Tag: Witness

An Ageless Conversation

On By T.J. AllenIn Christian Living, Everyday People, Spiritual Condition and Duty, Spiritual RenewalLeave a comment

Recently, a 23-year old young lady presented me with a text conversation she had with her 24- year old young male cousin. As I read the exchange, I thought how this is really an ageless conversation that every generation goes through. I wonder how many defendants of Christianity this generation has like this young lady. I asked her if I could share it. He also gave his consent. Here is the exchange as she shared it with me.

Young Lady:  Why do you not believe in God?

Young Man: Ok, so I mean there are a lot of reasons honestly. The easier question would be for me to ask you why you do… For instance, why do you? And follow up, would you have said that if not for your parents? If you look at history, the entire history of man, usually the things that were unexplainable were treated as “gods” or something similar. Fire for primitive man. A whole number of Greek gods (fire, water, thunder, etc.) all the way through the scientific revolution really. Humans have historically created these religions or gods to explain the unexplainable. It’s just no longer necessary. It was something that was fabricated to appease them at the time. And the whole concept is just super silly… Like someone came up with this idea, and managed to convince others of it and it snowballs. Or people are forced to practice by their societies or governments, etc. Take Catholicism for example. Why do you think that it was so popular? Well it catered to women who had no significant societal worth for the longest time and then all of the sudden there is this philosophy that is saying that they are equals. Of course they will want to side with it. The catholic indulgences… a concept created solely to make money and capitalize on human nature. Back to other religions. Hinduism pre-dates all other modern religions. Ask any serious Hindu and I guarantee you that they will be steadfast in that they are right in their belief. Yet Christianity morphed multiple times from Judaism into what it is today. Yet Christianity is somehow correct and Hinduism, which existed before that is wrong? Why? If you tell me yes, it is purely because some person decided that to be the case arbitrarily a long time ago. Buddhism was formed out of one man’s frustration with Jainism, which itself was a branch off of Vedic religion in India. Gautama (now referred to as the Buddha) went on this gargantuan journey to find the meaning of life, yada, yada, and ultimately what he decided caught on to become modern day Buddhism. What I’m getting at is that all these religions have existed over the millennia. Some have come and gone, some are new, some are old, and every single one of them formed in a different way and every one of them (most) believes itself and none of the others to be true and correct. The entire concept of religion was fabricated by man. Each one was tailored to the time and place it began. There was a great amount of turmoil in the world during the scientific revolution because these scholars were discovering things and proposing things that were not mentioned in any religious text. Up until that time, mostly anything not expressly mentioned in a religious text was considered either blasphemy or nonsense but finally they were able to prove these things. So why did they exclude all these things? Because humans hadn’t figured it out yet. The religions were created to explain it and when a factual scientific explanation was discovered there was an issue because it conflicted with the religion. So the religions morphed and adapted to keep on going. Don’t get offended by this, but the entire concept is just hilarious to me. These books that were written by men, were arbitrarily assembled and now constitute the Bible. Why aren’t other books in it? There are many other books by a lot of the same authors in the Bible yet they aren’t in the Bible. I could go on and on. But I guess it’s just that science explains everything. Anything that we can’t explain, still have a scientific explanation, we just haven’t figured it out yet, but we will. Religion and god is just not necessary to me. I don’t need it. Why do you?

Young Lady:  Because he is real and is alive?? My question is do you know everything? Religion or not do you? Not judging or anything like that but do you?

Young Man: No, I definitely don’t know everything. Also, just FYI, you can’t possibly offend me about anything pertaining to religion so don’t worry. But “why don’t I” isn’t a valid answer. Why do you believe what you believe? And you can’t say anything about just having faith because there is a root reason why you would even “have faith” in the first place. The question at hand is one that there can never truly be a binary answer to, simply because the definition of god doesn’t allow it to ever be definitively disproved. However, the fact that it cannot be proven that there is no god, is irrelevant as to whether or not there really is or isn’t. In other words, you can’t say that just because you can’t prove the in-existence of god implies that there is a god. But whereas I have fundamental reasons why I don’t believe there is a god, you have yet to give any reason why you think there is. So for every reason you give me I’ll ask you why you believe that, and so on and so on until you get to a reason that I cannot ask why you believe that. So what is/are the core reasons? If you have seen him give and take away, why do you think there is a god that has anything to do with that? Life and death are concepts that have evolved over billions of years. At one time there was no life, and thus no death, until there was inorganic matter that combined to become organic and it progressed from there. So, why is it that you believe that is justification for a god. (Btw, I’m not trying to be mean or try and change your mind, just trying to understand why you believe what you believe)(Also btw, I’ve found that many many people don’t know why they believe what they believe).

