I’m heaven-bound, and I will have died fearlessly. And if it also turns out that the price of admission is having been nice to others? Well then, I’ll be a shoo-in; as a Christian, I try to treat everyone as I want them to treat me. But I’ll ask you again: What if you’re wrong?”
 
I’m not sure I could’ve come up with a smart reply to that. And maybe, just maybe, the exchange would have made me give some serious thought to the whole topic. Maybe even crack open that old Bible my parents’ church gave me a half-century ago.
 
The right questions make people think

You may well have better questions to pose to unbelievers. These just occurred to me today because they’re the ones I should have asked last week, when an unbeliever outlined her vague and unsubstantiated thoughts about the afterlife.  
 
By all means, share the gospel as soon as you have the opportunity. But you may first need to insert a few stumbling blocks in the unbeliever’s thinking; and questions like these can be a great way to do just that.
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Spotting the truth in worldly art

1/26/2018

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Back in the ‘90s, my husband and I collected a handful of signed, limited-edition wildlife prints, thinking they’d one day be worth a fortune. We were wrong about that, at least as far as money is concerned; but I think there may be a wealth of spiritual truth to be found in the best of them, even if it’s unintended.

Take, for instance, the Bev Doolittle painting excerpted above, entitled “When the Wind Had Wings.” At first glance, it’s a long horizontal slash of galloping white and then pinto horses morphing into a flock of birds.

​But if you look at it with new eyes, you can see an Indian profiled in the center of the picture. 


Once you see him, it becomes clear that the horses in that portion of the painting are red herrings. They distract the casual viewer from the real picture, the portrait of the Indian. 

Some people are never able to see his profile, so captivated are they by the thundering horses – sort of the way many are so thoroughly blinded by the creation that they are unable to see the Creator.  

The apostle Paul described this sort of spiritual blindness perfectly: 

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things." (Romans 1:20-23)

It's worth noting that this observation of Paul's is followed by some of the Bible's most chilling warnings.

I have no idea if Doolittle intends to say anything of the sort with her “camouflage" paintings; perhaps we can find a clue in some of her other work, such as her 2000 book The Earth Is My Mother. I wonder if she would be surprised to know that her art is such an excellent reflection of biblical truth?
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A love letter from your Creator

1/18/2018

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I just finshed typing up the words to a wonderful tract entitled "Father's Love Letter" (www.goodnewstracts.org); we used in Bible Discussion at the nursing home on Monday and it was so well received that I wanted to be able to hand out the words in super-jumbo print. (If you spot any typos, please let me know!)

I share it here because it is so encouraging and heartwarming for people of any age, and because it is such a great illustration of why we need to read more than isolated passages if we want to begin to understand God's revelation of Himself and His purposes for us.

Father’s Love Letter: An intimate message from God to you 
 
My child,
 
You may not know me, but I know everything about you (Psalm 139:1). I know when you sit down and when you rise up (Psalm 139:2). I am familiar with all your ways (Psalm 139:3) – even the very hairs on your head are numbered (Matthew 10:29-31).
 
You were made in my image (Genesis 1:27). In me you live and move and have your being, for you are my offspring (Acts 17:28). I knew you even before you were conceived (Jeremiah 1:4-5). I chose you when I planned creation (Ephesians 1:11-12). You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book (Psalm 139:15-16). I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live (Acts 17:26). You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). I knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13), and brought you forth on the day you were born (Psalm 71:6).
 
I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me (John 8:41-44). I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love (1 John 4:16). And it is my desire to lavish my love on you (1 John 3:1), simply because you are my child and I am your Father (1 John 3:1). I offer you more than your earthly father ever could (Matthew 7:11), for I am the perfect Father (Matthew 5:48). Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand (James 1:17), for I am your Provider and I meet all your needs (Matthew 6:31-33).
 
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope (Jeremiah 29:11), because I love you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). My thoughts toward you are as countless as the sand on the seashore (Psalm 139:17-18), and I rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17). I will never stop doing good to you (Jeremiah 32:40), for you are my treasured possession (Exodus 19:5).
 
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul (Jeremiah 32:41), and I want to show you great and marvelous things (Jeremiah 33:3). If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me (Deuteronomy 4:29); delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4), for it is I who gave you those desires (Philippians 2:13).
 
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine (Ephesians 3:20), for I am your greatest encourager (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17). I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles (2 Corinthians 1:3-4). When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you (Psalm 34:18); as a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart (Isaiah 40:11). One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes, and I will take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth (Revelation 21:3-4).
 
