Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Five Causes for the New Christian Activist to Champion





Psalm 94:16 Who will champion my cause against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers?

The Christian in the post-Christian western world must be not just a believer, but an activist on the government and social levels for the things we believe and know.  For an expansion on the topic of the New Christian Activist click here

In the past, Christians have always been on the cutting edge of social reforms, championing causes, and starting new institutions for the betterment of man kind.  The primary leader of the civil rights movements for the African American culture was Martin Luther King Jr, a Christian preacher.  The first hospitals and orphanages were started by Christians.  The universities in the USA once again, started by Christians.  Almost every ivy league school was started as a Christian institution.  Again and again you'll notice that.  Institutions and systems that were started by Christians are eventually taken over by atheist/agnostic leaning individuals and pushed in a different direction.  Charities, homeless shelters, foreign missions, monasteries to preserve the past, on and on I could go on that topic!  But suffice to say, Christianity has been a constant blessing to the world, and that must continue today.

We can be the change.  We can rekindle Christianity in the West, and reclaim all these institutions one by one, and also start new institutions to love and support our communities.  You have an imagination.  You have ideas.  Put these things together.  Your talents are God given, explore what is possible!

In addition to starting new organizations, movements, or institutions, we can support current institutions that are actively working to change things for the better in our world.  These are three that I personally support.  There are many more out there!  Be a voice for these groups, take part in what they're doing, sign petitions, give charity, and raise your voice.  Or start something new for the benefit of future generations.  Let's begin.

1. Compassion International
Compassion International is a very highly rated charity in all categories, but most importantly a very high amount of the money donated goes directly to those who need it.  Compassion is about donating monthly to care for children at need in 3rd world countries.  This is something we talk about a lot.  What about all the poor children?  Why doesn't God do something about the starving children?  God gives us the ability to put a little money forward to support the children there.  If every Christian able to give 40$ a month did so in the United States and Europe, there would no longer be an issue.  It's so simple, yet we debate, and weigh the pros and cons, why does God allow this!?  Yet when it comes right down to it, what are we doing?  We have the chance, today, to make a difference.  Poverty doesn't say so much about God as it says about us.  

Compassion International is a wonderful organization to do that through.  I always check the charities I give to on Charitynavigator.org a great resource to see how charities use money.  I highly recommend to all Christians, non-Christians, and anybody else, check out any charity you're considering supporting on Charity navigator before giving any money!  We need to be wise.  Sometimes we end up giving money to the wrong people, and they end up dancing naked on a street corner on drugs, like the whole Kony 2012 thing. 

If you don't have the money to give to Compassion, I definitely understand.  These are difficult economic times.  God understands too.  Of course he does!  But consider advocating for Compassion.  There are lots of ways you can support them, with bumper stickers, by blogging, telling friends, or posting on social media about them.  This is a cause I very firmly believe in.  Mega-churches may say they need your money on their podcasts, but they don't.  They've got enough money, and in my humble opinion they use what they get wrongly anyway.  So give to those who truly need it, those starving, those without the gospel.

2. Liberty Institute
Next we have Liberty Institute, an organizations dedicated to supporting religious freedom in the United States.  Religious liberty has been under constant attack.  Atheists, liberals, evolutionists, you name it, they've attacked religious liberty and attempted to eject Christianity from all arenas of discussion and legitimacy.  We need a lot of dedicated Americans to champion the cause of religious liberty, as it's beginning to crumble under the Obama administration.  How soon before churches are forced to hire atheists as their preachers due to "discrimination laws"?  It's no joke.  Christians businesses have been forced to shut down for refusing to host homosexual weddings.  The CEO of Mozilla Firefox was forced to resign because he donated money to support traditional marriage in California.  Churches have come under attack for refusing to marry gay couples.  Recently atheists attempted to have the cross from the 9/11 memorial removed because it offended them.  We need dedicated champions to support religious liberty, or we'll simply lose it. 