Young Lady: I have read your message a hundred times it seems. Every point you made. Everything you have said. As well as the couple of questions you have asked. I have typed and retype what I am trying to put into words. I may not be as good as you putting it into words, but you know what you believe. Here is Someone who puts into words what I believe better than I can verbally. Since you are firm in what you believe and me in mine, then it may just be a comedy show for you. To me it is not nor will it ever be. These clips aren’t the entire debate. It is actually a two hour debate. It’s excellent. It points out both sides of Christianity versus atheism as well as evolution. I don’t expect you to want to watch the two hours. I feel as if you will say it would be a waste of time since you are so busy. With that being said, I figure I would send you three separate videos. If you want me to send you the entire video and you listen to it on and off I will gladly.

Young Lady to Me: Well, no response even 24 hours later. God is real and society needs to pray for the generation that is the future.

The references the young lady sent him were from Kent Hovind. A link to a small taste of the debates is listed below.

Kent Hovind at his best in 7 minutes

Everyone Has a Story

On By T.J. AllenIn Christian Living, Spiritual Condition and Duty, Spiritual Renewal, Uncategorized3 Comments

Everyone has a story. I am no different. There is a significant part of my story that I rarely tell. I guess because it is so far in my past, but it really has defined my present and future. In Christian circles, it’s called “your testimony” or your “witness.” The thing is, our lives (current tense) should be our testimony and witness, so I don’t usually tell this part.

action aim ancient architecture

I was in the fifth grade, the second son of a single mother and the middle child of three. I loved history, and I loved knowledge. On this particular day in spring, I was playing “army” which means I was staging a battle somewhere in the dirt between several armies. In this particular scenario, I was creating my own invasion of the Greeks by the Persians. Forget the fact that the Greeks were green plastic army men with a splattering of anything I could find to represent fighting men. I.e., shotgun shells, plastic firemen, etc. The invading army was usually blue army men and their contingents. The only thing separating these two was the body of water that flowed between. In reality, it was the dirty washing machine water that drained out to soak the ground. Flood stage came along with the spin cycle.

On this Saturday morning, a kind old gentleman named Mr. Juneau stopped in our yard to talk with this dirty kid playing in the muddy water. He first asked if my mother was home. I told him she was gone and would be back soon. He asked if we went to church anywhere. I told him no. He asked me what I was doing and patiently listened as I explained the invasion. He then asked if I would like to go roller skating next week. I told I would be glad to. He said he would stop by during the week and talk to my mom about it and he left.

In the course of things, Mr. Juneau started picking up us kids to go to Sunday school and church along with other children on the church bus. Through that experience, a man listening to the voice of God to go and seek the lost, several of us were found for eternity. It didn’t stop there. God moved in my life and has blessed me immeasurably. I think of how far Jesus has brought me, from that dirty kid playing in dirty soapy, washing machine water to where I am today. He could have left me there in my dirt and in my sad estate or could he? I think not. His love for me wouldn’t allow it. If I were to die today, it would be well with my soul, because the keeper of my soul has let me live a life that I have not earned nor deserved. Truly, far blessed than I deserved. Cory Asbury (and everyone else who has picked up this song) has it right when he sings of the “reckless love of God.” I couldn’t earn it. I don’t deserve it. Still, Jesus gave himself away.

sunset hands love woman

I tell this part of my life to say this: Jesus is faithful, and he loves you. If you do not know him, you can. If you do not know him, you should. It will cost you nothing, and you will gain everything. I am not talking material possessions. For some to be blessed materially is actually a curse that will keep them from God. So, don’t come to Jesus to see what you can get materially. Come to Jesus to see what you can get spiritually and eternally. Trust him above all things. He truly loves you and is faithful in all things. This is my testimony: let my life and words bear witness to the gracious love of God.