Rebuttal: Tough questions for Christians, questions 11-20

Continuing on:

Question 11:

A couple things before the question:

He quotes Luke 19:27, completely out of context I might add, and claims that this is saying anyone who does not want Jesus as Lord should be killed. This verse was taken from the parable of ten minas. This parable was of things that are still yet to come. You see, the disciples thought that Jesus would reign on earth, at that time. This is apparent in Luke 19:11, at the very start of the parable. "As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed the kingdom of God was to appear immediately." (ESV) This parable was to make known that the kingdom was still to come. In it, the noble goes away to receive his kingdom, leaving stewards behind each with a mina. That was Jesus ascending into heaven, and leaving us behind to spread His word. In the parable, when the noble goes away to receive his kingdom, some say that they do no wish to be ruled over. That is the world rejecting the work Jesus has done. Jesus has not returned yet, but that is what the rest of the parable tells of. So, Luke 19:27 is talking of what is to come when Jesus returns to rule. When He returns, He will not be meek and mild Jesus. Read Revelations 19:11 and following for Jesus returning in full glory. 

Notice that someone who knows the scriptures well enough can make them say anything if they're taken out of context. No matter who is preaching, always alway always read the context! Ask Jesus if it's true! We are human, we make mistakes, some even intentionally twist the scriptures. Watch for the wolves!

Now the question:

"What did Jesus mean when he commanded his followers to bring unbelievers hither and, 'slay them before me?'"

He meant exactly that, but it has a condition. He was referring to what was to come. It was not a command for the now, but a foretelling of what will happen on the last day. Until then, we act as Jesus acted while on earth: Peacefully, yet ready to defend the truth and speak the truth boldly. When Jesus returns, He will be in His full glory, the reigning king, and no one will be able to stand against.

Question 12:

A few things before the question:

"This good God has personally drowned millions of people. He's killed people for infractions as minor as looking the wrong direction." God laid down the ground rules of what to do and not to do, He is very patient, but not unjust. He is a just judge and will deal justice eventually. His wrath does exist, but does His enacting justice make Him not good, or evil? No. Everything good comes from Him, He cannot be untrue to Himself.

"And if God created everything, then He is personally responsible for the Ebola virus, the Bubonic plague, flesh eating bacteria, and bad breath." The world we look at is a fallen world. Things are not as they should be. Who knows what purpose bacteria served before the fall? Everything has been affected by sin. Nothing is left untouched. Praise the Lord that He will one day make everything right, and there will be a new heaven, and a new earth, perfect in every way.

"If that's good, then what's evil." Let's define evil. Evil is the absence of God. Everything good comes from God, and everything evil is where God is not. take for example cold. Cold is the absence of heat. You can make something hotter and hotter, but total absence of heat is -273.15 Degrees Celsius, -459.67 Degrees Fahrenheit, and 0 Degrees Kalvin. We have not seen a total absence of God yet, take the most evil man that ever lived and you wont have been anywhere near what it would be like to be fully evil.

Now the question: "What actions would be 'evil' or 'immoral' if committed by God?" 

Anything that would go against God's nature would be considered evil. However, God cannot go against His own nature.

Question 13:

One thing before the question:

He continually mangles the trinity. The Father, Son and Spirit working as one make up God. When Jesus was praying, He was praying to the Father. God is three distinct persons, but still one God.

Now the question:

"Why was God so reluctant to sacrifice himself for you[r] sins?"

He was not reluctant. He is the one with the plan, and His goal is to bring glory to Himself. He was under no obligation to save us of our sins, but He made a plan and then followed through. His plan is complex, yet perfect. Everything worked together to glorify Him, and continues to do so.

Question 14:

One thing before the question:

He is talking of the age of accountability, and he rightly says it is not in the bible. There is no biblical ground for it. If there is an age of accountability, then abortion would be the greatest, man made heaven filling device. We know in our hearts this is not right. I believe that God is sovereign. He chooses to save who he chooses, and doesn't save who he doesn't choose. He knows all, and is good. Who are we to question Him? He will do what is right, whatever that is, I don't know.

Now the question: "Would you risk eternity in hell if it meant your children could spend eternity in heaven?"

Now that is a tough one, only because it shows how loyal you are to your children. My answer would have to be probably not. Fortunately, there is nothing I can do to separate myself from Christ. I didn't deserve to be saved originally, don't deserve to be saved now, nothing I can do in the future to make myself more undeserving either. Jesus paid it all, nothing I did saved me, nothing I can do to give up what He's given me. I'm not holding Him, He's holding me, and He doesn't let go of His own. 