3. Abolish Human Abortion
The issue of abortion is an issue that is simply shocking.  56 million have been exterminated, 56 million people, dead.  The science and medical evidence isn't even fuzzy on this issue.  The main problem is ignorance.  But what we have very plainly, is human sacrifice.  It's nothing less.  And it's terrifying.  The group Abolish Human Abortion don't mince words over the issue of abortion.  They call it what it is.  I love the approach of this group.  They approach abortion in the same way the issue of slavery was approached.  They are grassroots oriented, with many abolitionist societies starting up all over the country to support and promote the values of abolitionist culture.  Is this an issue close to your heart?  Start an abolitionist society in your area.

Ephesians 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.


4. Persecution.org - International Christian Concern
Did you know Christianity is the most persecuted religion on Earth?  80% of all religious violence is directed toward Christians.  How can we support and lobby for the persecuted church?  We can sign petitions, we can share on social media, we can tweet, we can send emails, make phone calls, and we can donate money.  Persecution.org is also a very highly rated charity on Charity Navigator.  "Oh well that won't change anything."  False.  I participated in a campaign on persecution for a certain "Pastor BK" held prisoner in Kazakhstan.  He was imprisoned, released, then immediately arrested again, was in prison, tortured, harassed about his faith, and told he had mental health problems for his belief in God.  But we kept posting, we kept tweeting at the Kazahkstan embassy, we kept raising our voices, and then Pastor BK was released.  If you recall, I wrote and blogged about it in the past, click here to read that story: Persecution of Christians in Kazakhstan.

5. Discovery Institute
The topic of intelligent design is very close to my heart.  When I was raised in the public school system and a very vacant ceremonious church I was never told that there was such compelling and powerful scientific evidence for an intelligent creator.  I didn't know how many holes there were in the theory of evolution.  I didn't know I had been indoctrinated into a materialist mindset that almost led to total self destruction in my life.  Crazy what you can learn once the blinders are off.  Intelligent design is fought tooth and nail by the scientific establishment of America.  They eject it, despite it being a highly credible scientifically defensible position.  To learn more about how intelligent design is fought and minimized in our academic institutions check out this documentary: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.  Groups like RZIM, the Veritas Forum, the C.S. Lewis Institute, and Socrates in the City do a great deal to raise awareness about intelligent design.  Please support all these organizations in their fight for a seat at the table in the scientific community.  Intelligent design is the topic that really pisses people off because it nails in Christianity as very real.  So they absolutely have to call it pseudoscience and mock it and minimize it.  If you just Google "intelligent design" you'll see what I mean.  The outrage against the mere possibility of a creator is just staggering, even on Wikipedia atheists will constantly alter articles to cast intelligent design as pseudoscience when it is very sound science.  So please take a stand and advocate for this issue as well!

Additional Mentions: Alliance Defending Freedom , Wycliffe Bible Translators, The Institute for Creation Research , Focus on the Family , Discovery Institute , The Veritas Forum , Voice of the Martyrs , Ratio Christi, Campaign for Liberty, Freedom from Atheism Foundation, and so many more.

Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do good.
    Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
    Defend the cause of orphans.
    Fight for the rights of widows.




Related Posts:
The Power of Love in Western Culture
Outlook for a Revived American Christianity

Internet Evangelism
The Modern Mindset & Challenges we Face as the Body

Saturday, September 27, 2014

The Modern Man


 Let me be very direct friends, in describing the modern man.  This is not every man, not every human, but I think we can all see parts of ourselves in this description, who we used to be, or even who we may be today.  

I won't mince words....

....The modern man is a pig!  His only barometer is his appetites.  His only knowledge is from the television.  The modern man has not even a shred of dignity or honor.  His does whatever he likes, lives however he decides, and believes whatever suits his moods.  He is a demigod standing in judgment over all ideas and beliefs, belittling, mocking, and accusing, yet abhors the idea of judgment.  Ironically he is outrageously indignant in the face of accusation or in reaction to his foolish motives and decisions.  He uses science he doesn't understand and evolution that he's never studied to defend his own hedonistic lifestyle of pain and perpetual loneliness, interspersed with grievous harm to his friends and relatives.  He hides his universal selfishness with a lot of talk, while his life perpetuates the despair he critiques around him.  He deplores corruption in social institutions, corporations, banks, and government, yet his life is a testament to personal corruption in relationships, affairs, and business.  He is a consumer, a sports fan, a drinker, and always on the go.  He is sleazy, slimy, and his thoughts are raunchy.  He has no idea what anything means and he doesn't care one bit anyway.  He knows nothing of history, for it doesn't entertain him.  He knows nothing of the future, aside from the hidden belief that he will live forever.  He neglects his children, and further neglects his elderly parents.  The modern man walks around in a perpetual stupor, drunk on pleasure, feeding his base desires, with no reason, no past, and no future.  He is the height of selfishness, manipulative, shameless, utterly addicted, and the most hopeless, deplorable, terrified, and unlovable creature on the face of the Earth. 

