Category: truth

Luminosity

 

Luminosity, the state of being luminous, brilliance or radiance.

In Astronomy, the state in which a star radiates energy in every direction.

  • John 8:12, “Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”
  • Lamentations 3:2, ‘He has led me into darkness, shutting out all light.”
  • Micah 7:8, “Do not gloat over me, my enemies! For though I fall, I will rise again. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.”
  • Matthew 5:14, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.”
  • 2 Corinthians 4:7, “We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.

Personal Thoughts

We can only see, if we have a strong light to “discover” everything that is in close proximity to that light. Jesus declared that He was “the light of the world.” When He draws close to us (usually in our difficulties) we find that we still function, as light bearers to our very dark world.

Jesus has transferred His light, unto us, His Church. But being a light bearer isn’t always easy. And His church hiccups and skips as we try to absorb this reality. Disturbed and confused, we try to squeeze past its challenging reality. But, all we find is a dark confusion.This disturbs us. Obviously.

We need all that is light. Throughout the New Testament, we are notified that “we are children of the light.” This is the core of our personality. We have been separated from the works and deeds of darkness. We simply do not make very good sinners any more. We do try though, but we will never be successful sinners. We no longer have the aptitude for it.

Being the light has certain responsibilities. We have been irrevocably touched by God, and we must live with this.  

“Whoever is a believer in Christ is a new creation. The old way of living has disappeared. A new way of living has come into existence.”

2 Corinthians 5:17

Actually, we are at our best when we step against evil, and the darkness. Luminous, we step out and shine. We become all that the Lord Jesus desires. We have become “the Green Berets” of the Spirit. He places us on a hill. From there we shine.

I suppose that this is quite obvious to many of you, I suppose that I state nothing new to you. And yet I am quite aware that God’s grace touches us, and we “become electric.” His presence, makes us the light, and we shine for Him.

ybic, Bryan

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People of the Fire

“Whatever we build on that foundation will be tested by fire on the day of judgment. Then everyone will find out if we have used gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. We will be rewarded if our building is left standing. But if it is destroyed by the fire, we will lose everything. Yet we ourselves will be saved, like someone escaping from flames.” 

1Cor. 3:12-15, CEV

“The fire doesn’t make you what you are; it reveals what you were.”  

Jack Hyles

Christianity at the end will basically an incendiary endeavor.  We understand this and know the need for quality, which we should be building into our lives.  What makes us think this is that fire is the metaphor that describes what the Holy Spirit is doing. A torch will be set to ones construction.  This sounds all wrong and yet it does explain our built-in need of proving what is authentic.  Our building supplies may vary, and the quality will need to be continuously monitored.  Things that are real, will last.

When we see the torch thrown on the pile, we must get ready for it to burn all that can be burned.  This is undoubtedly an unpleasant and anxious process, but it happens no matter what we think.  Only fire will determine our authenticity.  As it burns, only precious jewels, gold and silver show a magnificent durability.  The rest is reduced to ashes. Things of permanence are left when everything is burned away.  We rake through the ash piles looking for the things that have endured. Gold and silver, red rubies and glittering diamonds are that which will survive.  The fire could not destroy these precious things.

For years this passage has frightened me.  My anxiety over this has grown when I actively consider the negligence and foolishness of my life.  When I think about what could be, I’m intimidated by this principle of testing, and the ‘Day of Judgement’.  It is hard for me to rest in grace on these days.

I guess I feel responsibility, accountability and my awareness of shame.  I have lived my life somewhat ‘frantically’, which has disturbing  consequences for me.  I don’t want them.  I do not want to be evaluated with the torch.  The day of judgement frightens me.  I do not want to be brought to terms with my mammoth sized foolishness.  It makes me very nervous.

But my reading of the Word makes judgement inevitable.  But we have been given time and space to change our lives.  There is no way we can skirt this reality, the man who was building could choose any foundation he wished– would it be the rock, or the sand?  It’s all on you.  It’s your call.

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Pondering How Three Can Be One

Over the past few days I’ve been pondering the doctrine of the trinity and how three can be one. The Bible tells us that there is only one true God, so how then can our Father in Heaven be God, Jesus the Son be God, and the Holy Spirit be God, all at the same time? There are certainly monotheistic religions that reject the doctrine of the trinity because of this mystery. But I believe that the Bible and experience provide us ample evidence to support this central doctrine.

There are numerous scriptures in both the Old and New Testament that support the doctrine of the trinity, but I want to focus on just a few today, along with the train of thought that’s been going through my mind the past few days.

Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” You and I are created in the image or likeness of God. By looking at our nature, how we were made, we can learn something about God.

Each human being has a body, a mind, and a soul. Each of these components of the human being serves a different purpose. They are distinct, yet they are not separate.

The body is our physical representation. In the same way, Jesus is the physical representation of God. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (NIV).

