My dictums

Failure is not the end. It is an opportunity to learn, and to do better next time. Move on, trust God, and he will permit you to escalate to higher mountains.

When you look at the inner workings of the cell, and it screams constantly design at you, but you have to suppress the information and say: No - evolution - that causes acute cognitive dissonance, and in more serious diagnosis, gross headage. How to cope with it? Read enough literature from Richard Dawkins, and enough doses of pseudo-science hailing of how great evolution works may help you disappear with the notion that the design narrative makes more sense.

God is the most parsimonious explanation of our existence. No need to invoke multiverses, cosmological, chemical, and biological evolution, nor any other kind of fancy stuff. Not only do they make things more complicated. But throwing the bucked all down, at the bottom, you are still left with no explanation of why there is a complex universe rather than nothing.

A magician will usually not show how a trick was done. He leaves his audience with curiosity and wonder.

God however revealed and explained, that he created through his power and intelligence. We have an answer. We know who he is. He became a man and walked among us. And we can glorify Him.

But atheists, since they reject the God hypothesis, will remain in the dark and will have to remain satisfied acknowledging their ignorance. Naturalism provides no reasonable answers. At all.

Those that are more courageous, will attribute to non-designed events the power that only intelligence has. Pressing them hard, they will resort to these explanations, and while doing it, they expose the hopelessness and case-inadequateness of naturalistic explanations and hang themselves.

When Jesus was arguing with the Pharisees, they also asked for a sign. Jesus dismissed their demand. When he was on the cross, they mocked him and said: “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross!” He could have attended to their demand, he could have done a miracle right there. He didn't. When he was resurrected, he showed himself to his disciples. He could have shown himself to the Pharisees. He didn't. Why? They would not have believed nonetheless.
So it is with the unbelievers today.

They demand a sign. They ask for empirical evidence. They want that God shows up. Would that turn them into believers? Yes. They would believe ( actually coming to knowledge) that God exists. But it would not turn them into born-again children of God, into people that would worship and love Him. Why? Because it is not more evidence that convinces people. It is when God sees our hearts, acts, and draws us to Him. He prepares our hearts, and we seek him and find him. Yes, we decide to surrender to his grace, but that decision is preceded by God preparing us.

It was not the disciple's initiative to seek Jesus. It was Jesus that selected his disciples, upon the father's direction. The disciples saw Jesus, heard his voice, and something mysterious happened. They left their life behind and started to follow Jesus. Every conversion is a miracle performed by God. God's body, his church, is a supernatural miracle. Those that are born again, can see Jesus' beauty. Recognize: He is the great I AM, and life is worth being lived to know Him because he is good.

Atheists want evidence? I just say: Look at the trees. That's enough for any well-intended.

There is nothing more decisive, important, and influential in our lives than the belief in the God of the Bible and true discipleship. There isn't a more destructive force than disbelieving, rejecting, and living in rebellion against Him.

Nobody knows why there is something rather than nothing. Why there is a God, rather than not. But God's self-revelation and scientific evidence explain our existence.

Many atheists claim God cannot exist. By that, they mean, a maximally good, benevolent God. By doing so, they successfully avoid answering a more relevant question. I use a minimal characterization of God's attributes: Eternal, powerful, intelligent, and creator. There is nothing illogical in that description, so such a God is a valid, possible contender.

Now, the following is the relevant part. He is a contender, or competitor, to NO GOD!!!! That means, either a) The universe has always existed in some form, or b) The universe came from nothing. Since b) is impossible, the alternative to the God I just characterized is that our universe is eternal without a cause. It has just always been, without further explanation. It is a brute fact.

But can the universe be self-sustaining? Can it create something of an entirely different substance, or qualia, namely consciousness? If an atheist wants to stick to an eternal universe, he has to explain how it can exist in time without a beginning, how the expansion rate is just right to permit a life-permitting universe, and why and how there are physical laws based on math that uphold the universe, permitting it to be stable, and intelligible; how the energy in the universe is recharged, and how the fundamental forces split into the just right four fundamental forces, permitting the origin of matter, atoms, stars, and planets, then life, biodiversity, consciousness, and moral duties. Good luck with that.

Or course, he can resort, to: " I don't know", or " The universe just is", it is a "brute fact". But how warranted is that? I think it's not.

But if he eventually admits that a God with minimal attributes as described above exists, and eventually acknowledges the possibility of the God of the Bible, then, and only then, he is justified to scrutinize the supposed contradictions, and "problems " that the stories in the Bible offers. Any honest seeker will conclude that none of the supposed problems justify disbelieving in the God of the Bible.