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus (John 17:23). In him, my love for you is revealed (John 17:26). He is the exact representation of my being (Hebrews 1:3). He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you (Romans 8:31), and to tell you that I am not counting your sins against you (2 Corinthins 5:18-19). Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you (1 John 4:10): I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love (Romans 8:31-32).
 
If you receive the gift of my son, Jesus, you receive me (1 John 2:23), and nothing will ever separate you from my love again (Romans 8:38-39). Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen (Luke 15:7). I have always been Father and will always be Father (Ephesians 3:14-15). My question is: will you be my child (John 1:12-13)? I am waiting for you (Luke 15:11-32).
​

Love,
Your Dad
(Almighty God) 
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Major scientific discovery!!!

1/12/2018

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News item not from the dark ages but from just a few years ago: Most cancers are caused by bad luck, not bad judgment.

I know – at first blush, it seems laughable, doesn’t it?But hey, the geniuses who made this discovery are from Johns Hopkins University. 

But then when you think about it, it makes sense: All the best “science” says that life itself, and the very universe we live in, came about because of blind chance. These days, they're even pinning the blame for extinction on the same phenomena. So why not a prominent cause of human death?

Still, it blows my mind. These same scientists who scoff at biblical explanations for all such phenomena -- although they can't be bothered to investigate the original source material – eagerly grasp blind chance as their go-to explanation for all that happens.  

This modern scientific trend is especially interesting when you consider the question of forever. In addition to providing lucid, logical and detailed explanations for our world and our lives, the Bible claims that its content determines where each of us will spend eternity. Whereas  science can only add “nowhere” to “bad luck” in its theory of everything.  

So let me ask you this: whose explanation makes the most sense? You be the judge. 

But given what’s at stake, you’d be wise to avoid basing your conclusion on hearsay; check out the original research for yourself. Here's the "science" (sorry, but you have to subscribe to Science magazine to see the whole thing) ... and here's the truth. 
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Think a few Bible verses or chapters tell you all you need to know? Think again.

1/5/2018

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I've long been dumbfounded by those who claim to know all they need to know about our Creator via a few verses or chapters or even entire books of the Bible. But I've never known how to expose their error in the nutshell they seem to prefer as their information-delivery systems, at least when it comes to the things of God.

And then I read Trevor McIlwain's wonderful Building on Firm Foundations, Volume I: Guidelines for Evangelism and Teaching Believers (New Tribes Mission, 5th edition, 1991). Here's how he explains, on pages 112-113, the mechanism of God's progressive revelation:

"God's basic method of teaching can be likened to the way an artist paints a picture. An artist does not begin painting in one corner of the canvas and immediately complete every detail. Instead, he will often do an initial, simple, light sketch of the whole picture. To an onlooker, the picture in the early stages will be indistinct. Even when studied, it may not be clear just what the artist intends to include in the final product. But, as the artist continues to work on the picture, here a little and there a little, the details begin to develop with greater clarity. This process continues until the final strokes are applied and the picture is complete.

"This is how God painted His picture of the drama of redemption. He began the sketch in the early chapters of Genesis. Genesis 3:15 is a simple, undetailed sketch of the whole picture of the redemption story. Sharper, clearer details were then added by God in the call and life of Abraham. More color and features were put onto the canvas in the offering of Isaac and the perfect lamb substitute which God provided. Jacob's dream, the Passover, the manna from Heaven, the water from the smitten rock, the giving of the Law, the building of the Tabernacle, the brazen serpent, Joshua's victorious ministry, and other historical events are all strokes of the Artist's brush as He painted the background of the picture. 

"The Master Painter continued adding details as He guided the events of Old Testament history toward the revelation of Christ, the main subject of the painting. Obscure images and lightly sketched areas suddenly emerged when Jesus came to live, die and rise again. But even then, the canvas did not contain the whole picture. Through the apostles, the Holy Spirit continued the painting. The final strokes to God's picture were made when the revelation of Jesus Christ, given to John on the Isle of Patmos, was added.

"God never taught all there was to know about any particular doctrine or subject at one specific time. He often revealed some new area of truth, but He never immediately gave the whole truth regarding any one subject."

So the next time someone informs you that "judge not" means we are not to disrespect someone else's imaginative-but-heartfelt ideas about God, or that "God so loved the world" means everyone is going to heaven except Hitler, try using this metaphor. Then invite him or her to try understanding Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel simply by glancing at Adam's thumbnail.
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    Kitty
    Foth-Regner

    I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a freelance copywriter, a nursing-home volunteer, and the author of books both in-process and published -- including Heaven Without Her. 

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