Question 15:

"Why aren't you reattaching limbs for the glory of God?"

First, I would like to point out that what he says is true, Jesus did reattach limbs, and our God is all powerful. Why hasn't He done that recently, I'm not sure. He certainly is capable of it. It is up to Him to decide weather to do so or not, He is under no obligation to heal us. Now, to answer the question, it is not our own power that we do anything. Everything good comes from God. We are powerless on our own, none of our gifts come from ourselves. If Jesus sees fit to use one of us to heal, then praise the Lord, if not, praise the Lord. It is His own glory at stake, He will defend Himself as He sees fit.

Question 16:

Before we get to the question, a few things:

In the video, he gives mention to Jim Jones and his cult called The People temple. He states that the peoples temple members were "devout believers in Christ, who's lives involved bible study and prayer on a daily basis." Further examination of the cults teaching, however, reveals they were not. Jim Jones, the cult leader, identified the God of the Bible as a "trickster" or false deity. His teaching were Marxist, and his cult held a very communistic ideology. He preached, "God is principle, principle is love, and love is socialism." The cult believed that the concept of socialism was God. Further, Jones deified himself, "Jim Jones is God because he is the embodiment of Divine Socialism." For more information, please see here: http://www.suite101.com/content/the-theology-of-jim-jones-a49331 and here: http://www.caic.org.au/biblebase/apocolyptic/jones.htm

Also, in the video, he gives mention to the Branch Davidians. After studying their website (yes, they're still around) for most of the day, I must say, they are definitely a cult, and not Christian as they claim. First and foremost, it appears that they reject Jesus as God, and instead see him as a prophet. Secondly, they believe in  reincarnation. Thirdly, they twist scripture to suite their views, or just flat out change it. Fourthly the claim that someone still to come, one of the Davidians who survived the raid at Waco, TX, is the lamb refered to in Revelation. Not Jesus. Fifthly, they claim there is a Father God, and Mother God. There's quite a bit more, and I may take an entire post or two to show the differences if God calls me too, but I believe this is sufficient evidence to disprove the claim that they were indeed Christians. For more information, here is their official site: http://www.sevenseals.com/

As for the bit about the civil war, many on both sides were Christians, and it was fought over a lot more than just slavery. Pointing out that Christians were on the union side as a way to say slavery is wrong in God's eyes is not a valid argument. Look at Galatians 3:28, speaking of the way Christ sees us, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."

"What system did God establish, which you follow but 'mislead' Christians ignore, that ensures you are following the real God, while others believers are so easily mislead?" 

A very good point. The answer is the Bible. The people temple was a cult. Cults are funny things, they are wolves in sheep's clothing, claiming to study the bible, but teaching something different. However, close examination of these cults proves that they did not know our Lord, or they would not have done such things. There are false teachers, and that is why we must pay such close attention to what is being preached. If there are false teachers, who are unrepentant, they should be sent out of the church and no longer allowed to teach.

Question 17:

"If people can only be damned if they consciously reject Jesus, why tell anyone about him?" 

The Bible does not teach that it is only if they reject Jesus consciously. It does teach that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. God is all knowing, and all powerful; He is just, and everything He does is right and good. He is also sovereign. I trust that God will do what is right, whatever that is. That is all that matters. Jesus instructed us to go out and preach the gospel, so we do so. 

Question 18:

Before we get to the question:

"Apparently he needs some sort of external marker so he knows who he's supposed to slaughter." No, the Israelites putting blood on their doors was showing that they had faith in God. It was a statement of faith. Also, when the Egyptians woke up the next morning to see that God had slaughtered them, but that the Israelites were all well, God's glory was displayed.

The analogy about the promise land has a major difference from history. Azsuperman01 did not own the car, or the Jones family. God owns everything on earth. It is His to destroy or to prosper. Every day, waking up is because of Him.

Now the question: "Why did God make the Israelites murder so many people in order to take possession of the land he promised them?"

Could God have killed everyone in the land before hand? Sure. He uses His people to let us help. Think of a father taking his son to work. Now, the father could do a lot more, with a lot less stress and worry if his son wasn't there, but he bring his son along to let his son help. If your dad ever brought you along to work along side him, then you know the feeling, it's a feeling of pride and joy to get to help dad out. 

I think the other reason was for the Israelites to see the glory and power of God, for example with Jericho. March around the city 7 times, blow the trumpets, and the walls come tumbling down. How else can that be explained besides God's almighty power? The people of the land then knew that God was real, and powerful, and that He was coming after them.

