I believe God is here. I believe he sees what you will see when you read this. I believe He is one God in three distinct Persons. He hears me, and loves me. God is not a concept at the top of an enterprise attempting to do something else; He is God.
The whole world does what it does by His design. We are breathing because He sustains us. Understand what you do if you disdain someone who "gets religion"; unless you are disputing her particular claims or sincerity, (legitimate in the abstract) the other alternative is that you are saying, "I live in a world where He isn't there." You don't want to end your life living in that world; that is one aspect of Hell. I doubt the earnest atheist realizes the extent of what he claims to desire. Frankly, I think most atheists are really anti-fideists; that is, they don't believe we should just take a leap in the dark, believing a fanciful story "just because." I say, "Fair enough." I may not be the guy to give you all the reasons you might want or need, but I've got reasons. I know for sure that I see goodness plain as the nose on your face. I often see the lack of it, too, but my point is, what I see is real; it's not a construct. Don't we know this, in the recesses of our hearts? We don't need proof for the goodness of sex, or ham sandwiches, or forests, even if there might be a right way and a wrong way to enjoy those things. Nor does it preclude a person from forgoing sex and ham sandwiches to live in the forest for the sake of God's Kingdom, but in either case, the point is made: Those things are good. Good as such.
Failure is chiefly a falling short in corresponding to reality, the offer of supernatural friendship. It is only a "Law" in the barest of senses. Every moment of life is an opportunity to acknowledge the real, or to create a false "reality" for oneself. Once more, the latter is as close to Hell as we can get on this side.
Goodness is personal. He is the God who is there.
The whole world does what it does by His design. We are breathing because He sustains us. Understand what you do if you disdain someone who "gets religion"; unless you are disputing her particular claims or sincerity, (legitimate in the abstract) the other alternative is that you are saying, "I live in a world where He isn't there." You don't want to end your life living in that world; that is one aspect of Hell. I doubt the earnest atheist realizes the extent of what he claims to desire. Frankly, I think most atheists are really anti-fideists; that is, they don't believe we should just take a leap in the dark, believing a fanciful story "just because." I say, "Fair enough." I may not be the guy to give you all the reasons you might want or need, but I've got reasons. I know for sure that I see goodness plain as the nose on your face. I often see the lack of it, too, but my point is, what I see is real; it's not a construct. Don't we know this, in the recesses of our hearts? We don't need proof for the goodness of sex, or ham sandwiches, or forests, even if there might be a right way and a wrong way to enjoy those things. Nor does it preclude a person from forgoing sex and ham sandwiches to live in the forest for the sake of God's Kingdom, but in either case, the point is made: Those things are good. Good as such.
Failure is chiefly a falling short in corresponding to reality, the offer of supernatural friendship. It is only a "Law" in the barest of senses. Every moment of life is an opportunity to acknowledge the real, or to create a false "reality" for oneself. Once more, the latter is as close to Hell as we can get on this side.
Goodness is personal. He is the God who is there.
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