We have answers.... And if we don't to some questions, i trust, that one day, God himself will answer them.

If I have no free will, then my "I" is actually an illusion, performed and generated by neurons or a collection of them, forming a brain that creates an illusion of a "self", that thinks it has free will, but in reality, it has not. It's just a bunch of "meat", and my "I" makes decisions, that have not ME as a source, but the neurons of my brain. Our super powerful neurons or the collective of them, generate also another amazing trick: The illusion of having moral obligations. following moral values, doing "good", or "bad", which is another illusion, that in actuality does not exist. Its just chemicals floating around. That illusionary "I" has also a strong sense of teleonomy. It thinks it is important and what it decides doing, has meaning. Of course, our neuron superheroes have evolved all these illusionary senses just for one purpose: To survive. To perpetuate the species of homo sapiens. Surviving for a limited period of time, and then, dying. To go back to the dust of the earth, and later on, become stardust. Pretty awesome, what matter is capable of doing all that, if you ask me.

If that is true, our I does not exist. Moral values do not exist. Meaning does not exist. There is only an unexplained "drive" for molecules to form an agglomerate, that self-replicates, that is conscious and experiences things, that we call life.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/free-will-could-all-be-an-illusion-scientists-suggest-after-study-that-shows-choice-could-just-be-the-brain-tricking-itself-a7008181.html

Better living a godly life, having just enough of what is needed, seeking God and to please Him, being just, respecting your next and practicing love as taught by Christ, and entering eternal life, than greedy, running an entire life behind mammon to accumulate material wealth, worldly pleasures, living as an apatheist, forgetting what really matters, and when dying, facing judgment, and eternal death.

The most vocal about God not intervening to avoid evil in the world would be the most vocal in accusing God of being a dictatorial tyrant forcing his will on us if he would intervene to avoid evil in the world. If he would prevent a rapist to rape a child, he would have to prevent a woman to abort her unborn. In order to be coherent, he would have to prevent all evil, otherwise, people would complain and accuse God of intervening in one case, and not in another. God would have to intervene constantly, everywhere, all over the globe, 24h per day, and in the end, our free will would be removed entirely. If my will would decide to knock down someone, God could, or would have to disconnect the signal in my arm and prevent it to hit my target. He would have to become a totalitarian dictator, monitoring constantly our desires, and decisions, and intervening constantly.

Or he would have had to create us like robots and give us the illusion of free will, but our free will would be pre-programmed to decide in every situation to act in accordance with his will. Obviously, that would not be free will whatsoever anymore. Then, he would be lying to us.

Others are accusing God of not attending and answering prayers. If he would hear and attend all our prayers, then he would have to attend also those that would not favor, but harm us. Even sinful wishes. He would become our servant. A useful tool to serve and attending our selfish desires. We would be above God, and he would not be sovereign. That would be another absurd situation.

I think those that blame God for so many things if they would sit down, and think through what they complain about, would realize how absurd their complaints are.

There is monism that claims that the physical world is all there is.
Then, we have dualism, a distinction between mind and matter.
Trialism is less known. In philosophy, trialism was introduced as an alternative interpretation of mind-body dualism by Descartes, keeping the two substances of mind and body, but introducing a third substance, sensation, belonging to the union of mind and body.

I would however apply the third realm to the mind of God.

According to George Cantor, there are three realms:

(1) the mind of God,
(2) the human mind, and
(3) the physical universe.
Einstein wrote about two realms, and an unbridgeable gulf between them, that separates the real world of objects, events, and tensional spacetime relations from fully abstract representations that contain information about the material world.

Isaiah 55: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

While God has thoughts as we do, his mind and nature are in a category of their own.
I can imagine the gap of quality, the distinction that is separated by an unbridgeable gulf between the material and the human mental realm, so there is equally an unbridgeable gulf between the human mind, and God's mind.

This is maybe an as much dramatic break as between the living and non-living world and represents the second additional most dramatic and fundamental of all the discontinuities of reality.

There is a creator/creature distinction. God does not depend on any cause other than himself for his existence. He is self-existent, uncreated, eternal, the alpha and omega. He incorporates several superlatives. The first commandment is, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." -Exodus 20:3. Put God above everything else.

So we may order the material world on the one side, man with his dual nature, matter, and spirit, in the middle, and God on the right. He transcends the physical material world, knows everything that happens in his created world, knows the mental realm of all man, and knows himself, and all dimensions above ours. Obviously, his intelligence and power far exceed what we can ever think of or imagine. His goodness is infinite, he is 100% light and love, righteousness and truthfulness, and there is no darkness in Him. He lives in perfect love in his communion of father, son, and holy spirit, and he lacks nothing. And in his all goodness, he is extends his perfect existence, offering it to his creatures - those that freely chose to know and love Him.