A third reason could be that, again, it was a statement of faith. That they had faith that if God was for them, no one could stand against. That God could do anything, and would bring them victory. 

Question 19:

"Did God create hell with the foreknowledge and intent of torturing humanity? Or is he a bumbling idiot who could not foresee the consequences of his own actions?"

God is all knowing, and all powerful, so yes, God created hell knowing who would end up there. Hells hot, eternity's a long time, stop running towards destruction and surrender to the one who died for you. Think of it this way, Jesus jumped on a grenade for you. But, it's not like you were battle buddies and a grenade came in so He jumped on it. No, you were the enemy, shooting at Him, and He ran across the field of fire to jump on His own grenade and save you. That's a poor analogy of what Jesus did for us on the cross, but I think it helps to explain it.

Question 20:

"How many souls does a Chimera have, and what happens to the other soul?"

That is an interesting point. Truth is, I don't know. God does, He is just, all knowing, all powerful. In heaven, everything will be made clear.

It's not like EMTs are people or anything..

I was looking for Christian EMT courses and found this:

http://atheism.about.com/b/2008/06/28/christian-emt-workers-allowed-to-let-pregnant-women-die.htm

So basically, the author takes a story of an EMT who refused to take a pregnant woman to get an abortion, and through a very round about way, comes to the conclusion that Christians are a threat to the public health. Considering the late date of this post, I can only find articles about the lawsuit that followed (BTW, if you have articles stating otherwise, please send them to me as I would like the truth behind anything), but the story that I've gathered is that this was a woman who wanted the ambulance to take her to have an abortion, and an EMT said no on the grounds that it went against her moral beliefs. She was fired on the spot and another EMT took her place.

The author makes a case concerning a law that should have protected her from being fired which says something along the lines of, if you have a moral or religious objection concerning aiding a person, you do not have to aid them. He then has this to say:

According to Manion's reading of Illinois' "conscience clause," it really wouldn’t matter if the abortion were an emergency, would it? If Stephanie Adamson had a moral objection to transporting someone for an abortion, it wouldn't matter if the abortion were purely elective or absolutely necessary to save the woman's life — a moral objection is sufficient to allow her to refuse to lift a finger to save the woman's life. Questioning whether the abortion was an "emergency" strikes me as little more than an attempt to cast aspersions on the motives of the woman who was, he acknowledges, in pain and thus in need of medical treatment.

Even if we ignore this, though, the question is pretty easy to answer: not all hospitals offer abortion services and, even if they do, there might be someone else better qualified to either perform an abortion or to perform an abortion on women in particular medical circumstances. There are plenty of good medical reasons for why it might be necessary to transport a woman in pain from a hospital to a clinic where she can get an abortion. There are few, if any, good medical reasons for an EMT to refuse to transport a woman in such a situation. There are no good reasons — medical or moral — to give EMTs the right to let a woman die rather than drive her to where her life can be saved.

What I am gathering from this, is that he would like EMTs to be good little sheep following the herd, and doing whatever, without question. While 99% of the time, this is ok, you still have to watch out for that 1% of the time when there's something wrong and stopping it means going against the grain. Never mind my views on abortion, never mind my morals, making EMTs prosecutable by law for not giving a treatment ties their hands, makes them second guess themselves, and in general, turns people away from getting into this field to help others.

The EMT did not wish to assist in the murder of an innocent child. The author takes this, and turns it into, "Christian EMT workers allowed to let pregnant women die?" as he titled his post.

As for the abortion, is it denial of a womans right over her body to not let her abort? Well, if you are with the world, then yes. A world without God sees this and says, it is the woman's body, and it is the woman's life. She should be allowed to make the decisions about them both. From a biblical stand point, abortion is evil, no matter the circumstances. God doesn't make mistakes. Since before time, He planned what we would do, from birth to the grave. That means, even in cases of incest or rape, though they are pure evil, it is not right to abort. God can take an evil situation, like rape, and turn it into something beautiful, like a child. If someone decides to take the life of their unborn child, they are, without a doubt, committing murder.

Even our own society realizes that unborn children have value! If a person punches a pregnant woman in the stomach, and she miscarries, the person will (and should) be convicted of murder. However, there is a double standard. If a woman decides that she is not ready to have a child, she can go to a clinic, and have the baby burned alive with acid, and essentially suffocate to kill it. No matter what grounds they say, it is still evil. "It was the humane thing to do, I couldn't support it." "The baby was going to be missing a limb, I couldn't give it a life like that." God still created that child, why is it up to you, to decide whether or not the baby should live? The Lord has a plan for everyone, even those that society views as worthless. It is not up to us to make the decision of who lives, and who dies; especially when they cannot defend themselves.

