I recently watched the DVD, “Journey Toward Creation … Travel Back to When Light First Sprang from Darkness,” narrated by astronomer and author, Dr. Hugh Ross. Because of modern technology we are now able to view vast areas of the universe going back millions of light years. The incredible vastness of the universe and its formation is staggering. To accept all of this as happening by chance would take a mountain more of faith than to believe it all happened by intelligent design by a divine creator. And still the atheist says there is no God.

If I say there is no God, I make myself the final voice of authority and therein usurp the role of God in my life. I become a god unto myself. Furthermore, the more we learn about life and the more educated we become the more we realize how little we know about this world, let alone about the vast expanse of the universe. As Thomas A. Edison said, “Until man duplicates a blade of grass, Nature can laugh at his so-called scientific knowledge … it is obvious that we don’t understand one millionth of one percent about anything.”²

Undoubtedly there are many factors as to why we believe what we do. For many, much is shaped by their upbringing and what they were taught in their formative years. One’s belief system is also affected by how personally honest or dishonest he/she is with his/her inner truth. For instance, if I have unresolved supercharged repressed negative emotions, the defenses I have developed to protect myself from being in touch with these painful emotions give me warped lenses through which I view life’s events and end up with a distorted world view. As Cecil Osborne said, “Every unshed tear [and buried emotion] is a prism through which all of life’s hurts are distorted.”

In the end we ultimately believe what we choose to believe—often what is the most convenient for us. For instance, if I choose to believe in God, I know I am morally responsible. On the other hand, if I chose not to believe in God, I delude myself into thinking I am not morally responsible and can live as I please. For example, “Philosopher Mortimer Adler, one of the great intellectuals of the twentieth century, believed Christianity was true, but refused to accept it because it would interfere with his lifestyle. In time, he overcame that objection and became a Christian, which, given the evidence, was the only rational thing to do.”³ I would dare to suggest that maybe, just maybe, his honesty led him in his choice to make a commitment of his life to God and become a Christian.

So is atheism an intellectual or a moral problem? As Bill O’Reilly would say, “We report—you decide.”

Note: If you have never made a commitment of your life to God and would like to do so today, be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—without having to be religious” at: http://tinyurl.com/8glq9.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to be personally honest so that I will not have a distorted world view and a distorted view of reality. Please lead me on the path to truth so that I will clearly see all truth including the truth about You, the universe and all creation. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Psalm 19:1-3 (NIV).

2. Quote DB, http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/3508
3. Chuck Colson, BreakPoint, October 11, 2007

As told by Pastor Gunderson of First Baptist Church of Pomona, California: A missionary who was serving in a remote area of Africa made a monthly journey to a city two days bike ride away to pick up supplies and medicine.

On one of his many journeys he came across two men who were fighting, one of whom was severely injured. The missionary stopped to help the injured man. After treating him, he continued on his way.

Sometime later in the village a man came to him and said, “You probably don’t remember me but I was one of the men who was fighting when you stopped to help.

The missionary said he remembered the incident and the man told him. “We were going to rob you on one of your trips. We knew you always carried cash and medicine and were unarmed. When we came to rob you, I had three friends with me. We saw where you camped and put your bike down, but you had 26 armed guard all around you so we weren’t able to robe you.

The missionary said, “That’s impossible. I always travel alone and have no armed guards of any kind.” The man said, “Oh yes, my friends and I each counted 26 men, heavily armed standing around you while you slept.”

When the missionary visited his home church back in Michigan, he related this story to the church family. A man in the congregation stood up and asked, “What time and what day did this happen?” The missionary told him the date and that it was a Saturday night.

The man said, “It was night there but it was Saturday morning here. I was loading my golf clubs in my car. I was on my way to the golf course and the Holy Spirit impressed on me so heavily that I needed to pray for you that I took my clubs out of my car and called men from church and we came together and earnestly prayed for you. He then said, “I would like to ask each one of these men who prayed with me that Saturday morning to stand up. As they stood, each one in the church counted 26 men standing!

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You that angels are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation—those who are true followers of Jesus. May I always be mindful of and extremely thankful for this God-given ministry and blessing. And thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

Hebrews 1:14 (NIV).

