Judge Not

I know that in general we all have judging moments, but I do not want to judge everybody for judging. Instead, I would like to point out why I feel like it is wrong for me to judge others. I live by a certain set of rules that everyone may not subscribe too, and I am not trying to force anyone into thinking they should live this way just because I feel like it is right for myself.

My belief that  judging others is wrong comes from the Bible. I know everyone does not feel this book has authority (I do), but most people would agree that there is wisdom that can be gained from its pages. Even so, I  want to point out that if one is a follower of Christ and if one does claim the Bible as true, then one should see that we are clearly commanded not to judge others.

This is where I am iffy. I want to call out all "Christians" who hatefully and ritualistically judge others, but I do not want to judge those people because then I myself would be no better than they. So, until I find more clarity on this particular aspect of the subject I will omit my opinions, thoughts, and strong feelings.

So instead, I would like to tell you all why I feel like I should not judge others. Actually, it is very simple. I believe it is wrong because the Bible expressly tells me that it is.

Jesus,  during a famous, "sermon" (the one on the mountain) said:

Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 

Matthew 7:1-2

As you can see, Jesus is clear that I am not to judge others. Jesus definitively says, "Judge not." There is no stipulation, no variance, no unlesses. He just says do not do it. Then, He explains the results of judging others. This is a command followed by the consequences of disobedience. So there it is: the Bible says not to judge, but as I read the Bible I find it takes things a step further.

In fact, the Bible tells me to do the exact opposite of judging. It tells me to view others as better than myself. It doesn't say people we know and are familiar with--it just says others (including those strangers we have just seen for the first time). It tells me that I am supposed to live in a state of humility--a state in which I see others as greater than myself.

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.  

Philippians 2:3-4

Yeah, this is hard. I can't judge, and I have to put myself in a position that allows others to be greater than myself. It all goes back to the commandments that sum up all other commandments. It all goes back to love.

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'  No other commandment is greater than these. 

Mark 12: 30-31

Jesus loved us in this manner. He humiliated himself for our eternal souls, He left the side of His Father, came to a world that turned from Him, gave Himself over to death for the salvation of those who rejected Him, and took on the sin that would have forever condemned them to separation from their Creator. And all that He asks in return, is for us to love Him and love others. And one small aspect of that love is not judging others and humbling oneself.

So I don't want to judge others because the Bible says its wrong, but more importantly I do not want to judge others because not judging them will show them love. And by loving others, I show love to the God who greatly sacrificed for my undeserving benefit.

Really, when I really think about it, this is not asking too much of me.

So instead of looking at someone who is different than I am, or someone who believes differently than I do and placing a judgment upon them, I will love them. Instead of taking someone's life and showing them all the places I feel like they are doing wrong, I will love them. Instead of condemning others because of their personal lifestyle and personal choices, I will love them.  Because who am I to judge? Who am I to decide that what they choose is wrong, and what I choose is right? I have not been told to judge. I have only been told to love.

Consider this verse:

God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 

John 3:17
                                                                                 

Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is God. God is holy, just, and righteous. God is the only real authority with the only real right to judge, and God sent Jesus to the earth not to judge. If the holy Son of God came here with an agenda other than judging the planet, then who am I to judge those in my life?

You can see this fact in Jesus' life. He ate and drank with 'sinners,' prostitutes, tax collectors (selfish men who used their position for personal gain), and those considered at that time to be the lowest of the low. He lived his life among those we are so quick to judge and hate. If he lived with them, then why on earth would I judge those like them, or anyone else?

There is a beautiful story in the Bible illustrating this very point. Jesus wisely points out that no one condemning this woman is worthy to judge her because they all have sin in their lives.

At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her." Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” 

John 8:2-11

Jesus did not come to the earth to judge or condemn, but instead to save the world. Therefore, since I follow Jesus' example and Jesus did not judge, then I am not to judge. I must forget my prejudice, my fear, my anger, and realize that I am not without sin. Because I am flawed, imperfect, defective, I cannot and should not place judgment on anyone else. In the Father's eyes we are all sinners, and no one is worthy.

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God… 

Romans 3:23

Nobody is perfect. We are all human. I must live in love, and leave the judgment to an all-knowing and holy God. 