Life's tough, being a parent's tougher, but with the Lord's help, you can do it. God will not give you a challenge you cannot face. Now, He will almost certainly give you challenges that you cannot face alone. That's what is so great about our God, He is always good, but He is not safe. He wants what is best for us, and He is willing to give us difficult, painful times to make us love Him more, and to make us grow. Nothing worth while will ever be easy. Following God is a constant battle. Battles are not easy, but I can tell you this, the battle is worth it. Looking back on my short life so far, I have seen times where I wanted something, and God didn't let me have it. Looking back, His plan was perfect. He brought me through, and was with me every step the way, with my best interest at heart.

With a God that good, how can we try and say that it would be better to not bring a child into the world who God has a plan for? No matter what the circumstances, God still has a plan, and though you may not see it (and normally you wont), it is heading towards something beautiful and great.

Appearances

The city of Charleston, Illinois; has decided to ban the discharge of toy guns.

WEAPONS: A. Discharge of Weapons: It shall be unlawful to discharge any firearm, air gun, BB gun, pistol, cannon,toy gun, bow, mechanically drawn bow, or any type of mechanical device projecting pellets, arrows, missiles or projectiles, leaden or otherwise or any other type of missile excepting in a regularly established shooting gallery or unless fired or discharged for ceremonial purposes with a weapon that may cause a report but does not deliver a projectile capable of causing serious injury and with the approval of the Chief of Police; 

So nerf guns are illegal to discharge. This is the way the world deals with things. They deal with appearance, not with the  problem. So they teach safe sex instead of abstinence, and when this fails, they have abortions, killing taking another life to solve what they view as a mistake. They ban the tools instead of the crime. The make the appearance of security. They make the appearance of a lack of evil. The problem comes that evil still exists. That we cannot destroy evil by ignoring it.

In order to destroy evil, it must be fought at every advance. So who do we turn to for protection? The police? They are spread thin, and for the most part, can only arrest the person after the damage is done. The people at ground zero must be the first line of defense. They must protect themselves, and those that are in need. Therefore, they must have the best means of defense available: firearms.

But it is not only with firearms that appearances are placed ahead of the problem. Abortions are a way to keep up appearances. Instead of going through a long pregnancy, and then parenthood, why not just have it finished before it begins? Because, an abortion is murder of innocents, and no matter what you tell yourself, you will have to live with what you do. I know of some that have aborted, and then were haunted every day from that day to this about how it could have been had they not taken the life of their baby.

Fortunately, even with murder, there is forgiveness by the Lord Jesus. It is still hard to forgive yourself, but through Jesus, there is forgiveness, and not only that, but redemption and justification. It would still have been better had they not done it in the first place, but there is nothing to great that it was not covered by Jesus love.

Dark Matter

The universe by all statistics, shouldnt exist. The ammount of matter that we can detect is not enough to hold it all together. The universe should be chaos and destruction, but obviously it is not. We live, we breath, we see, there is order. Scientists have seen this, and say there must be something more. There must be something we cannot see. They call this "Dark matter," and "Dark energy." This substance is apparently not made of atoms, cannot be seen by anything we've created, cannot be felt, etc.

I submit that they have rejected God, therefore, they look for other explenations. Those explenations seem to get wilder and wilder. Is it not clear that God is holding the entire universe together? That all of this order couldn't be random chance? That we have a maker?

I look around at the world, and I see a world held together by a perfect, and loving God who has created it all. A God that cares, and loves, so deeply for His creation, that He would not give up on it even when the creation destroyed itself. I also see a creation that has rejected its creator, and wishes to go its own way. To create its own reality.

So the unbeliever looks around the world, and sees a world that shouldn't be in existence. That has no explenation using modern science methods. Yet, they have rejected God, and, in fact, have created the lie that there is no God. No creator. No savior. So they explain the creation of the universe by the big bang theory. They explain the order by dark matter. They explain our existence through the random chance and adaption of evolution.

The problem is, God still exists, and no matter how many answers you come up with in modern science to explain where we came from, and why we exist, another problem comes up. The thirst for a solution will never be explained fully by science. It cannot. You can prove something that isn't true, at least for a while. Sooner or later, the false theories get shot full of holes, and the quest for knowledge begins again. The quest only ends when you put God into the equation. He is the only answer to all of this.