Superman's thoughts

2005-12-29T18:24:00.000-06:00

Ahh, but Pascal's wager is indeed a very good wager to make, any gambler could tell you that. It is very clear that the advantages of believing in a god far outweigh the advantages of not believing in a god. Once this has been realized, you must choose the god you will worship. However, atheism isn't doing you any good at all. In atheism, there's a 0% chance you'll be rewarded for your beliefs. For any real religion, there is a chance.

Why?

2005-12-28T13:11:00.000-06:00

Very true. She proved she existed to herself. That's what matters for her. Unfortunately, that doesn't do the teacher an ounce of good. So what if God can prove his existance to himself, we cannot prove it. More to the point, I cannot prove it to you. There will always be another explanation to something. Christianity is a religion of faith. We, as do many billions of people in the world do, believe there is a higher power. We see evidence of this all around us. We see the sunrise, the rainbow, the stars and cosmos, the beauty of a snowflake, childbirth, human life, and determine that, though there are scientific explanations to all of this, there is obviously a guiding hand behind it, a force that runs this universe. Compared to the small contigent of atheists, people who see themselves as scientific and reasonable, but really wouldn't accept the truth if it broke their noses, there are huge numbers of people who would die for their beliefs in a higher power.
Does this matter? To you, maybe not. You seem to be content living a mediocre life for the 60 or so years you'll be on this planet. You pay no attention to the chance that something greater is within your grasp. I know many people who think along the same lines you do. You are so sure that you are right that you throw away all other possibilities rather than admit you are wrong. You say that you consider them all equally, trying to sound like a very wise man, but rather than accept evidence that suggests that you are wrong, you come up with another explanation. Well, I'm going to tell you something. If you're right, and there's nothing out there but stardust, then I will be buried in my grave on this planet, and someday the sun will explode and engulf our planet and I will be no more. I will have died at peace, being happy, content, and prepared to meet my God. I will never know that my belief was misguided, instead, I'll go into eternity happy.
On the other hand, if I am right, and I meet my God, you're in trouble. Your explanations and excuses won't work anymore. You could be stuck in an eternity of pain and torment.
So, you're playing dice with the possibilities. Either you're right and nothing matters, or I'm right and you lose. Your position seems lose-lose, while mine appears to be win-win. But will your pride allow you to see that?

You told me to grow up, yet here we see you being exceptionally immature and unscientific about this.

Proof

2005-12-08T16:29:00.000-06:00

I can't prove that there is a higher power. That doesn't mean there isn't evidence for it, but Nothing can be proved in this life. My spanish teacher (who has a theology degree) asked a girl in my class to prove that she existed. Here's the conversation:
Teacher: Prove to me that you exist.
Hannah: I'm here. You see me.
Teacher: You're a figment of my imagination.
Hannah: I can concieve myself.
Teacher: So you're a figment of your own imagination too (pause for laughs). Even a figment of my imagination could tell me that she can imagine herself.
Hannah: I can touch you.
Teacher: So I can imagine that you're touching me, oh wow.

Point of this whole long thing: Nothing can be proven. You're right. This could be the matrix, we could all be living lives inside our own minds while our bodies decay slowly. But if any of that is true, we're screwed no matter where we put our faith.
If you succeed in proving that there is no higher power (this is an impossibility, but theoretically...) What good is life? Some people say "live every moment for all it's worth". I do already. But it's because I believe that there is an afterlife. I believe that we're here for a reason, and I try to fufill my reason. If there was no afterlife, I don't think I'd care to live. Who gives a hoot about 70-80 years when I just lost billions of years.
If there's no higher power, there's no purpose in our lives. There's nothing beyond death. Everything we do, everything we are is worthless, dust on the wind. I would rather die thinking there is a God and merely cease to exist than die believing I will merely cease to exist and find myself writhing in undescribable pain for billions of years because I didn't want to believe.

