Eight Reasons to Believe that God Exists

 

                                                                     (Monroe County)

 A long, long time ago Bill Craig (aka William Lane Craig) was one of my campus pastors at Northern Illinois University, where I did my undergraduate degree in philosophy. I was honored to sing in Bill and Jan's wedding. 

We were always talking about our faith, the existence of God, apologetics, metaethics, philosophical anthropology, and much more. It all got inside me, and has never left, but has been tended and watered and nurtured over the decades.

Here is Bill's essay in Philosophy Today where he gives eight reasons to believe God exists ("Does God Exist?"). Read the essay for the reasoning. 

They are:

1. God is the best explanation for why anything at all exists.
2. God is the best explanation of the origin of the universe.
3. God is the best explanation of the applicability of mathematics to the physical world.
4. God is the best explanation of the fine-tuning of the universe for intelligent life.
5. God is the best explanation of intentional states of consciousness.
6. God is the best explanation of objective moral values and duties.
7. The very possibility of God’s existence implies that God exists.
8. God can be personally known and experienced.

(If #7 confuses you, it's the modal version of the Ontological Argument for God's Existence.)

Our True Labor

(Monroe)

It's Labor Day weekend in America. Time to rest and recreate from work. 

For followers of Jesus, our true work is all that is done "in the Lord." This brings satisfaction, as we view ourselves working for God, and his greater purposes. This was my experience as a new follower of Jesus. 

I was working my way through college. I had a job as a custodian, at the large factory my father worked at. I was convinced I was to work hard at all that God called me to do. Colossians 3:23 was living and breathing in my soul.

Work hard and cheerfully at all you do, 

just as though you were working for the Lord 

and not merely for your masters.

And I did. I worked hard, with joy, to please my heavenly Father, and my earthly father as well. What kind of witness would I have if my labor was half-hearted?

God's greater purposes have to do with the redemption of his creation, to include persons. Our job may involve making things, selling things, cleaning, teaching, whatever. But our real job involves the bigger, redemptive picture of what God is doing. This is our true labor. 

We see this in 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. 

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord . 

"Labor" is "vain" if it has no meaningful purpose. "Vain  labor" is boring. "Boredom" is not having nothing to do, but finding no meaning in what one is doing.

A philosophical example of vain labor is Albert Camus's "Myth of Sisyphus." Sisyphus, according to the Greek myth, was punished for all eternity, and condemned to roll a boulder up a mountain, only to have it roll back down to the bottom when he reaches the top. This happens over and over again and again, everlastingly. 

Camus claimed Sisyphus is representative of the human condition. Sisyphus struggles perpetually, and without hope of success. His labor is absurd. Camus thinks if Sisyphus can accept his absurd labor, then he can find happiness in it.

Many people view their labor as absurd. They find no joy in it. Their work lack telos (purpose), and is in vain. 

But, from the Jesus-perspective, all labor "in the Lord" is not vain, but meaningful. When what we do emerges out of who we are in relationship with Christ, our lives become purposeful. Purposeful, *telic living, brings satisfaction.

We are to view God as our Employer. From this God-relational POV, redemptive activity can be seen and experienced everywhere. What seem to be vain, meaningless tasks, from a human POV, take on eternal, missional qualities. This happens, not because of any intrinsic majesty of the task at hand, but as a function of who we are under.

Labor under the Lordship of Jesus, and abound in the work you are doing under God.

Know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.



***
*telic - a purposeful or defined action; from the Greek word telos, meaning "end," or "goal"; such as telescope, literally "to see to the end."

***
In my book I talk about prayer as purposeful activity - Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God.

Day 32 - One Day Jesus Was Praying

 

 I am reading, slowly, through the Gospel of Luke. This morning I began in Luke 11:1:

One day Jesus was praying in a lonely place.

I can't get past this verse. It's enough for me.

The verse does not say:

One day Jesus thought about praying.

It doesn't read:

One day Jesus desired to pray, but didn't have time for it.

It's not:

One day Jesus read a book about praying.

Nor does it say…

One day Jesus said "I believe in the power of prayer."

It does say:

One day Jesus was praying.

 

One day Jesus was actually doing it.

 

One day Jesus was engaged in praying. 

 

One day Jesus, my Lord,

my exemplar,

my mentor,

was spending considerable time talking with God.  

One of his followers saw him doing this. This follower was so impressed that he wanted to do what Jesus was doing. Which was: communicating with the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

When Jesus finished dialoguing with God, the follower who desired to do the same said to Jesus, "Mentor, teach us to do what you just did."

