Author: Craig

The impulse to know God

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Signal – Response.

The impulse to know God.

I wonder if its a reflexive action?

But I know the impulse to know God can be denied.  It can be ignored.  It can be covered up.

Just like the impulse to pick my nose in public.

Signal – Response.

Is God signaling to us?

He’s called the “Great I AM,” the same “yesterday, today, and tomorrow,”

The Alpha and Omega — the beginning and the end.

When I read the Scripture’s story I hear Him signalling.

The signals to know God are coming from Him and they are all around us.

And every once in a while we may say honestly with Philip, a man who spent several years with Jesus,

“Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.”

Are you satisfied with Jesus’ answer?

9Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you? 10Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me. 11Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.  John 14:9-11

Before its too late.

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Before.

Before there was stuff, there was God.

Before there was a sunrise, there was the community of Father, Son and Spirit.

Before there was life there was God’s glory.

Before we spoke God spoke.  (See Genesis 1:1-5)

Before.

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  John 1:1-5

Before it was too late…

14the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  John 1:14

This makes me want to see Jesus before I…

speak.

take up a cause.

despair in the darkness.

create momentary loves.

Quick, Come Lord Jesus,

Before…

Open your eyes.

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Open your eyes.

See the grass pushing up through the mud?

See the the crow keeping watch on the city parking meter?

See the man collecting bottles tilt his most recent acquisition and drain it?

Did you see what Jesus has done?

Jesus…

15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.   Colossians 1:15-17

What are you studying today?

It was made by Jesus.

It was made for Jesus.

It is held together today by Jesus.

Maybe your studies are an exploration of the human effect.

Some of that’s good.  Some of that’s not so good.

But at the root of it all, all we’ve had to work with started with Jesus.

He is before all things.

 

Its not about moi

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The ability to suspend judgment requires not only skill but also a lot of energy.

 

This is especially true when you want to be a good friend or parent, or spouse, that conveys empathy, interest, and acceptance.

 

Listening long and with compassion doesn’t mean you approve of or agree with their position.  But you can begin to discern what the roots of their position is.  You can begin to hear what is in their heart.

 

Here are proverbs that create relational tension for me.

 

13If one gives an answer before he hears,

it is his folly and shame.

 

14A man’s spirit will endure sickness,

but a crushed spirit who can bear?

 

15An intelligent heart acquires knowledge,

and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

 

16A man’s gift makes room for him

and brings him before the great.

 

17The one who states his case first seems right,

until the other comes and examines him.

 

Proverbs 18:13-17

 

The crushed spirit needs a friend.

But the crushed spirit has also likely lost perspective.

“It” has become all about “moi.”

And while this crushed one needs empathy,

at the right time he also needs

to see the bigger picture;

“It” is not all about “moi.”

To believe

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Yesterday there was a full house at the Norm Theater to hear Dr. William Lane Craig address the topic — Are we a cosmic accident?  Does a fine-tuned universe point to a cosmic designer?

Fine-tuning is a construct that reflects on scientific data that demonstrate that the margin of change allowable in the “laws of nature” for the existence of life are very, very small.  Dr. Craig argues that fine-tuning and the existence of life is best explained by “cosmic designer” rather than “chance.”

The talk was engaging but I was particularly impressed by the question period afterwards.  I was delighted to hear Dr. Craig share his own journey into faith in Jesus Christ.  I was reminded of Hebrews 11:6.

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

To believe and experience that the creator of the universe loves us is immense.

This  reality crashing into our consciousness changes everything.

Faith animated by the Gospel moves us out of despair and emptiness and into wonder and openness and possibility.

Psalm 8:1-4

1O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

2Out of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established strength because of your foes,

to still the enemy and the avenger.

3When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4what is man that you are mindful of him,

and the son of man that you care for him?