XYZ - eXamine Your Zeal

Since I fell behind, I am finishing with a triple, but I am finishing. I hope to spend May visiting the other A to Zers because I fell behind on that as well. It's called a challenge for a reason, but it's also a fun way to stretch myself. I'd like to thank Arlee Bird again and all the team of A to Z helpers. You all are a wonderful inspiration and encouragement. Thank you for putting this together and inspiring so many. Here goes:

A to Z Challenge

XYZ - eXamine Your Zeal. When you think about what’s been breaking out in cities across the U.S. right now, the riots and the mobs and the protests, can you help but wonder what’s going on? Is their zeal well grounded or unfounded? What is under it or behind it?

I believe within each of us there is a need, a desire to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We may not know it or see it or understand it, but it is there and it shows itself in someway. I believe we are witnessing the ugliness that it can produce when we misidentify what that bigger something is. That the need was placed in us for a purpose. Yes, we have a real need which fuels a real desire, and it is for the something bigger that we were created for, God Himself. We were created to belong in the family of God.

However, we also have something else naturally in us, a rebellious nature. So when that need for something bigger intertwines with our nature to rebel, it can produce the kinds of things we are witnessing in our society. We search to belong to something bigger in all the wrong places. Only God Himself can give us what we long for, what we are created for, relationship with Him. The Bible tells us God has made Himself known within us.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 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. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 

                                                                               Romans 18-23 (NASB)

We should eXamine what we are Zealous for. With what do You Identify? In what do You find You Reality? How do You determine Truth? What is You Ultimate? Are You Equipped to defend or offer an Apologetic Your Worldview? Can You Lay it Out for someone? How do You deal with Your Doubts?  Are You willing to make some Observations to Make the Most of  the Quality of Your Life?

EXamine Yourself and direct Your Zeal towards the One You were created for. You were made to be an Heir of the kingdom of God. Jesus has made a way to restore us to what we were intended for, Glory as children of the King of Kings.

God bless, Maria

U is for Ultimate

A to Z Challenge

Ultimate: The highest, the greatest, the unsurpassed, the most valued, the most important

What’s your ultimate thing? What is it that you put before all else, that guides your decision-making, that most important, most valued item in your life? That is your idol, your ultimate.

Then God spoke all these words, saying,

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” Exodus 20:1-4

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. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Romans1:20-23

If we allow something to take the ultimate place in our hearts, in our lives above the place that God should have, then we actually reduce the value of all things in our life. Why? Because God IS the ultimate; so to put anything in His place devalues the ultimate place and consequently devalues everything else in relation to the false ultimate. Only by giving God the place in our lives that He should hold to we give appropriate value to all in our lives. It is in dignifying truth, that we dignify all else by the standard of truth.

Here are some websites to help you consider if you have idols for your ultimate.

Idolatry is Alive Today

Household Idols

TRUTH with a Capital T

A to Z Challenge

Truth: Reality; What is real. The actual state of what is; Consistency and conformity with God’s perspective and standards;

“The sum of Thy word is truth,

And every one of Thy righteous ordinances is everlasting.” Psalm 119:160

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15

“And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding, in order that we might know Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.” 1 John 5:20

How does one determine truth? It is not uncommon to treat truth as mere preference today. For instance, the thought is that what’s true for you may not be true for me. However, that isn’t then truth. What is true must apply universally, though circumstance may change the application of truth, for truth to be truth it must be so regardless of who we are and what we may think of it.

Greg Koukl from Stand To Reason puts it something like this. When you go the ice cream shop with friends, you can all choose your favorite flavor. What you choose is merely your preference. However, when you go to the doctor, you want to be sure he is treating you with the right medication for your particular ailment. A topical ointment will not help you if you have an internal injury. If you have a disease, you want the doctor to treat you with the right medicine. If the doctor offers you ice cream when what you need is insulin, then you wouldn’t appreciate his prescription.

When it comes to making choices about what to believe concerning God and eternity, truth matters. If God is, and He has determined the path to eternity, then there is a right way and a wrong way. It isn’t a matter of our preference, but a matter of truth.

Consider Jesus.

Here are some websites to check out regarding the matter of truth:

Truth for Life

What is the Truth about God?

What is Truth?

Maria

S is for Self-Refutation

Self-refutation – Self-refuting statements are those that basically deny themselves. They are self-contradictory in their very nature.