A disciple of Jesus prays like Jesus prayed.

I bless you with a deep, powerful praying life that, more and more, emulates that  of our Lord Jesus! 

 John Piippo 

johnpiippo@msn.com

***

Most of what I have to say about praying is in my book Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God. 

  

Day 31 - Prayer Journaling

I've been keeping a spiritual journal for fifty-five years. I have read and responded to over 3000 spiritual journals that pastors and Christian leaders have sent me, as part of seminary classes, retreats, and conferences I have taught. Here are my thoughts on keeping a spiritual journal.

A spiritual journal is a record of the voice and activity of God, to you. When God speaks to you, write it down. To do that is to keep a prayer journal. 

People write differently. Some include lots of detail, such as the place where they are praying, prayer concerns, and biblical exegesis. But the core of the journal is: God's words, spoken to you. When I read the journals of others, that's what I am looking for. What is God saying to you? What is God doing with you?

When your mind wanders, I suggest writing where it wanders to. The mind does not wander arbitrarily, but always to something like a burden. The wandering mind is a barometer of your spiritual condition. Then, following 1 Peter 5:7, "cast your burdens on God, for he cares for you." 

I find it helpful to get the burdens on paper. To see them on paper makes it feel like they are not inside me any longer. Now, it's at a distance from me. De-burdening is an important part of entering into God's presence more fully. We have a greater focus on God because we are not so distracted by our burdens.

If keeping a spiritual journal is writing down what God says to me, how can I know it's really the voice of God? I have found that one better hears God's voice when they:

1) Saturate themselves with Scripture.
2) Spend MUCH time alone in God's presence.
3) Hang around people who do 1 and 2. 

There are some good books about this, such as Dallas Willard's Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship With God.

Because the spiritual journal is a record of God's voice to you, it is fruitful to occasionally re-read and re-meditate on your journal. A number of the things God tells you will become thematic in your life. It is important to remember them.

 

"Remembering" is huge in a person's spiritual life. When we have a written record of God's words for us, it can be easier to recall them as we re-ponder them anew. The maxim here is: "I will not forget God's words to me."

A spiritual journal, because it is a record of God's voice to you, is about you. Not others. Yes, I sometimes write about others in my journal. For example, I pray for others. Or, If I'm upset with someone, I use letters such as 'X' to refer to those persons. I don't want my journal to be found or read by someone with whom I'm angry with. When I write down such things before God I'm primarily asking God to help, not 'X,' but me, and with anger inside me.

What can you expect God to say to you? My experience tells me that God will say things like: his love for you, things he wants to heal inside you, things you need to repent of in your life, that he forgives you, things about his essence (the glory of who he is), giving you deeper insights on Scripture, giving direction, and so on. And, God impart things to you. When this happens to me I write down things like grace, mercy, peace, joy, love, hope, and power.

I don't believe journaling is for everybody. But remembering is. So is entering deeply into God's presence and hearing his voice.

***

For more on prayer and hearing God, see my book Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God. 

From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.

Questions and Answers on Prayer

In my book Praying I include a Q&A section at the end of the book.

I give my answers to the following issues. 

- I’m a Parent and Have Little Time to Get Alone with God.

- God Seems Absent from Me.

- How Do I Know if God Has Answered My Prayer?

- How Can I Pray When I Have Doubts?

- Why Isn’t Everyone Healed When I Pray?

- What Does It Mean to Ask for Anything in Jesus’ Name?

- What Do I Do When I Hear from God?

- What If I Don’t Feel Like Praying?

Praying: Reflections on 40 Years of Solitary Conversations with God

Day 30 - A Prayer Movement

 

Dear Church,

I want you to launch a prayer movement that will influence many. 

I began this book by issuing a call to prayer, for a move of God in our churches. You do know, don’t you, that every awakening, every revival, began with, and was fueled by, praying people. Here’s one example.

I am especially moved by the story of a man who called his business colleagues to pray. It was 1857, in Boston. A businessman named Jeremiah Lanphier was led by God to host weekly noon prayer meetings for workers in Boston’s business district. A local church gave Lanphier permission to use their facility. The format was simple. No preaching, just praying, worship, and prayer requests.

The first gathering was on September 23, 1857. Six people showed up. Next week, there were twenty. The week after, almost forty. By the end of October there were one hundred. Word of these meetings spread. Another church was needed to host what came to be known as the Fulton Street Prayer Meetings.

On March 28, 1858, 6100 people gathered, at various locations in Boston, to pray and worship. At one place there was 600, at another 1200. This was a move of God that spread to many cities across our land.