Jesus, The Christ

2005-12-07T15:49:00.000-06:00

The Christ. "Christ" isn't just a surname, like Smith, or Favre. It is a title. Christ means Messiah or "Annointed One". In jewish culture, there were two offices that people were annointed to. Priests and prophets. It isn't suprising then, that the jews knew their savior as the "Annointed One", since he was to be the greatest prophet and the greatest priest. Greater than Isaiah, Aaron, or even Melchizedek.
When we make the manger scene, with Jesus as a little baby being held in his mother's arms, we often forget the awesome power of his being. We often picture an angel hovering over the stable, looking down on the happy little family and going "aww, that's so sweet." Hardly. Angels, demons, cherubim, bend their knees and avert their eyes from the inconcievable power that Jesus, the Lamb of God, holds. We cannot even understand the power of these creatures who bow before him, while we flippantly use his name in an exclamation. Simply astounding.

2005-11-30T17:24:00.000-06:00

Well, if you believe in a beginning, then you must also believe that there was eternity before it. Time before the universe is hard to calculate, but I'd guess it can be expressed as either an eternity or an infintesimally short amount of time. But if you believe there was a biginning, there must have been a beginner. This is why there has to be a god. Whether you follow Norse mythology and believe that the universe is held up by four dwarves or the greeks who believe that every deity is somehow related to Zeus, you have to acknowledge that there is a god. Atheism is not possible.

About evolution and how it as a system doesn't work. Here are some models:
Evolution: Second law of thermodynamics:
l l l l l l l
^ VVV V V
I I VV V V
^ ^ VV V
I II I V V
^^^^ V
IIIIIIII I

Poorly done, I know. I'm working with limited materials.

Ahh, but with a combination of God and science, we can reveal all mysteries. God created the universe, and more specifically, science. They don't contradict each other.

For your parable, what if we took the light that God gives us in the Bible, and take it over to the place we dropped our keys (the problems we have with science).

Your comment

2005-11-29T21:37:00.000-06:00

I think it may just be me and you, but I'll respond here. I'll have some of my friends read and give me their input.

I still don't understand where you think this matter came from. Things don't just appear. Even if the universe was contained within an atom, where did this atom come from. I've gotten a good few answers. My favorite one is "It was just chillin".

Ok, I agree. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that systems deteriorate over time. Somehow, evolutionists have flipped this around and said that life has not only 'not-deteriorated' over the millions of years the earth has existed, but it has exploded and improved. Actually, most scientists estimate that 99% of the species that have existed on earth are now extinct.

I'll accept your point that life would be possible if water worked the way all other elements do. For the sake of this debate anyway.

Ahh, God does answer the question. God is God. Eternal, immortal, invisible. He created us to honor and glorify him. We are created for His plan, that His perfect nature may be praised.

I'm saying that on a die that has every single possibility of things that could happen, atheistic evolution isn't on it. On the other hand, a God who can do anything, create a universe out of his words, even his thoughts, explains everything.

To quote someone else:
"I would rather die believing that there is a God and find out there isn't, than die believing there isn't a God and find out there is."

So you believe in an origin?

2005-08-28T12:26:00.000-05:00

[Thanks for the tip, and I think you'll notice I put it to use. However, I found your mud rather unatractive. I hate the games where you have to wait to do anything.]

So, you are not a pure evolutionist then. You do believe in a beginning and an origin. If you believe in an origin, then you must believe in some sort of creation. Matter doesn't just appear of its own accord. I mean, in the really long time I've been around, I've never seen matter appear. I mean, sometimes I find money where I didn't know it was, but I don't think it made itself phase into reality. There must have been some power at work in order for the creation to occur. God, demons, or otherwise, there must have been something.

For your second point, I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say. Are you trying to say that the earth would have stopped spinning a long time ago? I'm not sure you're correct there. There is friction in the atmosphere, but there isn't outside the atmosphere. The earth spins, but it's taking its atmosphere with it, which eliminates the friction. I don't really know, but I'm not sure it has a huge effect on the debate anyway.

You're right. If ice froze, life (if there was any) would be drastically different. However, that doesn't explain why water/ice is the only substance that works that way. Why would evolution create one substance differently than it created all the others? Evolution is not intelligent.

You believe there is no reason to believe in a supernatural being. How about the fact that we are here? With no belief in the supernatural, there is no reason for us to exist. I mean, even if you can explain how we're here, (which you can't) you can't explain why there's a universe out here, with us in it.

The likelyhoods of the things that you're proposing are around 0%. That is what I'm trying to prove. You say the fact that we're here proves that there are chances, but I'm saying that it proves there has to be something else out there, because we could not have been created by chance.