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In his article “Four Self-Refuting Statements Heard on College CampusesAcross America,” J. Warner Wallace gives this example:  “It’s intolerant to presume that your view is better than someone else’s’” / “Tolerance requires us to accept all views equally” and follows with this explanation:  An even more hidden self-refuting statement lurks here in this common errant definition of tolerance. Folks who hold to this corrupted view say they accept all views as equally true. But if you make the claim that some ideas are patently false and have less value than others, they will quickly reject your statement. In other words, they will accept any view as equally valuable except your claim that some views are not equally valuable. See the inconsistency? People who embrace this definition of tolerance cannot consistently implement their own view of tolerance.

Matt Slick in his article, “Refuting Relativism” gives this example, “There are no absolute truths.” And this explanation:  The statement "There are no absolute truths" is an absolute statement which is supposed to be true.   Therefore, it is an absolute truth and "There are no absolute truths" is false.

John Frame in his article, “Self-Refuting Statements,” lists a number of examples including this one:  Logical contradictions, such as “Socrates is mortal and Socrates is not mortal.” If the two occurrences of mortal in this sentence are predicated of Socrates at the same time and in the same respect, then the sentence cannot be true. The first clause refutes the second, and vice versa. 

Glen Smith on his blog, Thomistic Bent, gives a great list of self-refuting statements including this one:  “I’m not saying a word.”

If you would like to examine some self-refuting elements in various world views check out:  Ten Arguments from Self-refutingworldviews at  the blog, 101 Arguments.

Can you think of any self-refuting statements that you may use or have heard?

A to Z Challenge

Q is for Questions

 

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We all search for answers to the big questions.  Not everyone realizes that they are looking for the answers.  Many of us don’t really want the answers, not the true answers.  We search for them in all the wrong places.  We find or we create confusion.  We are left with questions.  But there are answers if we look for them in the right places, or rather with the right person. 

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.   John 14:6

A to Z Challenge

K is for to Know

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To know:  to be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.  To have knowledge about, to have a relationship with, personal experience with, or familiarity with a person, place, thing, idea, or field.

How do we know things?  What do you know?  How do you know that’s true?  What makes you think you know?  What can we know for sure?  What can we know by examining the evidence and coming to a reasonable conclusion?  How many of the things that you know end up being false?  If we have to change our direction because what we thought we knew was wrong, does that mean we can’t know things at all?  

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People discuss and argue about these questions all the time.  They study knowledge, and the acquisition of it, truth and whether or not we can know it, what’s real and what’s not.  They have official sounding names for these studies and theories.  What it points out to me is that what is and what we think about what is may be different.  What is true and what we think is true may be different.  However, What is and what is true, doesn’t depend upon the knowing of it.  If something is true, it is true whether we know it or not.  The knowing of it just makes it mine.  

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.  Proverbs 1:7

 

A to Z Challenge

H is for Hold On

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“Hold on!  That’s not what I meant!”

“Hold on.  Be careful.  It’s delicate.”

“Hold on tight!”

All of these uses of ‘hold on’ imply something slightly different, yet they also imply something similar - value. 

In the first case, someone’s communication has been misinterpreted.  To the speaker the correct interpretation of what they had to say is obviously important to them.  They are saying, “Wait a minute.  Let me clarify.  I want you to understand me.  The link between what I am expressing and what you are receiving from me has value to me.”

In the second case, ‘hold on’ implies something more tangible.  As the speaker says, “Hold on,” the picture is of an object that needs to be handled with care.  I can envision a fragile piece of expensive porcelain being entrusted from the grasp of its caretaker to the expectant, cupped palms of a wide-eyed admirer, the object’s value emphasized in the solicitude of the transfer.

Picture 3.  “Hold on.  Do you have a good grip?”  This time safety seems stressed.  Perhaps its a child’s first dalliance with an adventure, maybe climbing a tree or a first ride on the back of a motorcycle or something even more daring.  The value of a life, sacred, precious beyond measure, halts a mother’s heart as she says, “hold on!”

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“Hold onto it.  Don’t lose it.”
"Hold on.  You can do it." 
“Hold onto it.  Don’t give it away.”

"Hold onto it.  Protect it.”
"Hold on.  You can make it." 
“Hold onto it.  Watch what you say.” 

 

What do these mean to you?  Will you guard your heart to love or protect it from loving?  Will you hold onto your faith or be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine?  Will you be careful or careless about what comes out of your mouth or is expressed in your emotions?  Will you give up or keep it up?"

Words do mean something, but they can mean so many different things depending on the context and the background of the parties involved.   People are complicated.  So are our relationships, our emotions, our communications, and the list goes on. 

