Evil

There is a popular “question” among atheist that goes like this; “If God is good, then why does evil exists?” I have to admit. This is a very good question, but we are not allowed to answer ALL questions.

Don’t answer the foolish arguments of fools, or you will become as foolish as they are. Be sure to answer the foolish arguments of fools, or they will become wise in their own estimation. Proverbs 26:4-5

There you have it. Clear as mud.

Have you ever had someone ask you a question, but they asked in such a way that it was clear they were looking for an argument, NOT an answer? I have taken that bait many times, and those are hours of my life I can never get back. I have flushed time (and brain cells) down the toilet dealing with people like this. Jesus knew how to deal with them. He perceived their motive, and would just offend them. I was asked this question recently. The person WAS looking an answer, so let’s take a stab.

How can a God, who contains no evil, create a world that seems to have so much of it? Even the Bible records this paradox.

There are three things that amaze me—no, four things that I don’t understand: How an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman. Proverbs 30:18-19

Using this metaphor, the Bible asks the same question. How do you reconcile evil (snake) operating so freely in God’s created world (rock)?

To help answer this question, we have to define evil. What is evil? Did God create it? Let’s say I gave you a delicate and beautiful piece of glass. After taking it, you accidentally drop it. It is now hundreds of sharp jagged pieces. Did I create that? No, YOU did. Understanding evil requires you to understand free will.

As a child, I remember receiving a Lego set for Christmas. Immediately after opening it, my dad began building his masterpiece. After consuming all the pieces, the spaceship was complete. He was so proud of his creation, that he set it on top the television for 2 days. And for those 2 days, I was banned from playing with my Lego set. You see, though the Lego set was mine, I could not be trusted with it. I received my Lego set on Dec. 25Th. I received the freedom to play with it (destroy his ship, to create my own) on Dec. 28Th.

God created this world, and it WAS good. It was good, because He created it that way. But that all changed shortly after signing it over to us. Adam and Eve dropped it, and it hasn’t been the same since. God didn’t create evil, we did. God created a delicate, beautiful, but fragile world. And we broke it. When we try to pick up the pieces, we are in essence, doing GOOD. It is a GOOD thing to feed the hungry and give to the poor. By doing those things, we are repairing this ALREADY broken world.

Evil is an illusion in the since that, it doesn’t exist. Evil is just a word we use to describe a place where there is NO GOOD. Darkness doesn’t exist either. You can’t measure darkness. Darkness is term we use to explain the absence of light. Cold also doesn’t exist. We determine how cold it is by measuring how much HEAT is present. Cold is a word we use to explain how little heat there is. At -459.67 degrees Fahrenheit, there is absolutely NO heat. You can’t get colder than that. They call this Absolute Zero.

In Exodus 4, God gave Moses a powerful lesson about evil. God tells Moses to go into Egypt and lead His people of out of the hands of Pharaoh. Moses protested and told God that they would never believe him. God told him to immediately throw down his staff. As soon as the staff was thrown down, it became a snake. The Lord then instructs Moses to grab it by the tail. When Moses reached out and grabbed the tail, it became a staff again.

When God created the world, he created it perfect, good, and straight. It wasn’t until man dropped it, that it became broken and bent. God didn’t create evil. Evil is the result of God giving us a world and us throwing it to the ground. All it takes is someone with the courage to pick it up by the tail. We are here to fix the world. We are here to repair it. We are here to restore it. EVIL is an effect resulted by GOOD not having an affect.

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

Why do we allow snakes to slither on rocks? Obviously, we’re afraid we might get bit.

Rock The Vote

This game is called, "Who Should I Vote For?" It is very simple. I'll give you my top 3 election issues, and where I stand on each of them. Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to find a presidential candidate who fits my bill. I'm counting on you.

LIFE

I believe life begins in the womb. To be exact, I believe it begins 18-21 days after conception. This is when the heart begins to beat. And when you have a beating heart, you have blood.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood. Lev 17:11
For it is the life of all flesh. Its blood sustains its life. Lev 17:14

So I want a candidate who chooses life.

This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. Deut. 30:19

I also want a candidate who will overturn Roe v. Wade. Because most abortions are in the name of convenience, they are flat out murder.

Whoever sheds the blood of a human, by humans his blood will be shed, because in the image of God, God made humans. Gen 9:6

All scripture is inspired by God. However, the punctuations are NOT. In the original Hebrew texts, there are no punctuations. In fact, in certain passages, there are NO spaces. The punctuations were added later, because they were necessary for translation. Though the English language is conceptually rich, it is not spiritually rich.

There is an axiom in Hebrew study, that if you can punctuate a verse in scripture in more than one way, then all of those ways are valid. So if a punctuation can change the meaning, then it is accepted that all meanings are applicable and intended. This is what makes the Hebrew language spiritually rich. It allows for the coding and compression of information into a finite text.