Other than boring, heaven will be the most awesome, awe-inspiring existence that we cannot fathom yet since it has not been fully revealed to us. But each of us will have a special place in the body of Christ - in as much as he has a plan for us here on earth, this plan extends for all eternity.

God is the precious pearl, the wealth that this world can offer is nothing in comparison. Chose wisely - chose God. He is good and has a perfect plan for each of us.

Atheism is in essence the fallen man's expression of his sinful nature. It is the eternal struggle between man's will and God's will for us. The sinful fallen man sees the world based on the lens of his sinful I, which is governed by his flesh, and Satan's influence in this world. Atheism is not a logical, rational inference based on the lack of evidence for God, but an expression of man's heart, his desire to be his ultimate instance, and rather to live a God-centred life, an ego-centered life. The evangelistic atheist wants to abolish God's law, and erect humanistic laws and moral values, which are tailored to fit what man's sinful nature dictates and wants. Abortion and LGBTQ+ rights are about this. In such a world, God has no say, no influence, no relevance, he is excluded.

Atheism is not in essence a seeking of truth, but a seeking of a world where God is removed from his throne, and replaced by the governance of man, which is a puppet of demonic governance. That's it.

It will have its highest expression when the antichrist comes. He will erect humanistic values, solve many problems in this world, remove hunger, and establish himself as the savior of this world - all world religious leaders will welcome him as the true Messiah - but those who worship the true Lord will be persecuted and killed.

We are not yet there - because the world is not evil enough. We would not expect the world to become a safer and better place in the near future, but more and more chaotic - so the antichrist can arise from the ashes - as the big savior - and all hail him.

Let's be prepared, and be part of those virgins that have oil in their cans, and be part of those that will not be left behind...

A worldview is not constructed by you picking what you like, the God that fits most your "like", or a No-God world because that's what you prefer. In order to avoid self-delusion, you need to be willing to remove your bias as much and as strongly as possible, permit the evidence in the natural world, sound philosophical reasoning, and take theological issues into consideration, to lead you wherever it is. Because you don't like that the God of the Bible chose to flood the world, ordered the genocide of several ANE tribes, or did not condemn slavery sufficiently at your "gusto", does not mean He does not exist. He is not obliged to act in the way you prefer or approve. If He is the true God and acted this way, it is upon us to attempt to understand why he did act so and not otherwise, what the circumstances were, the cultural context, and the wider or more global context. Maybe you will never fully agree or understand certain things. So what?

We need to humble ourselves and recognize that we are the creature, He is the creator. He has revealed himself as pure light, just, holy, loving, and graceful. Either we accept that and acknowledge it, or not. When we don't and reject Him, we are on our own. We have given up what life is all about: Knowing God, seeking and loving Him, loving others, and making Him known. Then we take His scepter from His hands, and put it into ours, and play being God on His behalf. We become our own Gods, autonomous, and independent, erecting our own moral values, and rather than living a God-centred life, we live a ego-centered life, where everything surrounds US, rather than Him. That is sin. That is what means "missing the mark". That is what englobes disbelief in God, and why it is in the list of things that condemn us. Disbelief in God means living autonomously to Him. The main command that Christ gave us is to believe in Him. Everything else follows naturally. That means obeying Him, following His footsteps, seeking Him, and how we relate to the world.

Disgraceful it is to reject our creator. Blessed those that humble themselves, recognize that they are creaturely, limited and that we depend on Him. Doing so, he can act in us. Transform us into true disciples and children of God. This is what means to be truly successful: To live according to God's plan for us. Seeking money, wealth, power, and worldly pleasures are grasping at straws. It can never fulfill our inner needs, that only the Lord can fill, or provide us with true meaning that only our creator can give us.
Jeremiah 29:13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

If you doubt Christianity is true, read the BEST literature advocating AGAINST it. You will realize how shallow the opponent's case is. The case for Christ has withstood scrutiny over the ages and will keep doing so. Honest seekers will find the truth, and the truth will set them free. Nothing is more liberating than discovering that Christ answers the most profound questions of our existence and that he is the source of true joy, inner peace, certainty, knowledge, and hope. He is worth living, and dying for.

Those that complain that God is hidden, are the same that would complain that God is removing their freedom if he would show up and intervene in human affairs.

