The Fridge

CHICK-FIL-A

Ravi on Truth

(taken from:www.rzim.org)

The Undeluded Truth?
Is the Christian faith intellectual nonsense? Are Christians deluded?

“If God exists and takes an interest in the affairs of human beings, his will is not inscrutable,” writes Sam Harris about the 2004 tsunami in Letter to a Christian Nation . “The only thing inscrutable here is that so many otherwise rational men and women can deny the unmitigated horror of these events and think this is the height of moral wisdom.” [i] In his article “God’s Dupes,” Harris argues, “ Everything of value that people get from religion can be had more honestly, without presuming anything on insufficient evidence. The rest is self-deception, set to music.” [ii] Ironically, Harris’ first book is entitled The End of Faith, but it should really be called The End of Reason as it demonstrates again that the mind that is alienated from God in the name of reason can become totally irrational.

Oxford zoologist Richard Dawkins suggests that the idea of God is a virus, and we need to find software to eradicate it. Somehow if we can expunge the virus that led us to think this way, we will be purified and rid of this bedeviling notion of God, good, and evil. [iii] Along with Christopher Hitchens and a few others, these atheists are calling for the banishment of all religious belief. “Away with this nonsense” is their battle cry! In return, they promise a world of new hope and unlimited horizons once we have shed this delusion of God.

I have news for them—news to the contrary. The reality is that the emptiness that results from the loss of the transcendent is stark and devastating, philosophically and existentially. Indeed, the denial of an objective moral law, based on the compulsion to deny the existence of God, results ultimately in the denial of evil itself. Furthermore, one would like to ask Dawkins, Are we morally bound to remove that virus? Somehow he himself is, of course, free from the virus and can therefore input our moral data.

In an attempt to escape what they call the contradiction between a good God and a world of evil, atheists try to dance around the reality of a moral law (and hence, a moral law giver) by introducing terms like “evolutionary ethics”. The one who raises the question against God in effect plays God while denying He exists. Now one may wonder: why do you actually need a moral law giver if you have a moral law? The answer is because the questioner and the issue he or she questions always involve the essential value of a person. You can never talk of morality in abstraction. Persons are implicit to the question and the object of the question. In a nutshell, positing a moral law without a moral law giver would be equivalent to raising the question of evil without a questioner. So you cannot have a moral law unless the moral law itself is intrinsically woven into personhood, which means it demands an intrinsically worthy person if the moral law itself is valued. And that person can only be God.

Our inability to alter what is actual frustrates our grandiose delusions of being sovereign over everything. Yet t he truth is we cannot escape the existential rub by running from a moral law. Objective moral values exist only if God exists. Is it all right, for example, to mutilate babies for entertainment? Every reasonable person will say “no.” We know that objective moral values do exist. Therefore, God must exist. Examining those premises and their validity presents a very strong argument.

Being Honest Ourselves

The prophet Jeremiah noted, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV). Similarly, the apostle James said, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).

The world does not understand what the absoluteness of the moral law is all about. Some get caught, some don’t get caught. Yet who of us would like our heart exposed on the front page of the newspaper today? Have there not been days and hours when like Paul, you’ve struggled within yourself, and said, “ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do… . What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? ” (Romans 7:15, 24). Each of us knows this tension and conflict within if we are honest with ourselves.

Therefore, as Christians, we ought to take time to reflect seriously upon the question, “Has God truly wrought a miracle in my life? Is my own heart proof of the supernatural intervention of God?” In the West we go through these seasons of new-fangled theologies. The whole question of “lordship” plagued our debates for some time as we asked, is there such a thing as a minimalist view of conversion? “We said the prayer and that’s it.” Yet how can there be a minimalist view of conversion when conversion itself is a maximal work of God’s grace? “Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, KJV).

If you were proposing marriage to someone, what would the one receiving the proposal say if you said, “I want you to know this proposal changes nothing about my allegiances, my behavior, and my daily life; however, I do want you to know that should you accept my proposal, we shall theoretically be considered married. There will be no other changes in me on your behalf.” In a strange way we have minimized every sacred commitment and made it the lowest common denominator. What does my new birth mean to me? That is a question we seldom ask. Who was I before God’s work in me, and who am I now?

The first entailment of coming to know Jesus Christ is the new hungers and new pursuits that are planted within the human will. I well recall that dramatic change in my own way of thinking. There were new longings, new hopes, new dreams, new fulfillments, but most noticeably a new will to do what was God’s will. Thomas Chalmers characterized this change that Christ brings as “the expulsive power of a new affection.” This new affection of heart—the love of God wrought in us through the Holy Spirit—expels all other old seductions and attractions. The one who knows Christ begins to see that his or her own misguided heart is impoverished and in need of constant submission to the will of the Lord—spiritual surrender. Yes, we are all gifted with different personalities, but humility of spirit and the hallmark of conversion is to see one’s own spiritual poverty. Arrogance and conceit ought to be inimical to the life of the believer. A deep awareness of one’s own new hungers and longings is a convincing witness to God’s grace within.