There are two ways to punctuate Genesis 9:6, in Hebrew. And by changing the punctuation, you get the following English translation.

Whoever sheds the blood of a human inside of a human, his blood will be shed, because in the image of God, God made humans. Gen 9:6

FAMILY

I believe a family starts with a man and a woman.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27

As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it. Gen. 9:7

Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin. Lev 18:22

I want a President who supports the family and will hold the public school system accountable for Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic. I don't need a diversity curriculum that attempts to bring balance to my Christian parenting. If I think it's important for my kid to know why "Heather Has Two Mommies", I'll run point on that one.

FREEDOM

I believe Jesus IS the only way to God. I'm not the only one who believes it. In fact, let me quote the bigoted author myself.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6

I want a President who supports free speech. I want someone who will uphold my right to quote Jesus ANYTIME I want. I have a mandate from God, and I want to do my part, without being labeled a hater.

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Matthew 28:19

I support free speech, not fair speech. I want a President who opposes the "Fairness Doctrine". When you "force" fairness, you forfeit freedom. And you insult my intelligence by concluding I'm too stupid to change the radio station.

If you don't agree with the Bible, then "man up" and stand by your decision. Don't take an offense, where one wasn't given.

I know what you're thinking. There are dozens of important issues, and THESE are your top 3? Yes, they are my top 3 because I believe they are elementary. Something tells me, George Washington didn't have to go on the record for these.

Lost

As a teen, I had a friend who seemed like he had it made. He could buy what he wanted, go where he wanted, and say what he wanted. He had a bigger allowance, a later curfew (if any), and cooler parents. There was no pressure to make good grades, so he was able to have more "fun" in class. Life seemed so easy for him. No expectations. No rules. No problems. It didn't take long for me to find out the secret to his success.

It was at my first sleep over, that I saw the light. If I could just get rid of my parents, I could be my own boss. Well not remove them completely, just lessen their involvement. My friend's father didn't live with him, and wasn't involved his life. His mother, whom he lived with, wasn't any different. He didn't have anyone telling him what to do, when to go to bed, and what NOT to watch on television. He was my hero. I wanted his life.

Though I've matured, I would be lying if I said I have stopped comparing my life with others. If God wasn't involved in my finances, I'd have more money to spend on me. If God wasn't involved in my time, I wouldn't be at church on Sunday morning. I would be in my underwear, drinking coffee, and reading the newspaper. If God wasn't involved in my life, I could do whatever I wanted to do, when I wanted to do it. When I was a teenager, I used to think my parent's were holding me back. And now that I'm an adult, I sometimes find myself thinking the same thing. Is God holding me back from the life others get to live?

The problem with comparing your life with others, is that you can't see everything. What you DO see is always the result of what you DON'T see. As a teen, It was easy to be distracted by the greener grass of No Rules and No Expectations. But his greener grass was the result of a broken septic tank. What seemed "greener" on the outside was a result of something broken on the inside. My friend could do anything he wanted, because he had broken relationships. The people in his life had no opinion about who he was or what he did. He had no peace and joy, and he was lonely inside.

I am comforted in the fact that I belong to somebody. Yes, I may not always be the most "fun" at some parties. But that is because I am NOT my own. I am a child of God, and He expects me to act like one. He is my father, and he knows me more than I know myself. Now that I am older, the temptation to compare myself with those "outside" of my family isn't that strong. (Even though it would be cool to have a reality TV show and find my true B.F.F.) Less than obvious, is the temptation is to compare my life to my brothers and sisters.

In Luke 15, Jesus tells a story about a father and his two sons. The younger son demands his share of the inheritance, and his father gives it to him. He then packs up and leaves the country. While he is away, he spends everything he has, living the "good" life. Not long after wasting everything away, a severe famine strikes the land, and the son is left broke and busted. He takes a job feeding pigs and then realizes the error of his ways.

When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant. Luke 15:17-19

After reuniting with his son, the father decides to celebrate.

But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began. Luke 15:22-24

Everyone was ready to party except for ONE person.

Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, and he asked one of the servants what was going on. ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ Luke 15:25-27

The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him, but he replied, ‘All these years I've slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!’ Luke 15:28-30

How easy it is, for me to spot the weakness and failures of others. What is NOT so easy is to spot the envy and covetousness in my own life. Jesus knew who His audience. He was speaking to a bunch of religious Jews. Jesus wasn't making a point of celebrating the return of the lost. He was mocking THEM for being lost and out of touch with their father. And they never left the house.

His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’ Luke 15:31-32

Comparing yourself to others will cause you to become lost in envy and covetousness. I am notorious for losing my way and veering off course. The sad thing is, it happens while I'm still in the house.