How I Came to Read the Bible

Like with any book, I opened up the Bible, and I started to read page one with relative naivety, "In the beginning…." That's how we would begin with any other book; why not the Bible?  The notion: the "Good Book'' is a book. Thus the same rules should apply, shouldn’t it?

Shouldn't the Word of God, the same voice who created heaven and earth have such perfect order also in his text?--something straight-forward? I should be able to read the text with both clarity and plain thinking. It should be as black and white as the print on the page, right?

Or so I thought at seventeen.

Spring of 2007–The friends I had in high school would compete over some of the darndest of things in high school.  We were all cross-country runners, so besides who'd beat who around the track, we'd see who'd solve a rubik's cube the fastest, or which one of us would have the whitest thighs come by the last meet of the season. I won the white thigh competition one year. And so in this peculiar feat, the challenge would be who could read through the Bible from start to end first.

Easter was right around the corner, and I was edging to snag a copy of a Bible. At that time, we were nominally Episcopalians. We had attended a church service twice-a-year in Swarthmore. It was the same place my paternal aunt had worshiped before her death after a brain aneurysm.

I had asked my father years before what exactly was an Episcopalian? He described a line of apostolic succession and maintaining a lot of traditions of the church. As well, we recognized the bishop, but we rejected the pope. That's all he told me.

There have been many who were raised in "Christian" homes, especially from Roman-Catholic descent, that reject their parents' strict law-abiding rearing. Some reject the legalism of their "Christian" household or schooling, similar to how someone hates to read because they were forced to absorb the content or else a nun might crack a ruler down on the child's knuckles.

I didn't have this kind of brow-beatten trauma. There existed no transactional decorum between the church and me. Ignorance to the Gospel was for me a blessing so I could hear the Word of God fresh for the first time as opposed to those that already "heard" with their own preconceived notion of God. Often their prejudices of God reflect their relationship with authority whether that be parents, schools, or churches. Being unchurched was not a severe stumbling block in my openness to Faith.

That year, my parents decided not to go to service. I was rather antsy about winning this little book-reading competition. Easter afternoon, I went next door and borrowed a bible from my grandmother because we didn't have a copy in our household.  My grandmother handed me a 1950 print edition of a King James Version.  When I got home and made myself comfortable in bed, I read the first few chapters.  I -est, -eth, and thee’d my way through the Elizabethian text. Ugh.  I mustered onward. I was going to win. That's all I knew besides my own preconceived notion of God. My doctrine of faith was vague: Christ died on a cross, and He loved us. I watched the equivalent of a brief movie trailer about God through a handful of sermons before deciding to read the book first myself. Later, I would then compare the movie to the book afterwards just like any book. I assumed the book was better.

I manage to read up to Genesis Chapter 19 where Lot had incest with his two daughters. O holy hell! I slammed the book shut. I ain't reading this garbage.  Then I threw the Bible in the trash that night. Enough with that.

Three days later, my friend Dave picked me up in his Ford Contour at my house.  We were going out to eat Italian. Runners need their carbs before a race. Our friend Pat–also a runner–was already in the front passenger seat, so I climbed in the back and pushed aside the giant heap of empty water bottles from all the prior track practices that season.

We were coming up the intersection of Bethel and Foulk Road. There used to be a two-way intersection. However, due to growing suburbanization in recent years and the uptick in their associated car accidents, the township had hired a construction crew to install a four-way traffic light system. In the meantime, black covers were draped over their newly minted signals.

Dave, being a "fresh'' driver on the road, was unfamiliar with the new traffic terrain. When he realized that he should have tapped the brakes, it was too late. He hit the gas instead hoping to miss oncoming traffic. Another vehicle headed straight for the front passenger side door panel where Pat sat.

I sat in the back seat, and before my eyes I saw the world turned gray.  The many empty vessels, the disposable trash hung within the air from our impact.  It's odd to call water bottles beautiful. But it can be in all of its crunch up manner, how they can reflect and glimmer back a refractory light. 

