Encountering the Atheist ~ a Lecture by RC Sproul

Theologian RC Sproul (who has gone on to be with the Lord in His Kingdom) essentially says that we are not singularities... we are not disconnected from the Creator and from each other as if we are islands of individuals of different minds and purposes; we are by design interconnected by the Creator to Him and each other. No one man is guilty of sin alone in a fallen world and no man is outside of the Creation ordinances even if he/she does not know Jesus Christ.

Marx and Freud thought and wrote that man needs God to drug himself/the masses so that they have a reason to live to have hope in a world full of disparity... and so thus they won't be fatalistic. Freud thought that man was afraid of nature and so man wants to believe in a God who can control nature... if we pray to God he will remove the threat of nature.  All in all, there are those that think religion comes out of psychological need. Thus, man chooses to believe out of fear, and to hold on to controlling fear, he created religion.

Well, even educated rational men act on fears, anger and disparity. When someone is accused of a crime the prosecutor has to prove that the someone is guilty and that it was their rational choice to commit the crime. They do so by attempting to discover the means/motives. Just because he/she proves that they had the means and motive does not mean that they are guilty. They/we could prove that many people wanted to do the same; but chose not to for a variety of reasons. Yes, our behavior and actions are choices made. In that respect, one could agree that human beings have the choice or the capacity to chose/invent religion and others choose not to. 

We can also agree on is that we are capable of projecting ideas, wishes and fantasies. It is theoretically possible that people could invent God. But, if they do, we could argue that their choice is a rational choice as it brings comfort or hope. The same reason could apply to someone who does not see the comfort or hope in choosing God. The same line of reasoning could be used by the one choosing to commit or not commit a crime; its a rational choice to risk or not for reasons that seem to be rational at the time.

But, its interesting that man invents rationales for his actions including God. That's quite intelligent and certainly the later more so than imagining man was crept out of the sea or was created by aliens that we can nor ever could see because we are human beings. 

Yes, we do have a psychological motive to invent God. Just because man has the ability to invent God does not necessarily tell us how the idea of God came about in his mind. The reason why the world is incurably religious is because of the existence of God. More important is that we have to realize that we do have a vested interested in believing but is the atheist willing to grant me the idea that they have a vested interested in denying God.

If there is such a basis for their interest; there is a strong reason why they would not want God to exist, is that they have sinned... they are guilty of abuse of their fellow man, verbally or physically or mentally and because of that they don't like the idea that they have to stand before the Creator and be held accountable. If we are going to debate the existence of God, then we must debate the psychological reasons to deny Him.

Who do you worship ~ Being united with Christ!

Philippians 2:10 ~ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth...

Philippians 2:1-11 ~

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. 

Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death even death on a cross!

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus ~ Philippians 4:6-7.

Yes, at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth...For
God exalted Him to the highest place, and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father ~ Philippians 2:9-11.

Jesus describes the Kingdom of heaven...Matthew 18:23-35

The kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
 

“At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

"Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His loving kindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations".…Psalm 100:3-5.

Yes, worship of the Creator ~ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist, and came to be.” ~ Rev 4:11.

Worship Jesus Christ our God and Lord ~ Holy Holy Holy is the Lord Almighty!

Deep within every human is the need to worship, it is the most natural thing about us. Because, we were created to do that, to worship our Creator, the Creator of all things seen and unseen. However, in a fallen world, that is what gets us into trouble - the desire to worship. It is very strong in us as we are created beings but again since this is a fallen world there are those who reject or deny the Creator or simply don't know Him; and, because of that they worship other gods. Worse than that is when man starts to worship him/herself as god. 

Yes, every human being (created in the image of God) that does not worship the Lord God Jesus Christ the Creator of heaven and earth, worships something else whether they think so or not. The problem is that not all paths lead to salvation and eternal life. Not all paths of worship are acceptable to God our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Remember, His thoughts, His plans are not ours, His are greater than ours. God wants worshipers before He wants workers. Our work is only acceptable to God if our worship is acceptable. ~ A Reflection on the writing of A.W. Tozer

 And so what manner of worship can we offer to the King eternal? In Isaiah, you can read in the sixth chapter, an account of rapturous worship. "I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:1-3.