If you'll give me a more detailed statement of what you believe, I'll write a pick-apart just for you. :P Feel free to email me or leave your email address.

True

2005-08-25T20:56:00.000-05:00

I'll give you your point. Over millions and millions of years, owls could have evolved that way. That brings us to another point. If matter has existed for all eternity, as you say it did, then the earth would be an infinite number of years old, because every action, reaction, and possibility would have occured an infinite number of years ago. Right? If I'm wrong, say so.
Problem with that theory is, the universe would have run out of fuel an infinite number of years ago too. If you read the website I linked to, they stated this better than I, but I think the point will get across. If I was driving a car ever since eternity, I would have run out of fuel by now, wouldn't I have? Now, I admit, the universe has a bigger fuel tank than even a hybrid car, but it would still run out. I mean, given the amount of years it's been going (if you don't believe in a beginning, it's been going quite a few years.), it would have run out of fuel a long time ago and we'd all be frozen, looking up at a pitch black sky.
See, if there wasn't a beginning, everything would have happened already. Everything would be over.

For your second comment, I'm not quite sure. The fish evolved that way? What would they have done if ice sank? They would pass through the ice to get to open water? And we'd still be here, even if ice sank. The fish wouldn't be though. It still doesn't explain why one compound among thousands (maybe millions!) is different.

Third comment: You're right. I have another quote, one I like a lot.
"Evolutionists have proof of something they're not certain of.
Creationists don't have proof of something they are certain of."

I just want you to realize that there is a God, and that he created this world. If you believe this, then you will have taken the first step. Maybe next time you'll ask another good question and take another step. That is all I ask, just take in everything with an open mind. Thanks. You have my email address.

Predestination

2005-08-19T19:39:00.000-05:00

Hello again. First, I'm going to answer a question on one of the comments. (Oh, by the way, if your comment has a link to an advertisement on it, I will delete it. Not trying to offend anyone. Thank you.) Do I believe that God only turns the light on for some people? Yes, I do. Once again, it is our own free will that damns us in the first place, so we cannot blame God. Do I know how or why he chooses some, and not others? No, I have no idea and there's no way I'm going to try to read God's mind and tell you why he picks certain people. God's plans are beyond the comprehension of mortals, and if anyone tries to tell you differently, they are either misguided or flat-out lying.
What is pre-destination? Pre-destination is the fact that everything that has, is, and will happen is known by God. This has everything figured in, our own free-will, everything that happens to us... We still have free-will, but God knows what we will do with that free-will. I believe whole-heartedly in it.
Thank you for the comments, and if you want a more direct answer, you can email me or leave your email address. Superman2489@gmail.com

Free will

2005-08-10T13:47:00.000-05:00

Many people struggle with the question of how God could send people to Hell. I'm going to try to explain it as one of my Bible teachers explained it to me.
We are humans. Humans with free will, given to us by God. As humans, we are stumbling along a hallway, with no light what-so-ever. In the middle of the hallway is a giant pit (Hell), and we, not being able to see anything, are stumbling right towards it. God is not pushing us down the hole, but we, in our free will and our blindness, are aiming straight for it. Then, for some of us, chosen by God's unfathomable will, He turns the light on. Us, not entirely stupid, are not dumb enough to choose to jump into the pit. Instead, God shows us the way to heaven.
In other words, it is not God who is sending us to Hell, but us, in our own ignorance, choosing to trust ourselves and walk right into the pit.

If God has allowed you to see the pit, and you want to know the way to Heaven, either write me at Superman2489@gmail.com, or go to a church and talk with the pastor for a while. They can point you in the right direction.

Does God exist?

2005-08-09T13:28:00.000-05:00

Is there a god? This is a question many of us deal with, or have dealt with before. The problem is that many of us do not see all of the evidence. In the next few paragraphs, I will try my best to prove to you that God exists. However, your decision will probably not be made today. I merely want to give you this evidence.

#1 reason how we know God exists:
Look at the world around you. Can all of this be created by chance? Did you know that, Great Horned Owls hatch their eggs in the winter? The winter is also the time when their prey is leaving tracks on the ground, making them easier to catch. During the summer, it would be very difficult, if not impossible for an owl to get enough food to feed its young. Did this evolve by chance?