The car from opposing traffic t-boned our vehicle  at approximately 45 mph. Because Dave hit the gas instead of hitting the brakes, we had enough momentum to jump the corner curb and slam into a telephone pole. Three other cars whipped around the center traffic, totalling their vehicles into each other.

The front of Ford Contour crunched itself inward like an accordion. Airbags went off. 

The impact was right where Pat's legs rested.  The front of the other vehicle had bent passenger-side front tire in and up. Dave turned to me and yelled, "Get the hell out." But Pat couldn't. He was stuck. Pat screamed.

But by some common grace of God we pulled Pat out through the driver's side door.  His legs were unscathed, however, he screamed like they were useless to him. He suffered some shock. His fists pounded the grass. Except for some minor bruises we all crawled out okay.

Dave wasn't much for emotions. I was more the talker in the friendship, but in that moment, he broke down and cried. Dave looked at me, and he asked, "Can you ever forgive me!?"

"Dave," I said, "you're already forgiven."

I reflected back on what had occurred that afternoon. That was something easy enough to say. Accidents do happen. To a friend, I can be more forgiving for a momentary lapse of judgment. However, those what-ifs poured into my head. Would I be so forgiving if he wasn't my friend. What if he was a stranger who hit my car? What if I was injured beyond those few bruises of a seat belt strap? What if I lost my legs, would I be so forgiving? Forgiveness felt at the time like a throwaway line, a piece of garbage a minister might say. It sounds nice, but came off to me as cheap.

So later that evening, once Dave and Pat returned from hospital to get checked for injuries, Dave and I spoke again on the phone.  Dave said, "Somebody out there was looking out for us."

And that night, I pulled out my Bible out of the waste bin and continued reading onto Genesis chapter 20.

There Is a Time To Trust Experts and a Time To Do-It-Yourself.

In 1900, the amount of human knowledge was doubling every 100 years. By 1950, it was doubling every 25 years. Now, the collection of human knowledge is doubling every year! With so much specialized and valuable information available, there are times when it makes good sense to find a trusted expert to rapidly gain a better understanding of our world. In his bestseller “Outliers“, Malcolm Gladwell claimed that it takes 10,000 hours of deliberate practice to become an expert in a discipline (medicine) or with a talent (violinist). Few of us will become experts in anything, much less in several areas of knowledge or skills. Thankfully, God has provided us with people who are passionate and proficient at what they do (entertainers, scientists, doctors, historians, mechanics, writers, etc.) and are willing to provide their expertise to benefit others.

Since the amount of information and knowledge on any subject is overwhelming and intimidating, we can become comfortable merely relying on experts and not bothering to learn or decide anything for ourselves. But we are missing something if we only rely on experts and never bother to do things for ourselves. Even if we never win an Olympic gold medal, there are benefits to exercising and participating in sports. Even if we never become an Iron Chef, cooking for your family and with your children brings benefits that take-out pizza cannot provide. But no do-it-yourself activity is more important than to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” (Philippians 2)

God has blessed His church with gifted teachers, dedicated elders, and trusted pastors. We are all commanded to submit to their leadership and to learn from their instruction. With millennia of Judeo-Christian scholarship spanning countless nations, languages, and people groups, few of us can spare 10,000 hours to become an expert in even a little corner of theology, church history, Scriptural exegesis, apologetics, etc. However we must not let the vast amount of Christian knowledge and the expertise of other believers dissuade us from following Jesus for ourselves and deliberately pursuing increasing faithfulness in our own lives. A second-hand faith cannot save anyone. Charles Spurgeon said it well, “believing is the distinct act of a person. … There can be no such thing as sponsorship in receiving Christ or in faith. … You must believe for yourself.” In modern terms, we cannot outsource our faith.

