What's So Bad About Worship?

Below is a comment I posted on CreateDebate.com in regard to a conversation titled; What we think we know about God and not-God. The issue of worship was being discussed, so I weighed in on it. This is what I wrote;

Hope you both don't mind if I drop in. I can't figure out your objection to worship. You both seem to be hostile to the concept and I can't figure out why.

Worship to me seems to be a natural reflex of the human spirit to something that inspires awe. For example; As a kid I was into stunt riding bicycles, I was just a punk kid riding around. But some were professionals and man could they do some really cool stunts. When I watched them, I was in awe. I wanted to be just like them; you might say I worshiped them. In fact I did. Worship to me seems like something we do all the time to all sorts of things. People worship actors, musicians, sports figures, money, fame, sex, and power: just to list a few. So that's why I can't figure out the objection. It seems to be just a natural reflex of the human spirit.

So therefore it would only seem reasonable to have this response to the one who spoke everything into existence by the word of His mouth; that is awe inspiring just to think about. Our just think what you would have to know about chemistry to make a human being and then think what it takes to take that concept and write into a DNA code. And that's just small things. What does it take to set the heavens into motion and set up everything just right so that life is possible on earth. And make it in such a way that a man can stand on the surface of earth and see the heavens. That is mind blowing and all I can think of to say is; whoa! that's awesome.

If you can look at the inner workings of a cell, see the world around you and gaze into the heavens and not fall down in worship to the one who made it all; something is amiss. And that is exactly what you'd expect to find if the Bible is true.

Now to the title of your conversation. God by definition is transcendent. Therefore if we are to know anything about God it will because He chooses to reveal Himself to us. There is no way we can come to know Him by our efforts. So the question becomes; has He spoken? Seeing that He can write the blueprints for very complex creatures, like humans, in DNA: I doubt He would have a hard time communicating something simple to us.

So to answer the question (and rephrase it) What we know about God only comes through His general revelation and special revelation. Apart from that, we are in the dark and without hope of every knowing. But praise be to God who has given us minds so that we may know Him by understanding His revelation to us. And it would seem that it was designed in such a way that we might have something in common so that there might be some point of contact and some means of communication. Hence why I think humans worship and are the only creatures who do.

So I would say were are designed to worship. And I would also say that there is a proper and improper object of worship. Our creator would be the proper and creation would be the improper. That is something I think we can know by the simple use of reason.

Final thought; I believe in God for the same reason I believe in the mailman. I may never see the mailman but by the sheer fact that there is mail in my mailbox I know there must be a mailman. Likewise; when I walk out my front door and see something instead of nothing I know there must be a cause sufficient to explain the effect. And that cause must be an uncaused cause with the power of being in and of itself; otherwise there would be nothing. And please don't tell me the cosmos have always existed like Carl Sagan did. Because the cosmos would have burned themselves out a long time ago the way they are set up. Or to put it another way; everything would have gone cold and black a long time ago.

To check your worship function check out the following DVD's;

Unlocking the Mystery of Life

The Privileged Planet

Health Care

I wanted to weigh in on the current debate in the United States over health care. The first thing we need to remember is that we as Americans do better if each of us help our neighbor. And if we do it out of our own free will with our own money; that's real charity. It's not charity if it is done by coercion using the money of someone else. We need to get government out of our wallets so we can have money to help the people we want.

We also do need to ask why health care is so expensive. The simple answer is malpractice insurance. And why is that high? frivolous law suits. So we need tort reform first. The next question then is; why are personal insurance rates so high? simple answer; lack of competition. The car insurance industry is in the middle of price wars. Who hasn't heard of Geico? Why is this not happening with health insurance? because it's not sold the same way due to regulation.

So real health care looks like this;

Reduce taxes so people can give their money were they want and help who they want.

Lower the number of frivolous lawsuits through tort reform so as to reduce the cost of providing health care.

Deregulate the health insurance industry so it can be sold across state lines; allowing competition.

