Take ~5 minutes to read this 'COUGARS Daily' which contains snippets from A Slice of Infinity. Invite your family and friends to participate in reading with you daily. Then, consider sharing your comments or faith questions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
-Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way.[a] Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. (1 Peter 3:15-16)
In his sermon "The Weight of Glory," C.S. Lewis took note of a subtle shift in the language of his day, which he felt was the first detour in a road leading far away from Christ. Writes Lewis, "If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philosophical importance."(1) He goes on to explain the ideologies that grow out of subtle shifts of language. The positive answer requires a perspective that looks outward at others--those who are the recipients of the virtue or else the one from whom this virtue arises in the first place--whereas the negative virtue shows that our concern is primarily with ourselves--our own self-denial--and hence the appearance of good virtue. To this Lewis notes, "The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself." To put this in terms for the subject at hand: Scripture has lots to say about what is wrong with the world. But thankfully, this is never the end of the sermon. (And of course, both the Old and New Testaments have a lot to say about complaining.)
Chad's Comments:
Today's devotion was very poignant for me as I was considering writing a review of the movie Expelled - no Intelligence Allowed. When I first realized the movie was coming, I was very excited and was hoping to see several people attend. However, my viewpoint changed slightly when I hear an interview with Ben Stein and a prominent Christian radio host. I identified with the thoughts of the host, but I could easily see that it seemed a pity party of complaint that they were not 'getting their way.' (Similar to the idea of focusing on the negative as today's devotion talked about) Regardless, I was still excited to see the movie and I have high hopes for its impact on the mindset of what I see as a closed minded academia. I was rather disapointed to see that only a few people attended the show. I assumed that most of the people attending the showing were ID'ers and it felt a little like a small group church meeting rather than a full blown theater presentation.
Nonetheless, the documentary was very insightful. It exposed the biases on both sides of the debate and showed very well that worldview plays a high role in interpreting the evidence.
I was a little uneasy with the demeaning caricature of Richard Dawkins and I don't think that making fun of him will help him find God. But it was neat to see Mr. Dawkins, who seems to claim reason and logic as the tellers of all truth, to use an illogical argument to back up his position. When faced with the idea of the origin of life, Dawkins reiterates Sir Francis Crick's idea of directed Panspermia - the idea that all 'sperm' was directed from some life on some other planet far in the universe. Of course, if pressed to find out where this life came from, I'm sure it would have been from some other more intelligent life, far out in the universe and on and on. This illogical argument is called an infinite regress and is not reasonable, logical or scientific. Dawkins seems fully ready to believe that little green men planted us here and possibly is an ID'er himself in this sense.
Michael Shirmer, head of the skeptics society, was in the film as well as many prominent speakers of Evolution and ID.
I grew a little tired of the 'black and white throwback' scenes, but overall I felt like the movie was a good watch and should prove interesting and mind opening to even the most ardent of skeptics.
A word of caution: The movie shows a logical connection between 'particles-to-people' evolution and the extremism of inhumane actions such as eugenics. While I do believe this to be a great movie for people of any mindset to see, I also realize the danger of crass argumentation and I know first hand conviction that is not undergirded in love can be repulsive. I fear that such argumentation can draw a line in the sand and put people on an either or scenario which may drive them away from God rather than enjoin them to pursue His goodness. So, I point you back to today's RZIM discussion and beg you to find Jesus at the center of your conversations. Let people see His true spirit living in you. In Love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
As a group, I will be challenging you to reach out to a neighbor. To invite someone over to your home whom you have had little to no contact with. This is not an effort to 'evangelize' them on the spot, but simply an effort to begin REAL relationship with them. Be in prayer about whom God would have you invite. More to come.
* Make Space for unbelievers in your life.
* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* Voice of the Martyrs
-Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way.[a] Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. (1 Peter 3:15-16)
- Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (Philippians 2:14-16)
- For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. (2 Corinthians 1:19-20)
In his sermon "The Weight of Glory," C.S. Lewis took note of a subtle shift in the language of his day, which he felt was the first detour in a road leading far away from Christ. Writes Lewis, "If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philosophical importance."(1) He goes on to explain the ideologies that grow out of subtle shifts of language. The positive answer requires a perspective that looks outward at others--those who are the recipients of the virtue or else the one from whom this virtue arises in the first place--whereas the negative virtue shows that our concern is primarily with ourselves--our own self-denial--and hence the appearance of good virtue. To this Lewis notes, "The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself." To put this in terms for the subject at hand: Scripture has lots to say about what is wrong with the world. But thankfully, this is never the end of the sermon. (And of course, both the Old and New Testaments have a lot to say about complaining.)
Chad's Comments:
Today's devotion was very poignant for me as I was considering writing a review of the movie Expelled - no Intelligence Allowed. When I first realized the movie was coming, I was very excited and was hoping to see several people attend. However, my viewpoint changed slightly when I hear an interview with Ben Stein and a prominent Christian radio host. I identified with the thoughts of the host, but I could easily see that it seemed a pity party of complaint that they were not 'getting their way.' (Similar to the idea of focusing on the negative as today's devotion talked about) Regardless, I was still excited to see the movie and I have high hopes for its impact on the mindset of what I see as a closed minded academia. I was rather disapointed to see that only a few people attended the show. I assumed that most of the people attending the showing were ID'ers and it felt a little like a small group church meeting rather than a full blown theater presentation.
Nonetheless, the documentary was very insightful. It exposed the biases on both sides of the debate and showed very well that worldview plays a high role in interpreting the evidence.
I was a little uneasy with the demeaning caricature of Richard Dawkins and I don't think that making fun of him will help him find God. But it was neat to see Mr. Dawkins, who seems to claim reason and logic as the tellers of all truth, to use an illogical argument to back up his position. When faced with the idea of the origin of life, Dawkins reiterates Sir Francis Crick's idea of directed Panspermia - the idea that all 'sperm' was directed from some life on some other planet far in the universe. Of course, if pressed to find out where this life came from, I'm sure it would have been from some other more intelligent life, far out in the universe and on and on. This illogical argument is called an infinite regress and is not reasonable, logical or scientific. Dawkins seems fully ready to believe that little green men planted us here and possibly is an ID'er himself in this sense.
Michael Shirmer, head of the skeptics society, was in the film as well as many prominent speakers of Evolution and ID.
I grew a little tired of the 'black and white throwback' scenes, but overall I felt like the movie was a good watch and should prove interesting and mind opening to even the most ardent of skeptics.
A word of caution: The movie shows a logical connection between 'particles-to-people' evolution and the extremism of inhumane actions such as eugenics. While I do believe this to be a great movie for people of any mindset to see, I also realize the danger of crass argumentation and I know first hand conviction that is not undergirded in love can be repulsive. I fear that such argumentation can draw a line in the sand and put people on an either or scenario which may drive them away from God rather than enjoin them to pursue His goodness. So, I point you back to today's RZIM discussion and beg you to find Jesus at the center of your conversations. Let people see His true spirit living in you. In Love, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Upcoming Cougars' "Neighbor-Day" weekend:
As a group, I will be challenging you to reach out to a neighbor. To invite someone over to your home whom you have had little to no contact with. This is not an effort to 'evangelize' them on the spot, but simply an effort to begin REAL relationship with them. Be in prayer about whom God would have you invite. More to come.
* Make Space for unbelievers in your life.
* Post your stories of God's intervention on the blog.
* Look for ways to share Awe and Wonder with children - leave suggestions at CougarsDaily.blogspot.com
* Consider joining Life-Devotions (a group of about 100 catholics and protestants sharing their faith through daily devotions and discussion - strong pro Life content)
* Voice of the Martyrs
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