It is worth giving our all to find out what is really meant by the words communicated by the people we love in order to hold on to the truth.

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A to Z Challenge

F is for Find Out

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“So how do you know that?” 

“Well, it’s common knowledge.  Doesn’t everyone know it?”  I answered, surprised at the question.

“Well, I didn’t know that and I go there all the time.  In fact I have no recollection of that ever being the case.” 

I thought about that.  “Maybe I’m remembering wrong, but I don’t think so.  I’ll check it out and let you know what I find out.” 

His honest, non-threatening question made me wonder.  Was I taking too much for granted?  I needed to find out the truth.

After doing a little research I found out that my information, though technically accurate, was really inconsequential in its scope.  In other words, it wasn’t worth acknowledging or acting upon.  So the stress I put on my supposed “common knowledge” that made my friend ask the question, WAS really in error. 

How much do I believe, talk about, act upon without really understanding the ins and outs?  How much do I pass along without finding out the real deal? 

I’ve been paying more attention to those things, those ideas that I have accepted without giving it a second thought.  I’m trying to listen for those underlying assumptions to which I blindly acquiesce.  Our culture is filled with all kinds of ideas we operate on or agree to because they sound good or because someone we think we can trust said it.  However, with a little reasoning or research we might just see them fall apart.  

What 'common knowledge' are you accepting that may be based in error?  What ideas are you holding onto that have just enough verisimilitude to be convincing, but lead you to wrong conclusions?

I am grateful my friend asked that simple question, “How do you know that?” to prompt me to find out the truth.

A to Z Challenge

Dedicated to my friend Dick V.

D is for Doubt

 

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Doubt don’t got to dominate.
Doubt don’t got to rule.
Doubt is not the potentate.
Doubt is but a tool.

Doubt will help you measure
Your discipline and depth,
Your devotion to your treasure,
The fullness and the breadth.

Don’t follow doubt’s creation
To let it weigh you down.
With dogged determination
Defend your solid ground.

When doubt dangles its discordance,  
Deal doubt a diligence blow.
Depose doubt’s clanging dissonance.
Go to what you know.

Dedicate yourself to deepness.
Truth and triumph will console.
Your decision for completeness,
will guide you to your goal.

 

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Letter D for A to Z Challenge

Award Flu

I have not signed into or written on my blog for months.  Honestly, I found myself paralyzed by the blog awards.  It may seem silly, but what I found flattering and uplifting, I simultaneously allowed to confine and enslave me.

Not uncommon in my life, once other things clamoring for my attention filled my time, I found it easy to neglect blogging.  What had so recently been a joy to engage in, was now a weight.  Though I wanted to make time for it, I likewise wanted to avoid it.  The months went by and before I knew what had happened, blogging was but an afterthought, something I would read and respond to rather than a personal venture of my own.  How did the kindness of an award turn into a burden?

When I received my first award, I was touched that someone might think enough of what I had shared of myself to affirm me.  I followed the award reqs and I felt encouraged as was intended.  Then, as is almost routine among bloggers because everyone is about supporting other bloggers in their craft, more awards continued to come.  I appreciated the acknowledgement.  Wanting to honor those who had honored me by following through with what was expected in the awards, I found my strong sense of fulfilling my obligations shackling me and I couldn't break free.

The blogging community is about empowering others to write by providing tools and incentives to do just that.  The awards are one of those vehicles by which we can be a support staff to each other.  In no way do I want to impugn the giving of blogging awards.  Rather it was my response I hope to discourage in others.  I let self-imposed expectations inhibit me from doing something through which I found satisfaction.  I put up my own unnecessary road blocks.  Initially getting and responding to the awards was fun for me, but soon it became a trap for me.  I felt this cloud hanging over me.  I needed to let it rain my responses, I thought, before I could write anything else.  Pretty soon I didn't want to write anymore.

I tripped myself up by not letting go of something I didn't need to hold onto.  It is a real lesson for me personally in more than just blogging.  I like to say, "Get over yourself.  Get out of your own way,"  and here I was very much in my own way, not knowing how to move.

I just have to admit that fulfilling the requirements of the awards, as fun as they are, has got to be a secondary concern for me or award flu might set in again.  Better to get over myself and get on my way to delighting in living.

A to Z Challenge: I is for ICR

A to Z Challenge:  I is for ICR

Institute for Creation Research (ICR) has oodles of science resources accessible on its website.  In addition to finding out more about who they are and what they do, the website gives you access to articles and updates related to creation science, the latest scientific discoveries, events offering fabulous teaching, and their excellent free devotional, Days of Praise, which I referred to on Day D.