In short we need competition in health care. We need more choices and the freedom to make those choices. Creating a monopoly in health care would be a blow to quality health care for the same reasons monopolies are bad; it kills competition. And we know what competition brings, better service and lower cost. It's just plain simple economics.

God Bless the whole World?

While I was sitting at a stop light the other day I read a bumper sticker that at first seemed really nice but on further reflection made my stomach turn. The bumper sticker read, God bless the whole world, no exceptions.Now that sounds very nice and loving doesn't. I mean God should bless the whole world, not just America right. So what's wrong with that you ask. The trouble lies in the word bless. So I ask, what does it mean for God to "bless" something? In short it's like putting His stamp of approval on something. God looks at something and says, that's good, I like that and I want to support and encourage that kind of behavior.

So if we take that definition and reread the bumper sticker we have got a serious problem don't we. In short it means that if God were to look at the world He would like what he sees and declare it "good" That means all the wars, murder, rape,lying, adulteries, death, disease, abortions, stealing, theft and corruption God looks at and says, That's good, I like that and I want to support and encourage that kind of behavior. So this nice sounding bumper sticker turns out to be an indictment of God. In short it says God likes evil and approves of it. But does He? If God is good and just what should His response be to the World and America when he looks at it? I'll look at that in my next post and reflect a little on the problem of evil which ask the question; If God is good and all powerful why is there evil in the world?

A Simple Solution

So I drove by one of those weird billboards, you know the kind or maybe you've heard the ad on TV. The pitch goes like this: switch to company A for your auto insurance and you could save X amount of dollars. Now what's so odd about that you ask. Well, what is the crisis Obama is responding to in his health care bill? The rising cost of health care. Now could someone please tell why we are having price wars for car insurance and at the same time the cost of health insurance is so bad that Obama thinks the federal government needs to step in and fix it. Maybe the solution is to sell health insurance like car insurance. Come on Obama get a clue, deregulation is the key, not starting another government program we can't pay for and that will run out of money like Social Security and Medicare.

The Death of Martin Luther King's Dream in the Election of Barak Obama

In Martin Luther King's famous speech he said that he had a vision that someday a man would be judged by the content of his character and not by the color of his skin.

In all the hype about Obama's election to the highest office in our land. I noticed how this vision of Mr. Kings had failed; although everyone heralded it as the fulfillment of it. Why do I say this? Because all the hype is about the fact the he is an African American and their is no talk about his character. That to me is the opposite of what Mr. King envisioned.

I've also noticed this same failure in Sonia Sotomayor's nomination to the US Supreme Court. Again, all the talk is about her ethnicity and not her character.

This is a disturbing trend that I have noticed. We as a people no longer think in categories of right and wrong but in categories of race, rich, poor, weak and strong. We think in terms of social justice, leveling the playing field, taking from the rich and giving it to the poor. We think it's OK to elevate an African American and put down the white male because he is the one with too much power and wealth. It is class warfare with a vengeance because it disguises it's self as tolerant and culturally sensitive while doing the very thing it condemns, discriminates. It sounds eerily similar to the Communist view of society and I think we have bought into it. So next time you listen to the news or read the paper notice the silence about right and wrong; And the things that really matter like character. And listen to the noise of the class warfare. Were it is all about the color of a man's skin and not the content of his character.

A study of Mattew 7:24-29

Matthew 7:24-29

The Two Foundations

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

"And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.

"Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.

"The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching;

for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.


In these verses you have two people who hear the same thing but have two different responses and therefore two different ends. But what I want to draw your attention to first is the promise of these verses. Christ promises that if you respond in one way, act upon, you will still have problems in life. That doesn't differ between the two people; the same calamity happens to both people. But what differs is that one stands, he who acted, and one falls, he who didn't act. So Christ promises that if you do something, you will be able to stand no matter what life throws at you and you will not be carried away with the flood that is coming.

