My name is John. I write books. I'm not a pastor or a professional fundraiser. One could reasonably argue that I don't know what I'm doing. This is known as winging it. For marketing purposes, I created a Facebook page after my book The God Conclusion was published. Pastor Javed from the Face of God church in Pakistan contacted me through that page, and we developed a relationship over time. We now worship together over the internet. I started leading a Bible study that still meets every Saturday morning--we're currently studying the Book of Revelation. I've even been asked to deliver few sermons to the church via Zoom calls. Whatever they have asked, I have felt compelled to do in service to this church as they endeavor to serve my God. Now the Face of God church in Pakistan humbly seeks our help. We need to raise five dollars from 5,000 people in order to raise all the funds necessary to purchase their physical sanctuary in Pakistan. This church has grown exponentially in size and desperately needs to secure their house of worship. These people have their hearts on fire for God. They believe in the resurrection. They need a safe place to worship our Lord. A place they can permanently call home. They have been renting the same building, but now the owner has announced he is ready to sell. We need to raise the remaining funds with some sense of urgency. Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Throughout the Bible there are numbers of symbolic significance. The miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand seems like an … [Read more...]
My Confession
Some people have said they think my Christian behavior shows I am a good person. However, these people would be horribly wrong. I'm not a good person, and I know it. I do try to be good, and I even want to be good. This reflects Christian behavior. Nevertheless, I'm not good. I'm not even a good person next to some, or even most, others. If you compare me to John Wayne Gacy or Hitler, I don't look so bad. Still, if you could see the real me, you would never think I looked good. I tend to have a foul mouth. If something injures, surprises, or disappoints me, my usual response is foul language. It was even worse when I had to deal with Atlanta traffic every day. I need to be slower to speak and more cautious with my words. In Mark 10:18, Jesus says, "No one is good except God alone." I am human and a sinner. Nevertheless, I know I will be forgiven when I fail, but I still need to try. Yeah, I write books. I can string together more than a few sentences. I occasionally form coherent thoughts. Big deal. I'm prouder of connecting with two churches in Pakistan that came from writing The God Conclusion than I am of actually writing The God Conclusion. But talking to churches via Zoom calls doesn't make me a good person. Delivering a sermon I'm unqualified to give doesn't make me a good person. The fact I just talked about having pride means I'm not a good person. I don't have an enormous ego. I know I'm not the greatest thing since sliced bread. But I also know I'm not stupid, and I tend to get annoyed when atheists act like I'm dumb. I shouldn't … [Read more...]
The value of pain
In my opinion, the only argument for atheism that is truly challenging to respond to is the problem of pain and suffering. Why does a good and loving God allow His creation to suffer? During a recent road trip, I saw the dead bodies of young fawns that had been struck and killed by speeding cars. Didn't God love these baby deer? Why did God allow them to die? Why does God allow babies to get cancer? Why did God (allegedly) create spider wasps that paralyze spiders and lay eggs on them so the larvae can feed on the spider that remains alive? Doesn't God care that the poor spider could be suffering? Different types of pain and ache in human body. Red circles of pain in body parts. Vector Medicine Icons. Those are actually silly questions. Of course God cares about His creation. If He didn't care, we wouldn't exist. It's that simple. In our arrogance, we assume our puny human brains ought to be able to figure out the reason for creation, but I'm afraid the answers to our existential questions are held well above our pay grade. I refuse to allow myself to get upset about the idea that God is always going to be smarter and know a lot more than me. Life cannibalizes life. Living organisms consume other living organisms to survive. The only organisms that don't kill other organisms to survive are plants that use photosynthesis to produce food, but even then, those plants receive nutrients from other organisms who died and their remains fertilized the ground where the plants are growing. There is no reason to assume God's plan for the universe should not include … [Read more...]
Bilirubin on the Shroud of Turin
Some people believe the Shroud of Turin has been proved a medieval forgery because scientific experiments using carbon dating established the age of the tested material as being from between 1260-1390 AD, more than a thousand years after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. They believe some great artist used otherwise unknown technique to fake the image on the shroud, even though scientific tests have indicated there is no paint or dyes on the fabric. Even though subsequent experiments completely invalidated the initial carbon dating results, people continue to cite those first results as the primary reason to reject the potential authenticity of the shroud. They simply don't want to believe the shroud could be real. Those doubters simply do not understand the many qualities of the shroud that have been well-documented: for example, the shroud has pollens that are native to that particular location in Israel where the crucifixion took place, and a second carbon dating test puts the age of the shroud all the way back to the time of Christ. There is no known colorant of any kind on the shroud. None. But scientific tests have proved there is blood. Copious amounts of human blood, type AB. Because of the blood on the shroud, there is little reason to doubt the Shroud of Turin once briefly covered a real human corpse which had injuries that closely match the description of Jesus' crucifixion found in the gospels. The only real question left about the shroud is, can we be absolutely sure the corpse was Jesus? The scientific evidence strongly suggests it was. But that … [Read more...]