ICR is one of the most respected and well-known Creation Science organizations in the USA and in the world.  Dr. Henry Morris founded ICR in 1970, and since then it has been a herald for the cause of honoring Scriptural truth from the very first word.  Their focus is on research, education, and communication of all things related to understanding our Creator and His creation.  

They recently started offering a free app to allow you to access information quickly right from your smart phone or other mobile devices which you can download from the website.  This is only one of the many free resources they offer.  They have a number of books and media materials that you can purchase on the website as well for the very young to the very old. 

Graduate school programs with their School of Biblical Apologetics are offered at a very affordable price.   Educational events and lectures with ICR scientists and speakers take place across the country and around the world to inform people that science and the Bible, Christianity in particular, are not in opposition to one another.  It is not an either or deal, but the two fit together very well.  ICR is on a mission to equip Christians to be able to effectively defend their faith as we are called to do in 1 Peter 3: 15-18 (NASB).  

“but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence; and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.”  1 Peter 3:15-18

A to Z Challenge

A to Z Challenge: H is for Hillsdale College

A to Z Challenge:  H is for Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College

Hillsdale College is a gem of an institution.  Why?  It is a gem because of its history and the principles by which it operates.  Located in Hillsdale, Michigan, USA,  Hillsdale exists to defend liberty and pursue truth, and any of its students will attest that it truly seeks to do just that.  Not only does Hillsdale seek to do that for the students attending their college, but Hillsdale College leadership believes these principles of liberty and truth are so important to our nation and all people, that they have several resources that they make available to anyone for the asking.  

Imprimis is their free monthly publication covering topics of freedom and truth and other first principles.

Free Online Courses covering topics on the Constitution and American Heritage give the inquiring students a solid foundational education in these subjects from top-notch professors. 

I am so thrilled to have discovered Hillsdale College and their resources, these among them.  It is a privilege to let others know they are there.

                                                      A to Z Challenge

What is Your Definition of Open-mindedness?

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There is a lot of talk about tolerance of all and about being open-minded to new views, those other than your own.  What does it mean, though, to be open-minded?  Do we confuse the two, tolerance and open-mindedness? 

According to the dictionary, to be open-minded is to be "willing to consider new ideas, unprejudiced, non-judgmental".  However, if you think about it to its conclusion, to what end do we want to be open?  Do we want to be open to new ideas just to be pulled in any direction?  Is it good to be open to anything without any thought given to it?  Should I not ponder to what I am opening up and come to some conclusion as to its value?  Should I not consider whether it contributes to my understanding of truth and how to communicate truth to those who may be "open" to falsehood?

I am not talking about preferences, jewelry or no jewelry, long hair or short hair, dressy or casual, which flavor I prefer or do I do it one way or another.  However, when it has bearing on life's greater questions, should we not give pause to consider connections to truth?  What we are open to does matter.  What we think and do does matter in the grand scheme of things.  I want to be willing to listen, to hear what you think, but though I don’t want to pass judgement on you to criticize or condemn, I must make a judgement as to whether your ideas are sensible or wise or true.  

Critical thinking is a skill to be desired and cultivated.  To think critically is to evaluate and analyze an issue in order to come to a conclusion as to its relationship to truth.  Yet we get the concept of critical thinking mixed up with that of criticizing, that is expressing disapproval and then not on the ideas being conveyed but on the one conveying.  In so doing we commit the fallacy of equivocation when in fact a little critical thinking and open-mindedness is in order.  It isn’t about ridicule or disrespect, but about having an inquiring mind of one’s own in which we appreciate and consider opposing viewpoints while coming to an understanding of what is best supported by the evidence and leads one to a fuller understanding of truth.

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Tolerating your right to believe what you will does not mean I have to embrace or be open to it as equal to truth.  That is just ridiculous.  It is convoluted.  It's wrong.  Isn't it interesting that those who confuse tolerance and open-mindedness making them one and the same are often the very ones who malign those holding opposing viewpoints to their own with no critical thinking whatsoever.  They don't want tolerance of equal but opposing ideas.  They want submission to their ideas as superior.

So I have come up with my own definition to how I would like to be open-minded.  Here it is. 

 Open-mindedness:  Respectfully listening and considering the ideas of others because I would rather be right than validate my opinion.  

What do you think?  Help me refine my definition if you will or give me your thoughts on what you think being open-minded should look like.  Until then, I do have strong opinions on things, but I am open-minded enough to respectfully listen and consider what you have to say, because I would rather be right than validate my own opinion.