I read some time ago in A Slice of Bread about “some Boeing employees on the field who decided to steal a life raft from one of the 747s. They were successful in getting it out of the plane and home. They forgot about one thing—the raft comes with an emergency locator that is automatically activated when the raft is inflated. So, when they took the raft out for a float on the Stillaguamish River, they were quite surprised by a Coast Guard helicopter homing in on the emergency locator that was activated the moment they inflated the raft.

“They are no longer Boeing employees.”

In a very real way when we sin we too are eventually found out, and it isn’t God who punishes us. Like the Boeing employees we bring the punishment on ourselves. God has given us a moral law for our protection. When we break it, we end up breaking ourselves. God’s moral law is just as universal as is the law of gravity—another law given for our protection. If it weren’t for this law, the universe would not hang together and you and I would be flung out into outer space. If we try to defy this law, it’s not God or gravity that breaks us—we break ourselves by trying to defy it.

It’s the same with God’s moral law. Breaking this law separates us from a holy God. Its ultimate end is spiritual death—which is not the cessation of life but eternal separation from God, the author of all love and life. Whatever hell is, it will be hell! It’s not that God sends us there. If we fail to accept his free pardon for our breaking the moral law, in reality, we send ourselves there.

Fortunately, because God loves us so much, he has provided a way of escape. It was through the death of his Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the ransom price for our sins. So whatever you do, don’t fail to accept God’s total pardon for all your sins and his gift of eternal life. This is your Passport for Heaven. Don’t leave earth without it!

For help, click on http://tinyurl.com/dm472.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You for giving Your Son, Jesus, and thank You, Jesus, for dying on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins. Please come into my heart and life as my personal Lord and Savior. Please help me to live for You and love others as You do. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

Again, for further help be sure to click on the link above the prayer.

1. Numbers 32:23 (NIV).

“As the months passed, the words in his diary changed from wonder and fascination into a nightmare. In August he wrote, ‘I think I should have used more foresight about arranging my departure. I’ll soon find out.’ In November he died in a nameless valley, by a nameless lake, 225 miles northeast of Fairbanks. An investigation revealed that though he had carefully planned his trip, he had made no provision to be flown out.”¹

Difficult to imagine isn’t it? How could anyone be so foolish or even forgetful? He made every provision for his journey except how to get home! “How tragic,” we say. And yet, how many of us make every provision for life here on earth but no preparation for our departure? God has warned us in his Word, the Bible, that there is life after death … after which is God’s judgment. And as he warned the nation of Israel to prepare to meet God² he warns us to do the same. We need to do this today. After death it is too late. As God’s Word also says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”³

And how do we prepare to meet God? By confessing our sins to God and accepting his Son, Jesus, as our personal Lord and Savior. Doing this is getting our “passport to Eternity in Heaven.” Whatever you do, don’t leave earth without it! To help you do this click on the God’s Invitation link at: http://tinyurl.com/6k49w

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please help me to make certain that I don’t leave this life without making preparation for life beyond death. Help me to accept Your provision. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

Time …
We enter it at birth,
We pass through it in life,
We exit it at death.
It is our preparation …
for eternity.

For additional help click on the article: “Life After Death” at: http://tinyurl.com/8brzh

1. Today in the Word, March 24/98
2. Amos 4:12.
3. Hebrews 9:27

“Opportunity,” James Wallace said, “comes to pass—not to pause.”

I have read that in the days before modern harbors, a ship had to wait for the flood tide to make it into port. The term for this in Latin was called ob portu. That is, a ship wanting to enter port had to wait for the moment when the tide was exactly right to carry it to harbor. The captain and the crew waited for the precise moment when the tide was right because they knew if they missed it, they would have to wait for another tide to come in. Shakespeare used this idea to write one of his famous passages:

There is a tide in the affairs of men,
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat;
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our venture.

The English word “opportunity” is derived from the term, ob portu. God gives every one of us many ob portus or flood tides. That is, he gives us many opportunities to serve him, to dedicate our lives more fully to him, to grow and become more like him, and to make something beautiful out of our life for time and eternity. These opportunities rarely come gift wrapped, tied with a bow and ribbon. They come in much more subtle ways.

