Your Worldview Dictates Your Evidential Interpretation

What does the following say?

"Godisnowhere"


The atheist comes along and says; "It clearly says 'God is nowhere'."

The Christian comes along and says; "It clearly says 'God is now here'."

Worldviews

The previous demonstration is to illustrate the influence of a worldview. Dr. Jason Lisle in his book, "Ultimate Proof of Creation - Resolving the Origins Debate", defines a worldview as "a network of our most basic beliefs about reality in light of which all observations are interpreted." Dr. Lisle points out that most people believe that in order to have validity, knowledge has to be acquired through evidence that is obtained through unbiased observation. He goes on, however, to point out that this "belief" is in of itself a worldview called "empiricism". We all have beliefs and it's our individual experiences that we collect in life that helps us form the worldview that we hold today. Worldviews, however, are responsible for the reason why both a Creationist and Evolutionist can both look at the same piece of evidence and come to vastly different conclusions. Our worldview is like a pair of glasses, it "filters" the way we view our surroundings and observations accordingly. Dr. Lisle points out that it is common for people to deny that they are interpreting evidence "in light of prior belief - a faith commitment of some kind" but also points out that in order for these same people to "observe" the evidence in an unbiased fashion that they first have to hold to the presupposition or prior belief that our senses are reliable.

We All Have Worldviews

In spite to how distasteful it may be to some to know we all have a worldview, never forget that we can't be divorced from our worldview. If someone, for example, is asking for you to suspend or give up your worldview, remember that they themselves are also holding on to a worldview of their own. A common worldview that I personally have witnessed is the belief that a truth must be believed in order to be "truth". A very common objection that people have concerning hell, for example, is that it doesn't exist because they don't believe in it as if the orient would no longer exist if I didn't believe in it's existence. For all I know, it doesn't exist. I've never been there and all of those old Kung-Fu movies I watched when I was a kid could have been staged the same as those fake Moon landing films. I am, however, puzzled as to how Chinese restaurants came about - for right now I'm chalking it up to a conspiracy theory.

Rescuing Devices

The method I just used as a means to deny the existence of the orient per my worldview is called a "rescuing device". Dr. Lisle roughly defines a rescuing device as a conjecture designed to protect a worldview from what appears to be contrary evidence. The reason that rescuing devices work is because someone can always use the unknown as a means to refute our arguments. If you, for example, try to assure me that there is not an organized conspiracy to convince the world that the orient exists when it really doesn't, the burden of proof falls on you to produce evidence to show that an organized effort doesn't exist. It is extremely difficult to "prove" that something doesn't exist the same as it is difficult to prove that the Spaghetti Monster doesn't live on the outskirts of our detectable universe.

Keep In Mind

Always keep in mind, however, that everyone has a worldview and that we can't be divorced from our worldview. Keep this in mind when you run into skeptics, debaters and atheists that want you to abandon scripture when you proclaim the glory of God to them when you minister the gospel or when you defend the faith with men that trade the truth for a lie when you offer up your apologia for the hope you have in Christ. While they may think that they are truly the only open minded one in your exchange, they too have a worldview that influences their interpretation of the evidence and they too are coming to the table with presuppositions for the arguments that they present. Scripture is not invalidated just because someone doesn't "believe" in the inerrancy of the Bible. When someone does, for example, want you to abandon scripture - remember in essence what they are doing is asking you to abandon your faith so that you can accept theirs. The Evolutionist or zealot for science, for example, has faith; it's just not the right kind of faith; it's faith in the "force" of nature or faith in the scientific method and or faith in scientific discoveries. The zealot of science is engaged in a religion also, instead of priests however, he looks to the scientist for guidance; instead of looking to the Bible for truth, he looks to the latest scientific discovery headlines in the news, etc.

Below is a YouTube play list for the "Ultimate Proof of Creation". The videos are broken down into six - 10 minute video segments.



Keep up the good fight!

Keep up the good fight and always have a reason for the hope you have in Christ Jesus (1 Peter 3:15). Stay grounded in the truth and keep the sword of the word, the sword of truth in your hand at all times.

Praise the Lord God Almighty always!

Grace & Peace,
WCD

Free Audio files from Crossway on YouTube

Made available from Crossway via YouTube, free audio Bible files are made readily available for you and can be accessed from mobile devices.