Sing praises to the Lord God...
Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world ~ Isaiah 12:5.

Psalm 146:2-8.

I will praise the Lord all my life;

I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,

in human beings, who cannot save.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;

on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,

whose hope is in the Lord their God.

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,

the sea, and everything in them—

he remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed

and gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets prisoners free,

the Lord gives sight to the blind,

the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,

the Lord loves the righteous.

Worship Jesus Christ our God and Lord in Awe and Humility!

Deep within every human is the need to worship, it is the most natural thing about us. Because, we were created to do that, to worship our Creator, the Creator of all things seen and unseen. However, in a fallen world, that is what gets us into trouble - the desire to worship. It is very strong in us as we are created beings but again since this is a fallen world there are those who reject or deny the Creator or simply don't know Him. Because of that, they worship other gods. Worse than that is when man starts to worship him/herself as god. 

Yes, every human being (created in the image of God) that does not worship the Lord God Jesus Christ the Creator of heaven and earth, worships something else whether they think so or not. The problem is that not all paths lead to salvation and eternal life. Not all paths of worship are acceptable to God our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Word of God who was with God and is God. And, sadly, there are those who think that they do confess the truth, but yet they do not worship Jesus as they should. Really?  

When it comes to worship today, there is too much religious noise in many churches. It turns into entertainment rather than personal communication. The other problem is that there is no concern for God's supreme holiness and that we are still yet separated from Him by sin. Jesus Christ is our only way to the Father. We pray in the Holy Spirit, having the blood of Christ upon us. 

We come humbly before God knowing the great sacrifice He made for us because He loves/loved us He sent His only Son. Yes, we have such mercy and grace upon us but in that we cannot pursue sin as if that's ok with God. Its not. Though we may sin, we do not wish to. As Paul reminds us in Romans 7. God loves us, yes indeed and He forgives us when we come to Him and repect; but we can't play with His love like we do so many things then throw it aside to find a new one.

The other problem for many Christians today is being works oriented. God is infinitely more concerned that He has worshipers than He has workers. God is not a 'supervisor' desperately seeking helpers. We mistakenly believe that God needs workers, and so we cheerfully, I'll go to work for the Lord." His thoughts, His plans are greater than ours, God does not need us in that respect. He needs and wants our worship for what He does. God wants worshipers before He wants workers. Our work is only acceptable to God if our worship is acceptable. ~ A Reflection on the writing of A.W. Tozer

Highly Recommended ~ Reading the Bible! For in it there is all Truth!

The only way to guard the truth is to use the truth - the Word of God. The only way to renew your mind is by using that same truth and that truth is only found in the Word of God. It is not found nor can be found in a self help book written as a psychological reflection/introspection according to some 'expert' perspective. That so called expert is only a man/woman trying to understand a fallen world.

If you don't have a Bible, I recommend using an online site called - Bible Hub. It offers all translations and commentaries as well as Greek and Hebrew terminology.

* Source ~ http://biblehub.com/

Recommended ~ Guarding the Truth with Alistair Begg

Alistair Begg, quoting the founder of the Salvation Army, tells us about the challenges to be faced by the church: religion without the Holy Spirit, religion without Jesus Christ, forgiveness without repentance, heaven without hell...etc. In churches today, there are those who have the appearance of godliness but no faith in its power. 

Alistair Begg tells us that those people tend to be weak women. They are silly women chasing after things, gullible, burdened by sin, led by passions of the flesh and or a curiosity in fixing things as quickly as possible; hence, susceptible to charlatans of charismatic character. 

Why? Because such so called church leaders appear to be able to fix problems in a jiff. They target weak women who seek a quick fix in order that they continue in their sin and seek the next quick fix.

If you see yourself like that, don't panic... give yourself over to Jesus Christ and rest in His Peace, His truth of your life! Dig into the Word, which is the Bread of life; read the Bible on a daily basis and become a new creation in Christ.

* Source ~ https://www.truthforlife.org/