The mind, though it cannot be seen, is where our thoughts and intelligence reside. In the same way, God the Father is where the thoughts and intelligence of God reside. In Isaiah 55:8, we read: “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD.”

The soul, also invisible, is the very essence of our life. In the same way, the Holy Spirit is the very essence of the life of God. It is the Spirit of God that was breathed into Adam to give him life, and it is the Spirit of God who gives new life to the believer. “The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life.” Job 33:4 (NIV).

It is a wondrous mystery that each human being is composed of body, mind, and soul. We simply do not exist as a whole human being if even one of these components is missing.

It is an even more wondrous mystery that our God is composed of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To believe in only one of these components and reject the others is to strip God of His essential being.

God created us in His image, in His likeness, so that we might be in relationship with Him and understand who He is. Pondering how I am body, mind, and soul, but am still only one human being, helps me to understand the nature of the One true God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three truly can be One.

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DOA: How Faith Killed My Faith in Atheism

(In this essay, writer Lee Strobel offers his defense of Easter.)

It was the worst news I could get as an atheist: my agnostic wife had decided to become a Christian. Two words shot through my mind. The first was an expletive; the second was “divorce.”

I thought she was going to turn into a self-righteous holy roller. But over the following months, I was intrigued by the positive changes in her character and values. Finally, I decided to take my journalism and legal training (I was legal editor of the Chicago Tribune) and systematically investigate whether there was any credibility to Christianity.

Maybe, I figured, I could extricate her from this cult.

I quickly determined that the alleged resurrection of Jesus was the key. Anyone can claim to be divine, but if Jesus backed up his claim by returning from the dead, then that was awfully good evidence he was telling the truth.

For nearly two years, I explored the minutia of the historical data on whether Easter was myth or reality. I didn’t merely accept the New Testament at face value; I was determined only to consider facts that were well-supported historically. As my investigation unfolded, my atheism began to buckle.

Was Jesus really executed? In my opinion, the evidence is so strong that even atheist historian Gerd Lüdemann said his death by crucifixion was “indisputable.”

Was Jesus’ tomb empty? Scholar William Lane Craig points out that its location was known to Christians and non-Christians alike. So if it hadn’t been empty, it would have been impossible for a movement founded on the resurrection to have exploded into existence in the same city where Jesus had been publicly executed just a few weeks before.

Besides, even Jesus’ opponents implicitly admitted the tomb was vacant by saying that his body had been stolen. But nobody had a motive for taking the body, especially the disciples. They wouldn’t have been willing to die brutal martyrs’ deaths if they knew this was all a lie.

Did anyone see Jesus alive again? I have identified at least eight ancient sources, both inside and outside the New Testament, that in my view confirm the apostles’ conviction that they encountered the resurrected Christ. Repeatedly, these sources stood strong when I tried to discredit them.

Could these encounters have been hallucinations? No way, experts told me. Hallucinations occur in individual brains, like dreams, yet, according to the Bible, Jesus appeared to groups of people on three different occasions – including 500 at once!

Was this some other sort of vision, perhaps prompted by the apostles’ grief over their leader’s execution? This wouldn’t explain the dramatic conversion of Saul, an opponent of Christians, or James, the once-skeptical half-brother of Jesus.

Neither was primed for a vision, yet each saw the risen Jesus and later died proclaiming he had appeared to him. Besides, if these were visions, the body would still have been in the tomb.

Was the resurrection simply the recasting of ancient mythology, akin to the fanciful tales of Osiris or Mithras? If you want to see a historian laugh out loud, bring up that kind of pop-culture nonsense.

One by one, my objections evaporated. I read books by skeptics, but their counter-arguments crumbled under the weight of the historical data. No wonder atheists so often come up short in scholarly debates over the resurrection.

In the end, after I had thoroughly investigated the matter, I reached an unexpected conclusion: it would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus.

And that’s why I’m now celebrating my 30th Easter as a Christian. Not because of wishful thinking, the fear of death, or the need for a psychological crutch, but because of the facts.

*******

Lee Strobel wrote “The Case for Easter: Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrection“; his first novel, “The Ambition,” releases May 17.

Please check out some really great stuff at “Speak Easy” from the WSJ.  This was taken, and should be greatly acknowledged from http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2011/04/16/how-easter-killed-my-faith-in-atheism/.  I discovered several interesting articles there and encourage all BB’ers to take a minute and check it all out.  Go WSJ!

Lee Strobel is a “hotshot” writer/thinker/ex-atheist who has embraced an evangelical faith.  In many circles he is recognized as a leader in the specifics of Apologetics.  He is worth reading.

You also may checkout Wikipedia.org about the “resurrection.”  The link is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resurrection_of_Jesus.  (Just a fleeting thought.  But it’s a bit interesting.)

 

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