Why God? (Part Two)

Consider these two statements:

"How could anyone believe that a god created the universe? Think about it: a magical, invisible being, sitting up in the sky, all the sudden one day was like, 'Hey I'm gonna make that world' and poof that's what he did. Yeah that is crazy. How could anyone believe that??"

"Seriously? The world just happened? You mean to tell me that two particles just hit each other one day, a big boom exploded, and now I just sitting here sippin' my mocha joe? Yeah I don't think so. If I smash a watch and shake it for billion years I ain't gettin' another watch back. Pshhhh." 

Both of these statements sound completely ridiculous and foolish when they are worded like this, and there is no merit or thought put into either one. They are just conjecture spoken out of ignorance and fear and they are meaningless, void of truth. Anything can sound ridiculous if you phrase it right and deliver it with the right attitude.

It is my belief that God did in fact create our minds, and the Bible says:

For everything God created is good… 

1 Timothy 4:4

So if God made our minds and our minds are in fact good, then it would be foolish of us to not use our minds. It would also be foolish not to listen to those who use their minds at a professional level. What I am saying is, that it is a foolish thing to ignore what scientists (people, who have dedicated their God-given minds to discovering truth) are discovering about our universe, and that they potentially could be dead on with many of their findings. Also they may be dead wrong, but my point is that God made our brains, they are good and so we should not completely ignore what they are telling us. 

I say all of this to point out that many of the ideas that "unbelieving" scientists point to as truth, I also agree with. I believe in evolution. I believe that it is very apparent and all around us. When I was born we had to use a huge handset stuck to the wall to call people we loved, now we have tiny cell phones that fit in our pockets (and do so much more). This is a tiny example of evolution, but it is one all the same. We grow, we change, we get better, and so does everything else in nature. I believe that this is how God designed us and the planet. This is obvious by the fact that the planet is better, people are living longer, and technology is developing rampantly.

I believe the theories about Pangaea (the super continent) and continental drift are plausible. I believe that the world is in danger of greenhouse gases and we should not ignore the dangers of global warming. I believe that God is big enough to have made life in other parts of the universe very different or similar to our own. I even believe that the Big Bang Theory may very well be true. All we know is that God created the universe. We do not know the specifics. He very well made have used the "Big Bang Method" of creating worlds. I am not saying He did, and I am not saying that He didn't I am just saying that He could have. He is God and maybe He made some species by allowing them to evolve into other species. Maybe some of our ancestors were cavemen. 

Maybe we do not know every detail, and the Bible does not tell us every detail. So I will not sit here and deny or agree with every theory that is researched and developed. No, I will think and use my mind to recognize that I do not know the mind of God.

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

Ecclesiastes 3:11

I do not know how God specifically created every aspect of this planet, solar system, galaxies, or any of other 350,000,000,000 galaxies known to mankind. I am small and insignificant, but I was created by God and He gave me a mind. My mind is good, and therefore I will not deny it of its curiosity, its wondering, or its logic. If I do, then I am a fool that does not fully accept all of the gifts God has given me.

So yes, maybe the scientists have some of the details worked out about how the world got here, and maybe they are completely wrong. I agree with some ideas, have questions about a lot more, and know nothing of most of it.

Even so, there is one fact that I am sure of to the very center of my soul--it was not by chance. The details may never be clear, but it was not an accident. It was not a grand, cosmic mistake. No, I believe in my deepest soul that God started it all. Whether He created it out of nothing, whether He used methods or theories researched today, or whether He just opened his mouth and it poured forth, we will never know for sure. But I am sure that He made it.

And that is why I believe He exists.

So since we know why I believe God is real, back to the original question in post one--Why do I feel like I need to give my life to God completely?

This question is much simpler to answer.

If God is real then we must believe His Word.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  

John 1:1

Since God and the Word are the same, and because I (as I have stated) believe in God, I must then also believe in the Word. It is the basic transitive property (if a=b and b=c, then a=c).

Since I believe the Word is true (because I believe God is true) then I must follow its instruction implicitly.

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 

2 Timothy 3:16-17

When I read The Word, which I must follow, it tells me to completely surrender to God.

…He said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it.  

Mark 8:34-35

This verse is not only from the "God-breathed" word, but it is also a historical account of the literal words Jesus spoke while He was on this earth. Jesus said very clearly that I must lose my life. I must surrender my life in its entirety.