I was the modern man.  To a T. 

And I was hopeless, helpless, and unlovable. And then.

Jesus Christ. 

In the shadow of my life.  Along the cold path.  He intersected with my delusion, and gave me a new life.  The unfathomable happened in my journey, not from within, but from without.  In my own spiritual delusions a voice shined through the madness.

Jesus Christ gave me a future.  He gave me righteousness.  He gave me everything, when I was the embodiment of sin, judgment; a careless frigid pit of emptiness.

And now I struggle, against who I used to be, and who I'm becoming: a man after God's own heart.


Related Posts:
Be a Man
Spiritual Journey | Dreams, Darkness, False Light
God's work in the Human Heart 
Gratitude and Humility
Journey of the Christian through the Forest called Earth
True Christianity vs. the Modern Culture
Paradox of Willingness

Thursday, September 25, 2014

Imagine a Perfect Universe: Genesis, Revelation, and the Cross of Jesus Christ


I imagine in the perfect state the world existed in Genesis 2 reality made a great deal of sense.  Everything was good and right.  I imagine the universe itself, the alignment of the stars and galaxies was much different.  Even to the point where it would be hardly imaginable.  In the current state of the universe everything is in motion, getting further and further from the center point of the explosion event we call the "big bang."  As a result the universe is a barren place, small solar systems and galaxies separated by incredible amounts of space.  In a perfect harmonious universe, what would the universe look like?  Soon enough we'll know.  After the millennial reign of Christ, the final conclusion of the end of evil and the remaking of the universe, the stars, the earth, and the garden city of our future (Rev 20-22).

But today, we exist in a very complicated, broken reality inexorably devastated by sin.  And our escape hatch, our "emergency beam out" is Jesus Christ.  I start to realize why in my past, as I searched for God, I was drawn to so many apocalyptic visions, books, and movies, like the Matrix, or Donnie Darko.  In Donnie Darko a time paradox had occurred in which the primary universe had been altered by the impact of an artifact from outside the system, which generated a "tangent universe."  The idea of the tangent universe was all of reality had been broken, and as the talking Rabbit told Donnie Darko, in 28 days the world will end.  A tangent, broken universe has to end for the primary universe to be recreated as it is suppose to be.

In the same way in Revelation chapter 21 God remakes the heavens and the earth (the entire universe) to be as they were before the fall of man.  God has a way of inserting such thoughts and ideas into the minds of artists, and even in our depraved media culture, some truth shines through.

The books of the Bible Genesis and Revelation are fascinating because they describe our past, and our future.  So in Genesis 2, the universe and the earth made a lot of sense.  I'm sure it was quite easy to call a spade a spade.  It was easy to tell how great God was, because humanity existed directly in the presence of his spirit and glorious being.  Holiness was a fact of life in response to the awe for God, and there was no natural inclination to sin within the human mind.

Of course then, there is the grand mystery of Lucifer (Isa 14:12-15).  One of God's angels, created, living in the direct presence of God, serving him, and how, somehow, within the heart of Lucifer he conceived of sin.  Pride paved the path.  But how could a being in the direct holiness of God, viewing it, seeing it, feeling it, come to believe he ought to be god?  So Lucifer became Satan.  And the first humans sided with Satan, believed him, disbelieved God, despite their intimacy with him, and that is where we are today, the planet, the universe cursed by the logical outworking of that sin of self-deification.  Recall in Genesis 3:4 4 (C)But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  The temptation was "disbelieve God, and exalt yourself to the position of God through disobedience."