Could this happen again? I believe it not only can, but it must. We need a mighty, earth-shattering, paradigm-shifting move of God in our churches. It is time to be part of something great, for the cause of Christ. This means me. This means you.

J. P. Moreland, in his book on miracles, wrote this.

“I would rather have the Lord take me home than risk failing to finish well,

hurting those who look up to me, or losing my integrity.”

(Moreland, A Simple Guide to Experience Miracles, p. 23)

Upon reading this, I reached for a 3X5 card, and wrote down the quote. I placed it in my pocket. I carried it with me for a few weeks, reading it often.

This quote became a prayer. I prayed the words to God, asking him to protect and guide me so I might finish my life well.

I think of what Jesus said, in Luke 12, about watchfulness and readiness.

“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning…

It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes.

t will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready,

even if he comes in the middle of the night…

You also must be ready, 

because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” 

From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying

Day 29 - When It’s Hard to Pray

 

Dear Church,

Sometimes it is hard to pray. 

In 1985 Linda was pregnant, expecting twins. We were thrilled about this! I remember working together to prepare a room for them. I subscribed to a magazine called “Twins.” I celebrated this awaited event!

Soon, two baby boys would be in our life. Until…

I remember the routine doctor visit. The stethoscope. The doppler. The doctor. The look on his face. He told us to go to Sparrow Hospital, immediately.

One of our little boys was dead. The other was on the edge of life and death. An emergency C-section brought them both into the bright, antiseptic room. I will never forget the weight of my son David, as I held him. The other, Joshua, was being attended to.

On that day Linda and I entered the valley of the shadow of death. And it was hard to pray. In my praying time the day before, I read these words.

Those who sow with tears
    will reap with songs of joy.
⁶ Those who go out weeping,
    carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
    carrying sheaves with them.

Psalm 126:5-6

Sometimes, when I pray, my mind wanders. After the loss of David, and the fight for Joshua’s life, “wanders” was not the word to describe my experience. In our grieving it felt like being in a black hole that devours whatever light there is.

Through it all, we are certain God understood our struggle. I remember us standing, in the hospital, looking through the window and seeing little Joshua, when one of us said, “This is hard. But imagine how hard it would be if we did not have God.”

Prayers offered in the dark valley feel extraordinary compared to praying in the ordinary. During such times, do not feel less than loved and less understood by God.

In times when you are weak, and it is hard to find words, remember that Jesus himself was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

Love,

PJ

P.S Our Joshua made it, and today lives a flourishing life.

 

REMEMBER

Express your grief to God.

Remember that Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. (Isaiah 53:3)

Remember that we do not have, in Jesus, a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. (Hebrews 4:15)

From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.

Day 28 - Praying and Giving Thanks

 

 

Dear Church,

Let thanksgiving fill your hearts as you pray.

I make lists of things I am thankful for. I write these in my spiritual journal. I write them on 3X5 cards, and carry them with me. I keep them before me, re-reading and re-pondering them throughout the day. The result is, I often experience a heart that overflows with gratitude towards God. This is a good spiritual place for me to be. It also affects my times of praying.

The apostle Paul says our prayers should be accompanied “with thanksgiving.” In Philippians 4:6 we read,

Do not be anxious about anything,

but in every situation,

by prayer and petition,

 with thanksgiving,

present your requests to God.

New Testament scholar Ben Witherington has written that Paul believes there is much to be said for praying in the right spirit or frame of mind. This is significant for the Roman Philippians, since pagan prayers did not include thanksgiving. Roman prayers were often fearful, bargaining prayers, not based on a relationship with some god.

Witherington adds: “Prayer with the attitude of thanksgiving is a stress-buster.” John Wesley said that thanksgiving is the surest evidence of a soul free from anxiety.

Paul's antidote for worry and anxiety is praying, with thanksgiving.

Love,

PJ

(I recognize that there are clinical, neurophysical conditions that cause anxiety and fear. The antidote for such conditions may be medications. But even when medications stabilize a person's emotions, issues of trust may remain. Medication will not fully help a person when the only chair they have keeps breaking, but it may help them access the spiritual help they need.

If you have severe anxiety I recommend two things:

1) Praying, and having people pray for you. 
2) Seeing a physician who is skilled in treating you physically. 

Combine spiritual intervention with medical intervention.)

 

JOURNAL

Write a list, in your journal, of things you are thankful for.

Look at it often.

Add to it as it happens.

From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.