ACC Regular Season Champs

UNC beats Dook again! I was at the game. I want to thank Jeff and Valerie Cockrell for making this happen. Wonderful atmosphere and a great game.

Clinical Depression

(from helpguide.org)

There’s a vast difference between “feeling depressed” and suffering from clinical depression. The despondency of clinical depression is unrelenting and overwhelming. Some people describe it as “living in a black hole” or having a feeling of impending doom. They can't escape their unhappiness and despair. However, some people with depression don't feel sad at all. Instead, they feel lifeless and empty. In this apathetic state, they are unable to experience pleasure. Even when participating in activities they used to enjoy, they feel as if they're just going through the motions. The signs and symptoms vary from person to person, and they may wax and wane in severity over time.


Signs and Symptoms of Clinical Depression

Clinical depression is distinguished from situational depression by length and severity

Feelings of helplessness and hopelessness-A bleak outlook—nothing will ever get better and there’s nothing you can do to improve your situation.

Loss of interest in dailly activities-No interest in or ability to enjoy former hobbies, pastimes, social activities, or sex.

Appetite or weight changes-Significant weight loss or weight gain—a change of more than 5% of body weight in a month.

Sleep changes-Either insomnia, especially waking in the early hours of the morning, or oversleeping (also known as hypersomnia).

Psychomotor agitation or retardation-either feeling “keyed up” and restless or sluggish and physically slowed down.

Loss of energy-Feeling fatigued and physically drained. Even small tasks are exhausting or take longer.

Self-loathing-Strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt. Harsh criticism of perceived faults and mistakes.

Concentration problems-Trouble focusing, making decisions, or remembering things.

Clinical (Major) Depression
Major depression is characterized by the inability to enjoy life and experience pleasure. Lack of interest in outside activities, strong feelings of worthlessness or guilt, thoughts that life isn’t worth living, weight gain or loss, sleep troubles- all of these are signs of major depression. These feelings normally must persist for at least two weeks in order to be considered a major depressive episode. The symptoms can range from mild, when you can function in life with extra effort, to severe, where you can no longer complete daily activities.

Spurgeon on Depression

(HT: Randy Alcorn)
Fits of depression come over the most of us. Cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy.

There may be here and there men of iron to whom wear and tear work no perceptible detriment, but surely the rust frets even these; and as for ordinary men, the Lord knows and makes them to know that they are but dust.

Knowing by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit means, being visited therewith at seasons by no means few or far between, I thought it might be consolatory to some of my brethren if I gave my thoughts thereon, that younger men might not fancy that some strange thing had happened to them when they became for a season possessed by melancholy; and that sadder men might know that one upon whom the sun has shown right joyously did not always walk in the light.

Spurgeon warned his students, "Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy."
"I note that some whom I greatly love and esteem, who are, in my judgment, among the very choicest of God's people, nevertheless, travel most of the way to heaven by night."

Chip Ingram on Depression

“Depression is as old as human history. The Bible has many
examples of people struggling with despondency and despair. In his
depression and fatigue, Elijah asked for his life to be taken. Jonah
felt deeply despondent after God did not destroy Nineveh. Jeremiah
regretted the day he was born. Job’s wife advised him to curse God
and die in the midst of the suffering and pain. Well-known church
leaders like Martin Luther, John Bunyan, Charles Haddon Spurgeon,
and J.B. Phillips struggled with depression and so did political leaders
such as Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln.

Depression is no respecter of persons. It has been called the
common cold of emotional disorders, and it appears to be on the rise.
In the United States it is one of the most prevalent and serious
mental disorders, affecting about 20 percent of the population at
some time in their lives. People of both genders get depressed,
although women are twice as likely as men to suffer from major
depressive and dysthymic disorders.”

I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. 2When I was
in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands and my soul refused to be comforted. 3I remembered you, O God, and I groaned; I mused, and my spirit grew faint.
Selah

You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. 5I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; 6I remembered my songs in the night. My heart mused and my spirit inquired: 7"Will the Lord reject forever? Will
he never show his favor again? 8Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? 9Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"
Selah Psalm 77

Amen Josh

(HT:Josh Harris)

Jesus said, "But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful" (Luke 6:35-36).

I don't have a lot of enemies. But like any person I have people who criticize me, wrongly judge me and who are generally just a pain. I am tempted to just tolerate them. To ignore them. Maybe I don't actively hate them, but I just look past them and choose not to care about them. And yet Jesus commands me to love them. To do good to them. To lend to them. And then not to expect a thanks or a parade or even the return of what I let them borrow.
That is a hard saying. I can't say I'm doing it well. But I'm a child of the Most High and he is kind. He has been so merciful to me. He sent his Son for me when I was his enemy. He could have ignored me. Instead he redeemed me by the blood of the Son.
The love and mercy of my Heavenly Father compels me to love my enemies.