We can see the results all across the planet (Gen 3:17).  When there is more than enough wealth and food to go around, but entire continents suffer starvation, brutal conditions, and rampant disease.  And even much more locally, we see strip clubs, bars and clubs plastered with screens and loud music and scantly clad men and women.  Alcohol on every shelf, drugs on every corner.  Abortion clinics, self exaltation shopping malls, and television screens full of temptation to everything and worship sessions at the local NFL, MLB, and NBA stadiums.  This is what happens when man tries to play god.  

Now it seems, it is very difficult to call a spade a spade.  Do you know what I mean?  We struggle with such difficult questions like "Why do bad things happen to good people?"  

"Why do rich bankers successfully suppress the truth, why do they always get away with it?"

"How can the minimum wage be so low a single mother has to work three jobs just to pay for a one bedroom apartment?"

"Why are so many people so in love with studying the smallest details of NFL football statistics, teams, the Packers, but they can't even name the four gospels?"

And on and on and on the questions go.  Paradoxes in reality.  Mucky, difficult situations.  With the curse of sin upon all hearts, and the natural Earth itself, a billion paradoxes were triggered.  

Let's look at some examples from scripture:

Matthew 23:12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

That's where the 1st step comes from in twelve step programs.  We admitted we were powerless over (insert problem, drugs, alcohol, sex, money, depression) and that our lives had become unmanageable.  When we humble ourselves before God, and admit we need his help, he helps us.  When we humble ourselves before him, he exalts us.  In the same way, when Jacob wrestled with God in the later books of Genesis, God asked Jacob one question: What is your name?  

Did God forget what his name was?  Is that why he asked?  Of course not.  But if you recall, when Jacob stole the blessing from his brother Esau, he had lied about his identity (Gen 27:19).  Then God asked him what is his name.. Do you know what Jacob means?  It means "deceiver."  So when Jacob was willing to admit his identity as a deceiver, God then responded in saying he would make a great nation out of him.

Genesis 32:28 (NIV) Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

Most would assume, if I want to be "exalted", honored, dignified, lofty, powerful then I need to climb the social ladder.  I need to step on the faces of my brothers to get positions in the church.  I need to become popular.  I need to get the promotion.  But instead, God says humble yourself before me, and then you will be great.  A paradox.

Proverbs 11:24-25 (ESV)
One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want. Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, and one who waters will himself be watered. 


This is another powerful example.  By all worldly measures, if I give away what I have, donate to charity, help friends out, eventually I'll have nothing and be destitute.  But that is not the case.  God promises that those who give freely paradoxically end up growing richer.  Another paradox of reality.

 The ultimate beautiful paradox occurs on the cross of Jesus Christ.  One of my favorite pieces of scripture from the book of Philippines describes the paradox in a very powerful way:

Philippians 2:5-11 (NIV)
In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:(I)

Who, being in very nature[a] God,(J)
    did not consider equality with God(K) something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing(L)
    by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,(M)
    being made in human likeness.(N)
And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death(O)
        even death on a cross!(P)

Therefore God exalted him(Q) to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,(R)
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,(S)
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,(T)
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,(U)
    to the glory of God the Father.

C.J. Mahaney said: “The personal desolation Christ is experiencing on the cross is what you and I should be experiencing--but instead, Jesus is bearing it, and bearing it all alone. Why alone? He's alone so that we might never be alone.”
C.J. Mahaney, Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing  

Charles Spurgeon wrote: “Jesus has borne the death penalty on our behalf. Behold the wonder! There He hangs upon the cross! This is the greatest sight you will ever see. Son of God and Son of Man, there He hangs, bearing pains unutterable, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God. Oh, the glory of that sight! The innocent punished! The Holy One condemned! The Ever-blessed made a curse! The infinitely glorious put to a shameful death! The more I look at the sufferings of the Son of God, the more sure I am that they must meet my case. Why did He suffer, if not to turn aside the penalty from us? If, then, He turned it aside by His death, it is turned aside, and those who believe in Him need not fear it.”
Charles H. Spurgeon, All of Grace

The cross of Jesus Christ is the ultimate paradox.  God became man, lived a perfect life, not one sin.  By all measures, someone who lives a perfect holy, loving, humble life should never, never, never be punished the way Jesus Christ was.  By all measures that is wrong in the highest regard!  Yet by that act, by dying on this sin planet, Jesus provided our escape, our elevator off this planet.  He became death, to defeat death.  A sneak attack.  Death can hold anyone who has sinned.  However, death could not hold a man who never sinned once. 