Consider the time we spend with God. How dependent are we on modern conveniences that were not available to Christians 1,000 years ago? If we’re listening to a sermon, enjoying music, or reading a book, we risk being just a spectator watching an expert do their thing rather than actively “working out our own salvation.” Prayer, the sacraments, Scripture meditation, fasting, serving others, singing, fellowship, and worship have never required a library, the internet, or a cell phone. We must not think we’re too sophisticated to use the simple, old fashioned “means of grace” to strengthen our faith. Each of us can rely on the Holy Spirit (the expert’s expert) to transform us into the image of Christ. Our past should not discourage us and worrying about tomorrow should not distract us. We need to make the most of today. In modern terms, we should “just do it.”

We Should Pray for Other Believers

In this passage from the New Testament, Paul acknowledges the incredible faith and love of the believers in Ephesus (verse 15). He gives thanks for them and prays for them constantly (verse 16). But he also wants to see their faith deepened through illumination of the Holy Spirit– “...having the eyes of your hearts enlightened that you may know...” But what does Paul want these Christians to know?

1.       “what is the hope to which he has called you” (verse 18)

2.       “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints” (verse 18)

3.       “and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might” (verse 19)

So, notice what Paul isn’t praying for. He isn’t praying for health, wealth, or prosperity (the subject of most of our prayers). He isn’t praying for an end to religious persecution or religious liberty. He isn’t even praying for growing churches or more converts. Of course, it’s not wrong to pray for these things, but they weren’t Paul’s primary focus in this text.

Notice his threefold focus:

First, Paul prayed for them to know their hope: “...what is the hope to which he has called you...”

And that’s how we can pray for other Christians as well. Pray that they can have an ever-growing, ever abounding sense of hope rooted in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

Second, Paul prayed for them to know their inheritance:“...what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints...”

And that’s how we can pray for other Christians as well. Pray that they can deepen their faith in God’s promises. Pray that they can know the promised Holy Spirit in them as the down payment of their spiritual inheritance until they take possession of it to the glory of God, as we see back in Ephesians 1:14.

Finally, Paul prayed for them to know God’s power: “...and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might...”

So, do you know the power of God today? If not, you start to know it when you see how powerless you are by nature; you are a sinner in the sight of a holy God who can’t save yourself through good deeds or religious ceremonies. But ultimately, you can come to know this power decisively when you experience the love and mercy of God in Jesus Christ who died, shedding his blood for the forgiveness of sins and rising from the dead, so that we can have life and joy with God forever.

The Sights and Sounds of the Kingdom of God

YouTube has several video series that challenge you not to cry. One collection shows the moment someone’s cochlear implant is activated, for example when a child first hears their mother’s voice. The sheer joy and emotions are overwhelming. Similar videos show someone who is colorblind putting on a pair of glasses that allows them to see the vivid beauty in Creation. People cry when they realize the beauty they have been missing for so long.

There are many parallels between seeing and hearing in the physical world and in the spiritual world. Jesus explained His use of parables by quoting Isaiah 6 in reference to unbelievers who, “hear but never understand, and who see but never perceive.” (Matthew 13) Paul said that Satan “has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4) The Psalmist prays to God to “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119) God calls His people to proclaim the Gospel to people who are spiritually deaf and blind. We are called to describe spiritual sights and sounds of the Kingdom of God to people who have never known what we have experienced, and do not know what they are missing.

Our challenge in proclaiming the Gospel is similar to describing the birds singing to someone who is deaf or explaining the visual beauty of a sunset to someone who is blind. Words alone are inadequate. While  only the Holy Spirit can change someone’s heart, God’s people must live lives full of joy, peace, and hope in Christ that leads others to conclude that they are missing something beautiful in their life. Too often we want to point out someone’s sin, make a theological point, argue some political issue, or display how much we know. Explaining the frequency or volume of a women’s voice doesn’t tap into the emotional impact of a child first hearing their mother’s voice. Describing who wrote a piece of music or who performed it lacks the impact of its beauty. Knowing how our rods, cones, and optic nerves work lack the powerful experience of seeing all the colors in a flower garden. When it comes to living in the grace of the Gospel, unbelievers have grown accustomed to life without these experiences and cannot imagine that they are missing anything. We should never stop trying to change their minds.

