Thought for the Month - January 2019

"There is no God!" by Barry Adair
(New Year's revelation)

"There is no God!" - that was the 'proud' statement sent out from Russia in a 1975 State propaganda poster. This Russian poster showed cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin as the first human ever to circle the earth (back in 1961). Yes, I was thinking a little about Russia this month but more specifically about atheism.

I found myself pondering the reason why some atheists spend a lot of time on social media telling us that there is no God. I mean, they could say it once or twice and then move on and live their lives. But to some there is a need to continually mention this, even to those who find great comfort with their personal faith.

Former atheist Marilyn Adamson, also relates to this…

I was an atheist at one time. And like many atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists that we would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting something that we don't believe even exists?! What causes us to do that?

Of course, atheists reading this might also legitimately ask why I write a Gospel Thought each and every month! More on this shortly.

After reading stories from a number of former atheists who are now Christians, I think I may have found one possible answer to my initial question. Some of these former atheists firmly believed that God was working in their lives, even when they had absolutely no thoughts of Him! As God quietly sought them out, they publicly refuted the very idea of a living God. Many felt the need to refute the claims of Christians as "deluded and dangerous".

By the way, the reason I write this Thought is that we agreed that we would have one every month on our church website. I also enjoy passing on what I believe to be truth and telling others about the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For atheists, some are quick to say that they want me and others to stop "wasting our time talking about fairy stories".

Talking of 'fairy stories', I was sad when Professor Stephen Hawking passed this scene of time in March 2018. I was one of the 10 million who bought and read his book "A brief history of time". And when he mentioned God in his book, I always hoped that he would find the Creator of the Universe. A Universe in which Dr Hawking devoted so much time in attempting to understand and investigating the universal laws which it adhered to. I fear this was not the outcome, mainly due to recent quotes attributed to him on this subject, one of which I include here…

"I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down computers; that is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark." (Professor Stephen Hawking)

Commentating on what Professor Hawking had said, another Professor (John Lennox, from Northern Ireland) added this…

"If religion is a fairy tale of those afraid of the dark, then atheism is a fairy tale of those afraid of the Light." (Professor John Lennox)

God created us to have free will. And I am respectful of those who do not believe in God. However, I am fully persuaded that not only is there a God, but that He is a God of love who wants all His earthly children to seek Him for their reconciliation and salvation…

"The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

Former atheists who are now Christians can have such a desire and a zeal for the things of God. I mean, just look at the life of St. Paul in the Bible! As Christians, let us also be encouraged to keep telling others about the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. God can reach and save even the most vocal of atheists!

The depravity of man is at once the most empirically verifiable reality but at the same time the most intellectually resisted fact. (Malcolm Muggeridge)

It has been said that when human beings stop believing in God they believe in nothing. The truth is much worse: they believe in anything. (Malcolm Muggeridge)

I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen — not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else. (C.S. Lewis)

When Christ died, he died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only person in the world. (C.S. Lewis)

And what of the 'proud' USSR and its boast that "there is no God!"? Well, that huge Russian Federation (USSR) fragmented and broke up after 'glasnost' in the 80s and 90s. And what of religion and belief in God in Russia now? Today, in the Russia which emerged from the wreckage of the USSR, state atheism is decidedly a thing of the past. The old things have passed away. The country now defines itself as an Orthodox Christian country!

Let me assure you that God exists. Even a brief examination of the natural world should allow you to see the beautiful designs and the tell-tale marks of the Designer.

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)

And God's Son, Jesus Christ, truly lived and died on this earth. And His life was given up freely to allow us a way back to God from our sinful ways.

There is a God!

Watch a flock of birds
against the morning sun
Close your eyes and listen
to the river run
Catch a firefly in your hand
or a raindrop on your tongue

Plant a seed and see
what comes out of the ground
Find the heartbeat on your baby's ultrasound
In a few years hear it laughing,
and don't it sound like a song?

That's right
There is a God
There is a God
There is a God
How much proof do you need? (Lee Ann Womack)

The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God. (C.S. Lewis)

 

Until next month (DV)…

Are you SURE that you have your place booked in Heaven? Read this if you're not!