Acts 2:23-24 (NIV) This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.
People have told me they don't understand the value of the cross.  "Some guy was crucified on a cross, so what!"  I would say that person is seeing Jesus as man only, and failing to understand the aspect of his divine deity.  He was God, and is God.  It wasn't just a man, or even a perfect man, but the fully God, fully man, who defeated death.  In addition, the prospect of an entire life lived without committing one sin, without a single fault, is so unheard of on this planet it might as well be entirely alien.

Of course most cannot see it.  Most stumble on in this world blindly, wrapped up in distractions and sins and they die outside the cross, rejecting it's power.  Bringing us to yet another fascinating paradox.  

1 Corinthians 1:18 (NLT) The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.

One would assume that if the message of the cross is the most important thing that ever happened on Earth, it would be treated as such by the people of Earth.  However it is not the most esteemed event on Earth.  The cross of Jesus Christ is possibly one of the most notorious and controversial events on Earth, but less and less is it taken seriously.  The skeptics abound, and as Francis Schaeffer warned in How Should We Then Live? the naturalists conquered the public schools with the materialism philosophy of life and now by the millions schools and colleges turn out diehard skeptics, atheists, agnostics, and scientism fanatics who turn hard against the mere mention of the supernatural; unless perhaps it's worded in the form of eastern mysticism, or that "all religions hold to the same spiritual principles" a statement of incredible ignorance toward all religions, ironically.  

It's fascinating to look at the impact of the cross over the span of human history.  Early on it was esteemed somewhat highly.  The human calendar of years itself all hinged on the cross.  Of course the world Christian movement has faced perplexingly difficult situations again and again, the Roman persecution, the fall of the Roman empire to barbarians, the abuse of power by the Papacy, the Muslim invasion of Europe and North Africa, the Reformation, World War II, the Spanish Inquisition, the Salem Witch Trials, the Cold War era, and now today we face an entirely new situation. 

There are so many contributing factors to the new situation facing world Christianity, but one word could probably sum it up: globalization.  And with it corruption, central banking, liberalism, abortion, religious persecution, gay rights, the decline of civil liberties, and so many other issues that strike to the very core of the faith.  Thankfully the message never changes:  Jesus Christ the God-man died on the cross to provide forgiveness for my sins.  Any man with a humble heart has to admit the reality of sin in his own heart.  I prefer to look at the sins around me, but I can also see my own.  And I can see the need, the vital need for forgiveness.  

We Christians know that the current state of Earth is temporary.  This is the tangent (temporary) universe destined for destruction.  God will make it new, and we will live in that new world.  But before then terrible things will happen.  Satan still runs amuck in the nations of the Earth.  He secretly controls many of the nations.  The evidence mounts everyday.  You start to wonder when the US Department of Homeland Security purchases 1.6 billion rounds of hollow point ammunition.  I don't make this stuff up, I just bring it up.  I'm not too concerned however.  If the time comes in which I must die for my Lord, so be it.  He'll help me through those difficult moments, I'm sure of it.  Remember at the stoning of Stephen:  

Acts 7:54-60 (CEV)  When the council members heard Stephen’s speech, they were angry and furious. 55 But Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit. He looked toward heaven, where he saw our glorious God and Jesus standing at his right side.56 Then Stephen said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right side of God!”
57 The council members shouted and covered their ears. At once they all attacked Stephen 58 and dragged him out of the city. Then they started throwing stones at him. The men who had brought charges against him put their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 As Stephen was being stoned to death, he called out, “Lord Jesus, please welcome me!” 60 He knelt down and shouted, “Lord, don’t blame them for what they have done.” Then he died.
 
We may be asked to die for our faith tomorrow.  Such is the case for many Christians living in the middle east, India, and China.  Then again it may be our children, or our children's children, or their children, or their children in the West who are finally forced to die for their faith.  No man knows the day or hour.  None.  But it's always wise to be watchful.  