Atheists complain that God is hiding.
But when providing evidence, they deny it.
They deny that the universe had a beginning, therefore a cause.
They deny that fine-tuning leads to a tuner, and resort to multiverses.
They erect a strawman, by claiming that DNA is not a code, when this is not what is being asserted, entirely ignoring that DNA stores genetic information using the genetic code, which is a language, that uses an alphabet, words ( codons), and punctuation marks ( 3 trinucleotide codons are start and stop signs) and a cipher to decode the genetic information.
Inventing a language, signs, grammar, and using it to create instructional information, and a system of information transfer, and translation, is always a mental process.
They claim that there is no irreducible complexity in biological systems, when it is obvious that there is a threshold from non-life to life, a minimal requirement of parts, while these parts, on their own, have no function, and would never evolve. Therefore, they were planned by someone with a goal in mind, and foresight.
They deny over 350 prophecies in the Old Testament, pointing to the messiah.
They even deny Christ's historicity.
They claim that the stories in the Bible were copied from other religions.
They claim that things were added to the gospels.
They deny that Christ did miracles, and rose from the dead.
That is consistent with those who do not WANT God.
That is the same modus operandi of the Pharisees that demanded signs. When Christ did miracles in front of their eyes, they accused him of being possessed by demons.
When he rose from the dead, they spread lies, claiming that the disciples stole the body.
God is not hiding. God has given us natural and biblical theology.
Anyone that seeks, will find.
Those that seek a life without God, have it.
Those that seek a life with God, have it.
God attends our heart's desires. Thats why he gave us free will.

Bias is a very serious agent of blinding the intellect: It does not fail man to remain in everlasting ignorance and to abide to the principle of contempt prior to investigation and the desire to gain deeper knowledge and understanding, and the willingness either to gain further confirmation of a currently hold view or belief, or to reject it upon the newly gained insight.

Many have described Christ. Some said he was a revolutionary. The Jews expected that the Messiah would establish a kingdom on earth. Others outlined that he was a prophet. Others say he was just a good man, that wanted to exemplify how it is to be and to do good. But he came for a much deeper reason. He came to be a new grounding of a new man. A man that would receive and become a new nature, and a new citizenship. A man that would receive a new heart, able to come into a new deep relationship with the Lord. With the creator. To solve the problem of the deepest problem of mankind: sin. To become the head of a new nation: The nation of the redeemed and saved. He came to show us the father. His love, goodness, righteousness, and gracefulness, but also to declare that God would judge the world, and give each of us what we deserve. To those that reject God, their righteous punishment for their sins. And to those that repent and surrender, grace, forgiveness, new citizenship, becoming part of the body of Christ, and eternal life.

Now it's on us to decide, to whom we want to belong. Just to ourselves, our nose is the center of the world, or to Christ, looking up to him, which is the TRUE center of everything, and that grounds everything.

Science is not the master. Not the end goal. It is the servant. Truth is the master. It is the goal. Science must serve the goal to find the truth.

Many individuals believe that a world without God offers greater excitement and freedom compared to a life centered around faith. They seek a sense of fulfillment and enlightenment, often hoping to find a new "promised land" with revelations that align with their atheistic convictions. This exploration of godlessness is considered a worthwhile pursuit for many. However, the truth is that this path can ultimately lead to spiritual emptiness and death.

God's identity is "I AM." He is the essence of existence and the source of life itself. Those who abide in Him and have Him within them are granted eternal life because He sustains all life. Despite misconceptions, God is not a mundane figure. He embodies life, and being connected to Him leads to a rich and vibrant existence.

Some individuals perceive the idea of God as boring, imagining eternity as an unending cycle of repetitive worship. However, if the current fallen world offers numerous sources of excitement and fascination, consider how much more there will be to explore in a perfect new heaven and new earth.

God's nature is full of surprises. The Scripture in 1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV) tells us, "'What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived—these things God has prepared for those who love him.'" God's plans far surpass our imagination and expectations.

In reality, God is awe-inspiring. The deeper we delve into understanding His creation, the more His greatness becomes evident. Every facet of His handiwork reveals His majesty.
Choosing to live a life dedicated to God is not just worthwhile; it's a journey filled with purpose and meaning. The notion of living and even sacrificing for God is significant. Those who have given their lives in faith will discover a remarkable reward in the heavenly realm.

While some might be drawn to the allure of a godless existence, the truth is that a life rooted in God is far more fulfilling and rewarding. God's promises and the depth of His presence provide a source of constant wonder and exploration. Truly, embracing God's plan for us is a choice that leads to life in its fullest and most vibrant form.