Day 27 - Pray for Your Enemies

 

Dear Church,

Pray for your enemies.

A pastor is a shepherd, of a flock of people. What a privilege this is! I thank God, often, for calling Linda and me to be pastors.

But sometimes, one of the sheep bites. As a pastor, I have taken my share of abuse. I’ve been doing this since 1971, and I’ve got bite marks all over by soul. Here’s one story of a man who chomped on me.

I was in my fourth year at a church in the Chicago area. I was teaching a series, on Sunday evenings, on the book of Revelation. At one point we were looking at the Second Coming of Christ. When will this happen?

I was using Jack Hayford’s Spirit-Filled Life Bible. Jack did the footnotes. In a footnote relevant to the question, Jack presented nine possible theological views of when the second Coming might happen. I showed these to the class. I remember telling them that we need to be humble about this subject, because good Christians had differing views.

Little did I know that, as I talked about the nine possibilities, a man in the class was getting angrier and angrier. He believed there was only one view of the Second Coming, and it was his.

I have not forgotten what happened as the class ended. He was a big man, over six feet tall. He was much older than I. He approached me, bent down to my eye level. The veins in his neck were bulging. His face was red. He yelled. I was, he said, wrong, a heretic, and a false teacher. At a few points I thought he was going to hit me.

I was shaken.

As I drove home with Linda, I found myself hating him. I wanted to get even with him. Vengeance was mine, sayeth myself.

I could not pray without hurting him, somehow, at least in my mind.

He was an enemy that threatened me. He was a persecutor, of me. I could not, I chose not to, pray for him. And, making things harder, I was a lover of Jesus. I knew about what Jesus said in Luke 6:28 - Bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. So God, how can I do this thing that you command me to do?

“Pray for your enemies,” my Lord Jesus says. Well, that’s easy for him to say, because he is Jesus. Not really, right? Jesus did it in the moment when hanging on that cross, as hatred assaulted him. In his darkest time, he prayed, “Forgive these people, for they don’t know what they are doing.”

How can I do Mark 11:25?

And when you stand praying,

 if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them,

so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Or Mark 5:44?

But I tell you, love your enemies

and pray for those who persecute you,

And what does Psalm 23 mean when it says,  

 

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.

You anoint my head with oil.

My cup overflows."

 While engaging with the 23^rd Psalm, one of my seminary students received a God-insight I had never thought of before. God told him that, not only is the "prepared table" visible to one's enemies, but so is being anointed with oil and the overflowing cup. My cup, said my student, overflows onto my enemies!

 That sounded like a God-thought to me. I related it to my cry for a greater love, in me. Anyone, it says in the Bible, can love people who love them back. That’s easy. The real test is to love those who assault and endanger me.

Dear Beloved of God, there is a praying life that is deeper and wider and higher and longer, which includes praying for your enemies. I invite you to pray this with me: "God, let your love so shape and fill my heart that it overflows even to my enemies."

Pray for release. Pray for the freedom to love others as Christ loves them.

 Pray to receive this love for your own self.

 

Love…,

 

PJ

 

ASSIGNMENT

Pray for a love that, like the love of God, is higher, wider, deeper, and longer 

than any earthly love you have experienced. 

From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.

Day 26 - Preconditions for Effective Praying

 

Dear Saints, 

Righteousness is a precondition for effective praying. 

Imagine this (which is not an example from my family).  You have an adoscent child who has chosen to reject your counsel. You see them making choices that are destructive. Recently, they caused an accident that damaged your car, and hurt another person. They still live in your home. You decide to set some boundaries. You are not to enable their bad behavior. 

 Your son is not in a right relationship with you. One day he petitions you, saying,"I want the car keys. I need to go do something." Do you comply? "Not," you respond, "until we have a talk and get on the same page." The petition of an unrighteous son is powerless and ineffective.

It is the same with prayer. James 5:16 tells us this:  

The prayer of a righteous person  Is powerful and effective.  

"Righteousness" means being in right relationship with God. A righteous person is on the same moral and spiritual page as God is. Conversely,   

 The prayer of an unrighteous person is powerless and ineffective.  

 “Effective.”  

 The prayers of a person who is in right relationship with God “effect” things. This is about causality. Their prayers do things.

Brothers and sisters, righteous and holy living is a precondition for effective, powerful praying. 

 Love, 

 PJ 

 FOCUS 

 Righteousness 

 Holiness 

 Purity 

 Walk in step with the Spirit

If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just 

and will purify us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

From my book 31 Letters to the Church on Praying.