You can access the audio files here;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNKhOR_DNhU

I've included the first chapter from the Book of John below but Proverbs is available as well.

-WCD

ESV Audio Bible, Gospel of John, Chapter 1

A Picutre of Hades

Hades -

Not consistent with any themes developing here per se, I decided to post this diagram of Hades to serve as a reference for anyone that may find it useful.

Grace & Peace,
WCD

Consider Your Calling

Consider Your Calling -

John Piper sermon on April 25, 2010
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Consider Your Calling
desiringGod.org

"The call raises the dead."

"It's the kind of call that creates what it commands."

The call raised Lazarus from the dead.

"Because of His great love, He made you alive when you were dead."

Do Militant Pro-Lifer's in the Trenches Need to Back Off?

Unidentified photographer
Soldiers in a trench, Gallipoli, Turkey, 1915
Reference Number: 1/2-103903-F
Photographic Archive, Alexander Turnbull Library

Do Militant Pro-Lifer's in the Trenches Need to Back Off?

Dan Kassis has an interesting piece on his blog that he has posted this week. In his piece titled, "Rethinking the militant pro-life approach", he goes on to describe the harsh and or graphic abortion images that pro-life advocates use as a method and means to dissuade women from getting abortions. He argues that if the militant pro-lifers would read Jesus' approach that he used with the Samaritan woman at the well as well as the woman caught in the very act of adultery, that these advocates would change their approach. Mr. Kassis' objection from my understanding is that such public declarations are perhaps hypocritical of advocates to go to such extremes by displaying such graphic images and at the same time not be willing to adopt babies themselves. If pro-lifer's are so adamant about the cause, it only stands to reason that they should be adopting the babies that others don't want and due to this are aborted accordingly. In addition to this, the harsh graphical imagery is inconsiderate and a cruel thing to expose to women that have underwent the tragedy of a miscarriage.

I appreciate the thought that Mr. Kassis has put into this issue. He explains the issue is near and dear to him per personal experiences - I would encourage you to read his account in his own words for further elaboration. I also believe that Mr. Kassis raises important points and issues that loving Christians should take into consideration when addressed with what to do with the abortion issue/ministries, etc.

I have seen bits and pieces of the images and videos that Mr. Kassis is referring to and my gut reaction is at first to cringe and question as to if children of light should be broadcasting such images of death, etc. Wanting to avoid the temptation to be a reactionary, I give a benefit of doubt to advocates that engage in the type of activities that is mentioned in Mr. Kassis' commentary. Perhaps a jolt or shock of reality is the thing that is needed as a way to frame context and to place the deadly consequences that is about to take place in a proper light; everything that a woman needs to consider and be aware of before she executes an abortion. I’m assuming that this is the line of thinking or rationale that people use when they broadcast the horrific images of abortion. In my mind’s eye, I’m sure they think they are doing one of the most loving things that they can do; expose the harsh reality of what is happening when a baby is murdered as a means to prevent more from happening. The world contains a dubious nature that labels murder as a “procedure” and assures women that they are terminating a lump of cells that we call a “fetus” as opposed to telling them that they are terminating life. It’s the same tactic that was used in war time when soldiers learned to de-humanize life by referring to the enemy as “gooks” or “Charlie” because there’s no reason to have guilt for terminating the enemy, but a man may hesitate and be burdened if he, however, thinks of it as killing men; men with fathers, mothers, children, etc.

So while I agree that as Christians, we are to exude and demonstrate the love of Christ as is mentioned in the above piece, sometimes lines become blurred as imperfect men try to serve their Father to the best of their ability. We should always be on our knees in humility and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit and do everything out of love; the love of Christ. We shouldn’t do anything that hinders another by exuding an heir of arrogance and judgment but at the same time, we should by no means ignore or belittle the seriousness of abortion. Abortion is murder and my heart goes out to a woman that has underwent an abortion and later face conviction for her actions. We love and comfort women with such convictions but not at the expense of lessening the seriousness of abortion so as not to give harmful inaccurate impressions to other women that are considering an abortion of their own.

With everything that has been said thus far, how does everything that we have discussed look like when actually being applied? First, as mentioned in the Kassis piece, we are to refer to scripture as to how we should act and to learn from the infinite lessons that it has to teach us as we trust in Jesus and receive the Holy Spirit to guide us and bear witness. Second, we should stay on our knees in prayer and humility and ask God for guidance because as James would say, we have not because we ask not (James 4:2-3). Both suggestions may appear to be obvious but sometimes its the obvious things that escape us and we always fall into error when we deviate from the basics.

