​Why is there something rather than nothing?

What happens to our subjective experience after death?

How does physical matter give rise to conscious experience?

Is there an objective meaning to life, or is all purpose self-created?

Does true free will exist, or is everything entirely predetermined?

When it comes to the deepest understandings of “why am I here” so many questions surface to the top.   This is a journey of thought that I have personally been on for decades.   I want to know “why” I am here and for what end.   But what I have discovered is that most people, with many impressive qualifications, can only answer this question with opinions.   Yes, that’s right, their own opinions without true documented support.

Remember, everyone has opinions that are based on experiences, personal understandings and feelings.   None of these will hold water though, because they are related solely to the individual’s level of comprehension and not the actual unanswerable facts of creation that can only be answered by a Creator, who we know as “God.”

This is a tough subject, but I encourage you to continue “on the journey!”   More information can be found in this website, or, feel free to leave a comment and I will get back to you ASAP!
​Blessings …

This statement is one that many in the culture today can relate to.   After all, life is good as it is, and I’ve not seen anything that makes me want to find out if God really exist.   So why should I even bother to look for Him?

I use to feel the same way.   But then I started to challenge my human understanding of the universe and life itself.   Where did it come from?   How did life originate?   Did it come crawling out of the “ooze” billions of years ago, and did the “Big Bang” create all of what we see today?   Hmmmm … lets dig down a little deeper.

Modern scientists have determined that even if the Big Bang did happen and create the universe, something must have created that materials that formed the universe and something must have created the energy necessary to have set it all in motion.   Modern science has also recently determined that “Time and Space” must have had a beginning.   Also, the same question applies: Where did the materials and energy come from to develop these things?   Science agrees that whatever created time and space must exist outside of them, as material, time and space could never “self-create” themselves!   Hmmm …

So whatever force, or energy or entity that created the universe we live in must exist outside of it.   How can anything exist outside of time?   Or space?   This is a question that points directly to the presence of a holy, perfect, all-knowing, all-powerful omnipotent Creator.   We know and understand this “Creator” as God.
​
So this begs the question of questions: If there is a God, or super-being out there, what are you going to do about it?   Nothing, or look for Him?

If that’s the case, whew, it changes everything dramatically!   It reminds me that I was created to live forever, eternally!   And if that’s the case, what for?   It seems so ridiculous that God would create me, as an eternal being, without any real purpose.   So, there must be a reason that I exist.   A reason that has been designed by God.   A reason that must fit into the eternal plan that God has.  

​So, today, as I look ahead into the future, way past my brief existence on the earth, I better re-think my daily life.   Am I temporal focused, on just these few short years, or, am I focused on eternity, realizing that God created me for a purpose, and if I am not fulfilling that purpose, the future will be pretty bleak.
 
NOTE TO SELF: Eternity is a long time, let’s see, live eternally without God, hope, purpose, or, live with Hiim and for Him enjoying the perfect purpose for which I was born in the first place.

Its a start!   Faith, religion, salvation, personal relationship with Jesus, are all concepts surrounding the idea that we go to Heaven when we die because of Jesus and His sacrifice for us.   Well, there's more to it.   A person achieves salvation through belief, trust, repentance, confession and submission to the will and authority of Christ.   Need more answers ... go to "contact us."

Well, if you are right, then Jesus is a liar!   If He is a liar, then He cannot be God, or even holy.   If He is not holy, then my belief in Him is a waste of time.   

However, in regards to this issue, Jesus being the only way to a restored relationship with God, if Jesus is not lying and He is the only way, I had better listen to Him, huh!   In regards to His divinity, and resurection, there is plenty of supporting evidence in the world that He actually lived, died and rose again.   When I look at the entire account of His life and all of the Bible and supporting evidence, then to me it makes perfect sense.   

​If you want to know the truth, search for it, with all of your heart!   God promises that the heart that truly wants to find Him ... will indeed!