Jesus asked His disciples, “What do you do more than others?” (Matthew 5) We are called to be different than everyone else because we have experienced the love and grace of God. Loving our enemies. Blessing those who curse us. Doing good to those who hate us. Praying for those who persecute us. Being hospitable to those who cannot return the favor. There is no earthly reason to treat people this way, but living this way makes people wonder why we are different.

If you’re like me, a few special people played a big role in your spiritual journey. They were not necessarily the smartest or best educated people, but these folks were inexplicably kind, humble, loving, and gracious. They were full of peace and joy. If Jesus is important to us, we know all we need to know to be one of those special people in someone else’s life. We just have to stop doing what everyone else does and disappearing in the crowd.  We have to live as people who see and hear the King. People will notice and then we can tell them about the King.

The Gospel in the Story of the Fiery Furnace (Daniel 3)

As someone who spent a large part of my childhood in very conservative denominations, I have a bit of a tense relationship with the heroes of Scripture. When I come to Scripture, I see the heroes as the people I’m supposed to emulate, but I always know in my heart how far I’d likely fall short. Thank goodness for the Gospel. 

Recently, my daughter was watching a video depiction of the fiery furnace; and, as in the flannel graph depictions in my childhood, the heroes of the story somehow find the moral courage to stand firm in their faith. All the attention remains on them throughout the narrative, and the closeup at the end is always on their faithfulness, with maybe a side-note about the effect a good Christian has in changing the hearts and minds of others. I can never find myself in the superhuman trio. The ones with iron wills. 

I’ve always been the kid who can see the “bad guy” in my own heart. To be honest, when I picture myself in the story, it’s Nebuchadnezzar asking me to bow, and me going along with the crowd. I stand condemned for the weakness in my heart. But praise God that the character who changed the most in this story was Nebuchadnezzar, and surely there was room for the onlookers to change as well! Maybe this story, more than a story encouraging us to emulate the heroes who served God, is a story about how the enemies of God can change. Maybe there is hope for the “bad guys”! Maybe there is hope for weak me. 

God’s stories are all about the sin and weakness even heroes fall prey to. Thanks be to God, in his decisive death blow to sin, Christ came on the scene. Like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he stared down death, willing to take on its pain to carry out God’s plan. He entered death, taking on the consequences of our sin, and of the sin of the Nebuchadnezzars of the word. He broke the power of death, and ever since then, he’s been redeeming those who know their weakness. The ones who let go of the sin that’s been driving them, and admit their foolishness. If you, like me, can identify with Nebuchadnezzar or his thousands of too-willing followers, let’s let that pull us to the heart of Christ. He’s ready to embrace us: even in spite of our moral weakness. That hope has the power to make us strong.

A News Consumption Challenge

Coronavirus. China and Taiwan. Russia and Ukraine. Inflation and recession.

Headlines in the modern world are scary and cause a lot of fear and anxiety in the human heart.

But how many hours a day do you consume news media? How many news podcasts do you listen to? How many hours a day do you find yourself watching cable news? I’m not proposing complete abstinence from news media. We need to be informed citizens. However, I would like to offer a simple challenge today:  Read your Bible and pray as much as you consume news media.

How

First, track your news consumption. Be honest! Counting Facebook, Twitter, news websites, podcasts, radio, and cable news, how many hours of news media do you consume daily?

Second, evaluate how much you consume. Could it be less? Could it be more? There isn’t a right or wrong answer. However, I would encourage you to define in advance how many minutes/hours a day you would like to devote to keeping up with current events. Stick to your plan!

Third, balance your news consumption with prayer and Bible reading. If you watch the news for 30 minutes each morning, consider adding 30 minutes of prayer and Bible reading into your morning routine. If you don’t have enough time, reduce your news consumption and increase your time in God’s Word.

Why

I believe this challenge is helpful for two reasons:

First, prayer is powerful. God works through prayer to accomplish his sovereign purpose in the world. Therefore, by devoting more time to prayer, you remind yourself that God is in control of events on the national and international stage. You don’t have to be afraid or anxious about anything!