And best of all he gives each of us the opportunity to accept him as our personal Lord and Savior, to have our sins forgiven and receive the gift of eternal life. As God’s Word says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; today is the day of salvation.” For help be sure to read the article, “How to Be Sure You’re a Real Christian—Without having to be religious” at: https://learning.actsweb.org/christian

Remember, “Opportunity comes to pass—not to pause.” So whatever it is God is calling you to be or do, don’t miss your ob portu.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me to recognize the opportunities that come every day for me to be what You want me to be and to do what You want me to do. And, no matter how You call, when You have something special for me to do, help me to hear and obey that call no matter how quiet or subtle it may be. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 2 Corinthians 6:2.

At the time Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize he was asked the question, “What made it possible for the Russian Revolution to take place and for Communism to rise to power?”

Solzhenitsyn’s reply was simple and direct: “Men forgot God.”

What tragedies occur when nations forget God! History is replete with such examples. And what tragedies can befall individuals and their families when they, too, forget God.

I have seen men and women who have grown up in the church, profess to be Christians and been active in church work get caught up in the secular world system with its thirst for material gain and seek to climb the ladder of success—and little by little drift away from the church, forsake their Christian heritage, and gradually forget God.

Twenty years later, some have made shipwreck of their lives. Committing our lives to God won’t deliver us from the problems of life, but faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, gives us an anchor to hold on to when the storms of life surround us and the tough times threaten to overwhelm us.

Sometimes life can be heartbreaking. We ask why but cannot find an answer. We search for a light to see us through the night but are overcome by the darkness. But when we have a solid faith in Jesus, as the gospel song says, “When answers aren’t enough, he is there!”

And this may be all we need to know to keep us from forgetting God and making shipwreck of our lives. And would to God that our nation’s leaders would take note of those nations that forgot God.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, help me never to forget Your goodness to me and Your everlasting love and grant that, no matter how dark the night, I will never turn from You. And graciously grant that our nation will turn to and never forget You. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 1 Timothy 1:18-19 (NIV).

Zig Ziglar tells the story about an elderly man playing an organ in a cathedral in Europe. He was playing sad and melancholy music. It was sad because this was his last day as organist of the cathedral. He was being replaced by a younger musician.

At dusk, somebody stepped into the cathedral. Seeing the younger man, the organist stopped playing, locked the organ and slipped the key into his pocket. He was approached by the young man, who simply said, “Please, the key.”

On receiving the key, the young organist went to the organ and began to play.

While the old man had played beautifully and skillfully, the young man played with sheer genius. Incredible music came rolling out of that beautiful old organ.

This was the world’s introduction to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. The old man, with tears in his eyes, said, “Suppose—just suppose—I had not given the master the key!”

Have you given the Master of Life the key—the key to your heart and to your life?

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, I surrender the key to my heart and life to You. Please make me the man/woman of God You want me to be. Do with my life as You will. Please use me to be a part of what You are doing in the world today. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. Proverbs 23:26 with 4:23 (NIV & KJV).

Dr. David Sylvester tells how, “During World War II, a young Jewish man known as Solomon, his wife, and sons Jacob and David were subjected to the horrors of a Nazi concentration camp. Prisoners were forced to work torturous hours in the fields, or were burned to death in the ovens if found to be of little or no value as a worker. Little David had an injured leg, which required a brace rendering him unable to work in the fields. Upon his arrival from work, Solomon inquired of Jacob as to the whereabouts of his younger son, David, and the boys’ mother.

“Jacob whimpered, ‘The soldiers came to take David to the ovens, and Mother went with him so that he would not have to go alone.’”²

We have the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ that wherever we go or whatever we may experience—including the valley of death, he will go with us. The Psalmist said, ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you [God] are with me.’ And Jesus himself promised that he would never ever leave or forsake us.³

And so we are graphically reminded again how Jesus, the eternal Son of God, came as a babe so that we would never have to face death alone. He loved us so much that he went alone in our place to die on that excruciatingly painful Roman cross to pay the penalty for all of our sins so that we could be freely forgiven by God, receive his gift of eternal life, and never ever have to face eternal death which is eternal separation from God, the author of all love and life.

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, how can I ever thank You enough for your great love in giving Your Son, Jesus, to die in my place to pay the penalty for all my sins so that I can be freely forgiven and receive Your gift of eternal life? Help me to so live that my life will be a living sacrifice for You in gratitude for all that You have done for me. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus’s name, amen.”