It takes a little more than that!   Afterall, even Satan and the demons "believe" in Jesus!   We have to also trust Him, trust in His sacrifice alone for our salvation, and be faithful to all that He has taught us throughout Scripture.

Some will see this as unfair, but, that is us judging God's determination of what is and is not fair.   Who are we to judge the Creator of all things?

In the world that we live in, we mostly have things the way we want them, when we want them, and how we want them.   We prioritize what we put our attention to and then when we decide to get serious.   After all, there's no urgency right?

I would beg to differ with the above statement.   As a pastor, I encounter many people that are totally unprepared for illness as well as death.   Usually, it turns out to be a chaotic mess of people reaching for straws as they go through this very difficult time.   

​Look at it this way: If I told you to prepare for whatever will come into your life for the next 24 hours, or, I told you to prepare for the next 10 years, which would have more depth, personal meaning and importance?

​You're choice.

Its true, Christians are not perfect, in fact, they are quite imperfect.   As you look at Christians as a whole you must realize that each one of them is in a different place in their walk of faith.   People are flawed, imperfect, sinful and just plain ignorant at times.   Add to that the individuals who simply want to create confusion, and those that want Christianity to affirm their personal beliefs, and you end up with a melting pot of ideas, ideologies and personal viewpoints.   Thats why as a Christian I am to trust in the truth of Scripture.   It is God's Word to humankind.   

At one point Jesus reminded the crowds that if they remained faithful to the end, they would inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.   But those who did not remain faithful to the truth of God would end up outside of the kingdom wondering why they were not invited in.   The truth is, we have to accept God as He is, and trust that He would never mislead us, and we need to understand that the culture around us is at odds with God.   This is why Jesus told us that as a Christian (or follower) our citizenship is not of this world, but the next.   Trust God, not the world we live in.

This is a very difficult question, one that comes up constantly!   Let me answer this in stages.   First, God does not "send" anyone anywhere, He allows all individuals to chose their eternal destiny.   This is one of the hardest concepts for people to understand.   Most people expect that at the end of their life, God will appear and automatically take them to Heaven.   

Secondly, people think that they are going to Heaven because they have self-evaluated themselves as being worthy.   "I'm a good person, I'm not a bank robber or murder, so I deserve to go to Heaven."   This is the thought process that most people go through.   If we are "good" in our own eyes, where else would we go?

Thirdly, Scripture tells us that God has placed the desire to find and know Him inside of the human heart.   Its a natural emptiness that we want to fill, even though sometimes we fill it with many things other than God.   

Fourthly, God's righteousness must be satisfied for anyone to be in His presence, especially for an eternity.   So God, being perfect, sacrificed Himself through the person of His Son Jesus for the sins of the world.   All that is required to be forgiven, and seen as righteous to God, is to believe solely in Jesus and His sacrifice on our behalf.   This is not easy to do, as we all want to control our own destiny.   

Finally, Jesus has told us over and over again, that to follow Him and be His Disciple, it will cost us everything.   This includes our will, as His will must reign supreme in our hearts.   Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit MUST be loved, honored and accepted freely by your own "choice."   Choose Jesus and submit to Him, and your new life in Christ, destined to be in Heaven, has just begun.

When we look at ourselves and compare ourselves to what "our" definition of "good" is, many times we don't see a lot of difference.   We do good things in life, we stay away from those things that we know are wrong, and we judge ourselves based on our understanding.   But God has tremendously higher standards.   In fact, we are judged directly against Him, that's why we never measure up!   Since God is perfectly holy and sinless, we need to be the same in order to be in His presence, especially for an eternity.   That's where Jesus comes in.    Jesus fills the void by accepting the punishment for our sins, allowing us to have a brand new start, and while God holds us accountable to His standards Jesus says "they're mine, I paid for them, so look at me when you are looking for who they are."   This changes the situation dramatically! When God looks at a believer in Jesus like me, He doesn't see my failures, instead He sees His Son Jesus, and His righteousness.   Problem solved.