#2 reason how we know God exists:
Did you know that water is the only substance known to man that gets less dense as it gets colder? If water was like EVERY other substance, ice would sink instead of floating on the top of the water. What would happen if the pond in my backyard froze? The ice would cover the bottom, effectively depriving the creatures in the pond of food. If the water at the top of the pond froze first, it would fall through the water and trap the fish underneath, killing them off very quickly. You can't tell me water evolved that way.

#3 reason how we know God exists:
This one may be a problem, because the people I need to convince of this are the ones who will not have felt it, but I'll give it a shot anyway. When you're worshipping God with all your heart, you know he's there. The Bible says "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." If you've ever really worshipped God, just let everything else go and worshipped him, you've felt his presence. About a week ago, I went with my Youth Group down to Mexico and we worked down there, trying to show the love of God to the people down there. On the last night, a bunch of us got together and we sang every praise song we could think of. We sang for hours, and I am willing to bet that every one of us felt God's presence.

#4 reason how we know God exists:
There are quite a few logical reasons proving that we have a creator, but rather than trying to put them in my own words, I'll just give you the website I found them on.

Once again, if you have any questions or just want to talk about this post, send me an email at Superman2489@gmail.com Thank you

Think about this

2005-06-29T18:53:00.000-05:00

Imagine a man. This man is 250 pounds, 6'3", solid muscle. He could be a linebacker for the packers, but he's chosen to help people instead. He is looking through a window into another room. In the next room, two twelve-year-old boys are tormenting a young 7-year-old boy. They've put shackles around the boy's wrists and he is hanging from the ceiling. The 12-year-olds are taking turns pulling down on the boy's ankles until his shoulder's pop out of their sockets and he screams until he faints from the pain. They're taking a knife and cutting the skin on his back into strips. His back is shredded into ribbons and the skin hangs like a grass skirt around his waist. Blood mixed with tears flow down his body in rivulets, forming a pool at his feet. The 12-year-olds are stabbing needles into him, once again making him faint from the immense amounts of pain. The young boy has cracked ribs and broken fingers and toes from the repeated torturing he's endured. He hasn't slept or eaten in a while, and when he asks for water, the boys give him watered-down bleach, burning his mouth as he spits it out. Through it all, the man watches. His son is the one in pain. That boy is what he has. His wife is dead, so he'll never have another son. He loves that boy with every fiber of his being. Those fibers are being torn apart, burning his insides as he watches his son die a slow and painful death. And through it all, his son looks back through the window, right into his eyes. In between the screams, the father can see his son's mouth weakly mouthing the words, "Daddy, daddy, daddy."

Now imagine another father. He has twin daughters. He has repeatedly asked them not to do drugs and drink, but they continue to disobey him. He refuses to punish them as they deserve, for he wants only for his daughters to stop on their own. He asks them over and over, as he watches their lives go downhill. They are expelled from school, thrown in prison for days at a time, and beaten in their low life. Time after time, he comes to bail them out of jail, forgives them, and takes them to his house, where he lets them stay. When they finally regain conciousness, they usually scream at him about how much they hate him, and how they wish he'd stay out of their life. He lets them slam the door on their way out time and time again, each time wishing that they'd come back.

This is what my Lord did for you. He not only watched his son die, but he commanded him to do it. He did not die, as would have been almost easy compared to what he did. He watched his son die in a situation where he could have come down from heaven with a sword of fire, with a thousand angels, and decimated his enemies. He could have saved his son, but he didn't. He ordered his son to die so that we would be saved. Why he did it is more of a mystery than how he was able to do it. Us, the people he sacriced so much to save, aren't grateful. We curse him, we abandon him for the 'better' things in life, and we scorn the guidelines he gives us for our lives. He doesn't even ask us to perfectly follow those guidelines. He just tells us to do our best. We owe him our lives. Instead of being punished, we'll be forgiven, redeemed, and brought to paradise with him. And yet, we refuse to acknowledge him. We're sure that we've got a better plan. We can do it better. He doesn't even say we can't have fun. He just asks us to acknowledge those guides and stay inside his perameters. Thank you.

Think abot this. If you have any questions about what I've written here or about Christianity in general, feel free to email me at Superman2489@gmail.com. Thanks again