Note: If you have never accepted God’s gift of forgiveness and eternal life, for a prayer to help you to do this click on “God’s Invitation” at http://tinyurl.com/6k49w.

1. Psalm 23:4, 6 (NIV).

2. Dr. David Sylvester, Denton, Texas.

3. Hebrews 13:5.

A Daily Encounter subscriber writes, “Being the doubting Thomas that I am, I feel that my prayers fall on deaf ears and my wife and I even argue about the effect of prayer today. If the power of prayer were effective today, I feel there would be less death, sickness, and turmoil. I struggle with it all.”

Certainly at times it can be difficult to understand why some prayers seem to get answered while others seem to never get answered. However, we also need to realize that sometimes God answers, “Yes” … sometimes “no” … sometimes, “wait a while.” So, what makes the difference?

First, pray in harmony with God’s will. To get a “yes” answer to prayer, as today’s Scripture points out, it is essential that all of our prayers are in harmony with God’s will. When we pray accordingly, we have the assurance that God both hears and answers our prayers. To know how to pray in harmony with God’s will, we need to know what God’s Word, the Bible, teaches. Of this we can be certain, God will never answer a prayer that is opposed to his Word.

Second, pray the right prayer. Realize that some prayers don’t get answered because we aren’t praying the right prayer; that is, we may be praying with wrong motives. As God’s Word also points out: “You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”²

Third, pray about causes. Another wrong prayer is when we want and ask God to deliver us from the symptoms of problems while we are in denial about or are avoiding facing and praying about the cause/s of the problem. For example, if we have stomach ulcers, there is no point asking God to heal this problem if we don’t face and deal with the cause of the ulcers. In most cases it’s not what we eat that cause stomach ulcers, but rather what is “eating” us, which could be stress, guilt caused by unconfessed sin, an impaired relationship, or any of a hundred other causes—especially including super-charged repressed negative emotions. As John Powell has said, “When I repress my emotions, my stomach keeps score.”

Fourth, Pray believing. Faith, too, is essential for effective prayer. As Jesus said, “All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive,”³ and “according to your faith will it be done to you.”⁴

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, please give me a love for learning what Your Word, the Bible, teaches so that I will always know how to pray in harmony with Your will. Also help me to see anything that I may be contributing to the problems I am experiencing, and help me always to pray believing and with the right motives. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

For additional help, see the article, “How to Get Prayer Answered,” at: https://learning.actsweb.org/articles/article.php?i=114&d=1&c=10&p=1.

1. 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV).

2. James 4:2-3 (NIV).

3. Matthew 21:22 (NIV).

4. Matthew 9:29 (NIV).

In August of last year, California Governor Brown signed the Transgender Student Bill which makes the state of California the first state to allow students from grade school through high school access whichever restroom and locker room they want—regardless of their birth gender. And what, pray tell me, does this do for the privacy of straight boys and girls? And imagine how this will be open to abuse by non-discretionary teenage boys with raging hormones? And how are parents going to protect their children from this absurdity? It is a further step in the ever-increasing moral decay of our ever- sickening political correct society. See http://tinyurl.com/k6xbdvn for more details.

What amazes me in our society today is that liberal groups such as the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender), the PC (politically correct) people, the ACLU (American Civil Liberty Union), anti-Christian and other like-minded liberal groups push and push and push until their personal desires, their perceived rights, and activities are not only accepted but given full approval regardless of their agenda so that to speak out against them one can be sued for a so-called hate crime.

But where is the voice of the Church? Have we allowed Political Correctness (which more often than not is anything but correct) to silence us? Leaders are called to “preach the Word;” that is, the Word of God.

To be genuine Christians and believers in God, we need to love that which God loves and hate that which God hates. God loves all people. He loves that which is righteous, that which is just, that which is true, and that which is wholesome. At the same time God hates all sin and all evil because it destroys those whom he loves; that is you, me, and all people.

We are called to take a stand for our Christian faith. As God’s Word says, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”²

Suggested prayer: “Dear God, thank You for Your Word, the Bible, that gives instructions for life so that all who live according to Your Word—and in harmony with your will—will learn how to fully live and fully love. Help me always to so live. Thank You for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus’s name, amen.”

1. 2 Timothy 4:1-4 (NLT).

2. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NIV).