Second, the Bible is powerful. It teaches us about God. It teaches us about ourselves. It teaches us about the way of salvation and how to live. The Apostle Paul says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

Therefore, the more we are rooted and grounded in Scripture, the more we will be able to evaluate and face the events of our time.

A Lesson from Nicodemus for the Spiritual Procrastinator

As someone who has been a Christian for almost my whole life, it is always so refreshing to see a new take on Scripture. Whether it’s The Message or The Chosen, sometimes I just need my goggles of familiarity torn off so I can see God more clearly.

I watched The Chosen a couple of years ago, but the story of Nicodemus is the one that continues to speak to me. Nicodemus is a leader of the Pharisees, who, even in the first minutes of episode 1, is considering Jesus as who he truly is: the Messiah. The others appreciate Jesus for the love he has, the new truth he teaches that excludes no one. But Nicodemus sees Jesus in the whole arc of Scripture: the Old Testament promises and symbolism. Although when Jesus first arrives on the scene Nicodemus feels the need to entrench himself intellectually to what he already thinks, already teaches, the camera often zooms up on Nicodemus wondering–and even believing–and then snapping back out for the sake of his career. Over and over, Jesus invites Nicodemus, and Nicodemus grieves deeply every time he says no. 

Nicodemus is a bit like I can sometimes feel. Sometimes, when God is planting a seed of growth in my heart, I spend my time watching others’ joy and faith from the outside, not sure if I am ready to portray outwardly what God is calling me to. I was so grateful to see in Nicodemus God’s faithful pursuit of those he calls. Because, when Jesus died, you’d think the story was over–that Nicodemus would have lost his chance. But in the Gospels we see Nicodemus after Jesus’ crucifixion. He, a man of means, provides the embalming spices. He, a highly religious Pharisee, took on the uncleanness of touching a dead man, and prepared the body to be buried: what tenderness, and what obvious devotion. Here is a man forgetful of himself, forgetful of his position. All he knows is love for the man who called him; awe at his reshaped theology. He is God’s follower now, though he stood by and said no over and over. 

Maybe, like Nicodemus and me, you’ve felt God pulling on your heart about something, and you are not brave enough to make waves in the world. Let this encourage you: the death of Jesus and his resurrection frees you from the debt to God, but also wakes our hearts up in love. Turning to follow God’s call isn’t a statement before men, it’s just allowing yourself to love God in a new way.  He’s waiting, and he’ll still be waiting, as he did for Nicodemus.

Does Heaven Mean What We Think It Means?

In the fairy tale movie “Princess Bride”, Buttercup is kidnapped by three bandits who think they have escaped without being detected. When the head bandit notices they are being followed, he exclaims, “inconceivable.” Four more times he thinks he has evaded his pursuer only to find the man in black gaining on him, and each time he cries, “inconceivable.” At this point his partner-in-crime says, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Essentially all religions teach the hope of reward in the afterlife. For the longest time, I thought that we were all just using different words to describe the same place and type of eternal rewards. Thankfully these days I am seeing more clearly that when many folks speak of Heaven, it does not mean what they think it means.

  Summarizing how different religions describe the afterlife risks oversimplification, and there is some resemblance to the Biblical descriptions of Heaven in other religion’s eternal resting place, but the differences matter. In Islam, Paradise (Jannah) is described as a garden of pleasure with cool shade and flowing rivers. In this Paradise, the faithful remain as mere humans who wear gold, pearls, diamonds, and garments made of the finest silk. This garden is furnished with beautiful couches and carpets. There are full cups of non-intoxicating wine and a banquet with every meat and fruit. While the Quran never mentions Allah being in the Garden, the faithful are promised the opportunity to gaze upon his face.

