Thinking about God, Jesus and The Big Questions

I was considering what was the biggest problem that was getting in the way of people accepting being saved by Jesus. At first, I thought it was selfishness, but then realized that it couldn't be just that, because it's in our own self-interest to be saved!  Certainly there is an element of selfishly wanting to live life on our own terms which might not involve reading the Bible or praying. But still, there must be something other than selfishness - because even with selfishness alone, people would still realize that being saved is in their interests. Eventually, I realized the biggest problem getting in the way of being saved is actually hubris, which means pride. People who don't accept being saved by Jesus may have various reasons or motivations for that. Some might not believe Jesus existed and/or that He was not capable of saving people. Other people might believe they don't need to be saved because they think they're a "good person" - but the pitfall ...

After Jesus died on the cross and before He rose again, what might it have felt like to the women such as Mary his mother, and his disciples? This year at Easter I pondered this question.  The women went to the tomb early in the morning with the intent of preparing the body for burial. As they went, was there any doubt creeping into their heads about Jesus? If I was one of them, I would have surely been tempted to wonder if He was really the son of God. If He was killed, what was the point of this?  Of course, his mother Mary had the advantage of knowing the entire time that Jesus truly was the son of God - an angel had come to her to tell her when she was pregnant. An angel had visited her husband Joseph too, to give him the same information. But even knowing that Jesus was the son of God, did Mary wonder at any point whether God's plan had gone awry somewhere at the end? Or was she confident about the way things happened? And how about the disciples? The disciples had seen m...

It's easy to get caught up in the busy day to day things that we need to do and forget what is literally the most valuable thing in the universe. It's the Kingdom of Heaven. Its value is spelled out clearly in the Bible, and we will take a look at this passage below.  The Kingdom of Heaven not just a nice-to-have; it's a must-have. It's to the point that we should be willing to trade anything else for it. As a reminder, if God exists and is the ruler of the Universe, and if He guided the writing of the Bible, then the writings of the Bible should be more significant than any other writing in this world. Let's take a look at what Jesus himself told people about the value of Heaven: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls;  on finding one pearl of great value, he went and so...

In the Bible verses about the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, God made provision for Lot and his family's safety. This was because God was happy with Lot: he was the only good man in the city. When God decided to destroy these cities, he sent 2 angels to do this. They appeared as normal men, and Lot invited them to stay in his house with him. The angels explained of the destruction that was about to happen, and that Lot's family was to be spared. Here is the Bible passage: With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swep...

Do you frequently hear people advocating long-term planning, yet theirs does not go beyond the point of their death? That is not long-term planning; it's short-term planning! Long-term planning should go far beyond our deaths, and it is far more important than any will or inheritance we plan to leave to our loved ones. One day we will leave this world, and go to a world beyond, where we will meet God. It's crucial that we are prepared for that time. Getting our earthly affairs in order is merely short-term planning; dealing with spiritual matters is long-term planning which has eternal consequences. If we expect to plan for the long term, our focus must be on the long term, not on the short term. This means keeping a focus on spiritual matters. This is not always easy to do, as day-to-day living can quite easily take up 110% of our time, effort and energy. Also, it is necessary to work in the earthly world, raise our children, and so on. I am not advocating taking tim...

Even if you are not concerned about your own soul, what about your children's? Did you know that there is a huge battle going on, over your child's soul? I know that to you, it seems literally unbelievable. But if you will, just for a second, pose the (admittedly scary) question "What if?" Just because you don't believe in something doesn't mean it's not real. Imagine us trying to explain the existence of the atom to someone from the Middle Ages. We can understand why that person simply won't believe it, but the atom was still 100% real in the Middle Ages - regardless of whether the people of that time could a) detect it or b) believe in it. Let's switch over a little. Have you ever watched the movie "The Matrix"? It is set in what seems to be a very real world, but in fact turns out to be a virtual world surrounded by an external, real, world. Right now, the Earth, planets, galaxies and everything in it are like the inner world o...

The movie "The Matrix" (1999) is probably the best-known secular fictional illustration of the concept of a universe within a universe.  In the movie, people think they are living life, yet in reality their bodies are actually in a state of suspended animation while their brains are engaged in a virtual reality simulation of the real world.  Naturally, this simulation (the Matrix) appears so real that you cannot possibly realize that this is not in fact the real world.  It is only when the main character, Neo, is told the truth (still within the Matrix) that this is not the real world and that there is a more real one out there, that movie viewers realize what is going on.  In fact it is not until he is physically removed from the Matrix that Neo has proof and finally believes what is happening. Like the Matrix, our world of Earth and outer space is a universe within a Universe .  There is a bigger reality out there: God's realm.  Our universe, includin...

Christians believe that this earth (and outer space) are created by God.  In addition to this universe we have managed to detect using physical measurements, there is another Universe, which contains basically everything else that isn't here, such as angels and Heaven.  Our universe is nested within the other Universe. We are a universe within a Universe.  This is not a surprise to Christians, but some atheists find it hard to believe. The difference between the universes: Our universe is enemy-occupied territory (Satan has considerable, but still limited, power on Earth).  Our universe is ephemeral and will not last forever (a really long time, but not forever).  In contrast, the outer Universe is permanent and out there somewhere in it there is a big battle between various heavenly beings over each of our souls (yes, a battle is being fought over us, strange as it may seem).   Some secular themed examples of the concept: This concept of a univ...

With plenty of bad thing happening in the world, it is tempting to think that this might signal the end of days.  Are we really living at the end of days described in the Bible chapter of Revelation?  The answer is no, as of the time this post was published, in January 2011.  Right now we may very well be in the preceding stage that Jesus described in the gospel of Matthew: You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Matthew 24:6-8 Out of interest, as grim as this may sound to us now, living in this stage would have seemed a lot grimmer to those living at the start of World War II, during which (having not so long ago finished with World War I) no-one knew how long WWII would last or whether it was going to be ...

It was only recently that I had heard an acronym for the Bible: Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth. It made me reflect that indeed, we are all in need of this basic instruction before we leave Earth. For indeed, we all at some point will leave Earth. The death rate is still one per person. I just felt compelled to blog this. -Ver If you found this post interesting, you might also like these related posts on this blog: Confusion Between Sunday School and the Bible Are We Saved by Works or by Faith? The Myth of the Mayan Calendar Predicting End of World in 2012 "I'm just too busy right now!" vs God as a Boss The First Thing I Found Out... We Have Free Will