To sum it all up, and to answer my question, "Why do I feel like I need to give my life to God completely?" in a simple phrase: because I believe that God exists, I must believe His Word is true. Because I believe His Word is true, I must surrender my life.

There is more to my faith, specifically what I feel is my calling. I believe that God Himself called me to follow Him, but that is another level of my belief. This is the basic, purely mental side of why I believe. It is not all emotion and feelings. I have reasoning and logic behind what I have committed my life to, and I believe that God would have it no other way. He states clearly that we are to use our minds in our decision to follow him.

…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling…  

Philippians 2:12

…but test everything: hold fast what is good.  

1 Thessalonians 5:21

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  

1 John 4:1

So yes, my heart has called me to follow Jesus, but my mind has told me that it is the only logical decision. 

Why God? (Part One)

Disclaimer: I do not know a lot about science, and I will not pretend to. If I learned one thing in my many years of school it is that I do not know much about any one thing. So just to be fair, I wanted to let everybody know that I have no background in science, and I do not know many of the scientific details beyond what I am saying here.

Some people, when they read my previous post, may think that I have lost my mind to frivolous hope in an unseen and untouchable God. They may think that my mind is weak and that I live with no logic or reason. And if some of you do think this I understand entirely.

It is a hard to thing to imagine a Being that exists, that cannot be touched, seen, heard or felt (at least in how we commonly sense these things), let alone say that you have completely devoted your life to His fame and glory. It sounds insane. It sounds delusional. And for many years I, myself, had great difficulty in truly believing that God existed. So why do I now fully believe? What has convinced me so deeply that I would publicly declare that I am follower, a believer, a worshiper of Christ? These are obvious and important question to ask so...

Simply put, I have "given my life" to God because I believe He exists. This may sound confusing, but if I did not believe in His existence then why would I ever devote my life to His service? I suppose then the question becomes even simpler--Why do I believe God is real?

Mainly, because I can see Him in nature. Not just the wind blowing or how the leaves turn up when it is about to rain, but the deep down molecular nature that man has only begun to discover over the past century.

Here is a slightly cheesy, but seriously incredible video of just one tiny aspect of what goes on in every one of us. This is happening in your body. It is mind blowing and beautiful.

When I see this video my mind is blown. I see a truly intelligent Being's masterful design. All of these microscopic structures are working together to build your body, protein by protein. It is like a huge organization working as one to build something unique and awe-inspiring.  

Now consider how every person, animal, insect, bird, and fish are different, yet we all share extremely similar traits. Most every macro-organism has a head, eyes, ears, a face, limbs, and organs. This may point to similar ancestry, but what if it (also) points to design. If we were all made by the same Creator, would we all not have similar traits? 

Look at how the earth sustains itself. The earth provides itself with the water it needs through rain. The rain gives life to plants, animals, and people. It soaks into the earth and sustains life. It drains into rivers, seas, and oceans, where the sun takes the water back into the atmosphere and repeats the cycle. This happens over and over so that life can exist. Look at the greater picture--our planet. How it is perfectly set on the only course that could allow life. The climate would be too extreme if we were any closer or any further  away.

What about our universe? Many of us have seen videos like this (this one is especially creepy, ending in a peculiar invitation to believe in ET), but it is insanely awesome at the same time. Try to sit through the whole thing, and you will realize how absolutely enormous this universe is.

I felt invisible when I heard him say that it takes 10 billion years moving at the speed of light to travel to the known edge of the universe. I believe the vastness, and the unknowable, incomprehensible  beauty of the beyond colossal universe points to an all knowing and even-greater-than-the-universe God.

All of the incredible, awe inspiring, glorious nature that exists in us and around us is (in my opinion) proof that God truly exists.  I believe that all of the beauty, wonder, and mystery that surrounds our lives is the result of intelligent creation. I believe it is all too incredible to have merely happened one day by chance and accident. I believe in God. 

These are some of the reasons I believe that God exists. But what part does logic play in my decision? Have I actually thought about all of the aspects of how we got here? What about all of the scientific evidence that points to things like the Big Bang Theory, and the idea of evolution? Do these things not need to be considered since so much thought has been put into them? All of these questions are important, and they do affect how people see God and the creation of the universe.