And don't forget what the scriptures say: The anti-christ is coming ( Thessalonians 2:3).  This is Satan's last desperate attempt, his last desperate power grab.  He may try to kill God at the battle of armageddon.  Of course he will fail, but he has people today on Earth who believe by serving him they will be rewarded in Satan's future kingdom ( a kingdom that will never come, thankfully).  Google "Bohemian grove" or "Project bluebeam."  Certainly fascinating theories at the least.  Many of the people who follow Satan are most likely world leaders.  It's simply a reality of Satan's current kingdom on Earth.  I'm not going to go too far into descriptions and interpretations on the books of Daniel and Revelation.  But we do know that the anti-christ will try to appear to be the real Christ.  He will try to fulfill certain prophecies.  He'll probably be able to do so quite convincingly, most likely with the use of the latest technologies.  My guess is, and remember this is only an educated guess, but my guess is that the anti-Christ will emerge as the leader of a unified all inclusive religion which attempts to bring adherents from all religions under the same umbrella.  Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sics, and of course as many Christians as they can convince.  The anti-Christ will bring together all these religions under a "new age" spirituality.  All will be welcomed.  Evolution, the latest scientific theories, and world peace will all be brought into play to get people to sign off on it.  All of this will lead to a single world government under the leadership of this anti-christ and his false prophet.  The plan will be to bring about a "new age" through esoteric consciousness evolution, technology, and world peace.  Sounds great right?  Unfortunately those who stubbornly cling to exclusivity, say, of Jesus Christ as the only way, will be dealt with, forcefully.  I'm sure they'll say something like "Barriers to peace must be removed."  Scriptures also mention the "mark of the beast" which will most likely be a microchip implant which scripture says will be in "the right arm or forehead" (Rev 13:17).  Of course it's a bait and switch, and the world peace will become all out war, a total control system, and eventually destruction.  So definitely be on the watch for those developments in the news today.  Like I said, those are just some theories that bounce around in my head as I study and learn more about scripture and current events.  Definitely do the research before you come to any conclusions regarding end times prophecy.  There is a lot of speculation, which is fine, but the best source of wisdom is the Bible, and prayer.

It's exciting though.  I need not feel any fear, nor should you.  I want to see Jesus Christ return.  I want to see reality repaired.  I want to see the end of this sinful, broken universe.  My escape is guaranteed through the work of Christ on the cross.  Now I'm waiting, and telling others about the good news.

Sharing the good news is hard sometimes though.  People don't want to understand.  And the atheist professors love to talk about Buddha, Hinduism, the gnostic gospels, and prattle on about eastern mysticism and universalism.  Such nonsense.  

“If Christianity was something we were making up, of course we could make it easier. But it is not. We cannot compete, in simplicity, with people who are inventing religions. How could we? We are dealing with Fact. Of course anyone can be simple if he has no facts to bother about.” –C. S. Lewis  
Christianity describes reality the best.  It just does.  It's the hardest message, but given the grim realities of our world, those that no one wants to see, it would have to be a hard message.  I don't like being told about my own sinful nature.  Unfortunately at the end of the day it's plain and simply true! It describes reality the best!  And it's the only way I can see a perfect world in the future.  It's logical outworking is the best world, Jesus Christ is the best humble example of love.  I've written extensively on how science indicates strong evidence for design.  We've seen how history and archaeology confirm the Bible as legitimate, and the empirical evidence shows that from one peasant named Jesus who was crucified, there are now 2.1 billion followers of him today. That tells me that Jesus Christ did in fact literally rise to life from the death of the cross, and he is literally alive today, and he is God. So I follow him.

And I wonder.  I dream.  I ask questions in the fullness of my Christian worldview, like...

What will the perfect universe be like?  Will we roam the stars?  Will we live in a beautiful garden?  What language will we speak?  What, oh I wonder, will it feel like?  I imagine it will feel quite good and well, to be sinless.  I look forward to those moments with great anticipation, and I tremble at night in fear that my own sins might net me, and strip me of the faith I currently hold in Jesus Christ.  But I trust God will help me, and deliver me from every one of those sins.  And he will.  I may be fully assured of that.  So can you.  Amen.