  The Indian religions of Buddhism and Hinduism believe that we are experiencing repeated cycles of life, death, and re-birth, which can ultimately culminate in either Nirvana (Buddhism) or Moksha (Hinduism). Buddhism denies the existence of an eternal soul and teaches that an individual is merely a transient combination matter, sensation, perception, predisposition, and consciousness. Nirvana is the “blowing out” or “quenching” of all one’s desires, hatred, ignorance, greed, suffering, etc., which ultimately results in the complete cessation of everything. Nirvana is compared to a candle being extinguished. Hindus believe that Moksha (salvation) is the ultimate liberation from the cycle of birth, death, and nature, ending in communion with Brahman (the supreme spirit) and an eternity of peace and rest. This communion with Brahman is compared to a drop of water joining the ocean. Moksha is losing yourself and becoming “one with everything”.

  There is relatively little teaching about the afterlife in Judaism, and even less agreement. Perhaps the most common Jewish view of the “world-to-come” resembles Eden before the fall; a garden where God dwells with His people. The physical descriptions of Heaven in the New Testament are amazing, but they risk diminishing and distracting from the hope and promise of being with God forever; Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit. Jesus told His disciples, “In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” (John 14) Paul encouraged the early church with this description of heaven, “we will always be with the Lord.” (1 Thessalonians 4) John’s vision of Heaven included, “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.’” (Revelation 21)

When my wife and I were still dating, we returned to college one fall after the long summer vacation. For those many months we had only seen each other once. She returned to campus with a new hairdo and a new outfit. I was probably a bad boyfriend because I didn’t notice that she had gone to a lot of trouble to look her best for our reunion. But how she looked was so much less important to me than just being with her again. My desire for Heaven is becoming more like that. I am thinking less about the streets of gold, my resurrection body, who else will be there, or what food will be served at the marriage supper of the Lamb. I am increasingly hoping for a time when I will be with God. John Milton said that God’s presence makes our Paradise, and wherever God is that’s Heaven. Many non-Biblical descriptions of the afterlife don’t even mention God. When these people describe a Heaven without God, I do not think Heaven means what they think it means.

The Gospel on the Streets of Kensington Ave

If Jesus were physically here today, where would He spend His ministry? If He were in our community, what would His week look like? In a church? Probably, He loves His bride and that’s where she usually is. But what about during the week? What would His public ministry look like today?

Let’s just consider His philosophy of ministry: “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick, I didn’t come to call the righteous but sinners” (Mark 2:17). What about some examples of people whom Jesus surrounded Himself? Fishermen (Mark 1:16-20), sinners and tax collectors (Mark 2:13-16), a demoniac (Mark 5), a divorcée ostracized by society (John 4).

From what we see in His own ministry, Jesus’ time would not be confined to one demographic or socio-economic status; however, from the list above, I know one place Jesus would invest Himself: the streets of Kensington in Philadelphia.

Tom Syversten and I have been helping a local ministry started by Chris Battin, who has been serving the people of Kensington faithfully three times a week for years. We don’t offer much physically: the staples are bottled water and a banana—sometimes more, sometimes less. But what Chris continually reminds everyone in his sphere of influence: “It’s not about what we’re bringing; it’s about the relationships and conversations we have.”

Just to give you a day-in-the-life: every week we see open-air drug use—the popular drugs on the street now are Fentanyl or horse tranquilizer; on one day within a few hours, Chris used Narcan on three separate individuals. There are drug dealers openly on the streets, and when you have been there long enough, you develop situational awareness to see them. There is solicitation of prostitution on the corners, where women earn more money in a day then the average American makes in a week, only for all of it to go into their arm. Whenever the city tries to move the people or clean the streets, it quickly returns to the status-quo.

When I first came and saw all of this, I was emotionally devastated: the cyclical hopelessness, where people regularly talk about losing someone to violence or overdose; the feeling that there is little that the current establishment is doing to make change; the reality that many of the people we talk with will die if left untreated.

Despite all of this darkness, God is still working: beyond just the small ministry we’re doing, there are several others serving the people—Rock Ministries and Angels in Motion currently come to my mind. I’ve seen people speak about escaping the streets because of “the grace of God and ministries like you guys.” Some of the most popular items people take are a simple Gospel of John or Chris’ “song sheet” we hand out which has lead to several Gospel conversations.