Another purpose behind my suggestions is that every situation is unique and different and I fear we may fall into error if we try to lay blanket statements that dictate actions; such as, we should always show graphic abortion images as a way to deter women OR we should never show graphic images to women as a way to deter abortion. Although I don’t think graphic images of abortion posted in a pubic forum is appropriate because everyone “does not need to see it”, there may possibly be occasions when they serve a purpose that is truly done out of the love of Christ. I have seen videos of street preachers preaching with a megaphone outside of abortion clinics and these men tell the women that are in the building that they are being lied to and that they have pictures that can show them what really takes place during an abortion. Is this extreme? You bet it is. Do women, however, that are considering an abortion have a right to know what is really taking place during an abortion? You better believe they do. There was a segment on Wretched T.V. last week that showed a counselor telling a woman that there aren't legs and arms, etc.; that it's just tissue, etc. From the way the segment was laid out, this worker was clearly lying to the woman. Assuming the scenario just described is the truth, then graphic images displaying the harsh realities of what happens and takes place during an abortion is more than appropriate to illustrate the gravity of what is about to really take place if a woman decides to proceed with an abortion. If men make such claims about what takes place during an abortion and cannot back their claims up with evidence, then they are made out to be fools and the cause becomes a mockery. It is true that information pertaining to abortion can be relayed without pictures but pictures really show in a way that numbers cannot that we are really talking about babies and not statistics and cell tissue, etc.

May it all be for His glory,
WCD

A Work in Progress

Palmer, Alfred T.,, photographer -from Library of Congress, women working for Douglas Aircraft; taken from Flckr Commons on 5-1-10

How does the saying go? A writer writes?

I have for some time have had the idea and desire to do a blog of my own. The process of starting one has been unnecessarily complicated. I kept telling myself that I'll start one as soon as I get a pithy as well as appropriate name for one; and don't forget to make sure that it has a gmail address that is the same as the url - all for simplicity's sake, etc. I also, however, realize that there needs to be somewhat of a common theme so that it will have coherency and doesn't violate the reader's expectation (assuming I'll ever have viewership and or a base). The purpose of the blog is easy; to glorify God. This blog along with additional projects is my ministry and it is my hope that it is used to edify brethren and sisters in the faith as well as provide the gospel to the lost so that lost men may be saved and that God may be glorified.

Irrespective of having this blog up right now, I'm still unclear as to the specific direction that it needs to go in. I have thought about simply posting relevant stories, commentary, news, etc. that pertain to the Christian life; at the risk of sounding like that I am completely devoid of originality, an evangelistic Drudge Report, if you will. Doesn't the internet, however, have enough blogs or sites that are nothing more than a reiteration as to what is already out there? I have a YouTube channel up right now, for example, and it is nothing more than videos that can be seen from a number of other locations. Isn't the significance or value of a blog lie in it's ability to post original content? It is my intention to post original content for my YouTube channel but that is a work in progress and is still in the planning stage as of now. This blog is a little past the planning stage in the sense that it is up and running but continues to be a work in progress. I pray for God to give me direction pertaining to this blog and that it will naturally evolve and take off in a direction of it's own in spite of the incompetence of it's administrator.

If you have ideas concerning this blog, please feel free to share them with me at; faithredeemed@gmail.com.

I still like the idea of an Evangelistic "Drudge Report" but at the same time I realize my limitations and don't want to start more than I'll be able to maintain. Perhaps if it is in God's will I will be able to find some partners that would be happy to assist me with such an undertaking.

Please come back often to see the direction that God has decided to take this blog in, etc. If it is in His will to sustain it, He will bless it with growth and if it isn't in His will, no amount of effort on my part will be able to bring viewership to fruition.

Please allow me to post a disclaimer before I end this post. As I have stated earlier, it is my intention to glorify God with this and I by no means wish to imply that viewership is indicative to success, the same as membership numbers do not indicate success for a church. A mega-church, for example, with thousands of members does not mean that it is has solid teaching and is properly exalting God. The same applies to a blog, high viewership by no means indicates that a blog is providing solid teaching and is properly exalting God.

It will be interesting to see what God has in store for us.

May it all be for His glory,
WCD