That is a promise that ought to make any sane person ask; What must I do? Well, glad you asked. The first thing is that you need to hear something; and something very specific. these words of mine, whose words? The very words of Christ, the word of God. See John 1 And just for clarity this doesn't just mean the four gospels, it means toto Scriptura, all of scripture. See Luke 24:27 and Hebrews 1
Now the second thing that must happen is the difference that makes all the difference; you must act upon what you hear. This however opens a huge discussion on why the two different responses. If somebody with that much authority says something to you, you ought to do it and do it quickly.
But this idea of someone having authority over us and telling us what we ought to do and not do cuts to the very heart of the matter. Men who have not been born of the spirit have inherited from their first father, Adam, a spirit and nature that will not have anyone else rule over them. You can see this quite well, everyone is busy building their life as they see best. Then along comes the master builder and he says; hey if you use those materials and that foundation your structure will collapse. And what is the natural response? Thank you very much, but this is my life I'll do with it what I want and you will not tell me what I should do or not do with it. I will decide what is good and bad, I'll decide what is true and false, and I'll decide what is beautiful and ugly. Is that not everyone of us? Because of that nature, that is in rebellion against God, The natural man can't and will not act upon the words of Christ. And therefore he will perish, unless God himself intervenes. Hence the ultimate meaning of this text. So, the very first thing that must happen, is that one must be born again. Or to put it another way, you must receive a new nature, one that willing submits to the law and authority of God. And only God can cause that to happen and that's what we call sovereign grace.

So the promise of these verses for the ability to stand can only be applied to those for whom Christ is King, their authority and their sovereign. To those who have put down their arms and surrendered their wills and life to God. Because, only those for whom Christ is King, will Christ save. All others will perish and that without exception, for there can be no rebellion in the Kingdom of Heaven for it is a kingdom of peace.

The last thing I want to point out is that this passage is a contrast between a wise man and a foolish man. Now, no one wants to be the foolish man. But isn't that the tragedy of all tragedies to spend your whole life thinking you are wise only to get the end and realize you were a fool. That's why scripture implores us to seek wisdom, but the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. And there we go back again to the issue of authority. Who rules over you? you or God? If it is God, then go get your Bible and seek wisdom and seek the face of God. A good place to start is the book of Proverbs. It works out really nice because there are thirty one chapters in it and thirty one days in a month, most times. So here is a place you can go daily, like you do for food, and find wisdom. And remember Christ said that man doesn't live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord. So if you go to the word very little, you'll starve and have no vitality. Give us this day our daily bread takes on a whole new meaning.. And keep in mind that faith is active trust; it requires action. It's the difference between saying; yes if I put on that parachute and jump out of this plane, the parachute will save me and putting on the parachute and jumping out of the plane. So, put on the Lord Jesus Christ and jump because nothing else will prove your faith in Him than trusting Him to catch you. So read His word and then go do it, for the Lord promises you success, you will stand and not fall, for underneath you are the everlasting arms Deuteronomy 33:27

Walking Through The Book of Romans

I confess, I'm an avid Podcaster. But my profession lends it's self to that sort of thing. Being a professional driver gives me lot's of time to listen to podcast, sermons being my favorite variety. It might make your head hurt if I told you how many I consume daily. But recently one of my favorites came to an end, Desiring God by John Piper. He had been preaching through the book of Romans and I had been so edified by it. So I thought, what now? So that's when I got the idea, let's go back to the beginning and work through them. Now mind you this is no small task, there is eight and a half years of preaching here. So I cut out everything, except Stand to Reason and started in the beginning. Oh what a joy it is to hear the word of God opened up and exposited so well. I have been a follower of Christ for sometime, but I must say, I didn't fully understand the Gospel until now. So if you are a follower of Christ I strongly urge you to work through this series, it will be well worth your time. Here is the link to the sermons. To get a taste click here Every one of these sermons has been enlightening for me and shown me things in God's word I have never seen.

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
Romans 11:33