The light of the Gospel ought to penetrate into every social stratum; because of the radical love that Jesus has shown sinners, Christians have the ultimate motivation for sharing this self-sacrificial love to others; we are not there for social credit but because of the Gospel itself—Jesus not only cared for the unlovable but died for the unlovable like myself.

God has continually been prospering our time there, where it has gone from simply Chris going to about five of us—and that’s only considering what we do! As you go about your week, continue praying for us every Wednesday morning, especially Chris who also goes on Saturday’s and Sunday’s. Continue praying for the growth and opportunities of others like Rock Ministries and Angels in Motion. Pray for our society and that changes might come that bring an end to this Opioid Crisis growing worse every year. Finally, pray for the people on the streets, that they can escape the darkness and find the peace and marvelous light found only in Jesus Christ.

Scientific Fine-Tuning for Life on Earth Points to the Intelligence of Our Creator God

Arguments for the existence of God from design in the natural world (i.e. the teleological argument) provide reasons for the existence of God because our world appears thoroughly planned by an intelligent Creator. Many teleological-cosmological arguments focus on what we know about complex scientific principles including the standard model of particle physics, electro-magnetism, and quantum mechanics. Unfortunately, most of us have forgotten whatever we once knew about college-level physics. Thankfully, instead of advanced scientific principles, Scripture simply calls us to look at the sun, moon, and stars to remind us of the God who created us and sustains us. For example, “the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. … [God] has set a tent for the sun … and there is nothing hidden from its heat.” (Psalm 19) “Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of hosts is his name.” (Jeremiah 31) “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” (Psalm 8)

The Goldilocks Principle in cosmology comes from “The Story of the Three Bears.” In this fairy tale, Goldilocks walked into the bear’s home and sampled the porridge, chairs, and beds of the great big bear, the middle-sized bear, and the little wee bear. In each case she preferred the porridge, chairs, and beds that were “just right” instead of the ones that were too hot, too cold, too hard, too soft, too high, or too low. Without getting bogged down in the statistical impossibility that so many aspects of the earth, sun, and moon are all “just right” for us to exist, let’s simply consider a few ways in which our world is meticulously designed by our Creator God.

The earth’s mass is just right to provide (i) gravity for a life-sustaining atmosphere of oxygen, nitrogen, and water, (ii) a protective magnetic field from the sun’s solar radiation, and (iii) a stable rotation to moderate daily temperatures across the whole earth’s surface.

The earth’s distance from sun is just right to have (i) a surface temperature to sustain life without all water eventually freezing to ice or boiling completely away, (ii) an annual cycle of moderate seasons based on the tilt of the earth’s axis, and (iii) the right kind and amount sunlight necessary for abundant photosynthesis.

The sun’s mass and age are just right to provide (i) a stable orbit for the earth around the sun, (ii) a consistent emission of ultraviolet (UV) light to provide a protective layer of ozone in earth’s atmosphere, and (iii) enough infrared (IR) light to maintain a hospitable temperature on earth.

Our one and only moon’s mass and distance to earth are just right to (i) stabilize the earth’s axial tilt and seasonal temperature variations, and (ii) to enable modest ocean tides, preventing these waters from becoming stagnant and lifeless, or violent and destructive. No other planet in our solar system has exactly one moon. Mercury and Venus have none. Jupiter and Saturn each have over 50 moons.

The largest planets in our solar system, especially Jupiter and Saturn, are necessary to block comets and asteroids from bombarding earth with frequent extinction-level events. These large planets are just the right size and in just the right place to allow life on earth to flourish.

In all of these designed aspects of creation, if things were just a little bit larger or just a little bit smaller, life on earth would not exist. In over a hundred other ways, all life is balanced on a knife’s edge. So the next time you see the sun, moon, stars, and planets take a moment to praise God for His wonderfully precise creation, and His ever lovingkindness for how He protects us and provides for us.