 And that's why you should read part two. Coming soon...

Confession of Faith

It is hard to know where to start this story.

When I was a young kid, church told me that if I didn't "get saved" I would go to Hell: place where you burned forever. You didn't die, you just felt the pain of flames licking your skin for an eternity. It was the forever that scared me the most, and I believe that is true of most. At night, I would lie in my bed in fear,  afraid that if I did one thing incorrectly on my 'journey to salvation' that one day I would be living forever in pain--without family, without God, and without hope.

Being six or seven, obviously I ran to "get saved." I prayed the prayer almost everyone in this region has heard before. "God, please forgive me of my sins, I am truly sorry. Please save me and come into my heart so that I may go to heaven." Even the prayer itself was a plea to stay out of Hell. It was a prayer of fear and desperation to escape the eternal wrath of God. To be clear, this was not fear of God, it was fear of spending an eternity in Hell.

I lived in fear of Hell for most of my life. Every time I would fear it, I would "get saved" once again. I would pray the prayer, "Jesus forgive me of my sins, save me." Fear driven I would continually reassure my salvation because that was the point of my salvation--to be free of Hell. If I had any fear of going there the prayer was my way of calming that fear, and it sort of worked.

That was my past, and my relationship with God was directly affected by my "salvation."  I don’t think that I am comfortable with saying whether or not I was truly saved at that point, but I do know that I did not have a true relationship with God. My prayers were rehearsed, repeated, and forced. The time I spend reading the Bible was tedious, arduous, and painful. I did not truly seek God nor did I seek to further His Kingdom. I forced a relationship, and I hated the way it felt.

Recently, I realized what it meant.  What everything meant--a relationship, being saved, following Christ, reading the Bible--everything I was always instructed to do I have finally begun to understand.

See I was following God because I was afraid, but now I realize that I simply love God. If I love God then all of the "supposed to's" become "get to's." Its like this:

Almighty God created the earth. Almighty God created man so that He may have a relationship with Him. He created man with free will to choose His way or any other way he wishes. Man ultimately chose a way different than the one God had laid out for him, and by doing so he caused a divide between himself and God.

God is holy and just. Since man disobeyed God, God out of His essence (that is His holiness) had to punish man. The punishment God gave man was death and separation.

God's desire to have a relationship with man never ceased, and so He sent his Son, Jesus, to assume the punishment in our place. Since Jesus was without sin, He was able to take on our sins and the punishment those sins deserve. This replacement was just in God's eyes. Because a sacrifice had been made and punishment had been dealt , man and God could once again have a relationship.

Recently God opened my eyes. He said, " Zac, I have created everything, I am everywhere, I have always been, I will always be. There are far greater things in this universe than you can even imagine that I have created. I am perfect, I am holy, I am just, I AM. I don’t need you. The world will spin without you, people will meet Me without you, you are not necessary, you are unimportant. I can do all things without you. But, Zac, I want you. I desire you. I created you to be with Me. That is why you are here. You have no reason to exist except to be with Me. I am your God, I am your salvation, and I want you."

God showed me how great and how wonderful He is, and then He said that He wants me. He wants to be with me. He wants a relationship with me. He said, " Look Zac, my Son died for you. I sent my Son to die in your place so that we can be together. Remember, I don't need you. This is simply how much I want you. I wanted you so much that I allowed my perfect and only Son to die for you. Come to me."

God told me all of this, and now…now I am His. I am with Him, He is with me.  I am saved. But here is the difference. It's not that I am now saved from Hell, or from the fear of an eternity of pain. I am saved from not having a relationship with God. The relationship that Adam lost when he disobeyed God was the relationship that I gained back, when I said" Jesus, save me from not knowing you. I want You, and want to have a relationship with You. I want to be with You."

You see, whether or not I got saved back when I was a kid doesn't matter. Because I now know that I have relationship with God. An eternal relationship, where I seek to further his fame and his kingdom. I am beginning to want different things. My mind is focused on giving instead of gaining. My heart is joyful instead of doubtful. I have a new life. I have salvation. That is all that matters. I don't need anything else. I don’t want anything else because I truly have Christ. I once was dead, and that was very apparent. I am now alive, and I hope that fact is infinitely more obvious.